Door

My favorite part was Din's (sans helmet) small headshake towards Mayfield when he started going off. I felt it was a good acting choice; it's the sort of thing he'd do in a helmet, which he how he is most used to communicating.

I don't understand the writers. There are so very many directions this narrative could go in. There has been groundwork put down by Margaret Atwood they could easily follow and explore: The world reactions to Gilead, the Resistance, the network of Eyes, the misogyny, the American government - even tourism! The writers could pick up any of these things and run with them easily. And yet we have these episodes that include things completely made up that go NOWHERE. Why create new threads of story when there are still a thousand threads left dangling? Threads that leave questions the audience naturally wants answered? Threads that almost write themselves? It's not even a perspective issue because, while we are with June most of the time, the story has gone omniscient before, so staying in June's thoughts for the sake of fidelity to the novel POV isn't necessary. It bugs,

Nick is certainly no strategist, is he? That scene with Eden could have been handled in such a way as to make her more of an ally than she currently is to him. Nick is pretty short sighted to alienate her further vs. try to explain the situation from his perspective. There are tons of reasons he could give Eden for being distant without even mentioning June. Along the same lines, I hate when characters are written to NOT ask the obvious questions or give the obvious answers. That happened a lot this episode. I knew June was heading for a fall. She was flouting too many rules, but what the hell happened to the chained-up option? The option June was warned about and briefly in when she was caught trying to escape? Wouldn't that option be the easiest and cleanest for pretty much everybody? Pretty guaranteed, too. The rape option is disgusting and doesn't make sense even if I'm thinking like a psychopath... maybe my imaginary psychopathy is too pragmatic for Gilead's sadistic undercurrents.

Garbage nudists. WHY? All that metal, sitting underneath the sun? And that's the very least of many injurious possibilities! No way.

I blame the writers, who are all apparently teenage boys. Poor Father PP, has to listen to Negan and then gets Plot Fever. I miss how good this show used to be. I really do.

Lauren Cohen didn't sell it for me this week. She's not good at conveying anger, I guess? It was distracting and usually I don't mind her. Cal made the episode for me. More Cal, please. And more people like Cal, actually! People who talk and react like recognizable human beings! That'd be great.

I love this show and am so glad it's back! Good call on Grace, you guys! Odd that no one else interacts with her - maybe she's the demon! Only a demon would come up with that pillow case nightmare, after all.

Sorry if someone's already said this but I think, upon reflection, that Sansa has sent Brienne to KL to protect Brienne. Brienne is honorable and right in the way Ned was honorable and right - and look how LF set him up! If LF mentions to you that someone owes you a debt, he's already setting you both up for a fall five or ten moves away. The very fact that LF is whispering in Sansa's ear means that she can deduce he has Brienne in play on his chessboard. Sending Brienne protects Brienne and Arya and Sansa from that particular chess move and removes a winning strategy (set up the reliably honor-blind pawn) from LF's chess board. Not sure what good it will do in the long run but I buy her motivation for now. I'm squicked out by John/Dany. Royal incest happened all the time irl and on this show, I know. But I can't get over it. Emilia Clarke doesn't usually bother me but I was underwhelmed by her response to the death of one of her children. That really required more of a reaction that what was given.

I might be done. I was rooting for CDB to get killed. At first I thought it was because CDB are covered in plot armor, and they are, but we did have two deaths at the beginning of this season AND Sasha just now so not sure when I became a turncoat. On reflection, I can't get into the stakes. Not sure if that's a writing problem, pacing problem, or both, but it makes me sad. I used to be so into this show and now I play games on my phone while it's on. ETA: And while I suspend disbelief enough to accept zombies, I could never suspend it long enough to believe Sasha would fall for someone like Sgt. Sandy Nutsack. Even in the ZA where living people are at a premium! I could never and don't see it. The actors tried but the characters don't mesh in that way to me. Not like it matters now, I guess, but it's one more reason this episode left me cold.

The writers' priorities are messed up. We have time to have Simon and Gregory talking about liquor for, like, three hours but the Maggie/Daryl interaction is about 20 seconds of poor writing? FAIL. Who makes these decisions? I like time jumping in shows but only if it's done well. TWD does not do it well. They should stop trying to be a Nolan and just worry about more things like character consistency and interesting dialogue.

I do not care about Dwight. I do not care about Sherry. I do not care about Dwight and Sherry, whether they are together or apart. I AM happy we finally touched base with Eugene. I believe he's still Team CDB even though he really shouldn't be. They treat him like crap and don't use the skills he does have. I hope when they reunite they treat Eugene better. ...I don't really care about this story any more. It's all become so crap. That makes me sad.

This show is so quality, especially for horror. I hope beyond hope it gets another season and picks up more of an audience. I was soooo looking forward to Geena Davis playing being exorcised and it was fantastic. I only wish it was a little longer because I'd been anticipating that little acting coup since the demon integrated.

Rosita's been a good shot up until this episode. Not a sniper but a good shot - yet now she misses a relatively stationary target at two yards away, max? Also, wouldn't Negan have been more furious? I actually thought he took it easy on them considering that made TWO assassination attempts within the same day. The writing for these villains is so weak. They aren't even consistent in their own villainy. I WANT Negan and the Saviors to be so badass and legitimately terrifying and the writing for them is simply not working. Pissed Negan rattled off one last fat joke after Olivia was killed. Har de fucking har. Oddly miffed at the female Neganite calling Eugene "haircut" when "mullet" would have been so much more awesome. In my head I refer to him as "Business In The Front" because I'm not always into the whole brevity thing. Speaking of, I'm so proud of him for stepping up. If I weren't so exasperated with the writing on this show this season (and last), I'd say his time with the Saviors is going to be very interesting and he could experience some serious character growth. Admittedly happy to FINALLY see the end of Spencer though I feel a bit cheated Rick didn't get to do the honors. Rick stabbing Spencer's quickly reanimating corpse just wasn't as cathartic. Yay, we finally get to see Eric (Aaron's boyfriend) again! It's only been like a year! How you doing, buddy? Join the storyline once in a while, won't you?

This show is fantastic. Sad about the nuns but I'm really enjoying Geena Davis being all chipper and evil. The lady who bankrolls everything - whose name escapes me - I REALLY wasn't expecting her to be told off by Pazuzu, especially as her desperate and mediocre millions helped make the papal visit possible. I wonder what this means for her character in the future? Might she turn white hat after being belittled by the dark?

Of all the wtf-ery, the silly molehill I'm choosing to die on this week is Carl's hair. Why does a teen boy have the softest, shiniest, most luxurious hair in the zombie apocalypse? I know this is a tv show and everybody looks better than they would in a real situation, but Carl's weekly Farrah Fawcett is, frankly, ridiculous. This show has big problems with hair in general. Obvious dye, no frizz, DARYL, women keeping long hair despite the hazards and presumed heat. I have hair down almost to my butt and I'd probably hack it off to my scalp in the ZA. Hell, as it is I live in sweltering Florida so the majority of my life I'm wearing my hair up and out of the way - and there aren't even any (official) zombies here! Back to Carl, I just can't even hope to take him seriously when they style his hair like he's starring in a shampoo commercial. Hair and makeup shouldn't stand out like that in a show of this type, IMHO. Bonus complaint: Why is Jesus nearly always dressed like he's just arrived from the Arctic Circle? Get the fuck outta here! Daryl was discovered to have had an affair with Father Gabriel and has been marked as an adulterer Nope, no explanation yet!

To my understanding, the 83 floors encompass most of the Westworld "working" complex. We saw a few floors built into a canyon but those are likely only executive work areas. The bulk of the facility is underground, underneath the park. Thus, there are at least 83 basements, or subterranean levels, but not 83 floors of abandoned mess. I do consider it wasteful that they have ANY floors of abandoned mess but that's fairly common. I know hospitals, for example, sometimes have unused wings or floors for various reasons. Come to think of it, several theme parks I've been to also have abandoned rides/areas - and those are top level, guest-facing areas! Who knows how derelict things get behind the scenes! lol I feel pretty confident that poor Bernard will return. Ford said that he and Bernard had been at this point multiple times; had nearly the same exact confrontation many times before. I imagine a lot of those confrontations ended in using the backdoor code to get Bernard to kill himself. One of the saddest parts of this scene was Bernard's dawning horror while asking how many times he'd been rolled back. I can only hope for Bernard's sake that when he comes back around, he will either remember more easily or perhaps encounter Maeve who will counter-program him/ set him back on the sentient path.

Am I the only one who thinks Simon conveys menacing better than Negan does? Negan's too over the top. Simon is over the top too but it's still based in reality. I've never been pregnant so forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't bed rest suggested even with a minor placental abruption? Maggie seemed to be moving around way too much for what the doctor said was wrong with her and the baby -- at least, it made ME worry.

Uh oh. Does this mean that Angela is now perfectly possessed? Integrated? I hope this show gets renewed because watching Geena Davis play possessed and anticipating her eventual exorcism scene is everything I never knew I wanted. I truly hope Father Bennett survives even though I don't see how he could unless he's basically a ninja. I like his character so very much. II also wonder about the dad's spiritual status. He's suddenly been getting sharper? That could be either really good news or really bad - we have already seen how he can be taken over - spoken through, directed to walk/look for things, etc. RIP Chris MacNeal. She is going to be missed. That will be a death that will be pretty impossible to run away from. Was the demon referencing Angela having an abortion at some point in her past? Or was he talking about her getting rid of the demon? The demon voice really didn't impress me but, to be fair, the sound design from the movie is a hard act to follow. Overall that was a fantastic episode! I don't know what to believe or what to think. I just want more - right now! Why the mini hiatus?

Father Bennett! I said aloud to myself as he walked into that warehouse, "I don't want him to die. I like his character!" Thus I was very happy that he turned God Warrior on the demons. However, I'm not sure if the look on his face after exorcising that demon was a dawning realization of how strong the dark forces are in Chicago or if the demon transferred into him. Father Tomas. He is so, so beautiful. And so, so weak. The demons must be partying in Hell knowing that HE is the one helping Father Marcus. I like him a lot as a character but he's at a place in his arc where I just want to slap him upside the head. I don't understand the Mother Superior. Now suddenly her convent mercy kills the possessed? I don't like that. Stellar acting by everyone this episode. Each episode draws me further and further in. Oh yeah... Also enjoyed the homage when we first see Casey's ravaged body to Anneliese Michel's infamous exorcism picture.

The Negan they are giving me is not the Negan I was dreading to see . I'm a terrible fan so I don't know the name of the episode, but last season CDB had a run-in with some Neganites - flushed them out of an observatory or something. As I recall, the way those Neganites acted: organized, trained, sharp, completely in tune with the "I am Negan" stuff, made Negan seem so foreboding. Who was this person who could have "satellite offices" of camps? How charismatic and persuasive did he have to be to convert so many people to his line of thinking? To subsume peoples' identities so that they "become" him? To train people to such an extent quasi-militarily, with radios and bug-out scenarios? How awful did he have to be that followers kept trophies of brained victims above their bunks to look at with pride before they fell asleep? I was really looking forward to and dreading this Negan guy - this man who made all this happen and controlled all these people even from afar. I was expecting perhaps something along the lines of a more violent David Koresh type. The Negan I see so far this season... he is not that guy. Not even CLOSE to that implied, charismatic menace. He is not living up to my hype. I guess that's my fault, but I have some real cognitive dissonance happening because what I expected was MUCH more than what we've been given.

I think that Papal ad campaign is one of the more brilliant subtextual clues of this show. Not showing his face, his Papal cape collar up... It's a very Hollywood, very fame-oriented, "Elvis-y" media campaign. It has made me suspect the church was corrupted on some level up to and possibly including the Pope because of it's rockstar allusions versus a more expected, pious tableau. I really can't wait to see how the actual visit pans out, whomever is cast! If, as said upthread, the campaign is all about Satan returning or returning via the Pope, it's going to be creepy and awesome! So... Rich Patron Lady turns out to be the Jan Brady of the Satanic set. That's pretty hilarious. And pretty layered for a villain, come to think of it. Not sure how much I buy Chris MacNeal selling out her daughter after being so protective. It helps if I think of this as an alternate universe MacNeal family. Father Hotness is turning into Father Hot Mess. He stayed away from Jessica's place...what, less than one day? Such fortitude, Father! You're pretty but you aren't smart, are you? Demons should be able to chew him up and spit him out noooo problem. Good thing there's at least one competent exorcist on the case.

I haven't read the comics but is Negan so very talkative there as well? I like what JDM is doing or is trying to do, but the writing goes on too long and spins every threat off into Boringtown. What is that walker fence for? Defense? Intimidation? For bad fighters to practice with/on? I didn't really understand that, and I certainly didn't understand Dwight's eons-long scenes looking out over that fence. Darryl. I want to care but when is he ever clean? He literally looks no different than when he was free. I hope they water torture him next episode or something because I am wayyyy tired of seeing Darryl Dixon filthy and with greasy bangs artfully cut and arranged ~just so~ around his face. Dwight is annoying. Sherry is annoying. I just don't care about any of these characters (yet). Yawn.

I was not expecting this twist! I'm really enjoying the different currents running between the family members. I'm wondering how much of the strife is demonic vs. just them and their bad interpersonal relationships. Tomas... to fall to your lust at such a time. Why do none of these people ever think, "Hey, I'm involved in an exorcism at the moment. Better not do anything morally compromising, just in case." I've never been taunted by a demon though, so I'm probably overestimating his practicality. On a shallow note, that actor is obviously a handsome man but he never has been made to look more handsome than wet, sans collar, standing outside Jessica's door. Goodness!

I can't believe that, in a show about zombies, my suspension of disbelief snaps at Maggie's apparently neat, self-resolving miscarriage. Sad about Glenn ultimately dying just as an example to others at the hands of a psycho but I can spin it as a "futility of goodness in a nihilistic world" thing, though that means I've just given it more thought than the writers did. Speaking of, that dinner table bit was ridiculous and manipulative even though it was SO NICE to see our team calm and successful and thriving for two seconds. Neegan. I like JDH's acting here but really it's his silences and facial expressions that make the character moreso than the (endless) dialogue. The writers should realize this and cut back some of the speechifying. Less is more on that front.

Everyone has covered all I wanted to say about this episode so I'll just leave the niggling questions I have regarding the dragons. They're all boys, aren't they? What is the lifespan of a dragon? Are they the last resurgence of dragons ever to be or could more fossilized eggs be transformed by Dany? It's bittersweet that they miraculously hatch but there will never be others.