Netflix will debut a new live-action interactive series, You vs. Wild, on April 10.
Netflix will debut a new live-action interactive series, You vs. Wild, on April 10.
In You vs. Wild, viewers join survival expert Bear Grylls on exciting adventures all over the world. Dense jungles, towering mountains, brutal deserts, and mysterious forests await, with tough decisions around every corner. In this groundbreaking interactive adventure series, you make all the decisions and whether or not Bear succeeds or fails is totally up to you.
Each episode features an interactive experience with multiple choices, where a user may direct the course of the story.
Quote from Bear Grylls: “I’m so proud to deliver this first-of-its-kind live-action interactive series, really giving viewers an all access pass to explore the world and its landscapes in my boots. The stakes are high in this one!”
Episodes: 8
Executive producers: Bear Grylls, Chris Grant, Drew Buckley, Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, Rob Buchta, and Delbert Shoopman
Director: Ben Simms
Production company: Electus, A Propagate Company, and Bear Grylls Ventures
Bear Grylls Bio
Bear Grylls has become known as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. His journey to this acclaim started on a small island off the U.K. coast, where his late father taught him to climb and sail. Trained from a young age in martial arts, Grylls spent three years as a soldier in the British Special Forces; it was here that he perfected many of the survival skills that his fans all over the world enjoy. Despite a free-fall parachuting accident in Africa, Grylls went on to become one of the youngest climbers ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He went on to star in seven seasons of Discovery Channel’s “Man vs. Wild,” which became one of the most watched shows on the planet. Since then, he has hosted more extreme adventure shows across more global networks than anyone else in the world, and is a #1 best-selling author, with over 85 books selling in excess of 15 million copies. He is an honorary colonel to the Royal Marines Commandos and the U.K.’s youngest ever chief scout, and is the first ever global Chief Ambassador to 50 million worldwide scouts.
About Netflix
Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with 139 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.
The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 14 “Scars” Review
The last time I could say “that was extremely dark” on a video game was when I heard the torture cassette tapes of Paz on Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Around that same time, We got one of the darkest episodes to have ever premiered on The Walking Dead and that was “The Grove”. I questioned if an episode could get to that level again and that was the season 7 premiere (Still one of my favorite episodes of all time). But now, I think that the newest episode just surpassed that in tone, theme, setting, and storytelling. Here is my review of “scars”.
This episodes jumps back and forth with the current time, and to a few years ago while Michonne was pregnant with Rick Grime’s baby. I will break down the flashbacks first. A woman who was close friends with Michonne from before the apocalypse was injured during an attack and she had a group of children that she has adopted. She showed up at Alexandria and can I say that pregnant Michonne is still a badass? She told her story to Michonne wanted to take them all in to live at Alexandria.
I could not blame her at all since Rick is gone, she has pretty much nobody. We also did get a good monologue with a scene of Michonne finding Rick’s gun from where the bridge exploded as well in the beginning of the episode in one of the flashbacks. Going back to the flashbacks, It turns out Jocelyn trained those kids to fight and murder people. Jocelyn eventually turns on Michonne and gathers all of the children (including younger Judith) and steals everything from the infirmary. When Michonne and Daryl finds this out, they both go after her but they are both captured. One of the kids proceeds to brand the “X” marks on their backs and she even brainwashed the kids to go after anyone with that mark (which is what I believe happened to the adults that used to be with her). You can see the pain in Michonne’s eyes and hear her scream loud while she was branded since she was also pregnant. Daryl gets loose without her noticing and frees Michonne before anything worse could happen and they begin searching for Judith. After Michonne kills Jocelyn after Jocelyn tried to kill her (including when her pregnant stomach was slashed), Michonne had no other choice but to kill most of the other children to save Judith so that way they can go.
In the present day, Judith and Daryl talk about the stories that the group went through to defeat Negan and The Saviors and Judith believe that they can do the same thing to The Whisperers. Judith also wants Daryl to stay at Alexandria again, but he refuses. Siddiq patches up Henry’s leg when they arrived there and after that, Daryl, Connie, Lydia and Henry leaves. I would also like to point out that Michonne still does not trust Lydia.
Elsewhere, Judith goes off somewhere to find Daryl after they leave and Michonne even asks Negan if he had seeen her and Negan told her not since yesterday. They also got into a small heated argument and Negan had to remind her that she is a mom and Judith was not someone that would take things lightly just like her. While they were clearing walkers, Michonne finds Judith in the woods and saves her from approaching walkers. They also have a heart to heart after the encounter as they talked about what she remembers and how much they love eachother. Michonne also talked to her about making a promise to never bury any bodies at the spot they were standing at and gives the reason to why they never accept new members into Alexandria. Michonne wants to protect everyone that is there as her and Judith held hands as they walked away from Carl’s grave. Michonne eventually caught up with Daryl and the rest as they head to The Kingdom since the fair is under way. The last scene of the episode shows us that The Whisperers has found The Kingdom.
This episode I have a feeling will spark controversy in a bad way, but it is what The Walking Dead needed in a very long time. A dark and gritty episode that will put shivers to our spine. Now we have a reason to those “X” marks, but it also leaves us with more questions. What caused the rift between Michonne and Maggie? My theory is that Maggie found out that she murdered kids but could not do it to Negan. But her anger has been justified since it has been building up since episode 6. Seeing Michonne branded while she was pregnant made me almost close my eyes because that scene was sickening but not as sickening of her killing the kids that attacked her. I also think that brainwashing kids to kill people that are branded is compared to training combat dogs but I will not go further than that. As of the episode itself, It is one where you would not watch with your kids at all and It is a good episode you have to watch if you are curious to know why Michonne is the way that she is.
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Avengers endgame trailer scene location revealed
SKYBOUND’s The Walking Dead Lucille Patrol Set Review
A few years ago, Skybound revealed that they were releasing the Shiva Force line of The Walking Dead action figures. There were both sets that has a normal version, and a bloody version with blood splatter on different parts of the figures. The Shiva Force paid homage to the Tiger Force of G.I Joe back in the 1980’s. The packaging and the character cards of each figure brings back that feel when you first look at one of the G.I Joe figures when you were a kid. Featured in the Shiva Force pack is Rick Grimes, Michonne, Ezekiel, and Shiva. A few months later, the rival team Lucille Patrol (based on Python Patrol) made their way to battle Shiva Force. Here is my review of the Lucille Patrol set that features Negan, The Governor, Alpha, and Beta.
The Governor is first here and his appearance is based on issue #44 of the comic series right when the battle at The Prison begins. He comes with his mega phone and his pistol. He has a missing arm due to Michonne chopping it off way back at issue #33 and you can also see the blood spot at that part of his shoulder. His armor is the hardest part of the figure and the figure’s body can move left and right. It’s legs however, are very stiff and the knees cannot bend. However, of all the figures, I like his look the best in the entire set.
The leader of The Saviors is now the leader of Lucille Patrol. Based out of his debut on issue #100, Negan comes in style with a knife that can be placed in his holster and his signature weapon, Lucille. His jacket is also grey with the barbed wire pattern. I originally thought that his jacket would be the same as the box but I am okay with that. I also love the blood splatter on his head and it looks in a way that he bashed someone’s head in with Lucille.
Coming next, is the first in command of The Whisperers and she is called Alpha. She us the smallest of the entire set and I love the paint job the designers did on her. Her oroboros belt buckle is red this time instead of yellow and her undershirt is bright green. The only drawback is that she does not come with an extra head where she is unmasked along with her machete. Her first figure that was released in 2015 did come with those accessories with the sawed off shotgun like the one you see here. I also do like that the gun could be attached to her hand which is something that should have been done for the rest of the figures on this set. This is also based on her first appearance on issue #132.
The second in command of The Whisperers arrives as he is the final member of the Patrol as Beta slashes his way through the box. Based on his first appearance on issue #154, he is very tall and intimidating. His two large bloody knives comes with the set and for a big figure, he is the easiest to move the limbs of the figure. His large trench coat never feels like it is in the way at all and the detail of his whisperer mask is spot on.
This set is worth to have in your collection especially if you already have the Shiva Force set. McFarlane and Skybound always knock it out the park with the attention to detail with The Walking Dead characters whether if it is the television show or the comic series. These will be more rare to find in the future so pick them up when you can.
Also, check Rob’s review of the Shiva Force set when you get a chance.
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Tony Hawk Box Boarders unboxing by Hog Wild
Gotham Season 5, Episode 8 Review
In my opinion, this felt like more of a filler episode, especially with all the content we received in the episode prior. We were able to get a good amount of character development though throughout this episode, mainly for Harvey Bullock, who has always been a solid fan favorite. I’m sure that this episode was one of the extra ones they had gotten to bump the season up from being a 10 episode season to 12 episodes. They were even able to check off something from the Gotham To-Do List when it came to introducing the much anticipated, yet to do classic villain, Scarface.
With Harvey, we are really given a sense of character development in this episode. The fans get a glimpse of his backstory in a way we haven’t had before on this show. It gives Harvey a sense of standing as an individual. Rather than being just another cop or the sidekick of the more popular Jim Gordon.
The episode begins with two former cops, Boggs and Lewis, who are in the Sirens Club for a drink. That is until their old partner, and a familiar face to a fan of this show that has been watching from the beginning (or has gone back to watch the first season), Dix. The last time we saw Dix was in Season 1, Episode 6: Spirit of the Goat, and in it he was wheelchair-bound, but when we see Dix now he is standing upright and there is definitely a sinister air about the appearance. One that proves to be so when “Dix” drives a knife into both Boggs and Lewis and kills them right in the middle of the packed Sirens Club. There was nothing else that particularly stuck out in the scene. Unless you count in Barbara’s snappy attitude towards the cops for not giving good enough intel so that they could be allowed entrance into the club. I understand that her club is one that is mainly for youth, and especially for women, but what is so abhorrent to her about some old timers coming in for a drink? I feel like she was making a much bigger deal out of it than was probably necessary.
The interaction between Barbara, Harvey, and Jim as a trio when she had called them in to investigate the crime scene was solid as always. Especially, with Barbara’s sassiness mixed with bitterness that she brings to the scene. I think it’s obvious that when Boggs and Lewis are revealed under the sheet that Harvey is shaken by it because of his history with both cops. Harvey is put into an even further state of disbelief when Barbara mentions that Dix, his former partner, was the one that had come in to kill them. Dix, however, had been paralyzed and wheelchair-bound for the past fifteen years and the Dix that had come in was standing and walking upright. However, Barbara doesn’t care about that since she only called them in because the two were former GCPD cops.
Then the scene jumps to Jim and Harvey’s conversation. Jim tells him that they should go and talk to Dix and that really showcases all of Harvey’s emotions about this situation. Dix is his friend that he’s been taking care of for years, that he has a clear respect and care for much like that of a son trying to take care of their elderly father which I’ve always admired because it brings out another side to Harvey that isn’t always able to come through, which is his ability to care and even nurture. He had been taking care of and making sure that Dix had everything he needed for some time now, even before Dix’s first appearance in the first season. I think it is very evident that he does regret not being there more for him because of all of the craziness of Gotham getting in the way.
We really get a look into Harvey’s backstory before Jim came around when Harvey was just a rookie cop and he wanted a higher up position within the GCPD. He had worked with Dix, Boggs, and Lewis on a case of a woman who had murdered her husband. The woman, named Victoria Cartwright, was formerly an average, boring citizen working as a bank teller who had “snapped” and shot her husband. It was later revealed that Harvey was only working the case with the other cops to get his new position he desired within the GCPD as Detective and he didn’t have all of the information on the woman’s history with her husband at the time, which it was revealed that the husband had beaten both his wife as well as his daughter, Jane.
This brings us to Jane Doe’s position in this episode, who was formerly Jane Cartwright until she was forced by Harvey to give a statement which had gotten her mother convicted and she was named as a ward to the state. She was also sent to multiple institutes before landing in Arkham Asylum. The experience in Arkham was clearly traumatizing for her and it didn’t help that she was clearly put in there around the latter half of the second season when Hugo Strange was introduced and she ended up being one of the inmates that were taken down to Indian Hill. She was clearly an experiment similar to that of Basil Karlo, aka Gotham’s version of Clayface. It’s obvious that she was meant to be a stronger version of Hugo Strange’s transformation experiment and one that had clearly gotten away maybe in the second season’s finale so that she could try and find the ones responsible for her mother’s conviction. Jane is determined to get justice for her mother, however; she was damaged.
Jane was tortured by, not just Hugo Strange and his experiments, but also the ordeal she had been put through and forced to give a statement to when she was a small child. Jane is and was probably the most heartbreaking character we have seen in the entire series. I think she represents greatly what happens when a character goes through such a tragedy and instead of growing from it and becoming a force for good, she falls deeper into her depression and has a thirst for revenge against the ones responsible. Ultimately, she either wants to live by knowing that she has executed all of those that had had the deeply personal effect on her which she has been able to do in the form of Boggs, Lewis, and Dix, and end it all with Harvey who she says had destroyed her soul; or she wants to die and hope to be free of all of the pain that her life has been since that fateful night when she was only seven years old.
Next, we have the beginning of the Jim and Barbara exchanges in this episode. Jim wants to try and reason with Barbara, who is cold to Jim, and firm with him that she doesn’t want him to be a part of their child’s life. However, I think this could just be a mask because deep down she probably still holds a small form of love for Jim. If she didn’t love Jim in some way, then she wouldn’t have gone to him for any sort of carnal affection like she did at the end of the fifth episode of the season. I feel like a part of her coldness towards Jim when it comes to the baby is that she wants to remain independent, she wants to show Jim and everyone else that she is fit to be a mother. There wasn’t a whole lot more when it comes to Jim and Barbara for this episode. It was pretty much what we’ve seen so far and I’m fine with that because this episode shouldn’t be about them. This episode is not for Jim or for Barbara, to me, it’s for Harvey to give him the last few moments before Gotham’s final season comes to an end. However, there is a small break in the comic relief, when Jim and Harvey are trying to decide on which was the “real Barbara”. This happens when Jane has transformed herself into Barbara. I’m not going to lie, I did laugh at this part. It was a small moment that the comic relief was slightly used to soften an otherwise heavy scene, in which, the pregnant Barbara was being held at gunpoint.
The episode then shifts over to Bruce and Alfred. They are seen in the hospital room, where we have seen Selina recovering early on in the season. This moment is also after Jeremiah’s body had ended up in there in the Ace Chemicals episode. In this room, Bruce and Alfred are speaking with a woman who looks absolutely beaten up. We learn that the woman and her husband belong to a shelter with many others. Some that have gone missing within the tunnels of Gotham and they had both gone to look for them, but he was missing while she was able to get away. Since Selina isn’t in the hospital anymore and she’s up and about, I think it’s a little random for Bruce and Alfred to just be in the hospital room, and I think that some background as to how the woman was able to get in contact with them should have been included or at least hinted at. If I’m missing something, feel free to let me know, but as far as I know, I don’t think there was any clarification on how this meeting came about.
Eventually, though, Bruce and Alfred do take the mission on of finding the woman’s missing husband in the tunnels. I don’t think their entire arc in the episode was anything new for either of them. There was the same thing where they find the victim, the villain, who in this episode was a Killer Croc-type character because they’re obviously not officially calling him Killer Croc. Although, it was nice to see Bruce getting some Batarang training in with those spikes that Croc had shed. It was a good way to take him down without killing him off like another certain villain in this episode, whose death I really did not agree with. Also, Bruce’s speech to Alfred at the end about how losing Wayne Manor wasn’t his fault and how they view family as being strong for one another really pulled at the heartstrings for me because of the depth that was put into saying those words. The acting in that scene was my favorite from both David Mazouz’s Bruce, which he has only perfected throughout the years that seemed to have just blown right by for this series, and the extremely talented Sean Pertwee’s Alfred (who is my favorite Alfred right along with Michael Caine’s in the Dark Knight Trilogy). I think this moment even beats out the Bruce and Alfred moment in the previous episode mainly for the reason of the emotion that it was able to bring out of me, as the viewer.
Now we come to the most entertaining part of this entire episode, definitely the part that I enjoyed the most, Oswald and Ed “working together” again. We first see that Edward is hard at work
For the first scene, Ed has strung up some bells to the ceiling of his workspace. This is a form of an alarm system because of his paranoia that someone has been watching them. It turns out, as it almost always does, that Ed was right about someone watching them with the entrance of the revived form of the newly named “Arthur” Penn. Arthur then reveals the most anticipated villain they had yet to do on the show with Mr. Scarface. To me, the look of the dummy was spot on, as if they had just plucked him right out of Batman: The Animated Series, and the way Andrew Sellon portrayed Scarface, as well as Mr. Penn, was absolutely magnificent. I love the fact that in real life, Andrew Sellon was once a real ventriloquist. I think that experience of his really shined through and I enjoyed the entire performance. Not only in the way he played Scarface, but also the way he brought the real emotion out of Penn as well. It made me feel bad for the character as a whole, even though I already felt bad for poor Penn. Oswald treated him terribly, but by way of using Scarface he was able to vent all of that out to Oswald, in my view he was able to gain another personality in order to defend himself. I think Penn finding Scarface and using his abilities as a way to bring out that side of his personality that was very deep down and hidden is the stronger version of Penn. Even though it is coming through an object controlled by Penn rather than he himself.
While we’re still on the subject, I think that towards the end was probably the most heartbreaking and emotional part of this arc in the episode. This starts with the confrontation between Scarface and Oswald, with Scarface berating Oswald for his poor treatment of Penn. This is after Oswald attempted to make the point to Penn, that he never asked him to kill anyone like Scarface was making Penn kill Oswald. The argument makes a dramatic and sad turn when Scarface is shouting at Oswald that all he does is take from everyone until Penn finally is able, in his own way, to find his voice from Scarface. Penn reveals his anger and his disappointment at his poor treatment from Oswald. It made my heart just ache for the Penn character.
Yet, I was also happy because he was finally able to find his own way of just telling Oswald everything he’d been wanting to say for a very long time, I’m sure. However, the fact that they ended up killing off Penn as well as shooting off Scarface’s head was an extreme disappointment. Here was this villain, this character Scarface that the show had been wanting to do for years. They give him one appearance in an episode and then kill him off at the same time. It makes no sense to me why Gotham can’t just let some characters go off and be villains. We can make up our own story for what they’re doing and have it be an open ending.
In the end, I do understand that with Gotham death doesn’t always mean finality for a character. However, with them just killing off a villain that they have wanted for years makes no sense to me. Let them go off, do their thing, and we can imagine what they’re doing even if they aren’t showcased in another episode later on.
With that rant over, let’s go to Oswald and Ed. Oswald has definitely grown at least a little bit in this episode. He understands that he hasn’t been a good friend or even a good employer to anyone, including Ed. He’s been killing off all of the ones that help him steal supplies, like Ed stated in the episode. I think the evidence of him not being a good friend is just too obvious to even mention as there are countless examples. Although, I think it is noticeable that he deeply regrets his actions since they’ve all led up to him being alone, abandoned, and friendless. In that moment, when hearing everything from Ed and Penn, I think he grows a little. He has at least learned that he needs to start treating the people around him a little better if it means that he won’t have to be alone. Something that I belive to be his greatest fear.
The fact that he even got a dog, and then, he named Edward speaks volumes. He misses the companionship that he had with Ed, misses the love that he felt for Ed in previous seasons, and he wants all of those things back. Hopefully. he really will learn from that scene, and that everything that was said to him and learn how to treat those who he admires or considers to be a friend with more respect and love. Even if he does learn from this, and he does start to show a change in the way he deals with the people around him that he trusts, and or wants to trust. We still face the uncertainty of how long this will last because, he could fall back into old patterns. This would be a wonderful character development for Oswald if he does learn from this, then apply it to his actions, and his decisions in the future.
Continuing on with Ed, who was mostly a background character for this episode in my opinion. He wasn’t really doing much else except for either working on the submarine, arguing with Oswald or faking a deal with Scarface. It wasn’t really his moment in this episode, but he did get a good chunk of what he also had wanted to say to Oswald as well when the point was brought up by Penn about Oswald’s mistreatment of others, and boy did he say something to shake Oswald up. He was absolutely right when he said that Oswald deserved the treatment, and what would have ended up getting him killed if Penn had let the gun go off, because he was also having enough of Oswald’s poor treatment for a very long while as well. Something that had led to their hatred, mistrust, and dare I say trepidation of working together again as a unit at least for Ed.
Now, Ed didn’t get much, if any, character development in this episode, even though there’s still room (hopefully) for something to happen for him before the series ends. I did like when he was able to voice his own grievances towards Oswald, which he was never shy to do, unlike Penn. I think that just as much as Penn’s argument got to Oswald, Ed’s may have even been the stronger of the two, which I would think is because Oswald has a very different relationship with Ed than his relationship with Penn and I think that makes Ed’s argument in the scene the more pivotal for Oswald’s character.
Overall, this was a very good episode. Yes, it was filler, but it was filler with a purpose, if that makes sense. That purpose being character development, mostly for Harvey, but a little development for Oswald as well like I stated already, and also a chance to introduce a few familiar faces of the Rogues’ Gallery in Scarface, Killer Croc (I know they didn’t specifically say that it was Croc, but come on, you have to admit that it was the closest they’ve come, even when you count in that other Croc-like character that got mowed down in the beginning of the third season), and of course the heartbreaking Jane Doe.
As for Harvey, we have been shown his deepest regrets, the inner darkness he kept inside, and how much of a troubled road he had been on. Between the time of becoming a Detective to before Jim Gordon arrived and became apart of his life. It was Jim, who seemingly began to turn Harvey’s life slowly. I think that Jim has really made him see what having a real partner is like. A partner that wants to go by the rules, but, is still willing to break them as well. Both men have done some questionable things, however; Harvey knows that his decisions were always the worst. I think he got thrust into the position of Detective, one that he had wanted when he was a rookie cop, in the most troublesome way. Since he had gotten the job, he had been doing questionable or just outright terrible things, breaking every rule, moral and not.
I think with this experience coming back to haunt him has put him into a state of depression over the decisions he’s made. By the end of the episode he wants to give Jim every detail of what happened. He wanted to air out every wrong doing he did within this case. It shows just how horrible he feels about himself and about the person that he allowed himself to become. It helps him face his future and maybe growing from his past to become a better form of himself. I think he wanted Jim to just be the one he confessed to, the one he let everything out to because he is probably his closest, or only friend.
I think this episode had just about everything one could want. It had a good balance between humor, action, heartfelt moments, emotional scenes, and truly heartbreaking stories. I would put it in at one of my favorite episode. Quite possibly my 5th favorite or maybe just a little lower on my Top 10 list, but this one is definitely one for my Top 10.
With that rant over, let’s go to Oswald and Ed. Oswald has definitely grown at least a little bit in this episode. He understands that he hasn’t been a good friend or even a good employer to anyone, including Ed. He’s been killing off all of the ones that help him steal supplies, like Ed stated in the episode. I think the evidence of him not being a good friend is just too obvious to even mention as there are countless examples. Although, I think it is noticeable that he deeply regrets his actions since they’ve all led up to him being alone, abandoned, and friendless. In that moment, when hearing everything from Ed and Penn, I think he grows a little. He has at least learned that he needs to start treating the people around him a little better if it means that he won’t have to be alone. Something that I belive to be his greatest fear.
The fact that he even got a dog, and then, he named Edward speaks volumes. He misses the companionship that he had with Ed, misses the love that he felt for Ed in previous seasons, and he wants all of those things back. Hopefully. he really will learn from that scene, and that everything that was said to him and learn how to treat those who he admires or considers to be a friend with more respect and love. Even if he does learn from this, and he does start to show a change in the way he deals with the people around him that he trusts, and or wants to trust. We still face the uncertainty of how long this will last because, he could fall back into old patterns. This would be a wonderful character development for Oswald if he does learn from this, then apply it to his actions, and his decisions in the future.
Continuing on with Ed, who was mostly a background character for this episode in my opinion. He wasn’t really doing much else except for either working on the submarine, arguing with Oswald or faking a deal with Scarface. It wasn’t really his moment in this episode, but he did get a good chunk of what he also had wanted to say to Oswald as well when the point was brought up by Penn about Oswald’s mistreatment of others, and boy did he say something to shake Oswald up. He was absolutely right when he said that Oswald deserved the treatment, and what would have ended up getting him killed if Penn had let the gun go off, because he was also having enough of Oswald’s poor treatment for a very long while as well. Something that had led to their hatred, mistrust, and dare I say trepidation of working together again as a unit at least for Ed.
Now, Ed didn’t get much, if any, character development in this episode, even though there’s still room (hopefully) for something to happen for him before the series ends. I did like when he was able to voice his own grievances towards Oswald, which he was never shy to do, unlike Penn. I think that just as much as Penn’s argument got to Oswald, Ed’s may have even been the stronger of the two, which I would think is because Oswald has a very different relationship with Ed than his relationship with Penn and I think that makes Ed’s argument in the scene the more pivotal for Oswald’s character.
Overall, this was a very good episode. Yes, it was filler, but it was filler with a purpose, if that makes sense. That purpose being character development, mostly for Harvey, but a little development for Oswald as well like I stated already, and also a chance to introduce a few familiar faces of the Rogues’ Gallery in Scarface, Killer Croc (I know they didn’t specifically say that it was Croc, but come on, you have to admit that it was the closest they’ve come, even when you count in that other Croc-like character that got mowed down in the beginning of the third season), and of course the heartbreaking Jane Doe.
As for Harvey, we have been shown his deepest regrets, the inner darkness he kept inside, and how much of a troubled road he had been on. Between the time of becoming a Detective to before Jim Gordon arrived and became apart of his life. It was Jim, who seemingly began to turn Harvey’s life slowly. I think that Jim has really made him see what having a real partner is like. A partner that wants to go by the rules, but, is still willing to break them as well. Both men have done some questionable things, however; Harvey knows that his decisions were always the worst. I think he got thrust into the position of Detective, one that he had wanted when he was a rookie cop, in the most troublesome way. Since he had gotten the job, he had been doing questionable or just outright terrible things, breaking every rule, moral and not.
I think with this experience coming back to haunt him has put him into a state of depression over the decisions he’s made. By the end of the episode he wants to give Jim every detail of what happened. He wanted to air out every wrong doing he did within this case. It shows just how horrible he feels about himself and about the person that he allowed himself to become. It helps him face his future and maybe growing from his past to become a better form of himself. I think he wanted Jim to just be the one he confessed to, the one he let everything out to because he is probably his closest, or only friend.
I think this episode had just about everything one could want. It had a good balance between humor, action, heartfelt moments, emotional scenes, and truly heartbreaking stories. I would put it in at one of my favorite episode. Quite possibly my 5th favorite or maybe just a little lower on my Top 10 list, but this one is definitely one for my Top 10.
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The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 13 “Chokepoint” Review
The Walking Dead this week has a boat load of action along with the debut of a new group that has not been seen in the comics that is exclusive to the show. With the fair beginning to take place, there is a road block that comes in the way. Here is my review for the newest episode titled “Chokepoint”.
At the end of the last episode, we seen Daryl and Connie rescue Henry and Lydia from The Whisperer camp. This episode continues the escape and Henry notices that they were not going the same direction to The Hilltop as he thought. Can I mention how resourceful Connie has been ever since her introduction? Anyways, Daryl told all of them that there is no way they should return to Hilltop because Alpha will return there to kill everyone now since that deal went sour. Daryl also kept giving reasons to why Lydia cannot come with them but Henry told him that they will go alone. After arguing about it for more minutes, Daryl had no choice but to follow Connie to the old building that Magna used as a hideout. Daryl also takes advantage of the building to see a Whisperer and walker herd from above. Lydia did however told Daryl about Beta but we will get to that soon.
Remember that red symbol that was shown a few episodes ago? Well, I initially thought that it was The Whisperers marking their territory but I was wrong. It turns out that it is a new group that is called “The Highwaymen” and they act as extortion pirates that is similar to The Saviors. They are lead by a man called Ozzy and they steal people’s belongings as a toll in order for people to pass the road. Ezekiel and Carol were talking about this when they read the letter. The Highwaymen demand items from Ezekiel, Carol, and Jerry and they refused and they told them that they have nothing to offer. A little more back and forth of words along with Ozzy and the rest point guns at then and then The Kingdom made a deal with them so that they can hire Ozzy and his men to watch the roads while the fair is going on in exchange for The Highwaymen to attend the fair. I found this scene creepy from the way Ozzy and his men stood in the darkened area with other cardboard cutouts of humans before they came to the light. Carol even asks Ozzy when was the last time they seen a movie.
While Tara and others such as Magna, Yumiko, Earl and others are on the road, they encounter a number of walkers and during the scuffle, Earl was close to being bitten which also gave me a jump scare. The Highwaymen also rescue them and escorts them to the fair. It also seems like Tara is going to tell Carol about The Whisperers as well.
The fight between Daryl and Beta that everyone was looking forward to finally happens here during the last half of the episode and Beta, who is tall and intimidating, throws Daryl around like he is a pillow. Daryl even tries to stab Beta with a knife but he realizes that Beta has armor under his clothes so that did not help. That also caught me off guard too. There were times that Daryl tried to sneak attack Beta and that did not work until the end of the fight where Daryl jumps on Beta from behind and pushes him down a elevator shaft. There were also Whisperers that was also killed by Daryl, Connie, and Henry during the time that they hid Lydia and the dog in a closet. Henry was also stabbed during this fight as well. The episode ends with Beta waking up from the hard fall.
This episode picked up the pace from last week’s episode and everything is starting to come full circle. The Daryl and Beta fight took up the majority of the episode and I love it. The Highwaymen i am curious about if they encountered The Whisperers before or other groups during the 6 year time skip. Speaking of that, the next episode will reveal how Daryl and Michonne got those “X” marks on their back and I am looking forward to it!
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