quartermainefan

I guess there are regular seasonal declines and then football (the ABC shows had a big drop too), although maybe people think this season is too boring, with the focus on the disease. I don't know. I think this has been a great season but sometimes you hear people say "nothing is happening."

two major football teams are going to create big ratings.

I am disappointed the Governor is back. Season 3 was the weakest of all and I think a lot of that is due to the Governor and the way the show becomes human vs human when he is around. This year has been great, a giant walkerpalooza, and I can see that this will be coming to an end soon. Oh well.

I love Carl and how Rick looks at this killing machine he has for a son.

They both are not outright lies, but if the president and his team is trying to make people think one thing that they know isn't true and people are thinking it, it is as good as a lie. Obama sold his plan with a very simple idea attached: if you like your plan you can keep it. That is one sentence, to the point and he didn't go around making speeches about grandfather clauses and if you got sub par insurance individually. He said if you like your plan you can keep it. This will be the gift to republicans because it is something very easy for people to understand. "He said you can keep it and you can't. We told you." Nothing else will cut through that because everything else is going to sound like double talking BS even if it is true.

Bush and Cheney went to great lengths to trick the american people into thinking Iraq was connected to 9/11 because that is who they wanted to attack. Again, they may not have said we have proof, but they knew what they were trying to make people think. Once again, that is all that matters because that is what happened, and any attempt at lawyerly explanations will just come off as verbal trickery. "Cheney never said they had proof" doesn't matter because Cheney knew what he was leading people to think. They said there were WMDs, they claimed an Al Quaeda member passed through Iraq, and then allowed the sheep to connect the dots they laid out for them.

Clinton being a woman will be a net positive in 2016.

That I think is naive. I know it is crude to say, but America seems to hate women. So many other countries have elected women to lead them but America has not. That alone isn't the whole story because the same country that has resisted electing a female is also the same country that rejects women as leads in movies. Its also the same country that as soon as a woman turns 40 she is sort of invited to go away from the public eye. Clinton is closing in on 70.

She can win, but she will have a lot to overcome. Nobody did coverage on what Obama or Mitt Romney wear or how they do their hair, and no one comments on whether or not the pitch of their voice is "shrill" or not. She's got her work cut out for her. Just look at how as soon as Nancy Pelosi got to be Speaker people without knowing her decided they didn't like her. Sarah Palin is an idiot beyond all measure, but people watched to see what she was wearing, whether she looked pretty or not and so on. Most male politicians look like crap on any given day but the media will not point that out.

Chris Christie will also have a hard time winning because historically America will not elect an obese president. There hasn't been one in 200 years? ever? I don't think there has even been a nominee, and if that is the match up it will be decided on which cultural bias is deepest entrenched.

Carol didn't tell the other what she was doing I assume because she knew they would disapprove and from her point of view it had to be done. She isn't a risk of killing more people because clearly other people have been getting sick and she isn't killing anybody. With the information she has now, Carol knows killing won't stop the spread therefore there is no reason to kill. She gave it her best shot to stop the sickness from spreading just like she thinks teaching kids how to use a knife and kill is giving the kids their best shot to survive. If there is one thing about Carol it is that her reasoning always makes sense and has a logic to it, and her motive is always for the larger group to survive. That is more than her critics can say, who let emotion and mental weakness drive their actions. One guy wants to kill for booze, herschel wants to infect himself just so he can sleep at night feeling he did his best, Tyrese wants to place himself in situations where he can die by walker assisted suicide, Rick wants to plant veggies even though his leadership skills are needed, Michonne wanted to wander the area looking for the Governor on a revenge trip...only Carol approaches the situation with almost Spock-like coldness and logic. It may be faulty logic at the time, but she gives everything her best given what she has to work with.

Rick was ridiculous tonight. Carol, agree or disagree with her, is a charter member of the group who was with your wife and son while you were still in a coma, and the woman has cared for your baby for an entire season and change, and she deserves some loyalty over these relative strangers. There is no putting her on trial because there is no law, she is either on your team or she isn't and she is on your team. The whole thing is just stupid, and especially from Rick who killed shane, went insane and whose poor decisions has gotten many a cast member killed or injured. Everyone cut him slack when he didn't abandon that stranger in season 2 that wound up getting Herschel's leg cut off in an incident that was a direct result. And Shane told him not to take the guy to the school/wherever that was that Shane got trapped on the bus and almost got killed. But Rick did anyway and no one told Rick he had to leave the group from any of these things.

Meanwhile, there is Tedious Tyrese up to his usual BS but the drunk doctor is interesting. I really can't deal with this character. What was he upset about this week, still the off camera love affair that was with some day player that we don't even know her name? Michonne and Daryl have potential as Mr and Mrs Kickass. The drunk has potential too. I didn't miss all the people who were not on.

They are really delving into the comic books now and I wonder if that will turn some people off. Brother Blood was a character that first appeared 30 years ago, and that is a crazy choice for a TV villain, but pretty cool. Black Canary makes the perfect partner for Arrow (just as in the comics) and their battle scene against the gang was pretty cool. I wonder if the show will go all out and make Roy a costumed hero to complete the Green Arrow package. And the newscaster discusing particle accelerators is also straight out of the comics, and I know who comes with that. Very strange how they raced to become Smallville season 10 right off the bat.

I think Hillary would chew Christie up in an election. She would have the entire democratic party behind her, he would have half the republican party behind him. The guy can't even get invited to republican conferences because they don't like him. The joke is on them though because as they insist he is not conservative enough, he is just conservative enough to win 70% of the vote in his state while they watch their electoral stock plummet in the name of philosophic purity.

How is this astonishing in any way? No one in any government is legitimately astonished. The only thing that surprises me is that we haven't been spying on the German Chancellor longer. Allies spy on each other. The U.S. has been caught red handed spying, so now our allies can demand concessions, but they spy on us and we spy on them and that's the way it has been and always will be. I'm getting a big kick out of all of these governments pretending otherwise though.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/politics/nsa-hearing/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

I think that the national Democrats made a big mistake when they decided to provide Barbara Buono with zero help in her race against Chris Christie. For that matter, NJ Dems made a big mistake when they decided not to field a stronger challenger. (Though had both state and national Democrats not abandoned her, Buono would not be losing this badly.)

I'm sure the thinking among Democrats was that Christie couldn't have been defeated, and that he can't get the GOP nomination in 2016. Regarding the former, it would have been hard to beat Chrisite, but he actually was vulnerable on many fronts, most notably on the fact that NJ has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. If Democrats had actually made an effort, Christie's margin of victory would have been modest, instead of the anticipated landslide.

And now, because of the upcoming landslide in a very Democratic state, Christie will be the GOP establishment favorite. Democrats are kidding themselves if they think the GOP is too far right to nominate him; just look back at how McCain and Romney won their nominations. All the big money will flow to the establishment candidate, while the far right (who hates McCain/Romney/Christie) will have their votes split among many different candidates.

Giuliani won his NY elections and was hugely popular with NY, establishment and the media. He couldn't win a single delegate. Chris Christie has to win caucuses in places where Michelle Bachmann is considered a legitimate politician, and Ted Cruz is welcomed with open arm at victory dinners celebrating the government shutdown. How will Christie win there?

I agree with Ann. Angry black man is a cop out for Tyrese because he's been nothing but a big Teddy Bear. At first I thought Ty was overreacting to Karen's death, but I don't think so anymore. Ty does not like the fighting or killing even if they are Zombies. He will step up if need be but there's always a bit of reluctance. He will stay behind and protect the women and children, but make no mistake, he will fight. He is not a leader and is super sensitive. Outside of Sasha, this is the first chance Ty has had to feel something for another human being and all hope is not lost. Out of all of them, I think the apocalypse has hit Ty the hardest. His despair is not like the others, and we've always been given hints that Sasha was always the strongest of the two. Not that he would not break someone in two if they harmed her, but she looks like the one to always step to the front of the line when the time came fight.

Ty's anger is more than Karen. He's afraid of losing hope again.

I just don't know what episode you got all that from, honestly. I had no idea his sister was tougher than he is, or that he was super sensitive. Last year he didn't want to help anyone kill anybody but there was no motivation given other than "we should mind our own business"--which is a legitimate enough reason to sit out a battle between humans. He only came alive for me in the scene where he was being surrounded by walkers and had to do a Hulk Hogan and hulk himself up to get out there and fight and that he managed to fight off 100 walkers and make it back to the other. The fight with Rick was just silly.

I've been seeing some fans say that Tyreese came across as "the angry black man" in this episode and that the show writes black men this way. Did you feel that way during the episode?

He came across as angry black man because he really isn't much more than that. The writing for this particular character has been atrocious, practically non-existent. So now after a year we meet this magically from nowhere girl he likes and then she is dead 10 minutes later and he is angry. But so what? What can I possibly feel for Tyrese? Have I watched him star in stories? He is a total blank slate and I am not sure how his emotional attachment to this woman whose face I already forgot (and name) is more compelling than those two girls missing their dad.

In contrast, Carol got her shining hour here. She never really had a story but she played support all this time holding the baby or watching her kid die, and now we see how it has all changed her into the toughest one of all, afraid of nothing. She all of a sudden became a fascinating character and she didn't need to scream, she just needed her eyes. Michonne has gotten much better writing this year too, and even Herschel is trying to be something more than a living fortune cookie spouting wisdom. We even see the blonde girl (I forget her name) starting to show a little personality after two years. But Tyrese? "you bring them to ME!"...is that supposed to mean something? Was that dramatic? He is a bad character on the page, or maybe he was a good character played by a bad actor I have no idea. He came on roughly the same time a Michonne and she has blossomed where he has done nothing. I don't know how this character can have a single fan, already in one episode the creepy little blonde girl has more going on.

I will say the fact he battled 100 walkers and survived is a good beginning in fleshing him out, but it takes actions and scenes over time to make these characters work. His speeches mean nothing.

I thought I knew who Black Canary was just because I am familiar with her in the comics, now with this week's episode clearly there is a little twist.

it is the dead twin sister, swept overboard she was picked up by Ras Al Ghul and turned into an assassin. That's my guess

That's the only thing I can come up with as a theory. A good episode, and poor Roy, I love when he said "not the face"

This was another really good episode and the backstage creative shakeup really has paid off. I am happy that they got back to the walkers after a year of human vs human.

I remember watching the PBS documentary "The Story of Man" and they had this part about how man changed from hunter/gatherers into settling down and becoming farmers. That was the time people started living with animals, and pigs brought the first plagues.

I love Carl and he is one of my favorite characters but the actor growing up so fast is hurting the character because half his charm was he was this little child warrior who could kill with the best of them. Now he is on the verge of being an adult and thus will lose what made him so cool in the first place.

I think it is obvious those two girls feed the walkers the rats like they are pets, and that is why they congregate at that one point on the fence.

I think the question most people not from the US have is how it gets this bad without anyone doing something or trying to intervene. It just seems like the US government is content to let the US go into a free for all while they fight with each other and try to blame the other side for the mess.

There is no one to intervene unless you want the military to launch a coup. Unlike a parliamentary system the US system has these differences built into the system. It never seemed to be a problem before recent times, but the last 20 years has seen the rise of the rabid right, and they do not acknowledge anyone being a legitimate president that comes from the other party. They no longer seek to govern, they just seek to oppose and destroy. They tried it with Bill Clinton, and they tried it just now with Obama. There may not be any answer because the republicans control all these states and state governments and have rigged the districts so all these insane tea partiers actually reflect their constituents.

Republicans courted these psychopaths and peddled anti-intellectualism and fear of anything that is "other", and that is now who makes up their party. According to various news sources the old Republicans (Wall Street) are thinking they may no longer be best served by the republicans. Perhaps that, driving the party broke, may be the way to break the tea party.

I am glad that NBC passed on it, the show On Network tv would be like nothing we are seeing now, just a very watered Down version.

hBo, little surprised but glad they passed on it.

Nothing against AMC but I have to assume the show would have been even better on HBO. Anyone who watches any HBO show can see the money and quality that goes into their production. It would have been visually more striking. As for the violence, I would say this is more violent that GoT, although the torture porn scenes on GoT makes me turn away whereas nothing on this show does. Had HBO allowed the violence it would have been a more lavish, visually striking show to say the least.

The numbers are in - HOLY SH!T!

Another The Walking Dead premiere.

Another all-time record.

Sunday’s zombie drama return delivered a stunning 16.1 million viewers and 10.1 million adults 18-49. That’s up 30 percent in the demo from the show’s previous high (the season 3 finale).

“Sincere thanks to the fans, who have welcomed The Walking Dead back for its fourth season with the highest-rated episode in the show’s history,” said AMC President Charlie Collier. “

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/14/the-walking-dead-returns-to-record-viewership/

It's the true number one show on television. Some of the network shows may have more people (and less and less that is the case), but the purity of the demos has to make this show the most coveted show for advertisers, and there probably are ad rates to match. It's funny HBO and NBC passed on it because it was deemed too violent. Apparently it was too violent for nobody but them.

Gerrymandering also has a lot to do with it, sadly. Congress will face no consequences for their insanity, and they know it.

Now this is something the democrats will be kicking themselves for for 20 yeas. They ignored the state level races and even the lower level races and ceded so many statehouses and legislatures to the republicans. Gerrymandering isn't right but both parties do it, and there is no one to tell them no. At this point in manu of these states there is no more democratic party to speak of, with supermajorities of republicans sometimes in both houses. This is I think what will be one of main chapters of political textbooks 100 years from now. The story of these years is not Obama meeting the most insane congress ever, but how the congress was rigged to produce the most insane congress ever.

I liked the show and love the store raid scene and the way they had zombies practically falling from the sky. The scene with Rick and the woman was a highlight because there was this unnerving tension about it. For while I thought we were meeting the first intelligent walker.

Too many newbies and the only one that I thought was good they killed off. I am still not sold on last year's newbies and now we have more. Michonne has better writing this year, not displaying attitude just for the sake of it so she can stay, but the big guy and his...sister?...they still have not done one thing of note on the show and this is their second season. I am not sure why the show added them. Of course, I have no idea why the show kept around Carol since the first year, or the Beth the sister who has been on two years as a glorified extra.

Anyway, a well directed episode doing a great job with the action sequences and the tension sequences, and the nice bit with the headphones drowning out the walkers, but they lose a point for having an army of newbies. Hopefully they wlll kill them all off.

The premiere has promise for the coming year. I like that Ollie is giving up his murderous ways to become more superhero-ish and that Roy is still trying to become the Speedy sidekick he is desperate to be, and now we have Black Canary too. We only got a glimpse of her but it looks like they did a decent job tranposing her to TV. The wig makes sense too. The corporate angle I will reserve judgment on because you can sort of see that eventually Oliver's new partner will want to know what is going on tech gadget dept and probably stumble upon his secret somewhere near the season finale.

The island though I have issues with. They just got through killing everyone so the show decided what was needed was to have new badguys come to harass Oliver and Manu Bennett for 24 more episodes? What then next season, a new boat of baddies comes ashore?

For me, the most powerful moment was Finn's mother. I love they gave such a peripheral character the meat and potatoes here. And Coach Biest as always was a standout.

I didn't realize this show started up again but caught the first two episodes online. Once again it is the NY half of the show that is where the good is and the high school half where the blah is. Blaine's proposal was very nice I guess, but eh, so what. Meanwhile, in NY things are moving along as we are watching a new side to Santana and the completely unrealistic but charming success story of Rachel.

Musically, the show two episodes in is relying a little too much on Darren Criss, but he is still better than his co-stars so I guess they have to. You listen to Puck Jr and he has great dance moves but he isn't really the singer needed to front these songs. Not sure any of the Beatles performances were stand out, but Hey Jude seemed decent as did All You Need Is Love. The Tina episode was ok, but I am sort of tired of Artie and my eyes glaze when he gets the spotlight. New evil cheerio looks 12. Sam was endearing with his crush on new nurse, they might work out.

Any thoughts on the NJ Senate race? Cory Booker generally seems like all hat, no cattle to me. I know the media is there to help the Republican but I'm still baffled that he is running this close against an extremist Tea Party guy.

What? The media loves Cory Booker and they anointed him a star seemingly years ago. I don't pay attention to that race because he will just have to run again a year from now, but from what I read he is not running the best campaign, he is rumored to be gay and doesn't want to admit it, and he probably needs a little more experience running a campaign. His star power is what will win it, but from recent reports his no-name opposition is closing the gap. NJ is a messed up state and it doesn't make a difference what party they pick from, they usually pick a crook or some other deeply flawed candidate. Chris Christie may be a big mouthed blowhard but he knows how to please the people. It's funny, the conservatives shun Chris Christie as not being a real republican, and he is the one with a 70% approval rating. You would think the republicans would look at Christie, look at their star Senators and decide it was time to change course, but no.

Weiner is too stupid to be mayor. Anyone who would vote for him needs their head examined. Hillary is supposed to summon him and tell him he has to leave Huma or they will go all Vince Foster on his ass.

I am all for stop and frisk. I have no scientific data as to why, but NY is the safest it has been in my lifetime with crime levels you have to go back to the early 1960s to find. What works works. Removing stop and frisk is fine as long as the people removing it agree that if removing beckons in a rise in crime then the only logical recourse is to reinstate it.

People can knock Bloomberg all they want but if anyone knows of a safer city per capita than NY I would be interested to know where that is.