‘Now, how’s about a hug for your old pal Merle’- Merle Dixon (The Walking Dead)

So episode 3 of the Walking Dead and interestingly there seems to be a strikingly less amount of action and zombie over kill than the previous 2 episodes, and yup as the title suggests they have brought back Merle. This episode focuses predominantly on Andrea and Michonne with no appearance from Rick and his gang of zombie beaters. This episode was particularly intriguing as it focussed more on plot progression and introduced new characters to us, the most obvious of which is the character of the Governor. What is most interesting about this character for me is that we meet him with Andrea and Michonne, and much like them at first we don’t trust him, why would we he’s a stranger who is seemingly hanging around with a rough crowd (particularly with the re-introduction of Merle, who we know is bad). But as the episode progresses I for one was more on Andrea’s side slowly warming to this new character that has provided a safe haven and built a town of survivors. For me that was what was so brutally shocking when he gave orders to kill innocent men who were not yet infected with the curse. I shouted at the television set as they brutally gunned down and murdered men who were about to trust them. What was most infuriating for me though is the fact that the towns people have no idea…the only one who seemingly suspects the Governor id Michonne and he has somehow managed to drive a wedge between her and Andrea. I have enjoyed this season so far as the two plots working in parallel with each other seems to work well, it suggests that maybe Rick and his team may at some point cross tracks with Andrea and the town in which she’s living. This is particularly evident with Merle in search for his brother Daryl, whom the Governor also seems interested in. Although this episode didn’t particularly show as much gore as the previous episodes of this series, it was my favourite so far as it shows that there is room for progression of characters, and I will be interested to see where the story is going from this point…quote simply I want to know more about the Governor and what on earth he plans to do with those heads! (Watch the episode you will see what I mean!!) 

‘Remember who you are trust your instincts and nothing else’ - Marie Kessler (Grimm)

The dying words of an old lady with a secret, this is how episode 2 of season 1 of Grimm ends. After having watched Once Upon a Time, I decided to watch Grimm and see how the two compare…having watched two episodes of Grimm I think it is safe to say the two are not comparable, although they both focus on a fairy tale theme both programmes do this in very different ways (see my previous blog on Once Upon a Time for comparison). Grimm is set in modern day and focuses on a police officer who has just discovered he is a Grimm, an ancestor from the brothers Grimm who wrote fairy tales to explain the real life danger of the monsters they see. The first episode focuses on the big bad wolf, and the second on the three bears, this program is a mixture of crime and fantasy and has me on edge all the way through with its almost horror like element. The creatures aren't particularly impressive, but I was still scared of them…for me the most horrific element is that only a Grimm can see them, it plants the idea that these creatures could actually exist, this combined with its crime genre sets up for some very tense viewing. Whilst watching these couple of episodes I was trying to think what it reminded me of, Grimm for me is an up to date remaking of Buffy the Vampire Slayer- and who doesn't want that! I will definitely continue watching season 1 to see where the story takes us.

'The world is about to end and we are all standing around having a fucking conversation' - Carrie Mathison (Homeland)

So I have finally watched the last few episodes of Homeland season 1, all the build up of a big terrorist attack, and surprise, surprise nothing happened. That is not to say that the episodes weren't interesting, I fact I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if Brody was going to bow up the Vice President…I think I was more on edge about how it was going to look, after Brody’s detailed description of his body being obliterated but his head remaining in tact. Aside from the immanent assassination of the Vice President, our other main character, Carrie is having a mental breakdown after being taken out by a bomb on a mission that turned sour. Carrie is in hospital and therefore away from her meds, Saul visits her everyday, and after her release begins to recognise her illness. Carrie under strict orders is told by her sister to relax, and predictably goes against this and continues to work…this is ultimately her downfall as now everyone recognises her lies, and no-one, not even Saul believe what she’s saying (hence the title of this piece). 

The last few episodes of Homeland were if I’m honest a bit of a disappointment to me, I was expecting a big explosion and the department to be in disarray as they try and work out what happened. I accept that if they kill off Brody in a suicide bomb, the series would pretty much end but surely a man like Nazir would have other plans if the first should fail. I also found it hard to believe that Nazir would just let Brody get away with not following the plan, however I can see from a scriptwriter’s point of view how this will allow the story to progress. Another point of frustration for me was Carrie piecing everything together just before she underwent shock therapy, I think this was meant as a cliff hanger for the next season, but I don’t think it was particularly well executed as it should have ended on this, but the program somehow seemed to continue for a little longer. I have to say, as much as I’m complaining about details, the final episode was two hours long, but did not feel like this at all. The whole episode I was in anticipation of what was about to happen, and although the story predictably didn’t flow the way I wanted it to, it still had my full attention. For this reason and many more I will continue to watch Homeland, and intend to fully catch up with season 2. 

'Then get used to living in a brothel because hookers and bangers are gonna be your only family' Jax (SOA)

Season 5 episode 8 follows on after Gemma has crashed into a tree with the two boys in the car and the Sons were attacked at roadside. The episode follows Jax and the Sons trying to discover who attacked them, and most importantly to Jax who attacked his family. Although this episode was not particularly striking, as unlike most other episodes of sons this did not have anything horrific that I had to turn away for, however it still had me hooked. This episode should have been titled vengeance, as it follows Jax getting slowly more ruthless and out of control, in an attempt to re-gain control of the club. With Clay trying to sabotage Jax’s reign and take the gavel for himself, Juice being threatened as being declared a rat, the death of the nomads, and the inevitable death of Tigs, I can’t help but wonder if anyone will be left at the Sons of Anarchy table by the end of this season. This episode suggests that Jax has finally found a way to take down Clay; through the prostitution of his mother, he will get Clay to pass on all his little secrets. The final line of the episode is where this piece takes its title from, Jax is offering Gemma an ultimatum, family or nothing. It is the first point in the series where I have had a sense that Jax is really in control, but I can’t help but ask at what cost. He seems a shadow of his former self, and you can see that shit is about to go down- series 5 just got really interesting.

'Where every story book character you have ever known is trapped between two worlds' - Once Upon a Time

This past week I have dedicated my time into watching all of season one of ABC’s Once Upon a Time. Yet I have put off writing this review for some days now…this is mainly because although I watched the episodes back to back (almost additively  I have almost nothing to say on the series. Firstly I should explain what the program is about, in fact the key purpose of the plot is summarised in the title of this piece; it is a modern twist on the fairy tale where the evil queen has cursed all the characters to forget ho they are and to live in our world. The two plots are cleverly intertwined with each other and give a real unique modern day twist on the traditional fairy-tales  As each character develops you see how each of their lives combine in both the story book world and our world. The show itself is relatively harmless and easy to watch, I do not feel any particular attraction to any of the characters, but equally I do not strongly dislike any of them. This is the type of thing that you would sit down and watch on a lazy Sunday morning. As I write this I find myself asking why I became so addicted to it, as much as it pains me to say it I saw the show almost as a soap opera, you know the characters and your invested in their lives (because of childhood memories not the way they are portrayed in this series!). It was the familiarity of the program that I enjoyed, however I do think it could be made more interesting by being a little darker. I would be interested to see how this show compares to NBC’s Grimm which I am intent on watching next. All I can say about Once Upon a Time is that it has made me realise (once more) the appeal to fairytales…and although not a particularly gripping show I will continue to watch and see what season 2 has in store for me.

'Holy shit!!'- The Walking Dead

Holy shit indeed season 3 of the Walking Dead has come back to our televisions in both the UK and the USA through the beauty of FX. AMC’s hit TV show based on comics written by Robert Kirkman has been a huge success and one of my favourite programmes, as well as graphic novels. The series starts with an intense opening as the group are trying to find a safe house to stay at, of course this is not so easy with an ongoing pursuit from zombies. The opening scenes of the new series are intense to say the least, none of the characters speak for the first 10 minutes, there is just a lot of killing and suspense music; from the start I was on edge. This suspense was held throughout the episode, I was on the edge of my seat with my hands covering my eyes waiting for the impending doom to sweep over the characters and for all of them to die (which of course doesn’t happen).

The episode see’s Rick find a prison, where all the inmates are zombies. The first task is for the group to get into the yard and make it safe to stay in, I must emphasise this episode contains a lot of over kill, and is not for the squeamish. As well as the zombie slaughtering there is also a lot of tension within the group itself, particularly between Rick and his pregnant wife Lori. I have to say I am not super keen on the relationships between the characters, particularly these two as there always seems to be an extra bit of added drama, which in my opinion is unnecessary and not key to the zombie storyline. As the episode progresses and the team explore further into the prison the tension builds even further, the music builds up and each turn of the corner gradually gets more and more traumatic, until inevitably we find the zombies. But for me this wasn’t the shock, of course in a zombie programme the characters will run into zombies, the shock came from bumping into other living prisoners! Hershel loses his leg after being bitten by a zombie (obviously the only answer is for Rick to cut it off with an axe!) and as he’s bleeding out on the floor, the camera pans to several dark shadows, who I assumed to be more zombies, but no its living prisoners. The episode ends on one of the prisoners saying ‘Holy shit’ and that’s how I felt at the end of the episode…Holy shit!!

'TV the opiate of the people'

Title taken from Edward R Murrow, who borrowed it from the following saying ‘religion is the opium of the people’ from Karl Marx. This makes television comparable to religion and lets face it who doesn’t worship their TV on a daily basis.

What do all these quotes mean?! I friend of mine upon reading this blog commented on the quotes I use at the start of each post, it suddenly dawned upon me that I have never explained myself and what these quotes mean. Firstly lets start with the title of the blog ‘Television the triumph of the machine over people’, this quote was taken from Fred Allen a US radio comedian (1894-1956). I chose this to be the title of the blog as we often watch films, or television programmes or read articles about the idea of machines taking over the world, think about, I Robot, Dr Who, The Matrix, Terminator and many more. What seems to be a genuine fear amongst people, Allen claimed has already happened with the invention of television. This idea fascinates me as I believe, although perhaps Allen said this way before his time, in this day and age television is slowly taking over more and more of our lives. It is used to form routine, think of daily soaps, used as a babysitter when mum needs some piece and quiet, used as a recipe book, think of shows like the Great British Bake Off, I even used it to help improve my French (which as it turns out wasn’t a great idea and still received a U at A-level). TV is more and more integrated into our daily lives and I believe that Fred Allen was correct ‘Television (is) the triumph of the machine over people’ which is why I found it apt that a blog writing about TV should have such a title.

The other quotes I have used are taken from each of the TV episodes which I discuss in each article. The first article written takes a quote from 30 Rock which is my favourite TV show (my ambition in life is to be Kenneth). I chose this quote, ‘If I could push a button and five people in the world would die, but I’d get free cable for life, I’d do it’, I chose this as it made me laugh, and is something I can relate to. It’s the sheer honesty that makes you laugh, but also made me question my own morals…I think I would do that (wouldn’t you?)! The following article about SOA ‘I ain’t no Spiderman nigga’ was the most memorable quote for me from the new series so was very appropriate for an article about the series. I particularly enjoyed this line as it came after a quote from Spiderman and required this knowledge to find it funny, I felt like it was a joke specifically aimed at me, and I enjoyed that! ‘Its better to carry a tune than to carry a grudge’ was taken from Modern Family and was one of my favourite quotes from Cam; it seems almost philosophical in a funny way. A strange outlook on life, but I found it particularly humorous because of the character of Cam who is always melodramatic and over the top. ‘Why kill a man when you can kill an idea’ was taken from Homeland and again was one of the quotes that particularly stuck with me. I found this quote quite chilling as it was said by a terrorist who has reportedly killed thousands of people. I chose this to go with the Homeland article as for me it sums up the show, nothing is predictable. The final quote ‘In that life I have no future, only distraction’ is taken from SOA and again it summed up the episode for me…nothing happened I saw the episode purely as distraction.

So there we have it...and from now on I have learnt my lesson and will tell you what each quotation means as part of the article!