Frayed Branches

  The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 12: "The Lucky Ones" Review [WARNING: Major spoilers for  The Walking Dead  seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.] With the previous episode of The Walking Dead giving us a little more insight as to what may be going on within darker confines of the Commonwealth, I was anticipating another episode that would elaborate on what had been established. What I didn't expect, however, was a mixed bag episode that both indicated what the conflict for Part 2 would be moving forward while also raising a lot of questions regarding the show's inner logistics. While this episode did excite me for what was to come, a lot of it felt like filler that could have been established within half an episode. Regardless, while I'm a bit iffy on the presentation, I am interested to see where the story is going and how it's going to differ from the comics--which is already evident given what's been happening. The major plot of this episode sees ...

The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 11: "Rogue Element" Review [WARNING: Major spoilers for  The Walking Dead  seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.] Two steps forward, two steps back. While the first two episodes of Part 2 of The Walking Dead 's final season indicated an interesting turnabout for the rest of the show, Episode 11, "Rogue Element," ends up feeling a little goofier and more oddly conspiratorial than its predecessors. The conspiracy regarding rogue soldiers in the Commonwealth's army has, it seems, been replaced by an inner conspiracy within higher circles involved with the Commonwealth. The extent of that conspiracy remains unknown for most of the episode, and while this turns out to be an interesting concept, the practice therein doesn't entirely mesh with everything that has come before. The episode starts off with Eugene and Stephanie--the Commonwealth girl he was speaking to over the radio throughout Season 10--initializing a better rel...

  The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 10: "New Haunts" Review [WARNING: Major spoilers for  The Walking Dead  seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.] After a rather eventful mid-series premiere, the second episode of Part 2 of The Walking Dead 's final season slows things down a bit, allowing viewers more insight into the Commonwealth as our ensemble of protagonists start settling in. For the first time in a while, it appears the show is building toward an all-encompassing mystery, one that--while it took a bumpy road to get there--looks like it will pay off in the end. This episode in particular featured a number of different plots and side-plots that occurred all at once, but it was presented in a way that allowed everything that was transpiring to feel balanced and natural throughout. The most prevalent plot throughout the episode involved Daryl and Rosita, now living at the Commonwealth a month after the events of the previous episode, learning to deal with their new li...

The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 9: "No Other Way" Review [WARNING: Major spoilers for  The Walking Dead  seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.] The Walking Dead had been having a rough start to its final season. Part 1 of this 3-part monster of a send-off felt like a rather meandering 8-episode buildup toward something bigger. Whether that "something bigger" was ever going to happen, however, was up in the air. The first part of this final season didn't really feel final, and instead just felt like standard episodes of the show, albeit with a little more filler than I was here for. But, with the release of its newest episode on Sunday, it feels like The Walking Dead is finally getting its footing back and knows exactly where it wants to take the show in its final 16 episodes. This comeback isn't without its goofier moments, but its an appreciative start to what finally feels like the end of the show. If anything, looking back, it feels like the extra Seas...

  The Tree Dream : Hardcover Edition - AVAILABLE NOW! After a bit of a delay--sorry, everyone--the hardcover version of The Tree Dream is now available on Amazon! You can purchase a copy by clicking here ! Description Cascading myself into the sea was the easiest route I could have taken. To have the wind whip against my cheeks, invisible razorblades cutting at my falling body. To feel the hard, drum-like beating against my chest as though a bat taking flight had lodged itself between my ribcage. The salt of the sea dozens of approaching feet below, splashing up in white-specked waves of frustration and anger. My eyes would have caught a vision of this dark blue frothing. It was a short but sweet event, an initiation of some kind that didn’t truly need to happen, but would for the sake of my personal sanity. I would never again need to worry and wonder and fear, for the sea would swallow me into its abyssal gorge and free me from my nightmare. …To think I speak of it as if this had...

  You Season 3: Love in the Suburbs Warning: This review will contain spoilers for You Season 1-2. Who doesn't enjoy a good love story? There's nothing quite like watching characters who you're rooting to get together to fall in love and finally achieve that happy ending. Although, in the case of You , that happiness is never always what it seems. Following the exploits of the obsessive Joe Goldberg, You is a series about one man's attempt to get find true love via stalking, killing, and eventual betrothal to the woman he loves. Season 1's target, Guinevere Beck, turned out to be someone Joe hoped she wasn't, a girl whose bouts of freedom left Joe in the dust. After disposing of her, however, past relationships and attempted murders come back to haunt him, causing him to flee his home of New York City for sunny California. Once there, he meets Love Quinn, whose name alone he takes as a sign that this is the woman he's destined to be with. As Joe continues st...

  Alien: Isolation : In Space, It Can Hear You Breathe Note: Despite being a video game title, Alien: Isolation shares the same canon universe as the films in the Alien franchise. This review will contain major spoilers for the original 1979 film Alien and some spoilers for its 1986 sequel Aliens . I cannot stress this enough: I love horror video games. The thrill of being in a dangerous situation in a game is unmatched by anything else in gaming for me. It always feels horrifically adventurous to be at the whims of whatever digital terrors game designers have conjured up. Often times, these games, like Amnesia or Outlast , invoke feelings of dread while telling stories set in their own universes. It's expected, really, for most horror video games to create their own worlds separate from any pre-established franchises. But this isn't always the case; sometimes, a pre-established franchise is ripe for creating a horrifying experience. While not every video game based on, say, a ...