Rambling TV: Thoughts on Westworld, The Walking Dead, and Agents of SHIELD

The Walking Dead

Thought you'd see how Maggie and Sasha were doing after the deaths of their husband and lover? Thought you'd see how Carl and Rick were handling that almost arm slicing? Nah, let's kill that momentum and check in with Carol and Morgan at the Kingdom. (Interesting enough, this episode was actually supposed to be the 3rd of the season, and next week's was supposed to be the 2nd. They switched the order last minute, probably because they wanted to make people "laugh") The best thing I can say about this episode is that I didn't hate it as much as I was expecting, and it probably will be more interesting than next week's, which we spend at the Sanctuary. 

Showrunner Scott Gimple is quite extraordinary in that he's managed to make me hate my favorite character's story so much. I'm sick of Suzy Homemaker Carol. I truly hope this is the last we see of it because it was never funny. It was over the top and I daresay pretty sexist at times. 

Shiva looks like shit, but we all knew he would. Morgan was actually a lot better in this episode than he was in all of season 6. I didn't hate Ezekiel as much as I thought it would though. He's very over the top, and even though I nodded off during his monologue a little, he's at least entertaining. Even though the plot forces yet another man to "get" Carol when he family doesn't. Gimple needs all the pacifists to mansplain things to her, I guess. 


This episode was AMAZING. Easily my favorite of the entire season.

We find out Dolores still is in communication with Arnold somehow. She eerily says "I didn't tell him anything" after Dr. Ford interrogates her.  She steps up this episode, killing the men threatening William, kissing William, and talking him into escaping with her after she realizes they're caught in a trap. (And leaving behind Logan, who is still an asshole) At one point she says "You say people come here to re-imagine the story of their lives. I imagined a story where I didn't have to be the damsel." It was perfection.

On the employee side of things, Elsie and Felix got some focus. Felix dreams of programming and he fixes up a bird he smuggled out of the part, which flies straight to Mauve to end the episode. And Elsie forces a butcher to let her examine the body of the host that tried to kill her after catching him on camera having sex with a host he was supposed to be repairing. (she calls him a creepy necroperv) She finds a device in his body that she believes was used to smuggle intel out of the park. She brings it to Bernard.

The Man in Black generously gives Teddy a blood donation after killing that other guy he was traveling with, then he gets a visit from Dr. Ford. This was the first time we've really seen MIB not have complete control. 

All I want to do now is learn more about Arnold. I'm not even going to touch reddit right now. I'll fall down the theory rabbit hole. 

Agents of SHIELD

We're back to Daisy being completely insufferable this week. Her suicide mission at the prison was cringeworthy. Of course they have to show how much Coulson and May REALLY care about her. Just let her go people, she's never been a good fit on this show.

Robbie got some revenge on the man who called the hit that paralyzed his brother. Easily the best scene of the episode, but because they were in a prison, the whole thing was caught on security videos so now the government has something on SHIELD.

Oh, and the director came out as an Inhuman on live TV, apparently embellished something that he "did" in Vienna - that Simmons called him out on, then allowed himself to get manipulated by a Senator with that prison footage. I miss Nick Fury.  

Rambling TV is a weekly series where I ramble semi-coherently about the things I've watched on television. Click those gifs to be directed to their makers.


  1. The last episode of Westworld is currently my favorite episode so far.... Evan in those pants and killing some dudes. Elsie being fucking awesome and see if that host w/ the big black cock can work, Dr. Ford and the Man in Black meet, and Thandie Newton being cool. Plus, it's got NIN baby. I fucking marked the fuck out when I heard that.

  2. I actually think Ford had less control than MiB there. That knife moment was just a representation of host's instinct to protect a human being. But that whole thing with him pulling a knife and dropping that what will I find if I open you up line was confusing and just adds fuel to those Ford is a host theories which is actually refuted by this very scene since Teddy wants to protect him....Goddammit :lol: Ford knows very little about that maze and is trying to gain info and is doing terribly :D

    1. I don't think that knife thing was about protecting any hosts, I think it was about protecting Dr. Ford. No other hosts interfered when William and Logan were fighting.

      I didn't realize people thought Dr. Ford could be a host. I never thought he was anything but a human

  3. Switching around episodes 2 and 3 was so frivolous. Gimple/Nicotero/whoever focus way too much on style and trying to get hype for the show every week by constantly switching things up when they need to be consistent. I don't mind Carol having friendships with Ezekiel (still don't care about Morgan that much), but some of these things should've been revealed to her Alexandria family. I feel like the physical/emotional distance between them is going too far.

    1. EXACTLY. They've forced her into isolation just so she can fulfill Comic Michonne's stupid pirate arc which nobody liked anyways. It's ridiculous. I want Carol to go back to her family.


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