Squawking Dead

This episode is absolutely bananas, in the best way possible: Camille Sims is playing 3D Chess while the rest of Silo 18 is playing checkers. Both Bernard Holland & Robert Sims are losing their grip. And Lukas Kyle becomes Mayor Holland's SHADOW?! NOW KISS, Shirley & Knox!

We experience not only a few time-jumps in this episode, but also an increase in the amount of survivors in tow. Seneca wrote, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end," and all of this exists in what the prophet Yishayahu / Isaiah referred to as a World Without End. Will we finally put the past to rest or will we allow it to haunt us?

Things everywhere are starting to take a turn: Will the real Solo please stand up? Will Camille Sims take the fall for Robert Sims to make him Bernard Holland's shadow? Are Knox & Shirley OK?! We're proud mamas and papas when it comes to Paul Billings providing cover for Patrick Kennedy!

Something's in the water because Dave's alarmingly "animated" about this episode! Sheriff Paul Billings and Deputy Hank are the Buddy-Cop duo we need. Judge Mary Meadows reveals some deeply held secrets (to Lukas Kyle) before she goes (Hi Avi Nash). Everyone, down to Shirley, is playing the game. Solo's story sounds suspicious.

Whereas the first episode's antagonist was (and, to a certain degree, still is) oneself, Ish & Emma go head-to-head with the natural world itself. Will nature succeed in finishing the job it started with humanity?

With your help in the chat, the team tackles Earth Abides' pilot, "Alone". Our protagonist, Ish, survives a near-fatal venomous snakebite. His reward? Drifting in and out of consciousness through a world-ending global pandemic. How would *you* handle the prospect of being the last surviving human?

What an info dump! Solo finally comes out of Silo 17's vault and helps Juliette Nichols find a way to return to Silo 18. Judge Mary Meadows finds even more reasons to GTFO. We draw parallels between Juliette and Bernard Holland (and Meadows to Solo). We struggle to put ourselves in Shirley's Mechanical/Rebellion shoes.

What SILO does best is confronts you: are the mysteries you are determined to uncover dangerous? Feelings shift on Bernard Holland because, let's be honest, what would you have done better? Juliette Lives, at least in the hearts of those she left behind, which empties itself into a nascent, yet-to-be-determined movement.

The path forward - along with whom we're meant to trust - becomes a whole lot clearer. Because f--- this place! We don't want to be suspicious about Elgin or The Boy In White; that being said, we have a lot more clarity on how little we should place our trust in figments. We're all just doing our best, after all.

SILO's sophomore premiere catches us up in more ways than one! By way of another silo's downfall, we not only learn so much about their design similarities, but how much Juliette Nichols must be appreciating the fact that the one she just left is still standing: for how much longer, who knows?

Is this the final chapter in The Book Of Carol? We spend a ton of time and tears breaking down Carol Peletier's farewell to both Sophia Peletier and The Walking Dead version of herself. Yet again, we change our minds on whether this season finale had a satisfying enough ending, as well as a cliffhanger, which differed from our first watch. Tell us how excited you are (or may not be) about Season 3!

These Fragile Lives continues the trend of attempting to move several storylines across a very short period of time: which makes for a really good bite-sized watch, but doesn't leave a lot of room for analysis (the ol' "wait-n-see, DAVE!"). Will Elgin, Sara Meyers, and Victor Kavanaugh save the town or die trying? Will Fatima Stevens become one of the THEY in FROMville? Or will Officer Acosta (assuming that's her real name) just go full Abby Stevens on everyone?

The penultimate chapter of The Book Of Carol allowed us to go even deeper than we thought: Laurent Carriere's lot, clarity on Carol Peletier, Daryl Dixon's destiny, sympathy for Stéphane Codron, Losang's lost balance, and even an amusing Ash Patel.

Every character who appears in this episode is being tortured. Even Dave goes from absolutely believing that Fabby/Fatri/Fom (Fake Abby Stevens/Father Khatri/Bartender Tom) were merely agents of distraction to incredibly annoying information brokers. If this place can alter reality on a whim, does anything anyone try to do to escape FROMville really work?

I LOVE splitting the room, but this episode really divided #TWDFamily! Carol Peletier finally reaching Daryl Dixon was inarguably what we all wanted: It's what/who was sacrificed to get it. But this episode matured after every watch: to the effect of turning what might've been initially perceived as one of the worst episodes of the season to - quite surprisingly - the best.

Everything, including this episode, looks better in the light of day. Nobody can catch a break, as we reel from one crisis/fatality to another. Boyd Stevens incrementally unravels. Bonds that (we thought) grew stronger start to buckle. Victor Kavanaugh reunites with his father, but even that proves to be a grandiose distraction (among many others) keeping he and Sara Meyers from finding Jasper (Christopher's dummy).

This episode contains a tremendous amount of momentum occurring over a very short period of time! Tabitha Matthews, Officer Acosta, and Randall all look as sus as Sara Meyers, now. Speaking of Sara, Victor Kavanaugh and she look like they're about to make a big mistake, speaking to Christopher's ventriloquist dummy. And is Elgin the demon baby in Fatima's belly (currently being fed Nicky's guts)?

After deliberately writing Daryl Dixon (AKA Peter Pan) & Isabelle Carriere (AKA Wendy Darling) into a corner, the writers constructed a narrative whereby Carol Peletier (AKA Tinkerbell / Fée Clochette) is, quite literally, their only way out. Losang, 3 strikes and you've fallen from grace. Marion Genet shows us how overlooked everyone can be... but like Losang (and many TWDU villains), she takes it too far.

Another shorter-than-normal episode (the ladies are not only funnier than Dave, but more efficient)! This episode contains many layers and an abundance symmetry, firmly rooted in Rene Descartes' phrase Doubt is the Origin of Wisdom. Isabelle Carriere is compelled to kill her friend, Emile Thibaut, while Ash Patel (who continues to mirror Carol Peletier's journey on The Walking Dead) kills Hanna, who was also compelled to kill her own friend, Eun. With L'Union de L'Espoir breaking bad, it's a good thing Carol is there to scoop-up Daryl Dixon, et al... but that remains to be seen.