This week we open on a familiar face, but a new character. Turns out that there are more than 2 Rudys, and this new one is getting out of prison today. This is about to put the other Rudys are in a spot of bother.
Category Archives: TV
The Walking Dead: 3.05 – “Say The Word” Review
“Say The Word” was an extraordinarily intense episode of The Walking Dead. Getting back to the standard format of the show, this episode picks up where episode 4 left off. After learning that his wife is dead, Rick is in a state of shock. This is not the Beth type of shock where you lay in a bed and become suicidal… this is Rick’s own personal hell. He becomes enraged and takes an axe to anything he can find in the prison.
He comes across a walker who…*shudders*…ATE Lori. Her body is gone with only scraps and a bullet remaining on the floor where she was left. It was devastating.
Back at Woodbury, Michonne got the award for best zombie kill of the week by unleashing some caged biters and letting her katana loose on them.
Michonne then had to have a sit-down with the Governor, who wants her to stay. He explained that she fits in. He then spoke with Andrea to try to get her to convince Michonne to stop being so aggressive and just embrace the town, as she is making other people uncomfortable. Andrea is being an idiot about it, but I cannot in any way blame her. If I had spent the past 8 months constantly fighting for my life, I would want peace and safety, too. After Michonne leaves without Andrea, who refuses to succumb to the ultimatum, the Governor asks Andrea to go with him to the event they’re having that night in the town. The event? ZOMBIE FIGHT CLUB!!!
This is one of the most interesting uses for these guys I have seen on this show. The walkers form a ring around the two men and are chained to posts. The chains are loosened as the fight draws near an end. Merle wins this fight, of course.
We also saw that the Governor keeps his daughter, who is a walker, locked up. He was brushing her hair. Everyone in the room with me while I was watching this kept saying how creepy this scene was. I, for one, thought that it was just devastatingly sad. Here, this man has his daughter, his own flesh and blood, and she wants to kill him. We have seen it a lot in this show. Sophia had to be put down by Rick, Andrea’s sister Amy had to be put down by Andrea… it is so sad to see. Everyone is losing people closest to them, and I imagine that what happened to his family turned the Governor into this madman.
Maggie and Daryl went out and found supplies for the wee baby Grimes (Walsh?). They brought back formula and such, which lead to a sweet moment in the episode. Daryl was feeding the unnamed baby and smiling. As a woman, I am absolutely a sucker for this stuff. It was adorable.
At the end of the episode, after Rick has absolutely destroyed the walker who ate Lori, the phone in the boiler room rings. He picks it up, aaaaand of course the episode ends. WHO IS IT?! Could it be Carol calling trapped in another part of the prison? Could it be someone working for the Mayor, scouting all of the nearby places for survivors? Or is Rick just losing his marbles? Could it be someone like Shane or Lori on the phone? Could Rick be literally going crazy? Who takes over the group then? Although I am not happy that I’ll have to wait to find out, I am glad I have something to look forward to!
I could not have imagined that this season would be so amazing. I have loved just about every episode of this show so much that I find it difficult to be objective in rating them and trying to not give everything a perfect score. After much deliberation, I would say this is 4/5 Grizzlies.
Red Dwarf: Series 10 – A Retrospective…
So with the latest series of Red Dwarf just finishing on UK screens, I thought it time to look back on the series and see how well it has adapted to its new home on the UK channel Dave, and how the series progressed with a little breakdown of each episode for anyone who missed them.
Trojan (Episode One) brought the dwarfers back in a tale involving a new ship, Rimmers resentment files making him crash and a chance encounter with his brother who is now a captain and a hologram.
Fathers and Suns (Episode Two) has a depressed Lister missing his dad (who is actually Lister, it’s a time travel thing!). Lister starts recording messages when drunk to himself, to teach the hung over Lister how to be a man, while the rest of the crew struggle with a new computer programme they have installed which is doing more harm than good.
Lemons (Episode Three) has a faulty rejuvenation shower sending the crew back to the UK AD 23, where they meet a chap who seems very familiar, turns out his name is Jesus.
Entangled (Episode Four) has The Cat and Kryten stuck in a quantum tangle where they speak in unison, and Rimmer is lost in a poker game with the Gelfs. This all leads to a weird conclusion.
Dear Dave (Episode Five) Lister finds himself in a love triangle with two food dispensers and also struggles with the notion he could have been a father to a child long dead.
The Beginning (Episode Six) Rimmers back-story is looked into more while the crew get attacked by a bunch of rogue stimulants.
The series is a mixed bag, but mostly the episodes feel like the Red Dwarf we all know and love. The set design is different, with a lot more action happening in corridors and a selection of quarters and Kryten’s facial design looks a tad bizarre at first, but it soon grows on you. The great thing about the smaller budget means that the stories are more streamlined and back to basics. The feel of this series is very much like series one and two (minus Holly which is still a shame), with very few special effects and the scope of the episodes focusing a lot more on the characters and not on the developing story arcs. In fact this series has no real story arc, each episode is pretty much self-contained and can be watched in pretty much any sequence (with the exception of the last episode). This new episode structure means it is a great way for people who have never seen Red Dwarf to jump in and not feel too intimidated by the ongoing series. However the series is full of little references to other episodes which make it more rewarding for hard-core dwarfers. For example Rimmer is still trying and failing to pass his officer exams and still stuck in the shadow of his family (which we see throughout the series is not as successful as they appear), while The Cat has gone back to entertaining himself with his piece of string. The series is full of little references like this and recurring characters (The Gelfs and the Rogue Simulants appearing to cause the crew hassle). The balance between keeping the regular fans happy and the new viewers is spot on.
The new series is very character based, with a lot of emphasis on how the dwarfers get on together. The actors have not lost any of their magic and it warms your heart to see them interacting together again. The only downside is that the series is very Rimmer and Lister heavy with The Cat and Kryten only getting one episode that is their own and that is in a subplot. Not that they don’t pull their weight, some of the more restrained moments of hilarity involve these two, examples include Kryten blow drying cutlery with his blower attachment stuck to his anus and The Cat and Kryten speaking in unison. The series is full of little jokes like this, which really make it work. But the story development really goes to Rimmer and Lister. Lister has some interesting scenes involving him as a father and being his own dad, as well as how depressing his life has become now he is alone in the universe. Rimmer has some truly great scenes in this series; in fact this series has given him the most character development out of everyone. We find out his family is not as good as they appear, with a brother who was not a captain at all and a father who was actually a gardener and not a teacher as he imagined. All of the cast members are fantastic together and even the poorer episodes work because of just how great they are.
It is not without its problems however. Some episodes don’t hit as well as they could. Lemons, especially suffers from this, with one or two great gags, but a lot of just plain awful ones. It just seems like a lazy episode in some respects, with the Jesus story not really working. This is the weakest episode of the bunch, but Dear Dave also feels in places a little bit padded. But overall all the episodes are great fun to watch for one reason or another. One of the strongest is definitely Fathers and Suns which is a very simple episode but is just hilariously funny, with both plots diverging and coming together beautifully. The best episode in the entire series however is The Beginning with a great mix of pathos and humour and a nice turn for all the cast, but Rimmer developing so much as a character is the highlight. At the end of the day, when the dust from the series has settled, it still has it. This series was incredibly funny and although the episodes are more reined in, they have more magic to them than some of the later series’, which were special effects heavy but lost some of the Red Dwarf spirit. This has that feel, the characters are all there and more importantly the humour is there. Red Dwarf has always been a show about the crew and their chemistry together. It is great to see that after years without a full series, it is still there. A great return to form and a series that can easily be watched again and again. It feels comfortable to watch, with enough attempts to be daring that it does not seem to stagnate (even if some of the attempts fail). From one dwarfer to another, it was smegging awesome. Watch out world the slime is coming home!
Boardwalk Empire: 3.09 – “The Milkmaid’s Lot”
After last week’s episode, I felt like I needed to come up with a pair of Sensory Deprivator 5000’s just to let my brain recover. Between the Iron Man meltdown of Van Alden and then Gyp literally blowing shit up, I just couldn’t figure out how on earth they were going to continue. Turns out that Nucky needed the Sensory Deprivator 5000 as well.
Can we take a moment and revel in Eddie’s (Anthony Laciura) fabulousness? He grabs my attention in almost every scene he is in and it’s usually because he’s in the background being amazing. I love him in this one here where he’s following the doctor’s finger right along with Nucky. I felt like this entire episode the viewers were all trying to help Nucky along as he was in and out of lucidity the entire time. But more about Nucky later, first let’s discuss Richard Harrow.
That roughly translates “OH MY GOD RICHARD HARROW AND JULIA AT THE DANCE ARE SO CUTE!!!!!”. Seriously, how adorable was all that? The corsage, the dancing, the kiss? I know there was quite a large populations of fans that did not like Julia but hopefully this won them over. I happen to really like her and think she is great for Richard. Here’s hoping we see more of her in the future.
You know who I don’t want to see more of? Gillian! Last week I thought I might become a fan of hers, thought I might be coming around in my opinion of her. Then this week comes along and she returns right back to the shitter from which she came from. Why on Earth is she mad at Richard for Tommy walking in on the “adult activities”? Hello you are the one who has him living in a whore house! And if you are really hell-bent on placing blame on others, what about the whores who sent him into the room in the first place? I mean really Gillian, pull your head out of your ass because you are really getting on my nerves. Blerg.
It’s a little disturbing to consider how much therapy the children of Boardwalk Empire are going to need. Teddy is a pyro who will probably end up being a serial killer, Emily’s bleeding cake was just freaky, and now we’ve got Tommy needing a little rum mixed into his milk to get some sleep. The mental issues pass on to another generation, maybe the writers are trying to build in their own Saved by the Bell: The New Class.
If you blinked, you might have missed Esther Randolph’s brief appearance and her kick ass hat. Watching Remus run around his massive bird-cage while nearly naked was hysterical. Apparently he is going to try to offer up Jess Smith so I’m sure we’ll have more of that story line next week. This was just a “while we are focusing on Gyp and Nucky, please remember that there is this whole other thing going on over here” kind of situation.
Man alive how focused was this episode of Nucky and Gyp? Don’t get me wrong, I am so not complaining. Actually I loved how much we saw of Nucky and Margaret together as it seems like they haven’t spent ten minutes together the entire season so far.
What I don’t like?
There are people who love Margaret and Owen, but I am not one of them. For one, I think Owen is totally playing Margaret. I don’t think he has any intention of leaving the gangster life and moving to somewhere quiet. I can totally see him going to one of the other bosses and double-crossing Nucky. I also just don’t like them. I want Margaret to wake up one morning, completely okay with Nucky’s gangstering and decide to become the Queen of Atlantic City. If she and Nucky were to combine forces? They’d be unstoppable. Screw Arnold Rothstein, Nucky and Margaret forever.
I think this is all going to be a moot point however, because as I said, what? four episodes ago? Owen is a dead man walking. This episode just cinched it for me. You go ahead and try to leave Owen, perhaps you should remember what happened to the last guy who struck out on his own.
Steve Buscemi was amazing in this episode. I’ve never been more convinced that a person was suffering a head injury more than I did last night. The way he kept mistaking people for others, the manic state at Emily’s party, and then the momentary clarity he had while sitting on the can talking to Margaret. I would not even doubt it for a moment if it was announced that Steve Buscemi wasn’t actually acting in this episode, but rather had taken a blow to the head and they just decided to film it.
It was a piece of brilliant writing that brought back Nucky’s “I’m all alone” feeling that has been running throughout this entire season. It’s been one of those story arcs that when you look at it by each episode you might think Nucky has been stagnant but as a whole, Nucky really has grown quite a bit. Not necessarily in a good way, but grown just the same. He’s dealing with Jimmy’s death, he’s realizing that maybe he really didn’t want to be this person but that he’s made his bed and has no choice but to sleep in it. Even though he wishes everything would run on its own, he knows it won’t because when he even ignores it for a day, shit gets bad. So now he’s calling in all the other bosses for a meeting.
I’ll admit, I’m nervous. It’s obvious Nucky isn’t in a right frame of mind now (calling Emily hummingbird and then thinking that it was Margaret’s earring he found) so what on Earth is his reaction going to be when he finally gets better and realizes that he literally is all alone on this Gyp thing? Maybe since Torrio didn’t come he’ll go out to Chicago looking for Torrio’s help in person? I don’t know. It’s a mystery. A secret only the writer’s know so far.
What’s not a secret is Gyp is insane.
That hat. Oh my God that hat. Masseria tells him that he might someday be a general so what does Gyp do? Busts into the library case and steals the hat of “Mad” Anthony Wayne. The irony is completely lost on him. Dude is light years more “mad” than Anthony Wayne ever was. Anthony Wayne got the nickname because of his short temper and hot headedness. I imagine if Gen. Wayne were to ever meet Gyp Rosetti he’d say “wow, that dude needs to take it down a notch” because Gyp is certifiable.
I loved how they gave a shout out to the “bible camp” much like their mention of the Methodists earlier in the season. Even though they are in Tabor Heights, they are hearkening back to the history of Mount Tabor, New Jersey, the place Tabor Heights is obviously based on.
Actually I loved this entire episode. After two episodes back to back filled with many “WTF just happened!!” moments, it was nice to have a quieter one. I appreciate that instead of having it be a quiet episode that doesn’t do much (because there have been plenty of those), this one moved the plot along quite well. No longer is Nucky’s gangster/girlfriend/wife and children lives all separate but now are thrown together in a messy concussed pile so it will be interesting to see how he deals with that. Not to mention what Margaret will end up doing. Then of course there’s the falling out from the bosses meeting. How on Earth is that going to shake out?
There’s just three episodes left and I’m sure they’ll be firing on all cylinders from here on out so we need to just sit back and enjoy the ride. I have a feeling that the remaining episodes are all going to be highly rated, and even though there wasn’t a lot of action/explosions/WTF in this episode, Steve Buscemi alone deserves a four and a half so that’s what we’re going with.
Until next time, I leave you with this. The great Eddie “helping” Emily blow out her candles. I love him.
SNL: 38.6- Anne Hathaway/Rihanna
I feel as if I should disclose something before I begin. I adore Anne Hathaway. She can do no wrong in my eyes. However, I was pretty certain that after the crushing defeat Alabama suffered yesterday, I was never going to laugh again. If there was anyone that could bring a smile back to my life, surely it was Anne Hathaway. Thankfully, she came through for me.
Thankfully the cold open didn’t dictate how the show would end up because it was just bad. Okay, maybe it wasn’t bad but it certainly wasn’t as[pullquote_right]Paul Ryan is doing feats of strength.[/pullquote_right] good as it could have been. I was really hoping they’d do a Fox and Friends with Karl Rove as their guest. Then again there’s the logistics of who Bobby Moynihan would play (he was Karl Rove in the open) but surely they could have figured something out. Oh well, I suppose it was nice to send off Jason Sudekis’ Mitt Romney impression with one last cold open.
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/xnxx-92/widget/widget.html?vid=1423640
All was forgiven when the monologue got under way. Usually when they do a musical monologue I roll my eyes because it seems like an easy cop-out but this was Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables, the entire cast, and the Mexican flag. There was no way this wasn’t going to be awesome.
Best part was Tim Robinson and Aidy Bryant singing that they aren’t in many sketches because they are new. Of course Cecily Strong is new and we’ve seen plenty (too much at times) of her. There was one person a bit out of tune there on the last held note but sometimes even ex-choir directors are able to look past that and enjoy it anyway.
The “Girlfriends Talk Show” was a throwaway. Not much to write home about except it was nice to see Aidy as a main character of a sketch.
[pullquote_left]He’s most likely carrying diseases[/pullquote_left] The last two digital shorts might have been more of a dark humor but “Mokiki” was just straight up funny. Odd, very odd, but still funny. Perhaps it was simply due to it being Taran Killam and Anne Hathaway, two people I adore, but I loved it. The best part has to be the random people’s reactions. I suppose if you don’t watch the show and don’t have the “where is Taran Killam located right this moment” app on your phone then it’s a good chance you’d really think this dude was a bit off. Of course you’d also maybe wonder as to why there was a camera following this fool around but some people are just that oblivious.
When it comes to sketches that are parodies of shows, especially shows on premium channels, I feel badly for the viewing public that has not seen said show. Same goes for last night because if you don’t watch Homeland, then you probably have no clue as to how on spot and perfect the Homeland sketch was. Well I do watch Homeland so let me assure you, it was the best sketch of the night.
I don’t know that I’ve seen Bill Hader do Mandy Patinkin before, but it was uncanny. Taran Killam and Anne Hathaway’s Brody and Carrie, 
respectively, were hysterical. It was one of those sketches that you watch it and realize that the show you love and that is so well done, really is ridiculous when looked at in a different light. I imagine if Clare Danes and Damian Lewis were to watch the sketch, they’d agree that SNL’s interpretation was well done.
The McDonald’s sketch was both predictable but funny at the same time. My only beef (ha!) is with Cecily Strong. I get that there was a lot of dialogue to remember in that one but perhaps try to not be so obvious about reading off the cards. That and the writing could have been a little better.
Bobby 
Moynihan is stellar with sketches like this one and last night was no different. If Taran Killam were no longer on the show, Bobby Moynihan would easily be my favorite cast member. Second best sketch of the night.
Usually the musical guests are an amusing, sometimes entertaining, break from the show. When Rihanna’s first number started, I thought I had accidentally ingested some mushrooms. What the hell was that? Seriously. I know I’m dating myself but it looked like she had gone to Bush Gardens and made a music video at the green screen booth. I fully expected her and her band to come out in the Old West costumes under a sepia light for the second number. The band was just a bunch of floating heads as what looked awfully like a Windows 98 screen saver. Not sure whose idea that was, but they need to perhaps find a new line of work because that was just horrendous. It did however, show exactly what I love about the internet today. Even 10 years ago you’d have to wait until Monday to have that “did you see Rihanna’s first performance on SNL?” conversation. In today’s world you can jump on tumblr, go to the SNL tag and immediately there are a ton of people asking the same thing. We live in great times friends, great times indeed.
Drunk Uncle is quickly becoming one of my favorite Weekend Update guests. I’m sure there are people who will hunt me down like a dog when I saw this but I actually hated Kristin Wiig’s “Aunt Linda” character. Sure she had her moments but overall, not fun. Drunk Uncle? Love him. I nearly choked on my coffee (had to watch SNL this morning due to the aforementioned depression over a football game) when he did the Windows 8 bit. Here’s hoping there more of Drunk Uncle in the future.
Another thing I hope sticks around for awhile- Kate McKinnon’s Ellen. Everything about it is so well done that I couldn’t believe this sketch was actually in the last part of the hour. It could have easily switched spots with the “Girlfriends Talk Show” and I’m wondering if time was the only reason it wasn’t. The way she jumps up and down in the chair and their shout out to the YouTube kids, great sketch all the way around.
The rest of the episode was a sketch about “American Gothic” that was mildly entertaining, Rihanna minus the hallucinogenics, and a fauxmercial. They were all right. Most notable thing was people’s reaction to the fauxmercial. Apparently you can’t poke fun at people with fake allergies. I was unaware of this and will readjust my life accordingly. Thank you internet for showing me the error of my ways.
Overall? A solid episode. When I watched it the first time, there wasn’t anything that stood out as “best sketch ever!” nor any that just sucked ass. Second time watching it, I realized that was because the episode was good in its entirety. Sadly, that is not the norm so it was a pleasant realization.
Next week will bring out the fanboy in all of us as Jeremy Renner will be hosting. You best believe there will be at least one Avengers reference, if not many. I can’t wait!
Until then!
Vertigo Is Coming To ‘Arrow’… Kind Of
Another day, another Arrow character announcement. This one is exciting but at the same time makes me feel a little trepidatious. Who is this new character? Why, it’s none other than Count Vertigo.
TV Line first reported this story along with the news that while Count Vertigo was coming, he wasn’t going to be called Count Vertigo or even Vertigo at all. I’m a pretty easy going type of gal and usually things like name changes don’t bother me. I don’t really like that it’s Starling City( as opposed to Star City) in the show, but I’ve been able to move on and not lose sleep over it. This however? This one might take some getting used to. Not only is Count Vertigo such a known character, he’s a rather large-ish character in the Green Arrow world. If I remember correctly, he would be the first (announced) villain that is truly a Green Arrow villain. So to take him and then make him into someone else but with aspects of the original Count Vertigo just seems to be a little blasphemous.
According to TV Line,a source told them that Not Vertigo would be “truly scary and nightmarish” and that the name Vertigo will actually be that of a drug this villain is putting into the hands of Starling City residents. I bet you dollars to donuts, Thea “Speedy” Queen will be one of those lucky winners. They’ve laid the groundwork in earlier episodes so it wouldn’t be an out of left field kind of thing when she shows up tweaking.
No casting has been announced as of yet, but Not Vertigo is scheduled to make his premiere sometime in early 2013.
There is however, one casting announcement to be made. The fine people over at IGN are reporting that Ben Browder is scheduled to appear as Ted Gaynor, head of the Blackhawks in early 2013. Most sci-fi fans will recognize Browder as John Crichton of Farscape.
As much as I enjoyed Farscape, Ben Browder will always be Sam Brody from Party of Five for me. I’ll admit to swooning quite a bit whenever ol’ Sam hit the screen. We’ll have to see if he has the same effect as Ted Gaynor.
Grizzly Bomb 