Am I the only one watching Orphan Black?

I seriously hope not because I want to see a second season of it.  Orphan Black airs on BBC America here in the colonies and I am really digging this show.  But if you don't know anything about it, I don't want to spoil it for you.  Just give it a shot and see what you think.  Luckily for you, BBCA is doing a marathon on Saturday, leading up to the season finale.  So set those DVRs now.

The story is interesting (here's the IMDB description: "A streetwise hustler witnesses the suicide of a girl who looks just like her and falls headlong into a deadly mystery.") and moves along at a great pace.  My favorite part is the cast, led by Tatiana Maslany.  She's phenomenal.  I'm shocked I've not noticed her before because the girl can act. In the course of the series, she has to sort of take on other personalities and sometimes those personalities take on other personalites.  Ugh, I can't get into it without spoiling the show for you but just trust me.  Maslany is phenomenal at mastering the slightest difference in character.  Now that I'm writing this, I'm thinking of another show that asked something similar of it's female lead...Dollhouse.  Listen, I love me some Faith and I think Eliza Dushku is wonderful.  However, Maslany is much better at subtlety. 

Anywhoodle, I got sucked in by the end of the second episode and have enjoyed almost every minute of it.  There's mystery, science, science fiction and one dude even has a tail!  And MAX FREAKING HEADROOM is in it!  What more do you need?

The Office - series finale

 

And that's how you do a finale. 

I had my issues with The Office and gave up watching 2 seasons ago but there was no way I was going to miss the finale.  I'm so glad I didn't.  I think what I liked most about it was that even though some situations had changed, the characters still stayed true to themselves. The finale was sweet, funny and awkward just as the show had always been.  Plus the final episode had just the right amount of nostalgia, while also giving us an idea of where these beloved characters were headed.  I laughed, I cried, I wanted to go back and see what I had missed in the past 2 years.

Well done, folks.  And thank you!

Am I the only one watching The Bletchley Circle?

I suspect I might be. And that's a shame. This series was originally produced for ITV, which is, to the
best of my Wikipedia, the British version of PBS. It's been airing on PBS (motto: "The British version of everything is better") in three parts, the third of which aired last night.*

The premise is thus: Four women who worked as codebreakers at Bletchley Park (like Downton Abbey but much, much smaller and wartorn) during WWII team up nine years later to solve a series of brutal murders in London, using the very mathematical and logical skills that they employed during the war. These women have been largely reabsorbed into civilian (i.e., domestic; i.e., patriarchal) life since the '40s, and additionally, they are unable to tell anyone, including their husbands, about their wartime service. Susan, the ringleader and pattern-finder, has a husband who thinks she's merely "the devil at the cryptogram." The other members of the "Circle" consist of Lucy, an ingenue with a photographic memory, who has married an abusive troglodyte; Jean, the former supervisor whose work as a librarian speaks to her uncanny ability to get information; and Millie, a progressive proto-feminist whose economic circumstances caused her to curtail her world travels and work as a waitress. The series manages to riff on post-war "getting the gang back together" movies, detective fiction, and procedural dramas, all with a feminist twist.

The serial killer is chilling, but what I find most compelling about this series is the way it argues for the pervasiveness of all sorts of emotional and physical threats against women in the post-war world. In addition to the domestic battery that Lucy endures, Millie is sexually harassed and Susan's aspirations to think are kindly, but firmly, dismissed by her husband. The Bletchley Circle argues that disregarding women in small ways creates a climate where it is more likely, if never excusable, that a sick man views women not as humans at all, but rather as playthings he can torture and violate while calmly smoking a cigarette.

In addition to the smart gender stuff, the clothes are fabulous. If you've missed this little bit of British methadone to the heroin of Downton Abbey, it's available on DVD!



* And I have NOT watched yet, so if I'm wrong and everyone on the planet has been watching this series, please spoil not.

The Walking Dead - Oy with the recaps already!

"This Sorrowful Life"

Now that was a good episode.  About 45 minutes in to the show I wrote this in my notes: "I still can't figure out where (most of) this episode is going."  I mean, the Glenn and Maggie stuff was self-explanatory and just as it should have been, but the rest of it was kind of head-scratching.  AND I LOVED THAT.  I hate figuring out where shows are going.

We open back with the folks at the prison and Rick is filling Daryl in on the offer and the plan to give up Michonne to save the rest of them.  Daryl thinks it's a bad idea and not that it matters, but I agree with him.  Merle is busy shredding a mattress in search for some stashed weed and I realize how totally smart he is sometimes.  Rick tells him the plan but doesn't get much back from Merle.  Rick makes some comment on Merle not knowing who he is and Merle retorts with, "I'm a damn mystery to me."  I love that line and plan on using it in the future.  However Merle's got Rick's number and is the only one who could have made Rick re-think his plan to turn Michonne over to the incredibly vengeful Governor.

Merle chats with Carol a bit about how she's changed, etc.  Carol gets to the heart of his allegiance, and surprising to no one, it's to his little brother.  Speaking of the tasty Dixon brother, he's trying to get Glenn to forgive Merle for all that went down in Woodbury.  It's probably not going to happen though, because Glenn wants someone to be responsible for what happened to Maggie.  Daryl then finds Merle in a maintenance-type room.  Merle proceeds to give Daryl a hard time about following Rick's orders.

Hershel is reading to Maggie and Beth from the Bible and as he does, we see Rick searching for some wire with which to tie up Michonne.  He gets a glimpse of a pregnant Lori and is able to talk himself out of it.  Dude is really struggling and my heart goes out to him.  He just wants a peaceful existence and that's just not going to happen.  Merle takes it upon himself to knock out and tie up Michonne because he correctly believes that Rick could never pull that trigger.  Rick and Daryl figure out what he's done and Daryl, expert tracker, goes after Merle.

Glenn and Hershel have a very nice moment, which culminates with Glenn asking for Maggie's hand.  AWWWW!  (this means one of them is sure to die, right?)  Hershel gives Glenn his blessing and then we get a rare but honest smile on Hershel's face.  Glenn cuts a walker's finger off and then uses said walker's ring to propose to Maggie.  Well he doesn't actually say anything out loud about getting married but just handing her the ring seems to be enough.  Just ignore all the moaning walkers in the background and you've got a totally sweet and romantic moment.

Merle and Michonne find a car, he jump starts it and sets off an alarm.  Meanwhile, a tied-up Michonne gets to fight off two walkers while bound to a post.  Damn this girl is good.  Merle cuts her loose and they drive off.  During this mini-road trip, they talk and get to know each other a bit more.  Merle discloses that he's killed 16 men since this whole thing started.  Michonne picks up on the fact that he's actually kept count, meaning he's not a complete loss.  Merle cuts her loose and sends her back to the prison alone because he's got something to do.  Daryl finds Michonne and continues on after his brother.  Merle has found a bar, some booze and some tunes.  He's got a hoard surrounding his car and he slowly leads them Peter Piper style to the meeting place with the Woodbury folks.  I swear we all underestimate Merle on a regular basis.

The walkers keep the attention of the Woodbury folk off of Merle who is now inside a building and is successfully taking out some of those Woodbury jerks, including young Ben of the Tyrese crew.  Ooops.  That won't win any favour from Allen.  They finally realize what's going on and get the jump on Merle.  He and the Governor struggle and the Gov actually bites off two of his remaining fingers.  Wow.  Then the Governor shoots him.

While all this is going on, Rick gathers the prison folks, gives up his Ricktatorship and changes it into more of a Rickocracy.  He wants everyone to have a vote on their future of either hitting the road or staying to defend the prison.  Daryl isn't there to hear this moving and needed speech though.  He's come upon the carnage at that abandoned warehouse.  He spots a zombified Merle and has to fight off his dead brother.  Wow.  It's such a good scene for Norman Reedus.  Daryl finishes off his brother, cries a bit and it's very moving.  I'm sad that he'll never really know what Merle did for his little brother and his new family.

The Walking Dead - getting recappy with it

“Prey”

We open with a flashback to quieter times.  Andrea, Michonne and Michonne’s “pets” camped out around a fire.  Andrea inquires about the origin story of the “pets” and Michonne tells her the whole story, going way, way back.  The level of detail she shares about these guys is astounding.  Ha!  Only kidding.  Michonne doesn’t want to talk about it except to say that they weren’t good guys pre-zombification. 

In present day Woodbury (where the bulk of the episode takes place), the Governor’s henchmen are loading up the big guns into trucks while he plays with his amateur torture kit.  Milty the science guy tries to talk some sense into him about the whole ‘killing Rick’s group and torturing the crap out of Michonne’ thing but the Governor is long gone.  Instead Milty decides to let Andrea in on the whole plan and shows her the Governor’s torture chamber including the dentist’s chair of pain.  They’re up above looking in from some type of observation room (with blinds) and he isn’t aware they’re up there.  Andrea has a chance to shoot him but Milty stops her.  UGH!!! Milty, you are such a buzz-kill.  Andrea heads off to warn the folks at the prison that the fit is gonna hit the shan and has to get past Tyrese and Sasha in order to do so.  They half-heartedly try to stop her but let her go and blab to the Governor and Martinez about her leaving.  You’re killing me, Tyrese! 

Martinez takes Tyrese, Sasha, and their two red-shirt buddies, Allen and Ben off to see the pit of spare biters they’ve been collecting.  Tyrese correctly guesses that they’ll be used against the prison folk and wants nothing to do with it.  He and red-shirt Allen fight and Tyrese is definitely the stronger of the two in both strength and character.  Later someone (we don’t see their face) sets fire to the pit of biters and I think we’re supposed to assume it was Tyrese. 

 Meanwhile, Andrea is on the run from a pick-up that’s hot on her trail.  She evades capture from some walkers and ends up outrunning the truck but both wind up at an abandoned warehouse.  Is it necessary to say “abandoned” because aren’t most things in their world abandoned?  Anywhoodle, it’s the Governor driving said truck and this incredibly scary cat and mouse thing goes down inside the warehouse.  He comes close to finding her a few times but she’s able to get the upper hand and lets loose a stairwell full of biters on him and runs out of the building.  It’s at this point where I would have found a way to take his truck from him but then that would be too easy.  Andrea finally reaches the prison, raises her hand in a wave to Rick who is on lookout and then is quickly tackled by the damn Governor.  Rick thinks he saw something and then quickly disregards it as one of his hallucinations.  Fantastic.

The Governor returns to Woodbury claiming to have not found Andrea.  He confronts Tyrese about the pit but after chatting with Milty realizes who the real culprit was.  Then the camera takes a journey down a creepy hallway ending in the Governor’s torture chamber.  We see Andrea is strapped in to the dentist’s chair of utter and total pain and my heart breaks for her.

Dude, I almost forgot to mention the creepy whistling thing the Governor does when he's in a good/torturey mood.  It's the worst tell EVER.  He did it while playing with his torture tools and again while he was chasing Andrea through the warehouse.  I know they want his character to last at least through the rest of this season but he needs to be taken care of already.  He's AWFUL!
 

The Walking Dead

(this will be my shortest review ever!)

Um, so last night's episode was really a far cry from the week before.  It was slow and boring and had lots of talk but sometimes you need those episodes to set up the end of the season. 

Rick and the Governor met at some abandoned (natch) mill full of silos and empty buildings.  They hashed out their mutual hatred and distrust for one another and sorta kinda came to a possible deal. 

It started with the Governor putting his hands up in a show of peace even though we know there's a piece taped to the table at which he and Rick are parlaying.  Andrea enters and tries to broker peace but they kick her out in a very, 'let the men do the talking' sort of way.  The guys chat a bit, the Governor shares about his wife's death before the whole zombie apocalypse thing happened, blah, blah, blah.  I think he says his last name but I missed it, rewound it, and couldn't quite make it out.  The Governor's offer is for them to turn over Michonne and he promises to leave them alone.  He gives Rick two days to think this over.

Outside Daryl and the Governor's lieutenant dude threaten each other, kill some walkers, and then each have a cigarette.  Milty and Hershel get to know each other and Milty actually asks to see Hershel's stump!  For scientific purposes of course.  The nerve.  Hershel hilariously declines with a "you haven't even bought me a drink yet" type of retort.  Then Hershel comforts a distraught Andrea who know has a pretty good idea of what a complete creep the Governor actually is.  I kind of feel badly for her.

Back at the prison, Merle is antsy thinking his brother could be in harm's way and wants to go to the meeting place to take out the Governor once and for all.  Glenn refuses, they tussle, Maggie gets in on it and they stop when Beth fires a gun in the air.  Merle tries to get Michonne to go with him, she refuses but they don't tussle.  Glenn and Maggie make up, hug, kiss and get it on.  Throughout this whole scene with them I keep waiting for Maggie to get shot in the head because I know she's a guest on Talking Dead later. 

Everybody is back home.  The Governor gives orders to shoot everyone but Michonne, which Milty hears and reminds the Governor that this is against his promise.  Um, duh.  Rick lies to the group about the Governor's deal and informs them they're at war.  Wow, I'm proud of Rick for being so perceptive.  Outside he tells Hershel the truth and begs him to talk Rick out of the whole going to war thing just to protect Michonne. 

A Partial Retraction - The Following

Previously I stated how much I was enjoying the new Fox show, The Following.  I still like it.  I still think it's compelling and well-acted but I am having an issue with something:

A reminder as to what I said:

5. Lastly, I'm satisfied with the pacing on The Following.  Things happen and the story moves along quite well.  There's action, we learn things about the plot and the characters, and we're assured there's much more to come.  Well done, writers.  Well done.  Oh and the cops/Feds aren't idiots. I can't stand when TV shows or movies make cops into buffoons who can't shoot straight.

Now?  Now I'm pissed at the writers.  The feds are being outsmarted at every turn.  It's getting completely predictable.  They have no edge over serial killer, Joe Carroll, and his nameless, faceless, countless minions.  Ok, followers. However, my woes with the writers isn't going to stop me from watching the show.  I haven't been keeping up with its ratings so I have no idea how close The Following is to possible cancellation, but I would suggest the writers not fall into patterns of bumbling police and too-smart bad guys.  I'm presuming that one of the main feds is a mole, which again is utterly and completely predictable.

In defense of the writers, I can't imagine how completely difficult it is to write fresh, new ideas without falling into being completely predictable.  We're a been-there-seen-that society and have high expectations for entertainment.  So I'm still holding hope that the show is able to throw a curve ball that most of the viewers don't see coming.

A Walking Dead twofer

Last Week:

“I Ain’t a Judas”

 -Hershel yelled at Rick to get his shit straight.

-Wyatt Twerp (aka Carl) told Rick to take a much needed sabbatical from the Ricktatorship

-The Governor lied to Andrea about the situation with the prison gang and got himself an eye patch.

-Andrea wanted to orchestrate some peace so she made herself a pet (curbed him and everything) to escort her to the prison where she received a chilly reception.

-Hershel and Merle got to know each other; even quoted the Bible a bit.

-Carol and Daryl caught up but still no hanky panky (will those two crazy kids ever get together?)

-Tyrese & co. headed to Woodbury with Milty the science guy and even offered to help the Governor with his Rick problem.

-Beth sang.

-Rick held his baby,

-And finally, Andrea got nekkid with the Governor, pulled a knife on him while he slept, but couldn’t bring herself to kill him.

Last Night:

(This, IMHO, was an outstanding episode.  If you haven’t watched it, don’t read this recap.  You need to experience it.)

“Clear”

Rick, Michonne and Wyatt Twerp are on a road trip to Rick’s old town to find weapons and ammo.  They totally ignore a hitchhiker…twice.  Karma gets ‘em though and the Hyundai gets stuck in some mud.  They’re quickly surrounded by walkers but take care of them and the car in a matter of seconds.

The town is, well, weird.  There are messages spray-painted all over the walls of buildings and the ground.  It’s oddly fortified and has its very own sharpshooter on the roof of a building.  Wyatt Twerp shoots the guy who has come down off his perch but he was wearing body armor so he's not dead.  Rick takes off the dude’s helmet and HOLY CRAP, it’s the dude (Morgan) from the first episode!!!  They drag Morgan into his heavily booby-trapped residence and proceed to marvel at all the guns and ammo he’s acquired.  Rick wants to wait until he wakes up before they take all his weaponry.  That’s…thoughtful.

Wyatt Twerp heads off to find a crib for Lil’ Asskicker and Michonne offers to escort him to help carry it.  As it turns out, he really wants a framed picture of his parents and him from a while ago so Lil’ Asskicker can see what her mom looked like.  Awwwwww!  Michonne is a huge help in the process and grabs an ugly cat sculpture thingy that automatically gives her some personality points.

Morgan comes to, struggles with Rick, stabs him, and doesn’t seem to recognize him at all.  Rick holds up the walkie talkie he’d left with Morgan a year ago and it finally clicks.  This whole scene of them talking is absolutely incredible.  Lennie James (“Morgan”) is brilliant and heartbreaking.  Morgan tells him that he did as Rick instructed every day, which was to get on the walkie talkie at dawn and listen for Rick.  He did it every day.  Rick was never there.  We know Rick’s been through some stuff but the heartbreak in Morgan’s eyes is more than anyone could handle.  He’s lost his wife, his son, and now (kind of) his mind as evidenced by all the literal writing on the walls.  Rick tries desperately to get him to come with them to safety but an astute Morgan says they wouldn’t need all the weapons they’re about to steal from him if they were actually that safe.

Wyatt Twerp tells Rick that Michonne is OK with him because she’s really one of them and this surprises Rick.  Michonne tells Rick it’s OK that he’s been seeing things because she did too at one point.  Morgan stays behind in Morgantown and goes about his business of rounding up and burning the walkers caught in his traps.  And that hitchhiker from earlier?  Well he got torn up by some walkers but Carl got his backpack so there’s that.

Sunday's Walking Dead

Expecting a recap?  Well you're not gonna get one.  My Sunday was consumed with Oscars mania so I didn't get to watch The Walking Dead.  Guess what?  I didn't watch it yesterday either.  I'm a slacker and I have no excuse.  Sorry!

Here's a fun infographic to make up for my lameness:

Walking Dead - recap

 “Suicide King”

(So who else had to choose between their favorite high-browsoap opera and their favorite zombie drama?)

Bless them for picking right up with Dixon vs. Dixon instead of making us wait and wonder.  Andrea tries to break up the impending fight but the Governor insists the brothers Dixon must end it themselves. Merle proceeds to kick Daryl around a bit but assures him he has a plan. I wonder if that plan changed when the walkers were sent into the ring.  Rick and Maggie start shooting up the place and the brothers Dixon escape with them.  The Governor is now surrounded by smoke and darkness but sees pretty well with his one remaining eye. 

While escaping Woodbury, Rick makes it known that he doesn’t want to bring Merle with them but there doesn’t seem to be another option.  Their departure leaves an opening in the gate, which is quickly discovered by a walker.  Glenn and Michonne have been waiting by the car and they aren’t too thrilled to see Merle made it out unscathed.  Merle takes this time to let them in on the nugget that Michonne knows Andrea and that she used to have some pet walkers in her care.  He’s yammering on and on and on so Rick knocks him out and I hear Chris Tucker’s line from Friday in my head.  Heh. 

At the prison, Hershel is tending to Tyrese’s group and we get a bit of their origin story.  Hersh reminds them that whether or not they stay is up to the group.  Speaking of the group, or what’s left of it really, Rick, Daryl, Glenn and Maggie are still debating what to do with both Merle and “Last Samurai” Michonne.  Daryl elects to take off with Merle for the greater good of the group.  Rick doesn’t want to see him go.  I don’t either.  But I get it, I guess.  Tyrese’s group is taking their lost member to be buried.  The other dude and his son thinks they should just take out everyone there because they’d be easy pickings.  Tyrese does not agree and instead wants to continue to be decent folk.  On the way back to the prison Glenn gets to take out some major aggression on a walker’s head.  He’s still feeling a lot of pain and anger regarding what the Governor did to Maggie.  Plus he thinks Rick could have done a better job at keeping Daryl.

In Woodbury, the Governor is M.I.A. and the townsfolk are trying to flee.  It gets ugly.  Andrea tries to keep the peace but walkers have invaded and even got to a guy.  The Governor shows up just in time to put the recently torn up guy out of his misery, says nothing to anyone, and then leaves.  What a guy.  The Governor and Andrea chat, well, technically she yells at him a bit.  He’s done protecting the town and is preparing himself for war against Rick.  Oh and he finally tells Andrea that it’s her old pals that have been shooting at them and causing all the problems.  He definitely has a way of spinning it that will make Andrea stop and think.

Carol and Carl are reminiscing about how loud the world used to be.  He’s still grappling with what he did to his mom and I think he will for quite a while.  Rick and company finally return and Carol notices there’s no Daryl in their spiffy Hyundai SUV.  She’s almost as upset as I am.  Blond Beth (I learned her name) greets Rick with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and she’s not wrong for trying.  Well her timing is way off but I can’t blame a girl, especially if Daryl went off with his dumb brother.  Rick tells Hershel all about the Governor.  They go inside and Rick blows right past Tyrese’s group.  The dad makes a requisite joke about Rick being chatty.  Then Rick spends about 30 weird seconds holding his daughter who cries as soon as he has her in his arms. 

Woodbury’s Milty the science guy is giving a shot at calming the townsfolk down but it’s Andrea who gets through to them with a little speechifying.  The Governor, creepy as always, watches this from his window above.

Ok, the cutest thing on the show yes, aside from Glenn’s love for Maggie, is the bed they made for baby Judith.  It’s a postal bin and says “Lil Asskicker” on the side.  LOVE IT!  Hershel is tending to Glenn and there’s still some major tension between Glenn and Maggie, which doesn’t escape Hersh’s notice.  (Side note: Hershel’s hair is so long now that he’s holding it back with a scrunchy yet Carol’s has barely grown an inch.)  Hershel goes to Maggie to get the full story of what went down in Woodbury but she’s being stoic.  He comforts her, patiently waiting for his little girl to come around.  I’m glad they didn’t kill him off.  I think he’s needed.

Rick is creepin’ around and wants to know when Michonne can be sent away.  They’re preparing for the Governor’s retaliation and Hershel thinks they need reinforcements (aka Michonne and Tyrese’s group).  This brings about introductions with Tyrese’s group, who quickly offers his hand for a shake but Rick doesn’t even flinch.  Geeze, Rick.  I learn that white guy and son are Allen and Ben but do I really need to know this?  I mean, aren’t they just going to get killed off soon?  Tyrese offers to do anything to contribute, even fight off any other groups (it’s like Hershel prepped him) but Rick says No.  Sasha, Tyrese’s daughter, pleads but Rick shoots them down.  Hershel wants to discuss this, obviously forgetting it’s a Ricktatorship.  Rick doesn’t want to be responsible and Hershel stands firm that Rick is making the wrong call about these folks.  That’s when Rick sees a shadowed Lori standing above them.  He predictably freaks out, no, he has a full-on mental breakdown waving his gun around and talking to Lori’s ghost.  Tyrese’s group leaves and so does Lori the ghost.  For now.

COME BACK, DARYL!!!

P.S. I try not to watch Talking Dead until after I've posted my recap but I caught some of it last night.  I want to thank Kevin Smith for giving us all a new nickname for Carl...Wyatt Twerp.  Love it.