Review: #TWD S10x22 Here's Negan #TheWalkingDead

 Previously: Review S10x21 DIVERGED

 - S10 x 22  HERE'S NEGAN - 

Written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Directed by Laura Belsey

Well, that's a big OMG from me—talk about saving the best till last!  One to watch again and again; I'd say it's up there with Morning Star, The Calm Before, Here's Not Here, This Sorrowful Life, No Sanctuary, No Way Out, etc.  So clever to have pulled an All Time Great out of the bag at the end of the bonus six.

If a piece of fiction ever showed how the post-apocalyptic world brings out the hitherto undiscovered best and worst in people, this is surely IT.   On the day Lucille heard news about people killing and eating each other, Negan discovered what was important in his life, i.e., her, and became the selfless, strong husband she knew he could be.  Later, although he'd given up the doctor and Laura's location because he had to get the medicine to Lucille, his basic decency and bravery made him go back to confront the thugs and do the right thing.

...but then the Negan we met in Last Day On Earth was born out of the flames of Lucille's funeral pyre.  The Negan he had always suspected lurked within, as he explained to the guy who'd tied him up.

'There were consequences to me seeing red; seeing red was a bad thing then...but now no-one's suing anybody ... now it's just a matter of what I am capable of, and I am starting to think that I am capable of damn near anything.'

In Walk With Us he said this to Alpha: 'When she was gone, I didn't feel much of anything anymore. I didn't feel scared, I didn't feel happy, I was just ... here.  And that is my strength', which made it sound like he was dead inside because of the pain of losing Lucille, but in this episode he delved deeper, and we found out there was so much more to it.

He said he made himself not feel anything because he didn't want to face his shame.  The shame about banging his ex, about Lucille not feeling able to tell him she had cancer, of acting like a rebellious teenager after he'd lost his job, but most of all, for leaving her alone at the end when she'd asked him not to.  

He referred to the Negan of the Sanctuary years as a 'clown', and a 'cult of personality with no cult' - so were his actions and how he presented himself partly down to self-hatred?  Was Sanctuary Negan a mask he wore, to disguise the real him from others, but also from himself?  

It's as though the two sides of him are constantly in conflict.  He seems satisfied with himself when he's Bad Negan, but maybe it's only a superficial satisfaction.  Then again, when he's been Good Negan for a while, he misses his dark side. 

His 'bad self' said that he was 'nothing without her'—this, I believe, is the root of the conflict.  His fear that without (wife) Lucille, Good Negan is gone forever.  But without (bat) Lucille, he has no strength.  And he rather liked being King.

💔💔💔

The actual scenes in the cabin between Negan and Lucille were such a pull at the heartstrings; the emotion, the sadness.  So beautifully played by Jeffrey and Hilarie.  I loved that they had that time of happiness before she died.

💔💔💔

I was pleased to see Lindsley Register in the titles at the beginning, as I thought she was one of those shouldn't-have-been-killed-off characters, especially as we now know she must have been the original Savior; it was a cool surprise.  And of course there was this historic moment they were yet to know was so important:

At the beginning, when Carol took him out to his new home, he made two mistakes: thinking that the good he's done over the past couple of years might have made his 'less recent history' not so prominent in people's minds (Daryl, Aaron, Rosita and Eugene were there on that night, never mind Maggie), and also telling Carol that she owed him.  Carol doesn't owe anyone anything.

So did the council really vote him into exile, or was it just Carol's decision, as Negan suspected?  Carol is the one person who is a mental match for him. They're alike; they both carry pain and shame with them, all the time, and Carol is capable of damn near anything, too.  Including giving him a chance, but not doing anything to help if Maggie does decide to kill him.  No, she doesn't owe anyone anything, and she was always bound to put Maggie first.  From the farm, to the prison, to this moment now, not as strangers—as family.

Lucille seemed like she was pretty tough, too.  Not unlike Carol.  Hiding her cancer from him, AC/DC on in the car, using the last bullet (the one that was meant to put her out of her misery?) on a Walker that her husband couldn't kill.

More great moments... 

• Maggie and Hershel walking along, talking about Glenn had a real feel of S5 and 6 about it (see under picture for clip of opening minutes).

• This scene - wonder if he was thinking of Carl?

• The glimpses of Rick and Michonne 😍 
• I love seeing the 'back at the beginning' bits in flashbacks, in the world when there were still vehicles with petrol, when people didn't know how to and were scared of killing Walkers, and further back, when there were just these weird reports on the news (reminded me of Shane telling Rick how it was at first, just a few reports...)
• How, once Maggie had said good morning only to Barbara, Hershel sang the line 'please don't take my sunshine away' as the camera followed Negan.
• Now we know where the 'shitting pants' speech came from... bit different when you're playing those video games for real, though.

• That he and Lucille had obviously looted a wig shop :)

Lucille said that she could always see the man he was even when he wasn't; maybe if she shouldn't have given his jacket back!  It's become so symbolic, like he puts it on and becomes Bad Negan again.  Then again, he swaggered into Alexandria without it on at the end, still looking like the old him.  Which made me wonder about the symbolism of him burning Lucille Bat in the fire—does this herald the beginning of a new Negan?

I suspect that in S11 we are going to see a cross between the king of the Sanctuary and the guy who picks tomatoes in Alexandria.  A little of one, a little of the other.  What do you think?  And will Maggie kill him?  If anyone is going to, it has to be her, surely?

Thank you so much to Angela, Jeffrey, Lauren, Melissa, Norman, Seth, Ross, Paola, Khary, Hilarie, Seven, David Boyd, Laura Belsey, David Leslie Johnson McGoldrick, Kevin Dieboldt and everyone else who has brought these six episodes to us while we wait for Season 11!

*drums fingers waiting for late summer...*

Negan and Lucille's song :)

Other TWD posts (gif/picture posts)

Thank you, TWD Actors!

Should have stayed - Glad they're gone 

The Story of Daryl and Carol 

Dinner Time 

A Thank You Letter From Judith Grimes 

Girl Power 

Days Gone Bye: A Tribute to Rick Grimes 

They Turned.... 

TWD Animals 😸

Review: #TWD S10x21 DIVERGED #TheWalkingDead

Previously: Review: 10x20 SPLINTER

—  S10 x 21  DIVERGED —

Directed by David Boyd

Written by Heather Bellson

I loved this episode!  Centres around Daryl and Carol going in separate directions and struggling through bad days, starting with Carol's narration - I'm really liking these little 'where we're at now' speeches at the beginning of each of the bonus six.  The co-stars of this week's were, of course, Dog and Jerry, both of whom made Carol's bad day a lot better than it might have been.

I'm guessing many cries of 'Think he's trying to tell you something, mate' went up, as Dog chose to follow Carol rather than his master in the clip above that we all saw before the episode aired.  Perhaps he knew Carol was the one who needed him more, on that day.

Some dialogue that stood out for me:

Carol: Every tough decision I've made was always to protect us

and

Daryl: You'll make it work.  You always do.

later...

Carol: I'll make it work

Jerry: You always do.

Carol is viewed like that by everyone, even when she is despairing and sees herself as weak, hopeless and disliked.  I wonder when she will really start to believe it?  Ed did such a number on her - much of the time she does believe in the post-apocalyptic Carol, the person who was inside her all the time, but now and again she forgets that she's the woman who looked up on the internet how to un-dislocate a shoulder, so she wouldn't have to keep going to ER.  And undislocated it herself.  

Then there's the soup out of old potatoes, wrinkled mushrooms and dandelion root - don't forget, she's the lady who used to make miracles happen with water chestnuts, never mind the beet and acorn cookies. The stores are looking a bit different from how they did in JSS, though, aren't they...

When she first got back to Alexandria and was talking to Jerry, I hated seeing her sounding so apologetic just for being there.  Wondering if she should 'get out of everyone's hair'.  Yes, the lady who saved everyone from incineration at the CDC, from becoming dinner at Terminus (including you, Daryl Dixon), and being slashed up by the Wolves shortly after the water chestnut and cola canned ham conversation.  Feels like Daryl's brutal treatment brings out the Wife of Ed Peletier in her, all over again.  

'If someone I love beats me up, perhaps I really am worth nothing'.

But dear Jerry was with her for all those years when she was happy in the Kingdom.  He knows that Queen Carol is still part of her, too.  I loved him for checking up on her, realising that she was in much worse shape than she'd tried to make out, and showing his unconditional support.

'A friend is someone who thinks you're perfect 

even if everyone else thinks you're broken'

Her comment about not needing an apology because it didn't mean anything other than a truce said a lot; Daryl's actions speak, rather than his words.  When she told Dog that she missed Daryl, too, I felt she meant missed him as in the two of them being close, rather than his actual physical presence.

🥣🏹🥣🏹🥣

Other stuff that really appealed to me about this episode: how Caryl's killing of the Walkers when she went outside to find plants was almost casual - like they've got so used to them that they're just like pests they have to deal with.

...and the basic survival stuff - eleven years in, those who have made it so far and will continue to do so are endlessly and admirably resourceful.  Carol finding her ingredients for the metaphorical stone soup and mending the solar panel, Daryl fixing his bike with old wires out of age-old cars, not to mention finding some of those skeletal Walkers that have been around for a decade; ex-soldiers, still with MREs, Camels, clips and tools in their kitbags.  What a find!  

And then there's the rat... like the tomato metaphor of Warning Signs, it stood for so much.  The vermin that destroys all they have, Carol's frustration (just when everything is really, really bad, it can actually get a bit more difficult), her determination to fix a problem even if it means busting up a bunch of other stuff, and probably a few others I'll catch next time I watch it (and I liked how Dog came to find his human when he thought he'd detected the rat during the night).

It was just good to spend so much time with Carol in this one - and let's hear it for women in their fifties who look great with long grey hair!  Sometimes, with those wispy tendrils hanging down over her face, I think Melissa looks really beautiful in an ethereal sort of way, much more so then when she was younger.  Talking of post-apocalyptic sex appeal, any man watching this (with the knowledge that 50% of the known female world adores Daryl Dixon, however dirty he gets) should realise that metrosexual is not the way forward. 😉🤣 

Yes, he always comes back. This current spat is only a blip; they'll find their way back to each other again.  Fear not.  

...and here's a little reminder of some of those things Carol does to protect people....

Next week... it's Negan time :)

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Review: #TheWalkingDead S10x20 SPLINTER #TWD

 Previously: Review: S10x19 ONE MORE

~ S10 x 20  SPLINTER ~

Directed by Laura Belsey

Written by Julia Ruchman and Vivian Tse

Well, that was a strange little episode, wasn't it?  Just when I was thinking, 'Um, why have they given Ezekiel a personality metamorphosis?', the truth was revealed.  Hallucination scenes are not really my bag, but TWD does them better than most - similar to Alpha and Carol in Look At The Flowers, Ezekiel 2.0 played the part of the devil on Princess's back.  I saw it as the lonely girl who invented scenarios with her new friends, to keep her company when she was scared (when reciting North American state capitals in alphabetical order wasn't quite cutting it).

I wasn't sure I was going to like Princess at first, because I tend not to like deliberately 'kooky' characters—I wasn't that keen on Ezekiel and Jerry at first but now I love them, and Splinter has made me warm to Princess; she's resilient and resourceful and has obviously survived much in her life (neglect, abuse, abandonment.... ADHD, PTSD, loneliness, depression....) but she's still standing.  Not just standing, but strutting around with purple streaks in her hair, groovy shades and a pink fun fur jacket.  And she's rather sweet.

Here we are in a train boxcar once more, then, except that this time there's no Glenn, Abraham, Maggie etc., standing at the other end.  On the other hand, I don't imagine the guys in white are going to eat them.  

I admit to being a tiny bit disappointed by this episode; I'd hoped to see more about what actually happened to the four of them, how good or bad the white armoured (Commonwealth) soldiers are, and maybe a little bit of hope for Eugene finally meeting Stephanie....but, with every episode of 10C, it becomes more clear how clever an idea it is; they're kind of side-stories (One More certainly was) that show us more about where certain characters are at—detail there may not be room for once S11 begins.  They're bonus episodes, after all, rather than the continuation of the main storylines.

At the same time, though, they give us a hint of what's on the horizon - that stunning 'OMG WTF' ending this week, was one of those 'TWD at its best' moments - 'I didn't expect that!'.

Maybe when Princess feels that she's a part of a real family again, her head will stay in reality—her happiness at having Ezekiel, Eugene and Yumiko described as her 'friends' was touching, and her hurt when Fantasy Ezekiel reminded her that they Eugene and Yumiko were his friends, and that she'd only known them a week, said a great deal.  

I've added a couple of pictures from the comics this week because I am so impressed by how accurate the TV representations are :)

Next week: Diverged, as we watch Dog decide who's most important....!

Lately I've Been Watching

The latest in my series of mini TV and film reviews, with trailers and 'where to watch'.  If you have trouble finding where any show/film is available, try typing 'where can I watch *name of show*' into whatever search engine you use.

If you would like to see more posts, please click here: Lately I've Been Watching.  If you get as far as the bottom, 'Older Posts' will take you to more.

Please note the subtle difference between half star ratings; a 3.5 or 4.5 might be rounded up or down, depending on what I thought of the programme.

Film: The Mauritanian (2021) - (Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Fandango)

5* plus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Utterly brilliant. True story about Mohamedou Ould Salahi being held in Guantanamo Bay for 14 years without charge, and without having committed a crime.  Stars Tahar Rahim as Salahi, Jodie Foster as his lawyer, and Benedict Cumberbatch as the military prosecutor, who stood down once he realised that much of the 'evidence' was fabricated.  At the end, you see film of the real people, and what happened to them all.  Highly, highly recommended.

Series: Berlin Station - Seasons 1, 2 and 3 (Amazon - cancelled in 2019)

5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stars Richard Armitage and Rhys Ifans as agents for the CIA in Berlin.  Usual thriller/spy/corruption/murder plots, but particularly good.  I liked that it was set in various countries in Europe, rather than the usual American setting.  Definitely worth watching, though I didn't think the 3rd season was quite as good as the first two.  My favourite characters were Ifans' Hector deJean, the disillusioned agent with dubious tactics, and Rafael Torres (Ismael Cruz Córdova), who was in S3 only.

Co-stars Richard Jenkins and Leland Orser, also Michelle Forbes and Ashley Judd (these two ladies are the best illustration I've seen of the argument for leaving your face alone and accepting that you're now an attractive woman of 50+ rather than 35, versus stuffing it with Botox until you look like a surprised chipmunk but not actually any younger).

Film: Grey Gardens (2009) (Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max)

5* plus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Terrific stuff.  Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore star as 'Big' and 'Little' Edith Bouvier Beale, mother and daughter.  True story; Jackie Kennedy's aunt and cousin who lived together from 1952 in their East Hampton mansion, Grey Gardens, in squalor so appalling that health officials demanded it be condemned.  Jackie Kennedy (by then Onasis) heard about it, and organised the house's cleaning up and rejuvenation.  

The film alternates between the current situation of the two women, and flashbacks to show how they arrived at the circumstances of the early 1970s, when their famous relative stepped in.  Decades on, mother and daughter both lived in the past as the filth piled up around them, spending their time singing the show tunes of their youth, tending their cats, painting their nails, etc.

After I'd seen the film, I watched the documentary made by Albert and David Maysles in 1976 (Wikipedia page HERE), which is also on Amazon.  By the time the documentary was made, the place was falling apart again.

Trailer for film:

Trailer for documentary:

.... and (this is hilarious, if you've seen the original!) the trailer for Sandy Passage, the spoof by Bill Hader and Fred Armisen, from their 'Documentary Now' series. (Netflix, Apple, Fire TV, Roku)

Documentary series: Allen vs Farrow (HBO Max, Sky Atlantic/Sky Documentary in UK)

5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you're interested in the 'is Woody Allen a paedo or not' debate, this will leave you in no doubt.  I believed all Mia and Dylan said, btw. Mia Farrow comes across as down-to-earth and charming, in a very 'normal' way, as does Dylan - Allen a great deal less so.

The final episode was interesting, as it dealt with the aftermath - Allen with his huge PR machine kept it all shut down quite nicely at first, but, gradually, over the last five years, the climate has changed, with more and more stars coming out to say that they support Mia and Dylan, and would never work with Allen again.  I was particularly impressed by the support from Mia and Allen's natural son Ronan (formerly 'Satchel').  I ended up feeling so pleased for Mia and her family that they could get this documentary out there.

If you want to read the 'open letter from Dylan Farrow' published in the New York Times, it's HERE.

Film: The Lie (Amazon)

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Liked this a lot - takes place over one weekend, stars Mireille Enos, who is always worth watching, Peter Sarsgaard and Joey King (The Act).  Divorced parents - 15 year old Kayla tells her father that she's killed her best friend.  The weekend then spirals into chaos as the parents try to protect her.  Brilliant end twist - didn't see it coming at all.

Film: Cherry (Apple TV+)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About a young man (Tom Holland) who joins the US army on impulse, has a terrible time in Iraq, comes out and is chucked pills and little else for his PTSD, becomes addicted to Oxy, moves onto smack, robs banks and goes to jail.  Jolly good.

Documentary Series: Can't Get You Out Of My Head (BBC, Youtube)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adam Curtis's 5 part documentary about individualism, socialism, capitalism, the psychology of power, the ghosts of empire, conspiracy theories... 'an emotional history of the modern world'.  I watched it over a period of three evenings, and found that it did become a little repetitive at times.  Historically fascinating (taught me a lot about China), though some of his ideas I didn't agree with, and it didn't seem to reach much of a conclusion.  It made me think of when, in the 1980s, my father gave me a book to read about the troubles in Northern Ireland.  After I'd read it, he said, "The only conclusion I came is that there is no solution."  This made me think similarly.

The most memorable part, for me, was youth activist Chai Ling being interviewed during the Tiananmen Square massacre.  She suggested that only when the movement ended in bloodshed would the majority of Chinese realise the importance of the student movement and unite, though she felt unable to share this idea with her fellow students.  Or, indeed, be there.  So, not stirring her followers up to die for the cause while she watched from a safe place, like the Generals of World War I, then.  Funny how people behave once they find themselves in positions of power...

There is much old footage from China, Russia, the UK and US; it's worth watching for this alone.  And the bits about Tupac. :)

The Walking Dead 10x18 FIND ME (Amazon, AMC+)

5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Full Review HERE

The Walking Dead 10x19 ONE MORE (Amazon, AMC+)

4.5* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Full Review HERE

Comedy: South Park Vaccination Special (HBO Max, Comedy Central)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Good, but not quite as funny as the Pandemic Special. Usually South Park rips on the loony left so much that this had to be the loony right's turn - the Q Anon stuff was spot on, and there was some other good stuff in it, like the anger against people who were angry at others for having an opposing opinion, some protests being related as 'peaceful' but others not so, and the queue for the vaccine being like a nightclub queue, but it didn't quite hit the spot like some episodes do.  For me, anyway, but humour is such an individual thing.  After 24 seasons, the quality is bound to ebb and flow just a little.

Film: Promising Young Woman (Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google, etc)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rape revenge story.  Genre: the 'black comedy in really bright colours' that is so popular at the moment. Stars Carey Mulligan as a 30-year-old woman looking to avenge her best friend's high school rape, for which the perpetrators were not prosecuted.  Good, fun, some excellent revenge scenarios, and Carey Mulligan has some drool-worthy frocks and hairdos.

Series: Tell Me Your Secrets - Season 1 (Amazon)

4* ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lily Rabe stars as a young woman who, allegedly, assisted her serial killer boyfriend in his evil activities.  Opposing her is a mother of a girl suspected to be one of his victims, though she is still missing, body never found.  It's good, though a bit drawn out.  Didn't expect the twist at the end of the season at all, which was pleasing.  

Documentary: Max Clifford: The Fall of a Tabloid King (Channel 4, YouTube)

3.5* ⭐⭐⭐

Documentary revealing how much of a vile specimen Max Clifford was.  'I wouldn't insult pondlife' sort of vile.  Well-made, no stone unturned, but it turned my stomach.

Whole documentary here:

Series: The One (Netflix)

2.5* ⭐⭐⭐

The Netflix version of Soulmates on Amazon, based on the same book - about two scientists who work out a way of finding people's one true soulmate, based on their DNA.  This is about the scientists themselves, rather than individual stories.  The story itself is fun, but the dialogue and acting made me think of El Dorado (a UK soap opera in the 1980s with cheesy dialogue and wooden actors that got cancelled pretty quickly).  Have watched three episodes, and it did get more interesting in ep 3, but I doubt I'll watch all of it.

Trigger warning: includes token white heterosexual couple.

Film: Songbird (Amazon, Apple)

3* ⭐⭐⭐

Pandemic romance romp, set two years in the future.  Only the immunes are free to roam, and must wear a wristband to indicate.  Everyone else must stay in their houses. If an infection is discovered (everyone must do daily checks), the hazmat brigade arrive.  Romance aspect is about young immune chap (KJ Apa, absolutely gorgeous) trying to get his healthy, locked down girlfriend out.  Watchable, not bad.

Film: Dark Places (2015) (Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, etc)

3* ⭐⭐⭐

Starring Charlize Theron as a Libby Day whose mother (Christina Hendricks) and her two sisters were, allegedly, murdered by her brother when she was eight.  She is now thirty, and circumstances converge to send her off to find out the truth.  Okay, nothing terribly wrong with it, but almost instantly forgettable, so much so that I had to look up its title before writing this post, because I'd forgotten what it was called.

Not helped by the fact that Theron's character is distinctly unlikeable, or that the grown up characters look nothing like the childhood ones, to the extent that their basic colouring changes.  Only exception being Drea de Matteo as the town slut with a soft heart, a character she always plays so well.