Sunday, March 29, 2015

THE WALKING DEAD 5.16

**Contains Spoilers**

Season 5 Finale - "Conquer"

Wow, for ninety minutes, my nerves are wrecked! What an amazing finale full of intensity, walkers, and plenty of moral choices that we all love in true AMC fashion. To add to the intensity, I'm trying to text with other friends who are fans, I'm trying to keep up with the Story Sync, and keeping notes. Which, it's always a good Sunday when my Story Sync Survival Character is one of y favorites, which today's was Daryl - SCORE! There was a lot of chatter that Daryl was going to die, and tears were actually forming when there was a scene where it could have happened, a couple times over. SO glad that he didn't though, in case you want to know who died, rest assured, no one in Rick's group died for the finale. However, two Alexandrian's did, which we'll get to later. For now though, Conquer opens with the mystery man himself, Morgan! We all have been wondering what he's been up to, where he's been, and just when he's going to meet up with the group, and now most of those questions have been answered.

When we see Morgan he's waking up rather nicely, he's obviously in a better place mentally as well. He sees the rabbit's foot hanging from the rear view mirror of the car he is camped out in, and he must be smiling because he had left his rabbit's foot at the altar in the church, and now it could be he's reminded of something that we'll learn more about him later when season six returns. However, things turn dangerously quickly, as he's fixing a meal by campfire, a guy comes out and is holding a gun to Morgan. However, Morgan doesn't flinch. It's a great scene between this stranger and our beloved Morgan. Stranger Danger! It's soon revealed that this guy has the long pondered "W" on his forehead. When Morgan asks him about the marking the guy explains the original settlers of the land and how there was a bounty on wolves heads. He doesn't seem quite right in the head. He also explains how they meet new people, how they are essentially hunting people, trapping them, and as we know they have been killing them. This stranger, along with another companion try to take Morgan out, he goes all Kung Fu or Jedi Master on the two guys with his walking stick and knocks them out. Morgan repeatedly suggests that they walk away, but they don't listen. He's more zen now and has a new perspective that I can't wait to learn more about next season! After he knocks the two wolves out, he puts them in the car and at first I thought he honked the horn to call walkers in on them, but on Talking Dead they explained how he did this to make sure there were no walkers around. It's amazing how scenes can be read differently. After he honks he horn, he's face to face with the rabbit's foot and ends up taking it with him. Wonderful opening scene and really kicks off the finale with a great punch!

There are so many amazing scenes in the finale! One of my favorites is seeing Daryl back on a bike again! Him and Aaron are off tracking someone wearing a red poncho, when they lose him at a big grocery store Aaron explains that they are fifty miles away from home, and that while they are planning on bring more people to Alexandria, people still have to eat. They go to investigate the grocery store to see if they can score any food. There are a couple walkers out in the fenced in parking lot which they take down easily enough between the two of them. Aaron scores an Alaskan license plate, and while Daryl is checking things out, I felt that he was reading the area and he wasn't too sure about things. When Aaron opens one of the food trailers in the loading bay, it sets off a series of traps and rigs, when the doors of the trailers open they are full of "W" walkers. It's a crazy-intense scene and a few times I was screaming because the walkers were closing in on one of my favorite characters, Daryl. There is a wicked scene with Daryl using a chain to take out a couple walkers too. The duo manages to find a reprieve in a car, which another totally gross scene when Aaron closes the door on a walkers head! Great stuff. While they are inside the car Daryl finds a note that reads "bad people coming, don't stay" - WHAT! I can't take it if Daryl dies and I'll need more than any form of grief counseling from Talking Dead, there were a few times tears definitely were present tonight when I thought that the rumors might be coming true and tonight was Daryl's finale too. My eyes started watering when Daryl told Aaron that he was going to go out first, it sounded as though Daryl was going to sacrifice himself so that Aaron could get away, he just wanted to finish his cigarette first. I was literally screaming at my screen a slew of profanities. However, thank goodness Aaron is a stand-up guy and says that they'll fight together. I think Daryl has known the W's on the foreheads of the walkers isn't just anything, it's something bad and it seems to be gaining momentum, and that's why he has more of a conviction now with his new title, he wants to save the good people from the bad ones out there. Amazingly, as the two guys are going to push their way out into the walkers and take their fate in their own hands, Morgan shows up to help them escape the threat! It's another fabulous scene because they introduce themselves. Aaron wastes no time and invites Morgan to Alexandria, but he's not having it. Morgan explains how he is sort of lost and he could use some directional help. He passes his map to Daryl, who sees the map and it all clicks.

R.I.P Porch Dick
There was a sneak peek from last week of the scene between Carol and Pete, and it was still amazing in this episode. To see how far Carol's character has come, I think it will be interesting to see if Carol and Jesse form any sort of friendship or bonds because they share similar pasts, and Sam seems to be growing more and more attached to Carol. There is a great scene where she is telling Pete how small and insignifant he is and now in this reality they live in, he's even more of a coward and a nothing. Although, when she was saying this I was thinking, you just told him how he needs to tend to Tara, he is a surgeon, so he does have some use, and yet you are telling him he's nothing. But, I get it, she was basically the cat playing with the yarn ball, which in this case the yarn ball is Pete's ego. After she leaves him he starts flipping out destroying the house they put him in, away from his wife. Which later, he sees out his window Rick leaving Jesse's and his facial expression is quite sinister.

Definitely watch the episode, it's just jam packed, and I definitely don't want to give all the goodies away. It is an amazing episode and one that you don't want to miss, for sure. Just like in the comics, Rick wakes up all patched up in bed. As he chuckles lightly to himself Michonne has been there and repeats "What's so funny?" Questioning his sanity maybe too. She fills him in on who's been there and what's been going on since she had to knock him out. The door opens as Glenn, Carol, and Abraham enter his temporary confinement. They ask about the gun he had and Carol quickly plays it off that Rick must have stolen the gun and that it was a stupid move on his part. Michonne has a quick reaction to this as if she could read what was going on. The topic changes to discuss that Deanna is having a meeting and the strategy for their group to take control. It's evident that Carol and Rick are on board with taking things over, however Glenn, Abraham, and Michonne don't seem so thrilled about this plan. Later, Carol and Rick have a conversation and she gives him another gun, Rick confides in her that he doesn't want to lie anymore and there is a wicked scene where Carol tells Rick "Oh Sunshine, you don't get both." Meaning he can't overtake Alexandria and not lie anymore either, he can't have his cake and eat it too basically. He also has a great scene with Michonne as they have a great discussion, he comes clean with her about the plans they had for taking the guns. He even hands over the gun Carol had brought him when no one was looking, but she doesn't take it and pushes it back to him. She trusts him and they reconnect, she lets him know that no matter what she's with him. When Rick finally leaves his recovering dwelling, he walks past three big guys and then connects eyes with Deanna who's watching him. I'm pretty sure she's sizing up her poker hand against Rick's and knows she doesn't have what it takes.

Maggie and Deanna seem to be butting heads about the meeting Deanna has called. Deanna wants people to talk about what happened and Maggie tried to tell Deanna that they need Rick. When Maggie reads Deanna and walks away, Deanna's husband stops Maggie, he understands more and respects Rick I think and he has a nice chat with Maggie, he understands and he seems to be on their side. She goes to Glenn and explains to Glenn what's going on, meanwhile Nicholas has been watching Glenn. After Maggie tells Glenn that she wants to talk to the rest of the group and leaves Glenn, he sees Nicholas climbing the fence and goes to investigate more. He follows Nicholas through the woods until Nicholas shoots Glenn!! It's a shoulder wound and Glenn flew back down a hill, when Nicholas goes to find Glenn, he isn't there. When Nicholas seems mindlessly walking through the woods, he comes across a walker. He contemplates on using his knife, but he's too much of a coward and shoots the walker. Glenn attacks Nicholas and they go at it, Nicholas takes every opportunity to push and dig at Glenns gun shot wound. This made me want to hurt Nicholas in very bad ways!! Glenn is one of my favorite characters! As the two are going at it on the ground there are walkers inbound. Nicholas moves and leaves the walkers landing on top of Glenn.

Earlier, Sasha had been outside the wall cleaning up the walker bodies and carting them off to a pit. In a very eerie scene, she lays down on top of the walkers and seems to finally let go. I think she's been holding on to so much and she finally understand she needs help. At first I interpreted this scene as she was laying on them because she thought this is where she would inevitably end up. Later, on the Talking Dead, they discussed this scene and Melissa McBride (Carol) thought of the scene as peaceful, which is another interesting perspective. Later, when Sasha returns she's sitting in Father Gabriel's make-shift church. He had ventured outside of the walls as well. They're mental journeys have been frustrating, especially Gabriel's, I've wanted to kill him myself. Before Gabriel leaves the gates, he comments to Spencer "the word of God is all the protection I need". Didn't he say this before to Rick and his group when they first met him? Worked well for him didn't it? i don't know if he's just in denial or what, but for a man of God his character and attributes are very disappointing for someone of faith. I understand he's human and they've really honed in on that aspect of his character. When Father Gabriel is outside of the walls he runs into a walker and has to take it out along with another one, and then he has this real moment of breaking. When he returned, the meeting is about to commence and Spencer asks Gabriel to close the gate. Gabriel is still not all there and nonchalantly closes the gate, which doesn't latch, leaving Alexandria open and exposed.

Meanwhile, Rick goes home and is greeted by Carl and comments how the people of Alexandria needs them and they'll die without the help of Rick and his family. Rick tells Carl how he might have to threaten the people of Alexandria, but Carl's wisdom speaks and says, "tell them so that they can hear you". Meaning, tell the people not with blood and waving a gun, but speak to them as people. Michonne comes to Rick to ask if he's ready, this is when he comes clean with her, and she leaves understanding that he'll be at Deanna's meeting. Her words of wisdom for Rick, "We can find a way." But, as he looks out the window after she's gone, he sees the unlatched Alexandria gate and goes to investigate. He's running the walls, and when he finally finds the Walkers, the meeting has already started, but he takes the Walkers down in some pretty gnarly ways. Back to Sasha and Father Gabriel, she asks Father Gabriel for guidance and he denies her. Gabriel continues to lash out at Sasha and she fights back, literally they get into a physical altercation. She has her rifle to his head when Maggie intercedes. Back to Nicholas and Glenn, Glenn has a gun to Nicholas' head too, but Maggie isn't there to stop him. He stops himself. Would you have pulled either trigger? It will definitely be interesting to see how these relationships continue on through the next season. I think it helps Rick's group in Alexandria that they didn't pull the triggers, but in the reality of that world, I think pulling the triggers would have been the better options. Now Nicholas will have to go back and tell the truth, if he even does. And Father Gabriel will have to reconcile with Sasha, hopefully he will apologize for the hurtful things he said to her. I think during the meeting, Maggie was talking about her dad which might have helped her to reclaim the Hershel teachings.

R.I.P Reg
During the meeting, before Rick, Glenn and other missing people arrive Deanna starts the meeting. She explains how they are going to talk about Rick, how he stole the gun, and what happened. Maggie comments that they should wait a little longer, but Deanna starts anyway and then comments that it's getting dark. Each of Rick's group that is present take their turn in telling the rest of the people how Rick has saved them, and how he means the best. Deanna stops them and for full disclosure, she informs them what Father Gabriel had told her. But, thank goodness Jessee speaks up and asks if she taped him, because it's just her repeating what Gabriel told her and he wasn't at the meeting to confirm that. She looks momentarily defeated before Rick arrives at the meeting with a walker slung over his shoulder. He throws the walker down on the ground and tells them that the gate was open, how this happens, and that they need to prepare. The group finally seems to joining and everyone getting on the same page when Pete arrives all bitched out with a machete in his hand, when Reg (Deanna's husband) tries to talk Pete down since Pete is proclaiming "He's not one of us!" But, Pete slits Reg's throat, and Abraham quickly takes Pete down as the people are dealing with what is happening. Deanna has her dying husband in her arms, blood everywhere when she tells Rick to "do it", without any hesitation Rick executes Pete. To which you hear Morgan, "Rick?"

Afterthoughts

After this amazing episode, I truly think season six will pick up with the No Way Out story arc. This was an amazing finale, they really answered questions, and set us up to pick right back up when we come back to the season six premiere. My nerves were wrecked during this episode! There were so many intense scenes, but I am beyond thrilled that no one else (in Rick's group) died; although I was routing for Father Gabriel to get it! I was really really hoping that when Maggie interrupted Sasha, that Maggie would have pulled the trigger. But, I get it - Maggie wants to do the right thing because she's grooming for leadership. There was a very nice scene afterward of the three of them (Sasha, Maggie, and Gabriel) praying together. I guess it is inevitable in their reality that people are going to lose their shit every once in awhile, and that's part of being the family Maggie was explaining to everyone too; they'll help each other through those tough times because they are survivors, they've been there, and they know there is another side.

There was another great scene when Abraham brought some flowers to Tara, but when he saw Eugene at her bedside he tried backing out of the room. But, Rosita wasn't having it. She told him Eugene was sleeping, and when Abraham was trying to come in without waking Eugene, Rosita knocked over some bed pans or something that made a lot of noise, waking Eugene. So Abraham and Eugene had to have this real moment where Eugene came clean and apologized, and Abraham followed suite. Later, during the end of the episode there were quick scenes where Tara woke up and is awake. We don't know anything other than that for now, from what we can tell she is well, we don't know if there will be any side effects to her head trauma. But, I'm sure Eugene is thrilled she's awake too. I've grown fond of Tara and I really like her character development. She was this smart-ass punk when we first met her through the Governor, and now she's a valuable member of The Family. I lover her relationship with Eugene and I look forward to next season to see more. She doesn't know yet that Noah died, let alone so much more that has been developing while she was out. I'm sure there will be a great scene where Eugene takes full credit for her survival in his Tennessee Top Hat dapper way.

It will also be interesting to see the aftermath of the meeting, how Deanna is going to handle losing so much so quickly. I can see Maggie sort of being her crutch at this point and showing that she can he a leader. On a side note, I would like to see Sasha have something else to distract her, maybe Spencer? Watching the marathon I picked up on when he opened the door and their first meeting, she wasn't in her right mind really at that time, but maybe once she can pull herself together more, maybe there will be something there that can help her along her way, maybe another budding romance to go along with Carl's and his mysterious Enid. I think there is more to her than we know of too. They've definitely set-up The Wolves for next season. This episode we got to see their party trailers, but so far we've only seen the two, will there be more? It is going to be very interesting to see how AMC presents this next season to us and how all this will play out.

Sneak Peek - FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

Everyone Wants to Know - Where's Negan?


Granted, I fully trust the powers behind the scenes of The Walking Dead and AMC, I know they're going to bring him in when it's right, and for the most impact. I know it's been on my mind about Negan because I don't want to lose anymore of the group, and with his introduction we'll lose a crucial member! Anyway, recently I came across a YouTube channel and there is a gentleman that proposes the No Negan Campaign, he has valid points, and I'm so thankful that he put it all in perspective for me! Basically he reminds us that we need crucial things to happen through another entirely different story arc in No Way Out before we get to Negan and All Out War, plain and simple. Before Negan we also need Jesus and Hilltop too (another valid point made by the above mentioned video). I definitely want to see Jesus on-screen and can't wait to see it all come to life. There is just so much more story and possibilities before we get to Negan! So, I am officially on the no Negan (yet) campaign! We as fans need to be patient and exercise some faith and trust in AMC.


Links

Sunday, March 22, 2015

THE WALKING DEAD 5.15

**Spoilers and Predictions** 
Proceed with caution - unless you want to be paired with Nicholas for a run!

TRY

Can you believe it? I don't want to believe it! The season 5 finale is next weekend and in true Walking Dead fashion, it's going to be one heck of a show, especially since it will be 90 minutes versus the regular 60 minutes. Can't wait and at the same time, I don't want it to be over yet. I believe, if I've heard correctly, that the companion series will begin shooting this summer (thank God!) With the complexities involved we could have a couple companion series that run year round! Alexandria is nothing compared to what's coming. We still have Hilltop and what everyone's been anticipating, the next ultra villain, Negan. Plus, if you are staying current with the comics (unlike myself), then there is even more to come. But shh, keep it to a whisper (har har har). 

What Deanna thought of Carol's sympathy note...

Back to the fifteen episode to season five of The Walking Dead titled Try. Overall, an amazing episode, it makes the time go by way too fast because you are so enthralled. A great perspective was talked about on Taking Dead, about Rick's group and their need to be outside of the walls to remind themselves what is out there. Like being inside is too much anxiety and it is eating away at them, they've all expressed their fear in becoming weak being in a community that seems untouched by this zombie apocalypse and other horrors. So, what happens when you let wild dogs in? There are bound to be a few dog fights. The episode opens with the Monroe family mourning the loss of Aiden. Deanna might not be the great poker player she thought she was, is she internalizing her own decisions, or will she seek out the proverbial finger pointing vengeance of civility?

The Coward
AMC has perfected following multiple characters through story arcs and taking us on these insane rides, in one episode we experience the facets of psychosis and how people handle death and trauma differently. We all hate Nicholas, but in the fight or flight instinct, he is obviously the "I'm going to leave your ass to get torn to shreds by flesh devouring zombies!" What we also refer to as a coward. He literally makes my skin crawl how he would just run. I get that he was terrified, but he made some pretty messed up decisions, and these aren't his first cowardly mistakes either. We also know that Nicholas is the mystery person that snagged Rick's "J" gun, which after Glenn goes to Nicholas and gets in his face about how Aiden and Noah's death are on his hands I was like "Oh shit! - so later when everyone is running in Alexandria to break up a brutal fight and we see Nicholas running behind Glenn, I thought for sure he was going to use the commotion from the brawl to his advantage... but, then I remembered, he's a coward, he wouldn't do that! Not only did this low-life run away from our group in a critical time, he lies to cover his faults as well! When Deanna video tapes his confession it made me nauseous listening to his blabbering idiocy. The only other person that I hate, maybe even more so, would be Gabriel (which I covered a little last week).

Another great example of the genius writers involved in the series, as they dive deep in the hell we can put ourselves through just to survive the traumas of reality. While Sasha sort of got on my nerves this episode, I can sort of understand. But hey, no one snaps or goes off on Michonne! My eyes were about to pop out of my skull when Sasha swatted at Michonne and told her she didn't need her help. From the beginning of the episode it's obvious she's struggling as she's looking through her scope and is taking out Walkers. After Rosita comes to Michonne and informs her that Tara is in stable condition, she also divulges how Sasha hasn't been seen for days and presumably is up in the tower. They set off to find her and along the way discover she has been hunting Walkers, as her signature is a bullet to the back of the head. When they catch up to her they get semi-surrounded and the three of them take them out and it's like letting off steam and great practice for what is now, the real world. Like Michonne commented, she feels like she's asleep in Alexandria. However, when Sasha runs out of ammo there is an intense scene when she gets knocked down and that's when Michonne saves her. She's working through a lot and it wasn't until Yvette on Talking Dead explained that she might be lashing out at Michonne too because she's the one that talked to her after Tyreese died, to not make stupid choices like he had, and Sasha said she wasn't like him. Yvette expanded even further explaining how she feels Sasha is literally clearing her path (by clearing out the Walkers), this is her form of therapy in a way, this is what she has to work through. I also liked how Yvette talked about her lashing out at Michonne and Rosita, because they're there for her, but Sasha doesn't want it because she doesn't want to get close to anyone else. 

Daryl and Aaron are out on their first exploration together, we don't know if they're just tracking or what but Daryl spots light in the darkness, so they know they're not alone. Later they come across a chopped up person or walker, and a woman that had been tied naked to a tree, left to have her abdomen torn out my a walker. When Daryl lifts up her head, there is the themed "W" carved in her forehead that's really pushed in this episode. We see quite a few walkers with the "W" in their head, so the "Wolves" are getting closer and I'm sure we'll get a glimpse of them in the season finale for season 6 maybe, or maybe not. You never know with AMC. My prediction is that season six will be about these "Wolves" and Alexandria coming to terms with survival. I believe at this point in the comics, or at least I'm pretty sure, it's not long after Rick and Pete's fight that the Walkers invade Alexandria, and I would think this would be in the finale. This episode we really saw the increased presence of Walkers, especially with the W characteristic. As well, it is during this time that there are a lot of casualties, including Carl's eye. But, the show has different variations for example - at this point Andrea is still alive, Carol has long been dead, and I'm pretty sure Rick is missing his hand. Either way, some serious shit is about to go down. AMC will either drag out the crazy stuff in the comics and or add some of their crazy too, as usual!

My question is, why didn't Deanna videotape and interrogate Glenn too? I guess I can understand that Deanna would question Nicholas because he's sort of her man, and Glenn is with Rick, but that's also only digging further a drawn line in the sand between the two sides. You have on video Nicholas covering his tracks through muddled lies, which I think Deanna could see through. But if people are going to have access to Nicholas's confession, shouldn't they have access to Glenn's accounts as well? I would think so in order to conclude any means of justice, if that is what she seeks as leader of Alexandria. We see in the sneak peak that her and Maggie will butt heads about Deanna's process for dealing with the aftermath of Rick and Pete's fight. However, before we get to that great scene, there were so many great scenes in another stellar episode. The build up to Glenn confronting Nicholas is great. When Rick and Glenn are discussing the events and they are arguing their sides, Glenn makes it a point to say "we are them" (referring to Alexandrian's), again on the Talking Dead they brought up a valid point, how the group is esentially babysitting the people there, Glenn also states "we have to make this work." I think this is why he goes to Nicholas and tells him that he's not to go outside of the walls (of course Deanna has already instructed Nicholas the same thing, and he already has disobeyed her direct order because he went outside of the walls to dig up the gun he had stashed, which was Rick's "J" gun). That's why when Glenn does confront Nicholas and tells him basically not to endanger anymore lives, including his own. "Are you threatening me?" Nicholas. "No, I'm saving you." Glenn. I absolutely love Glenn and I hope he doesn't depart soon and mirror the comic book Glenn. Although, as mentioned before, when you become the moral compass in the show... you are pretty much signing your death scene. 

And sure enough, teenage angst is still alive and well in the zombie era. Carl continues to investigate Enid, but she busts him following her. "What do you do out here anyway?" Carl. "Same thing as you." Enid, states before she takes off running through the woods as he follows her and for those few seconds you realize, they're just kids trying to grasp some joy in their insane reality. Meanwhile, you can also contemplate that she too is trying to stay astute in the way of the world now. Carl has voiced his concerns to his dad how he fears Alexandria will make the group weak, and it seems most of them, if not all of the group have by this point been beyond the wall and have at least taken down a walker or two (maybe not Carol, but something tells me she's good!). In their next scene, once they have finished frolicking through the woods, they have a heart to heart. They have some similarities because Enid lived on the outside too before they took her in. I'm still on the fence about trusting her or not, I think she's been planted, but that's just my theory. Anyway, they confide in one another that they don't want to forget what is beyond the walls, so now they can relate to one another too. At some point they come across a lone Walker, Enid winds up a kitchen timer and throws it distracting the Walker, before they take off again. It's sweet for us to witness Carl's first love interest and how he can be so fearless, and now in unfamiliar territory. "Why do I scare you?" Carl. "I don't know, you just do." Enid. I think she scares him too though! When they are face-to-face, surrounded by walkers in a hollowed out tree (very close quarters), she says "It's their world, we're just living in it." 


Andrea/Comic vs. Jesse/Show
Jessie/Comic
While his son is just discovering love, Rick is on the brink of another mental break (if not already there), and to make matters even worse, he's found interest in Jesse. Which I've written before how this is just fuel for his fire. Again, Yvette had a great point on Talking Dead, how Rick is putting all his cards out on the table. I'm interested to see how this plays out though, in the comics Jesse's character is dark haired and dies when the walkers invade Alexandria (I believe), and eventually or shortly after Rick shacks up with Andrea (in the comics), who has blonde hair, while Jesse's character resembles more of the Andrea character in the comics (minus the two facial scars), we'll have to wait and see where this is headed - and can Rick really handle if she were to die right now? He's already psycho-focusing on red balloons. Anyway, Carol has the confession from Sam of Pete's abuse, which tells me he still has his head on straight, he could have killed Pete 10 times over by now, but he takes this information to Deanna, being the
good cop that he is. She knows! It's the "sacrifice for the good of the people" - I haven't particularly cared for Deanna, but have been giving her the benefit of the doubt, because it's not an easy job. However, after she knows and still permits this behavior to continue so that the community can have a surgeon is despicable. She stands there and lectures about civility!? When Rick joins her at the grave site, he's civil and asks her how she's doing, and she confesses not well. They get in to a verbal debate; Rick is showing is cards about survival, and she's playing with an old non-existent deck. He's fighting for survival and she's fighting for civilization; Rick = Kill; Deanna = Exile. They butt heads and when it comes down to it she tells him if he were to kill Pete or anyone she would exile him too.
There is a great scene before this too when Rick is trying to reel-in psycho-Rick, when Pete happens to walk up (bad timing dude!). Rick turns to him in a very intimidating and warning way tells him to "Keep walking". If Rick tells you to keep walking, you better listen. And Pete does! He definitely got the hackles up defensive threat from Rick and heeded his advice. When Rick goes to Jesse, you know it's about to get crazy again. Rick confronts her about the abuse and tells her "It has to stop". Her response "Why do you care?... We have to take care of ourselves". When he's contemplating and looking around the normalcy of the town, you can see the storm brewing in him, and this is when I thought (the town needs a breach of the walls, let the people know there are huge threats in the world). But, Rick has his own way of doing things.
He goes back to Jesse, nearly busting through her front door entering her home, and confesses to her how Sam asked for a gun to protect her. He explains to her "If you don't fight, you die" and he tells her he doesn't want her to die, he says that he can keep her and her boys safe she just has to say yes. They banter back and forth a little before she nearly whispers "yes" and perfect timing, Pete enters the room. He's obviously been drinking as Jesse attempts to tell him to leave. He snaps at her and that's when the dog fight escalates as Rick states that Pete will leave, along with himself out front to solve this the 10 knuckle way. In staying true to the comics, they crash out through the front windows of the house and the whole town comes to see the commotion. Jesse attempts to break it up gets a fist from Pete, Carl attempts to reel his dad in and gets pushed away, as Rick goes in to killer mode as he focuses on his red balloon and then he hears Deanna's voice telling him to stop, he questions her "or what?" Rick pulls out his gun, "you gonna' kick me out?" (Nicholas sees that Rick too has a gun, his expression looks more worried now). Rick continues to go off on the Alexandrian people and explains how his people have survived because they have done what needs to be done (or something along those lines), that their way (the Alexandrian people's) of doing things (civil life) is extinct. He's all bloody and seems crazy-pants at this point, he states again "If you don't fight, you die." right before Michonne knocks him out.


Sneak Peek - Conquer (Season 5 Finale)




Sunday, March 15, 2015

THE WALKING DEAD 5.14

Overall this is a stellar episode, one you definitely do not want to miss out on and need to watch. Pure AMC genius continues to reign supreme, and you know all this is leading up to a wicked season finale that will make us all go crazy when it's over and the wait will begin again until season 6. There is some good news however, there will be a companion series starting soon, so that is going to be interesting and maybe peak our interests and hold us over between seasons.


**SPOILERS**
If you have not seen the episode titled SPEND and do not want to know what happens, OR you do not like spoilers, PLEASE don't read. IF you do read and complain about it, you will be left in a revolving door, surrounded by Walkers, and eventually meeting the same fate as Noah does. That is all. :)

Spend

Only one episode left until the season 5 finale airing March 29th! I can't believe the season is nearing the end, will the group be able to cope and live peacefully in Alexandria, or will chaos continue to reign supreme with our weary group? Speaking of weary and meek, the episode opens with Father Gabriel. We haven't seen much of the Father since he burned his collar back on the road. Now, he seems to be attempting to lead Alexandria's community spiritually. I'm not sure if he's in a church or the make-shift school in Alexandria, either way he's definitely struggling when he flips out after a gift is left for him and the note read how blessed they are to have him. He rips out the pages of his Bible and seems to have lost it completely, but he's still praying and talking to God, just quietly doing so as he stares to the heavens with his silent pleas. However, after watching this episode, and doing the Story Sync (as suggested) he has committed total treason against the group. Watching what he did, even I feel betrayed by his actions! Now, I hope that he meets a worse fate than Noah did! Traitor! I'm so pissed.

One of the best scenes, even though it was one of the quickest too, was Daryl riding out on his new bike. Presumably with Aaron behind him leaving Alexandria in a car. As far as we know, Aaron had asked Daryl to go out to recruit people to Alexandria. Here's the first run, and after the other groups experience in this episode of going out on a run, it makes me extremely nervous that Daryl is leaving the group. In the next scene Noah has a morning meeting with Deanna's husband because he wants to learn how to maintain the walls, along with other things, he wants to be an Architect in training. The old guy passes his journal over to Noah, because he use to write everything of note down, and now he suggests that Noah does the same thing. There's an awkward scene too with Rick and Jesse where I think Rick was attempting to somewhat flirt with her, although talking about window theories might not be the right angle Rick!? Also, Pete (Jesse's husband) comes to give Rick a visit. Is he sizing Rick up, is he continuing his "Porch Dick" presence? To me the entire encounter was Pete pissing, marking his territory, and trying to go all "Alpha" on Rick. Plus, there was a harsh scene when Pete says to Rick "heard you lost your wife", but it was the way he says it that just gets under your skin and makes you want to end him. Once Pete leaves, Rick looks down and seems to be contemplating his wedding ring... will he take it off?

A Natural Born Leader


Abraham had more screen presence in this episode, his first scene he's splashing water on his face in a nice, safe bathroom with a sweetly sleeping Rosita reflecting in the mirror. Next up, he's been assigned to the construction crew and reports for duty. The guy that was flirting with Carol in the last episode seems to be in charge and as they're working, a guy Abraham was talking to states he has to go "send a fax to Seattle" or something along those lines, which was code for he had to go take a shit. During this time, Abraham focuses on birds escaping the trees... does he know what is about to go down? However, he seems to begin having some sort of anxiety attack, is it that he's having a hard time dialing back to normalcy, or is he summoning the strength because he knows what is about to happen? Either way, shit hits the fan when a bunch of Walkers approach the group. There are plenty of people in the group that if they were worth an ounce of what Rick's group was, they could easily take care of the Walkers... but, since they are the protected Alexandrian's they start shooting. When a woman named Francine needs help, the Crew Chief instructs everyone to leave her. Abraham steps up and goes to save her, he puts her in the cab and shuts the door proclaiming "Motherdick!" as the Walkers push in and it cuts to a commercial (of course). 
However, no worries, it's not his time yet and he's able to fight them off with a bad ass chain with a crude concrete ball on the end. Francine also assists out the cab window with her riffle, as other people in the crew take Abraham's lead and helps as well. When the Walkers are put down, Abraham confronts the crew chief and Francine decks him before they get back to work. In the comics, Abraham does hook-up with another woman (Holly) resulting in him and Rosita ending their relationship (Rosita gravitating toward Eugene). But, I think the woman actor looks a lot like the comic book character, just give her blonde hair. Either way, these scenes were great, Abraham is a leader and it's not surprising that he takes over as crew chief "We have a wall to build!" Meanwhile, the old crew chief goes to Deanna to tell her what happens and he's not a dick about it at all, he tells them how he was going to leave Francine but Abraham saved her. Deanna says that makes Abraham a hero, but she's reserved about making him the crew chief. Maggie ends up speaking up for Abraham saying that he's more than capable to run the crew... Deanna's trepidation though is giving another leadership role over to a member of Rick's group, but in the long run this is what she wanted. She knows they can fight and survive. 

Brutal Sacrifices

Eugene, Noah, Glenn, Tara, Aiden, and Nicholas all gear up and are readying to go on the groups first official run that we're seeing. Deanna and her husband are there to say goodbye to their son, as well as Maggie to see them off. Noah makes Eugene take a gun after he protests, Tara kids around with Noah, is she letter her guard down under the misconception of security that Alexandria presents, or was she just having fun in the moment? I honestly think, in these circumstances, you would have to take every moment as it is, especially if you could find any ounce of joy. Apparently Aiden and Nicholas find joy in techno dub step music (ironically a line in the music says "now, you're going to die", as they crank it in the van they're traveling in. It shows just how clueless these two (Aiden and Nicholas) are, beyond the walls if you ride around blaring music, you'll definitely attract a few dozen Walkers. Either way, the mission is to go to a solar warehouse to retrieve something the community needs. At the warehouse Glenn continues to share his wisdom and Aiden finally seems more receptive. However, Nicholas still is an ass and I don't know why he's on this duty, other than maybe hes Aiden's friend, which after watching this he's not a friend, let alone much of a human being either. Tara and Eugene have a little tiff too because he wants to take some credit for the group finding Alexandria, but Tara quickly puts him in his place. I think he's struggling to find his purpose and trying to find a way that he's been useful and a part of the group, he wants his intellect to be the factor.

R.I.P Aiden
Nicholas had commented that if shit hit the fan he would run for the front (and he would surely die) because Glenn and Noah were checking out the perimeter and find the front of the Warehouse crawling with Walkers, which ironically they do end up going out the front, well some of them do. The scene when the crew is heading in to the warehouse is intense, the auditory stimulation just makes you believe something is about to go down. Tara and Eugene find what they went there for, but they're also encountering a lot of Walkers. In an intense situation Aiden starts shooting a walker that was wearing armor, Glenn is yelling at him to stop, but Aiden hits a canister and there is an explosion before it cuts to a commercial. When we return to the group in the warehouse after the explosion, Aiden's friend Nicholas proclaims him dead, but he's really not. Also in the explosion Tara was knocked out, she's bleeding and not doing well. Glenn, Noah and Nicholas set out to rescue Aiden who is critically injured as well, a lot of metal is pinning him to the warehouse, doesn't look good at all. Walkers are filling up in the warehouse, when rescuing Aiden doesn't seem like a possibility anymore Nicholas whispers in Aiden's ear how they were responsible for the team member's they lost before and then runs off. Glenn and Noah of course didn't leave until there were absolutely no other options, as the walkers dig and tear Aiden apart. The entire scene is brutal, but not the worst in this episode. It's bad, but Aiden confesses to Glenn before Noah pulls Glenn away and they just escape. Meanwhile, after Eugene proclaimed that he would protect he incapacitated Tara, he ends up slinging her over his shoulder and fighting a few walkers off to his way to the van. Which was wonderful, because Eugene comes to the rescue later with that van!

Nicholas runs to the front of the warehouse and runs out the front revolving door, not listening to Glenn and Noah, who are now out of ammo as well. They all get trapped in the revolving door! I was seriously having difficulty breathing during these scenes! All seems hopeless, as Noah is saying there has to be a way, and you can tell Glenn is working out what to do, while the coward Nicholas is just panicking. Honestly, I was trying to work out how to throw Nicholas to the walkers so that Glenn and Noah could get to Eugene who had just arrived in the techno thumping van drawing some of the walkers away, but not all of them. Glenn tries a plan, but Nicholas freaks out, squeezes through the doors opening them just enough that Noah gets grabbed by the walkers. As Noah is being grabbed though he tells Glenn, "don't let go" or something along those lines, and later on the Talking Dead, they discuss how it really had alternative meanings behind it, it didn't really mean the literal, Noah knew he was going to die. Glenn has to watch as the walkers brutally rip apart Noah though, and it was gore, ripping, and just gross! And there seems to be no end to Nicholas and his cowardly ways, he orders Eugene to get out of the van, to leave Glenn and Noah... again, on Talking Dead, they discuss how Eugene quickly did the math and new something was up. He tries to take on Nicholas but he takes Eugene down, but Glenn arrives and knocks the coward Nicholas out. Now they have to head back to Alexandria. Deanna has to learn of her son's death, the death of Noah, and they'll have to deal with Nicholas and his treachery. Another great point brought up on Talking Dead, this was the first death on Glenn, he usually tries to save everyone, so it will be interesting to see how Glenn deals with this. AND - will Glenn now be in charge of the crew that goes out on runs? Yet, giving another leadership role over to Rick's crew!?

R.I.P Noah

In Carol We Trust

Carol finds Sam, the kid she had threatened, raiding her pantry... he's looking for more cookies. If this kid knew who he was messing with, I'm not too sure he would be rattling around in her house, let alone trying to communicate and become chummy with her. Carol tries to kick him out, but he wants more cookies and isn't going to take no for an answer. He reassures her that he hasn't told anyone about her taking the guns, she's obviously irritated with him, but once he starts talking about the guns and how he likes to break things, her attention is alerted. She figures out that Sam's dad, Pete, isn't very nice. She went to his house and tries to talk to him and he continues his "Porch Dick" persona. Carol goes to Rick,the same time that Eugene goes to Deanna. Carol tells Rick about Pete, and how she knows how this is going to end. 
Meanwhile, Eugene is comparing Rick's group to Satin and how they seem good, but he's telling her that they're not. During this sequence I really wanted to hurt Gabriel, I've never liked him as a character, and now I wished him and Noah could have been reversed. This is pure treachery, he's a traitor and in this world, what do you think will happen to traitors? Hopefully, the sweet Karma is that Maggie overheard Gabriel's conversation with Deanna, who I think she knew (being the proclaimed Poker Player) that he might not be entirely right in the head right now. However, it gives her something to think about, and as the scene is ending, you can hear Glenn yelling that they need help, so the van is arriving and she's going to learn of her son's death, is this going to change her mind now about Rick and the crew? Either way, back to Carol and Rick, she tells him that he's going to have to kill Pete... and that's exactly the ammunition he needs, he's wanted to end Pete, now he has a reason. Get ready, the Rick'tatorship is going to explode all over Alexandria and it's going to be glorious.

Sneak Peak - Try

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Sunday, March 8, 2015

THE WALKING DEAD 5.13

Forget

With only three episodes left in season 5, Forget opens with hardened Sasha. She goes to sign her weapon out and interacts with Olivia, who is in charge of the pantry, gun stock, and seems relatively unscathed. Sasha had taken the family portraits from the house she was sleeping in and used them as target practice. This episode she really seems unhinged in a way, she's dealing with so much, the group deaths, the Walkers, and everything else. Then again, maybe Alexandria is exactly what she needs right now to work through her loss and psychosis. The Story Sync is so great because it gives so much insight, it was suggested that maybe Sasha is just rejecting Alexandria's civilization.

This episode is all about the group and how they're acclimating differently within and outside of the walls. Sasha isn't the only one having difficulty, Daryl still isn't playing along, and I think that's great. I don't think it would be his character to play nice in Alexandria, and through out this episode he mentions how the Walker World his group became who they were meant to be. There's great scenes with Aaron and Daryl on a side mission chasing a horse, Buttons. Aaron mentioned how he had been chasing the horse for a while now and in their attempt Walkers intrude and eventually (and very sadly) take down Buttons the horse. I just felt like Daryl keeps trying, and I think that's a great attribute, don't forget to keep trying. 

In the spirit of survival, the Pow Wow between Rick, Carol, and Daryl, they decide to take some guns from the stock room. We are in the thick of it with the Rick'tatorship now. Is he going over board with his new title and power or is he just trying to keep everyone safe? Either way, he's tipping on the dark side and just further demonstrates Andrew Lincolns mastery in his performance. Same to Carol, she is a master spy at this point. Daryl can't be involved because they're watching him and Rick is in the public's eye. Carol mentions at  some point the good thing about being in this world again is that she's invisible... just not to little boys following her for cookies! There was an amazing scene where Scary Carol comes out and is a complete terror to the little boy who disrupts her mission and catches her. Great scene and Melissa McBride who plays Carol is fabulous, let me tell you - if I were that kid I would have been pissing my pants!

When Deanna throws a party to welcome the newcomers, it gives a great cover for the covert operation to acquire guns. The group arrive to the party in intervals and have interesting interactions, but it's a lot like introducing wild dogs that you've cleaned up in with domesticated ones (a lot of butt sniffing and tucked tails). However, there is liquor there and maybe this contributes to some bad behavior, but when Jesse is handing over Judith to Rick, they're close and Rick takes the opportunity and kisses her cheek - WHAT! I'd love to know your take on this and their development. Is it that Rick is going to take what he wants, which is Jesse, or do you think it was the alcohol and lapsed judgment... I felt like screaming at the television, she's married, even though he's a "porch dick" (than you Chris Hardwick), still. Like Kevin Smith said on the Talking Dead, it's very caveman like behavior, even later when Rick is in possession of a pistol and when Jesse and her husband are walking down the street there is this instant when he reaches for the gun - like he could just erase him from the picture - crazy! But, we all love it too.

There seems to be a lot of "meeting of the minds" in this episode too, besides Rick, Daryl, and Carol's Pow Wows, Aaron follows Daryl to single him out, as well Deanna gathers Maggie with Rick and Michonne to discuss her vision for Alexandria, she's assigned jobs for everyone and we learn that she's recruited Maggie to help her with governing - which I'm sure will come in to place later too if they do stay with the comics and introduce Hilltop too. However, they talk security where Deanna and Rick seem to keep butting heads. He keeps telling her how people are the real threat, Sasha volunteers for look out duty in the watch tower (in exchange for them attending to her party). It just further shows Deanna might be a "poker player" and is playing her hand at a chess match with the crew, but she's clueless when it comes to the real threats and being prepared.

Overall, it is a great episode. It's not necessarily action packed, it's more personable. When Aaron follows Daryl and starts talking with him, he mentions something about "shrinks the brain" and I felt that he was very much trying to get inside of Daryl's head. Later we learn that he totally respects Daryl and wants him to be a recruiter. It's a great scene with Spaghetti Tuesday and everything, I think Hershel would have been smiling. But, Aaron presents Daryl with his garage of motorcycle parts to sweeten the deal and tells Daryl how he asked Deanna not to assign him a "job" because he wanted Daryl for his own purposes. Aaron doesn't want his partner Eric going out on missions anymore and he won't be able to for a long time with his broken ankle anyway. I wasn't too sure about their interaction at first, but after the Spaghetti dinner I felt much better about their budding bromance. 

"Wolves not far" - what's the mystery!

Other great scenes included Carol in the pantry getting ingredients for her cookies while also doing a little recon and unlatching the gun stock room for her covert mission. Meanwhile, later when she was there getting the guns, I wanted to scream at her for taking more chocolate. They made it a point when Olivia said how much she could ration it out, she's going to know someone took more. I just felt like it was a huge mistake and I hope it doesn't come back to bite her on her ass later. Also, when Carol was there earlier with her recon, getting ingredients, she meets "Toby" who she flirts with (as a distraction) and he invites her to learn how to shoot a gun, makes me want to laugh out loud, literally.

"W" for "Walker" or for "Wolves"?

Alphabetically though, this episode holds a lot of questions with two letters; A & W. Again, we see the Walkers with W's etched on their foreheads. We saw them in the town where Tyreese was bitten and it is being speculated (and really seems too ironic not to be connected) that the W will have something to do with "the wolves" - but, we'll have to wait to find out. Comicbook.com has a great read about the comic book links and what people are guessing about the W and the wolves The Walking Dead: What Do The W's On The Walkers Mean? Another question, what's with the A stamp, I get it "A is for Alexandria" but does it tie in to the A that was written on the side of Father Gabriel's church? I can't believe there are only a few episodes left! At least the season finale will be 90 minutes, and then we'll all be crying when it's over again.

Sneak Peek - Spend

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Sunday, March 1, 2015

THE WALKING DEAD 5.12


REMEMBER


Welcome to Alexandria - Safe Zone! Last week we were left off with the group finally arriving at Alexandria. Titled Remember, the twelfth episode in there fifth season, pics right up where we left off, with the group walking up to the gates. This episode will be all about the group assimilating, their interviews into the community, and exploring within the walls. As they make it to the gates there is a commotion, before you know it Daryl sinks an opossum and as the gates open he states "We brought dinner" - love it! As the group walks in the guy at the gate informs them to hand over their weapons (yeah right buddy!) Of course the group doesn't and Rick states that if they wanted to fight them they would have started already. There's a great scene when they're walking in and Sasha takes out a Walker as the front gates are closing and Rick says "It's a good thing we're here."

Which is exactly why they're there. Interestingly, Andrew Lincoln did mention in an interview that there will be a lot of new character introductions. This episode there were quite a few. First up, Deanna Monroe is like the Mayor of Alexandria, and through out the episode she conducts interviews with each of the family members. She prides herself on being able to read people, so she assigns most of them jobs within the community. When she interviews Rick it's interesting because she knows they need them and Rick's trying to figure out what the threat is. Like on Talking Dead mentioned, it's a chess match between the two. There's a great scene when Rick it telling Ms. Monroe "It's all about survival now - at any costs." She definitely wants him and his family to help them out - but why? (If you've read the comics you have an idea or two). She also asks Rick what he did before, and through great debate he finally tells her that he was a Sheriff. 

Deanna explains that they (Rick and the family) have to store their weapons, that if they leave the gates they can check them back out, and it's a great scene with them all dismantling themselves with weaponry. Aaron also assigns their living quarters, which is two huge houses, but Rick being cautious suggests that they all sleep in the same house to stay together. They have running water, what comes next? Shower time! Naked Rick in the shower - whoot whoot! And next up, say good-bye to the Rick beard. Which, as he's finishing up with his shave, there is a knock at the door. It's a beautiful blonde woman, she introduces herself as Jesse and give shim a basket of supplies. She offers to cut his hair for him too as they converse a little. **SPOILER** I know through other sources that this will (or possibly will be) Rick's upcoming love interest. Later, when Rick goes for a nightly stroll, he meets Jesse's husband who seems to be a complete ass. Again, in the comics we know where all this is going. Back to the shave, Michonne and the group give Rick a lot of double-takes once the beard is gone.

The group explores Alexandria community, except Daryl, he's not so much loving going back to a "normal" life. I think it's because he thinks he's better in this apocalyptic world, he doesn't want to go back to what he was before, which to him he things was nothing. He's a huge part of the group and I'm interested to see how his character adapts, and even if he can - which I really hope he finds something, I'm actually surprised Rick didn't deputize him now that he's the Sheriff. Carl meets the rest of the kids and gets a little perplexed when they ask him if he wanted to play video games or play pool, it's like he can't wrap his head around the normalcy of it all. There's a teenage girl who he seems to have a little connection thing going on with her. She was an outsider too that was brought in and when he sees her climb the wall, he follows her but she's able to lose him. When Carl and Rick have a moment, Carl has a great point, that the thing he's concerned about being there is that the people in Alexandria are weak and he doesn't want the group to get weak. Later Rick states that it's not in them to be weak, and I fully agree. They've been through too much.


One of my favorite scenes was with Carol and her interview. She did a great job playing dumb, I feel like she's being the spy for the group, she told Ms. Monroe how she was a housewife and how she misses her husband ever day (yeah, right!). She was playing the sweet and innocent woman, portraying herself to be this weak and mild, she definitely has a plan. Another great scene was with Carol and Daryl (always), Carol is dressed with a cardigan and playing Soccer Mom or whatever, and she asks Daryl if he's taken a shower. They have their little back and forth (which I absolutely love) and Carol says she'll hose him down (God, I hope so!!) and as she's leaving he retorts "You look ridiculous." Love those two!

Glenn's interview, he states that they (the group) needed this because they were almost out there for too long. Glenn, Tara, and Noah are all assigned their job with the Mayor's son (who's a prick). You can tell right away he tried to assert himself and on the Talking Dead they hit it right on the head, these two Alexandria townies (Mayor's son included) are "playing" war. Again, it's why they want Rick's group in the community, because they have been through wars, they are survivors. Back to the supply run group, the prick talks about their "pre-game" ritual, which you can just tell isn't going to be good. They had lost some people (which I don't know if they really did lose them or if they had a hand in it) either way, they left a Walker "strung-up" and when they get there it's gone. When they find it, they're passing it around and taunting, it's really disturbing and you can tell Tara, Glenn, and Noah are shocked by their behavior and want to put the Walker down. When they push the Walker onto Tara, Glenn quickly puts an end to the Walker and they head back to town. The prick confronts Glenn, and everyone is trying to tell the prick to stand down. Ms. Monroe and everyone else arrive seeing the confrontation, Daryl is like a hungry wolf ready for a fight, when the prick turns to his mom and makes a comment about them coming into the community and Glenn retorts something along the lines 'because we actually know what we're doing' - the prick takes a swing at Glenn, who ducks and knocks the prick down, Daryl pounces on the other guy as the rest of the family swarm in to defend their own. Ms. Monroe breaks it up, puts her own son in place, and asks Rick to be the Constable, along with Michonne (Daryl doesn't like it and walks away). Ms. Monroe also announces to the community to leave Rick and his family alone, and she thanks Glenn for knocking her son down a few pegs.


Overall, an awesome episode. Questions that we're left with - Who took Rick's gun that he had left in the blender? What is the mystery behind Alexandria and why would they give complete strangers so much control so quickly? Either way, it's a great move, Rick and his family are a force and a surviving one. I think Ms. Monroe is a smart cookie and she knows this is what she needs if they want to survive themselves. The episode ends with Rick coming down the stairs in his new uniform. Rick, Carol, and Daryl have a Pow Wow and Carol reaffirms what Rick and Carl had already discussed, fear of acclimating too well and becoming weak, Rick says how it's not in them to be weak... and if the Alexandrian's can't make it, then they'll just take the place!! WHAT?! Uh oh! The Rick'tatorship is like that snake ready to strike, and Alexandria won't even know they've been bitten until it's all said and done. Can't wait!

Sneak Peak - The Distance

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Test your abilities and find out who you're like - my result: Carol