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We're finally back! Ruthie and I are back with the Short Treks! We recorded episodes for the first three Short Treks on Tuesday, December 18th in back to back to back fashion. We'll be releasing them a few days apart over the holidays, so you can have time to listen to each of them before you get the next one! This time, we have the first Short Trek, titled Runaway.

Who can REALLY have a bad thing to say about this Short Trek? It features our favorite cadet, now an ensign, Sylvia Tilly! Ruthie and I both say that Tilly is our favorite character, and Mary Wiseman shows why Tilly is a favorite for so many viewers!

OK, I did have a bad thing to say about the Short Trek. I had one issue with the episode, and that is the Runaway herself, Po, and her Xahean species in general. I didn't have any problems with Yadira Guevara-Prip's performance, but the way the character changes over the course of 15 minutes was not believable to me. In fact, I really didn't like the episode because of it, on the first watch. On repeated watches, though, it became less of an issue, but it was still enough to take the rating down a couple of points. Listen to the episode for more. I also have a potential explanation for "the born at the same time as the planet" thing. Some might call that "head canon", but if you've ever listened to us, you KNOW how I feel about that term!

I found it to be an odd choice that they showed Tilly's mom in the form of a hologram, but didn't show her face! Why did the producers and director decide to do that? Was Mimi Kuzyk, who played the character, just temporarily cast in that role, or is there some other reason for it? It was very weird and a bit off-putting.

So, that's it for this mini-episode! Ruthie loved this episode more than I did, but I still liked it a lot. We'll be back in the next few days with the next Short Trek, titled Calypso.

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On this episode 90 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I discuss The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 8, which is titled Evolution. This was written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, and directed by Michael E. Satrazemis. Mark loved this episode, but I didn't. Some choices were bothering me this time around.

The rest of this blog post requires a SPOILER WARNING!!! If you haven't watched this week's episode, then you probably should stop now.

I am not afraid to admit that I enjoyed my Jesus jingle. I enjoyed it a lot more than the character, so now that he's gone in spectacular fashion, I am sad to see it go. Don't get me wrong. I am sad to see Jesus go, but he never lived up to his hype. He was just another character on the show. I know he was a much-loved character from the comic book, but in the show, he was underutilized. I never felt like I got to know him very well. He was always in the background. He went out in a great sequence, in a surprising turn. It's sad that he actually lived up to some of his potential in his last scene.

We get more of this hinting that there's a big rift between Alexandria and the other communities. Strike that... Not between Alexandria, but Michonne and the other communities. Everyone is giving her the cold shoulder this episode: Tara, Enid, Dianne, and even Carol. Yes, they talk, but notice how they didn't hug? Whatever happened, I'm starting to feel manipulated, much like I did before we found out the fate of Madison in Season 4 of Fear. I just wish they would tell us what happened.

The trials and tribulations of Henry were things we had seen before, both from Fear S3E3 TEOTWAWKI when Alicia met with the kids of Broke Jaw Ranch, and TWD S5E12 Remember, with Carl meeting Enid and Ron, and then later with Aiden and Nicholas' walker plaything. I really didn't need to see this stuff in the mid-season finale. Instead of getting a lot more information about this Michonne vs. everyone else that keeps being hinted at, we get more of Henry. It's not that I don't think we should have seen that - it was a timing issue. It could have waited for the back half. Instead, we have 2 1/2 months to wait for any of that to be explained; I could have really used that to be explained a lot more, and I wasn't waiting for Henry's story or the other angsty teens. By the way, using cats as bait is not cool. That kid is a serial killer wanna-be!!!

This week, TWD got a 1.96 in the 18-49, with 5.089 million, up from 1.80 and 4.794 million last week. That's down from the two episodes previous to that, but some of that can be explained because of the long holiday. Charts below.

On this episode 89 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I discuss The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 7, which is titled Stradivarius. This was written by Vivian Tse, who is a new writer to the show, and directed by Michael Cudlitz, who I’m sure you all remember played Abraham. This season continues to be the best in years.

The rest of this blog post requires a SPOILER WARNING!!! If you haven’t watched this week’s episode, then you probably should stop now.

It seems like Daryl has been out there, searching for Rick for the past six years, living alone, except for a new dog named Dog. It turns out that Daryl has the same X scar as Michonne does.

It was postulated that perhaps the rift between Michonne and Maggie could have been based upon Michonne finding out the circumstances behind why Rick was out there in the first place. If she found out that Daryl kept Rick out there to keep him away from Alexandria, and that Daryl’s actions were in part to blame for Rick’s purported death, then I could see there being a rift between Michonne and Maggie, and Daryl could have also been blamed. Maybe that’s why Daryl never went back to Alexandria, in addition to the guilt Daryl has. It doesn’t explain why they both have the same scar. I doubt that Maggie would have done that to them both.

Continuing from the end of the last episode, we see Rosita being pursued by a herd of walkers that can speak. She somehow got separated from Eugene, and the episode ends with the search for Eugene, led by Dog!

This week, TWD only got a 1.80 in the 18-49, with 4.794 million, down from 2.02 and 5.396 million last week. The 1.80 marks the all-time low for ratings in the 18-49 demographic. There were two episodes lower in viewers in Season 1, but this episode isn’t far ahead of them. With the mid-season finale airing on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it’s highly possible that next week’s ratings could go even lower, although I hope I am wrong. Charts below.

Please leave your feedback for The Walking Dead, Season 9 Episode 8, titled Evolution, by 6 PM Eastern/5 PM Central on Tuesday, November 27, 2018. Check the Facebook group for any deadline changes, and that's one of the best ways to l

On this episode 88 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I discuss The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 6, which is titled Who Are You Now? This was written by Eddie Guzelian, and directed by Larry Teng.

The rest of this blog post requires a SPOILER WARNING!!! If you haven't watched this week's episode, then you probably should stop now.

I couldn't help but notice Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan have been removed from the credits, with Norman Reedus now appearing first in the credits for the first time, Danai Gurira second, Melissa McBride third and Alanna Masterson fourth. Also, Khary Payton has been moved to the main credits for the first time.

Speaking of the credits, there's nothing specifically mentioned in the story about Maggie, but we know some things happened after the last episode. We can only assume that she's not the person leading the Hilltop, but we cannot say who is, except that whoever is leading is a woman. I personally hope they fill in the gaps as far as where Maggie is and what happened to her in the next episode.

We see Michonne has a big scar on her back in the form of the letter X and might have been a branding scar, and we'd love a flashback to see what happened there. Various other people have new scars, hairstyles, and even personality changes. Gabriel and Rosita are a thing???

Eugene's now a badass and grew out his hair??? We also see some of the Saviors are now living in Alexandria. Others are marauders, as Carol and Henry discover. Carol shows once again that if you underestimate her, you might get burned! Rimshot!!! Daryl is living alone... and seems lost. Michonne's in Alexandria, but she's also lost, and talking to Rick. It is really sad, and I started to cry... and stopped in my tracks when I realized he's not dead or at least wasn't dead when they thought he died six years before. That undermines the emotional underpinnings of the story, but not fatally. This was a great episode in what's been the best season since Season 5 or 6.

We see the walkers behaving in ways we've never seen before, including talking. Are they evolving, or is something else at hand? Well, we think this is not what it seems, but time will tell.

This week, TWD got a 2.02 in the 18-49, with 5.396 million, slightly down from the 2.07 last week, from 5.414 million. All things considered, that's a decent result. Charts below.

Please leave your feedback for The Walking Dead, Season 9 Episode 7, titled Stradivarius, by 6 PM Eastern/5 PM Central on Tuesday, November 20, 2018. Check the Facebook group for any deadline changes, and that's one of the best ways you can leave feedback!

On this (longest ever) episode 87 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I are joined by Mark's co-host on Panels to Pixels, Steve, as we talk through The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 5, which is titled What Comes After. The teleplay was written by co-executive producer Matthew Negrete, based on a story by TWD Chief Creative Officer Scott M. Gimple & Matthew Negrete, and directed by executive producer Greg Nicotero. We all loved this episode, though we also admit that it has some faults.

The rest of this blog post requires a SPOILER WARNING!!! If you haven't watched this week's episode, then you probably should stop now.

A good portion of this episode is seen in hallucinations. Thankfully, we see three people he needs to see. The scene with Shane was priceless. Jon Bernthal was so good in this show in the first two seasons, and seeing Rick and Shane together again, even if only for a short minute, was great. The next hallucination was Hershel, played by the late Scott Wilson. This one really made me cry, both in the joy of seeing Hershel again, and sorrow over Scott Wilson's recent passing in real life. The third was Sasha. You could argue that Sasha's character was the only one that probably wasn't the first choice, but seeing Sonequa Martin-Green's character again probably hit me the hardest of all. I think that was mostly due to me being attached to because of her portrayal of Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery. One could argue that one should have been Glenn, Abraham, or even Carl, but I think Sasha worked nonetheless. The last vision is with Michonne. I said soon to be, not because she is leaving, too, but because Rick is leaving, and Michonne will lose her partner.

Maggie reaches Alexandria, intent on killing Negan, but Michonne stops her. I thought this would be a standoff between them, but Maggie ultimately convinces Michonne to let her see Negan, despite knowing what would probably happen as a result. Maggie ultimately decides not to kill him, as that would give him the release he does not deserve.

Rick was bleeding throughout the episode, yet does not succumb to his injuries. The bridge explodes, and it seems that Rick somehow escapes without a scratch? How did that happen? He somehow survives both his rebar injury and the explosion and is taken via helicopter to who knows where.

We still don't know what an A or a B is, but we do know that Rick is a B. I guess we may not know more until the first TWD movie comes out.

In the final scene, we see that there's been another time jump, as a new group of survivors being surrounded by walkers, only to be rescued by the 10-year-old Judith Grimes! This looks interesting, and we'll see where the story goes from here!

As you can see from these rating and viewer charts, created by me, you'll see that ratings were up again, with 2.07 in the 18-49 demographic, slightly above the 1.95 from last week, and 5.414 million viewers, slightly up from 5.095 million last week. What ratings will do after this episode is anyone's guess. They could go up again, or take anothe

On this episode 86 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I talk through The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 4, which is titled The Obliged. It was written by Geraldine Inoa, and this is her first IMDB credit, and directed by Rosemary Rodriguez. We both loved this one and are still happy with the direction the show is going this season. Except...

It's hard to believe, but next episode, we'll be discussing the final episode of Rick Grimes!!! I am really not looking forward to saying goodbye to my favorite character. I know I would have been really, really upset if they had killed off his character out of the blue, much like how I was upset with a couple of deaths in Fear the Walking Dead Season 4. That said, Rick Grimes IS The Walking Dead, much more than Madison or Nick WERE Fear, so Rick's death, assuming he dies, will be much more traumatic, even knowing about it.

It seems like Maggie is going to Alexandria to kill Negan. Will she succeed, and next week is a big fake out??? Is she going to decide not to kill him after she sees him? Will Michonne stop her? We know that this episode will focus on Rick, so we may not ultimately see what happens here, but I think we will see something, even if not a lot.

So, Negan's got a fixation with Lucille, doesn't he? He tries to make it sound like they are the same, but we know that is not the case. It was all just to get his bat Lucille. So where is that bat anyway? Do you believe her that they just left it out there, probably by that tree with the stained glass, or do they have it somewhere? To me, I hope they just threw it in a river or buried, or even burned it. I don't want him to ever get that bat back. I liked how Michonne needs to get her "workout" by killing walkers at night. To me, that's a job that's never done, and I think that's healthy for her to do.

There was some good drama between Rick and Daryl. Major kudos go to Angela Kang and how much of an improvement we've gotten in Daryl's character since she took the reigns from the Gimple! Still, the whole sinkhole was a bit contrived. Are we to believe that no walkers fell into it until then? I don't buy it. It was a minor contrivance in an otherwise good episode.

Again, with the Rube Goldberg walker contraptions? What's the point? So, do you think that she's gone with the helicopter, or is she still around? What's an A? If she's not bringing back Gabriel as an A, who will she take as her A? Could she take an injured Rick? Negan? Maggie? Someone else? What's a B?

As you can see from these rating and viewer charts, created by me, you'll see that ratings were up a little bit, with 1.95 in the 18-49 demographic, slightly above the 1.93 from last week, and 5.095 million viewers, slightly up from 5.037 million last week. Ratings should go up the next episodes, for Rick's last episode, and the World Series is over now.

On this episode 85 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Kyle joins Mark and me, as we talk through The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 3, which is titled Warning Signs. It was written by Corey Reed and directed by Dan Liu. We all loved this one and are still happy with the direction the show is going this season. Except...

It's hard to believe, but in just two episodes, we'll be discussing the final episode of Rick Grimes!!! I am not looking forward to saying goodbye to my favorite character, but I appreciate knowing he's leaving ahead of time. I know I would have been really, really upset if they had killed off his character out of the blue, much like how I was upset with a couple of deaths in Fear the Walking Dead Season 4. That said, Rick Grimes IS The Walking Dead, much more than Madison or Nick WERE Fear, so Rick's death, assuming he dies, will be much more traumatic, even knowing about it.

It seems doomed, but Rick wants to expand the family and have a child with Michonne. While I would love for this to happen, knowing that Rick is not long for this show makes that very bittersweet. It would be great if Rick could live on in a son or daughter, but not getting to see them together is sad.

We learn at the end of the episode that it's the Oceanside that's been killing Saviors. Was Arat reformed? Did she deserve to die? In some ways, absolutely. In other ways, she appeared to be beyond her evil ways, but the Oceansiders had reasons for wanting her dead, like the rest of the Saviors involved in the deaths of their men and boys. Forcing warring factions to live together without a way for them to heal and get beyond the past is doomed to fail, and I think that's what we're seeing here. It's worth mentioning that we COMPLETELY missed that Maggie and Daryl were carrying the missing ethanol at the end of the episode, even AFTER playing Steve's message that mentions it. Oops! Note to self: Make sure you listen to voicemails BEFORE you play them!!!

We learn more about the helicopter and see that it is tied to the trading of people. So Gabriel is not a B? What's a B? What's an A? Do I care? I think I do, actually. I personally thought the helicopter was from the Commonwealth... remember Georgie and the twins? However, it seems fairly clear I was wrong about that, and the helicopter belongs to another group entirely. I am disappointed in Anne's turn back to the dark side, but Gabriel should have known better. Still, I guess he had affection for her and was blinded (no pun intended) into thinking that his new girlfriend is, actually, a good person. Will Rick leave via the helicopter? We will know soon enough, but I think it's a strong possibility.

As you can see from these rating and viewer charts, created by me, you'll see that the 18-49 rating hit an all-new low at 1.93, slightly below 1.98 last week, but the total viewers were up a tad from 4.947 to 5.037 million viewers. Ratings should go up the next two episodes.

On this episode 84 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I talk through The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 2, which is titled The Bridge. It was written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer. We both loved this one and are happy about the direction the show is going so far.

There's a great action sequence at the lumber camp, featuring the log rolling, a work accident, some great melee combat and Rick shooting the logs free and the awesome destruction unleashed as a result. Aaron's arm is gruesomely crushed, with flesh and bone showing. Enid is forced to think on her feet and do what she had no choice to do and amputate Aaron's arm, with Siddiq being back at home dealing with a bug that's hit Alexandria.

For me, this was one of the best sequences on the show in recent seasons, with outstanding special effects and makeup to make Aaron's injury so realistic. I was very impressed with these scenes, although some of the backstory was a little sketchy. Why would they put slacker Justin in charge of that second siren post? Did he get what he deserved at the end of the episode? I think so!

We saw some couples this episode, old and new. New couples Jerry and Nabila, Ezekiel and Carol, Anne and Gabriel, established couple (but new to us) Tammy Rose and Earl and, of course, staples Team Richonne! Were you surprised about Anne and Gabriel? Let's not forget the strained friendships of Rick and Daryl, Michonne and Maggie, and Maggie and Jesus (to a lesser extent). I look forward to how these develop - how many will survive?

As you can see from these rating and viewer charts, created by me, you'll see that the 18-49 rating hit an all-new low at 1.98, and the 4.937 million is the lowest since S1E4 Vatos. It is normal for ratings for the second episode to be lower than the premiere, but the decline cannot be denied. To contrast, last week got a 2.49 in the 18-49 with 6.076 million viewers.

Please leave your feedback for The Walking Dead, Season 9 Episode 3, titled Warning Signs, by 6 PM Eastern/5 PM Central on Tuesday, October 23, 2018. The best way to submit feedback is on our Facebook group.

If you want to help pay for the editing of this and other podcasts, I mentioned a while back that you can donate credits to my Auphonic account, which I use to make these episodes

On this episode 83 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I talk through The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 1, the season premiere, which is titled A New Beginning. It was written by executive producer/showrunner Angela Kang and directed by executive producer Greg Nicotero. Mark loved it, and I liked it a lot. I didn't have any major problems with it, except that it was a bit long and felt like a setup episode. It reminded me a lot of the Season 4 premiere, 30 Days Without an Accident. That said, I enjoyed this episode a lot more than most of what we had on Fear.

We see Gregory at his most despicable, bringing booze to an alcoholic at his lowest point, and conspiring to kill Maggie, while she is with baby Hershel, then attempt to kill her with a knife. I understand why Maggie executed Gregory, but she pulled a page from Negan by doing it, providing no due process, circumventing the democracy she was just elected to rule.

As you can see from these rating and viewer charts, created by me, you'll see that the ratings and viewers are the worst since Season 1. Is it that people are leaving the show in droves, or are there other factors in play? Yes, viewers may not be returning, but there are several other reasons for a ratings decline. One is that AMC Premiere made the episode available a day early for subscribers of the service. Another is that it premiered a couple of weeks earlier than the last few seasons, so some may not have realized that the show was back. Another is that this trend is not isolated to The Walking Dead. Ratings are down, across the board. I do wonder if viewers will return with news of Andrew Lincoln's departure.

One of my weak sauces was how Tammy Rose shifting blame from Maggie. It felt like the writers were grinding the gears a bit, forcing that conversation to tell the story. I said that my reaction to that was to say "OK..." That might have sounded dismissive, or worse - sexist - but Tammy Rose's reaction to Maggie is completely understandable. I also buy her sentiment about the Saviors. It was the putting of those two things together that felt forced, not emotions that I didn't buy or the delivery. Connecting them together felt forced to me. If Earl had said the same things, I'd have the same reaction.

Please leave your feedback for The Walking Dead, Season 9 Episode 2, titled "The Bridge", by 6 PM Eastern/5 PM Central on Tuesday, Oc

On this episode 51 of Fear the Walking Dead Talk Through, Kyle, Mark, and I talk through Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 16, the season finale, which is titled ...I Lose Myself. It was written by executive producers/showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg and directed by Michael E. Satrazemis. This episode had some good parts to it, but the story holes were deep and vast! Great characters, actors, visuals and camera work, but bad writing! Compared to last season, this finale was nowhere near as good as last season's finale. Next week, we come back as The Walking Dead Talk Through!

Ratings for ...I Lose Myself were up from the previous week, with a 0.71 in the 18-49 demographic, with 2.127 million viewers, up from last week's 0.66 and 2.033 million viewers.

Please leave your feedback for The Walking Dead, Season 9 Episode 1, titled "A New Beginning", by 6 PM Eastern/5 PM Central on Tuesday, October 9, 2018. The best way to submit feedback is on our Facebook group.

If you want to help pay for the editing of this and other podcasts, I mentioned a while back that you can donate credits to my Auphonic account, which I use to make these episodes sound so good! That link is https://auphonic.com/donate_credits?user=bmeloche.

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