Squawking Dead

DARK WINDS does a great job of both catching us up - without telling us, outright - and setting the stage for what's to come this season. Some mirroring between Bernadette Manuelito and Joe Leaphorn, undergoing their respective Baptism By Fire. With our protagonists somehow making their way to Los Angeles this season, one wonders how their personal dramas connect with the crime drama presented this season.

We thought that they could not possibly top the last episode: boy, oh boy, were we wrong! Tightly bound within those roughly 35 minutes were plenty of laughs, stirring moments, and so much setup for the rest of - not just the season - the series. All wrapped in in a stand-up-and-cheer moment at the end. How amped are you, right now? ...more importantly, will it last?

Are both Hank Maclean & Robert House truly out of the picture? Is The Ghoul on a collision course with The Enclave? Is Barb Howard truly behind the wheel? Is Executive Trainee Claudia really Janey Howard?! Is The New California Republic truly back to defend The Strip from a united Caesar's Legion? How do YOU feel when a Season Finale leaves you with more questions than answers?

A day that starts off with a simple knuckle sandwich offer between Dunk and Egg, coasts into a beautiful day of bonding between the two, and ends up in treachery and treason. I wouldn't blame Ser Duncan the Tall for not understanding how he got here...

We see two ugly sides of Stephanie Harper. Lucy Maclean ultimately makes a decision on what to do about Papa Hank Maclean's machinations. The Ghoul helps Maximus rekindle the NCR's embers. And what in the fresh hell is Thaddeus turning into?!

Enter the ever so confusing Targaryen family tree, which we probably spent way too much time discussing. Will The Dragon expose Duncan The Tall? Will Prince Baelor Targaryen remain chivalrous? Is Prince Maekar Targaryen and all his children annoying

While Barb Howard has emerged as yet another player, so has Super Mutant Ron Perlman, The Enclave (a la Dr. Siggi Wilzig, in the past) and, technically, Hank Maclean. Speaking of Hank, he makes a compelling pitch to Lucy Maclean (and the audience) for why he does what he does. Some things never change...

Power resides in the hands of others who will it so. As Ser Duncan The Tall, a Hedge Knight, carves his impression on Westeros, he threatens to flip the game of Perception Is Reality the nobility has been playing. Some, like Raymun Fossaway and Ser Lyonel Baratheon, see it. But nobody sees it better than "Egg" (little Aegon Targaryen), who has hitched a ride on Dunk's wagon, seeking adventure.

It appears The Ghoul / Lucy Maclean role swap is nearly complete as past collides with present and history threatens to repeat itself. Is Hank Maclean really the Apex Competitor the REAL Robert House mistakenly attributes to Cooper Howard? Will Norm Maclean make it back to Vault 33 in time to collab with Chet before Vault-Tec's experiment commences?

Whether it's janky T-45 Power Armor or the first Deathclaw, humanity's (see: The Enclave) mistakes (see: experiments) persist, like poltergeists, in The Wasteland. Lucy Maclean and The Ghoul role swap. The Brotherhood Of Steel basically destroy themselves (with no help from Thaddeus or Maximus). No big deal. You belong here. You are loved.

We went from civilization needing a tweak in the last episode to wondering whether our institutions still existed if its building blocks are missing. An avalanche of parallels are drawn between the civil war brewing amongst the Brotherhood Of Steel and Caesars Legion. All themes are tied in a knot with Charlie Whiteknife's speech: if your path is just, on behalf of those you love, it'll have been worth it.

The hive isn't evil: it's just natural. It has biological imperatives over desires, yet loves survivors equally (while equality isn't derived from nature, only hierarchies). Maybe all Carol Sturka needed was another change of heart to find her way back to saving the world with Manousos Oviedo (or fry trying).

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In the wasteland, everybody is doing unto others that which they expect to be done to them. We get a little more insight into Hank Maclean's former/present motivations. Norm Maclean is giving Super Manager. Lucy Maclean spins her rather kind wheels. Maximus gets a lesson on the drawbacks/advantages of factions.

I don't know who was more impressed with the Hive Mind, us or Carol Sturka! Their love for her seems genuine. Who could blame Carol after being in isolation? And it's real hard to blame the Collective Consciousness after reigniting more than just Carol's passion for writing...!

As Hank MacLean stomps across The Wasteland into New Vegas, Lucy MacLean is figuring out what bringing him to justice looks like and The Ghoul/Cooper Howard seems more like a father figure than Hank ever was. Stephanie Harper giving anyone else a Fear Boner? And Norm Maclean is really embracing Fallout Main Character vibes.

Would you, like Charlotte Hanlon, return to Derry?! Like our queen, we, too, would succumb to Pennywise's Flatulence of Forgetfulness. This finale artfully sets up future seasons while backfilling and even improving Stephen King's original lore. And even though earlier earlier generations of The Losers Club never vanquished Pennywise The Clown, they might not have all been wiped out, either (maybe even beat him, too)! But what do you think?

While Manousos Oviedo ultimately fails to close the gap between he and Carol Sturka, she fails to widen it between herself and the Hive Mind. The Collective Consciousness merely allowed them get in their own way. Though He and She are so alike, this episode showcases their stark differences.

Wow, was this a difficult episode to get through for a variety of reasons. Was this your favorite episode of Welcome To Derry? We learn a lot more about IT / Pennywise / Bob Gray than we bargained for, including some absolutely insane and unexpected twists at the end of the episode.

Koumba Diabaté is Locutus of Borg? The extent of Carol Sturka and Manousos' loneliness/ostracization. Oh, we see you, the individual formerly known as John Cena. Things are about to get real crazy, real fast, as at least Koumba & Carol are on the assimilation countdown.