RustbeltWriter

Two scenes really stood out for me. The squat cobbler, because of the way Jimmy was able to just keep rattling off those names. I can't imagine how many takes they had to do just from people cracking up. The second was Chuck in that meeting just telling everyone to keep going while he sat there pretending to be unobtrusive, even though the lights were out and everyone had to deposit their electronics in a plastic bin.

Jo Jo's are definitely a northeast Ohio thing. They are potato wedges, much thicker than steak fries. Oh, and we say 'pop'.

I think it was their first time but the storytelling was sloppy. At the beginning of the episode I inferred that Michonne walking around in a robe casually talking about toothpaste while Rick got dressed meant that they were a couple. I changed my mind later.

I really enjoyed the episode because it was a little light and we really needed a light episode. However, I feel like the story telling is a little off. Here's why: The time jump was ambiguous, given that we saw a photo of Carl and Judith that included his injured eye. There wasn't anything that told us how much time had passed. Once again we had to hear a detail on the Talking Dead that should have been a throwaway line on the show. Michonne is wandering the house in a robe using Rick's toothpaste so given that, plus the ambiguous time jump, I just assumed they were already a couple. this made the hook up later seem confusing. It soon became apparent that was their first time but it was confusing at first because of the morning scene. Carl saw Michonne and Spencer in the woods and lead Deanna to them but it was all very confusing. Why didn't he just walk over to Michonne and Spencer and be clear in his actions? What was with the disappearing act? If he had been clear that whole strange conversation on the porch with Michonne later would have been unnecessary. It seemed like a long way to go just so Carl could tell Michonne he considered her family. This season has been good but I feel like the showrunners are leaving things muddled when simple little things could make scenes more clear. The plot points are as loose as the knots used to tie up Jesus.

I could happily watch that day trader guy be screwed with at least once per season.

Who was the person at the end in the house behind all the plastic and why did they have a dossier on our protagonists?

Yeah, all they needed was a little expository dialogue from Denise to clear that up. She could have just told Rick how lucky Carl was with the angle of the shot and the problem is solved. I've noticed they do that a lot on this show. Instead of throwing in a line explaining something they leave it confusing and then address it on the Talking Dead, which is just lazy.

Negan has been sort of laughable since I first heard his name said out loud. The buildup has become tiresome when you consider he's just really violent bad guy #189. We get a new one (or two) every season. Looking at those bikers Daryl killed it's clear that in the zombie apocalypse, all the assholes will gravitate toward one another and crown their most obnoxious as leader.

Greg Nicotero looked positively homeless sitting next to Carrie Underwood and Benedict Samuels.

This was a good episode and I actually cheered when Daryl blew up the bikers. That lead guy was the most obnoxious character this show has ever subjected us to. When he was droning on and on about Negan I was kind of chuckling, though. I mean, how are we supposed to take someone named Negan seriously as a villain? That sounds like the kind of name a 13 year old thinks up when they're writing their own stories. I'm surprised Abraham didn't laugh when he heard it during the napkin speech. The only moment I cringed was when Rick stopped the group and changed the plan to recovering vehicles from the quarry. Every damn idea he's had involving that quarry has turned into a complete crapfest. If they want to make a spinoff about Father Gabriel, Demon Hunter walking the Earth during the apocalypse with Eugene the Science Guy I'm totally down with it.

I liked the way this episode started to tie some things together and refocused the plotlines. I'm really looking forward to the conclusion. Oh, the only way that Julie Mao scene could have been any creepier is if she moved a little while they were looking at her. Well done.

I like Emily but I would like to see Raj split up with her just so that he could exert some power over his love life. The guys on this show have all done well for themselves, romantically, but each situation has been set up as them being lucky someone would even want to date them. Leonard basically worshiped Penny, Howard married a younger, perkier version of his mom and Raj got lucky with Emily. The thing is, though, that Raj has a lot to offer. He's smart, has a good job and he needs a little confidence so if he's attracted to this new girl, he should act on it.

This is the weirdest show. I really like it but it's more because of the characters and the world building than the plot. I'm having trouble keeping the various plotlines together in my head and I think it's because so many things take up so much time in these episodes. Boarding the Rocinante took for-freaking-ever and after a while I couldn't even remember why they were trying to get to Eros. Maybe I'll rewatch the series and see if things make more sense once I've finished it.

You all have good points. I just know that I would have to have a book or two in my bag. Survival is important but life has to be about more than that. We're being shown Alexandrians who aren't taking their survival seriously enough (although I suspect that will change in a hurry) and CDB who do nothing but fight for the next moment. At some point their has to be an equilibrium or the Alexandrians will be killed off and CDB will just devolve into a tribe of savages. Remembering what was lost should be a driving factor toward settling in and building something.

From a storytelling perspective, does anyone find it odd that characters on the TWD don't reminisce more often? Occasionally they talk about "the way things used to be" but no one really laments specific things. No one complains about the lack of cell phones in a time when communication is extremely difficult. I expect them to miss little things like music on the radio, their favorite TV shows, movies and books. Even now that they have relative safety in Alexandria no one has hunted out a library to pick up a book and we've seen no one fire up a DVD player to watch a movie. The reason I bring this up is that I find it difficult to believe that people raised in modern America and forced into such hardship wouldn't talk about the lives they had. If you took away my running water I'd bitch day and night.

I enjoyed it. Rob Lowe was good and so was Jenna Fischer. I'll watch it for a few episodes. Is the 60 minute run time its normal format?

I just saw the last season netflix and they really gave Donna a chance to shine. I especially liked how she spent time with Jerry and brought him oranges for breakfast juice. It was nice to see her show the man some respect since everyone else was just mean to him.

Listening to Peggy in the back of that cruiser I realized just how around the bend she is. She hoards magazines, steals toilet paper, ran a guy over and drove home with him in her windshield and left him to die agonizingly slowly while she made dinner. She convinced her dull witted husband to grind him into hamburger and planned on attending a seminar despite her husband being taken in for questioning in a murder. She also tortured a guy who was tied up by stabbing him. To top matters off she assaulted Ben Schmidt after he saved her and Ed's lives. To me, these actions prove she's as crazy as an outhouse mouse. Listening to her speech in the car I didn't think it had anything to do with sexism or chauvanism but rather she was trying to excuse the truly horrific decisions she had made and paint herself as the victim. Her whole spiel was nothing more than trying to use the conversation about women's rights that was occurring as cover for what she had done. It was convenient for her, nothing more.

A Chinook is just a big helicopter (CH-47).

I really enjoyed the finale and think the slow pace is exactly what the show needed at the end. Last episode gave us the Massacre at Sioux Falls and really, after that, there's only the wrapping up to be done. The discussion in the squad car between Peggy and Lou was spot on perfect for both characters. They are products of their times so judging them by conventional mores is useless. Lou was trying to explain to her how Ed felt and what he was trying to accomplish. Peggy remained blind to it right until the end, insisting that she was the victim and trying to explain why it was all about her. Lou's curt "People died" statement was the frustration any cop would feel after hearing a criminal try to explain how they are really the victim from the backseat of a squad car for the thousandth time. He just didn't want to hear it again from someone who was ungrateful for all the opportunities for help and protection she received. After all, he sat in her living room and offered her a way out and she turned him down. Now dozens of people, including police, are dead. Hanzee getting away to become a surgically altered crime boss in season 1 and the introduction of Numbers and Wrench were a nice tie in. It was sort of subtle and a nice call back. I'm glad we didn't see Lou get shot or Betsy die. We know those events will be occurring but it wasn't necessary to shoehorn them in here. It was enough to see Lou and Betsy turn off the lights and share a kiss in the dark.

It was kind of funny that big cop Jeb Cheney is giving Lou and Hank all manner of crap about how they do their jobs when he has such an embedded coruption problem he can't take the prisoners back to the station.

Maybe Sam Elliot ala The Big Lebowski I laughed out loud when Ed explained that Dodd had come for Peggy and she "knocked him on his ass". He smiled and was so proud of his little psycho.

May I just say that I was shocked at the astounding comeptency of Ben Schmidt in taking out two Gerhart assassins and saving Ed and Peggy? Hiding and getting the drop on them was ingenious on his part. Of course, he got clobbered for his efforts, which was a bit more Schmidt-like. I guess he'll end up with that promotion after all. Also, Floyd sporting a gun on her hip looked great but didn't really help.

I liked the series but I really enjoyed the finale. As others have pointed out, it was masterful to have Kilgrave become so confident in his power that he delivered himself to Jessica. It was satisfying to see Jessica take control of him, force him to smile against his will and then see her put him down not for revenge but because he was going to keep on ruining lives as long as he was alive. This went way beyond a simple revenge tale and it was all the more satisfying because of the extra thought put into everyone's motivations. The episode was directed by Michael Rhymer who directed some truly excellent episodes of Battlestar Galactica. That may explain why the pacing was good and the story was tight.

I think he was thirsty. He ordered a water first and he took the opportunity to ask after Ed and Peggy while he was there. I hope Ed makes it out of this alive. All the poor guy has done is try to protect Peggy and maintain his middle class lifestyle. Now he's up in a cabin with a hostage, making deals with mob bosses and trying to keep Peggy from stabbing people.