Tag: Worth Your Time

White Horse picks up the tale of Spear. He’s out in the woods, hungry, hurt and cold. There are survivors about, but Spears hides from them, not sure if they are friend or foe. At least until we walks out of the trees an comes face to face with the man who has been slowly trailing him.

The newcomer gives Spears some water, and says he knows him, but Spears doesn’t seem to remember Braithwaite when he introduces himself.

Braithwaite claims to forget Spears name, and Spears is positive he doesn’t know Braithwaite, regardless of what Braithwaite says. Braithwaite says something very telling. He believes that they will both laugh once they realize who each other are.

While on the move Spears and Braithwaite hunker down and watch as a man on a Pale Horse trots by. Spears wanted Braithwaite to take the shot, but Braithwaite says it wouldn’t have mattered. If he had shot, the horse would have bolted anyway.

All the while Braithwaite keeps trying out names on Spears while saying things like “It’s a clean slate all around.” A little further along they find a woodsman, crushed under a fallen tree. While scavenging they find a bit of gear to start a fire as well as a pistol, which Braithwaite hands over to Spears. I think it was this act that bought Braithwaite some of Spears trust.

Spears and Braithwaite sit around the fire, drinking the dead woodsman bottle of booze, when Braithwaite pulls out a PayDay candy bar. He’s willing to share it but Spears is allergic to nuts. As they sit there Braithwaite drops more truth bombs. He knows Spears from back in teh day, and now Spears can’t deny it. Braithwaite knows him and his brother both. It’s at the end of this interaction that we first here them pledge that bygones are bygones.

When Braithwaite wants to see how badly hurt Spears is, Spears starts throwing punches and ends up getting his ass knocked out as repayment.

When Braithwaite wakes Spears up, its dark, pouring rain, and then we hear Zombies and a horse in the distance. As they are moving through woods Braithwaite tells Spears about his cabin. There is food, guns, and ammo, they just need to live long enough to get there.

As they are walking they find strange symbols in the trees and get a little spooked. It’s not long before they get run down by a small horde and are forced to shoot, which brings more Zombies. They rush through the woods until they find a cabin to shelter in. Great right? Well, maybe not so much. The place is covered in crazy scribbles.

When they see blood dripping from upstairs they draw their weapons and go to clear the 2nd floor only to find an old man surrounded by the bodies of what look like cult followers.

Spears then asks the old man something prophetic:

The next morning Braithwaite and Spears walk out to a mostly dry riverbed. As they are standing there talking Spears remembers Braithwaite. In another life Spears, or Little James, put two bullets in Braithwaite as he drank a lemonade. Braithwaite goes on to say he’s no longer a vengeful person, bygones after all.

Spears seems to struggle with the knowledge, thinking it means he may need to finish the job as the White Horse comes walking up the riverbed. We see Spears put the revolver to the back to Brathwaite’s head before the other man walks away, never looking back.

Watching White Horse for a second time it was very clear that Braithwaite knew who Spears was the whole time. What was his motivation? Wouldn’t he have known or guessed that Spears would see him as a threat? Was this his effort to get some form of internal closure? It sounds like he might not have been the nicest guy back in the day, or was it just that he was alone and Spears was that rare bit of throwback to the time before? Let me know what you think in the comments.

White Horse was an intense, well written, story that detailed how the world changed how two men saw each other. In the end Spears let Braithwaite walk away, and the two went their separate ways. White Horse earned every one of its 88 points, making it Worth Your Time.

What cost it a few points? Mostly the lack of more Zombies and the lack of explanation as to why Brathwaite played what was a very dangerous game of “Do you remember me?” with a man who was a known killer.

Cold War begins with a warning. Life can be stressful, if you need help, please get help. Visit https://www.wannatalkaboutit.com/ to find support. Take the first step.

Cold War opens with the band of well armed men closing in on the house. They start out in stealth mode but that doesn’t last long. The Zombie circling the house charges, drawing a ton of fire. The occupants of the house now know they are under attack. The brave attackers use Sun as a distraction, telling her to wave a bit of cloth.

Inside, Rose sends Anna upstairs while she plans on defending the 1st floor. Freddie desperately wants a gun, and then to surrender. Thankfully Rose isn’t taking any chances with a grouped of armed men around Anna. After Anna takes a shot the well armed group lights up the house, hitting Freddie in the process. This is when Rose does something cruel, gut genius. What do you do with someone who is likely do die and turn into a Zombie?

It’s not nice, but Rose just put a deadly guard in the basement.

Lucky for Rose and Anna the second group of survivors shows up while they are being attacked. This results in a three way shootout. This makes it much easier to survive. Everyone is shooting at each other, instead of them all shooting at you.

Which brings one unfortunate soul into the basement where Freddie gets a little too close and personal.

Outside the main group of well armed men have made it to the house and breached through a window. The combat scenes are just so well done, and I like how there isn’t much hesitation about what needs to happen after someone is bit.

Poor Sun is caught in the crossfire, here hands cuffed together as she just tries to avoid getting shot or bit. Even after she saves one of the militia, they still treat her like a prisoner.

Breach takes us back to the initial attack and Anna taking the shot that ends up getting the house lit up. Then Rose comes up, already having dumped Freddie down the stairs.

The militia comes in and begins to sweep the house as Rose and Anna hide in the tub. Mother and daughter are found by the guy whom I thought was going to be Spears – but wasn’t. For some reason the militia let him leave and give him a chance to offer Rose and Anna a guide to the airstrip. He says he knows the pilot, and can get them there. Why? It’s not really clear, but he does seem as if he is a bit delayed. I do like his mittens though.

Near the end of Cold War we hear the plane overhead again, which I guess draws everyone else off to try and follow it? Why else would the house that was just swarming with gunmen be empty as Rose and Anna leave?

I’m giving Cold War an 83/100. The violence and story are great, but I hate how the timeline keeps switching back and forth. The sparse dialogue is also a pro and a con. It focuses you on the story and the stark visuals, but it also leaves a bit of a gap as to why and how everyone keeps navigating to the same locations. Finding out who is airdropping supplies seems like a good idea, but why are the survivors just immediately opening fire on each other? It seems like a bad strategy when the majority of the population are dead and trying to eat you.

Card Game opens with a bit of strange childhood competitive ranting as Freddie’s mom discusses her two sons. This is just before Rose and Anna show up and Freddie lets them in. I can’t help but think as Rose enters of the bloody house we saw in Episode 1.

I’m hoping and guessing we are going to get to see how that body got there. Freddie’s mom seems like a complete trainwreck. There seems to be multiple groups inside the house. Freddie’s mom and her two sons are one group, then we have the group who has a radio and can talk to the plane, and of course Rose and Anna as the third.

The Radio Group says there are crates out there – which I think is why that group ends up in the gunfight. Did I mention I hate the reversal chronology crap? Just let simple folks like me watch it in the order it happened in.

As Anna hits the head, I think we see Spears hiding upstairs? Would he know their voices from across floors? Freddie’s brother wants Rose to go with the crate retrieval group, but Rose basically shuts that down. I completely understand. There is no way I’d leave my kid in the Zombie Apocalypse.

Freddie asks to play the Card Game that Rose and Anna are playing, but he can’t quite get the hang of it, which is when we get to hear his creepy line about Rose smelling good.

I was glad the scene didn’t get rapey.

Shortly after, we see our Crate Retrieval expert race away on his snowmobile, barely dodging the lone Zombie living around the house. Why wouldn’t they just lure it to a door and stab it in the head or shoot it?

As night falls those inside the house get jumpy, resulting in a short standoff.

Freddie’s brother is a paranoid prick. He’s acting erraticaly, convinced that our Crate Retriever’s girl is lying to him. When they hear the plane again overhead he forces the young woman to radio, even though she isn’t supposed to.

When they give up on the radio our lady friend finds her axe is missing. never touch a ladies axe unless she invites you!

Shortly after we see Freddie go out to grab some wood – which is when his brother screws him over, forcing him to stay outside until he brings wood back – which is exactly how Freddie ends up in a tree.

Inside Freddie’s brother is paranoid as ever. He wants to know where the Crate Retriever went as well as where the axe went, all while attacking his brother to their mother, and Freddie’s mom is just a pure sweetheart:

When Freddie’s brother hears the radio he rushes upstairs, convinced the young woman was talking to someone, which gets her shot, which unleashes a Zombie inside the house. This turns into a mad fight as no one seems to have a gun on them. At least until Rose takes care of business, taking out our Zombie, and then the Old Lady who was bitten before she can turn as well. It’s not 100% who did the shooting either. I think Rose took out the first Zombie and then Anna maybe did the second? Unfortunately Freddie’s mom and a-hole brother are still alive at this point.

Rose, ever the good mom, gives Anna the little bit of food they have left. The survivors all look like they are emotionally done, and the only thing that gets Freddie’s brother off the couch is the sound of the radio on the second floor. He rushes upstairs and can hear someone talking, but he trashes the radio when the garbled speaker doesn’t respond to him. I’d say long term planning isn’t his strength.

When Freddie’s brother goes downstairs Rose and Mom are in a fight that quickly turns deadly:

I love how calm and collected Anna is after she’s just murdered someone. Is that strange? I think that to survive in that world you’d need to be prepared to kill in a heartbeat, and kids adapt quicker than adults. I just hope they don’t ruin Anna like the writers did with Carl in TWD.

Upstairs we see Spears, walking slowly, eyes wide, the axe in his hands. He walks down the hall until we Rose and Anna’s lower bodies, sleeping in bed, just before the episode ends.

Card Game Scoring

Card Game is a hard episode to score. On one level I hate that the Zombies didn’t play a more important part. On another I was kinda holding my breath all episode. I guess that says something about how well it was done, which is why Card Game is getting a 91/100, making it Worth Your Time.

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FYI, spoilers below…

Prelude opens with a man packing in his garage, desperately grabbing what he can. He then heads out into the house with a baseball bat held at the ready. He doesn’t get far before he stumbles on his family, now Zombies, and runs upstairs instead of giving them mercy.

Outside the sirens blare and we see people running. It looks like we have once again taken a step back in time. The man slowly takes off his ring before heading out into the blood covered hallways of his home.

Out on the street we see the team reunited. Spears, Sun, Rose, and Anna are together at this point (which I believe is pre Episode 1 – those god damn tricky producers). As they move down the street, forced to walk after their car’s gas was siphoned off by unknown scavengers, we once again hear and then see the plane in the sky overhead.

Yep, that’s clearly a plane!

We then see the well armed group from Episode 1, and I’m guessing we are eventually going to find out how Sun became a prisoner, as well as why Rose asked Freddie if she “still smelled good”.

Team Rose runs as the well armed gang hunts them through the town. Spears gets his gunshot wound offscreen before Sun pushes him down the ravine – probably saving him. She gives up to save Spears.

So why are these heavily armed men hunting other survivors? They clearly have gas and guns, why put themselves in harms way hunting scavengers?

We then cut to two men in a pickup as they drive into an ambush, which is how we get introduced to the less well armed group we saw battling the gun crew in Episode 1.

The next scene opens with a man checking out a car as the wind and snow blow outside. It is very cold out. Is that Freddie? I think it is but its really dark out. No, I think its the two guys from the very beginning who end up in the chase before they both get sniped. I did like that Friend 1 straps wounded Friend 2 down before they go to sleep – because if he dies in his sleep and turns, you know, it would be bad. Unfortunately for Friend 2, it’s not long before his body dies, turns, and breaks free of his belt.

We then see Spears, wounded and breathing heavily as that pesky plane flies overhead again. As Spears takes a rest we see a shape coming ever closer, marching across the snow landscape. Spears gets up and starts walking, his wound clearly slowing him down as he watches the figure approaching from behind. It doesn’t look like a Zombie to me – but I guess anyone following you in that world would be a bad sign. Things only get worse for spears as he stands on an icy ledge that gives out, giving him yet another rough ride down a hill. At the bottom he finds a lot of bodies, frozen or killed by violence? Nope, just frozen Zombies. As Spears borrows a pair of gloves from one of the mostly frozen Undead, his stalker stops at the top of the hill and watches.

Meanwhile Rose and Anna have found the house, and begin to approach it when a Zombie comes snarling down the lane. Lucky for Rose and Anna, the Undead are pretty dumb. Rose and Anna want into the house, and Rose risks a shot, but misses.

Lucky for Rose and Anna, the missed shot distracted the Zombie long enough for them to run to the door. When it opens we find the less well armed group is already inside. Thus ends Episode 2.

Prelude Scoring

Prelude was full of suspense and had a lot of good plot and background. What it didn’t have is a lot of Zombie violence in it, or much violence at all, which was a huge switch up when compared to Episode 1, which is costing it some points, 20 to be exact. Prelude is still well Worth Your Time at 80/100.

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If you are looking for a fix I’d suggest The Walking Dead!