The Walking Dead 3.13 Review: Arrow on the Doorpost

Rick and the Governor finally met this week, under an attempt by Andria to negotiate a seize fire between those at the prison and Woodbury. Both Rick and the Governor however are leaders who will do whatever it takes to get things done, and neither is very willing to compromise. I felt as frustrated at them as Andrea did when they asked her to leave the meeting, but I simultaneously understood that in the world of The Walking Dead trust is something very few survivors can afford to do and both Rick and the Governor live by this. During the meeting Daryl and Hershel conversed with Martinez and Milton highlighting how similar the two groups are and potentially trying to build some history between characters so that when the inevitable time comes they have to fight each other, the stakes will seem that little bit higher (despite that nothing these characters shared during this episode was all that interesting). Back at the prison Merle believes that it's a good idea to attack the Governor now while he's unprepared, Glenn disagrees with him and refuses to let Merle jeopardise the lives of Rick and the others. A fight ensues but Beth breaks it up by shooting a gun. Merle settles down, but tries his hardest to convince Michonne that it could be their last chance to take the Governor by surprise. Later on Glenn and Maggie inevitably make up, so much so that they have sex while on watch. While I was a little annoyed the Rick confide in Hershel that he was considering giving up Michonne, it most certainly brings up interesting ethical and moral decisions that will likely have dire consequences regardless of Rick's choice. If he gives The Governor Michonne he is betraying a woman who, while new, has been invaluable to their groups survival. Then, as we know, the fact that the Governor is going to kill them regardless of them sacrificing Michonne. Rick raises an interesting point to Hershel though. Are they really willing to risk all their lives for Michonne? Yes, the Governor will kill them regardless, but is fighting for Michonne's life a more or less valuable cause then fighting for their own? Rick's decision to tell the others that that Governor wants them dead was a wise move. Now only he and Hershel have to be burdened with the fact that by giving up Michonne they could possibly save themselves, while the others will fight has hard as they can, believing that it is their only option.

Rating: 3/5

Supernatural 8.16 Review: Remember The Titans

This marks the second consecutive episode Supernatural has had a stand-alone that has been very poorly linked to the overall seasons arc. Sam and Dean travel to Montana to investigate a man who was seen lying dead on the side of the road by a state trooper only to resussertate and walk away. While Sam and Dean talk to the state trooper, a fax comes through identifying the man he saw, who now dead and in the morgue. Sam and Dean go to the morgue and the man revives again. They take him back to the motel and he's attacked by Artemis, who we later learn is Zeus's daughter, sent to punish Shane, who is actually Prometheus who stopped Zeus from stealing power from all humans. When Hayley, a past lover of Shane's shows up with their son Oliver, she tells them he suffers the same ailment as Shane and wants Sam and Dean to help her cure it. They summon Zeus to do so, but Artemis stops them and takes Sam and Dean away while he tortures Shane in front of Hayley and Oliver. Sam ridicoulously figures out that Artemis and Shane had a fling and he convinces her to help them. In the battle against Zeus Shane sacrifices himself pushing an arrow Artemis shoots through to Zeus and they both die, curing Oliver of Zeus's curse. The villians were unusually large-scale for such a low-key episode, giving it a disjointed feeling. Sam's connection to Shane/ Prometheus though, that he too could die to save the world in his attempt to shut the gates of hell for good, was a weak attempt to make the episode relate back to the overall arc of the season.

Rating: 2/5

The Vampire Diaries 4.15 Review: Stand By Me

I was highly anticipating Silas' awakening and Katherine's return and while I was a little annoyed The Vampire Diaries slowed down the progression of its major arc during this episode it was understandable that the show took a break for the characters to mourn Jeremy. Elena's denial was painful to endure in the first part of the episode, as was Stefan and Damon's tip-toeing about confronting her straight on about Jeremy's death. When she finally came to the realisation though her reaction was entertaining and Damon's decision to turn off her humanity, while it was just another quick fix, will no doubt provide an interesting change in the Elena, Stefan, Damon love-triangle. Burning down her house, too, will provide a fresh setting for the show. Every character’s ability to leave the island at their will was logistically impossible, but at least Rebekah's discovery that Shane was still on the island, revealing that Silas is posing as him back in Mystic Falls was a thrilling twist. Bonnie's infatuation with bringing Jeremy back is just annoying, despite having her be bad providing cheap thrills. The ability in which Shane a.k.a Silas was able to convince her was not very believable and I hope Bonnie's logic in helping him is further developed, but I doubt it.

Rating: 3/5

Supernatural 8.11 Review: LARP and the Real Girl

It's always a little worrying when Supernatural takes on a case involving geek culture, because despite being a part of it itself, the shows primary characters, Sam and Dean, have nothing to do with that sort of culture and know nothing about it. This often results in the characters, Dean in particular, making fun of such things; he basically thinks he's better than it. And in the start of the episode, it started off that way, a lot of raised eyebrows and knowing looks between the Winchester brothers. There was a lot of exposition too, because, you know, Sam and Dean are oblivious to the world of live action role playing, and so are most of the audience, so I guess this is understandable. Anyway, with the mysterious and gruesome deaths of two LARPers the pair are led to Moondoor, where four factions are 'fighting' to rule the land, and the current Queen is none other than Charlie Bradbury. While I enjoy it when Supernatural brings back recurring characters Charlie's second appearance left a lot to be desired, character wise. She was uncertain and afraid when we first meet her and apparently since then she's LARPed her way into a false sense of security, but hasn't really started living again. Regardless, when she is inevitably captured they learn that one of Charlie's subjects, Jerry, has summoned a fairy named Gilda under his control to hurt his fellow LARPers in an attempt win Charlie's affections. Too bad for him she's into the fairies. The plot was fairly sub-standard but there were enough red-herrings and twists to keep it entertaining overall. Dean's bizarre fascination with the Moondoor and its inhabitants provided the episodes most humorous moments, particularly the ending, without making too much fun of the LARPing community.

Rating: 3/5

American Horror Story Asylum 2.13 Review: Madness Ends

While Lana kept her promise to close down Briarcliff, becoming a renowned television journalist to do so, the fact that it took her so long, and that she only did it to further her career made this episode difficult to watch. During an interview discussing her long career Lana spouts large amounts of exposition about what has happened to her, and the rest of the characters, since she shut down the asylum, and she does her best to play the role of the martyr as she does so. We discover that Kit, unlike Lana, was still a decent human being and went and retrieved Sister Jude from the asylum and invited her into his home. While the gesture was nice and all seeing Kit and Jude play happy family was difficult to comprehend having watched what had happened between these two throughout the season. Not to mention Kit's alien spawn, who not only took Jude into the forest and inexplicably healed her crazy before her death, but who also abduct Kit right before his own death of pancreatic cancer. His children are now a neurosurgeon and a lawyer, respectively, and apparently this is all the closure audiences are going to get from that alien storyline. Lana also took time to take down Cardinal Timothy Howard by exposing his knowledge of Dr. Arden's experiments at the asylum, and while I understand the need for Lana to put a face to the crimes that went on at Briarcliff, Howard wasn't all that bad, and I don't see why his life ended in a suicide, while characters like Jude and even Lana herself got very happy endings. The final standoff between Lana and her son Bloody Face Jr. was underwhelming, Lana was able to convince Johnny that she really does love him and is sorry, but Lana has become such a different character from the one we met at the beginning of the season that when she shoots her son in the head it's not all that shocking that she has done so.

Rating: 2/5

New Girl 2.14 Review: Pepperwood

About time Jess got an annoying jar! Schmidt's a douche, yes, but a lovable and harmless one, and why he should have to put money in a jar all the time over the more often than not cringe worthy behaviour of Jess is beyond me. Regardless, you have to admire her unwavering passion to teach, even if it is teaching creative writing to adults who write about Mer-men and masturbation. She's excited she's had a breakthrough with one of her students, Edgar, but when Nick reads his creative imagery assignments he becomes convinced that Edgar is a murder and decides to go undercover as Julius Pepperwood from Chicago as a new student in Jess's class. Initially Nick's investigation is amusing, but as with Jess, having Nick play the paranoid conspiracy theorist for the entire episode quickly wore thin. Obviously, in the end, Edgar turned out not to be a murderer, only guilty of having a much older wife and owning a mysterious duffel bag. Back at the loft, after an incident in which Winston accidently brushes himself against Cece, he discovers that his roommates talk about this often occurring with him, calling it his 'pogo'. In annoyance, he tells Schmidt the others talk about him too, and in an attempt to rectify what he thinks his pogo is, Schmidt shaves half his eyes brows out forcing Winston to reveal that his pogo is actually his ugly toes. This storyline relied heavily on the insecurities of the characters, and while it was all a bit of fun, a bit more sensitivity and understanding could have been used from the characters in regards to their roommates peculiarities. Plus, Jess and Nick's 'pogos' probably could have been a lot funnier if they hadn't had the Edgar storyline.

Quote of the episode:
Nick Miller - 'Writers don't read. We write.'

Rating: 3/5

Deception 1.3 Review: A Drop of Blood and a Microscope

With Vivan's baby daddy missing Joanna is forced to get information from the Bower's the old fashioned way, which means when Robert Bowers tells her to accompany Julian to the Lyritrol conference, she accepts. What she doesn't know is that it's in the Bahamas, much to Will's annoyance. Despite the fact she's doing her job, Joanna definitely has bad judgement and while she has yet to sleep with Julian again, running to Will because she thinks her ex-lover is a murderer isn't the best move emotionally either. Bowers Pharmaceutical's, now that Vivan's death has been officially ruled a murder; decide to persuade Edward to step down from the company. Although it's revealed Edward has hidden Ben Preswick, Vivian's source from Bowers Pharmaceutical’s and the father of her unborn baby, at a safe house. Edward wants evidence of a Lyritrol cover-up, evidence Vivian promised him, but his decision to maintain his position at the company by threatening his co-board members remains to be seen as a desperate man wanting to protect his family, or a man willing to put everything on the line for Vivian. Whatever his choice, Samantha wanted out of the Bowers and thought she had her chance, at least until a very aggressive Sofia forced her to reunite with Edward, for fear that her daughters would be taken away from her. Mia, having found she missed Vivian that much more since confirming her death as a murder decides to look at photos of trees and is swooped of her feet by an amateur photographer/ attendee of a concert at an abandoned building. He beats up a guy trying to steal her camera, and it is all very romantic for her, unfortunately he paid the guy he beat up, and I'm wondering how long I'll have to deal with this storyline.

Rating: 2.5/5