Vee

I always thought it was a combo situation - they couldn't get Wright yet and weren't happy with any other choices, but JFP (and Mo Benard) pushed to put Bransford over for the others anyway and hoped she'd stick.

There were suspicions about that at the time. But I think JFP was 100% behind Bransford (a hire of hers at OLTL) and pushed it, and tried to put it over. Sarah Buxton was also far too weak an actress.

I think Gabriel came a long way in the last half-season or more. I was glad they gave him those beats in previous episodes and in tonight's. Eugene has come around a bit too. They've made me care about those characters (and Abraham as well, who had a great episode in the first half of Season 6), against all odds. It's all really come together to prove they can all evolve IMO, including Rick. I do have a terrible feeling they're still saving Glenn for I suspect Kirkman/comic fans would insist on it. They faked it out once before, of course, but I still have a feeling. I expect Glenn's number will be up sooner or later one day, but I'd rather it not be that way. I hate which is all Kirkman's usual teenage boy tropes turned up to about 25 - I have faith in Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who's a great actor, and the writers to do something more with him as I felt they did with the Governor, but I still don't care for the concept. Finally: I don't usually ship hard in a non-soap to the point of distraction, and I don't know when the writers caught on to it (for me it began in the back end of Season 3, very quickly) but it seems very clear at this point that they're using Michonne in the Andrea role of Rick's closest confidante and future mate from the comics. The same story with Jessie played out before Rick and Andrea finally got together there, and this was the most overt Rick/Michonne episode I've seen. I think at this point it's for real.

Social media takes the news: No, I'm not done yet! Telltale Games, makers of the wonderful TWD RPG, previews their new 3-episode Michonne side-story game. (It's comic canon, so Danai isn't doing the voice sadly - it's Samira Wiley from Orange is the New Black.)

Denise is the real MVP Chandler Riggs and a requiem for Carl's eye. Seriously (our) Carl picked the wrong moment to stop watching. That whole episode was drenched in Richonne as The Truth!

Greg Nicotero on the episode. It was apparently Scott Gimple's choice to do the cheesy flashbacks when Jessie finally bought it, which I felt was a mistake. It doesn't look like '70s filmmaking in the way they thought - those quick cuts were never as stylized, nor would I have expended them on her. The Kirkman. Scott Gimple. Yes, Carl, they did plan to kill Jessie and co. all along. I will take my No-Prize! Alexandra Breckenridge talks about gettin et. I thought Breckenridge was a solid actress who did some very good work in the first half of the season. We keep forgetting these were very sheltered people dealing with a horrific new situation, who weren't making excuses for it (like Morgan). That said, I wasn't sorry to see Jessie go - I felt the subplot with Rick was rushed and unnecessary from the comics, especially when this episode then had such a strong showing for Rick/Michonne/Carl in the back half, which has always felt like the true north. I'll also miss the kids playing her sons - Austin Abrams as Ron, who had much better stuff in other things, and poor little Major Dodson as Sam. I thought that was very sad that Carol's warning to him ended his life in his worst nightmare; I hope they let Carol react to what happened to him because I loved their bond. I was kind of hoping Sam would be the only Anderson to live, but of course here and in the comics he was the first to go (minus Drunk Dad). Those characters had both good material (Jessie coming to terms with the zombie apocalypse, Sam traumatized) in the first half of the season, and some hackeneyed or rushed stuff (the Rick/Jessie 'affair,' Ron and Chekhov's Gun). Lifting them out, as it was in the comics, with the slight change made (Ron being Carl's shooter) just feels like TWD hacking off a bad limb. It makes it feel like even more of a waste of time despite the good performances and some good writing, so I'm glad it's done.

That was an intensely crowd-pleasing episode on every possible level. Especially my Rick/Michonne shipper levels, and my inherent belief in the show's capacity for positive change in a post-apocalyptic world - something I think the showrunners have always believed in, but Robert Kirkman not so much. It's always been a constant tug of war with his adolescent nihilism in the source material and making a genuinely good TV show. I was glad they made Rick finally have a real epiphany about Alexandria. Does Danai Gurira have an Emmy yet? Does Andrew Lincoln? Melissa McBride?

I have no complaints with her as an actress, honestly. I don't think she picks the right projects most of the time but I think she's a solid talent, and she was incredible in Bug with Michael Shannon, one of the few films she's done which is really good. People are already speculating that she's Donna Hayward, but I doubt that for a variety of reasons.

I guess I never judged Ashley Judd that harshly. She seemed pretty tough on environmental issues in Applachia, which I very much admired.

What's wrong with Ashley Judd?

Hollywood legend Harry Dean Stanton photographed on-set last fall. Stanton played enigmatic trailer park owner Carl Rodd in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Some of Stanton's location scenes also featured Mädchen Amick (Shelly) and Amanda Seyfried, and were set in the Fat Trout Trailer Park. This is either the same Fat Trout that Carl ran in Deer Meadow in FWWM, or a new one he's established in Twin Peaks. Deadline compiles a great deal of information which was unfortunately leaked to them en masse by an irresponsible fan. Since it's now public knowledge I might as well post it all. A couple corrections: There is no actual word about Gary Hershberger (Mike Nelson) returning, though I wouldn't be surprised. Jennifer Jason Leigh playing the mysterious "Judy" from FWWM is only fan spec/rumor right now and I doubt it very much. And they mentioned the wrong Frost.

Tammy Blanchard creeps me out in the neat-looking Karyn Kusama thriller The Invitation.

Ashley Judd apparently joins the cast.

New press photos. With some minor spoilage.

Show's back on Sunday. From the EW cast roundtable: Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori) is credited with saving Melissa McBride's job on her way out the door.

Jack Wagner stays busy on Hallmark - I think Josie Bissett is also over there now? She was on one of the ABC Family shows for several years as well. Daphne Zuniga seems to do whatever and be fine with it, from working on TED Talks to doing a long stint on One Tree Hill. Thomas Calabro, no idea. Doug Savant stays busy post-DH and was just on X-Files. CTS did many years on that Jim Belushi sitcom and Two and a Half Men along with Ally McBeal so I imagine she's just chilling these days. Marcia is probably just fine after DH. Grant Show works. Heather - who knows. I worry about her lately given some of the stories.

IIRC, Season 5 began as a very deliberate attempt to make the show 'grounded' again after it went totally apeshit (while fun) in Season 4. It was discussed by the showrunners at length in the press at the time. I think they went too far in the other direction. Sam Reilly especially was a debacle, a very pointed attempt to introduce a new 'normal person' to MP. The advantage of parts of Season 5 is that you can see long-term relationships build and change - Amanda and Peter's marriage, etc. Others, like Jake and Alison (supposedly asked for by CTS and Grant Show, who I think were dating at the time) are inexplicable and coma-inducing and just leave the characters with nowhere to go. Alison had a great exit with Billy at the airport but a wasted year, and leaving her hanging again at the end of Season 6 was awful. I think the way they treated Marcia Cross and Laura Leighton - in part a direct response to the misguided backlash against Season 4, IMO - was terrible and I think losing them was a deathblow to the show. Kimberly becoming a kooky nymphomaniac therapist and potentially mixing it up with everyone on the show as a sort of devious confidant was a great idea but they wasted it too quickly and then brought in the dumb Betsy storyline. Season 6 is easily the worst and it seems like they have no idea what to do with anything or anyone until the last few episodes they burned off in the summer, where Lexi finally went nuts and came into her own. Season 7 was something of a comeback and I think the show is pretty decent for a lot of that year, especially with the Michael/Lexi pairing, the improbably great Michael/Jane reunion and some other stuff, but it still never fully comes together because after their Seasons 2-4 heyday too many people at the show became both risk-averse and cheap.

I can't even be mad at them. They're doing it with the exact same formula and they all look great.

Carl should watch Hannibal.

I cringed repeatedly during the trailer so that's classic Full House AFAIC. No difference whatsoever.

!@#$%^&*] yes: Bryan Fuller is named showrunner.

Of course it's trash, it's Full House!

One of my favorite scenes in the last ten years of the show, and a big part of why I loved Viki and Charlie so much. This was right after Victor Jr./Todd was arrested for Marty's abduction and rape. I'm not sure who wrote these scenes, but they were incredibly raw, honest and beautiful.