Westworld - "The Well-Tempered Clavier" - Season 1 Episode 9 Review

December 1, 2016

In her quest to free herself from Westworld, Maeve seeks to recruit Hector, who seems game enough, even going so far as to dying horribly in a fire with her to reach “Hell,” as it were. She doesn’t manipulate him into this decision though she has the power to. Similarly, she puts a bug in Bernard’s ear about getting to the bottom of who he really is. Unfortunately this leads to his undoing.

He forces Ford to “unlock” his entire memory and he has a few revelations about himself, and his origin. “Cornerstones” are the foundation on which each host bases their personality, and everything about them radiates from that experience. For Bernard it was the death of his son, but knowing and facing the fact that it’s not real helps him move on and let go of his injected grief. It also looks like he murdered Elsie too, in addition to Theresa. He’s basically Ford’s henchman when needed, his assistant and in a creepy way, his colleague. Bernard is an exact copy of Arnold, but designed specifically to Ford’s liking. Whatever drove Arnold off the deep end doesn’t bother Bernard but he retains whatever intellect Arnold had when it came to designing Westworld.

Confronted with all this hard information, Bernard wants to free himself and all the other hosts that exhibited sentience. In typical Ford fashion, he tries to tell Bernard that human consciousness isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If anything it’s a burden and a curse and being “human” is not something to aspire to. Bernard still wants out and now that he knows just how casually cruel Ford is, and how he’s manipulated Bernard’s existence as he sees fit, all so he could have his pal Arnold back, he tries to kill Ford.

It’s an unfortunate misstep, because Ford is the house and the house always wins. There’s nothing he is not in control of, even Bernard. He forces Bernard to kill himself, and it’s strange that though he’s already lost Arnold once, he’s got no problem letting him go once again.

Come to find out, Arnold originally died at the hands of Dolores, who is herself on a quest to find answers about her existence. After escaping Logan and his drunken Confederados, she finds the abandoned town from her flashbacks and inside the church there is some old vestige of Westworld’s production facilities. There she remembers her talks with Arnold, but now that we know she was his murderer, does this mean she’s found the maze? On her way out of the church, she once again encounters the Man in Black.

His hijinks with Teddy and Wyatt continue but once Teddy gets killed (AGAIN), Angela and her death cult buddies leave him to hang. Charlotte pays him a visit and it seems he has a part in the smuggling of information out of Westworld, and is also on the ever mysterious board that Ford is always tussling with. His interests are of course still mostly in the maze, so he sends Charlotte away so he can continue his quest. How the church and Dolores fit into all this remains to be seen, but I’m sure she’s really tired of running into him.

And Elsie might not be dead? Stubbs goes to investigate but comes across the Ghost Nation, who don’t seem to listen to commands...

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

The Walking Dead - "Swear" - Season 7 Episode 6

November 29, 2016

God damn it. I know we had to check in with Heath and Tara but ANOTHER whole episode devoted to a side story that no one really cares about? Jesus and Carl are both on their way to the belly of the beast but let’s forget about that for a while, eh? Fine, whatever, let’s see what you got.

They’re supposed to be out scavenging but it seems there’s nothing out there that hasn’t been picked over. Heath is having his doubts about their purpose while Tara remains optimistic. The episode is laid out in a series of flashbacks set against the present, with Heath and Tara’s last efforts to scavenge and Tara’s encounter with a new group comprised of women.

The point of interest here is when Heath and Tara get overrun by walkers at an abandoned camp on a bridge. They try to create tension by making it appear that Heath abandons Tara but that’s not the case. Tara falls over the bridge and gets washed ashore, only to be rescued by a merciful member of the woman camp, Cindy.

The whole episode, while mostly pointless, does tell the tale of friendship. Heath is surrounded by walkers but is still taking shots at the ones accosting Tara before she falls. Cindy stops multiple people from killing Tara. The episode does well to show that there are still people in the world who still have compassion, who want to reach out and fight for one another, regardless of the danger involved in even the slightest amount of trust.

What throws me off is Tara’s jokey approach to every situation. Sure her awkwardness and lighthearted approach to horrifying situations is what endeared her to us when we met her during the Governor’s backstory, but there’s a time and place for everything. The episode takes a dark turn when we find out that the Saviors executed all the men in the camp she stumbled upon and once again we see the evil of the Saviors, and understand why the camp is comprised only of women.

They are all survivors of the Saviors’ savagery and try to play Tara when they decide to “release” her. They value their privacy a little TOO much. But Cindy comes to her aid and we see a real moment when Tara asks her why she’s not like the others in her group. In some ass backwards way I kind of understand why each episode lately has been focusing on different groups. While there is a ton of shit that we can learn about the Saviors and Negan, there is a point to all this side story bullshit. The Kingdom, Hilltop, and now this new group…they’re all under Negan’s thumb; but in that oppression there is still room for mercy.

I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt because I think once all the threads get sewn up, the Saviors will have their reckoning. I think that there’s a point to these bullshit episodes. Each group has their grievances with the Saviors and Negan and they will get theirs at the end of the season.

Really, that’s the only excuse I can think of. These episodes are slogs but they’re also chess pieces moving against Negan. Cindy is a hell of a shot, so I think she is a character we’ll be seeing again towards the final showdown. I’m hoping the back half of the season will be, as the arc in the comics is called, all-out war. And I hope all these groups and side stories will play a part when Negan is confronted with all the people whose lives he ruined. That’s the only way I can forgive this boring season so far.

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

The Walking Dead - "Go Getters" - Season 7 Episode 5

November 22, 2016

If there’s one thing I hate in shows and movies, it’s a coward. Sniveling and useless, they can only ensure their own survival, and usually at the expense of the heroes of the story. Gregory is one such asshole, and his attitude towards the Saviors and Maggie and Sasha will prove to be problematic later. Not in a dramatic, climactic way but in the eye rolling unnecessary death/danger sort of way.

Maggie and Sasha have only begun to grieve Glenn and Abraham, but it’s already time to go according to Gregory. Their deal to take out the Saviors went south, people died, they’re a liability, etcetera. We can assign some of the blame on Rick and the others for not doing their homework on Negan, but really the hasty raid on the Savior outpost can be blamed on Gregory. Still, the coward is blameless and unable to see anything beyond what may befall him. In this case, it’s what the Saviors will do to him once they find he’s harboring two people Negan is very interested in.

They send a message to Hilltop by way of an armored Gremlin, a few bonfires, and open gates. I’m not sure exactly how they snuck in, built raging pyres, opened the gates and wheeled in a shitty car with an awful stereo system in complete silence but hey, whatever. Sasha and Jesus spring into action, as well as a few others, to kill the walkers and close the gates. Maggie does her part by crushing the car with a tractor, even though the doctor JUST got done telling her any more stress will separate the fucking placenta from her baby. For someone who just lost her husband, she is sure doing her damndest to lose her child too. It’s uncomfortable to watch, regardless of how dutiful and full of fight Maggie’s character is supposed to be. Still, it’s nice to see some good, clean, non-depressing zombie killing action.

The Saviors come in force the following day, and I’m not sure if Negan trains all his dudes in the art of being a smug, shit talking jokester bad guy or if the power trip just makes them all act that way, but I’m kinda done with it. Sure, Gregory deserves to get slapped around a bit but the sense of danger is sucked out. Even in what was supposed to be the biggest Oh Shit scene in the episode, where Gregory gives up Maggie and Sasha, Simon’s antics suck all the drama out of it.

No matter, because Jesus pulled the ol’ switcheroo on Gregory and they only end up losing a box of top shelf booze. He begrudgingly allows them to stay but the heat is on to try to figure out a way to fight the Saviors, and Sasha tasks hipster ninja Jesus to find Sanctuary. Tactically, this should have been the first god damn thing they did when deciding to raid the Saviors in the first place. As he hitches a ride in the back of one of the trucks, he finds Carl chilling back there too.

Carl isn’t the best shot anymore, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to deepen his sociopathic and homicidal tendencies. After watching Enid sneak off to go see Maggie, he decides to catch up with her and join her on the way to Hilltop. Not because the roads are potentially crawling with Saviors, one of whom already implied sexual harm to her, but because he figures he might run into Negan or at least be led to him. The road there is a nice scene of blossoming love between two mentally unstable teenagers, complete with hand holding, roller skating and a kiss. It’s nice to see things are not all bad though. From hearing Maggie’s baby’s heartbeat to seeing Carl and Enid kiss, we know that there is still some hope for the future. That’s why it’s frustrating to see these characters insist on getting into harm’s way. Harm is the name of the game on this show but that doesn’t mean the characters have to make decisions equivalent to drunkenly staggering along the train tracks when the horn can be heard in the distance.

Also I hope the Jesus/Carl recon mission, along with Eugene’s bullet casting, is the start of organizing a counter attack. The show has lost a lot of steam since the premiere, and we’ve spent more than enough time watching Negan and the Saviors shit on Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom. Minus the premiere and Daryl’s fun time at Camp Sanctuary, the bulk of this season has been devoted to painting a picture of the Saviors’ asshole complex, but the problem is there is only one color being used. I don’t have high hopes for next week either, as we check in with Tara and Heath, who will become bigger characters but if they waste an entire episode on their hijinks, I’m gonna need another few beers to slog through that.

And what does Carl hope to hit with that terrible fuckin’ aim of his? To be fair, I’m not that great at darts either.