Warning: spoilers and the rantings of a mad man named Kevin.
Hello everyone, as it stands I won’t be able to release a detailed review on this week’s episode of The Walking Dead until Tuesday, because of being busy with stuff and thangs. I will briefly state that I spent half of the time playing with my phone instead of watching the episode as it was just so boring. I only enjoyed the last 15 minutes or so. I don’t mind filler episodes from time to time, but filler placed before something huge will always annoy me to no end. More details to come on Tuesday.
Hello WordPress, Kevin here bringing you my review on The Walking Dead 7.5 episode, “Go Getters”. I rather like this season of TWD so far as it’s being mostly driven by plot. I know past seasons dwelled on character development and moral humanity, but this season just blends those aspects without as much “filler” content. And by “filler”, I’m referring to a lack of bland subplots as deviations from the source material have always been a part of TWD. Anyways, onto my thoughts on the show.
What I Liked:
It was great to see the cooperation between Maggie and Sasha with how Maggie is becoming a stronger character, as opposed to Maggie being distraught by Glenn’s death earlier in the season. I enjoyed the subplot of Enid and Carl’s little romance growing, with a good laugh I got from them using the roller blades. I liked seeing how Greg cowered before Simon and the Saviors. I felt the whole scene was well played out and acted between Simon and Greg. IE, I liked how Simon channeled his inner General Zod and made Greg neal. Lastly, I loved the scene where Jesus knew Kung Fu, and Maggie reminded us all that she grew up on a farm and knows how to use a tractor as a deadly weapon to kill the walkers and crush that car with the loud music.
What I didn’t Like:
I spent all of this episode being reminded how much of a selfish and cowardly prick Greg is, since we haven’t seen him since last season where he was a sexist jerk towards Maggie. I can’t believe Greg was going to sell out Maggie and Sasha to the Saviors, that’s just solidifying my hatred for this character. Other than Gregory being a prick, I had no qualms about this episode. Even if it lacked a lot of action, I still found this episode to be top notch.
I’m looking forward to seeing how things pan out next week with Jesus and Carl infiltrating the Saviors compound. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t get them both killed by Negan and Lucille.
Hello again world of WordPress, Kevin here bringing you my brief thoughts on Walking Dead episode 7.4, “Service”. I missed reviewing the last two episodes just because I’ve been busy with work and accepting the outcome of the Presidential Election last week. Here’s to hoping we can get “Negan Lucille” into office someday, candidates who will take care of the deficit by “shutting that shit down, no exceptions!” As for the two previous episodes, I know some people might have found them boring, but I’m rather enjoying how much dialogue and plot driven things are becoming in The Walking Dead again. These eipsodes were a breath of fresh air from the season premiere. It’s like the creators are trying to Make the Plot Great Again. Terrible political jokes aside, I rather enjoyed this episode as a whole.
What I enjoyed:
I rather like the direction they are taking with Rick’s character development since Negan is working to break Rick like a whipped dog. I don’t mean to say that Rick deserves to be treated this way, but I’m curious to see where things will go with how Negan is treating Rick. Such as if Rick ends up breaking completely, or just becomes a worse person than he was in the middle of season five. I enjoyed seeing the tense air between the members of Alexandria and the Saviors with how the actors played everything out. The scene where Carl confronts the Saviors and stands up to Negan was well made. Same goes for the scene where Dwight was creepily taunting Rosita.
Speaking of Dwight, if Negan is the big dog around the yard, Dwight is the simpering little hound dancing in his shadow for Negan’s approval. It seems that the writers are actually trying to make us hate Dwight more than Negan, and it’s working for me. I think Dwight is losing his humanity becuase of Negan’s actions, and Dwight sees parts of his old-self in Daryl that he now hates. IE, the scene where Dwight takes Daryl’s bike and then purposely taunts him over it saying, “You can have it back Daryl, just say the word!” Which I think was a reference to last week where Daryl refused to call himself “Negan”.
As for Negan himself, I am falling in love with how Jeffery Dean Morgan plays this psychopath. I find myself quoting Negan in my head all of the time with how he goes from being funny to dead serious in a heartbeat, he’s the kind of villain that’s “so bad he’s good.” I’m finally starting to catch up on the source material, so I will incorporate how the show version of Negan compares to the comic version of Negan in future reviews. Here’s to hoping the writers don’t screwover Negan like they screwed up the Governor’s story arc. With all of that said, I still had a few bones to pick with this episode.
What I didn’t enjoy:
Am I wrong for thinking that this episode didn’t have to be be 90 minutes long? I feel the episode itself became a lot worse once Negan left Alexandria. Negan was really the person who made this episode pop for me. With that said, I didn’t feel like Negan needed to take every single gun from Alexandria, as it decreases their chances of survival in the now zombie infested world they live. Negan said he didn’t want Rick’s group starving to death, but God forbid another Walker heard needs to stroll through Alexandria again. I know what these plot points stood for though, it was to demonstrate how much control Negan has over Rick now vs who Rick used to be, as Negan even mockingly pointed out to Rick with that scene where Negan was holding Deanna’s camcorder. Lastly, while I thank Father Gabriel for buying Maggie more time, I don’t like the idea of her being found out at the Hilltop colony later this season by Negan. This season will prove to be a bitter sweet symphony of writing if so.
I look forward to see where things will be going this season, while last season gave us a lot of action, I’m thinking this is going the season where Walking Dead comes back to plot over action, like a better and darker version of season two. I pretty much gave away my song for this review, so here’s your moment of zen:
Warning: be prepared for lots and lots of spoilers.
Hello again WordPress readers, Kevin here coming to bring you my thoughts on this highly emotional episode titled “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be”. First, I just want to point out I may not do live broadcasts on Facebook anymore for live reactions as even that seems to cause drama involving spoilers.It’s hard to tell eggshells apart from mindfields these days. Anyways, I will stop derailing and digress onto the show.
What I liked:
This episode was well made in how it made me want to punch the writers in the face like Daryl did to Negan in the first half, and then had me on my knees emotionally in the second half when we found out who Negan’s victims were. The writers wanted us to feel exactly how much pain Rick’s group was in the second half of the episode after they lost Glenn and Abraham to “Lucille”. I think this episode will really set the tone for how insanely goddam brutal this season is going to be.
I enjoyed Jeffery Dean Morgan’s acting as Negan, and while I’m still behind on the comics for Negan, Morgan’s acting is top notch as my new favorite TV psychopath. Your move, Game of Thrones.
Speaking of Game of Thrones, could Negan be shaped up to be like Ramsay Snow? For instance, the secene where Negan almost forces Rick to cut off Carl’s arm shows us just how twisted Negan really is. The same goes with how Negan took Daryl to be his captive and threatened to send “bits of Daryl” to Rick’s door, much like Ramsay would do to his enemies.Eitherway, I’m not expecting any happy resolutions in this season with an opening episode like that one.
What I didn’t like:
What I hated about this episode is what I loved about this episode: It made me wait a little longer for the death reveal, then smashed my heart to pieces like Glenn and Abraham’s skulls. Walking Dead pulled a fast one on all of us thinking only one person was going to die, but they killed off a second character in a huge emotional tirade that caught all of us by surprise (even if comic readers did know about Glenn and Abraham dying). Add the trauma of that scene where Rick almost cut off Carl’s hand, and you have one fine recipe for fan heartbreak, and my massive headache. Seriously, I need some tylenol after watching this episode because of how much it played mind games with me.
R.I.P. Glenn and Abraham, I would have liked to have seen you both develope as characters in the upcoming story arc. Instead, the writers decided to not deviate from the comics too heavily this time.
We will see where things go moving forward, which I doubt will involve anything aside from brutal and dark writing.
-KCard
This picture is how it feels sometimes when you have depression and have to deal with small talk day after day.
Some people with depression have to deal with their affliction every day of their lives, and people without depression often downplay their experiences out of naivety. Not only is it downright annoying, it’s borderline Ableist.
I’m not saying that differently abled folks should declare open war on small talk. What I am saying is that able bodied and neurotypical people should take care with how they talk to their loved ones with depression or other neuro divergent “disorders”.
This is how a typical exchange of small goes with me sometimes:
Them: “How was your day?”
Me: “My day was a downer, how was yours?”
Them: “Why was it a downer?? You should be happy that you have so much going for you! I wish I was 26 again! Other people have things so much worse than you do! Seize the day! Carpe Diem!!!!!”
Me: “Deprssion doesn’t need a rhyme or reason, it just happens.”
*Proceeds to walk away from the conversation.*
This is why many people just lie and say their day was, “Good, how was yours?”
I’m just tired of answering the question either way because of the probing and dismissing that happens aftewards. I’m aware that this is a first world problem as far as social issues go, but I’m not being unreasonable in asking people to be more mindful with how they talk to their neuro divergent friends and family.
I know how this person feels, this is what college did to me when it made reading into a chore for me rather than a hobby. I try to pickup and read books every so often, but concentrating on them just makes me fall asleep after reading a few pages. I just don’t have the mental stamina to read anymore, unless I’m editing something.
Hell, it even takes serious effort for me to write blogs if I don’t write them immediately. I don’t envy book lovers though, I’m happy that they haven’t given up on their primary passion in life. I suppose what I suffer from now is a strong lack of inspiration in my old passions. It’s important to remember the person I used to be, but it’s also important to keep my mind focused on the present and take things one day at a time.
I think I’m coming up through those awkward reflective moments of my late 20s where I start to “feel old” by lamenting my childhood and teen years being over. Something many people who grew up in the 90s like myself have experienced as well with the whole “90s Kids” nostalgia phenomenon.
I know things “can always be worse,” but I personally prefer the saying, “Things will get better for you.” I believe that giving people hope for tomorrow is more proactive, where looking at others people’s misery just stressed me out more. I have resolved to hope for a better future, while continuing to take steps in my present to reach that better tomorrow.
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I don’t blame social media for causing so many rifts between friends, or exposing the nastiness that exists between people bickering about issues big and small. Social media isn’t the problem, we as people are the problem. Social media simply exposed the nastier side of the human ego that’s been there from the beginning.
I’ve lost friends due to arguing about politics, human rights (“social justice”), and even trivial stuff like 90s nostalgia on Facebook. In the past, I’ve been guilty of deleting comments or deleting friends for whenever they’ve pissed me off.
Now, I don’t want to delete people unless I feel there’s no other option. I now know not everyone will follow the predetermined rules that I set on my posts, and it was wrong of me to censor people by deleting their comments.
But at the same time, it’s just as wrong to tell people to “stay off the internet” or to harass someone into silence because you disagree with them about something. People complain about a lack of civility online these days, when in truth that civility was never there to begin with (but was always needed). I wish people could find the balance between civil discourse and when to turn the other cheek, but everyone only cares about their own personal biases.
I’m done with trying to bring a horse to water, not being able to make it drink, and then not being able to ride the horse back because it died of dehydration. If people feel the need to say or post rediculous things on my posts, then I’m just going to ignore them from here on out rather than endlessly argue with them.
-This subjectively general (yet some how specific) rant has been brought to you by Kevin’s brain and a lack of patience for FaceBook drama-.
*Remember kids, when dealing with SPOILERS, it’s important to duck and cover beneath your desk without checking the internet for a few days.*
Hello again blog readers, Kevin here bringing you my (now late) review of the Game of Thrones season six finale. It’s been an amazing season thus far, and I can hardly wait for season seven next year. But before I get into my review, I think it’s time I start reviewing some other shows besides Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. I’ve all but lost my love for reading books since college ended, and I don’t enjoy reviewing pop music anymore, but television still manages to bring me a lot of joy because it’s a genre that somewhat still values creativity for mainstream audiences. If anyone has any recommendations for what I should start reviewing next, then just leave me a comment below! Anyways, let’s get onto the show.
This episode is probably my favorite episode of Game of Thrones for a lot of reasons, the least not being that the writing of old story arcs and opening of new story arcs was done so magnificently in this episode. I think this was also the best season finale since season four because the season five finale was just such a cluster f**k of negative events happening to all of the characters. This season finale covered a lot of events that have been moving the story towards the second round of the battle for the Iron Throne to what potentially could be called “The Battle of the Five Queens”. I’ll spare people any plot summaries and get straight into what I enjoyed, and what I feel like were the negative aspects of this episode.
What I enjoyed:
I love the way Cersei enacted her vengeance on all of her enemies in one foul swoop by destroying the Sept of Baelor with wild fire. That act of destruction is something that Mad King Aerys would have done if he were more calculating (and less insane). I think that entire first twenty minutes of this episode were very well directed and acted out, the tension was so thick before the explosion that you could cut it all with a knife. I enjoyed seeing how Margeary caught onto Cersei laying a trap for the people in the Sept, and how the Faith Militant wouldn’t allow anyone to leave before the Sept was destroyed. I love how the show handled Danny preparing the coming war for the Iron Throne, and her character development in letting Daario out of her love life, and naming Tyrion as her Hand of The Queen.
I loved Tyrion’s speech about how never believed in anything until Tryrion met Danny. I enjoyed seeing Jon being crowned the new King in the North from help by Lyanna Mormont, even if I think that role will eventually go to Sansa. I enjoyed Little Finger being rejected by Sansa as it shows us that love isn’t something that Little Finger (or anyone else) can scheme their way towards. I loved seeing how Dorne and High Garden have sworn fealty to House Targaryen with help from Lord Varys. It was also fantastic seeing Arya get revenge for her family by killing Walder Frey after feeding Frey his own sons to him, which is vengeance on par with Sweeney Todd in terms of creativity. It was amazing to see the show producers confirm the “Lyanna Stark plus Rhaegar Targaryen equals Jon” theory of who Jon Snow’s parents truly are. And lastly, I loved seeing Danny’s fleet sail towards Westeros with help from the Iron Fleet and the ships she acquired from The Masters. Danny’s ship sailing for Westeros was was probably the most grandiose scene in the whole season, matched only by The Battle of The Bastards last week. There were many positives, but still there were some aspects of the episode that I didn’t enjoy.
What I Didn’t Enjoy:
It makes me sad to see that Tommen committed suicide shortly after the Sept of Baelor was destroyed, but it’s easy to understand his reasons seeing as his wife and most of his close friends were killed in the explosion. It was great seeing Cersei get her revenge against that overzealous Nun Septa Unella, and seeing the Mountain remove his helmet to torture Unella. It’s just that I feel like this scene only served to show us that Cersei is heir to taking Joffrey and Ramsay’s place as the new “evil character” in the seven kingdoms. I know someone had to fill the void, but I feel like we had viewed a more human side of Cersei these past two seasons. Seeing as all of Cersei’s children are dead, I think that it’s safe to say that next season the writers will try and have her outdo both Joffrey and Ramsay in terms of just how evil someone can really be (in a position of power). Lastly, it was great seeing Ser Davos confront Melisandre over the burning of Shireen from last season, but I fear that Melisandre leaving Jon’s side will hurt Jon in the coming of future conflicts in The North.
This was the best episode of Game of Thrones so far in my opinion, and I hate the fact that I need to wait another year to see where things will be progressing. I suppose this could the year I finally pick up the books for GOT and find outwhat I’ve been missing out on all these years, but I’ll cross that bridge when I’m ready to do so.
In the meanwhile, I leave you with today’s song “Frontiers” by Omnium Gatherum because it seems like the perfect theme for the journey of Daenerys Targereyn as she sails for Westeros.
Some people with depression have to deal with their affliction every day of their lives, and people without depression often downplay their experiences out of naivety. Not only is it downright annoying, it’s borderline Ableist. 
Kevin Card 