The Walking Dead World Beyond Season 1, Episode 7 “Truth or Dare” Review

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Alexa Mansour as Hope, Aliyah Royale as Iris, Hal Cumpston as Silas, Annet Mahendru as Huck, Nico Tortorella as Felix – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 1, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Zach Dilgard/AMC

Things got dark really quick on “Truth or Dare.” World Beyong finally showcased how cruel the outside world is for the group. The tone comparison to the previous six episodes are night and day.

Not only that “Truth or Dare” ended with a strong cliffhanger, we also got a glimpse of Huck’s backstory. To me, Huck’s flashback scenes are the most essential flashbacks World Beyond has had yet. Finding out the reason Huck has the pernament scar on her face and her real name being Jennifer is eye opening. Also during her flashbacks, there were questions on the universe of The Walking Dead that were addressed. What is revealed, is why the military did what they did on the first seasons of The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead. I always wanted to see the military’s point of view during the beginning of the apocalypse and I am happy that it was brought up.

I will have to give a high praise to Annet Mahendru. Her performance on this episode is outstanding and I believe this is also her best episode. Her potential was there at the start, but it blossomed on “Truth or Dare” the entire time. Huck did what she had to do when she was in the military. There was no way that she would allow a group of innocent people to be massacred by the military.

Nico Tortorella as Felix, Annet Mahendru as Huck, Aliyah Royale as Iris, Alexa Mansour as Hope – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 1, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Zach Dilgard/AMC

As far as the structure of the episode, there were no moments at all that made me roll my eyes or cringe. There was nothing silly at all as it got real. What was also missing about World Beyond since the start, is the suspension of disbelief. We watch the characters not realistically handle dangerous situations. But this time around, I felt it was realistic. They learned real quick that not everyone is good on the outside. Hope in particular, got into that situation where she could have been killed. That was until Huck saved the day.

That scene is effective because it displayed the true horrors of the world. Do not ever trust anyone 100% when it comes to encountering people. But the end of the episode is something I did not expect. Whether if Silas killed Tony or not, will be up in the air until next week. But the fact that Percy is not there tooo makes me question if he did it instead of Silas.

I also believe that everyone will talk about the Mountain Dew product placement. I had no problem with the spot. But it looked out of place from a visual standpoint. But at least the bottle looked like it did in 2010 (editor’s note: I did actually researched what the bottles’ appearence was like in 2010 and it is the same as that scene). I am a stickler for attention to detail when it comes to spots like that. If there was a bottle that looked like it is manufactured in 2020, then it would be inconsistent. Now I can picture a thirty second ad of Mountain Dew during the commercial break of any of TWD universe shows.

Another good thing about this episode, is how CRM is used for the plot. Instead of a post credit scene, a CRM map is featured. Everyone put the pieces together to figure out the fueling stations on that map and where could Hope and Iris’ father be. A quick inspection of that map also showed a fueling station in Virginia. Which means that the station at that location, could have been close to Jadis’ junkyard on The Walking Dead.

Even the game of truth or dare itself added to the episode in a good way. Percy knows that Hope knows that she killed Elton’s mom. That game was about to bring that revelation out. I thought it was going to happen here, but I now predict that it will happen in the finale.

With a heavy plot, dark tone, and no nonsense approach, “Truth or Dare” is the strongest episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

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Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 6. “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg” Review

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Jenna Elfman as June, Colby Minifie as Virginia – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC

There is one thing in common that the three shows share for their current seasons. That is, everything goes up in flames. On The Walking Dead, it was the fire arrow attack at The Hiltop. On World Beyond, it was The Blaze of Glory. And now on Fear The Walking Dead, it is the oil field.

But it was more than the fire that made this episode great. The storytelling and the directing choices really stood out to me when I watched “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg.” Especially the surgery scene shortly after the episode began involving June and Sarah. The way it was filmed reminded me of those hospital television shows such as ER or House. I will also admit that I jumped when the patient turned into a walker. Good thing that Sarah was there or else June would have been gone.

Speaking of Sarah, for a split second at the start, I thought it was her that Virginia was chasing. But it turned out to be Paige. It may be just me, but their hairstyles are similar and they both wear caps. Virginia is ruthless for the first half of this episode. And I have not seen that side of her since her on screen debut. Making demands, interrogating Wes over the spraypaint, and keeping everyone in line, Virginia was a badass there. But it did not last as she was bit by a walker. I was really sure here that she was going to be dead. June had every opportunity to kill Virginia once in for all. But she did not do it.

Danay Garcia as Luciana, Colby Minifie as Virginia, Justin Smith as Marcus, Craig Nigh as Hill – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC

It is because Virginia made a deal with her to have a hospital. For a villan, Virginia has kept her word with everyone so far. She delievered on her promises and June realizes that when she cut her bitten hand off. June wanted John to come with her to the hospital, but John had other plans. John wanted June to run away from Virginia. That did not happen as John went another path on the fork of the road.

Everyone on “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg” added to the plot. The fact that everyone got a decent amount of screen time regardless that this episode centered around June makes this a memorable one. Add in the explosion at the oil field, you will want your favorite character to be safe at that moment. It also leaves me wondering what will be next for everyone. Especially John and June since he split to escape Virginia.

The acting and directing I will also praise too. Just like “Honey”, the first half felt like a high stakes mission. Follow that up with the deadly moment of Virginia getting bit, and what could set the story of Virginia’s eventual end of her reign on top. Fear The Walking Dead’s streak of great episodes continue. Next week’s episode will serve as the mid season finale as the eighth episode’s production resumed not too long ago.

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The Walking Dead World Beyond Season 1, Episode 6 “Shadow Puppets” Review: Don’t Listen to Strangers

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Nico Tortorella as Felix – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 1, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: AMC

There are five more episodes left of World Beyond to finish the first season. “Shadow Puppets” is one of those episodes that has great directing and cinematrography. But it falls flat when it comes to the dialouge and some of the character’s actions.

What did not make any sense at the first five minutes, is how the cliffhanger on the previous episode is resolved. Percy approached them with a weapon and Felix stops him from behind. Then Percy said that he will now leave. What was the point of revealing yourself if you were going to leave. Iris is ready to trust anyone that tells her a false story and believe every word they say. I find that ridiculous that they are easy to trust anyone.

But they got a harsh reality later on when Percy and Tony almost drove away with their belongings. Speaking of Tony, it boggles my mind that nobody else checked his body to see if Tony was really dead. Felix should have been the one to have done that. I also want to bring up the ending scene. While it did not made me blow a gasket like that dance scene did, the shadow puppet show should have happened inside. There is no reason to have loud music outside while everyone is sitting down and not paying attention to see if there are any sights of the undead around. There is no excuse for that scene to happen the way it did at all.

Alexa Mansour as Hope, Nicolas Cantu as Elton – The Walking Dead: World Beyond _ Season 1, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: AMC

There are some good moments that I liked. The scary moments really brought my anxiety up. And I believe the sense of urgency worked better for this episode than the others. Specifically when they were all helping Iris out of the dumpster. I was made to believe that she was going to get bit by the undead for a second.I also want to praise Michael Cudlitz for directing the episode because the cinematrography felt sharp and differernt than all of the previous episodes. Especially when Felix smashed the mirror in which he thought was the empty that he had to kill. Also, bonus points for making Tony act like a walker when he got up for a few seconds to trick the viewers.

It is getting close to the point where Hope will reveal that she killed Elton’s mother. The guilt is coming out of her whenever they are talking about his mom. Hope will have the feeling to confess that she did kill her within the next few episodes, or she will let it slip out by accident to another character. How Elton will react, will be intriguing to see.

Although not enough information was revealed at the post-credit scene, it seems like CRM is aware of Hope and Iris’ arrival. What could happen to their father is up in the air for now. Maybe CRM might have him as a test subject before their arrival, or have him stationed somewhere else. Since the truck that Tony stolen is property of CRM, it can make their trip much faster. Putting my criticisms aside, I thought that “Shadow Puppets” is a decent episode and better structured than the previous two episodes.

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Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 5 “Honey” Review

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Maggie Grace as Althea, Austin Amelio as Dwight – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 5 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC

Fear The Walking Dead returns this week with a brand new episode. “Honey” not only delievered as a great episode, it also explored more of Dwight and Sherry’s reunion. Add in Morgan and Al to the plot as well, and you have a well-rounded episode. Here is my review of “Honey.”

Dwight and Sherry’s reunion is not all love and romance. Emotions and feelings from the past is brought up. Dwight found out that she has been with them for some time now. Dwight wanted Sherry to join him and Morgan to take down Virginia, but she is already planning on doing the same thing. The key difference here, is that Morgan wants to take his strategic time and Sherry does not want to take her time.

The three do clash over their ideas. Even Dwight and Sherry did too. Later in the episode, they both talk about their past with Negan as Sherry is still traumatized and hurt by him. I started to feel bad for Sherry at this moment. As much as I love Negan, he put his “wives” through hell when his reign of terror was at his highest point. Sherry also did not want to see Dwight become the person she seen at The Sanctuary. Even though Dwight did change, his old self did come out for a brief period on “Honey.”

While Dwight was interrogating one of Virginia’s men, I looked at it differently as I would normally would. Dwight was trying to get as much information out of him as possible. It was more of urgency than going back to his old self despite how Sherry and Morgan felt it. The Walking Dead universe is known to push a character above a certain limit. And this is one of those scenes where I felt that they did that.

I also love the action sequence early on when they all got back the S.W.A.T van. It is the most action I have seen on Fear when it came to transportation methods. The sequence was a high stakes mission and it really felt like I was watching a movie for a few minutes.

Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Austin Amelio as Dwight – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 5 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC

My take on Morgan and Dwight’s verbal exchange, is that Dwight waited way too long for results. I could not blame him at this point. Mostly because he has heard all of Morgan’s promises and it lead up to this situation. Dwight wants to take down Virginia as much as Morgan does. But I believe that Morgan is going to do this the right way. I can also say that Dwight was also right for stopping Sherry. If Sherry would have killed those rangers, Virginia would have known. Morgan learned this during the war against The Saviors when Jesus wanted him to take that approach. And now, Morgan is Jesus in this situation.

“Honey” is a strong episode. Dwight and Sherry had a lot of catching up to do. And they did even though it hurts to see them on opposite sides again. I also like that Morgan’s arc is living up to what he said at the premiere episode. “Honey” contains action, drama, suspense, and heartbreaking moments all packed in one episode. The streak continues for this amazing season of Fear The Walking Dead.

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