DRW50

Scott seems to exist only so that Sinead can get whatever she wants without viewers blaming it on her.

Val's behavior toward Finn and Darren has been disgusting. Smashing up that car made me angry. She's lucky she doesn't get charged with a hate crime. This is a more extreme version of typical Val - selfish, insecure, hurtful and malicious to the people in her life because of said insecurities. But Finn is not one of her children, or Diane, who always felt obligated to tolerate her or forgive her because she's their mother or their sister - she's just Val. Finn should not forgive or forget this for a long time. If I were him, I'd never speak to her again. I understood why Darren was more doubtful of Finn today, with the phone being near his car, but it's still disappointing that instead of seeing their relationship, we just see Darren being persecuted and taking it out on Finn. This story, whatever noble goal it may have, just essentially tells HIV-positive people not to date HIV-negative people, and makes Val seem unhinged due to having HIV. I really, really, really think the show needs another HIV positive character besides Val if Darren leaves soon. If they are going to do "issue" stories about HIV, it can't just be on her. She's too toxic, and it sends out a terrible message to the public. I'm not all that thrilled with Ross' behavior here either - he's been consistently unsupportive. I hope Finn isn't going to just let this slide. They obviously wanted to make sure Finn had NO support here, other than Victoria, but this story really needed Pete (I never thought I'd be typing that).

Ratings. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/03/30/the-walking-dead-season-5-finale-is-highest-rated-finale-in-series-history-garnering-15-8-million-viewers/381342/

I thought the Manzo thing was a big flop. NBA I agree with you. HR had an article on it. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/reality-power-declining-clout-broadcast-783996 Reality shows, many of them, feel very stale and dated now. It doesn't help that you can see the strings.

Given the ratings declines for some of these shows, I wonder if they just have nothing else to work with in development.

How simultaneously embarrassing, completely unsurprising, and yet very frightening. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/poll-republicans-obama-imminent-threat-116503.html?hp=l2_4

Something I noticed with this episode - not for the first time, but it seems to be getting worse - is that I'm heavily invested in most of the characters (not all...), even though it's ludicrous to feel that way, as most of them are going to die. I even care about most of the Alexandria ciphers. The big plot for this episode was supposed to be Rick's fate in Alexandria and the umpteenth revival of the "Must you lose your soul? If so, will Jewel write a song about you?" question, yet I was more invested in bit plots like poor sleeping Tara, or Rosita waking Eugene up, or whether hot, not very bright Spencer would get chomped. I can put this down to nearly uniformly excellent casting (it's a shame the show will always have the label of only being popular because of zombies, as the cast truly do carry the plot along), but I think it's also down to my sense that the show is mostly plotless, and has been plotless for quite a while. It's just themes, and themes of themes of themes. I think that's why I had such a visceral reaction to the Rick plotline of the last 3-4 episodes. It's because all I had with Rick was a characterization. When he was shoved into a rigidly plot-driven place, it felt like a betrayal. I don't know if this will change now that they're staying in Alexandria for a while, but I tend to wonder if that's why the ratings have stayed high. If viewers are comforted by knowing the characters are interesting and feel "real" to them, and are like them in a sense in that like many of us in the world today, are wading through nothing, expecting nothing and not sure what will happen from one day to the next. I think I'd rather have a season of characters staring into space as angsty Ace of Base remixes play than more "stories" like Pete Anderson Katana MD.

Anyway, my thoughts on this episode... - Choppy as hell. I'm going to have to watch again without commercials, but even then, I think they may have been better off splitting this into sections (one part Glenn, one part Daryl/Aaron, one part Rick's trial, one part Gabriel). The good: - NO SHOCK VALUE DEATHS. Thank you. Thank you. - Morgan's great intro. - The final scene with Michonne. Understated yet heartbreaking. Danai is a treasure. - Daryl and Aaron. Some great bonding moments that felt believable for the characters and added some originality to the cliche of the heroes in the car waiting to die. I'm really liking what Aaron brings to the show - on a show that has had 500 characters over the years, he feels fresh, and achingly believable as someone who is competent yet simultaneously naive. And Daryl is being moved into a place of his own, a place of strength and new bonds instead of woobieness and isolation. I approve. - Glenn's heart. I think the Tyreese-fakeout with the walkers was unnecessary, as was the idiocy of him wandering around in the woods alone, but I appreciated one more chance to see Glenn's strength and innate goodness, while still seeing what a badass he is. Best of all I'm glad that we've gotten Glenn's journey this season all on his own (with Maggie there with him at times), further establishing him as a powerful lead in his own right. - Tara waking up to see Rosita. I'm glad they let the group have that win instead of just seeing her as disposable. I watch the show for the occasional glimpse of heart. And I love the Rosita/Tara relationship. Bonus points for Eugene also being with her earlier. I just wish Glenn had been there at some point. - Cool walker kills. Even after 5 seasons, Gabriel's noose kill and Rick tearing the walker's throat/face/head apart were good gore moments. - Spencer is still alive and still hot. Lose the shirt next season while you can, because gorgeous guys rarely last long on this show. - The Rick/Michonne scenes. I will likely never ship them again, but I appreciate seeing Michonne's strength and steadfast loyalty, and that for the first time in a while, Rick seemed to finally be fully trusting and connecting with her. - The Rick/Carl scene, which was long overdue. I'm glad that they at least tried to show that Michonne and Carl weren't entirely wrong in wanting to give things a chance. The "eh" - Carol bordering on self-parody. It's obvious that the show is in love with the idea of "Scarol," and with Hardwick cheerleading hardcore on Talking Dead, no wonder. The problem is that they are beginning to lose the character in overly aware clichespeak. The line about getting the dish back made me roll my eyes. I don't believe that's something she, or anyone in the real world, would have said. This isn't a Dirty Harry movie. The character is being boxed in and I don't like it. - Sasha/Gabriel/Maggie. I like the idea of Sasha and Gabriel finding each other, nearly killing each other, and Maggie saving them through her faith and her love, but it felt a little rushed, due in part to the three of them barely interacting in recent weeks (why not have Maggie with Michonne and Rosita last week looking for Sasha?), and they really have done huge, huge damage to any possibility of Gabriel being a viable character. His hissy fit in the woods was an embarrassment. It's going to take more than coming back into season 6 and having him as a BAMF. It's going to take a lot of work. A lot of work. But I do like seeing Maggie as Hershel and it's good that Sasha seems to be finding her strength again. The bad: - The endless "tell me about your feelings" fireside trial scenes, which reminded me way too much of the worst of seasons 1 and 2. This show is already ponderous enough as it is. When the high point is Abraham saying "[!@#$%^&*]" 3 times, something went wrong. - Pete, right to the end. It wasn't as hilarious as it seemed on paper, but it was still random and nonsensical, and I had no idea what he was yelling at the end. And Reg's death scene was just plain badly staged. - Yay for Jessie finally having dialogue of her own without Rick around...even if it took 5 episodes and she still seems completely isolated from everything and everyone. I'd give it a B or B-. I guess.

I'll always love her most with Alan, but David's good too.

Getting to the Carol episodes in March. Carol always makes episodes better, especially if she isn't there to be depressed with her family. I do wonder if the show remembered that Carol and Billy once went out on a blind date...

People tend to keep mentioning it (even in saying they don't remember it), so it must have had some impact.

The only thing I take out of it is that Andy Cohen continues to be an obstacle to his own show. I'm not sure if even fans who don't hate Phaedra see her as a complete victim in need of protection and care. Yet apparently he does.

I can see why. It's a shame about her return.

Glad it helped you. I hope we get to see the full episodes someday. I love beauty shots on soaps - they really made soaps unique and you get more freedom in those bits at the end, more contemplative moments. Cecily was such an interesting character in those days. With good taste in a bikini.

How had I never seen this before. The end is hilarious. No trip to Amsterdam for you dear.

I love the "smooth" turn with the sweater... He really was so damn hot. Nothing against Scott Holmes but I never knew how they went from one to the other.

Is this Gregg Marx looking hot and putting on a shirt in extreme closeup? Please tell me it is.

Is this Gregg Marx looking hot and putting on a shirt in extreme closeup? Please tell me it is.

Agreed, although I think you could also include Trudy Bauer and her kids, grandkids, greatgrandkids.

Good comparison, although I think the younger generations of Dingles are better than the younger Snyders, and vice/versa with the older generations. The Sugdens probably remind me more of the Bauers than the Hughes (in that they are so dysfunctional and so sadly depleted). What do you think of Carly? Or did I already ask you that? Oh and watching today's show, I couldn't help thinking how much I'd like to see a Moira/Andy affair, as I think that of anything would make Cain go BOOM, and I want to see dark Cain again.

I get the idea of the title but I hope they change it. It sounds like an indie band from 1994.

Nothing all that thrilling here, but Emmerdale's Youtube account has started posting deleted scenes. It's a neat idea, and yay for this happening with a soap I actually WANT to watch (looking at you GH). Hopefully more will be out in future.

http://nerdist.com/the-walking-dead-corey-brill-sings-the-ballad-of-porchdick/