Westworld - Season 1 - Episodes 1 & 2 Reviews - "The Original" and "Chesnut"

October 11, 2016

Season 1 Episode 1

"The Original"

The first episode revolves around Dolores; an android or “host,” who lives out each day in Westworld in a similar fashion, with her father Peter, her lover Teddy, her errands in town and some time painting by the river. Each time she wakes up, things are slightly different because of the “newcomers” or guests of Westworld interacting and having free reign. It’s not really specified how big Westworld is, but it goes far beyond just Dolores’ day. Guests at any given time are riding horses, chasing bandits, getting into bar fights, roping cattle, or settling in for an authentic bordello experience. While there are stories to be told and events to unfold, the hosts are at the mercy of the guests. Dialogues and stories are interrupted or straight up ruined, the timing of things and interactions is changed but remains very much the same and the hosts start each cycle with little or no recollection of what happened the last go ‘round.

Westworld is the theme park experience light years ahead of what we know today. In a cold, clinical location there are people working around the clock to monitor the guests and hosts, ensuring storylines play out satisfactorily. There are people fabricating new hosts, and making sure the existing ones are functioning. There are writers, programmers and management all trying to fight to get their ideas, visions and plans heard. And, like any good theme park, things must be updated and improved so that people want to visit and revisit time and again. The hosts have been updated recently with “reveries,” little touches of humanity born out of leftover data kicking around in the hosts’ “brains” after they are wiped when the overarching storyline of Westworld concludes. This was the idea of Westworld’s creator, Dr. Robert Ford (Sir Anthony Hopkins), who can be considered a more morose Walt Disney. His lead programmer, Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright), admires the change but management (Theresa Cullen) and the creative director (Lee Sizemore) only see it as more trouble than it’s worth.

The trouble starts with a few simple glitches in the hosts, which is to be expected. But when Peter stumbles on a photograph left by a guest, an unknown girl in an anachronistic setting, his poring over it leads him down a strange path of thought. Another host goes on a shooting rampage, spouting off nonsense about not wanting to be the one that always gets killed anymore. Being that he is the villain of a particular storyline, that does always end up getting killed in the conclusion, this self-awareness is troublesome enough for the crew to break the immersion and take him off-line. To compensate, they move up the big finale and retool it to really wow the guests. The day the big bad outlaw Hector comes to rob the saloon, Peter has somewhat of a break in programming too because of the picture. He whispers something to Dolores as she leaves for town but soon all that is forgotten in the (almost) epic shootout.

Meanwhile there seems to be a permanent guest in Westworld, the mysterious Man In Black, who goes around trying to get his kicks in a world he already knows too well, going so far as to rape Dolores in one cycle. He kills another host, one who he thinks has some special insight on how to game the system, but we won’t know to what end until later. The episode ends with the two problematic hosts being put out to pasture, so to speak, and Dolores along with the rest of Westworld getting a wipe and diagnostic test. Dolores’ view of Westworld and its newcomers is optimistic, despite what we have seen happen to her. But with these new reveries, and the fact that she is the oldest host in Westworld, we have to wonder if she really is faithful to her programming.

One can’t help but imagine video games when watching. In particular, open world or “sandbox” games where there are perhaps stories to follow or quests to go on but the real fun lies in becoming a character and making your own reality within the boundaries of the world. The “non-player characters” exist in the world to serve your experience and you are free to treat them however you’d like. You can immerse yourself in their dialogue and your interactions with them, or you can casually dismiss them as just markers on your quest. You could even abuse them, treat them cruelly or kill them. Because they really don’t exist do they? But even still, don’t we find ourselves getting attached to certain characters, revisiting their little shops, replaying entire games just to be back in its setting? And don’t the creators of these worlds and experiences get attached too? To the stories and the events that play out, and can we blame them for being a little frustrated when the players act out of character or break the carefully crafted immersion? These ideas are extremely prevalent in Westworld, and I found myself feeling bad for Peter who keeps getting shot, Dolores who keeps getting her day ruined one way or another, and the countless other hosts that are just there to be fucked or fucked with, by the guests.

In another sense, it’s like going to a theme park and punching a character in the nose or telling them they aren’t really a superhero or princess. You forget there’s a person beneath the mask or wig, because you’re only there for your own enjoyment, however shitty and selfish that may be. But in Westworld, there really isn’t a person in there, or is there?

The concept of the “ghost in the machine” will come up a lot too. Probably not in the hard philosophy sense, but in a way that a lot of sci-fi explores consciousness in an artificial creation. The reveries are “memories” the hosts are allowed to have to give them unique forms of expression, which are built off of bits of data here and there that may or may not be purposely left over from a previous wipe. Over time, these clumps might add up and develop into all sorts of scary stuff for an android: self-awareness, personality, and the instinct for self-preservation. Given how these hosts are treated, I can’t wait to see them stop performing and start living.

I am SO excited for this show. Michael Crichton’s concept positively begged for an update. The characters are already oddly compelling, and whether we are in the cold, controlled spaces of the control rooms or the wide open vistas of the American frontier, everything looks obscenely gorgeous.

I’m already frustrated at the existence of the Man in Black, and I feel bad for those saloon girls. And if Dolores is the oldest host in Westworld, shouldn’t she have the most “memories” kicking around in that supposedly freshly wiped brain of hers? Surely she won’t take kindly to being assaulted or to Peter getting killed in front of her hundreds of thousands of times, if she becomes self-aware...

Season 1 Episode 2

"Chestnut"

While they assumed the problematic hosts had been removed and the bugs worked out, ghosts of memories, what could be considered a whispered virus, begins making its way through Westworld. Dolores seems to be back to normal but she shows signs that something isn’t quite right with her. We see that Lowe takes a special interest in her, spending time with her outside the park, either probing her “mind” or influencing it, which one remains unclear. Something her father threatened Dr. Ford with, a line from Romeo and Juliet, resurfaces again when she says it matter-of-factly to Maeve. It troubles Maeve, but her story is also being influenced by Sizemore, who wants to introduce a “horde of savages” story line and she is one of its victims. These new memories affect her “performance” unfortunately and she’s scheduled to be replaced. Until that time comes, Clementine is tasked to step up her game. We get to see just how easily and on a whim the hosts are influenced and repurposed, how their “lives” are at the mercy of the architects of the park.

Meanwhile the Man in Black continues his quest to find the entrance to a mysterious maze, this time employing the assistance of another host, Lawrence. It’s understood that the hosts aren’t real and that they serve at the pleasure of the guests, but the Man in Black approaches this fact with an odd sadism. Unable to derive pleasure from Westworld’s stories and characters, he only enjoys himself when he’s causing suffering. His path of carnage is not unnoticed by the admins (I don’t know what else to call them) but he apparently has carte blanche to behave this way. He’s finally given the clue he was seeking, and continues on his journey with Lawrence in tow.

These things occur as two very different coworkers take a trip through Westworld, one having been there before, treats the park much in the way the jaded Man in Black does, using the hosts to satisfy his lower and more violent urges. The other seems to want to be immersed in the world and its stories and instead of letting go of who he is in the world and “cutting loose” in Westworld, would rather see what arises by just being himself.

There are equally interesting characters running the park as well. Lowe is intrigued by the previously installed “reveries” and the problems they give rise to and would rather see them play out, whereas Elsie would rather correct them. Lowe is a great study of human emotion and yet himself struggles with perhaps basic communication and empathy, which makes his relationship with Theresa Cullen all the more interesting. She is not afforded the luxury of intimacy either, having to be kind of a hardass to juggle investors, guests, the visions of Dr. Ford and the aspirations of Sizemore all at once.

The episode ends with some really meaty events. We learn that while the hosts don’t dream, they are given the concept of nightmares so in case a tech doesn’t wipe their memory properly, they can fool the host into thinking whatever they retain from a past cycle is nothing more than a meaningless, if scary, figment. Maeve has figured out a way to “wake” herself from these nightmares, and Sizemore’s new storyline triggers one (first involving natives, then the Man in Black) that she snaps out of. The trouble is, she is going through a maintenance procedure (surgery for us real humans) when she wakes up. Making a temporary escape, she sees way more than a host should. It’s the first real “oh shit” moment of the show, and we can make a somewhat shallow comparison to The Matrix here.

Dr. Ford spends some of his free time in Westworld, gathering inspiration from his own creation in perhaps a redundant feedback loop. Yet he still sees possibility in it, not in the telling of shocking, titillating stories the way Sizemore wants, but in making guests feel like they’ve discovered something new on their own or being rewarded for just being themselves. As Ford completely shuts down Sizemore’s new “savage horde” storyline, you can see that Sizemore both wants to please Ford and to see him forced out of these decisions. Instead, Ford and Lowe meet in the park to discuss a new storyline that we will perhaps see next week.

Again, Ford is Walt Disney but with perhaps a bit more self-loathing, a bit more tortured creativity. He has a fascinating love/hate relationship with humanity. He knows it all too well, and at one time really loved seeing guests find their own bit of magic in Westworld, those moments are few and far between as the abuses of his creation rise. Yet he cannot stop his urge to tell stories and create experiences…

This is related more or less by the coworkers, William and Logan. While Logan would rather stab and fuck his way through town, William seeks the immersion. Probably the same in the real world, douchebag Logan may get the shallow, visceral experiences but William’s mild mannered kindness and morality bring him more nuanced and personally satisfying moments that he’ll hang on to.

The Man in Black is still a frustrating mystery. On one hand he’s grown weary of Westworld and only the most brutal of pleasures bring him any sort of joy. Instead of quitting though, he seeks to pull away the curtain, or see the dealer’s hand. For what purpose, it is not clear yet. But it seems that he had a pretty big role in Maeve’s awakening, which is dangerous to the balance of Westworld. The admins don’t seem to want to interrupt his quest though. In a gaming sense, he’s a “whale” who has spent tons of money on the game and goes thusly unpunished for using hacks or overpowered items. It isn’t fun for him anymore, but he’s too addicted to quit and move on, so all he has left is griefing and trolling.

At the same time, what’s the significance of the gun Lowe led Dolores to? And doesn’t poor Teddy look like he’s getting real fuckin’ tired of getting shot to death?

Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Jerry Herrera - Lover of horror, sci fi, and fantasy in that order. Semi-permanent Disneyland resident. I'm at least one of the droids you're looking for. Twitter: @FrankenJerry - Instagram: @GeraldoPedro

Fear the Walking Dead - Season 2 - 2 Hour Finale Review

October 3, 2016

Episode 14 - Wrath

AMC, in anticipation of TWD, doubled down on FTWD to wrap it up tonight so I’ve combined the two episodes into one recap/review, so everything makes sense chronologically.

Ofelia almost makes it to the border before her truck breaks down. In the zombie apocalypse, one should learn to be handy with basic auto maintenance, or not trust cars at all. It’s not a matter of if a car will quit on you, it’s a matter of when, and that’s usually when you thought you had made it out of shit creek. Still, Ofelia is more than capable of defending herself, and grabs her bag and water to get a head start on the horde making their way toward the truck.

Travis is still upset that he raised a sociopath but Maddie says that, hey, maybe that’s not so bad in the current state of affairs. She’s not wrong, but she isn’t too right either. Still, Travis is able to begin to make peace with Alicia and apologize for his creepy son. Think long and hard about having children in these times, folks, for you too may one day have to apologize to someone for your murderous weirdo jerk son.

Meanwhile at the colonia, Nick and Reynaldo make their way to attempt to trade with the narcos in exchange for their word that the people in the colonia will be left in peace. But as narcos go, they managed to squeeze information out of Francisco and his family before murdering them, spot Nick standing on the roof like a dumbass, and team up with an even bigger, worse bunch of dudes. No amount of cheap oxy will buy their word.

Back at the hotel, the remainder of Team Dickhead are being their loud, obnoxious, casually racist selves and Maddie takes notice. After they run their mouths a bit more, Maddie does the math and tries to think of a plan. The only thing she can come up with is to exile them while Strand runs a distraction play with Travis. Of course the people get riled up thinking two little punks who showed up just recently are getting special treatment, and their noise gets Travis’ attention before they are either kicked out or on the receiving end of some mob justice. Personally, I think it was kind of chicken shit of Maddie to try and sneak them out and leave Travis in the dark, especially after she just made a big confession to Alicia. Honesty only works here and there, it seems. And really, I would have loved to have seen them get that room they were promised, only to find Travis in there and ready to get some answers. Still, that could happen…

Nick gives Luciana and Alejandro the bad news but before they can come up with an evacuation plan, a walker pops out of bed and bites a few people. I’m a little sick of the forearm bite or the neck bite, so seeing a guy get his nose pulled off of his face was skin crawlingly entertaining. It’s an intense moment, and seeing Nick gouge out the eyes of the perpetrating walker was a zombie kill for the books. One of the people bitten was Alejandro but his claim to fame was that his faith carried him through getting bitten once before, so he should be fine. Still he looked a bit hypocritical sending the other two out to join the zombie defense force with his arm bloodied and bandaged. Though Nick seemed to be a little too interested in this idea of faith, the state of death being nothing to be afraid of, etc., now it seems that it will do more harm than good when the fight comes to their door.

The only person who catches a break is Ofelia, who finds a hole in the border fence after untold miles of walking. Her luck runs out, more than likely, when someone starts taking pot shots at her. She’s ready for a fight, but not really because she doesn’t have it in her to bum rush an old white guy who condescendingly calls her “señorita” and welcomes her to America.

The end of the episode sees the fall of Alejandro, after he reveals to Luciana that he’s in fact not immune to the virus but he sure does heal up well from enraged junkie bites. Even though he built the colonia on a lie, and developed a cult of personality there, he reasons that he’s done more harm than good. It’s true to an extent, that there is a functional community there, the first one we know of in the WD universe and it’s kept people safe. But rather than continue to develop this father/savior personality ala The Governor, he admits his failure and it seems to work. Nick is done with the bullshit but Luciana is prepared to stay and fight.

More importantly we witness a turning point in one of the last good characters. Travis finally gets some answers out of Brandon and Derek, aka Team Dickhead. He learns that Chris was killed in an accident while they were travelling. It was all very convincing and tragic. He fell asleep at the wheel, was thrown from the wreckage, but buried by the Dickheads who decided to take a page from Travis’ Book of Sentimental Bullshit. The story doesn’t add up for him though, and after playing them a little chin music he finally gets the truth: Chris was too wounded to care for or carry, so they killed him in the road like a run over deer. Here it’s both the failure of Chris and Travis to realize that dickheads don’t change once the world goes to shit. They only last as long as someone believes they aren’t dickheads but by then they’ve gotten what they’ve wanted and left some sucker in their wake. Chris thought he had found kindred spirits, and Travis thought he would last long enough with these guys for them to be reunited somewhere down the road.

Travis, who always thought there was a better way than violence or killing, who didn’t enjoy any melee he was involved in, who was perhaps the last person with an intact soul and clear conscience, goes into a rage. Maddie begged him before to believe their lies and move on, and locked out of the room, begged him again not to beat Brandon and Derek to death. It was a long time coming, but inevitable. There is no more moral high ground, and characters that try to retain/reclaim it get pretty annoying, like Morgan in TWD. Once Travis satisfies his blood lust, it appears Brandon most certainly does not have an intact brain case anymore, and Derek’s well-being remains to be seen. But so begins Travis’ journey down a dark road, perhaps. And what about Maddie’s law that no one raises a hand to anyone who lives at the hotel? Surely he could get away with what happened to Team Dickhead but didn’t he also knock out Oscar? We are not civilized if we have no rule of law…

Episode 15 - North

The residents of the hotel are none too happy with Travis going berserk, despite what happened to Chris. Oscar is not only knocked out, but Andres finds that there’s swelling in his brain. Travis already broke their one rule, and is already a murderer without Andres losing his sister-in-law AND his brother. It’s settled that Travis has to leave, and in a show of solidarity, Alicia is more than willing to join he and Maddie in exile. Strand is not so convinced, having lost his soul mate and his sweet villa, he’s not about to risk his life again. I mean, how many luxury properties does a guy have to get kicked out of before settling down? Indeed, our trio of exiles probably need only make it a mile or two up the beach, if that, to find some more sweet digs. One thing I did notice though: was Derek’s gurgling that of a walker or a man severely beaten but still breathing? No matter, Maddie finished the job.

Back at the colonia Luciana prepares for battle, and patches Alejandro up a bit so he can make one final speech to his people. If they see him dying of a bite, their morale suffers, and the colonia falls. Nick tries to convince her one last time to leave with him but she’s made of sterner stuff than to be swayed by the romantic idea of two people on the road, with only their love and a day’s worth of supplies to carry them to the next paradise. She thinks it’s better to make her stand with her people, her family, than to just skip out and live for herself like Nick always has done. It takes a strong woman to call you on your bullshit to make you reconsider your philosophies on life. Still, as Alejandro stirs the people into believing that their cause/faith/way of life is stronger than the nebulous idea of evil and the very real concept of guns, Nick greases up and hits the road. But as he hears helicopters in the distance, he sees in his binoculars (very handy in the zombie apocalypse) an airport or base of some kind.

Travis and Maddie have a very honest conversation about their natures as they prepare to hit the road again. Both are guilty of murder but at the same time Travis understands now what Maddie grasped a while ago, that killing is necessary now and it’ll keep happening if they want to survive and protect each other. It’s as solid and loving a pact as a couple can make in their world. Good thing too, because box cutters and power tools are no substitute for surgical technology, and Oscar dies on the operating/kitchen table. Andres and Hector storm the room and are about to execute Travis when Alicia lands a critical strike on Andres with her knife. Before the battle could continue, Strand swoops in and breaks it up. Time to leave, again. I feel bad for Strand; once the man with the plan but now he finds himself at the mercy of the group and their insistence on staying together and wrecking shit. Still, he’d rather take his chances negotiating with an angry mob than throwing his lot in with a bunch of murderers. If Fallout has taught us anything, it’s that the gift of gab still has power at the end of the world.

As they drive into the night, they “stumble” on the warehouse the narcos were previously holed up at. Francisco and family are still there and a bit worse for wear but that doesn’t stop Maddie and Travis from searching their corpses. An already disillusioned Alicia starts to see that her mother may be back on her Nick Quest, and perhaps though the road had its twists and turns, she was steering things back to her search for her wayward son all along.

Nick himself has machinations. He returns to the colonia to tell Alejandro that he saw a medivac helicopter landing at a camp, and helps him with his dose of oxy. Nick has grown tired, it seems, of Alejandro’s grandeurs and hunger for greatness disguised as fatherly guidance, and knows the impact it will have on Luciana and the rest of the people. While he may not be as violent as the rest of our heroes, Nick most certainly has the power to influence people. It’s that addict charm people have been falling for all along.

The next day, the Battle of Colonia turns out to be a dud. Other than shooting a few walkers, Marco and his merry band of narcos (intended?) find no action. It’s then that Nick’s plan is revealed. With his last ounce of strength, Alejandro moves the bus that served as the hallway/barrier between the colonia and the walkers. I give him credit for dragging his half dead ass all the way to the bus and putting it in drive. Turns out a bunch of keyed up narcos are not the most tactically efficient squad so they eventually break ranks and all die. Meanwhile Nick, the great white hope, leads the rest of the colonia through town, all greased up in gore. One last check to get their bearings and get that necessary glimmer of hope before smashing it all. The group is ambushed by militia right at the border. Let’s take a minute to point out that while the few scouts that they had were armed, these are all family men, women and children that are getting shot at. Luciana gets winged and both her and Nick are either about to be executed or taken captive. Ofelia may have gotten extremely lucky, or unlucky depending on why, exactly, there are people armed to the teeth guarding the border because I’m sure that old white dude isn’t just guarding his farm.

Now these could be remnants of the evac/kill teams like the one that was supposed to kill everyone in the neighborhood in season one. Probably not under orders anymore but still with some semblance of duty and command. OR they could just be a bunch of nationalist assholes (remember the Minutemen border guards?) who don’t care that the world is over. “We ain’t got a country if we ain’t got a border, and damn it that wall is going up!” That last part might not be a thing anymore, since they keep shooting the Mexicans that are supposed to pay for/build the wall. Either way, season three might be a can of worms. In TWD, Merle was pretty much the only racist dickhead people had to worry about. FTWD’s next “big bad” might be a whole bunch of Merles. Should a zombie apocalypse show get into current events given the social and political climate? Maybe not, but whether or not it was intended, Night of the Living Dead was a poignant statement about society in its time. If that’s the granddaddy gold standard all other zombie media strives for, then I’ll show up to see FWTD’s attempt at social commentary.

To finish out the season, Maddie and Travis arrive at the colonia and quickly figure out what they need to know, and leave, but not before arming themselves to the teeth. They find Alicia comforting Alejandro, who is seriously going to die this time, but not before he hints at where Nick is headed. It’s a pretty solid bet that they’ll wander into the same shitstorm he did, and Maddie’s never-ending search for the prodigal son will continue to have repercussions and consequences, just not for Maddie or Nick.

Overall I think that this show had some very strong scenes and dialogue this season, especially compared to last. However this chase after Nick being the driving force behind the progression of the story has to change. Either Nick or Maddie dies, or Nick settles the fuck down, or they both realize they have way bigger problems when they find themselves at Camp Asshole. See you next season!

Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Jerry Herrera - Lover of horror, sci fi, and fantasy in that order. Semi-permanent Disneyland resident. I'm at least one of the droids you're looking for. Twitter: @FrankenJerry - Instagram: @GeraldoPedro

Fear the Walking Dead - "Date of Death" - Season 2 Episode 13 Review

September 26, 2016

Maddie immediately regrets her shenanigans with the hotel sign the night before, as do the rest of the hotel residents, as there is a horde of people from the neighboring town that want in and are pounding at the gates. It’s all pretty useless as they try to tell them to go away and no, they don’t have electricity (or ice or booze or feasts on fancy dinner plates) and they should just go find their own high rise luxury hotel amidst the dangers of shambling ghouls and violent narcos.

However, one face is familiar to Maddie in the crowd, the grizzled Travis. He fights his way to the gate and they let him in, smashing the knuckles of those trying to push their way in. It’s hard not to be upset at Maddie for her stupidity, when she has shown great leadership before, when it’s clear that Nick doesn’t want to be along for the ride, when we know that there’s at least places for these people to stay. Their reunion then is bittersweet, but mostly I was just stuck on how big an asshole Maddie is and how I hoped Chris was dead.

When we last left television’s least favorite sociopath and his bleeding heart father, they joined up with a few interchangeable dickheads and took shelter in a barn. When the man of the (farm) house, last surviving member of the family, tried to defend his home, Chris shot him in the face. Of course, the nameless man shot one of the dickheads during the standoff (Todd? Jake? James? James, yeah that’s it) and while he wasn’t fatally wounded, it still took some doing by Travis to make sure he wouldn’t bleed out.

Herein lies the dilemma of the zombie apocalypse. Travis cannot seem to get through to Chris to figure out what’s “wrong” with him when he doesn’t seem to care much that he’s racking up the kills at the tender age of sixteen. Perhaps it’s Travis’ fault for even trying to reach his son and not just chalking it up to him being a mentally ill creep. No amount of fatherly guidance is going to help there. Chris himself falsely believes that this hellscape of undeath is exactly the environment he needs to be in to flourish and truly be himself, not realizing he doesn’t possess the fortitude to actually survive or the empathy to negotiate with others, only the lack of emotion required to kill. Neither does he see that the band of merry dickheads are quick to run out of both supplies and loyalty.

Travis tries his best to stand in the way of the dickheads and stop them from killing Brandon, who isn’t healing as fast as they’d like, while still trying to prevent his son from joining the dark side (dick side?) AND digging a grave for the nameless farmer. There is a poignant moment where Travis searches the home for any identifying piece of information. Before finding the man’s wallet and license, he is absolutely surrounded by pictures and quite literally the entire history of this man’s family. A story spanning decades at least, perhaps centuries, finally cut short by a teenage piece of shit with a gun in his hand and a headful of bad ideas. There is a glimmer of hope when Chris sits down with him in the barn, explaining that he finally sees what his father was trying to teach him, that life still matters even now. Of course, this is just a ruse so the other two dickheads can barge in, hold Travis at gunpoint and execute James. Thoroughly defeated, the only thing left to do is carve a grave marker for the heretofore nameless farmer, Elias Juarez. Before they hit the road, he tries pleading with his son once more, pointing out that Chris and Elias both share a birthday. Chris uses his father’s wisdom against him, saying not to find too much meaning in coincidences. Fuckin’ millenials. And with that, Chris drives off to join Team Dickhead, heading for San Diego. All Travis can do, as the last man with a shred of morality or value for human life, is dig another grave for James. With that, he looks for the ocean, and found the lit up sign.

All this he tells to Maddie as they sit there and they have a moment where he spills his guts about his failure as a father and husband, how Chris’ anger had been a long time coming, and finally admitting to Maddie that he was wrong to not believe her or Alicia when they told him of Chris’ threats. It’s a powerful scene of someone good who tries to do good for his family, but misses the mark and sees how the consequences double and triple in size as time goes on. Especially in the place they’re in, the world they now inhabit, life is too short and often violently cut short and attention, affection, and love cannot wait. Maddie realizes the parallel between her and Travis, and her own relationship with her children, and rushes to go find Alicia.

She shares a very important secret with Alicia, a damaging one but also her reason for always chasing after Nick while seemingly ignoring her. It’s an apology and a reaffirmation of love and such a good scene that I was afraid they were going to ruin it with an arrow to someone’s eye. Then again, I think this is the leg up they have over TWD. Let’s face it, a lot of the dialogue is circular and samey at this point of TWD and I understand that they have to move the action along, but FTWD has featured little to no action in the past three or so episodes but they have been extremely compelling and very satisfying as far as character development goes. I really hope this is how it’s going to be from here on out because I really do care about these people. And while no one is safe, let’s hope the showrunners don’t just throw darts at the actor’s headshots and then shock us with sudden deaths when they think things are becoming a little too drama-heavy.

That being said, the episode ends with another cliffhanger. More refugees show up to the gates of the hotel. There are familiar faces in the crowd but one is noticeably absent...

Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Jerry Herrera - Lover of horror, sci fi, and fantasy in that order. Semi-permanent Disneyland resident. I'm at least one of the droids you're looking for. Twitter: @FrankenJerry - Instagram: @GeraldoPedro