The Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 16: “A” Directed by Michelle MacLaren Written by Scott M. Gimple and Angela Kang Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC Just when I was ready to break up with The Walking Dead, Michelle MacLaren comes along and directs one of the season’s best episodes – “A” is chock-full of nail-biting …
The Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 15: “Us” Directed by Greg Nicotero Written by Nichole Beattie & Seth Hoffman Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Last week, I made it pretty clear how much I disliked “The Grove,” calling it the worst episode in the series …
It wasn’t too long ago that the hearts and minds of gamers around the world were stolen by the tragic tale of a little girl in a baseball cap and her protector. With the release now of two episodes in the next season of the series, The Walking Dead once again pulls no punches, though they’re much less of a surprise this time.
The Walking Dead’s season 4 delivers its 13th episode, “Alone,” as Sasha questions Bob and Maggie’s decision to move forward towards the sanctuary, while Daryl and Beth find shelter in a funeral home. We are offered a chance to check back in on two groups of survivors; one of which is separated by the end, and the other group splits up only to reunite once again before the credits role. Unfortunately, “Alone” ends up feeling a bit uneven, and is a subpar episode at best.
The 12th episode of The Walking Dead season 4 titled “Still,” spends all of its running time with Beth and Darryl. The two bond over all they’ve lost before and after the apocalypse, while Beth and Daryl try to find a new save haven, and some booze to drown away their sorrow.
The Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 11: “Claimed” Directed by Seith Mann Written by Nichole Beattie & Seth Hoffman Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC The Walking Dead’s midseason finale saw the various characters scattered in the wake of the prison assault, with the two episodes since the return picking up on the immediate …
Ever since Scott M. Gimple took over as showrunner, it’s become clear that he and his team of writers have tried, as hard as they could, to put to rest any unfinished storylines and unanswered questions left over from season three. Yes it took some time to clean up after the mess, but to be fair, he did have to continue from where Glen Mazzara left off. This meant killing off busloads of extras who we never got to know – killing of The Governor once and for all– and blowing up an entire prison, forcing our survivors to move forward. “Inmates” served to get things moving ahead even more. By structuring the episode as a series of vignettes, not all in chronological order, we catch up with the all prison survivors who weren’t featured last week. Beth, Daryl, Tyreese, Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Bob Stookey, Lizzie, and Mika are all accounted for.
After the devastating events at the end of the mid-season finale, which saw the conflict between Rick’s group and the The Governor’s men end in a bloody conclusion, “After” attempts to deal with the fallout from that attack by focusing only on three of the many characters scattered to the wind. In what is a stark contrast to the beginning of season 4, we open with a beautiful ariel shot of the aftermath at the prison. What was once considered a self-sustaining safe haven, now burns to the ground with hordes of walkers invading its premises. No longer are Rick and Carl planting vegetables, nor is Carol teaching the children how to use weapons during reading time. The prison is once and for all destroyed, and as the walkers swarm the grounds, feasting on the insides of a dead horse, the camera pans by the body a dead Governor – putting to rest any rumours that he may still be alive. Following the comic book’s route fairly faithfully, the episode found Rick defeated in every way possible – Rick’s declining health makes him more of a liability than an asset, to the point where he spends half the episode in a state of deep and usually prolonged unconsciousness. When he’s unable to take a Walker down with an ax to the head, Carl is left with no choice but to waste a bullet and shoot the Walker down himself; an act that will come back to haunt him later on.
2013 was an incredible year for standout episodes – even, in some cases, for series that didn’t necessarily have a great year overall. Prompted by this wealth of televised riches, TV editor Kate Kulzick, Televerse cohost Simon Howell, general editor Ricky D, and managing editor for TV Randy Dankievitch brainstormed and compiled their personal favorites, with only those deemed worthy by a majority making the cut. The resulting list of survivors (organized by airdate) is a wonderfully diverse picture of the medium at work in 2013, in 15-to-60 minute chunks.
The Walking Dead season 4 brings the action with its midseason finale “Too Far Gone”. The Governor and his troops make their assault on the prison, and the face off between them and Rick’s group is not only a reckoning, but a long-awaited resolution to a story that has been dragging on for far too long.
The Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 7: “Dead Weight” Directed by Jeremy Podeswa Written by Curtis Gwinn Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC The penultimate episode of The Walking Dead season 4 proves that zombies have a limit when it comes to serving as entertainment for show-runners who continue lurching slowly down a path …
Anyone who listens to our Walking Dead podcast has heard me comment on how much I would like to see the writers of the Walking Dead take bigger risks. Just last week I mentioned how I’d love to see an entire episode that doesn’t feature Rick and the gang. It’s no secret, The Walking Dead always does better with their more focused installments. I also stated how much I’d like to see more flashbacks featured on the show. That said, I also made it very clear, that I wasn’t necessarily happy with the sudden return of The Governor in the final moments of last week’s fifth instalment, “Internment”. The sixth episode of season four titled “Live Bait,” gives me everything I asked for, but there is one problem: it revolves entirely around the one-eyed villain from season three, who most of would prefer to never see again. And I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this decision.
About 20 minutes into “Internment,” and I couldn’t help but think I was missing both Michonne and Carol greatly. Both actresses have been at the top of their game all season, and it helps that the writers have done such a wonderful job in building (or rebuilding) their characters. But thankfully for some of us, “Internment” wholly belonged to Hershel. Scott Wilson is a great actor, arguably one of the best in the long list of names in the cast, but this is the first time the character has taken front and center in an episode since he first appeared back in season two. And boy did he shine.
The fourth episode of season four of The Walking Dead spends the majority of its time outside the prison gates. Tyreese, Darryl, Michonne and Bob search for a way back, while Rick and Carol head out in search of more supplies. In the past we’ve bid farewell to many of our favourite characters. Of the bunch, the only one who didn’t go out as a result of death is Morgan, who not once, but twice separated himself from Rick Grimes by choice.
By far the best of the first three episodes of season four, “Isolation,” written by Robert Kirkman continues to devote more time to both the characters we already know and care about, while offering some moments for the more interesting newbies to strut their stuff. “30 Days Without An Incident” was a fairly satisfying instalment, but left me with concerns that the writers would continue to introduce new characters and kill them off within the very same episode (R.I.P. Zack).
Last week on our Walking Dead podcast, I half-heartedly joked around about how I cared more about the pig Violet than I did about Patrick dying. One week later, I find the most heart-wrenching moment coming not when the humans die, but instead when three piglets are sacrificed in order to stop the prison gates from falling down. This isn’t necessarily meant as a full on attack of the show. The ‘three little pigs’ scene is by far the highlight of the episode; as the barriers of the prison come tumbling down, so does Rick’s hope in retaining momentary peace. He and his group are losing in every which way possible to the flesh eating walkers, and if taking lives isn’t enough, now the walkers are feeding on their main food supply.
After an uneven but mostly solid third season, The Walking Dead opens back at the prison, as a supply run between the survivors and the new Woodbury recruits quickly goes haywire. Meanwhile Rick attempts to help a mysterious woman he meets in the woods, and a character’s sudden death after a violent coughing spell, can only indicate that a new threat has arisen, potentially leading the series down on a new path.
This past Sunday, AMC released a new clip from the fourth season of The Walking Dead featuring Michonne (Danai Gurira), fighting off zombies, while riding back to the prison on horseback. This would be a good time to remind our readers that Kate and I will return with our Walking Dead podcast come October. In …
PRESS RELEASE ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT CONTINUES THE JOURNEY WITH AMC’S “THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON” EXPERIENCE IT ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD AUGUST 27, 2013; LIMITED EDITION “ZOMBIE HEAD TANK” DESIGNED BY MCFARLANE TOYS BEVERLY HILLS, CA – It has become a cultural phenomenon. The fans embrace it, the critics adore it. And now …
The third track on one of my favorite rock records of the last decade, Okkervil River’s The Stage Names, is called “A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene.” Without context, its lyric is a bit of a tough nut to crack. Will Sheff sings about events unfolding on a TV screen in the first verse, recaps …
5-American Horror Story If you’ve yet to tune in to Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck’s show American Horror Story, now’s your chance to catch up before the newest season kicks off this upcoming October. One of the more unique shows currently on air, each season acts as a new story. A new era, new location, …
The Vampire Diaries, Season 4, Episode 22: “The Walking Dead” Written by Brian Young and Caroline Dries Directed by Rob Hardy Airs Thursdays at 8pm (ET) on the CW This week, on The Vampire Diaries: Each of our leads gets a blast from the past and Bonnie still hasn’t learned to listen to her Grams …
The first details regarding the prequel to The Shining have emerged online. At the moment there is not indication of story details but we now know the project is operating under the official title The Overlook Hotel. Glen Mazzara, who ran AMC’s The Walking Dead is in talks to write it. Based on a Stephen King novel the 1980, Stanley …