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1. 

   Aaron on July 5, 2019 at 2:17 pm

   Whoever picked the sassy Al photo for the banner this week – good job! 👍🏻

   Some blog post comments…

   “If they are trying to rebuild civilization, why are they killing anyone they come in contact with?” – THIS! I understand the need for security because as we’ve seen you never want people to know where your supplies are and I get they have to be careful with who they take because of resources at the moment but what would have happened if Isabelle came up on June instead of Al, would she have really killed a nurse just for security?! June is just as valuable a resource as whatever her payload this week was I’d argue and possibly more valuable.

   “Yes, it was obvious that there was an attraction between Althea and Isabelle” – was there? I totally agree Al was doing everything she could to stay alive including possibly flirting I honestly didn’t know which way Isabelle was going until the kiss; sure they had like a lot of couple catch phrases getting hit hard in the middle section with “I don’t take orders from you” and “You fall I fall” but still for me Isabelle didn’t play as clearly in lust with Al as I could believe Al might like her. To me if Isabelle just had a change of heart at the end because she was upset about killing innocents at that point so she let Al go and there was no kiss it would have played out just as believable to me than her letting her go because she might like her romantically, actually it would have been more organic. Maybe if they had done more with Isabelle before the very end, such as having her laugh at one of Al’s comments or smile at her once even if Al doesn’t see it the audience does it would have played as less random but as is I personally didn’t buy Isabelle’s side of things as much.

   I did love Isabelle’s commitment to her organization and I thought the actress playing her did a great job there of working the mystery (even if their protocols didn’t make full sense – see above) and playing the person you don’t know if you can trust because she’s telling you they’re the bad guys and she’s being very distant so you could definitely sweat that end scene before she walks away but the romance side I just don’t buy it. Maybe if she and Al were out there for more than a day basically having to work together I could get it but as is it felt rushed just to do the kiss at the end which I loved the representation aspect and the confirmation Al is queer don’t get me wrong but the execution if you will just falls flat and I’m like “Yay kiss! Boo it’s not as organic as it could have been”. Maybe the next time they see each other it won’t feel so rushed but that’s if we see Isabelle again, I’m assuming so giving Al have her essentially her brother to look after; if she does return I don’t want Al to die trying to save her because they just hung out once – they’re not John/June and just because Isabelle showed this good side this episode it doesn’t mean she’s the good guy on the whole because who knows what’s going on at that complex! It’s kind of like Daniel and Madison – just because Isabelle CAN do good things it doesn’t mean she’s the good guy if you will.

   On to the podcast…

   We did get a glimpse of how Alicia can be strong with Madison still around in S4B with the flashbacks but I do agree as long as Madison was there I don’t know if we’d see full on badass Alicia because she always has her mom to fall back on; however that said given how Madison often favored Nick because of his past there were often times I could see Alicia kind of on her own against Madison and that would have been interesting to see! They did address how Alicia felt Madison wasn’t really there for her in S3 so it would take something big to kind of cause that divide but if they did it it would make for an interesting character dynamic. You can definitely have Madison and Alicia on the show if they wanted. *glares at current show team*

   I took it as on the whole it might have been 2 days they were out there because we start at night with Al being dragged away and then it cuts to the car zombie smash, which was awesome, and then they drive and we get another night scene so that’s at least a day’s time and if you count it taking all day to do the climb and take stock of things at the top that’s two days so by the time we get to the end scene I would say it’s been 2 days plus some change but not the full 72 hours.

   They actually call off the reclamation order at the end so I don’t think we’ll see any more of the group for a bit but who knows; the way Isabelle said “If you see anyone wearing this jacket run the other way!” it definitely sets up for someone to pop back up but I don’t think they’ll be hunted yet by someone who’s coming to clean up her mess because took to long to report in. The again it may be the movies the next time they’re shown, they just had this as a tease and to tie in as you all said but if they pop back up on the show as another solider pocket group for another tease of the situation Rick is in I wouldn’t be surprised.

   Speaking of those jackets, Al tell everyone you had a brilliant idea and then totally make those jackets for everyone! Note: Alicia’s must be made out of a black leather jacket because Madison callback!

   Possibly Mark? She is! 🙂 Bisexual at least.

   It’s ok Brian, the haircut is pretty on the nose; it’s definitely a style that’s going around for queer characters also – see Alex Danvers on “Supergirl” so I get saying they could do better with it. I will say though in this setting I don’t hate it as much as I would on another show because the style plays towards tactical advantage for the character, Al can’t be grabbed easily by her hair so short hair in this genre works for survival more than if this was say a non zombie drama or comedy. I’d almost argue the clothes they put Al in are more stereotypical than her hair; where is a jeans and a t-shirt with an awesome zombie proof jacket for Al? I know she needs the utility belt for her tapes but they can have her change clothes every now and then. Then again you could argue her style choices are for tactical advantage too; that’s one of the things I really like about Althea – she’s a smart character for the situation they’re in and she makes choices to wear long sleeves in Texas not because it’s comfortable but because it’s practical and I appreciate smart characters so while half of me is groaning at the cliche aspects of her the other half of me is cheering on her intelligence!

   It’s going to be interesting to see how they handle Al moving forward with this confirmation of her sexuality because on the one hand this is a zombie series where anyone can die, they kill their lead for crying out loud, so her not surviving to the end wouldn’t be out of possibilities but on the other hand there is SUCH an issue with television series killing off their queer characters for lame reasons that that’s just asking for rage from fans if you kill her off so what does the series do? I say she should survive just on her intelligence feature alone because again it is such a high stat for her character it makes sense it would save her and then two keep her going because she’s an interesting character who you can’t always predict and they need that back on the series since Daniel is just recurring and they killed off Madison. Maggie Grace has been in some pretty big stuff, “Taken” and “Twilight” most notably, so I don’t know how much contract cost but I’d lock her down if I was them because they have something good in Althea so keep it going; even if she does leave the show let it be known death isn’t the only way to write out a character, she could go to that facility they discussed in this episode and then we just never see her again until the remaining characters from both series end up there to see what it really is – a new beginning or the final end. I applaud the show for the confirmation and having Al be more than just a stereotype (beyond looks) but I do advise caution handling to them because while they haven’t killed off a queer character pointlessly on their series (at least Fear wise) they still can’t say they don’t know the mess up of other series (see 100) so saying this is the zombie apocalypse is only going to go so far if you write out Al; then again maybe confirming with the kiss she is queer is the shows way of saying she’s safe because they know of others screw ups in handling and they aren’t going to commit those errors with Al so she’s here as long as Maggie wants to be and then they’ll just stick her with Isabelle at the facility if Maggie leaves!

   Honestly the more I think about it the more I’m like “Cliché!” towards Isabelle having short hair than I am Al; yes again you can claim tactical advantage also for her especially with Isabelle’s military approach but the fact both ladies who like ladies have short hair is again on the nose so I would have liked to have seen Isabelle with longer hair (maybe shoulder length because short is smart) compared to the bob. Again it’s hard to be too mad at the costume choices because of the situation (things can use hair to grab you) but it is pretty cliché; I’ll go 80% cliché – 20% understandable character choice for Isabelle.

   Didn’t Strand cut hair as a job once? I know Daniel did so maybe that explains some of the haircuts. 🙂

   “I’m telling everyone everything that happened!” – that’s totally fair Detta. If there is an issue with this episode I can certainly give you it here because that did feel out of character to a point. I mean I guess you could argue Al has learned to not make everything about the story but still that seems kind of an important detail; at the least tell them about the awesome zombie proof jackets! But yeah I can give you this kind of kept it from being perfect to me.

   You asked what was the point of this week’s episode Brian and I may be wasting space on this explanation because I don’t know how much it will help you but I’m going to try and explain it some, at least maybe it’ll help you enjoy pieces more if you do a rewatch. First, I feel we can all almost argue that the chopper was a nod to the original series and Rick’s situation so it was a tease for that without having fans wait for the new season of TWD to show aspects; FEAR now loves brining in original stuff so promotion essentially. Secondly, we don’t know a lot about Al so it’s time she gets a centric episode to explain why she’s so hard up on these tapes just as “Weak” was explaining in part why she was so into keeping the truck she would risk her life to get it back. We also learned her last name finally to which I say DON’T KILL AL Show, I know how you horrors like yo get when people’s full names are revealed so back off that! 🙂 We also got confirmation that she does like the ladies, pretty sure a lot of fans guessed that the first time they saw her; was it a lot of stuff on Al? No. Was it some important stuff on Al? The way she’s been obsessed with the tapes I’d say that part is. Would I have loved to have seen a flashback in part episode of Al in the setting of S1 when it was all going down or maybe flashing back to some adventures she’s been on to explain some of her skills such as knowing you don’t stay in the car? YES! But I feel this was a start just as June had that cabin episode in S4A was it where we see why she likes John but why she would also leave him at that point and thus abandon others before he found her again. It was a half character exploration episode and half trailer tease essentially for Rick. Again I’m sure this isn’t going to make you raise your rating but maybe this will help you understand why others liked it and felt it was kind of a big deal.

   Also lets be fair to Al’s obsession some – Alicia shot at her with a RPG and hung her out the door for zombies to paw at yet they’re still traveling together so being chased and having a gun pulled on her is just like a Thursday to Al. Ha. She was still very much “anything for the story” at that point. As for the kiss, everyone else has made out with someone so let Al have her moment! 🙂

   I will totally give you Brian and Kyle “I got to see the prettiest thing I’ve seen since the end of everything” was SUPER cheesy. 🙂

   I’m 50/50 on Isabelle coming back because if she does I feel it’s either going to mean she’s dead and you get sad Al even though she knew her for just a hot second or Isabelle will take Al to the compound and that’s the end we see of Al for awhile and that would equal sad me; however, unsurprisingly I’m not sold on Isabelle/Al so if we don’t see that relationship again I’m not heartbroken but that said I’m for Al having a relationship on the series like John and June are getting (see Alicia/Althea writers). Then again if the love interest is treated like Luciana got treated in S3 that would suck so it’s very back and forth over topics with this series.

   I think my favorite sassy Al line was her saying Isabelle could go ahead and break her leg but then she really wouldn’t tell her anything because she could be spiteful like that. 🙂 Al has good sass.

   Ha to Alex’s the Secret Society Of No One Cares.

   I’m with Mark in wanting to know how Isabelle got into this line of work with the group; did someone recruit her or did she volunteer? Was it her flight skills that got her noticed because they need pilots? Has she done things she regrets or is as she says she’s fine killing people for the greater good in her mind really? Does she agree with all the policies of the compound or is it just enough to keep her coming back but if she had a choice maybe she’d change some things?

   “I’m like 192 issues behind…” – lol Mark sounds like me with my comic backlog! 🙂 It’s the comic industry, I say look for spin offs to the TWD comics because they make money. Robert may not write them but I wouldn’t be surprised if they make some stand alone and mini special arcs.

   “Maybe it’s Sarah Wayne Callies, maybe it’s not.” – ha; also “Morgan helps prevent disaster.” – HARD eye roll!

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