Alexandria – Simon’s Incoherent Blog

The Walking Dead: Season 7, Episode 4 – Service

“Let me put this to you all as clearly as I can. I’m not in chare any more. Negan is.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It was Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in The Walking Dead this week, as Negan took the opportunity to make his first visit to his new conquest – Alexandria. Last week we saw how these goods collections go from the Saviors’ point of view; now we got to see it from the perspective of their victims. And understandably, nobody seemed to welcome their new bat-wielding overlord. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 7, Episode 4 – Service”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 9 – No Way Out

“No-one gets to clock out today. And hell – this is a story they’re going to tell.”

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(SPOILER WARNING!)

As I caught up on the return of The Walking Dead after my usual sojourn to LA this year, it occurred to me that I never did get round to writing a review of last year’s mid-season finale. Not that there was anything wrong with it, particularly; there were some tense set pieces, and some good character action. But basically, it was the third act of every zombie movie ever made – the inevitable bit where the hordes of hungry undead break into our heroes’ sanctuary, and carnage ensues. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 9 – No Way Out”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 7 – Heads Up

“Dying is simple. It all just stops, you’re dead. The people around you dying – that’s the hard part.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Ok, I’ll admit it – last week I missed that we’ve already got on to Day Two of this year’s Walking Dead. In my defence, I think the night happened while Daryl was unconscious, so we only saw snapshots of it in those brief moments he woke up. So, six and a half episodes in, and we’re now on the season’s second day. That’s not quite 24-level real time, but it’s close. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 7 – Heads Up”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 5 – Now

“This is what life looks like now. We have to see it. We have to fight it. If we don’t fight, we die.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After last week’s fascinating diversion into Morgan’s Jedi training/psychoanalysis, it was back to business as usual in this week’s Walking Dead, as we returned to the running plot of Rick’s none too successful plan to lead the Walker herd away from Alexandria, just when the Wolves attacked. But if you found last week’s flashback frustrating for prolonging the tension of whether your favourite characters made it back alive, you must have been positively gnashing your teeth at this one. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 5 – Now”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 3 – Thank You

“Have you ever had to kill people, because they’d already killed your friends and they were coming for you next? Have you ever done things that made you feel afraid of yourself afterward? Have you ever been covered in so much blood that you didn’t know if it was yours, a Walker’s, or your friend’s?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Blimey. Even by Walking Dead standards, that was bleak. I mean, sure, there was plenty of action – and oodles of gore – but even this show rarely offers an episode so suffused with hopelessness. We knew the Wolves’ attack, and that blaring truck horn, had put a crimp in Rick’s Walker-herding plan, but I wasn’t prepared for quite how catastrophically wrong it all went as a result. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 3 – Thank You”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 2 – JSS

“How do you just live, when that’s the world?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After last week’s lesson about how ill-prepared they were to deal with the dead, this week’s Walking Dead saw the pampered Alexandrians get slapped in the face by the real world again – only this time by the living. I wasn’t entirely surprised to find that the blaring truck horn distracting the Walker herd at the end of last week was caused by the Wolves – I’d been expecting them to turn up. But I’d thought the show might have given the Alexandrians a little breathing room between dealing with hundreds of Walkers and the marauding living. Not a bit of it – The Walking Dead isn’t a show to give its characters a break. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 2 – JSS”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 1 – First Time Again

“I know this sounds insane, but this is an insane world. We have to come for them before they come for us – it’s that simple.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After six uneven weeks of its nascent spinoff, it comes as something of a relief to welcome back the original Walking Dead, in an extra length season premiere. Six years in, though, the show has seemingly explored nearly every possible storyline in their zombie apocalypse – can there be anything left to say, or is the show simply being prolonged because it’s AMC’s biggest hit? Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 1 – First Time Again”

The Walking Dead: Season 5, Episode 16 – Conquer

“Rick just wants his family to live. He wants all of you to live. Who he is, is who you’re going to be. If you’re lucky.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

So, I wasn’t quite accurate last week when I referred to this season finale of The Walking Dead as “double length”. AMC’s bold assertion of a “90 minute season finale” actually referred to the timeslot in which it was broadcast, with its attendant commercials. In actual fact, this ep ran for nearly 65 minutes, about half again as long as the usual 42ish. The show’s done this before, but not since the season two opener; here, though, it wasn’t to provide big budget Walker spectacle but to give some quite complex character drama room to breathe, which it did very well. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 5, Episode 16 – Conquer”

The Walking Dead: Season 5, Episode 15 – Try

“People die now, Deanna. They do. There’s times like this, when you can decide who and when – or it can be decided for you.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After last week’s high drama, this week’s ep of The Walking Dead was a slower paced affair. But while it may not have been packed with action, the tension has never been higher between our gang and the sheltered residents of Alexandria. It hung palpably in the air, just waiting for the inevitable explosion; and when the balloon finally went up, it was no surprise that it was Rick who was the spark that lit the fuse. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 5, Episode 15 – Try”

The Walking Dead: Season 5, Episode 14 – Spend

“You wanted a future. You need us for that.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After a slowish (but still interesting) couple of weeks to ease Rick and the gang (and the audience) into its new setting, this week The Walking Dead went back to full throttle. The uneasy relationship between the newcomers and the established Alexandrians shows no sign of getting any better, with the suspicion now coming from the other side. Meanwhile, we got back to some meaty Walker action with two expeditions outside the wall that didn’t go entirely as planned, leading to some dramatic consequences. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 5, Episode 14 – Spend”