DRW50

I finally finished the end of last week's episodes... I don't think Tameka is a good dramatic actress but the Kim baby drama is a relief compared to some of the other repetitive stories in the Square. It's also nice to see Denise supporting her, and some of Patrick's own mixed emotions. The Sharon stuff was very good - it reminded me a lot of old school EE, complete with her brother following her back home. I thought the scene with Linda where she talked about not knowing what she wanted out of life was one of the best scenes on the show in quite some time, as were the followup scenes where she tried to support Jay, Abi and Roxy. It was nice to actually SEE something instead of it just being inferred. Carters - no care. Roxy/Charlie - no care. Does Elaine remind anyone else of a bad drag queen? I care more about the Ben/Jay/Abi mess than I probably should, as it's clearly being written on the fly and the characters all seem to be written like they're hopped up on drugs. I was pleasantly surprised they had Carol, and her history, in use to help Sharon try to reconnect with her mother before it was too late.

I would hope all the hate threads about annoying howler monkey Nancy on DS might mean she won't win the Best Newcomer BSA that she does not deserve, but it's probably just the same two or three people, sadly. I guess if Rita Symons won it the bar is very low indeed.

I wonder if she keeps this wig for the rest of her run on the show...

Robert has his Karl Davies hair again! I could throw together all kinds of reasons for that but it's probably just a coincidence. Ryan Hawley's face is just a little full for that type of hair, but I'm still glad to see it one more time. To me it's a big part of the character.

If she stays around then his loyalties will have to be divided. I keep seeing media articles today calling her "the new Mrs. Rick Grimes." That's them, not the show, but still, it makes me wonder why it's being pushed so heavily in some corners. Anyway... http://www.amctv.com/talking-dead/videos/bonus-scene-talking-dead-episode-512 http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/walking-dead-tovah-feldshuh-deanna-monroe-alexandria-interview-1201444130/ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/28/meet-deanna-walking-dead-leader-alexandria-aka-tovah-feldshuh-speaks http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-who-is-deanna-778486 http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/27/walking-dead-director-greg-nicotero-reveals-deleted-scenes-latest-episode I wish we'd seen this. There were a couple of scenes that we had to lose due to time—a really interesting sequence. It was when all of them were going to work for their jobs. We see Rosita going to meet [Jessie’s husband] Pete, and we see Abraham going to meet the crew that is building the wall, and we see Eugene going to meet with a worker to discuss the solar array. And we also see Maggie going to work with Deanna. So it was a great little montage, and we had to lose it strictly for time. But it was this great moment where people were having to deal with the emotion of assimilating back into what is such a normal world in an abnormal universe.

I've said it before but I don't believe Malone knew how to write for Tina, and once Witter was not there to offset the writing (and Griffith was also gone), it came a cropper. Tesreau just felt way off, and played up the stupid, annoying aspects of Tina with little of the heart. The writing also played this up, too often just making Tina an irritant to Viki instead of focusing on the positive aspects of their relationship. Of course they couldn't do that because it would mean Malone writing something about the Lords that wasn't misery and rape and Todd whitewashing.

Kinky.

Sometimes I think if you were an outsider, Rick and Carol would terrify you, and I really felt that in this episode with how they each reacted to life in the safe zone. I wish we could get an outsider's perspective for a full episode.

The arrival of this new woman probably tells us where Rick's story is heading (away from much of the group, most likely), but I much prefer the darker and more ambiguous Rick. I don't know how much we'll be seeing of Rick and Michonne in constable roles, but it's fascinating to think how much the group has changed, and how much the show has changed, when you compare Rick and Michonne as leaders to Rick and Shane as leaders. Michonne even fills a lot of the same role (she wants to protect Rick's kids, she stands up to Rick, she's a bit of a loner) but in a far more productive way, because she isn't consumed by paranoia and envy and rage.

Thanks. That guy with Paul looks so out of date. Is it true that Chris is leaving?

I guess she just lived with him so viewers could see her pushing even the kindest man away, but I agree I wish they'd done more. Mandy was a great character. Even now I think they could bring her back one more time, at least if some of their current ladies quit. It's weird seeing Phil throwing food and being jovial. I can never reconcile that with the sour man I saw by the time I started EE in '97.

Who is your avatar? It looks so familiar to me. I wish they'd run some of the earlier stuff there, if it's available. I really would like to see Althea and Nick having sex as Buddy dies, or Althea's relationship with the chaplain. Or Maggie's sister, who seemed to be a big character yet is mostly an afterthought by this point, outside of a few letters to Maggie.

The wonderful Tovah Feldsuh (ex-RH and as I best know her, John's lady love Dr. Bethany Rose on ATWT) joined the Walking Dead cast tonight.

Thanks. Looking forward to watching that (I hope more Roya shows up...).

The most frightening part of this is Bobbie's coulottes.

I think it stops in April.

Natalie Cassidy offering her sympathies to the Green Party. As if they haven't already suffered enough...

That's how I first saw those. I really do need to go back and try to find/watch the full ones. I watched some...I think they were taken down of course.

I am on the episode right after Matt went to Karen's apartment and she was half-drunk and crazy. Maggie was in bed and Matt sat/laid on the bed and they kissed for a while. Obviously the single bed rule had been broken by primetime with Bewitched (I know there was Mary Kay & Johnny but that was before the "code"), but does anyone know what the first soap was to allow a couple to clearly share the same bed (and by 1968 standards it was quite obvious they didn't just use that bed for sleeping)? I was a little surprised at the frankness (maybe it helps that Lydia Bruce and James Pritchett have some good romantic chemistry, especially considering she'd only been in a few episodes at this point). I guess this is one of those instances where you have to compare a show like this to the P&G soaps (which I loved, so I'm not putting them down - they were progressive and honest in their own unique way), where poor Mike and Nancy Karr had twin beds until 1983! The frankness of Maggie talking to Althea about the "marriage bed" with Matt - even making that hilarious "tch-tch" sound - also surprised me. And Matt joking about bed week - "take your friend to bed." It feels so much more modern than a lot of material I've seen from this era or from most soap stuff around this point (the little that's available) - before this the earliest soap material I'd seen that was this frank and playful was early Ryan's Hope. I must say James Pritchett looked amazing in the tight(ish) trousers and undershirt. Amazing. It's funny seeing all the green around this time - Liz's coat, Althea's dress, Maggie's weird housecoat thing. Maybe someone had a sale. Either that or it's to show late spring/early summer, or represent a fresh start for all of them, like grass freshly growing. Probably just a sale.

How long did they keep this font? I prefer it to the later font with these credits. That music worked so much better as a closing theme. Eve is so sweet and kind and she got so little in return from the Wexlers. I love Hope's return scene - light and fun and warm, instead of a lot of contrivance and misery.

Steve, Deborah and Calvin. They weren't killed off.

Given the spinoff talk, I'm not surprised about the fan mail. I will admit I don't see much in Steve at the moment to like, although O'Brien is great in the role. I'll always wonder what might have been if they'd done that Carolee/Steve spinoff. I guess it probably would have gone the way of Missy and Lahoma/Lucas, but still...I think they could have carried their own show.

Were they hoping for a ratings increase? Eh. Not a fan of that song.