What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

 

The Walking Dead

Beta hangs a gourd filled with resin on a tree. Negan sits with Alpha in a clearing, and says he thinks he graduated to the next level of kinky Whisperer sh*t. She wants him to take a switch and whip her forearm, but, seeing the stripes already on her arm, he says she seems to have been cut up enough. She holds the switch out, and he lashes her arm. She says, again, he does it a second and third time. She says, now him, and he wonders if they’re bonded for life. She says, depends, and lashes his arm with the switch.

Zombies toddle forward with Beta and the others. Beta says, we are in the end of the world, and they chant, we take them all, over and over

Over the radio, Eugene tells Stephanie that the LP is MIA. She says she wants to hear the song, and tells him to sing it, but he says only a fool would attempt such a song without accompaniment. He says he counted three, and she says, three shooting stars? He’d better not be counting satellites; she saw one recently. He says, around sunset? and she says, yeah. He says, they’re close; only few hundred miles at most. She says he promised not to tell anyone, and he says he can’t help but believe their meeting was celestially ordained. She says her people are overly cautious. He tells her that he’s in Virginia. He gives her the details, and says, pick a day, and neck of the woods, so they can meet face to face. If she doesn’t like the cut of his jib, she can adios herself. He’d like to meet her. She says she’d like to meet him too. She’ll talk to her people. He says he’ll do the same. She says, don’t tell anyone. She’ll see what her people say first. He promises. They sign off, and he laughs to himself.

Earl and Alden see Aaron coming in a wagon, and wonder who the new person is. Alden asks if Alexandria took in another stray, but Earl says, they’re on lockdown. Aaron and his group come in, and Alden asks Aaron, who’s that? Aaron says, Mary. She ran away from Alpha’s camp, and she’s helping them out. Alden asks what she’s doing at Hilltop, and Aaron tells him that Adam is her nephew; she wants to see him. Earl says, no. The enemy is not seeing his son. Aaron says, she’s not the enemy, but Earl tells him to keep her away from his kid. Earl tells Alden what did Aaron think he’d say? They left Adam out to die. Alden watches Mary.

Ezekiel finds Carol in a ragged tent by the water. She asks how he found her, and he says, this is Daryl’s place. He thought she needed some comfort. He tells her that Kelly made it back. He heard what happened at the cave, and he was worried about her. He asks her to come back. He sits next to her, and says then he’ll sit there, and they’ll get eaten be mosquitoes together.

Luke tells Kelly she can’t walk, but Kelly says she’s not leaving her sister. She’s going with the rest of them. Yumiko says they’ll never know if the ceiling caved in, and Kelly says, if she thinks it’s futile, why is she coming? Daryl drives in with Lydia on the back of his bike. Luke asks if he found them, but he says they didn’t get that far. Luke says they’ve got to find their people, but Lydia says they can’t go out there. Her mother’s coming.

Rosita hears Stephanie saying she has one more question. She picks up the microphone, and asks, who is this? Eugene flies down the stairs, pushing her out of the way, and taking the microphone. He says, Stephanie, but there’s no answer. He tells Rosita, she needs to go now. She looks terrible. She says, a giant Whisperer took a swipe at her, and asks, what’s up his butt? He says he says someone trusted him to have a conversation mano a mano, and she made him break that promise. She needs to go before he says something he’ll truly regret. She leaves, and Eugene tries to get Stephanie back, saying he made a terrible mistake. He’s sorry. Does she copy?

Negan tells Alpha, he has some unsolicited advice. He knows it’s everyone’s favorite kind, but he can’t help himself. He’s thought of an idea that maybe she hasn’t. He respects a well-deserved massacre, but why take out Hilltop and Alexandria? She might feel better, but she should get those a-holes to surrender; bend the knee. He can get them to join them.

At Hilltop, Yumiko tells some scouts, if there are any signs of a Whisperer movement, let them know. Lydia says they can kill a hundred, but Alpha will have thousands left. They can’t stay. Earl says he’s not running again, but Alden says they can rebuild. Earl asks if any of the scouts have seen a place like Hilltop, and Yumiko says they only have a few dozen fighters; she doesn’t like the odds. Aaron says they don’t have to die, but Earl says if they can die fighting for a place like Hilltop, it will mean something. He can’t think of a better way to go. Aaron says they can go with his daughter’s life intact, as well as the other children. Daryl says they need to get the kids out first. Pack up. They’re going to Oceanside. Get weapons, food, whatever they can.

They pack up some wagons. Judith tells Daryl, she wants to fight. He says he knows she does, and puts RJ in a wagon. He sees Ezekiel and Carol walk through the gate.

Daryl leads the caravan through the forest, and comes to a roadblock (or pathblock, as it were) of downed trees. They look up, and zombies are hanging above them. Daryl says, it’s going to be like this now. We ain’t getting through. It’s Negan. He’s with her now.

Grace yells for Aaron, who comes out to see Daryl is back. Aaron asks, what happened? and Daryl says, the roads are blocked; they’re closing in. They had a window to get out, and missed it. Kelly tells him, he can’t say that. They all agreed they can’t stay there. Luke says, they can contact Alexandria, and get fresh fighters; it won’t be just them. Alden says they can’t get there in time. After what happened, they’re on their own. Earl tells them to divvy up the arsenal, and bring out the catapults. It’s what they’ve been practicing for. He tells them to get their heads on straight. This is going to be the fight of their lives.

Ezekiel opens a closet, and opens a chest of garments he uses to hide his tumor. There’s a knock at the door, and he closes the chest. It’s Carol, who sees the chest, and then his neck. He says, it’s nothing, and she says, never bullsh*t a bullsh*tter. He says he wanted to tell her. She she touches his neck, and kisses him. They get busy, because now’s the time for that.

Mary sees Adam, and starts to walk toward him. Alden asks where she thinks she’s going, and she tells him, to say hello to her nephew. They’re coming any second. He says, who’s fault is that? and she says she hates them too. Aaron steps in, and says Mary’s not going to hurt them, and she says she wants to fight. Alden says Earl is a better father than his own. They lost Tammy, and he’s been raising Adam alone. Adam isn’t hers, and never will be. Aaron thinks he’s being unreasonable. If they die, it will be for what they’re trying to build – for him. He picks Adam up.

Basking in the afterglow, Ezekiel says, that was fun. Carol says, that was never a problem. He says at least he’ll be remembered fondly for something. Not even an eyeroll? She’s lost her sense of humor. She says she hasn’t. She left it on the dresser in the Kingdom, and it burned down. He says, if it makes her feel any better, he left his pride there too. She says she hated that dresser anyway. He asks if this would have happened any other night, and she asks what he means. He says, if she didn’t think they were going to die tonight, and she says, they’re going to die tonight?

Eugene hooks up batteries to a truck in the woods. Rosita comes by, and says Coco is fine, but she’s worried about how close Beta got to her. He asks if she told Gabriel about the horde, but she says, hell no. She’ll tell him when she sees him. Rosita says she noticed he’s been working on his radio transmissions, and gives him something to drink (moonshine?). She asks if he likes the girl from the radio, and he says he knows his unpleasant countenance is unworthy of her attention. Rosita says they’ve been talking long enough for Eugene to know she likes him. Does he want to kiss her? Eugene gets close, and he and Rosita almost kiss, but he backs away. He says, it’s a special kind of peculiar, hankering for a kiss from someone you haven’t met. But it’s not time to be mulling matters of a forlorn heart. Rosita suggest that’s what they put on his gravestone: a loser with forlorn heart. She tells him, the skin freaks would love it if they rolled over. Screw that. Screw them. She says, if Eugene likes this girl, get off his ass and go get her. He kisses her cheek, and jets.

Lydia sits on the porch of a building, and sees heart with H+L in the center that she and Henry made way back when. Carol sits next to her, and lights a… where the hell did she get a cigarette??? Carly says Lydia should hate her, but Lydia says it’s hard when Carol seems to hate herself so much. Carol says she couldn’t kill Alpha, and Lydia says it won’t save them anyway. Carol says, but it would feel good. Lydia says she won’t be thinking about Carol, and Carol thanks her for telling the truth. Lydia says, people don’t know how to do that anymore. She’s sorry Carol’s kid died, and sorry Carol hates the world. She’s sorry her mother is a monster. Carol stays away, but then she feels lonely. Carol says, she had a whole life. She leaves, and Lydia tries not to cry.

Kelly and Luke make spikey things for the zombies to walk into. Yumiko tells Kelly that she’s sorry, and Kelly hugs her. They see rats running out of the woods, and Yumiko says, the horde is coming. Run back!

Eugene starts to sing When the Wild Wind Blows over the radio. As he sings, we see everyone getting ready. Some are putting the kids in a safe place, some getting dressed for battle, some are practicing technique. Judith gets on the radio, and Aaron says, give Mary a weapon. Daryl watches. Stephanie sings a verse back to Eugene, who smiles, then laughs. He says she’s got nice singing chops. She says she’s sorry for disappearing; she freaked a little. He says it falls squarely on him. He let his guard down, and apologizes. She says, it was a girl, and he says, Rosita. She says she can hear him smiling; he must be fond of her. He says, yes, very. She’s his proverbial BFF. He hopes they get a chance to meet. Stephanie does too, and Eugene says he doesn’t know when they’ll speak next. The last few days were incredible. She says she’s in West Virginia, and gives directions to a spot in Charleston, asking if he can be there in a week. He says he’ll be there, and not square. Over and out. Rosita asks if he’s ready, and he says, let’s get it over with. He’s got a date.

Ezekiel starts to put on a scarf, and sees Daryl in the mirror. Daryl asks if he’s okay, and Ezekiel says he has cancer, but it’s okay. Daryl says he’s sorry. They never had much to say to each other, but that doesn’t mean Daryl doesn’t know what Ezekiel has been through. Ezekiel is stronger than a lot of people there, and he’s glad. Ezekiel says Daryl is too, and thanks him. It means a lot. Things are going to get bad. He wants to know the kids are all right. If things go sideways, and something happens to either one of them, the other will get children out. He and Daryl shake on it.

Daryl finds Judith sitting by herself, and tells her to go be with the other kids. She says she can fight, and he says he knows. He’s sorry about today. She didn’t need to see any bodies. She says, they were just walkers, and she’s killed plenty of them. He says he knows, but they weren’t just walkers. She says she’s not scared, and he says he knows, but maybe he is a little. Maybe she could take care of RJ. She says she’s worried that he might get hurt, and she’ll lose him and Carol. Daryl says, there’s no shame in that, and knowing who you’re fighting for. She says she made him something for luck, and brings out his vest with the wings on the back. She’s repaired it. He puts it on, and he asks how he looks. She says, good, and he says, one other thing. If during fight, Ezekiel comes looking for her, go with him, whether or not she knows where he is. She has to promise. She does, and they hug. He leaves.

Carol looks at the portrait of Henry, and goes outside. She sees Daryl, and says, please don’t hate her. He turns around to face her, and says he’s never going to hate her. She cries a little, as he walks away. He picks up a weapon on his way to the gate. Outside, the first several lines of defense wear armor and carry shields, with more armed people behind them. They wait, as Daryl goes to the front.

It’s quiet. Kelly feels the ground, and nods at Yumiko. We can see a cloud on the distant horizon. A lone zombie toddles out. The rumble of zombie snarling is heard. Aaron tells everyone, get ready.

The horde moves forward, into an electrified barbed wire fence. It slices the first zombie’s head off, but they’re not too bright, and keep coming. They walk into the fence, even as it cuts them, but eventually their pushing against it, causes it to give. The wires start to spark and sputter, and short out as the zombies break through. Even I’m scared. Aaron says, break, and the shielded soldiers separate into two groups, and move toward the horde. They stab, whack, slice, chop, bash, and shoot arrows. Here’s where it pays to be pissed off.

Beta strides through the forest to a clearing, where the Whisperers wait. They put gourds, like the one he hung on the tree, into giant slingshots. I say many bad words. The balls splatter, and Luke says, it smells like a Christmas tree. Fires begin in various places.

Negan – who’s finally gotten his mask – tells Alpha, he thought she wanted Hilltop to join them. She says she does, but as part of her horde. He says, holy sh*t. She is a badass.

Daryl yells for everyone to go back inside, and they back up. The zombie horde pushes completely through the fence, and the Hilltoppers take off toward the gate. The Whisperers shoot flaming arrows at the walls of Hilltop, which burst into flames. Hilltop becomes an inferno, and everyone is like, fu…dge.

Next time – Alpha doesn’t have anything she wants, Negan says he’s found what she’s looking for, and the battle continues.

Shahs of Sunset

D’oh! Even though I posted it about the date change, I forgot the Shahs moved to Friday. Since I had four billion other things to do this weekend (slight exaggeration, but close), and we had the stupid time change, tonight’s recap is abbreviated somewhat. Which is a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.

Upon waking up with Adam at the Waldorf Astoria, Reza felt like he was a 65 year old hooker who’d worked the strip all night. Sara tried to get ahold of her brother Sam, who’s hooked up with Destiney the night before. When Destiney was asked what she remembered, it didn’t sound like much. She told Sam that she had plans to have breakfast with Reza and her mom.

GG and Yasmin went to one of those paint your own pottery places. In GG’s interview, she said she couldn’t drink, and had to cut back on weed, so it didn’t give her much to do. I don’t even know what to say to that. Even though the implantation was done, she didn’t feel pregnant yet, and was waiting for that call. She told Yasmin that she misses weed, and insisted her kid wasn’t going to whine like the one wailing its head off at the pottery place. In her interview, she said she didn’t want a man, so she was bucking it up, and doing it on her own. She told Yasmin that she needed to find a dude who was super chill with having sex with women who are pregnant, and I went ♫ la-la-la! ♫ Yasmin said she was too Persian for all that. I must be too.

Breakfast at the Waldorf looked amazing. A lot of these shows have a food porn subplot for me. Reza sized up the situation with Destiney and Sam pretty quickly – new outfit, same outfit. Destiney’s mom was early, and in Reza’s interview, he said, Persian moms don’t interact with their kids tricks. Destiney introduced them and Sam couldn’t jet fast enough. Reza was excited to see Destiney looking happy, but still gave her a hard time, asking, who was that man? When mom Tammy was like, yeah, who was that? Destiney distracted her with the food. In Reza’s interview, he was glad Destiney was able to meet with her mom, and said he thought part of her feel lost with her mom and sister living in Vegas.

Mike met with potential general contractor Barry. Bringing Paulina along, he wanted to check out one of Barry’s construction projects before hiring him. In Mike’s interview, he said he was under an immense amount of pressure. It was the first test his parents were watching to see if he passed. His dad was pressuring him to hire a guy he knows, but if he brought Barry on, Barry would be answering to him. Along with a building of apartments Barry had done, Barry showed Mike a proposal. Barry thought the project would cost around $8.5 million, while Mike had figured more like $7.5 million tops. Barry also expected the construction to last two years, and Mike asked if eighteen months was possible. In his interview, he said the difference between eighteen and twenty-four months was a significant number. They were losing $10K a month.

Sara went to Reza’s suite, wondering where Destiney and her brother were. Reza told her that they’d hooked up. In his interview, Reza said it was exciting to see Destiney with her guard down, he was afraid she’d regret not spending more time with her mom. Tammy told Destiney it was time for her settle down with a good man. Destiney told Tammy that she thought it was safer not to let someone in. She wouldn’t get hurt that way. Reza told Sara, they came, they saw, her brother conquered. Sara said that was his normal day.

Nema took Persian dance lessons, since Persian dancing gives him anxiety. His dad had taken away all Persian influence when he was growing up. Destiney joined him at the lesson. In his interview, he said he was a good dancer, but a bad Persian dancer. By the end of the lesson, he got the shoulder moves down.

Adam met GG at a cat café, where she wanted all the cats, as did I. In her interview, GG said she loved Adam, but until she got confirmation that she was pregnant, she was keeping it to herself. She told Adam that a work thing kept her from going to Vegas, and he told her that Destiney and Sam hooked up. GG did a spit-take with her lemonade when Adam said Destiney was straddling Sam at the golf range, and then she made Adam demonstrate. In GG’s interview, she said she wouldn’t be thrilled if she was in Sara’s place. She told Adam that Destiney always claimed to be a ride or die chick, but she wasn’t riding for another girl. She was just riding.

After their lesson, Destiney told Nema that Sam had been calling and texting, accidentally opening a d*ck pic in front of him. Nema got a text from Paulina, asking him to meet, and we flashed back to him kicking Mike out of his house. He told Destiney that he was shocked Paulina reached out to him, and Destiney said Mike was vulnerable with Paulina, and probably said things to her that he couldn’t say to Nema.

Nema met Paulina, and immediately asked if Mike knew about them getting together. Paulina said he didn’t, but didn’t think he’d be upset. She told Nema that Mike looked at him like a younger brother, and felt attacked. Nema had said Mike was a cheater and a liar, and that he questioned her allowing her kids around him. She wondered why her kids got pulled into it, and was offended by it. Nema explained that Mike had said Erica must be weird, and there was something mentally wrong with her for waiting seven years for a divorced guy, and he just went off. He apologized, and told Paulina that Mike had a history of picking on him. We flashed back to some of that, and Nema said the older brother was bullying the little brother. At the mud run, Mike had said Nema stole a company from him, when Mike was the one who tried to screw him and Shervin out of a deal, and lied about it. He wasn’t sure if Mike’s supposed positive feelings toward him were real or not. Paulina said she’d given Mike a clean slate when they got together, but Nema said if Mike couldn’t apologize, like Nema just did with her, he didn’t know if they could remain friends.

In her interview, GG explained that since she missed Vegas, she wanted to bring everyone together with a cooking class. The usual suspects gathered, along with GG’s friends Anita and Yasmin, for a cooking lesson and dinner with Chef Nicole. It was also a competition, which GG said a Persian could never pass up. She grouped everyone into three teams of three – GG, Reza, and Yasmin; Anita, Destiney, and Adam; and Sara, Nema, and Mike – deliberately putting Nema, Paulina, and Mike on the same team. Mike and Paulina were late, so they started without them.

On the way there, Paulina told Mike about her meeting with Nema, saying she’d wanted to confront Nema about the way he treated Mike. In Mike’s interview, he said he thought it was a huge slap in the face for Nema to agree to meet with Pauline. It was like Nema was trying tell him that he’s not in control. No comment. Mike asked Paulina to communicate with him first if she does something like that. She need to know what she was doing, and why. He said, those guys can be wolves.

The first dish the teams made was yogurt dip. By the end, Adam’s team was just throwing things in, but somehow they won. In Nema’s interview, he said what he lacked in Persian cooking skills, he more than made up in with his Persian Postmate ordering skills. When Mike arrived, Reza said he had good news, and bad news. The good news was, Paulina was on his team; the bad news was, Nema was on his team. When they made tahini, Chef Nicole told Mike’s team they were almost there, and Mike said that was the story of his life, but I wasn’t sure what exactly he was referring to. This time, Reza’s team won, and Mike toasted to Vegas, saying Destiney got to see her mom and sister. Not being able to leave it alone, Reza added, and bone Sara’s brother. GG asked if Destiney had talked to Sara about it, and Destiny said she didn’t need permission. GG said she didn’t find it funny, suddenly didn’t feel good, and headed for the door.

In her interview, GG said she felt a sharp pain, and she got scared she was having a miscarriage. It’s something she’s been waiting so long for, it scared the sh*t out of her. Anita and Destiney followed her out, and Destiney told her to calm down. Inside, Mike said, if you cry wolf enough times, people stop believing you. They sat down for the chef’s dinner, which rivaled the Waldorf’s breakfast. Reza got a text from Anita, saying GG was okay, but not feeling good; it was a weird stomach thing. Mike wondered if she’d touched the raw chicken, and Nema said GG hadn’t been drinking any alcohol. Destiney wondered if GG was pregnant, and Reza said, she could totally be pregnant. We flashed back to the Reunion, when GG told everyone about her plans. In Reza’s interview, he said, that would explain everything.

Nema asked if Mike knew about his lunch with Paulina – because, again, parties or public gatherings are the perfect time to bring up personal issues – and Mike said he just found out. Nema said he went on the assumption Mike knew, but Mike was already steamed. Nema said Paulina approached him, and Mike said Nema’s dad didn’t teach him how to be a man. Nema was like, don’t you talk about my dad, and in his interview, said there was a lot he could ask about how Mike’s parents raised him, but out of respect, he doesn’t. Destiney suggested they communicate properly, and Nema said if Mike did it again, there wouldn’t be a third time. Mike apologized, but in his interview, griped that he’d taken Nema under his wing. He’d been a good friend, given Nema advice, and helped him. Reza thought they should reconvene on that topic another time. In Mike’s interview, he said he thought Nema didn’t like that he and Paulina were in a good relationship. Nema was miserable, and wanted to make them miserable so they could join in on his pity party. At that point, the dinner broke up, and Reza said, this was a night.

Next time, Sara confronts Destiney, and Nema brings MJ to a pool party where she throws her drink in Reza’s face.

⏰ I Want It Back…

 🌬 You, Sir, Are No Iron Maiden…

Actually, he wasn’t bad. Time for me to breeze on out myself. See you on the deckside.