Here’s The Walking Dead‘s problem: it can’t maintain narrative momentum to save its slow, shambling undead life. It, along with shoddy character work in places, are what keep The Walking Dead from entering the upper echelon of prestige genre entertainment, something Game of Thrones did on the way to its recent…
As inevitably happens on The Walking Dead, the action happens in fits and bursts. And when they end, its with the jolt of a slammed brake pedal. Just like Season 5A, the first three episodes are action-packed before descending into lackluster soap opera and melodrama in the next five. The…
The importance of Morgan Jones, played with wonderful range by veteran British actor Lennie James, to The Walking Dead is belied his limited screentime; he only appeared in five episodes prior to becoming a series regular this season and two of those appearances were post-credit cameos. The enjoyment of Morgan’s…
As you’re hopefully aware, The Walking Dead, like cultural counterpart Game of Thrones, spawned from separate-but-equal source material, in this case an ongoing comic series by Robert Kirkman. I wrote an article back when Season 5 concluded in March of this year comparing those shows’ cliffs whence they will run…
Glenn’s dead! Or, at least, that’s what the show wants us to think after the coward Nicholas committed suicide, dragging Glenn down into a horde of zombies where he appeared to be eaten. Appeared being the operative word. See, I’m not so convinced that the show’s last remaining beacon of morality…
Beautifully constructed television at its finest, the sixth season of The Walking Dead has come out firing on all cylinders. Whether it was the zombie-heavy hour last week that featured the A-Team characters or the Wolf attack on the B-Team back in Alexandria that defined this hour, the pace is…
The journey of The Walking Dead is, inextricably, the journey of sheriff Rick Grimes. In past seasons, Rick’s character oscillations have been fairly clear from green Rick of Season 1 and 2 to the Ricktatorship of Season 3 to Farmer Rick in Season 4. That was when current showrunner Scott Gimple…
FOX’s Wayward Pines A 10-episode “event series” that aired from May 14 to July 23 detailing Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke’s time stranded in the seemingly-idyllic but secretly-insidious town of Wayward Pines, Idaho. Exec produced by M. Night Shyamalan, who also directed the pilot. Head writer and showrunner is Chad…
This season is the season Game of Thrones became it’s own creature. It is no longer appropriate to compare George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series that gives the story basis. It won’t be conclusively until we have both the final season and the final novel within…
Both based on beloved source material by iconic creators, both arguably the top television shows in the world, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead have redefined genre television for a new generation, adding dramatic weight and heft in telling a human story in fantasy worlds, whether the world is…