Frayed Branches

  The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 14: "The Rotten Core" Review [WARNING: Major spoilers for  The Walking Dead  seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.] I don't know what else to say other than "wow." Despite all of the ups and downs this final season of The Walking Dead has gone through, I don't think I ever anticipated an episode that felt like both a bottle episode, and like an episode that holds important implications for the plot going forward. Presented in a simplistic way but carrying undercurrents of what the show's endgame will look like, "The Rotten Core" presents a multitude of storylines that, while not converging just yet, imply that the existence of the larger connective tale will soon emerge for all our major characters. To start, let's talk about the compound housing the new group from the previous episode (whose name I cannot remember for the life of me, but that's not too important anymore since they're being kicke...

The Old Man : Episode V Review   [This review contains spoilers for  The Old Man  Episode 1-4] The Old Man has presented itself as a very interesting mystery series with plenty of intrigue surrounding its cast of characters. So I mean to put it lightly when I say this episode didn't really have a lot going on. To the point where, if I'm being honest, I couldn't remember much about it as soon as I fell asleep after watching it Thursday night. This isn't the say the quality dipped or that there weren't a lot of the strong, dialogue-heavy scenes the series has established itself as being so good at presenting. I did think this episode had a lot going for it in terms of both presentation and setup. But with only two episodes remaining this season, the already slow pace of the show grinding to a halt for half the episode (particularly the B-plot) worries me. I know now that the conflict we've seen being built over the last five episodes isn't going to be resolved...

  The Old Man : Episode IV Review [This review contains spoilers for The Old Man Episode 1-3] The Old Man is proving to be a very competent work of art. While I had my doubts about the series due to the plodding pacing of the second episode coupled with strange, immersion-breaking decisions, I feel like the show is finding its footing. Starting out with a slower pace has helped to make expectations for the series easy to manage, as it's clear that the character study coupled with complex plot elements is the show's forte. That doesn't mean there isn't any action in this fourth episode or that the plot doesn't move forward. Both of these elements of the show are accounted for. But this episode firmly establishes that what we're seeing is the buildup to a larger character work at play here. After escaping from the assassin's sent to kill him by old friend Harold Harper, our protagonist, Dan Chase, pulls a still-living Zoe from the back of his car. The two havi...

  The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 13: "Warlords" Review [WARNING: Major spoilers for  The Walking Dead  seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.] After a rather mixed bag over the last few episodes of the show, I was unsure how well The Walking Dead could make strides toward its finale. Much like the shambling corpses in the show, there was--and, I suppose, still is--a real possibility that the series would slowly stumble its way toward whatever finale it had in mind. Part 1 especially gave me the feeling that the series would end on a wet fart with an antagonistic force not worth seeing to the end for. But, within Part 2, there have been just enough good episodes and shaky movements toward the finish line that I could see a little bit of gold beneath the dirt. Episode 13 of this final season, titled "Warlords" is one of those little bits of gold. While the episode itself is not perfect and does raise a few logistical questions regarding the current final villain be...

  The Old Man : Episode I-III Review I'm a sucker for a good thriller, just as much as I'm a sucker for good mysteries. The storytelling elements of a television series with those two qualities are what usually drags me in, making me want to see the story through to the end. The Old Man is one of these series, having premiered last Thursday on FX and Hulu, with an additional episode having arrived yesterday. The Old Man tells the story of Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges), a man who is recovering from the death of his wife due to Huntington's disease and who is starting to notice similar paranoid behavior in himself, prompting him to go for regular mental health screenings. Accompanying him in his now-vacant home are his two dogs, Dave and Carol, loyal Rottweilers. After a regular day in the life--which appears to include paranoia on Dan's part and mourning over the loss of his wife--Chase's house is broken into by a robber. Only this robber doesn't seem to be an ordinar...

  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...