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(12/22/18 5:00pm)
While I am personally a bit of a newcomer to the Persona series, it only took a few minutes of the fantastically cool Persona 5 to set its hook and get me obsessed with the series. If someone had approached me two years ago and informed me I would one day excitedly spend $100 on anime rhythm games I would instantly make fun of them, but here I am.
(12/18/18 2:56pm)
While I am personally a bit of a newcomer to the Persona series, it only took a few minutes of the fantastically cool Persona 5 to set its hook and get me obsessed with the series. If someone had approached me two years ago and informed me I would one day excitedly spend $100 on anime rhythm games I would instantly make fun of them, but here I am.
(11/14/18 11:50pm)
(04/23/18 4:28pm)
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
(04/19/18 4:30pm)
By Evan Fischer
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
If there is one thing The Walking Dead handles especially well, it is finales. “Wrath” marks the end of the all-out war arc and opens countless possibilities for the series as it moves forward. When the episode ended, I felt a sense of relief. This episode has marked a new direction for the show, and a much brighter one at that. Despite several unnatural and sudden changes in character, “Wrath” serves as a great way to finish the season.
When the episode begins, a pre-outbreak Rick is walking with Carl in a flashback. This helps set the much lighter and gleeful tone the episode ultimately takes by the end. This lighter approach continues with Rick asking Siddiq how Carl really died and taking heed to his word. As Rick’s army preps for their battle the sun shines, a joyful piano plays and moods are high. This is in stark contrast to the much darker tone the series has adopted since around the sixth season, and it works well to go against expectations. Of course, when it comes down to it, there is little tact to be found. Garbage characters remain garbage as Jerry’s banter with Ezekiel feels about as natural as an industrial washing machine talking to a chair. The ham-fisted nature of the series is unfortunately too deeply ingrained for anything to really feel like it matters.
Speaking of ham-fisted, the whole ending of the episode, unfortunately, was foreshadowed to death. All that really remained was to see how the gang would get to a position where Rick spares Negan. With Carl’s dying letters, dream sequences, and flash-forwards of Rick speaking about his mercy, there was far too much foretold in previous episodes for any real surprise. Luckily, this was all fun and surprisingly tense. Watching Rick’s group fall right into Negan’s trap was delightfully painful to watch and had me rooting for Rick once again. The moment Negan started up on the speakers calling out Rick while preparing to fire was one of the tensest scenes in a long time (if only for the implication that something HAD to happen for the finale).
Despite the foreshadowed ending, the choice to keep Negan alive was a surprising step considering the direction of the past few seasons and it really helped provide a sense of relief. Having good guy Rick back feels like saying hello to an old friend and being able to keep Negan as a character feels rewarding. Negan has proven to be one of the few three-dimensional characters on the show and to see him gone would have been a waste of a great character (plus Lucille was only really ever used twice so far which is unacceptable).
The climax took up a majority of the episode as Rick is surrounded trying to find a way out of his situation. This whole portion of the episode worked fantastically. Unfortunately, the Deus ex machina this time around came in an unfair form. Eugene had apparently been on the side of good for some time, which doesn’t explain plenty of his actions and his sudden courage and acting skills. If Eugene had been the only character to completely change in the span of an episode it would be much more acceptable, but unfortunately this just isn’t the case. Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Morgan, and Jesus have all done a 180 and become someone different, and it feels off.
Only from the beginning of this episode has Rick ever seemed like he could even consider peace as an option. Morgan, after a single conversation with Jesus, reconsiders his killing ways. And of course, the dream team of Daryl, Maggie, and Jesus who brood like supervillains while planning a way to rebel against Rick’s wishes. When it comes down to it, changing six separate characters character in a single episode is a lazy way to progress the plot. These characters should have been naturally changing throughout the season, but instead they either found a heart or become evil and it just feels wrong.
When it comes down to it, “Wrath” was great finale to a below average season. Many paths were opened and plenty of loose ends were tied. If it weren’t for the flip-flopping of so many characters and the Deus ex machina, this episode would stand much higher but, as it is, it was a greatly satisfying end to the all-out-war arc.
(04/10/18 8:08pm)
(04/07/18 2:54pm)
By Evan Fischer
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
Despite a fantastic opening and new interesting plots, The Walking Dead still manages to disappoint. A large ongoing issue with the series is the promise it brings with new and interesting ideas and the lack of follow-through thereafter. The lack of any punch or pay off is the driving force as to why the series is no longer what it once was, and any vain attempts to call back to earlier moments in the series fall flat. When it comes down to it, “Still Gotta Mean Something” only comes off as astonishingly average—which has unfortunately become a trend.
As previously mentioned, the opening is one of the craziest and most fun scenes the show has to offer. Unfortunately, the continuation of the scene has very little payoff. Jadis has her own time to shine as a flashback shows the details of her survival during the execution. If it weren’t for the man who accidentally spares Jadis spouting trash dialogue in the most ham-fisted way possible, then this whole scene would have been perfection, but unfortunately this is The Walking Dead. What happens after this encounter really takes the cake. Whenever the series shows a slice of pre-infection life, it almost feels alien, and Jadis in normal clothes in a clean wooden room is a fantastic visual. To end this fantastic scene, Jadis - now without bangs thank god - opens a shipping container containing Negan tied to a plank. What could The Walking Dead possibly do to top this? Absolutely nothing. As if by prophecy, the rest of the episode is downhill from here.
A trend the series tends to follow is making a generally unlikable character likable out of the blue as a cheap way to make their death more impactful. It seems like this may just be the case for Henry. Henry sucks. No matter how hard the series attempts to make Henry a likable character, he is too far gone. This is a character who ruined plenty of people’s lives and has been shown to be an angsty, no good, baby-child of a character who has no purpose but to be a cheap way to further other characters' plots—in this case Morgan and Carol. Now that Henry has nearly fatally goofed, he has reverted to the “lovable child” stereotype and I, personally, am just not having it. I call he will die soon as a way to teach Carol and Morgan an important life lesson. He is a detriment to the show and the series as a whole is worse off having him in it. On a side note, the same goes for Tara who is now Mrs. Trusting-and-Kind despite being an evil troll monster who lies and kills because it makes her happy.
Remember that scene I praised so highly just a little ago? Because at this point in the episode it’s awful again. The potential was so high and that’s why it hurt so much when it didn’t go anywhere. All Negan really has to do to escape his crazy situation is shoot a weird cart-monster (which looks plain dumb) and make an empty threat before being let free. While his story about Lucille was neat the first time, telling it again doesn’t have any impact and slows the scene down. The best part of this scene by far is the helicopter. Whose is it? Why is it there? What does this mean in terms of transportation? We will have to be patient as an audience so we can be disappointed by each of these questions in a later season, unfortunately. The last interesting thing that happens in this segment is Negan opening a door for a mystery person. POTENTIAL SPOILERS: it’s probably Gregory and nothing important will happen with it.
Finally: the Rick and Morgan power hour! Besides the opening, this is the best part of the episode. Morgan is delightfully deranged and Rick is just a major dingus. Rick travels to finish off the Savior prisoner survivors as part of some insane power fantasy and finds Morgan with the same plan. Things go down and Rick is at his best (a.k.a. his worst). In a clever callback to earlier in the season, Rick talks about how his word is all he has anymore, but this time without Daryl to pull the trigger. In Daryl’s stead, Rick tricks and obliterates everyone before stating a fantastic “I lied.” After a thrilling battle which shows the darker side of Rick, Morgan has to go and ruin everything by having a dead kid and setting another trend. Rick, Carol, and Morgan all discuss their kids who happen to all be dead at this point and it becomes pretty obvious the writers have no clue what to do with kids. Good luck, Henry.
(03/21/18 5:00pm)
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
(03/16/18 11:00pm)
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
(03/15/18 11:06pm)
by Evan Fischer
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
“Dead Or Alive Or” is the deus ex machina episode of this season and it is terribly obnoxious. The story is split up between Gabriel, the Hilltop, Negan, and the Alexandria survivors, and it seems God saves them all throughout. There is absolutely nothing of consequence that happens in this episode and just about every character shown is terrible.
I’ll start with Gabriel’s story on account of the fact it is too terrible to ignore. The Walking Dead isn’t scared to ask the big questions, but it does manage to soil itself at the thought of answering them. This week the series asks, “Is God real?” to which it answers “yup.” Gabriel and Carson have, at this point, escaped and are terribly lost. Gabriel, now nearly blind, is having trouble reading the map and despite Carson’s qualms, he is confident God will lead the way…and he does. Gabriel’s newfound Daredevil powers allow him to hear an abandoned radio tower which he is convinced is God’s plan.
From here on out, blind faith and a love for Jesus carry this duo through countless mishaps (and no not the shows Jesus, the Nazareth one). Gabriel finds the house, sure, but then come the antibiotics…and then the keys hidden in the piggy bank…and then that one time Gabriel closes his eyes to shoot a walker. Never has a show made me hate two characters any quicker, and by the time Carson got shot I was relieved. It is worth noting that Maggie is no longer sick and doesn’t really need a doctor to the extent Gabriel is making it out to be. Also worth noting is that whenever one doctor dies another comes to immediately take their place, so for future reference don’t get too worried if Siddiq eventually bites the dust.
Besides Gabriel we have Eugene who is consistently terrible. Now in charge of the bullet press, Eugene feels confident enough to boss people around. Unfortunately, since his conception he has been obnoxious in both voice and character and, with him in charge, he is at optimal Eugene. When Negan brings the newly captured Gabriel in to help he doesn’t rat out Eugene. This gets Eugene back in Negan’s good graces once again and surely not for the last time. Besides this, nothing of any note happens during this entire scene.
Alexandria survivors make up for a lot of this episode’s shortcomings. By this I mean just Dwight. Out of the whole cast, Tara is the worst, and her bad character shines the most during these scenes. Dwight, who both killed his own men and led the Alexandrians to safety, is still under fire from them on account of his past. It is unclear if the show is trying to make the Alexandrians off to be the absolute worst, but it is doing a great job of accomplishing that. Despite several heartfelt apologies and real intent to help stop Negan, Tara still attempts to kill him. But luckily, yet another deus ex machina moment occurs just in time to save him, get him back to the Sanctuary, and gain Tara’s trust. During all this Daryl is focused on clearing a path through the swamp, which provides some fun waterlogged walker moments but nothing especially interesting or important besides that.
Finally, there is Maggie and the Hilltop. Not a lot goes on here either unfortunately. What ultimately goes on in this scene is the bond between Maggie and the prisoners (really just Alden though) in the way of free time. The main reason for this whole portion of the episode feels like a reminder that Maggie still exists and the Hilltop is still struggling.
The episode ends with Negan’s epiphany on biological warfare. After rubbing Lucille on a walker he informs the sanctuary they will focus on infecting Rick’s group rather than just killing them. Overall, this was The Walking Dead at its worst. Luck gets the main characters through the day, relationships are constantly reinforced via repetition, and worst of all nothing happens. Unfortunately, Dwight gets the short end of the stick; he is the most interesting and likeable character but is hated by everyone. The whole episode could have been done in under 20 minutes and was ultimately just padding.
(03/09/18 6:40pm)
by Evan Fischer
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
“The Lost and the Plunderers” manages to make things happen and adds momentum to the plot, but lacks any real punch to make the episode feel like anything other than just another episode. Huge things happen in this episode. Rick comes to grips with Carl, the scavengers are killed off, and Rick and Negan even have a conversation! But, unfortunately, repetition of ideas and foreshadowing ruin what could have been a great episode.
Title cards separate the plot this time around, starting with Michonne. This segment shows the aftermath of Carl and the immediate reactions of both Rick and Michonne. While it does seem fairly impactful to the characters, Carl was built up to be such a martyr so quickly that the reactions seem blown out of proportion. Carl to me always seemed like the kid who did nothing right and was filled to the brim with angst, which is why the second he started becoming a saint I knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. One scene in particular shows Michonne looking longingly at a burning shelter and stating, “He used to sit on the roof” before running into walker infested territory to put out the fire.
This is dumb. Despite being confirmed to be Carl’s best friend forever in the last episode, Michonne acts out of character here. In no world is a burning shelter, which has never been acknowledged before this, something anyone would ever care enough about to risk their lives to save. Michonne’s segment ends with her looking through Carl’s goodbye letters and noticing one addressed to Negan. If this is a letter about forgiveness and mercy (foreshadowed throughout the season) then this is an extremely interesting and promising idea which hopefully doesn’t crash and burn.
Negan’s title card is up next. In this segment Negan and Simon are in disagreement... again. Simon as always wants to kill everyone while Negan wants to “Save” them. This goes on for a while and ultimately ends with Negan yelling again. What this episode does differently, however, is it follows through. Simon doesn’t just scowl at Negan after being yelled at; he actually goes to the junkyard and kills them all. For a show that excels in doing nothing, it really shines when it does something. The performances from both Jadis and Simon are great and seeing boring flat characters who speak like cavemen getting mowed down is the most entertaining thing The Walking Dead has done in a while.
Oceanside was also in the episode. It was dumb.
Rick and Michonne come to the aftermath of The Scavengers genocide. Jadis survived due to her powers of not being a background character and begs Rick to save her. Rick overtly ignores his son’s dying wish and once again shoots over her head like he did to Siddiq (aka the reason Carl died) and leaves. This leads to a fun scene where Jadis dumps all the scavengers into an industrial meat grinder before eating a can of applesauce.
The saving grace of the whole episode is the ending. Rick reads Carl’s letter to Negan and proceeds to call him. Unfortunately, Rick has no intention of changing his ways and still wants to kill Negan, but Negan’s response to the news of Carl’s death is fantastic. Negan seems genuinely concerned with the news and ends up blaming Rick for it. While the idea of peace was only hinted at, the whole exchange was interesting and brought a lot to the table. Does Negan really have the best intentions? Is Rick the bad guy? Will they be able to forgive each other? Most likely Rick will just kill Negan with a mutual respect as expected, but maybe this will be the time The Walking Dead surprises us.
(11/29/17 7:23pm)
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
(11/14/17 11:00pm)
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
(11/10/17 11:23pm)
The Saw franchise is a divisive one. The fans can’t decide which movies are worth watching, and the public often dismisses it based off the subject material. While most horror films often rely on cheap thrills and gruesome kills, the Saw franchise is a more story-focused series that follows a continuous plot. This is where Jigsaw separates itself from the rest of the series. While Jigsaw feels like a traditional Saw film, its new cast of characters and timeline change cut off most connection to the original series and make it feel like a tamer side of the same coin.
(11/08/17 1:00pm)
The male adults of South Park are once again front and center this week as they relentlessly poke fun at male culture in a particularly interesting way in “Sons a Witches”. This episode focuses on the fathers of the town, who are some of the stronger characters in the series, along with another weak Cartman and Heidi subplot which unfortunately detracts from the rest of the episode.
(10/31/17 3:58pm)
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Walking Dead.
(10/04/17 10:00pm)
The return to form fans of South Park have been praying for since season 19 may have finally come with “Holiday Special”, an episode that expertly blends classic South Park humor with current events. From anti-Columbus activists to Ancestry DNA, this episode is jam-packed with the humor and satire fans of the series have come to expect of the series.