People of Earth, Unexplained; Season 1 Episode 5; ALT Title: I.T. Phone Home

Posted on November 27, 2016 by casewright

people-of-earth

This episode is all about do it yourself IT. For MAC readers, IT means information technology and there are people who are highly paid to resolve problems with Windows because it sucks. Now, Windows charges you a subscription fee!!!! Fuckers!

LOTR-Guy is cataloging his experiences meeting with humans. Humans, being solipsistic pieces of shit, only want to have him participate in things that they like. However, one human was different: Kelly! She wanted to know what LOTR-Guy was into and this reminiscence causes LOTR-Guy to get all moony over her.

We learn that Ozzie has a chip implant, which if properly rebooted will wipe his pesky flashbacks. Scroty takes it upon himself to fix the chip and wipe Ozzie’s memory, but this being People of Earth, he’s aggressively incompetent. Scroty is short with LOTR-Guy saying that he should look for Kurt’s killer and so LOTR-Guy goes to earth. Meanwhile, Scroty continues to blunder through the computer that’s linked to Ozzie’s brain, causing terrible hallucinations for Ozzie.

At the church, Chelsea builds a deeper relationship with Father Doug. He suggests that she goes to a bible study class and she declares it a date. The bible study is for children and it’s an awesome disaster!

LOTR-Guy is walking around town and sees Kelly hanging in a coffee shop. He thinks, Kelly likes coffee, I like Kelly, I will work at that coffee shop, and I will be around Kelly. You just gotta love these dopey aliens.

At Starcrossed, Kelly laments that her boyfriend says – Oregon like OR A GONE. This is a real dealbreaker for Pacific Northwesterners. It’s Or uh gun. The other big NO NO for PNWs is to bitch about the rain. Rain is our jam! In fact, it’s the first thing you think of when you think of the PNW. Richard hilariously says, We don’t say – A LAB BUH MA. Ozzie’s hallucinations and brain functions worsen and he sees all of the group is dressed like him complete with beards!

Ozzie goes to the hospital and they xray his head and see a metal disc and they seek to remove it. All the while, Scroty is coming closer to wiping Ozzie’s memory. Just as he’s about to finish wiping, they remove the disc.

LOTR-Guy is spying on Kelly and she breaks up with Mr. OR A GONE. LOTR-GUY brings Kelly a sympathy coffee and she gives him the finger for eavesdropping and he innocently gives it back to her.

Father Doug patches things up with Chelsea, describing Mary as being brave and woman of faith for holding to her beliefs even though people were incredulous that she was a virgin mother.

Scroty turns to Jon because the chip is in human hands and it’s hilarious! Jon sends Reptile-Lady to retrieve the chip. A child ends up taking the chip and gets away.

Starcrossed- Ozzie is not entirely convinced that it was aliens who put a chip in his head, but oh well.

We see the child playing with the chip and he shines a light through it and we see a deer head!

This was another great episode. The only critique is that the closing song was just not great or even good.

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A Few Thoughts on …. The Walking Dead 7.5 “Go Getters” (dir by Darnell Martin)

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So far, season 7 of The Walking Dead has been pretty inconsistent.

Often times, I have felt like a lone voice in the wilderness, vainly defending the season premiere and continuing to hope that, at some point, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s portrayal of Negan is going to become something more than a one-dimensional caricature.

Like a lot of people, I kind of enjoyed the second episode but, in retrospect, that was mostly because of the weirdness of King Ezekiel and the majesty of Shiva. The episode itself was extremely slow and featured one of those overly sentimental musical montages, the type of thing that never holds up particularly well on repeat viewing.

The Cell … oh, I tried to enjoy The Cell but basically, it was just an hour of Daryl not speaking and Negan doing his Negan thing.

And then there was last week’s episode, which appears to be going down in the history books as the consensus pick for the worst episode of The Walking Dead ever.

So, with all that in mind, I am going to cautiously state that I think that the latest installment, Go Getters, was a definite improvement over the last few episodes. It was hardly a classic. It certainly wasn’t The Walking Dead at its absolute best. But, at the very least, it held my attention for 60 minutes, it seemed to actually move the story forward (as opposed to just being a stagnant portrayal of doom and gloom), and it left me looking forward to seeing what would happen next week. Coming nearly halfway through an uneven season, Go Getters provided just a little bit of hope for the show’s future, telling us, “The Walking Dead‘s not dead and growling in Herschel’s barn just yet!”

Of course, it helped that Go Getters was centered on Maggie, the only one of the main characters who has not left me pissed off or disappointed this season. Following the deaths of Glenn and Abraham, Maggie and Sasha are hiding out at Hilltop Colony. Gregory wants to kick them out, Jesus wants to protect them. Eventually, the Saviors show up and we get to know Simon (Steven Ogg, investing the role with such menace that it’s hard not to wonder how different the season would be if he had been cast as Negan), who is one of Negan’s liuetenants. Simon collects his tribute, humiliates Gregory, and leaves. Meanwhile, Carl and Enid show up at Hilltop, having run away from Alexandria. One-eyed Carl has decided to take revenge on Negan and who can blame him? At this point, he has to know that his red-eyed, sniveling, neutered father isn’t going to do anything…

(Which brings up an interesting issue: we’re supposed to look down on Gregory for being so weak and subservient to the Saviors but really, he didn’t do anything different from what Rick did last week. We’re supposed to give Rick a pass but not Gregory, which doesn’t seem quite right. Gregory may be an ass but, as we should all know by now, nice guys don’t survive the apocalypse.)

So far, each episode this season has featured a different community being harassed by Negan. I’m assuming that these communities are eventually going to come together to take out the Saviors. If that’s the case, I can understand and even respect the deliberate build-up. At the same time, this season is moving so slowly (and has been so repetitive) that it’s hard not to get frustrated when you’re watching on a weekly schedule. One gets the feeling that Season 7 will be better when binge-watched but, for now, I find myself wishing the show would pick up the pace.

But, with all that in mind, I liked Go Getters. I love the fact that Maggie refuses to surrender. Despite all of the terrible things that have happened to her and the people that she loved, Maggie has not given up. She hasn’t turned into a weak shell, like Rick or Daryl. Nor has she retreated to a world of fantasy, like Carol. Instead, Maggie lives, Maggie fights, and Maggie endures. Glenn may be dead but Maggie the Cat is alive.

GO MAGGIE!

People of Earth, Past, Present, and Future – Season 1 Episode 4; ALT Title: Flashbacks and You!

Posted on November 20, 2016 by casewright

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You must believe the hype! You have to watch People of Earth or ALL of Santa’s Reindeer will become a delicious sausage! You were warned! There’s even a awesomeballs 8-Bit Video Game!

http://peopleofearthgame.com/

We learn about Gina in this episode and it is awesome! This episode is especially well-crafted by Emily Heller.

Gina is being examined by Scroty and LOTR-Guy with “Do it to me one more time” in the BG. Scroty leans in and says, “You are special.” Gina responds- BULLSHIT!!!

We smash cut to Crate & Barrelish, where Gina is zoned out in her flashback because her abduction theme song is playing, which triggered her flashback. I have flashbacks from the Army every now and again and Emily Heller is not that far off. Anything can trigger them.

Ozzie is trying yoga to relax, but it fails. He pays rent and goes to work and has an ancient computer. He has an equally ancient co-worker who asks him if he misses his old job, which triggers a flashback. This is an especially cool flashback because it show Jon’s fatherly love for Ozzie as he tries to literally make him eat his vegetables in blended form. AWWWW.

Jonathan is ordered to have a donut, which is Alien for calling him out onto the carpet for a reaming by a supervisor Reptilian. What is truly awesome about the supervisor’s office is that it, like the Alien’s mission, is ramshackle! The aliens, like us, are mediocre. Supervisor insists that if he doesn’t put a stop to Ozzie’s abduction exploration; they will “handle” it. All the alien’s speak in corporate-ease.

Ennis shows up at Crate and Barrelish for Gina’s help, triggering another flashback.

The Past: Gina was hot shot Upper West Side psychotherapist. Gina specializes into getting people to face their fear. Brian, a patient, is scared of heights and is a Fear of Commitment (FOC). Gina demands that he skydive with his girlfriend to save his relationship. She convinces Brian to jump. SMASH CUT: Brian’s funeral. This sends Gina into a spiraling downward booze-filled depression.

Jonathan goes to Ozzie’s workplace. He walks with him and explains that he will buy the local paper. They run into Richard and Gerry. Gerry misjudges Jonathan as a human. Jonathan knows all about Richard’s business, which is a great callback to the earlier comment to the Pilot where Richard says that his bosses were reptilians! I told you that you needed to take adderall to catch all the jokes and references! YOU WERE WARNED!

Flashback: Gina’s depression continues. She shuts down her practice and moves to Beacon. Then, she gets abducted and has such low-self esteem that her reaction to being told that she is special is to respond with… BULLSHIT! Survivor’s remorse….IT IS A BITCH!

Gina’s abduction experience snaps her depression and gets her into helping others who have suffered the same fate by starting Starcrossed.

Jonathan buys the paper and upgrades it, thinking that his presence will drive Ozzie out of town. It doesn’t. Instead of driving Ozzie away, it triggers another memory of Jonathan putting on his human face. So, Jonathan is Ozzie’s …Dad, maybe?

Ozzie returns to Starcrossed and engages with the group as part of their tribe. *sniff*

Ozzie decides to investigate Jonathan to prove that Aliens are among us and, in some cases, employ us.

Almost forgot, the credits have another amazing song!!!

Once again, gentle-readers, if you like my reviews, tell my boss Lisa Marie Bowman! This show delivers every week. It is the funniest and most immersive show on television. Period. No Shit, Legit!

Channel Zero, “Welcome Home” Season 1, Ep 6; ALT Title: So … Very … Boring.

Posted on November 20, 2016 by casewright

It has finally happened: Channel Zero is over (for now)!

Mike is laying in bed with Eddie- the evil one – and Eddie is …. reading a book about Long John Silver?! Whatever! Then, Eddie shoves a tooth hand into his mouth, symbolizing possession or some really sloppy dentistry work.

Mike wakes and asks his mom, in a clunky way, to kill him when he’s possessed.

Amy and Gary are looking for Tooth Teacher and they see her… and stabby kids. Gary sees his kids and convinces them not to kill anyone. We have to assume that because the children to not respond to him, stare dumbly, and don’t stab him. This show is really going out with a whimper.

Amy finds the evil Winnebago AND…Nothing happens.

Mike decides to meet Eddie because he wants his daughter back and to discuss why Long John Silver got into franchise restaurants.

Mike passes out next to his daughter.

Mike goes into Eddie’s evil reality, which looks a lot like a poorly constructed middle-school drama set. Mike sees a monster we learn is called “Skin Taker”. Skin Taker smashes against the wall in a very A-Ha “Take on Me” way …for some reason. Eddie releases Lilly.

We also learn by a TON OF EXPOSITION: 1) Eddie is the tooth monster, 2)can’t appear in human form because he needs a body, 3)the skin taker is part of him … like they’re totally BFF and everything, 4)Eddie wants to kill children, 5) he wants to pose as Mike to kill children, 6) he uses a TV as a portal into the real world, and 7) he’s REALLY into decoupage! Just before Eddie is about to go on a rampage, he convinces his brother to play War to stall him.

Mike’s mom looks for Mike and runs into Tooth Teacher. They fight. Mike’s Mom wins with help from Amy (Amy shoots Tooth Teacher).

Mikes mom suffocates the passed out Mike, killing him. This prevents Eddie from entering our world. Mike now has to hang with his brother for eternity. Upside: everytime Eddie tries to restart the show’s signal, Mike turns it off. Way to go MIKE!

That’s it! WOOHOO!!!

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Channel Zero: Guest of Honor, Season 1 Episode 5; ALT Title: Who has time for the dentist?!

Posted on November 14, 2016 by casewright

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Challenges for mankind to endure: Chlamydia, Explosive Diarrhea, Channel Zero. I’m not writing that Channel Zero is identical to chlamydia; to get chlamydia, you needed to have fun at least once.

Open: Jessica is exsanguinating in a kiddie pool.

Marla’s House: Marla is being pretty nice to her son and granddaughter. Mike looks like Hell and he goes to the bathroom to see that there is a tooth growing out of his upper gums. The episode goes downhill from here, but stick with me and we can get through this together.

Mike’s Wife arrives and it’s very banal. It’s not like anything happened like his creepy brother Eddie Stabbypants was possessing Lilly! Then, Amy shows up and breaks the meh news that Jessica is stabbed to death.

The Station: Deputy orders an APB for Tooth Teacher, leaving her understaffed. However, Amy’s manpower issue creates a good contrived plot point. I can’t imagine why she did an APB; everyone in this town is pretty ok with stabbing and being stabbed. They should really include their stabbiness at the Chamber of Commerce Visitor’s Center.

Mike decides that he wants to go to Tooth Teacher’s house. Amy can’t spare any cops; so, the obvious choice is Gary who is grieving his wife’s murder and kidnapped Mike. Fine. They arrive and look around Tooth Teacher’s home and find some ersatz Candle Cove props. Tooth Teacher calls Mike and convinces him to see her alone at a random location. He goes because fine.

Dork Deputy is assigned to find Mike. Dork Deputy is able to find Mike easily somehow. When he finds Mike, he is talked into waiting alone for Mike because this would make sense someway. Shit, I forgot to take my stupid pills before watching this show. Quick, just hit me with a fucking hammer in the head. Don’t hold back. WHAM!!! AHHHHHHHH. Dork Deputy is promptly stabbed by Tooth Teacher who is dressed in an almost certainly Value Village/Goodwill purchased costume. For some reason, Mike takes a nap and a has dream sequence with him as a marionette. Really…I mean…Really, this scene was written and filmed … on purpose.

Tooth Teacher shows up at Mike’s house and INSISTS that he and his mom eat pie. He looks like shit. We learn that Eddie is very powerful and created Candle Cove. In the past, the Tooth Teacher was having a seizure and Eddie relieved Tooth Teacher of a seizure, making her a permanent disciple. As a good cult member, she let Eddie kill her only son because that’s what people do. Tooth Teach explains that Eddie is slowly possessing Mike now. All of this was over only ONE slice of pie. I think she should’ve thrown in some ice cream or fruit. It’s clear that the gross tooth is a possession tooth.

Mike’s response is to be aaaaaa dennnnnntist [sung] and pulls the Possession Tooth out.

A motel: Lilly is with her mom at a hotel and then ends up in the TV in Candle Cove somehow. Roll Credits.

This was pretty par for Channel Zero. They tried to build suspense and it was just boring.

CHANNEL ZERO: CANDLE COVE — “Guest of Honor” Episode 105 — Pictured: Jawbone — (Photo by: Allen Fraser/Syfy)

A Few Thoughts on The Walking Dead 7.4 “Service” (dir by David Boyd)

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’m going to try to keep this short.

I like The Walking Dead. Almost all of my friends like The Walking Dead, though there’s also a large number who have recently decided to abandon the show. In general, we’re fans of The Walking Dead here at the Shattered Lens.

But tonight’s episode was a real chore to sit through. After all the hype and all the promises that something big was going to happen during tonight’s special 90-minute program, Service turned out to be a big bunch of nothing. Negan showed up at Alexandria. Negan acted like an asshole. Negan left.

THAT WAS THE ENTIRE FUCKING SHOW!

The thing is — we already know that Negan is an asshole. We know that he’s a bully. We know that he’s a sick and irredeemable bastard. And I’m not sure that the show really needed to devote 90 minutes to reminding us about what we already know. To be honest, the entire Negan terrorizes Alexandria thing could have been handled in 30 minutes. That would have left the 2nd half of the episode for … well, something! Something more than the same crap that we’ve been seeing since season 7 began! I don’t have a problem with the show being disturbing, violent, or even depressing. I do have a problem with the show being tedious and that’s the best way to describe tonight’s episode.

Quite frankly, I’ve had enough of neutered Rick. During tonight’s episode, Rick had plenty of opportunities to do something to stop Negan. When they were visiting the graveyard, he could have set up an ambush. When Negan was standing right out in the open, he could have had a sniper open fire. At one point, Negan even let Rick hold Lucille!

And Rick did nothing.

Where is the Rick who shot zombie Sophia without a hint of emotion? That’s the Rick we need! No more of this boring, teary-eyed, shellshocked Rick. We need our old Rick back and we need him now! If Rick can’t can’t lead his group, he needs to step aside for someone who can.

And Rick, for God’s sake, remember that there’s no crying in the zombie apocalypse!

There are only four episodes left before season 7 goes on hiatus. I am sincerely hoping that those 4 episode will amount to something than just four hours of Negan taunting Rick.

At the very least, we need at least one more episode with King Ezekiel and Shiva…

People of Earth, Acceptance-Season 1 Episode 3; ALT Title: WHAAAA?!!!

Posted on November 13, 2016 by casewright

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This is not typical for me: there is a show without fault. There have been two brilliant works to premiere in 2016! 2016 has gotten a lot of shit, but I can’t see how it’s that different from any other year. People died and we elected a rich racist old white guy as President -seems pretty par for the shitty course. Don’t get me wrong; I’m furious, but not surprised that people chose a POS last Tuesday. This is part of the reason why People of Earth is great; there’s a sense of universal mediocrity that we all deal with everywhere. The hero is in a haze of discontent and mediocrity even before the aliens get to him and the aliens are a mixture of petty and incompetent. The show posits a comfortable universal mediocrity. We aren’t unique with having annoying coworkers or a douchebag boss or shitty job- this is just life: UNIVERSAL… EVERYWHERE. As they told me in the Army: Embrace the Suck!

This episode deals with divorce. Divorce sucks. Imagine a break up, but it’s uncertain for the first time in your life what is yours and if you’ll ever be loved by another human being again for free, not that prostitutes don’t have feelings or negotiable rates… wait…. where was I? In this context, People of Earth explores the painfully banal human concept of divorce with the backdrop of the extraordinary story of slow-moving alien domination.

Open: Ozzie is having dreams about the Lizard alien who is almost certainly Jon teaching him how to use a toy train and he wakes in a cold sweat.

Current day: Jon gets the news from Archer’s VO Guy AVOG that Kurt is dead. Scroty prepares himself with an almost eye-roll for LOTR-Guy’s Hilarious 5 stages of grief in under 30 seconds. It’s awesome.

The Group: Richard reveals to the group that he was served divorce papers and ordered to mediation. He reminisces to an idyllic past and camping trip that was the site of their abduction. He’s convinced the divorce papers are in fact a lizard alien plot of some kind. Ozzie tries to bring Richard back to earth that these are in fact divorce papers, but he’s not ready. Gina demands that Ozzie partner with Richard and guide him through this ordeal.

B Story: Gerry is out of jail.

The Mothership: Scroty is suppressing his feelings, comparing Kurt’s not working to LOTR-Guy’s not working because they’re both….dead weight. WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA! Anywho, LOTR-Guy is trying to get Scroty to express his grief; it doesn’t work.

B Story: Gerry finds the Kurt-alien outline on the asphalt and Joy finds Gerry. They chat and discern that it was likely a lizard death because of the acid blood that damaged the asphalt AND that a city official must have covered it up! The more important part of the scene was the burgeoning love between Gerry and Joy, which is a perfect counterweight to the A-Story where two signatures clearly define love’s end.

A Story- Mediation: Richard goes on about Aliens and his soon to be ex loses it. He agrees to sign it, but uses a fake name.

Richard’s Ex pursues him to the meeting and we learn that their marriage sucked before, she remembers the abduction, and used to be a member of Starcrossed! WHAAAAAAA?!!! Richard leans on Ozzie and agrees to sign the papers. Once again, something has died, but a friendship is born.

The Mothership: LOTR-Guy gets Scroty to deal with his grief, but Scroty gets to the anger step …. and stays there. He scans Kurt’s lifeless mind and sees Gina’s bumper sticker and vows revenge.

Ozzie flashes back to his youth and his dad was JON!!! WHAAAAA?!

Once again- A badass song! Wall of Voodoo- Ring of Fire:

People of Earth, “Sponsored By”, Season 1, Episode 2; It’s Funny Alien Stuff, Bruh!

Posted on November 13, 2016 by casewright

people-of-earth

People of Earth once again delivers! Finding fault with People of Earth is like finding fault with making love, Italian food, or Al Green albums. Bruh. TOTES AWESOMEBALLS, Bruh!!! Let’s grab some ‘Za! I figure I need to use slang like that now that our country is going to be run by a Nuclear Armed Frat House. On fleek- Out; Sweet, Bruh- In.

NYC: Jon is phone stalking Ozzie to get him to return to Buzzfeedish. Bruh.

Gina and Gerry intervene on Ozzie and cajole him to get a sponsor for the Starcrossed Program. Bruh.

The meeting: Ozzie makes a list of names to rule out as his sponsor. As he is judging them, he notices that Chelsea’s recount of LOTR-Guy is remarkably similar to that of Kelly. They begin to discuss it and Gina tries to put a stop to it because this is her club and she makes the rules darn it! Kelly slut shames Chelsea and Richard steals the scene by misquoting Fleetwood Mac. To her chagrin, Father Doug needs to speak to her about their organization. They separate, tell their stories, do sketches of LOTR-Guy and discover- IT WAS THE SAME ALIEN BRUH, BRUH. That’s enough. We learn that Chelsea has a terrible marriage.

Ozzie crosses everyone off his list accept Kelly who becomes his sponsor.

We also learn that LOTR-Guy’s incompetence is what caused Ozzie’s visions. It’s really really funny watching Scroty bust LOTR-Guy’s balls. See what I did there?!!!

Gerry returns to Starcrossed with Ozzie’s car and Archer’s Voice Guy tases him! AWESOME!!!

Jon busts Scroty and Kurt for doing a shitty job with Ozzie’s memory. The response: Kurt beams down to earth and is promptly runover by Gina who’s texting and driving. There’s a lesson here: Texting and Driving kills lizard people!

Archer’s Voice Guy shows up and cleans up Kurt’s acid-bleeding body.

We also get a great song once again- Khala My Friend!!!

A Few Thoughts On The Walking Dead 7.3 “The Cell” (dir by Alrick Riley)

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve been on twitter, reading everyone’s reactions to the latest episode of The Walking Dead, and I’ve noticed a definite pattern.

People who read the comic along with watching the TV show seemed to be pretty excited by tonight’s episode. They were happy that Dwight (played by Austin Amelio) and his wife, Sherry (Christine Evangelista), were prominently featured. I mean, make no mistake. This episode may have technically been a Daryl episode but, for the most part, it was pretty much set up to highlight Dwight and Sherry.

Of course, it was also set up to give us some insight into the way that Negan runs things. We got to see the Sanctuary, the home base of the Saviors, and it’s not really that surprising that it turned out to be the testosterone-fueled Hellhole of everyone’s nightmares. On the plus side, the Sanctuary has power. It has music. It has a TV, though there doesn’t appear to be any good programming. Is a world where the only available entertainment features Tony Danza a world worth saving?

And Negan — well, Negan’s still an asshole. He’s still strutting around with Lucille, bullying everyone that he comes in contact with. Obviously, we were meant to compare Negan’s leadership style to King Ezekiel’s. Ezekiel rules through fantasy. Negan rules through fear. No wonder Gordon tried to leave.

(Gordon’s execution would have been far more powerful if we had more of an idea of who Gordon was meant to be. Then again, that scene was more about Dwight than Gordon.)

Negan is also trying to brainwash Daryl and it’s obvious that Dwight is more than a little jealous. I liked the fact that Dwight didn’t seem to know if he wanted to kill Daryl or beg Daryl to be his best friend. Watching Negan and Daryl, I couldn’t help but think about Merle and the Governor. Of course, that didn’t end well as far as the Dixon family is concerned…

As I said, those who read the comic appeared to enjoy tonight’s episode. On the other hand, viewers who weren’t familiar with the comic seemed to be a bit disappointed. On twitter, they complained that tonight’s episode was too slow and anti-climatic. Interestingly enough, a lot of them said the same thing about last week’s episode with King Ezekiel.

Myself, I have to say that The Cell didn’t do much for me. Last week’s episode may have been slow but, after all the shit that went down in the premiere, I was kind of thankful for a slow episode that featured at least a little humor. But with The Cell, The Walking Dead essentially followed one slow episode with another slow episode, the difference being that this one didn’t really accomplish much.

As I watched day-to-day life in the Sanctuary, I couldn’t help but think about Lost. You remember when Jack, Sawyer, and Kate ended up spending a handful of episodes living with The Others? The society of the Others was genuinely interesting. You could actually imagine watching an alternate version of Lost where the Others would have been the main characters and the Oceanic passengers would have been the rarely seen villains.

You really can’t say the same of The Saviors and life at Sanctuary. The Saviors may be scary and menacing and dangerous but they’re also more than a little boring. I’ve praised Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s performance in the past but, with tonight’s episode, I started to wonder if there was anything more to Morgan’s Negan than what we’ve already seen. Yes, Negan’s a bully. Yes, he’s an asshole. Yes, I’d love to see him devoured by a walker. But I could say the same about a lot of the characters on The Walking Dead. What is it about the television version of Negan that sets him apart from every other wannabe dictator on this show?

To a certain extent, it reminded me of when Colin Hanks showed up as a serial killer on Dexter. I watched him and I thought, “Yeah, he’s pretty fucked up but who isn’t on this show?” At this point, just being fucked up isn’t enough.

What the show needs is one episode — just one — where Negan isn’t bellowing and threatening everyone that he sees. We need one episode where we can see who Negan was before the zombie apocalypse and who he is now when he’s not hiding behind Lucille. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a seriously talented actor and he’s capable of a lot more than just playing a one-dimensional villain.

I hope that The Walking Dead eventually gives him a chance to show everyone how true that is.

I do want to end this review on a positive note so I will say two things:

This episode was directed by Alrick Riley, who previously directed several episodes of an intriguing British spy show called MI5 (a.k.a. Spooks).
That scene with the walker falling out of the sky totally freaked me out!

Horror on TV: The Curse of Degrassi (dir by Stefan Brogren)

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, can you believe it? Halloween is nearly over! In just four more hours, it will be midnight on the West Coast and October will officially be ended and so will our annual horrorthon. Thank you to everyone who contributed and read and commented this year! Y’all make all the hard work more than worth it!

Well, here’s our final excursion into the world of televised horror. Ready for it? I’m getting a little teary-eyed.

This is a special episode of my favorite TV show of all, Degrassi! Originally aired on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s main mean girl, Holy J Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), getting possessed by the vengeful spirit of deceased school shooter, Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis). Chaos follows!

Happy Halloween and Enjoy!

Love you!