Your Favorite TV Character is Dead

   First of all, I'm letting anyone that reads this that I won't spoil anything of a tv series they like. I dislike spoiling, and I do understand that many people nowadays watch shows on their own timetable. On Demand channels, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and some other sites that are under the radar show tv series' that we may not have watched live.
   But in this present era, there are more and more shows that are upping the stakes. More where the horror is more in your face and actors will leave shows where their characters have died or been killed. While CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds and other shows of that ilk can be violent and but they're also serialized, making the stakes of whether a main character will die is less and less in comparison to the shows in the new era of 2000-up.
   Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Hannibal, American Horror Story, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, are all part of the shows that pull no punches. There are more out there. But up above in that photo with "fave" misspelled kind of represents how some characters are killed off shows lately. It's just more common than it used to be. One reason why that finale of season four of The Walking Dead kind of underwhelmed. Are we expecting more of a show like that now? But that's a story for another day (or another blog entry).

I'm Not Using the Term Bitch

I will not use the word "bitch" to insult the woman I'm going to rant about on here. I'll just call her what i would if it were a dude. An asshole. 

So I'm on the right side of the street parked by the curb by the entrance to a parking lot on the right side of me. This asshole approaches the left side of me and slows down. Then pauses and a car is right behind her. I didn't think much about it as I'm just waiting for her to pass, the car behind her AND this kid on a bike that is coming down the bike lane and I can see in my  drivers' side mirror. 

This asshole just stopped. Then she starts inching forward and turns ahead of me so she can get into the parking entrance. Then she completely stops! Like almost five seconds. Just stays in the way and the kid on the bike hits her passenger side bumper, flips over and falls onto the other side of the car!

Now this is when I would say this kid (teenager) was going so fast on his bike that he couldn't stop in time. But no. She had just stalled right in front of the parking entrance and could have just allowed the kid to ride right through. In fact, that's what I thought she was doing by stopping beforehand in the first place.

I get out of my car, the people in the car behind her get out and we're praying that this kid didn't split his head open. Fortunately he landed and could catch himself from injuring himself more than some bruised ribs and scrapes and cuts. We call an ambulance just in case. But this asshole, she just proceeds to ask if he is all right and then drive her car into the parking lot and saying that she will be right back. Wtf?

It's a closed off parking, so I knew she wasn't trying to run away. And what for? It was just an accident, even if her pausing, stopping and just bad driving caused the accident. The guy in the vehicle behind her tells me he was just about to honk the horn at her and his wife said he was just screaming obscenities at her by then. 

So we get a chair for him, call the paramedics (firefighters) and this asshole comes back out with her boyfriend and asks the kid if he's all right. Then offers him water which then turns into her offering him a damned beer. A beer! Asshole goes up to her apartment and brings two beers to the kid. In front of her, I tell him "don't take the beers or when the cops arrive they're going to say you were having the beers on your way home and that's why it happened.". He sticks them in his backpack. Asshole gets pissed.

She starts getting loud about how he is okay and everyone is accusing her. At this point the other driver and his wife tell her to just get her "fucking" insurance card ready for when the cops arrive. She goes back up to her apartment. Again.

Now the part that REALLY pissed me off is that she has a few neighbors from her apartment building just outside and asshole starts trying to play up to them almost yelling "I don't know what the fuck these people (myself and the couple from the car and one more witness) are still doing here! They got nothing to do with this! Fuck!"

By now I want to slap some sense into asshole as the kid is checked by paramedics and it's determined he was quite fortunate to have avoided serious injuries.

Of course asshole tries to tell the cop arriving later that my car was pulled in front of the entrance in a way that she had to make a wide turn to avoid me and that's why she had stopped. Only thing that stopped me from at that point from calling her a fucking liar was that the other driver stood up for me and told everything he saw.

Rant over.

Assholes, I swear... 

The Colorado Shooting

I'm not using the title of "The Dark Knight Rises". I'll let this entry be a dedication to all the innocent people at that theater in Colorado that were just there to enjoy themselves. That just wanted to revel in being able to watch a movie they really wanted to watch and live it while in a dark theater with strangers that shared the same passion and interest in the Batman and this film. Now many lost their lives and even the ones that survive will be forever scarred by this. By the twisted mind of someone who decided he was going to do something evil, something terrible. A terrible tragedy.

  :*( 

Another Superhero is Gay

  

    Hmm. My take on this is if you're going to make Northstar, Vibe, Alan Scott all gay and OUT, then you're doing it just for the sake of having a gay hero. Why don't the writers take the tougher challenge of making the character gay but be on the in the closet because of how it would affect his private life or that of his standing as a public hero. No, they wouldn't do that because it would be too much of a challenge for them. Plus the fact that it would look bad if they tried to use another hero to represent the homophobic side of things. As writers of superheroes, they should be used to how heroes keep on the down low their secret identities for all types of reasons. Wouldn't it be more challenging? Why can't they do that with the secret of their sexual orientation?

Just sayin'.

Not That it Matters but I'm Back!

   Life has been a bit hectic. Just as it is for everyone but I feel a bit more hectic than usual for me. I'm still unemployed and out studying  and taking up some computer classes and about to do some forklift and stacking training. Anything to give myself some new skills and a better chance at finding a decent paying job. What time I have had online has been studying and a few diversions into Google Plus territory (Oh, I love it so!) and have ALLOWED myself to get a bit down about the entire situation. There's more going on in the house but like I said before, nothing that no one else has gone through.

   Anyways, this blog besides Google Plus are welcome diversions from real life at times. And sometimes necessary to have a few laughs, a few discussions and even learn a few things. I didn't get to review the last episode of "The Walking Dead" and I may still get around to doing a shorter version of the reviews I usually do, and maybe even get around to talking about a few others.

   See you soon! (Sooner if I follow you on Google Plus!) Take care!

A Look At Other Shows That You Should Watch

"Being Human", the American version of the series. Excellent, fast paced, sometimes too jam-packed show about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost that share a house. Sounds simple but this show goes from humor to horror to drama within scenes. Well acted, with a mythology that doesn't complicate things too much. Highly recommended.

"Southland", is a low rated series on TNT that was picked up after flailing on NBC. Good for viewers like me that enjoy crime dramas that don't follow the mystery formula of many crime dramas of this era. This gripping drama follows a day in the work lives of several cops and detectives. Anchored by strong actors who seem like the parts they play and the Los Angeles filming which gives it a grittiness that I haven't seen much of since "The Shield". Recommended.

"Being Human", the U.K. version. It's in it's fourth season and at this point is not easy to get into. It has the same premise of the U.S. version but runs for only six episodes a season. It's reinventing itself with new characters but is still feeling fresh. It's the original and is still a fun and psychologically interesting series with strong villains and menaces. Recommended.

"American Horror Story" is the one that is the most polarizing and I can definitely see a lot of people disagreeing with me here. That first season was a throw everything you can into it and extend the boundaty lines of basic cable. See how much they can get away with. Half of the plots may not have worked but the other half did very well. Not neccesarily scary but at times creepy and chilling. The acting was strong enough and the effects were well done. If anything, they went overboard with a few things. But that's what this series is. A show to go crazy with. Very bloody and lots of nudity for a basic cable show. Recommended but not for everyone.

"Alphas" on SyFy is not showing right now, but it had a strong first season. Alphas is the term for humans with super powers. They get together to solve crimes committed by other alphas. This series is way different from say, "Heroes". Where "Heroes" began with a strong first season and then subsequent seasons went downhill, this started out with three or four mediocre episodes but that showed enough promise to stick around. Then all of a sudden, it hit it's stride. Every episode became near excellent and still finding a way to work together made it always entertaining and rarely ever earnest in excess. Recommended. There are several others that would be up in this list but are not shows that may be under the radar. I chose five that I felt should receive more attention.

The Walking Dead "Better Angels"

   This episode could be dedicated to Dale's character. With all the references to him and mentions. It all begins at the funeral service for him with Rick speaking of Dale and his good conscience and how they all should try to keep his forgiving spirit alive. ( I felt it would have been more appropriate to have Andrea speak but they just showed Rick giving out his speech.) The show jump cut in the opening sequence to the group of Shane, Daryl, Andrea, and T-Dog all securing the perimeter of the farm and slaying off walkers. You can say this scene was dedicated to Dale also with how angry and upset the group was. With the anger with which they dispatched the walkers. Most impressive: Andrea slaying a walker by pitchfork.

"Better Angels" was one of the better episodes of the season, if not the BEST one so far. This was where everything that has happened before is affecting everyone and everything. This one was written by Evan T. Reilly and Glen Mazzara, the new showrunner. Strong writing that made the characters not seem stupid, but vulnerable and sentimental.

It had Carl confessing to father figure Shane that he had to do with Dale's death. It had the even stronger response by Shane back. Not your fault, take the gun. It showed how good Shane could really be with Carl and that he really cared. He attacked the guilt that Carl had and offered him a way to defend himself without seeming like a bad guy. Not at all! At one point, he does the right thing in telling Rick about Carl and his situation. And tells Rick that he needs to be a father to the kid. That being more important than Randall.

It had Lori being as sympathetic as she has been during the entire season. She told Shane how she felt and that she needed to thank him for everything he did. This doesn't vindicate Lori but humanized her. Perhaps the death of Dale has a lot to do with this. But she told him everything that she should have a long time ago. Because he did care about them and he wasn't the villain trying to sleep with the hero's wife. He was doing his part in a world that is overrun by walkers. Too late she said it perhaps but it was finally all said. Though that may caused Shane's epic breakdown in the second half of the episode.

Andrea continues to become more of a favorite to me. In her scene with Glenn and the rv, as heavy handed as it was, it was very effective in conveying what Dale meant to them.

Everyone on the show had a few lines and something to do. Even T-Dog! Well, except for Beth. Most of her scenes have been lying down and not in a good way. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Better Angels" was directed by Guy Ferland who is  a television journeyman director who has worked on anything and everything. He didn't go for many trick shots but decided to shoot for "Breaking Bad" type cinematography in several shots. The climactic showdown between Rick and Shane was beautifully shot. Done slowly, allowing both expressive actors time to shine under a clear sky and bright moon. Even that last chilling (chilling!) scene where a herd of walkers are headed towards the farm was directed well.

Shane. Damn, I'm missing his character already. In the comic book series, he was just villainous but in this series, he was kind of a "tweener". He did everything that was needed to survive but was mentally breaking down. Whether it was because of love or just the desperation of this world, but he was losing it. His final scene with Rick was incredible. Leading up to it, Rick and Shane searched for Randall. A man that Shane had let loose and then killed out by the trees. Rick at a certain point, KNEW something was wrong. And Andrew Lincoln just killed it by showing how smart Rick was at that point. He knew it was coming down to a confrontation with Shane away from everyone else. And Jon Bernthal killed his scenes by being alternately scary-psycho and heartbreaking. Then came the scene that delivered on all it's promise. The accusations, the pleading, and everything that Shane DID NOT say when he was confronted by Rick at the crossroads episodes ago came flooding out.

And Rick killed him by stabbing. Were his real intentions to kill Rick? Or was he committing suicide in a way? Or leaving Rick with the tough decision of having to kill someone close to him, forcing his hand and leaving behind the legacy of Rick now graduating into the man that Shane said he had to be? Wow! Certainly, Shane could have killed him but the more I ponder the scene, the more it looks like after what Lori said to him and everything else going on, that he wanted to die! Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps he was just mentally breaking down and was willing to do whatever he needed to to feel better. And what the hell was that going on his head before he became Zombie Shane?

Through his eyes, we could see his mind filled with blood, gore, teeth and biting sounds. Then he turned. He wasn't bitten. Randall wasn't bitten. Those guards of a couple of episodes ago weren't either. Is this how people die in this world now? Their heads filled with images of walker sustenance? Then raising up from the dead to feed on live beings, whether animals or people? What turned everyone into walkers after death must be a disease. It's already in the air! How much do you want to bet that what Dr. Edwin Jenner whispered into Rick's ear was that everyone is infected already and destined to become walkers? That they are practically the walking dead already?

Thoughts?