Likelihood of Who Negan Kills on The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead returns this Sunday, and the speculation for the past six months has been, so, who is it that Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) beat to death at the end of the season finale?

My odds:

11. RICK (Andrew Lincoln) - No way they kill the lead. The show is still fairly faithful to the skeleton plotlines of the graphic novels, and the back-and-forths between Rick and Negan are too good to sabotage. I won't reveal anything more about the graphic novels though to avoid spoilers. I will say just because a certain character dies a certain way in the graphic novel doesn't mean the show will follow suit. Characters like Herschel and Tyreese died at different times in the comics than they did on the show, and some characters are still alive on the show that already died at this point in comics while some characters are still alive in the comics when they've been killed off on the show.

10. CARL (Chandler Riggs) - He's the main motivation for Rick to do everything he does. Yes, he'd still have Judith, but Carl is going to survive as long as Rick does.

9. AARON (Ross Marquand) - I don't think it's him because I don't think the creators really want to kill off another gay character so quickly, and of the eleven, he's the most recently introduced and therefore would have the least emotional impact, and I do believe the makers are going for impact.

8. SASHA (Sonequa Martin-Green) - The way she fits in with everyone else, I just can't see it being her.

7. ROSITA (Christian Serratos) - Hers would be sad, as she's still dealing with Abraham dumping her, and Eugene still pines for her, but she's one of the more underdeveloped ones and there's still a lot of potential with where they can go with her.

6. MAGGIE (Lauren Cohan) - Killing a pregnant woman would really establish Negan as evil, but Maggie's been the female lead of the show ever since Andrea died, so I can't see it being her. Then again, that would be soooooo evil.

5. MICHONNE (Danai Gurira) - I think this would be terrible, as she is arguably the most popular African-American female character on TV. But man, it would be emotionally gutting.

4. EUGENE (Josh McDermitt) - Eugene is the coward who most recently discovered his inner spine. But he's still a fairly vulnerable guy and to watch him get beaten to death would be so sad and pathetic.

I genuinely believe it's going to be one of these three.

ABRAHAM (Michael Cudlitz) - His recent relations have been thrown in flux. You'd have Sasha grieving over her boyfriend, Rosita grieving over her ex-boyfriend, and Eugene will have lost the friend he leans on most. He's the strongest man on the team, and therefore everyone else would feel that much more vulnerable with him gone.

DARYL (Norman Reedus) - Yes, he's the most popular character on the show. People would riot. It could very well be a shark-jumping death for this show. But it would be bold, and it would definitely have a huge impact on the season and make Negan far more hated than the Governor.

GLENN (Steven Yuen) - He's been there since season 1, episode 1. He and Maggie have the best love story on the show. Everyone would feel his loss. It would be devastating. That's why it's one of the most likely scenarios.

The Walking Dead - "The Grove" - TV Review

Some of the one-plot episodes work better than others, and this is one of the ones that worked better than others. We have six different satellite groups now. There's the Grimes group of Rick, Carl and Michonne; the Maggie group of Maggie, Sasha and Bob; the Glenn group of Glenn, Tara and the Abraham 3; Daryl & the Bad Guys; Beth in the trunk of a car; and the Carol Bunch, with Carol, Tyreese, and three little girls.

This episode was 100% dedicated to the Carol Bunch, with the omipresent tension of "Will Tyreese find out that Carol killed Karen?" But we're further off-kilter by Lizzie. We know she likes to kill varmints and rodents, and we know she likes to treat walkers like pets, but we also know she almost suffocated baby Judith, so even though everyone knows she's a little off, they don't realize just how off she is.

Carol's concerned the girls are still too soft, especially Mika. She knows Lizzie has something killer about her, but she's trying to make sure they're equipped to survive. (Such a mournfully good performance by Melissa McBride this week as Carol.)  When they find a house with a propane tank and a deep well, they decide to stay for a while. Tyreese sits back in a chair in a living room for the first time in forever, and you can see the relief on his face, the pocket of normalcy they allow themselves.

But all can't stay well, and Lizzie decides to prove a point with Carol by killing Mika, to show that she'll turn into a walker but it'll still be her. Carol and Tyreese see the hard-wiring in Lizzie is beyond fixing, and they do the only thing they can do in that situation. #OfMiceAndMen

Once that nasty deed is done, Carol gives Tyreese a gun and then confesses, ending with "Do what you gotta do." Tyreese goes through the avalanche of emotions, and it's mostly through Chad Coleman's face and body language, but he comes to a believable conclusion. He forgives her, and the three of them abandon the house and get back on the road to Terminus.

(Those who've read the comics figured this time would come, though in the comics, it's two boys, and a younger Carl is the one who steps up and kills the "Lizzie" boy.)

Only two episodes left. Are any of these groups going to converge? Are we going to find out what happened to Beth?

The Walking Dead "Chained" - TV Review

It's not Carl's fault there's no one his age in the whole world.

A show's plot should always feel organic. These events lead to these events, which lead to these events... The best shows never feel like they're forcing something to happen just so they can get to this next plot point, which is the one they really believe in. Unfortunately, that happened in this episode.

We only follow two groups in this episode - the Rick & Carl show with Deadly Aunt Michonne, and then Glenn & the Newbies.  Michonne and Carl go on a supply run while Rick stays home to recouperate from his wounds. Timeline-wise, it's still only been 2-3 days since the Governor's final attack. The bonding time between Carl and his new mother figure (big sister figure?) reveals more about Michonne than we've been allowed to learn in three seasons. Back at home, though, Rick has to avoid a band of armed brothers who've picked his house - of all houses! - to poke around and take naps.

I find it interesting that Jeff Kober played the leader. We barely see him, which makes me believe his crew's going to meet up with Rick down the road.

The other storyline was the most problematic one. Abraham, Rosita and Eugene are here. Now what? It just had this lurching quality to it. Glenn wakes up. He freaks out and gets Abraham to stop the truck. Glenn and Abraham fight long enough for Eugene to grab a machine gun and shoot everything including the truck's gas tank when no one else is noticing the approaching walkers. Eugene says he knows how to fix the zombie crisis but won't give anyone the details because it's "classified." And no one presses him on this.

So their tale ends with the five of them (Tara's here too!) walking south to find Maggie and the bus, and we know that it's about 150 miles south of where they are now.

I don't know why they dyed Michael Cudlitz's hair red when his mustache is staying blond. I just hope they make better use of them in future episodes so their presence and actions don't feel so forced.

I also think from now on, as long as they're separated, I'm going to refer to each group Game of Thrones style.  Today we followed House Rick and House Glenn. Hopefully next week we'll see where House Daryl, House Tyreese, and House Maggie are doing. I like Jim Gaffigan's suggestion at changing the opening credits to show us who is where at the beginning of each episode.

AMC's The Walking Dead - "Inmates" - TV Review

Spoilers ahead.

So we know Rick, Carl, and Michonne survived the prison showdown but how did everyone else do? Everyone's splintered into groups, which is just fine with me. I hope they don't find each other two quickly. I don't need a "they never see each other again" separation like the Stark kids in Game of Thrones, but it'd be cool if they stretch this out a few episodes.

Group #1 - Daryl and Beth - These are two characters who haven't interacted much, so it's interesting to see how they'll play off each other. Beth's been the younger, slightly more immature sister to Maggie, and now she's with the Coolest Man Left on the Planet, she finds she's the more optimistic one of the duo. She's still reeling from her father's death, but this is a world where everyone is constantly reeling from loved ones' deaths. A narrative choice I really liked about this one is we see them following someone else's tracks and we don't know whose they are or what exactly happened. We see rabbit carcass and smashed grapes but what do they mean? They find some walkers eating the last of some human survivors and Beth has a breakdown. Is Daryl going to harden himself up again, or will he continue to grow as he makes himself Beth's rock.  But then we jump to...

Group #2 - Tyreese, Lizzie, Mika, Judith - We have our answer. Baby Judith is alive, and somehow Tyreese is in charge of all the surviving girls. They are the ones Daryl and Beth are tracking, and we have our mystery confirmation that Lizzie was the one who was mangling the rats at the prison, as she secretly cuts up a rabbit while the others aren't looking. (Dang, that would have been some protein.) There's also a chilling moment when Tyreese runs off to help someone, and Lizzie decides to shush crying Judith by suffocating her. Fortunately some intruding walkers disrupt Lizzie's murder attempt, but no one else noticed that's what she was doing. Lizzie's going to be trouble in the near future. Like serial-killer trouble.

Tyreese comes upon the humans that we know from earlier will all die, and to help him out, Carol shows up!  Hooray for Carol, the mama figure that Lizzie and Mika need.  Tyreese doesn't know Carol had been banished by Rick, and more importantly the why (she killed Karen), so now they're in tow as father-figure, mother-figure and three girls. It's Little House on the Zombie Prairie. And for the first time, we get a glimpse of hope, as they find a map that'll take them to place called Terminus, a train station where apparently other survivors have gathered. Hopefully it's real, although it's more likely it'll wind up being another trap, another Woodbury. And one final note, their group is walking the opposite direction down the tracks as Daryl and Beth.

Group #3 - Maggie, Sasha, Bob - Beth's sister, Tyreese's sister, and... Bob... are trying to figure out what to do next. Sasha thinks they should make camp, but Maggie wants to walk after the bus that held Glenn, whether they split up doing so or not. Bob knows what happens to black people in horror movies, so they all stick together. The bus isn't that far away, and this was an ingenius way of the writers to get rid of all of the extras. Remember in the final episode of season 3, when they took in the poor, the huddled masses, the leftovers from Woodbury? Between the virus and the prison shootout, most of them are dead. The bus is how the rest of them were wiped out. The bus is full of walkers, and Maggie needs to know Glenn is one of them. He isn't, and if they got to know any of the other characters from the bus, they don't show it beyond Bob's one-word eulogy: "These were good people."

Group #4 - Glenn, Tara - Glenn, it turns out, doubled back to the prison to try to find survivors. I guess he and Michonne just missed each other.  He loads up his backpack and puts on some riot gear, but then he sees Tara, who's locked herself in a cage. I was bummed her sister Lilly, the one who actually put the bullet in the Governor's brain, got an off-screen death (or maybe that means Lilly is still alive) but I like that Tara is still alive, still around to deal with the consequences of her actions and put a new flavor into the group dynamics.

And just when Glenn and Tara finish dealing with some walkers, we meet three new characters, who pose almost motif-style to end the episode. My wife didn't like their introduction. I've read the comics, so I was delighted to see them. Abraham, Rosita and Eugene should be around for a while, although the TV show has shown plenty of willingness to stray from the comics, so who knows what their presence will really mean.

So for our final six episodes of the season, we have a nice road-map. More than one group, I imagine, will find their way to Terminus, and the show should be able to hop around and keep the action moving. Rick, Carl and Michonne are our Group #5, so they can pick and choose air-time easily. For my money, Steven Yuen and Laurie Cohan are getting better and better as Glenn and Maggie. The show started off not great with its female characters, but Maggie, Michonne and Carol are all interesting, and Sasha, Tara and Beth can still turn out that way.

I like the comic-book way how characters rarely change clothes or even hairstyles. Sometimes, just once, I'd like Daryl to slick his hair back.

It remains like Lost to me. Not the best show on TV, but still one of the most must-see addicting.

AMC's The Walking Dead - "After" - TV Review

I bought the Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1 after Season 3, and there are lots of differences between the comics and the TV show. Up to this point in the comics, for instance, Dale and Andrea are still alive, and Merle & Daryl Dixon were creations solely for the TV show. Volume 1 ends right at Season 4's midseason finale, so when I bought Volume 2, I didn't have any idea where it was going to go.

This week's episode was very faithful to the comics, and as such, I really enjoyed it, and I'm excited for where the TV show's going to go from here. Carl's younger in the comics, and Chandler Riggs is obviously aging faster than the timeline for the show (we're about two years in, timeline-wise).  The character of Carl has evolved and I'm really enjoying it. I've seen a lot of Carl hate online, especially for his bratty behavior this week, but it makes sense for me. Carl's pissed, and teenage boys who are pissed lash out. I like butt-kicking zombie-shooting Carl. He's in a world where a normal childhood will never happen. The boy shot his mother in the head, for crying out loud.

By the end, Carl realized that he's not as tough as he thinks he is and he still needs his dad, and it ended on a hopeful note not only for Carl and Rick discovering they're not alone, but for Michonne to realize she's not going to go back to her unfeeling Season 2 self.

The Walking Dead's never been a perfect series. Season 2 required some endurance, but it all paid off in Season 3, and now I'm excited for where the rest of Season 4 is going to go.

In other TV viewing of mine:

Syfy's HELIX - I've watched the first episode, and I liked it enough to keep watching. It's further down my queue for priority, but I'm intrigued enough to see where it goes. The series takes place in a disease-research facility in Antarctica, where a new, deadly contagion may be on the loose. Billy Campbell (The Killing) stars.

Starz's BLACK SAILS - This felt like Deadwood at Sea more than anything. I like the idea of a young John Silver as part of the crew, and I imagine his path will eventually become the front-front of the series, but this show belongs to Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) as Captain Flint.

Weekly TV Ratings Oct 10-16

For the week of October 10-16. (not counting Saturdays)
ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox

Title (Network) Day - viewers in million / 18-49 demo rating

HITS
1. NFL Football (NBC) Sun - 22.07 million / 8.4
2. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) Thu - 17.64 / 5.1
3. The OT Live (Fox) Sun - 14.11 / 5.1
4. The Voice (NBC) Mon - 13.87 / 4.5
5. Football Night in America (NBC) Sun - 11.77 / 4.5
6. Modern Family (ABC) Wed - 10.85 / 4.0
7. The Voice (NBC) Tue - 12.69 / 3.9
8. Scandal (ABC) Thu - 9.01 / 3.1
9. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) Mon - 7.98 / 3.1
10. NCIS (CBS) Tue - 18.43 / 3.0
11. The Millers (CBS) Thu - 11.73 / 3.0
12. The Blacklist (NBC) Mon - 10.93 / 3.0
13. Toy Story of Terror (ABC) Wed (special) - 10.29 / 3.0

SUCCESSFUL
14. Glee (Fox) Thu - 7.39 / 2.9
15. Grey's Anatomy (ABC) Thu - 8.79 / 2.8
16. Criminal Minds (CBS) Wed - 10.95 / 2.7
17. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC) Tue - 7.68 / 2.7
18. Sleepy Hollow (Fox) Mon - 7.59 / 2.7
19. NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) 14.68 / 2.6
20. Survivor (CBS) Wed - 9.89 / 2.5
21. The Crazy Ones (CBS) Thu - 9.69 / 2.4
22. MLB Baseball (Fox) Sun - 8.35 / 2.4
23. Chicago Fire (NBC) Tue - 8.25 / 2.4
24. MLB Baseball (Fox) Wed - 8.06 / 2.4
25. Once Upon A Time (ABC) Sun - 7.53 / 2.4

WON'T GET CANCELLED
26. Two and a Half Men (CBS) Thu - 9.14 / 2.3
27. Castle (ABC) Mon - 11.11 / 2.2
28. The Biggest Loser (NBC) Tue - 7.00 / 2.2
29. Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Mon - 12.99 / 2.1
30. Person of Interest (CBS) Tue - 12.42 / 2.1
31. Super Fun Night (ABC) Wed - 6.02 / 2.1
32. CSI (CBS) Wed - 9.43 / 2.0
33. Mom (CBS) Mon - 7.44 / 2.0
34. Bones (Fox) Mon - 7.30 / 2.0
35. The X Factor (Fox) Thu - 6.49 / 2.0
36. Elementary (CBS) Thu - 9.06 / 1.9
37. The Amazing Race (CBS) Sun - 8.08 / 1.9
38. Back in the Game (ABC) Wed - 6.24 / 1.8
39. New Girl (Fox) Tue - 3.48 / 1.8

THE REST
40. Shark Tank (ABC) Fri - 6.53 / 1.7
41. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC) Thu - 5.82 / 1.7
42. Nashville (ABC) Wed - 5.75 / 1.7
43. Law & Order: SVU (NBC) Wed - 5.39 / 1.7
44. Revenge (ABC) Sun - 6.00 / 1.6
45. The Goldbergs (ABC) Tue - 5.08 / 1.6
46. 60 Minutes (CBS) Sun - 10.62 / 1.5
47. Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) Fri - 9.24 / 1.5
48. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox) Tue - 3.41 / 1.5
49. Blue Bloods (CBS) Fri - 10.56 / 1.4
50. Revolution (NBC) Wed - 5.39 / 1.4
51. MasterChef Jr. (Fox) Fri - 3.92 / 1.4
52. Dads (Fox) Tue - 3.40 / 1.4
53. The Mindy Project (Fox) Tue - 2.83 / 1.4
54. The Mentalist (CBS) Sun - 9.38 / 1.3
55. Undercover Boss (CBS) Fri - 7.86 / 1.3
56. Trophy Wife (ABC) Tue - 4.07 / 1.3
57. The Good Wife (CBS) Sun - 8.46 / 1.2
58. Last Man Standing (ABC) Fri - 6.03 / 1.2
59. Dateline (NBC) Fri - 5.28 / 1.2
60. Hostages (CBS) Mon - 5.16 / 1.2
61. The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC) Thu - 3.86 / 1.2
62. Parenthood (NBC) Thu - 3.77 / 1.2
63. Parks & Recreation (NBC) Thu - 3.23 / 1.2
64. Ironside (NBC) Wed - 4.91 / 1.1
65. 20/20 (ABC) Fri - 4.75 / 1.1
66. Sean Saves the World (NBC) Thu - 3.26 / 1.0
67. The Neighbors (ABC) Fri - 4.12 / 0.9
68. Betrayal (ABC) Sun - 2.88 / 0.8
69. Welcome to the Family (NBC) Thu - 2.49 / 0.8

RERUNS
x. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) Mon (r) - 8.54 / 2.2
x. Scandal (ABC) Tue (r) - 2.77 / 0.7
x. Sean Saves the World (NBC) Fri (r) - 2.79 / 0.7
x. Sleepy Hollow (Fox) Fri (r) - 2.13 / 0.7
x. The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC) Fri (r) - 2.79 / 0.6

ABC
Betrayal should join Lucky 7 as the second show ABC has cancelled.  I would say this will be the last year for Last Man Standing and The Neighbors as well.  It's also not looking good for The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife on Tuesdays.

On Wednesday the ratings for new shows Back in the Game and Super Fun Night are actually disappointing based on their lead-ins. Also, the series premiere of Once Upon A Time in Wonderland were underwhelming.

ABC's most successful new show in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. It might now have the total viewers they covet, but these days, any network show would be happy to get a 2.7.  Modern Family is still its crown jewel, while they have the sudsers covered with Scandal and Grey's Anatomy.

CBS
This network gets the most overall viewers even if it isn't #1 in the demo.  Comedies are its forte there.  Hostages is its lowest-rated show, and even if CBS lets it end its 15-episode run, it won't be renewed. Also, based on the demo, I'd say this will be the last season for the excellent The Good Wife, which creatively seems like it still has 2-3 season in it. I hope it gets a proper send-off. It doesn't look promising for The Mentalist either.

NBC
Football and reality shows keep this channel afloat.  The Voice is now bigger than American Idol, and The X Factor is now irrelevant.  Welcome to the Family should be cancelled any day now, and Sean Saves the World will shortly follow. I also expect this to be the last year for Parks & Rec, and I wonder if NBC might try to save The Michael J. Fox Show by moving it to another night.

The Blacklist is its top scripted show (deservedly so). Sophomore series Revolution has all but lost its viewers. It'll be interesting to see how Grimm and Dracula do when they air next week.

FOX
Glee got a bump from those wanting to see how it'd handle Finn's death (including me, a non-Glee watcher). Sleepy Hollow is doing well, and The Following should be big when it returns. The Tuesday comedy night needs to dump Dads and Mindy Project and bring back Raising Hope and any other show that isn't Dads.

Also, here's the top cable-rated show from this week:

1. The Walking Dead (AMC) Sun - 16.11 / 8.2
2. NFL Football (ESPN) Mon - 11.95 / 4.7
3. Duck Dynasty (A&E) Wed - 7.4 / 3.2
4. NFL Football (NFLN) Thu - 7.81 / 3.1
5. NFL Post-Game (NFLN) Thu - 6.51 / 3.0
6. American Horror Story: Coven (FX) Wed - 5.54 / 3.0
7. Talking Dead (AMC) Sun - 5.10 / 2.6
8. The Walking Dead Marathon (AMC) Sun - 5.67 / 2.6
9. Sons of Anarchy (FX) Tue - 4.35 / 2.3
10. BET Hip Hop Awards (BET) - 3.69 / 1.8
11. Sportscenter (ESPN) Mon - 3.66 / 1.8
12. Real Husbands (BET) Tue - 3.54 / 1.8
13. MLB Baseball (TBS) Wed - 6.09 / 1.6
14. MLB Baseball (TBS) Tue - 5.79 / 1.6
15. MLB Baseball (TBS) Fri - 5.45 / 1.5
16. MLB Baseball (TBS) Thu - 5.45 / 1.5
17. WWE Raw (USA) Mon - 4.15 / 1.5
18. Bad Ink (A&E) Wed - 3.00 / 1.4

The Walking Dead Season 4 Trailer

More Daryl Dixon = Good thing

The Walking Dead "I Ain't a Judas" - TV Review

So, since Merle saved Rick's life, he's part of the group now.  He's given his non-apology shrugs to Glenn and Michonne.  Maybe they're going to begin the long road to redeem Merle, but more likely, he'll eventually be the downfall of the group.

I love having Andrea caught in the middle, and I loved how unwelcoming the group was upon seeing her.  But while it's in Michonne's character to withhold information, why didn't Maggie ever pull Andrea aside to spell out just what kind of man the Governor is?

I'm loving how Carl's morphed into this no-nonsense grown-up-too-soon kid, as willing to shoot a zombie as anyone else.  He's the only one in the group who can tell Rick that maybe he shouldn't lead anymore.

I'm hoping that Tyreese and company see through the Governor sooner rather than later.

The Walking Dead "Home" - TV Review

I like where this episode ended up.  You have Andrea still in Woodbury, knowing that it's her people in the prison, but she's divided by her loyalty to the town and to her former lover, the Governor.  You have the prison crowd, led by Glenn today, arguing that they need to strike first and assassinate the Governor.  And you have Daryl finally deciding he'd rather head back to the prison, where Merle wants to or not.  That climactic shoot-out was nicely out of nowhere, complete with the van full of walkers released into the prison yard.

Axel was the last of the original prisoners, and his death was out of left-field.  Now the prison gang need Tyreese and his people to return, as they need more multi-episode guest-stars to zombie chow later in the season.

The Walking Dead "Suicide King" - TV Review

Interested set of dilemmas for our players now that this show is back from its mid-season hiatus.

The Dixon Brothers are reunited and on the same page, but Daryl has a condition for going back to the prison fortress - "no him, no me."  Daryl knows his brother's a jerk. I can't remember if he knows exactly how far Merle and the Governor went with Maggie, but even then, Daryl's blood is blood.  "No him, no me." Had Carol been there when the decision was made, I don't think Daryl would've made it so easily.

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) is one of the coolest characters on TV. Reedus might never get nominated for it, but neither was Larry Hagman for his revisiting of J.R. Ewing or Nick Offerman for Ron Swanson. I love the older sister-younger brother dynamic that Carol and Daryl have.  No matter how hard Daryl wants to make himself, Carol's there to pat his chest and remind him he has a good heart.

Merle, meanwhile, is a dilemma. He has no reason to forgive Rick for handcuffing him to the top of the building, or to anyone else in the group for not coming back before he sawed his hand off. He may yet get a shot at redemption by being with Daryl, especially since the Governor's about to sink to some evil depths.

I like that Rick is still losing his mind.  After the phantom phone-calls, now he's seeing his wife appear in the rafters like she's been summoned by the Music of the Night.  With Daryl gone, Rick's the only alpha male left in the dwindling group, and he can't let himself let Tyreese and company join, which is a shame, because I get the feeling Adam and Ben are going to do something stupid and get one of the group members killed before they become zombie-chow.

AMC TV Shows

THE KILLING starts up again next week. Wasn't the season finale just six months ago? Regardless, I'm glad it's back soon enough. My wife watched season 1 with me but she decided she has no interest in season 2. I'll watch season 2, but I really hope it's not as morose as season 1. One can only take watching grieving parents for so long.

Still haven't watched the season finale of THE WALKING DEAD. I just hope the writers get a hold of themselves in season 3. Season 2 was full of bad dialogue and confusing character motivations. Still love the show; I just hope since we're getting the Governor in season 3 that it picks up. Was sad to see Dale go, but I liked how they had Shane exit. It had to be him or Rick.  I know they leave the farm and I assume a couple more characters get killed, but it'll be good for them to be on the road again.

I loved the season opener of MAD MEN. So nice to see Don Draper and company back. Now we're in 1966, and times are a-changing even as the characters wish they weren't. I liked the power struggle of SCDP, where Pete's exploring his powers as junior partner. He can pull in the unglamorous work, and now Roger Sterling finds himself trying to hide his uselessness. I like how Pete's a petty jerk except when he's around his wife. She brings out the best in him.

The underlying theme of Mad Men continues to be people looking for what they want, and when they get it, they're still not happy.  Don impulsively proposed to Megan at the end of last season.  Now they're a few months into their marriage and they already have cracks showing.  Roger and Lane are clearly unfulfilled in their marriages as well.

By the way, I tried about half an episode of COMIC BOOK MEN, the new reality show from Kevin Smith. I lasted about half an episode. Picture all the friends you had in college. Now picture the four geekiest who never grew up. Now picture them with their own show. What you are now picturing is more engaging than the reality of the actual show.

[Update: I watched the finale of The Walking Dead tonight.  I like how the group's on the run now.  I would have guessed that Patricia and Jimmy would have become zombie-food; they were the least developed characters on the show.  The show is at its best in action-mode.  When it got into dialogue, it entered shaky ground, and some actors are better at making it work than others.  I also like that Andrea is separated from the group, and now we have this cool hooded sword-lady with armless walkers as pets.]