Watching Dead - A Walking Dead Podcast - 708 – Hearts Still Beating

AMC’s The Walking Dead entered it’s mid-season hiatus last night with the episode, “Hearts Still Beating”, which had Jim and A.Ron asking if their hearts were still stirred by the drama on screen. Your mileage may vary, but we found it doing just enough to make up for the missteps this season, and promising just enough up tempo pacing that we’re, knock on wood, excited for it’s return in February? That maybe losing more than a 1/3rd of it’s audience in a season will scare the creative and studio types enough to stop dicking around and get serious about bringing this show to some sort of satisfying conclusion. In addition, we talk about mysterious boot person, the reunion of one of television’s most potent bromances, express concern for Maggie’s ripped uterus, and show mock concern about the show’s latest shocking death.

Watching Westworld - 110 – The Bicameral Mind

A.Ron and Jim are very pleased with how the violent delights over season one would up having violent ends in the finale episode for Westworld, “The Bicameral Mind”. Sure, maybe the first third of the episode was merely review for a class that has studied their podcasts and their reddit. But once Hector and Armistice got their hands on the P90s, it was pedal to the metal until the conclusion that we found extremely satisfying. Not only that, it setup season two so well that it’s almost criminal that we’ll have to wait until 2018 to find out more. But you won’t have to wait that long for Watching Westworld, we’ll be back next week for a wrap up podcast where we’ll consider your ideas for next season, including theories, thoughts on consciousness and sentience, casting suggestions, and who knows what else. See you then!

Watching Dead - A Walking Dead Podcast - 707 – Sing Me A Song

A.Ron and Jim are pleased to note that “Sing Me A Song” is an improved, if far from perfect episode of The Walking Dead. We discuss invisible Jesus, Carl being gun shy, Rosita being unreasonable and Eugene proving her claims of cowardice true, Spencer’s Latin studies finally paying off, and Rick and Aaron up to something awesome that unfortunately we’ll have to wait until next week to actually see. All this and a ton of feedback, coming your way!

Watching Westworld - 109 – The Well-Tempered Clavier

Many more puzzle pieces fell into place over the weekend as HBO’s Westworld deployed episode 109, “The Well-Tempered Clavier”. But there is still a lot left to uncover. Why did Dr. Ford deploy the reverie code? What is his ultimate intentions for his new narrative and indeed future of the park? What are those sentient robots doing hiding up in the hills of Westworld? And what does the Man in Black intend to do with Delores once he finds her? We’re excited to see how things wrap up next week, as we’re hoping to get a glimpse of how Nolan and Joy intend to expand this series going forward. See you then!

Watching Dead - A Walking Dead Podcast - 706 – Swear

Jim and A.Ron wonder if it’s all worth it anymore after seeing a historically bad episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, number 706, “Swear”. Aside from being the dreaded single POV focus episode featuring a second-tier character, so much of this made no sense and seemed pointless. From the zombie action sequences involving improbable combinations of dump trucks and sand, to the 538th, 539th, and 540th time we’ve heard one character bemoan the degradation of humanity to another, to questionable directorial and editing decisions, a lot of time and effort was spent to tell us of the existence of a community with an axe to grind against the Saviors that is heavily armed but suffering a shortage of effective warriors. Gee, where ever could we find a place that is disarmed with a crew of killers with itchy trigger fingers? We’re just one broken promise away from getting that creamy peanut butter inside that chocolate folks. Oh, and Heath has gone missing. “PPP” is somehow involved. And Tara has some weird tattoo. And we have feedback! Is this thing on? Is anyone still listening?! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE OUT THERE! THEY AIN’T US! HERE’S NOT HERE!

Watching Westworld - 108 – Trace Decay

Jim and A.Ron take in the latest episode of HBO’s Westworld, “Trace Decay”. Timelines are continuing to proliferate (we’re up to four now, in case you’re keeping score at home), everybody is still potentially a host, and William is probably the MiB after all. But there’s a lot of nice stuff here, from the increasingly evident narcisism and nihilism of Dr. Ford to Bernard struggling to cope with his new station in life. And hooboy, is this “upload 35 years worth of Westworld madness into this Abernathy guy’s head” plan of Hale’s going to be a glorious trainwreck or what? Lots of stuff to look forward to, and keep in mind we’ve got just two short weeks before god knows how long of a hiatus. So savor all the timelines, hosts, and idiot techs while you can.

Watching Dead - A Walking Dead Podcast - 705 – Go Getters

Carl and Enid rolling down the street! S-K-A-T-I-N-G! Sure, we all loved Richonne, but step aside, there’s a new hot apocalyptic romance in Alexandria: Carnid. Or Earl? Whatever, it was cute, and fun, and gives Carl a new angle to work besides the increasingly silly hair and hat routine. What else? Oh, Maggie is a boss, of course, tractors are employed in unusual circumstances, Gregory is literally The Worst, Michonne struggles to adapt to a post-Negan world, and the biggest surprise of them all; The Walking Dead writer’s staff deftly juggling no less than three separate plots in a single episode! All of this and more are discussed, including emails from your fellow fans.

American Horror Story Podcast - 610 – Chapter 10

We’re done, and so is FX’s American Horror Story for yet another year, with the release of episode 610, “Chapter 10”. This episode isn’t going to change your mind about the season one way or another, but we found it funny and campy even if the end ultimately didn’t pay off the way it could have if almost every decision about Lee’s character was the literal opposite of what the show did, but hey. You can’t win them all, or lose them all, even if you’re Ryan Murphy writing this crazy, crazy show. For our money, this season will be about the lack of credit sequence and some of the best genuine scares the show has managed in years. Plenty of room for people to love and hate the season, as our feedback section will attest, but maybe that’s part of the fun, too? Stay tuned to Bald Move to see what Cecily and I will be up to next. If nothing else, we’ll be reunited for next year’s run of Orange is the New Black!

Watching Westworld - 107 – Trompe L’Oeil

The floodgates have opened after the release of the newest episode of HBO’s Westworld, “Trompe L’Oeil”. Everyone is a host, unless you think they’re a host, then they’re a double secret human. There are at least five timelines, six of which take place on Mars. The robots can kill, unless they’re Clementine, but then again she’s an expert at faking it. If you’ve experienced trauma from watching this episode, never fear. Buffalo are standing by to provide medical care and O negative blood and will be there to assist soon.