“Endure and Survive” - 1.05 - Recap & Review

Last night, the fifth episode of The Last of Us premiered on HBO. The episode, through flashbacks of the Kansas City QZ, shows how Fedra fell, taken over by Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) and her group, and how they killed any collaborators. Ten days later, the timeline meets backup with the cliffhanger from last week with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) being held at gunpoint by eight-year-old Sam (Keivonn Woodard), who it’s revealed is deaf, and his older brother Henry (Lamar Johnson). It’s eventually revealed that Kathleen is after the two because Henry turned the leader of the resistance, Kathleen’s brother, into Fedra in order to get life-saving medicine for Sam.

Henry knows a way out but needs Joel’s help in getting them out of the city. Eventually Ellie convinces Joel to help and they join forces. Henry has reason to believe that Fedra secretly cleared the tunnels beneath the city of the infected, unbeknownst to Kathleen, making it unlikely the militia would go down there after them.

The four emerge from the tunnel only to be shot at by a sniper. Joel leaves them to hide while he takes care of the sniper. Revealing that the sniper was a lookout, Kathleen and her people arrive and she tries to flush them out. However, before Kathleen can get her revenge, we find out where the infected had relocated, as a truck is pulled into a big hole, and all the infected come crawling out, attacking everyone. 

“[Despite the upcoming spin-offs] it ends with a really definitive conclusion for both the series and then each individual character.”
--(Scott Gimple on the series finale, interview with Entertainment Weekly, 25 October 2022)

The first stories most Western children hear end with happily ever after, and that phrase settles into their subconscious as the model for what an ending should look like—an ending in life as much as in fiction. With maturity comes the understanding that happily ever after is as fantastic an element of those stories as are the dragons and fairies. Nonetheless, fiction, for adults as well as children, exists not only to reflect reality, but also to redress it. Stories hold up a mirror, and are, too, a window into somewhere else: a place not subject to the whims of fate, but controlled by storytellers.

“There's a lot of shock in it. There's a lot of tension in it. I think [the audience] might feel angry on behalf of our characters. It's a frigging intense finale. It just goes, goes, goes.”
--Scott Gimple on the finale of The Walking Dead, interview with Entertainment Weekly, 9 November 2022The Walking Dead, interview with Entertainment Weekly, 9 November 2022

The Walking Dead has been about family since the pilot episode, in which Rick Grimes wakes up alone in hospital and begins to search for his wife and son. It is a show about the families we lose, we find, and we choose; it is a show about what it means to be a family. “We don’t leave them,” Lydia sobs at one point this week. “They need us.” That has always been the philosophy of this group of survivors, and it is starkly contrasted, in 11x23, with that of Pamela Milton, who is willing to sacrifice thousands of her people to a horde of walkers in order to save a privileged few.

While we see our heroes put this belief into practice during the episode, the same cannot be said of the writers for season 11. In “Family”, Connie tries to save a fellow citizen at her own risk while trapped in a shoot-out at Union Station. Lydia gets bitten and ultimately loses an arm trying to help Elijah to safety. And Judith, of course, saves Maggie and takes Pamela’s bullet herself. Being a family, this episode reminds us, means sticking together, making sacrifices, and never abandoning one another. But in its service to the plot, the universe, and the multitude of characters in the show at this point, The Walking Dead itself has left too much out, and too many people behind.

“[The Walking Dead] ends with a really definitive conclusion for both the series and then each individual character.”
--Scott Gimple, interview with Entertainment Weekly, 25 October 2022

With only two episodes to go before the end of the series, it feels like The Walking Dead is somersaulting so unevenly through the convoluted Commonwealth plot that the show has little chance of sticking the landing. The season as a whole has been, at times, bewildering in its narrative choices, with dead ends (Leah’s arc) and sudden drop-offs (Oceanside) that frustrate any viewer who has been tuned in for more than one season.

“Faith” has as its focus Negan’s redemption arc. Ostensibly, the episode deals with questions around our faith in each other, our faith in the world, and our faith in ourselves. Maggie doubts her decision to bring Hershel Jnr into the world; Pamela fights to retain the support of the disillusioned Commonwealth citizens; and Mercer reveals a realignment of his loyalties. But, undoubtedly, the primary purpose of 11x22 is to move Negan’s story forward, towards his upcoming spinoff with Maggie.

Note: I’m going to write this fairly spoiler free and leave out the big things, but if you want to stay completely spoiler free, read after it airs tonight.

Tonight, BBC America airs the new special “The Power of the Doctor,” which aired earlier today in the UK. The episode marks Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Doctor. In the feature-length episode, the Doctor battles not only her greatest enemies, but her arch nemesis, The Master (Sacha Dhawan).

If you’ve read my reviews, you know I love the series, and there is a lot to love about Chris Chibnall’s final episode. The episode has tons of shock and awe, but unfortunately, some people may think that’s all it is. “The Timeless Child” really split fans in a way an episode hadn’t in a long time, maybe ever, and while this episode doesn’t rewrite history or retcon anything (thankfully) it does feel a bit like Chibnall is throwing everything in to make an epic end. The problem is, it’s two-sided. It’s the centennial special, and not only his last episode, but Whittaker’s as well, so he should be pulling out the big guns and making a bang. The problem is, the Daleks, the Cybermen, and even more so, the Master, are huge villains in Doctor Who mythology, and they pack so much more of a punch when they are used sparingly, because they are something that as a fan you look forward to. The issue to me is they’ve been overused in the series so much lately that they don’t feel as special anymore. The episode doesn’t shine as much as it should, because that makes it feel a bit repetitive. That all being said, even though it does feel like a lot is packed in there, I personally really enjoyed this one. It does have a follow through and is vastly superior to the Flux storyline that a lot of people (at times myself included) picked apart. It has a beginning, middle, and end and doesn’t jump all over the place like the former.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.

Today the sixth and final season of Lucifer was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.

At the start of season six, Lucifer (Tom Ellis) is in position to take over for his father as God, but does he want to be? The beginning of the season focuses on Lucifer struggling to decide what he wants as he prepares to go up to Heaven with Chloe (Lauren German) by his side. However, things take a surprising turn when a young angel named Rory (Brianna Hildebrand) shows up wanting to kill Lucifer. Throw in time travel, a ghost, a wedding, and animation, season six is full of surprises.

As always with Lucifer, the season brings action, drama, romance, and comedy and everything in between. Unique this season is the third episode, “Yabba Dabba Do Me,” in which Lucifer and Chloe enter an animated world of a character’s mind and are stuck in a broken loop, which is a lot of fun.

***The following contains slight general spoilers***

Tomorrow an all-new season of Westworld premieres on HBO. Season three of the series really changed the format, moving outside the park and focusing on the control of humans more so than the hosts and their freedom. Season four continues the narrative with Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson), a version of Dolores, who, as Maeve points out, turns out to be worse than Wyatt, and she is hellbent on revenge on humans. The host of William (Ed Harris) is also thrown into the mix, influencing the powerful and leaving bodies in his wake.

When we pick up with the story after a seven-year time jump, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) is not Dolores, but rather Christina, lost living her life day after day, writing storylines for non-playing game characters (oh the irony), unsatisfied with what’s missing in her life.

Caleb (Aaron Paul)’s life has also changed, married with a child, but still living with paranoia, which serves him well when his family is threatened. He teams up with Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) who’s been living as a recluse in peace until it all comes crashing down.

In Netflix’s new series First Kill, high school student Juliette Fairmont (Sarah Catherine Hook) is feeling the physical changes in herself more and more each day, taking pills of blood to forestall her symptoms of bloodlust, which won’t stop until she finally makes her first kill, the one thing she does not want to do. Her life becomes more complicated when she develops a crush on new student Calliope “Cal” Burns (Imani Lewis), however, unbeknownst to her, Calliope is from a family of hunters who will stop at nothing to kill all monsters, including vampires. It’s a new take on the classic story of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet (perhaps here Juliet and Juliet), but with a supernatural twist.

As much as the basic plot of the forbidden love story has been done before, I did find it enjoyable. Hook and Lewis are believable in their respective roles and they do have chemistry. The supporting cast I also thought was chosen well. The friendship between Juliette and Ben (Jonas Dylan Allen) I thought balanced the romance of the story in a positive way. I also liked the dynamics of the Fairmont family, and the vampire lore, at least to me, was fairly original and interesting. Also standing out were the scenes between Juliette’s mother, Margot (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Calliope’s mother, Talia (Aubin Wise).

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.

Today the fifth season of the hit Netflix series Lucifer comes to Blu-ray and DVD. Based on the characters of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic book series, the show centers on Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), who has abandoned his throne in Hell to live on Earth where he runs the nightclub, Lux, and since season one, works as an LAPD consultant, with his partner, Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German). Together, they solve crimes often dealing with angelic, demon, and other supernatural threats.

By the end of season four, Chloe has not only accepted her discovery that Lucifer is the actual devil but confessed to him that she loves him. This makes Lucifer realize from a prophecy that evil will be unleashed on the Earth. As such, although not returning those three words, after a kiss, Lucifer returns to rule over Hell to protect Chloe and Earth.

Season five originally aired on Netflix in two chunks. In the first half of season five, Lucifer eventually makes his way back to LA, but things are not as he left them, as his twin, Michael (also Ellis), has come to Earth, wanting to take over his identity. Lucifer must face his brother’s actions as well as confront his true feelings for Chloe. In the second half of the season, God (Dennis Haysbert) comes down to Earth, and the fights between Lucifer and Michael come to a head.

May 6th Prime Video premieres the second season of the highly-anticipated young adult series The Wilds. Season one centers around a group of teenage girls stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash, however, it is revealed early on that it was not a real crash but rather part of an experiment perpetrated by Gretchen Klein (Rachel Griffiths), out to prove that women can band together and survive without the problems associated with a male-dominated society. She called the girls group the Dawn of Eve.

The season follows the girls as they struggle to find ways to endure and come to terms with their predicament, interspersed with flashbacks of the hardships they faced before the island and flashforwards of after they are “rescued” and held at a bunker by Gretchen and her men, still being lied to.

While on the island, one girl, Leah (Sarah Pidgeon), starts to suspect that the crash is not all it seems and that one of the girls, Nora (Helena Howard), is in fact in on the ruse and communicating with someone outside the island. Of course she is right, but no one believes her.