Category Archives: Television Review

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 3, “Walk With Me” ~ A Secretly Timid Review

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Part 1 : Synopsis – Andrea and Michonne are wandering around with their pets when they see this gnarly helicopter crash. With nothing better to do they go and investigate. UGH OH!! Some bad ass motherfuckers pull up. The ladies hide but are caught by Daryl’s brother Merle. Andrea passes the fuck out. Andrea and Michonne are taken to Woodbury.

The doctor with a beehive hair do cures Andrea of her sickness. The next morning the “Governor” (HBIC) has breakfast with Andrea and Michonne. Andrea drinks tea. Michonne gives “go fuck yourself” eyes. Andrea wants to stay in this creepy town while Michonne wants to get the fuck outta dodge. Later, the Governor and his thugs kill a group of National Guardsmen and take all their shit. The episode ends with the creepy Governor looking on at an aquarium full of decapitated zombie heads.

Part 2 : The Good –

  • Pacing – Episode 2 was such an action packed episode that we needed a breather. Plus, the writers did a great job of introducing a ton of new supporting characters.
  • Building  a Mystery – Woodbury is seemingly an oasis in the middle of shitty mc shitterville. This will lead to a many philosophical debates. It’s obvious something isn’t right about this place. Michonne sees it. Andrea does too…but she seems to be ignoring it. Would you turn a blind eye for living in comfort and safety? What would it take for you to take your chances on the zombie-filled open road?
  • Merle – Many people on the internet have posted that this is really our first introduction to Merle Dixon- because he was high as a kite in Season 1 Episode 2. I absolutely loved his interaction with Andrea.

Part 3 : The Bad –

  • Michonne – This is really our first look at this fan favorite character…so why does she have no lines? Don’t get me wrong; I love her wide array of looks. I understand her keeping mum around the Governor and the Woodbury folk; but I think this episode would have been strengthened with one scene with complete dialogue between her and Andrea in addition to the scene with the two walking in town. We need just a glimpse of who this character is…or she runs the risk of becoming a caricature which would be such a shame since nearly all the characters are so rich and deep.
  • The Tea – I’m over it already. It reeks of LOST.
  • Milton, the Science guy – Again…seemed like a caricature  Oh…the uber nervous, geeky  science guy. We haven’t seen him on TV before.
  • No Man Left Behind – Wait… you are telling me the Governor and his goons can take out a squad of trained soldiers. Really? REALLY????? So he saves the women and kills the men…hmmm.

Part 4 : Final Verdict –

I give this episode a 3.5 out of 5. It was a good episode, but I wasn’t feeling the super, secret lab.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 2, “Sick” ~ A Secretly Timid Review

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Part 1 : Synopsis

Fuck that. If you are reading this then more than likely you watched the episode. You need no recap!

Part 2. The Good

  • Crazy Rick – Dude has lost his mind in the best way imaginable! Part of me worried that the prisoner story line would be drug the fuck out like last season with Sophia. But DAMN- when Thomas tried twice to kill him he went all…So I guess we won’t have to worry about him any more. I also love Rick’s interaction with Lori. In one scene in particular Lori attempts to conference with Rick in regard to what his plans were for the prisoners. In this scene Rick says killing them was an option, and Lori tells him he has her support. Rick quips, “you say that now…” alluding to last season’s finale. I wonder how far Rick will push Lori away.
  • Poor Lori – Part of me thinks that the writers had no clue how Lori would be hated after last season and now are doing a swift 360 to make us feel compassion for her character. She quickly rushed to save Hershel, but was one of her reasons for saving him was so he could assist in the birth of her baby? She does seem selfish enough. Regardless, Sarah Wayne Callies is doing an amazing job with this polarizing character. 
  • Carol – Again…the writers listened. I am in love with Carol. This character def. stepped up and is making herself useful. Although…part of me is worried that they are setting us up to like her so we are heartbroken when they KILL HER! (although I really hope this doesn’t happen.)

The Bad

  • Axel – This actor’s accent kills me. It’s part downs syndrome part Gomer Pyle. No good! I think he and the other prisoner could become part of the group…maybe
  • T-Dog – Come on….give this actor something to do already!

 

Overall:

I give this episode a 3.5 out of 5. It left me wanting…It really felt as if the writers could have combined this episode with the first episode for a 90 minute premier…but for some reason decided to split the two episode up. At times the pacing felt off…like we were driving on 3 good wheels and one flat. Overall, though…the acting is top notch across the board. Even Beth is starting to feel like a three dimensional character. This season is off to a rocking start.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 1, “Seed” ~ A Secretly Timid Review

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All right. Everyone knows the Secretly Timid crew have boners for the Walking Dead…however, it has come to my attention that not all of our listener’s wanna hear us gush about each episode every week. So to satiate my need to converse I decided to offer my review of each episode. I suppose I should warn you now. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Part 1 : Episode Synopsis

This season premier opens with an action only sequence of our happy survivors (sans Andrea) raiding a house. It is clear that some time has passed because Lori is now totally fat. Later Rick spies a prison off in the distance and decides this could be the miracle they are looking for, what with the ticking time bomb of Lori’s pregnancy set to go off any day and all. The group clear the outer gates of walkers and a gang consisting of Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Glen, and Maggie take out the walkers inside the inner gates by utilizing the tried and true Greek phalanx war strategy. Yay! The prison is theirs!

Meanwhile, bad-ass Michonne is beheading zombies and stealing aspirin for her new best friend, Andrea, who looks really hungover. I’m guessing its pneumonia. The duo leave their nest that is a meat locker for greener pastures or something. They don’t know where they are going, but Michonne’s 2 zombie pets in chains will follow.

Meanwhile, our prison crew decide to go exploring in the maze-like inner  halls of the prison. Shit goes down and Hershel gets bit by a lurker zombie. Rick and the crew drag his ass to safety and chop off his leg at the knee. The episode ends with the realization that our heroes aren’t the only living beings in the prison! Some prisoners survived…are they friend or foe? Will Hershel survive?

Part 2 : The Good

  • The pacing of this episode was AWESOME. The Prison looks like some shit went down. In an interview show-runner Glen Mazzera said he wanted to the prison to look like a huge motherfucking zombie movie took place there and our heroes break in after it ended. He succeeded.
  • Carol – I hated you Season 1 and 2 and in just one episode you made me fall in love with you. She’s cheerful, she’s got a little sass, and she is shooting guns. I like her teasing Daryl.
  • Lori – Goddamn you writers!! I wanted to continue my hate for this character…yet I am feeling empathy for her due to how poorly Rick is treating her. I know, she deserves it…and the longer she is pregnant the more it is likely the baby isn’t his…but damn…it’s the zombie apocalypse! Life is too short to be a dick to your wife. Even if she was an uber bitch. Lighten up. She is pregnant and scared. Although, she shouldn’t be worried that the baby would be a zombie and rip through her. Babies are super weak and have no teeth.
  • Rick- He’s dark. Super dark. He has become the character the fanboys were whimpering for. I am interested to see how far he will go before he comes back to humanity.

Part 3 : The Bad

Its like, logical and stuff – My biggest gripe…my BIGGEST gripe…is when the writers pull unrealistic shit for the sake of the story. Per example- Lori is super pregnant. Ok, so Hershel is no doctor, but he’s delivered dozens of baby pigs and horses, so he is qualified. Now, dear reader…if your wife was uber preggers in the zombie apocalypse and all you had was a FUCKING vet to aid in the delivery of a baby that may or may not be yours…would you allow the vet to go exploring the unsecured prison? Would you? No, that is not logical. Yet, for the sake of the story Rick allows the geriatric vet to go exploring in a bullet proof vest. Whatever. RIP Hershel’s leg.

 

Part 4 : The Verdict

Overall, I give this episode a 4.5 out of 5 stars. It was  a great premier….can’t wait to see the next episode. What did you all think?

 

ThunderCats 2011 Review

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I apologize. I am unhinging my jaw to make room for a big ‘ole piece of crow. In person and slightly in the blogosphere I bitched and moaned about how horrible this remake was destined to be.

EAT ME

Friday was a busy day for me…so of course I forgot to DVR the premier. So Monday I frantically scoured the interwebs in hopes of finding a copy to view online…and luckily I was able to find one virus-free. The animation is closer to the original series which is probably due to both series being animated in Japan. For me, the anime style is either a hit or miss…and in this case I think it is a hit. The soft pastely-like hues trigger some sort of nostalgia within me. Within just a few minutes I was sucked in.

The voice acting is excellant-o. The voice of King Claudus sounded eerily familiar…kinda like the original Lion-O. Guess what. Same dude (Larry Kenney). My ear-memory is awesome. Cheetara is voiced by the gorgeous Emmanuelle Chrigui of Entourage fame. Tygra and Jaga are voiced by v/o pros Matthew Mercer and Corey Burton while Panthro is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson from The Cleveland Show. Will Friedle from Boy Meets World fame voices the Lion-O.

The story is a familiar one. A young prince (Lion-O) has his head in the clouds and neglects his princely-duties. His precious ideologies creates rifts with his King father and fuels a rivalry with his older brother (Tygra). Due to betrayal, the cats’ enemy, the Lizard clan, decimate the cat kingdom forcing Lion-O and company to flee their once beautiful home.

This reboot feels similar to Marvel Comics “Ultimate” line. Rather than just going with the flow as was the case in the original series, each character seems to have his/her own point of view. Tygra is now Lion-O’s older, adopted brother. He seems to, by all means, be the better fit for King (on paper.) Wiley Kat and Kit are now resourceful street urchins. Snarf (perhaps my fav change) is now truly just a cat-type pet. No talky-talk. I was, however, correct in my assumption that Cheetara would be turned into the “beautiful enforcer” archetype of female warrior, rather than the badass mother-figure she was in the original. Unlike her contemporaries, she seems calm and collected rather than emotional and hotheaded. She is soon revealed to be part of Jaga’s cleric clan, which may be used down the line if they wish for this version of the character to also be telepathic.) Panthro was shown little in the premier, but I believe he will be explored later in the series. Lion-O, however, is similar to every other point of view young hero. A little stale, but he is supposed to be.

As I watched the premier I kept on thinking that if I were a parent this would be a show I would allow my children to see. Lessons in compassion, empathy, teamwork and creativity are woven in an action-packed pill. Yes, I will continue watching this series. I am excited to see where it goes.

ThunderCats airs on Cartoon Network Fridays at 8:30/7:30c.

 

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yevav-RcUfQ[/youtube]