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Avengers AU poster

The Avengers: Age of Ultron directed by Joss Whedon and starring Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans continues the story of the Marvel comic group of hero’s, as they continue their fight to save the earth from the threat of darkness.

The films opens with an action packed scene as the Avengers battle a group of terrorists in Europe. New enemies are introduced as the Avengers search for Loki’s stolen scepter, which has a powerful stone inside it. They race to get the scepter back into the right hands.

Once they retrieve the scepter Tony Stark and Bruce Banner waste no time with trying to create something that can help keep the peace and the scepter protected. Tony uses his engineering talents to create a form of artificial intelligence with the hopes of it being the answer to all their problems, but as soon as the AI begins to take it’s form, the stages of evolution begin to take place and the entity that was designed to help turns into something much more sinister, and out of that Ulton is born.

In the process Tony has the program set where Jarvis has control over the entity, but Jarvis is quickly overpowered and Ultron destroys Jarvis.

The team bands together to battle the constantly evolving Ultron. He does everything in his power to break the bond and trust the Avengers share including using two powerful mutants Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, (which were created by William Stryker, the same man that created Wolverine) against them. The group retreats when they are overpowered and they seek refuge at Hawkeye’s home with his wife and children as they begin to regroup.

Captain America comes up with a battle plan, and each one the Avengers uses their strengths to battle Ultron. Ultron is thirsty for more power as he creates a group of autobots, to help destroy the Avengers. In the meantime Ulton possesses one of Tony Stark’s scientists and forces her make him a more sustainable body. In the process he becomes more powerful. Eventually Scarlet Witch and Quick Silver realize that Ultron plans to destroy all the humans on the planet and take over the world with his new artificial intelligent colleagues. They go against his plan and join forces with the Avengers to help save the people of earth.

Stark comes up with a plan to recreate a manifestation of Jarvis using the stone from Loki’s scepter. The manifestation of Jarvis has now altered into Vison. A powerful being that has a multitude of abilities. The will of the Avengers is strong as they all join forces to defeat Ultron.

Overall The Avengers: Age of Ulton was an awesome movie. The story was well written and gave each of the characters an opportunity to shine in an appropriate manner. Sometimes when movies have an all-star cast, the story can get lost in the process and the actors get swallowed whole, but this is not the case with the Avengers sequel. They each had good on screen chemistry and the new characters added to the adventure. The special effects were remarkable and captivating. The battle scenes took you to another realm and made you feel like you were in the adventure.

Now we know that there is a bigger story behind the Avengers and that all the Marvel Superhero movies are connected. In the end we see Thanos make another appearance saying “I will just have to do it my myself.” As he reaches for a glove with five holes in it. I don’t know too much about the bigger story, but I do know that the Infinity stone that was in Loki’s scepter is connected to the infinity stone in the Guardians of Galaxy. More stones will appear throughout the Marvel Superhero film world, which will lead to the Infinity Wars in the distant future.

This movie is a must see, which will kick off the season of Summer Blockbusters. I gave this movie 5 stars

L.L

TWD Season 5 poster

The Walking Dead season five finale went out with a bang. The entire season has been one big thrill ride after another, starting with Terminus and now ending with Alexandria. Rick and the group all have taken their own paths as they try to make sense of the new world around them. Deanna sees a world filled with possibility as her judgment as leader continues to be clouded. Rick does his best to blend in and make his new job as constable work but it doesn’t take long for tensions to rise in a community that doesn’t seem to be realistic about what’s going on in the real world.

Now that we all know that no major characters died on the show last night, we can take a deep breath. For a moment I thought that we were going loose Daryl and Glen.

The show opens with none other than Morgan sleeping in a car. He gets up to make some hot cocoa, and encounters a man who looks like big trouble. They have words and the guy threatens to take everything Morgan has. Seconds later another guy comes out and they try to double team Morgan. Morgan kicks some serious ass just using a stick. We do get some information about this new group “The Wolves.” They seem like bad business and there have been plenty of clues about what kind of people they are throughout the season. The Walker torsos that fell out the truck when Tyrese was dying was a clear sign.

(After the encounter with the “Wolves”, Morgan goes about his business and we don’t see him for a while.)

While all this is going on, we see Daryl and Aaron go out recruiting for survivals. They trail a guy wearing a red poncho, and are led to a can food warehouse. They are hopeful that they can come back to Alexandria with a trailer filled with can goods. They clear a few walkers and proceed to check out the area. They open two trucks and quickly realize that it’s a trap. Walkers from everywhere try to get them. (They strangely have” W’s” carved into their foreheads.)  Daryl and Aaron retreat to a nearby car and try to come up with a plan so they can get out. Daryl plans to lead them out so the Aaron can get away, but Aaron doesn’t go for that. Aaron makes it clear that they are in this situation together.

They try to make a break for it, and Morgan comes to the rescue, and kills just enough to clear out a path. Daryl and Aaron loose the red poncho guy and head out of that area before things get worse.

After Rick’s original confrontation with Pete the night before, he,Carol, Michone, Glen and Abraham come up with a plan of attack to take over the community just in case things go sour at the upcoming meeting.

At the meeting, Deanna plans to discuss what happened with Rick and Pete and make a decision on the future of Rick’s residence there.

Maggie does her best to try to talk to Deanna, and Reg about the situation in hopes of defusing it, but Deanna doesn’t want to hear it. Maggie storms off and tries to talk to the locals to see if that will put them at ease.

Carol and Rick have a moment, where they open up to each other about their secret of keeping more guns, as she questions some of the other members of the group. Rick is secure with his relationship with Michone and the others and let’s Carol know that she has nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, Glen’s confrontation with Nicolas spills over into the finale. With the pain of Noah’s death still heavy on his heart, he makes an attempt to follow Nicolas as he makes his way off the premises out of the Alexandria community.

Glen already knows that something is up and after a few minutes of playing cat and mouse, he is violently encountered by Nicolas. Nicolas shoots him in the upper shoulder and Glen vanishes for a moment. Glen comes back strong pumped up with adrenalin. They argue, and get into a bloody fight. Nicolas was very careless and didn’t know how to lead runs successfully outside the walls, and Glen made it clear to Nicolas that he is not ready to venture out with a team. Nicolas was reason why they lost so many on runs before Rick’s group got to Alexandria.  Glen beats the crap out of Nicolas and was so close to killing him. He musters up the will power to not kill him and they make their way back to Alexandria together.

Back in the chapel, Sasha struggles to deal with her own loss and cope with the guilt of killing the termite at the church, and now settling in the new community has taken a toll on her. Father Gabriel walks in from his own little adventure beyond the walls. Sasha asks Father Gabriel for help and he tells her no, and replies that she doesn’t deserve to be safe because of what she did.

At the meeting Deanna and the others openly express their feelings involving Rick’s confrontation with Pete. Deanna and others wonder why Rick wasn’t there to defend himself. In the mist of the meeting Rick encounters several walkers that got in through the main gate. (At the hand of Gabriel’s irresponsibility.)  He kills one of them with his bare hands as the blood and brains spew out of the mouth, nose and eye sockets. It was a great scene.

Sasha and Gabriel get into a heated fight, and Sasha reaches her boiling point. She pulls a gun on him and is ready to pull the trigger. Maggie leaves the meeting to look for Rick, Glen and Gabriel.

Rick shows up at the meeting with a walker over his shoulder and tells Deanna that he can no longer stand and wait to watch the community get overrun because of their lack of security. During Rick’s speech Pete shows up ranting that he wants Rick out. Wielding Michone’s sword, Pete slashes Reg’s throat, killing Deanna’s husband. Everyone is standing with their mouths open as Deanna tries to put pressure on his neck, and a group of men restrain Pete. Grief stricken Deanna gives Rick the order, and he shoots Pete in the head showing no remorse. At that very moment, Daryl and Aaron show up with Morgan, as Morgan see’s first hand what Rick is capable of.

Back at the chapel, Maggie stops Sasha from killing Gabriel, and in the end, Gabriel confesses to Maggie that he was the reason why people died. Maggie extends her hand, he takes it. In the end they pray together. I think that after everything that Gabriel has done to ruin Rick and the group’s lives at Alexandria, he deserved to die, or at least be exiled from the community.

The finale was a great episode, awesome special effects and great imagery. The walker death scenes were great and the scenes with the “Wolves” were pieced together very thoughtfully. I am so happy that no major characters died and I can’t wait to see what happens in season 6. The comic books are starting to blend and reflect the show which is great and I hope Negan will be introduced in season 6. If that happens, I expect Carl to be shot again, walking around with one eye like the Governor.  I also expect Glen to be beaten to death by Lucille, which will led to Maggie’s suicide attempt. Let’s see how far they will go. I am reading book 21.

So while we are waiting for October, 11 2015 we can check out AMC’s new Spinoff called “Fear”the walking dead airing this summer. Check back on LaTaeya.com for season updates.

Happy Reading

L.L

billy miller jason

General Hospital spotlight
Sometimes the GH storylines start to fizzle out for me. This whole thing with Michael and Sonny has gone too far. I can’t believe that Michael would go to any lengths to keep Avery away from Sonny. Despite everything Michael has had a good life and should not still be hungry for revenge. Now that Luke is an escaped mental patient, I think that he is going to kidnap Avery. Once that happens, the court will determine that Michael is not fit to care for her. Now that we know that Luke has a split personality disorder, I am not sure where they are going to take his storyline. I think Lulu should call Laura just to tell her what is going on. This will soon lead to another Spencer adventure, which will hopefully end well.

Ava came back from the dead just to find out that she is dying from Cancer. I really hope that Maura West is not leaving the show. I’ve really grown to love her character and I love the fact that she comes with so much excitement.

I wasn’t too happy to see Spaneli when I found out that he was trying to break up Maxie and Nathan, but now that he has possibly recognized Jake as Jason, he may actually be the one to solve the case. I don’t think that he will let the whole thing rest. When Sam does find out the truth, it will not be easy for her to leave Patrick and pick up the pieces of her marriage. I think they will realize that they are two totally different people and live lives that no longer include one another.

I can’t wait to find out what is going to happen to Jordan now that Sonny and Julian are a war and Sean’s suspicions of her have increased. I think that she is going to get shot and will spill the beans to Sean and TJ when she is recovering at GH. I like the sexual tension between Sloan and Anna. I like their on screen chemistry, but I still like Duke and Anna together. I believe that Sloan is not who he says he is, and that his real identity will come to light soon. I am curious to find out why Sloan wants Jake to be undercover.
Until Next Time
L.L.

WD S5 poster

The Walking Dead Season 5 Mid season review.

The will to go through any lengths to survive the zombie apocalypse is strong within Rick and his group. The strength they all have is slowly weakening as they embark upon a new chapter in their lives while they search for a safe place to rebuild their lives and the world around them.

I was somewhat disappointed in the events of last night’s episode. After the mourning of Beth’s death, the group tries to bounce back. Noah convinces Rick and group to go to his hometown in order to seek refuge in his family’s gated community. (Which at this point I believed was the gated community that was introduced in the comic books.) Rick agrees, so they travel to Richmond with the hope of starting something new.

Things take a turn for the worse quickly as Rick, Glen, Michone, Noah and Tyrese go to the housing community to check things out. They realize that the place has fallen and has a small walker presence. Noah tries to go to his house to see if there are any survivors and Tyrese gets bitten by one of Noah’s brother’s. Noah runs to get help, and in that process Tyrese experiences the wrath of death approaching him. Beth, Mika, her sister, Bob, the governor, and even the baseball cap Terminus guy all show up to give Tyrese a lesson in life and death.

Rick and Michone make their best efforts to cut off Tyrese’s arm in order to save him but in the end it did not help. Tyrese dies in the car on the way back to the rest of the group.
Rick and the others, especially Sasha take his death very hard, and are feeling broken down at this point. I really liked Tyrese, and was hoping that he would have lasted longer. He lasted longer in the books and did not struggle with the same things he struggled with on the show.

The episode displayed some very interesting imagery as events unfolded. Some were hard to understand in the beginning, but by the end it became clear. I think that the presence of the past dead cast members were unnecessary and out of place. I really did not think that the whole episode was going to focus of Tyrese. I really thought that it was going to have a little more direction. I felt that the flow was disjointed and I also did not understand why there were so many commercial breaks. They seemed to have interrupted the show every three minutes and I felt as though it was a reflection of the writer’s lack of direction.

I really hope that things start to mirror the deep complexity that makes up Kirkman’s world.
L.L

General Hospital Spotlight

luke-spencer-photo

General Hospital spotlight

The heat is on in Port Charles as the Fake Luke doges another bullet in getting his real identity discovered. His deceitful ways go a long way, and his dramatic production at the Haunted Star could have almost been a confession. Fluke really thought that Dante was going to go up in flames along with the old house, but he was wrong. I just hope that when he leaves the party he doesn’t run into Nathan and Dante leaving the property. Now that Nathan just found Dante, Dante will spill the beans but hopefully they will make it to GH before anything or anyone stops them.

Within the next few minutes the Haunted Star is expected to go up in smoke, but at this point I don’t think that anyone will be able to stop it. Jake Doe is in the process of being interrogated by Sam, which will lead her into a bigger hole, because he does not remember anything. The police department will not be any help to her because the new commissioner is also under Helena’s control. It is going to take Sam a long time to really find out everything about Jake.

Sonny, Julian, and Ava are all in hot water as they battle with Carlos and Johnny. I hope that Sonny kills Johnny, but once Sonny does take the first shot, Carlos will give up, and try to convince Julian and Ava that he wants back in with them.

Franco left Ava, Julian and Sonny, and is on his way to save Nina from Heather, but at this point I think Nina deserves whatever Heather is planning to do to her. Franco will probably shoot Heather, and tell Nina that he loves her. I am waiting for them to finally share a romantic moment. I hope this is the last we see of Heather. I am tired of her pointless story lines.

As for Sonny and his new crew, I really hope that they can make it to the Haunted Star to save everyone, but since Johnny is in their way, I don’t think they will make it.
I am excited to see how things turn out!
L.L

SavedPicture-201410373131.jpg

As I paced back and forth in the Loving Hills Rehabilitation Center lobby, the hospital was in disarray. Doctors and nurses were running around, and the security staff was gathered outside the lobby entrance all asking questions at once. The uneasiness of the situation gave off its own energy. My mother Pandora threw herself out of the window of her room seconds after I tried to heal her of the darkness that had held her for so long. I thought that healing my mother would cure her of her condition, but clearly, but clearly I’d been wrong. Almost regretting my actions, I could not gather the words to explain what really happened. Within minutes the police were scampering around to survey the area.

Angelo acted fast, and tried to keep the hospital staff and police away from me for a while so I could think of a way to explain what was going on. The craziness in the lobby quickly vanished. I wasn’t sure what he actually did, but it gave me enough time to get myself together. The silence in the lobby was pretty haunting and to be honest, I think I blacked out for a moment.

When I could think clearly again, I realized that a detective was staring me in the face with a little notepad in his hand. He looked at me with concern. “Are you okay, Miss London?” he asked. “You look a little pale.” I trembled slightly as I eyed him, and luckily, he assumed that I was in shock over everything that had happened—which was true to some degree. What he didn’t know was that I was worried that it was becoming harder to hide the truth about myself—about my powers and what I really was. I silently hoped that Angelo would come and rescue me from this interview. He didn’t though, so I did my best to cooperate and answered all his questions as honestly as I could, despite the fact that I still hadn’t re-acclimated to being back on the Earthly realm after having astral-traveled to so many other realms.

I was anxious to get home to sort this whole thing out when I was done with the detective, but my stay at the hospital turned out to be very lengthy. The police searched every nook and cranny of the hospital for hours, looking for any sign of my mother. In the end, the police officially declared her a missing person, and asked me to come down to the station to answer more questions. By the time Angelo and I made it back to my house it was very late in the evening.

I was so upset with myself and what went down with my mother that I could barely think straight. I sat at the small round kitchen table, with a steaming cup of hot cocoa in front of me. I gazed at the floral table cloth as I pondered my mistake. Angelo started to prepare dinner, and I sipped on the hot beverage trying to relax. It was no use. I left my mug on the table and went upstairs to take a shower.
I tossed my clothes in the hamper, drew the shower curtain back, and turned on the water. I stepped in slowly and inhaled the steam, closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax. I rubbed my hands over my head, as the water saturated my long black hair. My mother was still on my mind. I was hurt. What in the world went wrong? How could I misunderstand Michael? Why would Michael, the archangel and leader of the Great Seven, tell me to go to my mother if healing her was not the intent? I was thinking so hard that I gave myself a headache.

I tried to clear my mind as I dried off and threw on some dark jeans and my old Milford High School tee shirt. I couldn’t be bothered with drying my hair or putting on makeup. I brushed my hair thoroughly and pulled it back in a low ponytail. I looked at my pale reflection, and studied my icy blue eyes. I felt empty and sad.

I made my way back down the steps and into the kitchen. Silently I sat down in front of a nice place setting. Angelo got out my mom’s special dishes—the ones she used when company came over for dinner. I guess he must have thought that seeing my mom’s dishes would put me in a better mood. I smiled sadly as I thought about my family.

“Angelo I can’t believe this,” I said as I ran my finger around the edge of the plate. “I really thought that healing my mom was going to go smoothly. What did I do that was so wrong?” I couldn’t look at Angelo’s beautiful face, feeling that I was to blame for what happened.
Angelo stopped, then turned to face me. “How about healing a fallen angel that is consumed with the darkness?” he answered, barely holding back his anger.
“I thought that I was supposed to heal her,” I replied. “I had no idea that my mother was going to go psycho.”

“Well she did.”

“Angelo, I really don’t believe that. I spoke to my mother. It was my mother. She wasn’t in a dark place. The light surfaced from within me. You were not there, but it was real,” I said to him as a tear formed in the corner of my eye. Angelo knelt down in front of me. He placed both hands on my knees and looked directly into my eyes.

“Syd, I know that it was real. You don’t have to convince me of it. A part of your mother is still in her, but she did succumb to the darkness—you saw it. That is what the darkness does,” he said. I bowed my head with despair. “Please don’t blame yourself,” he continued. “You were only doing what you felt was right. As your Guardian I should’ve explained it to you,” Angelo said serenely.

“Sydney, we must find her before the Council does. All the angel vamps have on their minds is locating Pandora’s Box and unleashing the fury within it.” I looked up at him with concern as he spoke. “We have to stop them and we need help to do it.”

We both knew we needed to summon The Great Seven, also known as the archangels. They were the head of the angel hierarchy. They protected me with their celestial wards and gave me the power to heal—the power I had used so unsuccessfully on my mother. It was a gift and an honor to be able to heal sickness and pain, to be able to bring someone out of the darkness and into the light. After receiving the gift, I had healed the captives at Kalaston, and I thought the archangels had wanted me to heal my mother next—but I must have been wrong.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23443937-dark-betrayal

The hobbit Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Martian Freeman and Ian McKellen is the last installment of The Hobbit series. The story picks up where The Desolation of Smaug leaves off as Thorin and the dwarves make an attempt to reclaim their mountain home.

The dragon Smaug retreats from the mountain in an effort to wreak havoc upon the people of Laketown. Determined to save his home and his family Bard takes matters into his own hands along with his young son to defeat the dragon. While the people of Laketown seek refuge and the remaining dwarves along with Tauriel try to escape the burning town, Bard defeats Smaug with a single shot from a steel spear.

Bard reunites with his family and the people of Laketown make their way to the Lonely Mountain in order to find a new home. Meanwhile Thorin settles into being a king, but is possessed by the power of his gold. Bard tries to make him share some of his gold in exchange for their alliance so that his people can start to rebuild their lives, but Thorin refuses. Thorin is still in search of the Arkenstone and makes his fellow dwarves look for it. Bilbo finds the stone but keeps it a secret from Thorin with the belief that he will lose himself even more once he has the stone.

Now that the dragon Smaug is dead, he is no longer a threat, and with Thorin not in his right mind, the neighboring races of Middle Earth make their way to the Lonely Mountain to take it and the riches inside.

The armies march to the mountain and Bilbo makes a deal to trade the Arkenstone to the Elvin king Thranduil in hopes that Thorin will fight to defend his lands. The plan backfires and Bilbo is back where he started as he tries to save Thorin from himself. Thorin eventually finds the strength to overcome his greed and starts to embrace the honorable man that he truly is.

The battle of good and evil is on as the forces of darkness try to overcome good, but in the end goodness prevails with a cost. Thorin and the Orc general fight to the death, while Kili dies trying to protect his unclaimed love—Tauriel. Bilbo says his goodbye’s as he makes his way back to The Shire with a very powerful ring that he believes is kept a secret.

The Battle of the Five Armies was a great movie. Jackson did a great job with telling the story, and putting the pieces together and setting the stage for what’s to come in The Lord of The Rings. Even though fans a very familiar with the characters old and new alike, it was nice to see how they each were developed and took shape. Throughout the entire Hobbit series, I made mental notes and referred back to events that occurred in The Lord of the Rings. I really liked how Gandalf, Saruman, and Galadriel’s involvement in the story really evolved. I even appreciated Legolas’ back story, when it came to how he became a loner in the first LOTR film.

The story was very cohesive and well done. The special effects and Score did not disappoint and the overall tone of the film has a very enthusiastic vibe. It’s hard to say goodbye to a story that has impacted fans on such a personal level. The energy behind this project is really historically and creativity epic and I don’t think that any other movie series could ever top it. The cast was wonderful, the visual representation opened up all the senses of imagination and stimulated parts of yourself that only a creative imagination can dream up.

I gave the Hobbit 5 stars and am looking forward to seeing the entire series in order from beginning to end.
L.L.

General Hospital Spotlight!

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The last few weeks on GH have been absolutely explosive. Let’s start with Sonny and the truth about AJ’s murder. The truth is out about Sonny’s involvement with AJ’s murder and now he is in jail awaiting trail. Michael has completely disowned Sonny and Carly and has officially taken the Quartermain name. Interestingly enough an old mob rival Anthony Zacara makes an appearance in Pentenville and makes Sonny an offer. Back in PC Carlos Rivera finds Julian and tells him about a deal that could change their lives. Julian struggles to make the right decision as Alexis and his love for her still pierces his mind. He eventually choose s to take the deal and with that he is back on the streets of PC and back with his mob affiliation.

Rick Lancing’s name is now back in PC conversation as Anna comes clean to Alexis about the truth regarding his ” so-called ” death. Anna discovers that Rick is no longer in hiding but missing, and this is where my Fluke Luke suspicions come in.

We all know that there are still two Luke’s, but were three. Fazon was impersonating Luke, to create a diversion for Helena’s schemes and now that Fazon is back on the streets, another imposter is at the Quartermain mansion trying to put the pieces together to Luke’s life. The real Luke is locked in the basement of the mansion and doesn’t know if he even has a future anymore.

How long are the writers going to keep this Fluke Luke up? To be honest I’m getting tired of FL and the whole storyline, but what is interesting about it is that I thought the Fluke Luke could be Rick Lansing and that he was being blackmailed by Helena and did not have a choice in the matter. Now I know that is not true because Carlos has Rick locked in a trunk of a car awaiting Sonny’s decision on turning over his territory to Anthony Zarcara. I also think that Helena is behind the mob alliance and wants control over the families. Both story lines are related.

Ava’s baby was finally found and now that crazy Nina and Franco are in jail pending kidnapping charges, I hope Nina will get what she deserves. Since I still like Franco, I do hope that the charges will be dropped. Ava is also in jail waiting to see her fate as she faces the consequences of Connie’s murder.

I thought that it was strange that Nathan asked Alexis to represent Nina since Sam was on her list and Nina did everything to destroy Sam and Silas. And now Nina wants Alexis to represent Franco. I think that Alexis will play the insanity card when it comes to Nina’s defense and that is how she will walk away from the kidnapping charges. Franco on the other hand, I’m not sure but I do think that he will get off too. I’m curious to see how Ava and Sonny will get out of what they did. I sill don’t have any answers on Maurice’s contract and whether or not he will return for 2015.
I guess we will just have to watch and see how things play out.

Happy Reading
L.L

walking dead season 5 poster

The Walking Dead season five mid-season finale left me hungry for more.

As we all know last night’s episode of the Walking Dead left fans heartbroken as we saw Beth Greene meet her end.

The episode displayed four view points, Rick’s hospital venture, Michone’s and Gabriel’s church mishap, Beth’s struggle to make sense of Dawn’s madness, and Abraham’s will to bounce back.

At the church Gabriel leaves by exiting under the floor boards in his office. He ventures off to the school where Gareth and his band of psycho’s held Bob captive. He see’s Bob’s cooked leg and then suddenly see’s a group of Walkers inside the school. They burst out in hopes of having Gabriel for a meal. The Walkers follow him straight to the church. He begs for Michone and Carl to let him in. The church is over run within minutes as Michone tries to fight them to the best of her ability, with baby Judith on her back. Carl is worried and asks Michone “where do we go?” as the group of Walkers are locked inside their safe haven.

Abraham appears in the fire truck, along with Maggie, Glen, Rosita and Eugene. They wipe out the Walkers and Michone tells Maggie that Beth is alive and that Rick and the others went to get her.
Meanwhile Back and the hospital Beth gains some new information about the leader Dawn. Rick and Daryl make a plan to make an exchange for the two cops for Beth and Carol. Rick kills one of them in the process and makes an attempt to get Beth and Carol without any more bloodshed.

Beth and Carol get ready. The exchange happens in the hallway of the hospital as Rick and Daryl’s reunion with Beth is brief. Dawn makes a statement to Rick about Noah belonging to her. Beth and the others object to him going back with Dawn, and Dawn states that he wasn’t part of the “deal.” Beth steps up to Dawn and expresses how she feels about her, then stabs her in the upper chest with a pair of scissors that she kept hidden in her arm cast. Dawn’s gun goes off, shooting Beth in the head. Daryl automatically shoots Dawn and Rick’s group is ready for war. One of Dawn’s people stops it before things get worse and says, “it’s over, no more people have to die.”

Riddled with grief, Rick and the group leave the hospital, as they meet Maggie and the others. Maggie’s hope is shattered when she see’s Daryl carrying Beth’s body out. She falls to ground unable to contain herself.

The episode had a lot going on, and I felt that a major character’s death during the mid season finale is getting to be a little predictable. As a fan of the books, I know Kirkman’s world, and I know that major character’s die all the time, but the writing just followed what happened to Hershel last season. I really wanted to see Maggie be reunited with her sister. I have a feeling that with Beth’s death, this will send Maggie off the deep end. At one point in the books, she tries to hang herself from a tree. So I can’t wait to see what the next part of this season has to offer.

I think that Beth made a bad move, trying to stab Dawn, and why wouldn’t she go straight for her throat? I don’t understand that part.

What I also don’t understand is why was Gabriel so stupid? Why would he go out on his own when he has people protecting him. I hate his character on the show. He is more likable in the books. If you hate that you survived, then just let the Walkers eat you and save people the trouble.

My only complaint about the show is that they waste too much time on developing back stories for insignificant characters, and not enough time developing Rick’s story even more. The books really focus on Rick and Carl, and the other characters have a nice balanced involvement. Who cares about Dawn and that group. They really got too much camera time. I’d rather want to know more about Eugene, than Dawn.

I know that Rick and everyone else has a hard time trusting people, so why would he extend another invitation to the hospital crew like he did for the Woodbury people? His decision to let the Terminus people go, bit him in the ass. I wouldn’t trust any other outsiders now.

The special effects were great as usual, I loved seeing the melted Walkers in the hospital courtyard. Visually the effects team always gives us something new and exciting to see. Very creative and unique.
Overall good show WD, looking forward to February!!!
L.L.

walking dead season 5 poster

The Walking Dead Season 5 Premiere “Review”

Sunday night’s episode of the Walking Dead is still burning on my mind. Every scene was an exciting adventure that unfolded at every turn.

The whole idea of Terminus was brilliant. I saw several horror movies represented in the one episode, from Saw, to Hostel,to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it was done so cleverly. We all assumed that the people of Terminus were cannibals but now we  are definitely aware that they are, and that those who arrive don’t survive.

Rick, Glen and Bob are taken to another room where they are about to die, while Gareth and his crew prepare. Back in the train car Michone, Maggie, Carl and the others make homemade weapons so they can defend themselves when the time comes. Meanwhile Carol and Tyreesse are on the road and soon approach a small house. One of the Terminus’ guys are there, and she over hears him on a walkie-talkie discussing a woman with a sword—referencing Michone. Carol demands answers as she threatens to kill him. Tyreesse and Carol tie him up and Carol leaves Tyreesse and Judith with the guy so she can investigate on her own. It doesn’t take long for Carol to make it to Terminus to see first hand what’s going on. She spots Rick being held captive.

Carol goes in with a plan. She uses explosives to do some serious damage to the property. Her one woman army is fierce as she pushes in pretending to be a walker. She picks off a few men in the process and Rick seizes the opportunity as he kills the two men that were about to slit their throats.

An all out war breaks out, Rick rescues his group and they all head out to escape Terminus. Gareth makes a run for it while Carol and Mary go head to head.

Mary is killed and every one is reunited. Rick is determined to go back and kill everyone that is left in Terminus. Abraham and Maggie are not too keen on the idea and they talk Rick out of going back. I think that Rick should have pushed on and convinced the group to go back. Why would they not finish them off? Rick should have reminded them that the governor came back. He came back after four months, what makes them think that the Terminus survivors won’t go after them, especially now that Mary—Gareth’s mother is dead.  That was a big mistake.

During the conversation, Carol approaches the group. Daryl spots her and immediately embraces her. The emotional moment that he shares with Carol is one of those unforgettable moments, that even had me choked up. It was the same feeling when Rick found Carl and Lori in season one, episode three.

Rick embraces Carol and asks her “Did you do this?” and she nods her head as she is about to cry in his arms. She regains herself and tells Rick that he has to come with her.

Rick and the others follow Carol back to the little house, and as they approach, Rick sees Tyreesse and Judith waiting on the porch. Rick runs over them, overjoyed with happiness, and filled with shock and relief, Rick holds his daughter for the first time since things went down at the prison. Carl joins them and at this point tears are streaming down my face.

Together again the group heads out on the road as they search for a safe place to live and rebuild their lives in a world that has all the odds against them.

Rick erases the Terminus sign as they are about to leave and the scene closes with a mysterious man following the group’s trail. The man is reveled to be Morgan the person who first took Rick in after he woke up from his Coma. The last time he encountered Rick things didn’t go well. He was clearly out of his mind. But he seems well put together now.

The premiere was one of the best season openings that I have ever seen a show present. The action was intense and as I watched, I felt as though I was one of the characters experiencing the journey. The effects were amazing and every scene drew me in deeper.

I was very surprised to see that the writers completed the Terminus chapter in one episode, considering that Hershel’s farm and the Prison lasted so long. But it is clear that there is a vision—a path that the writers are taking Rick and it is evident that path coincides with the comic books.

I am absolutely loving it, and cant wait to see what happens this Sunday.

L.L