Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb 11 2012

Secrets And Death In The Walking Dead

 

shot daryl

Episode Five: The pre-credits scene of The Walking Dead’s season two’s fifth episode, “Chuapacabra”, opens with a flashback that takes place during the time when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) was in a coma and presumed dead. In a nighttime traffic jam, teeming with refugees, his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) waits with their son Carl (Chandler Riggs). Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) flips the radio dial, searching for news about the refugee center, but is frustrated by recorded messages and uselessly repeated emergency broadcasts. Suddenly an air convoy flies overhead, and as the stunned crowd watches, napalms nearby Atlanta. Lori breaks down into Shane’s arms…

atlanta

Post-credits, we return to the present. Camped out on Hershel’s farm, the survivors have settled into a routine. While doing laundry, Carol (Melissa McBride) confesses to Lori that she needs to keep her mind off her still-missing daughter, Sophie (Madison Lintz), and suggest that they cook dinner for Hershel (Scott Wilson) and his family. Lori agrees.

An eager Glenn (Steven Yeun) confronts Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in continuing their tryst. Maggie spurns his offer, and mocks their lovemaking as a waste of time. Glenn is left hurt…

Rick maps out new ways to search for Sophie, and the search parties arm themselves and split up. While searching out in the woods, Rick and Shane share a little private time between old buddies. What starts out as good-natured “guy talk” of sexual prowess and high school conquests turns ugly. Shane, angered, feels that Sophie must be dead by now, and that the sane thing to do is to head for Fort Benning; Rick disagrees.

Daryl (Norman Reedus), on Hershel’s horse (taken without permission), heads out by himself. From a ledge, the experienced tracker scans a river below and notices a doll lying limply in the water. Wading in to retrieve it, and assuming Sofia must be nearby, he calls out for her. With no response, he heads back to the trail with the doll. A snake startles the jittery horse, who throws him. Daryl slips and rolls down the steep rocky hill, but not before one of his arrows pierces him in the side. Bleeding and in pain, he uses his torn shirt as a tourniquet and begins the herculean task of climbing back up the mountain, but he slips and falls back down. episode-5-merle-daryl-walking-dead-gene-page[1]Laying in the river banks, a dazed Daryl hallucinates that his brother Merle (Michael Rooker) – not seen since the early episodes of The Walking Dead – approaches him and mercilessly taunts him into showing his resilience. Merle’s final words and vision fade out as a walker tries chewing on Daryl’s booted feet. Daryl snaps to consciousness and beats the walker to death, ripping out the arrow in his side just in time to use it to kill a second walker. Daryl sets out again, and after Merle’s vision re-appears, he scales the hill successfully. Later, as he approaches Hershel’s farm, a trigger-happy Andrea (Laurie Holden) mistakes a bloody Daryl for a walker and shoots him…

Please click on the link to Deadloggers to continue reading Episode Five

 

walkers in the street ep six

Episode Six: The pre-credits scene of episode six of The Walking Dead’s second season, “Secrets”, shows Patricia (Jane McNeill) entering the farm’s henhouse. Grabbing a few chickens, she breaks their legs as they squawk in pain. Quietly entering the barn, she throws the helpless birds into the walkers’ pit. The snarling creatures scramble hungrily after their food…

Post-credits, Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) – the latter shot by Andrea (Laurie Holden) in the previous episode after being mistakenly for a walker – are recuperating. Glenn (Steven Yeun) – the only one in Rick’s group that is aware of the hidden and captive walkers – confronts Maggie (Lauren Cohan) about this gruesome development. Maggie reveals nothing but asks Glenn for secrecy. Later, Glenn confronts Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) about her pregnancy, offering to go on another run for vitamins and other needed pregnancy supplies. Lori – like Maggie – asks only for secrecy.

practice

As Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Jimmy (James Allen McCune), and Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) pore over maps in their search for the missing Sophia (Madison Lintz), Patricia and Beth (Emily Kinney) request shooting lessons, explaining that they have Hershel’s consent. Carl, with his mother Lori’s grudging permission, joins. Shane and Rick take them and Andrea to a makeshift shooting range for instruction. Andrea turns out to be a natural shooter, hitting a stationary target with ease, but finds it difficult to hit moving targets. Shane presses her into bearing down harder, but angers her by mentioning her murdered sister, Amy. episode-6-andrea-walkers-gene-page[1]After calming down, the two go to look for missing Sophia in a nearby suburb. Paralyzed by the horrific sights – they find decaying and charred bodies scattered throughout the upscale homes – hordes of walkers appear in the streets, alerted to their presence…

Please click on the link to Deadloggers to continue reading Episode Six

 

dead walkers

Episode Seven: The pre-credits scene of episode seven, “Pretty Much Dead Already” shows the survivors early in the morning, eating breakfast in their outside camp. The sky is overcast and the overall mood is glum, as the group silently munches on pancakes prepared on the makeshift stove. Glenn (Steven Yeun) suddenly stammers the truth about the walker-filled barn as the survivors stare at him, shocked. Approaching the barn warily, they stay at a safe distance as Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) peeks in through the cracks and sees the creatures shuffle aimlessly in the dark. Shane gets ticked off, demanding that the survivors clear out the barn or leave Hershel’s farm; Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) objects, reminding him that they are Hershel’s (Scott Wilson) guests and need to stay and find Sophia (Madison Lintz). In the ensuing argument, Shane and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) almost come to blows until Rick steps in. The noise alerts their presence to the walkers, who suddenly strain against the barn door from the inside. The survivors reel back in shock…

Post-credits, Shane later returns, fixated on the barn. After gingerly testing the lock and chains, the aroused walkers push suddenly against at the barn door. An ominous glimpse inside the barn shows the hungry creatures watching Shane, waiting…

Hershel’s daughter Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is upset with Glenn’s open revelation of the trusted secret and expresses her displeasure by smashing a raw egg on his head. Meanwhile, Carol (Melissa McBride) confronts a recovering Daryl as he saddles up to search for Sophia. Warning him that he can worsen his injuries, even she begins to openly express doubts about the search. Daryl, angry, curses Carol and storms off. After calming down somewhat, he takes her to a pond, showing her another Cherokee rose, a symbol of Sophia’s imminent safe return. Her spirits are lifted somewhat.

rick and hershelAs Hershel is eating a quiet lunch alone, Rick comes by and reveals that they discovered the barn and captive walkers, raising Hershel’s ire. In a curt, assertive tone, the country vet demands that the survivors leave at the end of the week. Rick argues that the world is different now and begs Hershel not to send them out there again, arguing that his wife is pregnant and they need the safe refuge that Hershel can provide. Rick storms out and finds Shane, still watching the barn and brooding about clearing it out. They argue and as Rick walks away, he tells Shane all about Lori’s pregnancy…

Please click on the link to Deadloggers to continue reading Episode Seven

Evan Rothfeld

Feb 7 2012

Football? Bah! Give Me Some Rollerball!

I didn’t catch the Super Bowl last night. It’s not because I didn’t like the teams playing, but because I don’t enjoy football. I won’t go into how boring the sport is with the constant timeouts, overinflated egos, etc. But there is a sport I would rather watch if it existed. Which one? Why rollerball of course!

The film Rollerball was released in 1975 and was based on the short story “Roller Ball Murder.” It takes place in 2018 in a liberal’s worst nightmare: a world ruled overtly by faceless corporations. One such organization, the Energy Corp. backs the popular Houston team in the sport of rollerball. It’s a lot like roller derby. Teams in two opposing teams skate around a closed arena (th0ugh some ride around in motorcycles) and are clad with spiked gloves, body armor and helmets. The object of the game is to get possession of a steel ball and score points by slamming it into a cone in the arena. Along the way, the players use violent means to gain possession of the ball and score or to prevent the other team from scoring.

In this future, there isn’t any other sport but rollerball is wildly popular. It’s also supposed to be a sport that emphasizes the work of a team, while diminishing the efforts of the individual. There’s the film’s conflict. Jonathan E (James Cann) is emerging as a popular sports figure but the corporations disapprove of this since they don’t want an individual hero. See, they want to keep the average person down and make him or her feel powerless. That’s because the mantra of “one person making a difference” no longer applies in the new world. Most of the film concerns itself with Jonathan E being persuaded to retire from the sport and his reaction to the effort.

But enough about that, my favorite parts were with the game itself. That thing is wickedly violent, and that’s even before the corporations eliminate penalties halfway through Rollerball! See, they want the game to turn so violent to make Jonathan E want to step down, and things get very desperate for the evil corporate bosses in Rollerball’s last act. At that point, the final game is a no-holds-bar brouhaha with lots of explosions, blood and maimings. But like a true hero, Jonathan E just sucks it in and gets just as violent as the other players, coming off as some kind of futuristic gladiator. What kind of violence is in this film? Lots of bashing across the face and skull with the spiked gloves, players get dragged around the arena, players smashing into each other; it’s easy to see why this sport would placate the masses and their bloodlust.

Now ask yourself, would you see anything like that in football today? Thought so. Supposedly football is popular because of the violence. Please, if you want that go to a boxing match or a good hockey game. The players in those sports wear less body protection. And it’s the closest we’ll ever get to rollerball.

Waldermann Rivera

Feb 4 2012

Alcatraz Plays It Too Safe

Alcatraz is the latest show that premiered on Fox from executive producer J.J. Abrams (for anyone who doesn’t know, he’s the guy behind Alias, LOST, Fringe, Super 8 and the Star Trek reboot). It’s co-created by Elizabeth Sarnoff, Steven Lillen and Bryan Wynbrandt and is about the manhunt for prisoners who escaped from the infamous Alcatraz prison.

The twist? Back in 1960, 256 prisoners and 46 guards disappeared from Alcatraz without a trace and now they are popping up all over modern-day San Francisco and haven’t aged a day. Was it time travel? Hibernation? Not even the prisoners know. After being captured and interrogated, they reveal that they’re just as mystified as the show’s main characters, though there are hints of time travel during nuggets of revelation.

The show stars Rebecca Madsen as Sarah Jones, a local police detective with unexpected ties to one of the escaped prisoners; she is recruited by a mysterious government agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill), who was once an Alcatraz guard and knows a lot more about what is going than he’s willing to reveal. Sarah is teamed up with comic book store owner and geek Dr. Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia, well known as the beloved Hurley from LOST), who is a walking encyclopedia of Alcatraz trivia that proves useful in the investigations.

The rundown of each episode aired to date goes like this: some escapee appears in the city unaged and continues the same criminal activity that had him jailed in the first place. Sarah and Diego run around the city, tracking him down with half-hearted help by Hauser, (who sometimes seems as if he’s impeding them) and his aide Lucy Banerjee (Parminder Nagra), who like the prisoners hasn’t aged since 1960. In between, the manhunts, we’re shown flashbacks to life in Alcatraz before the prisoner escaped so that he can be fleshed out and given some motive. Here and there, viewers are given clues and riddles without an answer such as how did the prisoners and guards disappear and why? Who is behind this? What is the deal with Hauser’s assistant? Why hasn’t she aged? Will Hauser stop beating around the bush and just explain it all to Sarah? After all, she is supposed to be working for him now and should be privy to what is happening in order to better perform her duties.

There lies the flaw with Alcatraz. It has some good moments and hooks to keep viewers watching, but it doesn’t have the drive and real mystery that LOST and Fringe had. The mythology isn’t as compelling and many of the characters aren’t as interesting. Maybe it’s a response to complaints about J.J. Abrams’ shows being too mythologized, so he plays it safer this time. Sarah comes off as a pale imitation of Fringe’s Olivia Dunham, just a younger, bustier version without Dunham’s inner toughness. Hauser, as portrayed by Neill, seems bored half the time. Garcia’s Diego is the most interesting character but only because he isn’t a law enforcement type and the show wisely shows how he is more like an ordinary person swept up in this mystery. And while the stories about the prisoners are so far interesting, the basic setup of each episode is starting to get repetitious. In many ways, Alcatraz seems more like a procedural cop show that belongs on CBS.

Then there are some nagging problems about the premise. Chiefly with the way the prisoners so easily get by in modern society without drawing attention to themselves. Sorry but if someone from the early ’60s were to suddenly appear today, that person would experience a future shock over how things have changed. They would speak differently, act a bit strange, not know how to use modern devices or how to blend in. Yet none of this is shown, unless the prisoners are lying about not knowing anything and had time to assimilate into modern society.

So is it worth watching? Short answer: yes. When compared to ninety percent of the garbage on TV now, it stands above them. But so far it isn’t as captivating as Abrams’ other shows.

José Soto