TV Review: The Walking Dead 7.9 “Rock in the Road” (dir by Greg Nicotero)

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, The Walking Dead is back and again, I am going to try to watch and review each episode for the Shattered Lens. You may remember that I attempted to do this during the first half of season 7. I reviewed the first five episodes of the new season and then…

Well, how to put this?

I got bored.

Seriously, I tried to make excuses for the glacial pace of season 7. I kept telling myself that it was actually a brilliant narrative decision. I defended the controversial first episode and I’ll continue to do so. I enjoyed the second episode, largely because of the tiger. But, after that, I started to get bored. Each episode introduced us to a new community of boring people. Each episode featured a lot of conversation but little action. And what little action there was regularly interrupted by Negan popping up and screaming for half an hour. As much as I like character development and conversation, this is a show about the end of the world. There’s only so much time that I can spend watching Rick look depressed.

And so, after five episodes, I gave up on the first half of season 7. It was just too slow and the show was spending so much time on what a badass Negan supposedly was that the zombies had become an afterthought. Did season 7 really need a special 90 minute episode of Negan acting like a dick? I still watched the show but mentally, I checked out. And, judging by how the ratings cratered between the 1st episode (8.7 million viewers) and the 8th episode (5 million viewers), I was not alone in being dissatisfied.

But, in the break between the end of the first half of season 7 and tonight’s return, I’ve had time to recover. Today, as I debated whether to actually watch the new episode of The Walking Dead, I considered that this show has hit rough spots in the past. It’s never been a perfect show. I wasn’t a huge fan of season 1 and, in later seasons, I thought they spent way too much time at Herschel’s farm. But, in the past, when The Walking Dead has needed to deliver, that’s exactly what it’s done. In short, I decided to give The Walking Dead a second chance.

And, having just watched tonight’s episode, I’m glad that I did. Rock in the Road was a good episode. In fact, it may have been the best episode since The Well. There were still flaws, of course. As any true Walking Dead fan knows, this show has always been uneven. The Walking Dead is a gloriously imperfect show but, at its best, it’s the type of show that can almost make those flaws seem admirable. It’s easy to get frustrated with The Walking Dead‘s leisurely pace and rambling narrative. But, ultimately, that leisurely pace has also led to some of The Walking Dead‘s most resonant moments.

Much like every other episode so far in season 7, Rock in the Road told its story slowly but, at the same time, it at least had a destination in mind. Rick has finally snapped out of his self-pity and is now trying to build an alliance to fight Negan and the Saviors. As this episode showed, it won’t necessarily be easy. But, at least Rick is actually trying to do something!

There are several reasons why Rock in the Road was a noticeable improvement over the first half of the season. Here’s a few:

Action Rick is more fun than Shellshocked Rick. As an actor, Andrew Lincoln is far more compelling when he’s standing up for himself than when he’s being grimly morose. To be honest, I’ve never been sold on Rick as a leader. When I watched him trying to build up his anti-Negan alliance, I found myself wondering if people were aware that Rick doesn’t exactly have a great track record as far as keeping people alive is concerned. But, in the end, it didn’t matter. Action Rick is fun, even if you know all of his plans are doomed to go terribly wrong.
This episode actually had a few moments of humor. The first half of season 7 was way too grim. Just because the world is ending, that doesn’t mean people are going to stop being snarky.
Ezekiel! The first community that Rick and his group visited was the Kingdom so they got to meet King Ezekiel and Shiva. Ezekiel and the Kingdom were the highlight of the first half of season 7 and it looks like that might be true for the second half as well. I loved the entire sequence at the Kingdom, everything from Ezekiel’s promise to have an answer by “the morrow” to the wonderful moment when Jesus realized that he had forgotten everyone’s names.
No Negan! Well, that’s not quite true. We heard Negan’s voice but, for the first time in a long time, we had an episode where the entire narrative didn’t have to stop just so Negan could launch another one of his insane gym coach monologues. Like most great villains, Negan works best in small doses.
That final scene! I’m going to guess from the lack of men and children that those were Oceansiders who were surrounding Rick. Rick’s smile provided a wonderful final shot for this episode. When he flashed that smile, I realized that the old Rick was finally back.

I was really happy with Rock in the Road. In fact, I’m happy enough to actually watch next week as well. Hopefully, this episode will be the start of season 7’s redemption.

Here’s the Super Bowl Spot For Stranger Things: Season 2!

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Coming soon to Netflix!

Here’s the Super Bowl Spot For Hulu’s The Handmaid Tale!

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“My name is Offred.”

Margaret Atwood’s novel is a classic and one that, perhaps even more than Orwell’s 1984, feels especially relevant today. Will Hulu do it justice? We’ll find out on April 26th.

2016 in Review: 10 Good Things I Saw On Television In 2016

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Of all my 2016 in review posts, this is probably going to be the most difficult for me to write.

Last year, when I tried to write about some of the good things that I saw on television in 2015, I started things by confessing that I hadn’t been watching as much television as usual and that I was having a hard time coming up with a worthwhile list.

Well, in 2016, I watched even less television than I did in 2015. And what I did watch, I usually didn’t care much for. 2016 was dominated by that stupid presidential election and it didn’t take me long to discover that watching too much television would result in me having to sit through hundreds of political commercials. When it came to watching television, I spent a good deal of 2016 clicking on the mute button.

Of course, I watched all of the reality shows, but even that was largely because I was contracted to write about them at the Big Brother Blog and Reality TV Chat.

I also spent a good deal of time watching classic films on TCM. I live tweeted most of the movies that premiered on Lifetime and the Lifetime Movie Network. I did the same during those rare occasions that a new movie showed up on SyFy.

But, beyond that, I found myself with less reason than usual to watch television. Maybe I’m maturing. Maybe my tastes are changing. Maybe I’ve just grown bored with TV in general. Or, perhaps, 2016 was just a really bad year.

Who knows?

Still, with all that in mind, here are a few good things that I saw on television in 2016!

1) American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson

The television event of the year! I watched every episode and I was absolutely enthralled. This brilliantly acted show is probably destined to be remembered as the only worthwhile project that Ryan Murphy was ever involved with.

(“But Lisa, what about American Horror Story…” American Horror Story sucks. Don’t even get me started on Scream Queens…)

2) Veep continued to be the most brilliant comedy on HBO.

I know that some people felt that Veep wasn’t as strong this season as it had been in previous seasons. Well, those people can go to Hell. Veep is not only a brilliant comedy but it’s also probably the most realistic political show on TV. Considering the cult-like adoration that voters have for their candidates and towards the government in general, the unrepentant cynicism of Veep provided a much-needed wake up call to the brainwashed masses.

3) Speaking of Veep…

Without a doubt, this was the best campaign commercial of 2016:

4) Stranger Things

Thank you, Netflix!

5) Agent Carter

The 2nd season of Agent Carter was just as wonderful, stylish, and empowering as the first. Of course, the show as promptly canceled, leaving us with just a grand total of 18 episodes.

6) Speaking of cancellations…

American Idol finally came to an end! Don’t get me wrong. Like a lot of people, I used to be enthralled by American Idol. For the first few seasons, I watched every episode. I voted nearly every week. I got really emotionally involved. But, especially over the last few seasons, American Idol was becoming more and more irrelevant. It soon came to represent everything that people like me hate about cultural conformity. Vote For The Worst ceased operations, leaving me without a safe place to talk about how annoying it was whenever anyone would use that Hallelujah song for an audition. A steady stream of boring judges didn’t help either. American Idol finally came to an end last season. I watched the final episode. I can’t remember who won.

7) Bates Motel Continued To Take Brave Risks

Occasionally frustrating, sometimes infuriating, and often quite brilliant, Bates Motel remained one of the most consistently fascinating shows on television.

8) Vinyl crashed and burned

It may seem petty to describe a dramatic failure as being something good that I saw on television. But, seriously, Vinyl was such a hubris-fueled trainwreck that it was impossible not to feel a little Schadenfreude as it fell apart.

9) Westworld

The anti-Vinyl.

10) The unicorn was saved.

According to Case, the life of a unicorn was saved when People of Earth was renewed for another season. Yay!

Tomorrow, I’ll continue my look back at 2015 with my ten favorite non-fiction books of the year!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2016:

Enjoy Christmas With The Dean Martin Christmas Show!

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I was doing a search on YouTube for Christmas specials, Christmas songs, and Christmas scenes when I came across The Dean Martin Christmas Show, which originally aired on December 21st, 1967. It’s a Christmas show starring Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and their respective families. Sure, some of the jokes may be corny but c’mon — it’s Frank and Dino!

Now, the video is occasionally a little rough. I assume that this was copied from a VHS tape. But no matter! Not only does this special serve as a time capsule but it also serves as a valuable reminder that Christmas is even better when it features a little Rat Pack swagger!

A Blast From The Past: The Making Of It’s A Wonderful Life (dir by Sandra Moiseeff)

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Now that you’ve either seen the film or listened to the radio adaptation of It’s A Wonderful Life, how about a documentary about how this classic film came to be in the first place?

The Making Of It’s A Wonderful Life was apparently made for television and was broadcast in 1990. Hosted by actor Tom Bosley, it’s a warm and appreciative look at a much beloved classic.

And here it is!

The SAG Nominations are here and … Hello there, Captain Fantastic!

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier the year, I choose not to see Captain Fantastic. Every bit of advertising that I saw for it led me to believe that Captain Fantastic was basically just Wes Anderson-lite and, as we all know, only Wes Anderson can successfully duplicate Wes Anderson.

Well, I think I may have made a mistake because Viggo Mortensen is definitely in the hunt for best actor. Though most of the precursor awards (so far) have gone to Casey Affleck for Manchester By The Sea, Mortensen still seems like a likely nominee.

Just consider this: he got a SAG nomination! And so did Captain Fantastic, itself! It was nominated for best ensemble, which is the SAG equivalent of best picture…

Actually, maybe you shouldn’t spend too much time fixating on that. People like me always talk about how the SAG awards are an obvious precursor for the Oscars. Our logic is that the Actor’s Branch is the largest voting bloc in the Academy and the members of the Actor’s Branch are among those who also vote for the SAG awards.

Of course, we always forget that the majority of SAG members are themselves not a part of the Academy. So, while enough members of SAG may have liked Captain Fantastic for it to get an unexpected ensemble nomination, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those voters are also members of the Academy.

I mean, let’s consider what happened last year. Beasts of No Nation picked up an ensemble nomination. So did Straight Outta Compton. So did Trumbo. None of those films proved to be an Oscar powerhouse. In fact, Beasts of No Nation received a grand total of zero Oscar nominations.

So, let’s put it like this — it’s a good sign for a film or a performer to get a SAG nomination. But there’s still no guarantee that it will translate into Oscar recognition. Captain Fantastic may have been nominated and La La Land was snubbed (for ensemble). But I imagine that the reverse will happen when the Oscar noms are announced in January.

With all that in mind, here are the SAG nominations!

FILM

Best Film Ensemble
“Captain Fantastic”
“Fences”
“Hidden Figures”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

Best Actor
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Best Actress
Amy Adams, “Arrival”
Emily Blunt, “The Girl on the Train”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Hugh Grant, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”

Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Stunt Ensemble
“Captain America: Civil War”
“Doctor Strange”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Jason Bourne”
“Nocturnal Animals”

Best Comedy Ensemble
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Black-ish”
“Modern Family”
“Orange is the New Black”
“Veep”

Best Comedy Actor
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Titus Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

Best Comedy Actress
Uzo Aduba, “Orange is the New Black”
Jane Fonda, “Grace & Frankie”
Ellie Kemper, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Lily Tomlin, “Grace & Frankie”

Best Drama Ensemble
“The Crown”
“Downton Abbey”
“Game of Thrones”
“Stranger Things”
“Westworld”

Best Drama Actor
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”
John Lithgow, “The Crown”
Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”

Best Drama Actress
Millie Bobby Brown, “Stranger Things”
Claire Foy, “The Crown”
Thandie Newton, “Westworld”
Winona Ryder, “Stranger Things”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”

Best Movie/Miniseries Actor
Riz Ahmed, “The Night Of”
Sterling K. Brown, “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
Bryan Cranston, “All The Way”
John Turturro, “The Night Of”
Courtney B Vance, “The People v. O.J. Simpson”

Best Movie/Miniseries Actress
Bryce Dallas Howard, “Black Mirror”
Felicity Huffman, “American Crime”
Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill”
Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
Kerry Washington, “Confirmation”

Best Stunt Ensemble
“Game of Thrones”
“Daredevil”
“Luke Cage”
“The Walking Dead”
“Westworld”

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!

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…

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!