Separated At Birth? (White Locks Edition)

Who wore it best? Carol or Geralt?

Seems like it's becoming a trend in sci-fi/fantasy properties.
 

It's A Dead, Dead, Dead, Dead World

The Walking Dead may be over, but that doesn't mean it's gone away. I still see news and posts about it every day online.

Like this shot, for example. You know, this kind of reminds me of something, but I can't quite figure out what...

Ah, there it is!

And considering the current state of the cast of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, they're probably all looking pretty much like the top image!

What? Too soon?

Milk The Walking Dead

Last year AMC announced their flagship series The Walking Dead would be wrapping up with Season 11.

Fret not though, zombie fans, as you can still get your undead fix from spinoff series Fear The Walking Dead and Walking Dead: World Beyond.

In addition to those, AMC's also threatening yet another spinoff, called Tales Of The Walking Dead. As you might have guessed from the title, this one's gonna be an anthology series, featuring a different cast of characters each week.

And don't forget the 3, count 'em THREE theatrical movies starring founding character Rick Grimes, which will never see the light of day.

Still hungry (heh) for more zombie action? You're in luck then, because AMC's planning on spinning off fan-favorite characters Daryl & Carol into their own series! Of course the fact they're getting their own show seems like a pretty big spoiler to me, as it means neither of them are gonna die on The Walking Dead. But hey, what do I know about writing suspenseful TV scripts, right? 

Ah, but we're not done yet! Recently AMC announced yet ANOTHER spinoff called Isle Of The Dead. Set in New York City (hence the "Isle" of the title), this new series will follow the wacky adventures of everyone's favorite new sweetheart couple, Negan & Maggie!

Wow, what a can't-miss concept! He's a physically violent psychopath, and she's the plucky widow of the man he killed! It's like The Odd Couple, but with zombies! Check out their hijinx every Sunday at 9 on AMC!

With all these increasingly preposterous announcements, it feels like the time's ripe for me to dust off my own spinoff idea...

It's Dread The Deadly Hat! 

This fresh new high-concept series would follow the adventures of Judith's oversized sheriff hat (formerly Carl's, formerly Rick's). In the pilot episode, an errant gust of wind would blow the hat from Judith's head, sending it off into the sky.

Each week the hat would ride the wind before landing in a settlement in the zombie apocalypse, where it would help out the various residents. Once it solved their problems, it'd take off again for another colony! Starring Patton Oswalt as the voice of The Hat.

It's can't-miss TV! Look for it this fall on AMC!

The Walking Deadiversary

Happy Anniversary to The Walking Dead, which premiered a whopping eleven years ago, on October 31, 2010. ELEVEN YEARS! Holy crap. How's that even possible? Over a decade of "Don't Dead, Open Inside" jokes already!

I was a fan of The Walking Dead comic long before it ever became a TV series. I first discovered the comic in 2007, when I bought several collected editions of it at a comic show in Chicago (back in the Before Time). The comic actually came out in 2003, so I got to read four years worth of it all in one go. I was immediately hooked by its dark, bloody and horrific storyline, in which mankind turns out to be far more monstrous than the zombie hordes could ever be.

So I was somewhat excited when I found out the show was being turned into a weekly TV series. I say somewhat, because I was a little concerned they'd have to tone down the gore and violence, since it was airing on television— on AMC yet! I needn't have worried though, as they managed to capture the tone of the comic quite well.

The show turned out to be amazing, and far exceeded my expectations The casting was spot on, as the characters looked like they'd stepped right off the printed page. And the storylines were fairly faithful to the comic as well.

Well, for a while anyway.

Once they got a few seasons under their belts, the producers tried their hand at creating their own original storylines on the show. The Grady Bunch and the Garbage Pail Kids were just a few of their horrible attempts at coming up with their own arcs. These efforts all fell flat, as the series worked best when it followed the road map laid out by the comic.

Sadly, as time went on, more and more cracks began showing in the series' foundation. The comic had several advantages that the series didn't. The Walking Dead comic was a singular vision created by Robert Kirkman, who wrote every single issue. Unfortunately the show wasn't as lucky, as it was produced, written and overseen by a revolving door of creators with varying levels of talent.

And unlike the comic, the series had to deal with numerous other real-world problems— mostly concerning the cast. After a few seasons, many of the actors began quitting the show for various reasons, ranging from pay disputes to simple burnout. This led to some unfortunate instances in which characters who never died in the comic were summarily killed off on the show. 

MAJOR SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The most notorious instance of this concerned the character of Carl Grimes. For reasons that still haven't been made totally clear, the producers made the bone-headed decision to kill him off— despite the fact that he does NOT die in the comic, and is still alive and well in the final issue. 

To make things even worse, they offed him right before he was due to feature heavily in several major storylines from the comic. They definitely shot themselves in the foot here, and I'll never understand why the hell they made such a shortsighted and terrible choice.

Sadly, that was the last straw for me. I could deal with their abortive original storylines, questionable writing and idiotic season finales that ruined the flow of the plotlines. But I had to draw the line at Carl's death. I was honestly looking forward to seeing his storylines from the comic come to life on the screen, and now that was impossible.

His death killed my enthusiasm for the show, and I stopped watching and reviewing it shortly afterward, in Season 8. I haven't returned to it yet, and at this point I doubt I ever will.

But hey, that's just me. Happy Eleventh Anniversary Anyway to The Walking Dead!

It's A Walking Dead Christmas!

The world continues to get weirder and weirder...

Andrew Lincoln, aka Rick of The Walking Dead fame. is currently starring as Scrooge in a British stage production of A Christmas Carol.

Hmm... Dickens described Scrooge as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint... secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." Yeah, when I read that, I don't immediately think Andrew Lincoln and his rugged good looks.

Can't wait to see the undead Ghosts Of Christmas Past, Present and Future appear so he can stab them in their brains with a machete!

Life Imitates Art

Above is a shot of the highway leading into downtown Atlanta during the Coronavirus Apocalypse. 

Hmm... that eerily empty road and that skyline remind me of something, but I can't quite figure out what...

Oh yeah. Now I remember. Jesus, did any of us ever dream we'd be living out a version of this show in our lifetimes? I know I didn't. Don't Dead, Open Inside!

R.I.P. Scott Wilson

Damn, damn, DAMN! Another celebrity obit. Scott Wilson, aka Hershel Greene of The Walking Dead, died Saturday at 76. He reportedly died due to complications from leukemia.

Oddly enough he died just one day before the Season 9 premiere of The Walking Dead.

Although most people know him as Hershel Greene, Wilson starred in dozens of major motion pictures, including In The Heat Of The Night, In Cold Blood, The Great Gatsby, The Right Stuff, Dead Man Walking (heh... dead... walking) and many others.

I sheepishly have to admit that even though I've seen most of those movies, I never noticed him in any of them, and wasn't aware of him until he appeared as Hershel.

I met Scott Wilson in 2014 at a horror convention. He was very nice and accommodating, and even at 72 seemed more energetic than me. I told him I missed seeing him on The Walking Dead, and the show wasn't the same without him. He said he loved working on the series, and missed it as well.

I told him I'd read they made a very realistic animatronic head of him for his death scene on the show, and asked if that was true. He said yes, and after filming wrapped he took it home and stuck it in a trash bag in his closet! There aren't a lot of people who can say that.

Glad I got to meet him when I did.

The Walking Papers

Bad news for fans of The Walking Dead!

This week AMC announced that Andrew Lincoln, aka Rick Grimes, will be leaving the long-running zombie series after Season 9.

Lincoln's contract was actually up at the end of Season 8, but he's agreed to come back for one more season in a "limited capacity." That's Hollywood Speak for "he'll only be in eight or nine episodes."

Obviously this means Rick will be killed off, as it's unlikely the show would send him off on walkabout and leave the door open for his return.

Sounds like a good place to end the show to me. The ratings have been on a steady downhill decline since the beginning of Season 7, when many viewers tuned out for good after the gruesome death of fan-favorite character Glenn Rhee. I'd much rather see the show go out on a high note, rather than sputter and lurch to a stop, as we all know it will after Lincoln leaves. Nine years is a pretty good run for any show.

As for myself, I lost interest in it halfway through Season 8, when showrunner Scott Gimple made the bone-headed decision to kill off the character or Carl Grimes. This was especially perplexing, since, if the show followed the comic, Carl was scheduled to become a major player and star in two or three vitally important storylines.

Killing him off was disappointing and made absolutely zero narrative sense, as it completely torpedoed the future of the show. In fact Gimple's asinine actions pissed me off so much I STILL haven't finished watching the last two episodes of Season 8! And I'm not sure I ever will.

So what next? Can The Walking Dead survive without its main character? AMC is sure doubling down on the answer being "yes." Supposedly they're grooming actor Norman Reedus, aka Daryl Dixon, to become the new series lead. They've even renegotiated his contract, offering him a cool $20 million to stay with the show! Yow! That ain't hay!

I dunno... Norman Reedus is many things, but a leading man he ain't. His Daryl character is sullen, grim and most of all, taciturn (that means he don't say much). He's a character who works best in small doses, as a sidekick to the hero. 

Promoting him to star status seems like yet another in a series of wrong moves. They'll have to fundamentally change everything about Daryl's character to make him and effective leader, and then he'll no longer be the Daryl we know and love. So what the hell's the point?

As I said, best to go out when they're sort of on top, instead of being yanked off the stage by the neck with a Bo-Peep staff.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Something Something

Saw this article on Yahoo a couple days ago. Jeffrey Dean Morgan says his performance as Harvey Russell in the new Rampage movie might remind audiences of Negan.

Might? MIGHT? There ain't no might about it!

Russell IS for all intents and purposes Negan. He's got the same cocked head, the same bizarre hip tilt, and the same sh*t-eating grin all through the movie. 

Hell, he even says some of the same dialogue as Negan! In Russell's very first appearance in Rampage, he says to Dwayne Johnson's character, "You're havin' a hell of a DAY!" And a few minutes later he says, "When science sh*ts the bed, I'm the guy who changes the sheets."

Same (or very similar) lines as Negan, with the exact same inflections. It's honestly amazing just how Negan-esque he is in Rampage. I was sitting in the theater imagining that Russell and Negan were actually the same person. I figured Russell was a government agent in Washington DC, then after the zombie apocalypse started he changed his name and formed his own little empire a few miles away in Virginia.

Can a studio copyright a performance? Can AMC sue Jeffrey Dean Morgan for acting exactly like their character in another property? If so, Morgan better lawyer up!

The Walking Dead Season 8, Episode 12: The Key

This week on a fair to middling The Walking Dead, we get the long-awaited confrontation between Rick and Negan, we're introduced to yet another bizarre group of weirdos who aren't in the comic, and the writers manage to save the whole thing with a startling twist at the end. In other words, a typical episode.

The Rick/Negan scene was somewhat satisfying, as their showdown has been brewing for months. While it was great to see them facing off physically, I can't help but think their match was ill-timed. There're still four more episodes to go in the season! Why the hell are they giving us their beat down now? Unless this is just an apertif, and the actual meal's yet to come?

The actual battle was quite interesting, as we got to see Negan on the defensive for a change. Surprisingly all his power seems to derive from his beloved baseball bat Lucille, leaving him all but helpless without it. Fascinating.

This episode may also give us a hint as to where the series is going after the end of the current All Out War storyline. The introduction of brand new character Georgie this week may be an indicator that the series is fixing to veer FAR away from the source material. 

As always, that seems like a really bad idea to me. The show's at its best when it sticks close to the comic. When it diverges is when things start to get wonky. Don't believe me? Welp, the awful Grady Bunch storyline wasn't in the comic, and neither were the detestable and downright baffling Garbage Pail Kids. I rest my case. 

Sadly, The Key also seems to be setting up Simon's ultimate fate, which is likely going to involve his departure from the series. That's too bad, as I like Simon and actor Steven Ogg, and it'll be a shame to see him go. 

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
After saving the Alexandrians last week, Dwight's now unwillingly back with the Saviors. Negan pays him a visit, and asks what happened. Dwight lies and says he killed the Alexandrians and then wandered through the woods until he was found by the Saviors. Negan seems suspicious, but congratulates him on a job well done. He tells him to suit up, as there's still more work to do.

Outside the Sanctuary, Negan and the Saviors are gearing up for war with the Hilltop. Simon tells the troops to shoot to maim. That way their tainted ammo will infect the Hilltopians and turn them into walkers. Dwight tries to sneak away during the speech, but Simon sees him and insists he ride with him.

Negan dips his bat Lucille in a bucket of walker blood (again) and gets in his black Charger. The caravan rolls out, as Negan stupidly brings up the rear for lazy writing reasons.

Rick & Michonne enter the Hilltop (which they already did last week— goddamned convoluted timeline!). They're greeted by Maggie, Enid and Jerry. A Hilltopian brings Judith to Rick, and he carries her around for a few minutes before pawning her off on someone again. Rick notices the Savior prisoners in Maggie's makeshift jail.

Later Rick kneels over Glenn's grave. Daryl joins him and they have a chat about all the people they've lost. Daryl apologizes for going off book and attacking the Sanctuary, saying he just wanted it to be over. Rick, who's obviously learned absolutely nothing from Carl's death, says Daryl's right, and they need to end the conflict once and for all.

Some time later, Maggie watches Rick drive off in a truck. She then spots something in the distance— a small green crate with a flag sticking out of it, sitting in the brush.

Back in the Savior convoy, Simon and Dwight chat. Simon's fed up with Negan for wasting so much time, ammo and personnel trying to wipe out Rick's people. He thinks they should cut their losses and run, and wants Dwight's thoughts on the matter. Dwight says he's not paid to think, refusing to be dragged down with Simon.

Back at the Hilltop, Maggie, Rosita, Enid and Michonne (GIRL POWER!) cautiously check out the crate. They find a note attached that reads, "If you fill the crates with food or phonograph records, I will gladly exchange them for a key to your future." It then lists coordinates for a meeting spot.

Maggie suspects a trap, and Enid agrees. Michonne says it's not the Saviors' style, and believes it's someone who genuinely wants to help. She and Rosita think they should meet their mystery benefactor.

Meanwhile, Rick parks his truck at the top of a hill and waits. He sees the Saviors go by, and notices Negan driving alone at the end of the procession. He hops in his truck and roars after them. The Saviors drive slowly through a deserted city. Suddenly Rick flies out of an alley and rams into Negan's car! Negan recovers and roars off, as Rick chases after him.

Simon sees Negan get hit, and realizes this is his chance. He orders the caravan to stop, and tells the Saviors that Negan's been attacked. They all want to rush to his aid, but Simon says (heh) it could be a trap to separate the convoy, and they should all stay put. He tells them that Negan's a big boy and can take care of himself. Amazingly the other Saviors listen, and stay put.

Cut to Negan's car lying on its side, and Rick's truck smashed into a pole. I guess there wasn't enough money in the budget to film the crash? Negan crawls out of the wreckage, just as Rick staggers from his ruined truck. Rick wildly fires a machine gun at Negan, somehow completely missing him. Negan ducks into a nearby building, and Rick follows. The two then have a long, drawn out battle inside the dark, dusty building.

Rick throws his trusty axe at Negan, who ducks, loses his balance and ends up hanging from a stair landing. Rick walks up the steps, retrieves his axe and faces the now helpless Negan. He swings the axe at Negan's hands. Negan lets go of the landing at the last second, and plunges down the stairwell into the basement.

Elsewhere, Maggie, Michonne, Rosita and Enid arrive at the coordinates. They see a single van parked in the road, flanked by two tall, thin women named Hilda and Midge. Jesus Christ, not another weird-ass group on this show! A middle-aged woman in a white pantsuit emerges from the van and introduces herself as Georgie. She reiterates that she has vital knowledge for them, in exchange for food and records, and assures them it's not a trick. Maggie doesn't believe her, and for no good reason takes Georgie and her guards back to the Hilltop.

Back in the building, Rick searches the basement for Negan. Rick taunts him, saying his people aren't coming this time and he's gonna die alone in the dark. Negan fumbles around, searching for his precious Lucille. He tells Rick he'll make him a deal— stop being a prick and end the war, and he'll lower his tribute demand from 50% to 20%. Wow, what a bargain!

Rick says he doesn't trust anything Negan says, especially after he slaughtered all the Garbage Pail Kids. Negan's stunned at this revelation, as he never ordered such a thing. He realizes Simon betrayed him, and took it upon himself to kill the group. Just then Rick looks down and finds Lucille.

Meanwhile, Simon and Dwight halfheartedly search for Negan. Simon finally gets Dwight to admit he's thought about killing Negan from time to time. They find his wrecked car, but can't tell if he walked away alive... or dead. Simon says (heh) this is their one and only chance to overthrow Negan. Dwight nods, signalling he's on board.

Cut to the Hilltop, where Georgie and her guards cool their heels while Maggie and the others debate what to do with them. Maggie wants to just take the supplies from Georgie and toss her out. Michonne reminds her that Carl died rescuing Siddiq, who turned out to be a doctor. She says they owe it to Carl to give Georgie the same chance to prove herself.

Rick notices a barricaded door labeled "Eaters." He sets Lucille on fire and uses her to break open the door. Dozens of moldy walkers pour out, and Rick sets several on fire with the flaming bat. Negan sees Lucille burning and freaks out. He lunges at Rick, desperate to get his beloved weapon back. The two grapple for a minute, and eventually Negan flees— with Lucille.

Rick battles a horde of burning zombies and finally escapes the building. Unfortunately Negan's long gone.

At the Hilltop, Maggie gives Georgie a crate full of old records. Georgie thanks her, and gives her all their food, saying it looks like the Hilltopians need it more than her people. She then gives Maggie a thick book she wrote title A Key To A Future. She says it's filled with ancient farming, blacksmithing and survival knowledge. Georgie then says she's going away, and may not be back for a while (?). Maggie thanks her for the food and the book.

Simon and Dwight return to the Saviors. They say they found Negan's bloody-splattered car, but no body. The Saviors look stricken and worried, until Simon asks them, "Who are you?" They all reply "Negan." He says it doesn't matter if Negan's alive or dead— they're going to finish their mission and wipe out the Hilltop.

Cut to an unconscious Negan riding in the passenger seat of a car. He wakes up, unsure of where he is. He looks over and sees Jadis driving the car, as she hold a gun to his head.

Thoughts:

• Last week I noted that when the Hilltopians found out about Carl's death, the soundtrack played a distinctive tinkly, descending piano riff. I said it sounded incredibly similar to the Bella's Lullaby theme from the Twilight movies. 

They use the same theme again this week, mostly in any scene involving the Saviors. I guess because it sounds foreboding and ominous?

And yes, I'm still embarassed that I'm able to recognize music from Twilight.

• Jesus Christ, again with the faces montages!

This has been a running theme all through Season 8, as we've been periodically treated to a series of extreme closeups of the main cast members, accompanied by dark, brooding music.

It started earlier this season in The Damned, as we got a series of closeups of Rick, Daryl, Carol and Morgan.

The closeups returned a few episodes later in How It's Gotta Be, as Rick, Carl, Carol & Maggie (among others) were spotlighted. Some of these closeups seemed like they were even more extreme than the first batch.

Which brings us to The Key. It begins with a montage of even MORE extreme and off-putting closeups of Negan, Simon and Dwight. And when I say closeups, I do mean CLOSE UPS. I honestly don't think the camera could get any closer to them without touching their faces.

I'm looking forward to next week, when the cameraman uses a macro lens to get even closer, giving us a good look at the pores on Rick's face.

• When Rick arrives at the Hilltop, a woman rushes up and practically shoves Judith into his arms. I can't say I blame her. It's definitely taking a village to raise this kid, as by now virtually everyone on the show's been forced to take care of her. Everyone except Rick, that is. 

At this point he's all but forgotten he even has a daughter, as he's too busy making everyone's lives worse than they already are.

• Last week in Dead Or Alive Or, Negan came up with the bright idea of soaking all Savior weapons in walker gore. That way even a glancing blow would infect the Hilltopians and turn them into walkers.

This week we get to see them coat their weapons all over again, I guess to remind the audience of the plan. For some reason, Negan places his beloved baseball bat Lucille in a large bucket of festering zombie guts, and then sits it in the passenger seat of his car as he drives off toward the Hilltop! Brilliant!

He just got done telling his people (twice!) how dangerous and toxic this blood is. What happens if this bucket o' blood starts sloshing around and splashes on him? Sure enough, in just a few minutes his car's gonna get turned on its side, and whaddya know? The bucket tilts over and turns the entire interior red!

• The idea that Negan would drive alone at the tail end of his little caravan is beyond ridiculous. He's the goddamned leader of the Saviors! Would they really let him bring up the rear of the convoy (No. The answer's no)? 

Anyone with even a couple of functioning brain cells knows you put your leader in the center of the line! That way the cars in front and back of the caravan can protect the boss. Jesus!

This was some extremely lazy writing, as the show needed an easy way for Negan to be separated from the others so he and Rick could have their little hand-to-hand fight. Surely there was a less obvious way to go about this though.

And another thing— Rick was perched on a hill just watching for the Saviors to pass. There's no way he could have known Negan would be stupid enough to drive in back. Was he planning on ramming his car even if he was in the middle of the line? Was Rick really intending to sacrifice himself to kill Negan?

Or was Rick just observing, and when he saw Negan at the end of the line he couldn't believe his good luck and decided to attack him?

• After the car crash, Negan and Rick duck into the Lewis Medical Supplies building.

I'd have paid good money if the dislodged sign had read "Uneeda Medical Supply!"

• Rick fires several thousand machine gun rounds at the fleeing Negan, but of course completely misses him with every one.

I guess we're to believe that none of the Saviors heard Rick's gunfire and demanded Simon let them save their leader? C'mon! They couldn't have been more than four or five blocks away!

• Simon tells the anxious Saviors to stay put, while he and Dwight search for Negan.

After a while they come upon the smoking wreck of a black Charger, that's riddled with bullet holes and coated with fresh walker blood. Simon stares intently at this auto, which is identical to Negan's in every measurable sense, and finally declares, "Could be his..."

• Hooray, Jerry's back! It's been a long time since we've seen him. Unfortunately I have a bad feeling he's not getting out of Season 8 alive. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm betting he'll be a casualty in the upcoming All Out War.

• This week the series goes "off book" again, and introduces yet another group of bizarre, ill-conceived weirdos. This time it's a woman who calls herself "Georgie," a pantsuited Glenn Close knockoff who's flanked by two tall, lanky taciturn hillbilly lesbians. 

Georgie believes she has vital knowledge of ancient farming and survival methods, and sincerely believes that she and only she holds the key to the Hilltop's survival. Note that all her secret, arcane enlightenment is simple information that's freely available in any library or high school science book.

Oh, and they also like to say "made-up" words like "flibberschticky, klompf and moisture." Yeah, those are the jokes in this episode, guys.

Sigh...

As I've poked around online the past eight years, I've often heard fans complain that The Walking Dead series sticks way too closely to the comic. Many of these viewers desperately wish the show would move away from the book more often.

No! NO!! ABSOLUTELY NOT! We've seen what happens when the show's writers to come up with its own material! That's how we get dull, stultifying storylines like the Grady Bunch arc, pointless communities like Oceanside (who are mentioned in the comic but never seen) and laughably incomprehensible groups like the Garbage Pail Kids. 

The writers on this series couldn't come up with a compelling group or story if their lives depended on it. And now they've cooked up yet another bizarre and nonsensical community in this episode. 

If anything, the show needs to stick even CLOSER to the comic!

• A few months ago in The Big Scary U, Rick was on his way to the Garbage Pail Kids' Dump when he saw a mysterious chopper fly overhead. At the time, I assumed it belonged to Jadis and her people, since that's where it was headed.

Then a couple weeks ago in The Lost And The Plunderers, Simon visited Jadis and asked her what was up with the helipad in back of the Dump. Note that he didn't say "helicopter." In my mind that implied that the chopper belonged to someone else, who regularly visited the GPKs.

So who owns the chopper? Is it Georgie and her people, whatever they're called? They're the most likely culprits, since there's currently no one else on the show it could be. I have my doubts about this though, as neither of Georgie's guards look like they could figure out how to work a can opener, much less a helicopter.

• If the series sticks to the comic, the next Big Bad that Rick & Co. encounter should be the Whisperers, a group of deadly crackpots who wear suits made of walker skins. As you might expect, As you might expect, the two groups go to war.

After that Rick & Co. butt heads with The Commonwealth, a highly organized, technologically advanced city of fifty thousand survivors, whose rosy exterior masks a dark secret.

After the events of this episode, I'm starting to wonder if the show's gonna skip over the Whisperer arc altogether. Are Georgie and her brain-dead minions supposed to be the series' version of The Commonwealth?

It certainly looks that way. Georgie bears a striking resemblance to Pamela Milton, the leader of The Commonwealth. On the other hand, there are some differences. Pamela's sophisticated and elegant, and is impeccably dressed at all times. Georgie looks like she's trying to look stylish, but her clothes are a little too rumpled and ill-fitting for the leader of a 50,000 strong community.

And then there's the fact that The Commonwealth has an army of soldiers outfitted in high-tech armor, that looks a lot like that worn by the Capitol troops in The Hunger Games films. A far cry from Georgie's backwoods simpleton guards.

On the other other hand, it would make sense for the show to jump right over the Whisperer arc. For one thing, Carl featured VERY heavily in that particular plotline. Now that showrunner Scott Gimple stupidly and foolishly killed him off, it'd be difficult to adapt it to the screen. Maybe they've simply decided not to try.

Honestly, other than the fact that the Whisperers wore grotesque suits made of zombie skin, there wasn't much difference between them and the Saviors. Both groups were fronted by maniacal leaders who clashed with Rick's people in an effort to wipe them out. The Whisperers were just another group that caused problems for the heroes. They were simply More Of The Same.

The Commonwealth is a completely new type of enemy. They're led by a cadre of formerly rich people, who want to remake this Brave New World in their own image. It's the One Percent versus the Common Folk. Something we've not yet seen on the show.

Moving right to this storyline would actually make sense, as it could be a shot in the arm for the show. It's not secret that viewership is down lately. Thanks to Gimple's idiotic decisions, the show's ratings are less than half what they were in the show's heyday of Season 4 and 5. Shaking things up with The Commonwealth storyline may be just what the show needs.

All that said, I still don't think Georgie is supposed to be Pamela Milton. But it's possible she may be part of a scouting party who recruits new blood for The Commonwealth. Stay tuned to find out.

• After meeting Georgie and hearing her out, Maggie doesn't trust her. For some reason, she then decides to take Georgie and her guards back to the Hilltop.

What a brilliant and intelligent strategy! She doesn't trust these goons as far as she can throw them, so she immediately brings them back to her home base! Did she at least blindfold them on the way there? Let's hope so, otherwise Georgie now knows exactly where the Hilltop is, how many people are there and how they're all starving.

• This week we get yet another nickname for zombies— Eaters.

• OK, I gotta admit, seeing Rick attack both Negan and a room full of "eaters" with a flaming baseball bat was pretty darned cool.

Interesting as well to see just how much stock Negan places in Lucille. A psychiatrist could write up an entire essay on Negan's relationship with his bat. And the fact that he's constantly waving around a large piece of "wood."

• Georgie may know a lot about Medieval farming and survival techniques, but she can't design a book cover for sh*t. Her attempt at calligraphy there legitimately hurts my eyes.

• At one point Enid and Michonne have a heart-to-heart talk up on the Hilltop's protective wall. Apparently the cameraman was afraid of heights and refused to climb up the rickety structure with them, and instead chose to film the scene on the ground, from eighty feet away. Even more interesting, he films Enid from behind, so we don't even get to see her face!

Eh, don't worry about it. Actually being able to SEE the actors as they perform a scene is overrated anyway. It's much more fun to imagine their expressions and body language.

• Somehow this series just took one of my least favorite characters and suddenly made her interesting. I can't wait to see where this situation between Jadis and Negan is going!

The Walking Dead Season 8, Episode 11: Dead Or Alive Or

This week on The Walking Dead, we finally, at long last, check in on the show's two most beloved and popular charact... I'm sorry. I thought I could keep a straight face while I typed that, but I can't finish the sentence.

One of the more annoying things about The Walking Dead is its habit of veering away from the main narrative (often at the most frustrating times possible) to spotlight some of the minor members of its incredibly large cast. And so it is with Dead Or Alive Or, which features the dynamic duo of Father Gabriel and Dr. Carson 2. Yeah, that's right— Dr. Freakin' Carson. I bet you forgot he was even a character on the show, didn't you?

As you might expect from an episode starring these two, there's really nothing of note that happens here. Most of it concerns Gabriel and Carson's sad little roadtrip that ends up precisely where it began, making the whole thing extra pointless.

Then there're the riveting scenes of Daryl and the survivors of Alexandria making their way through a perilous forest as they head for the Hilltop, which is about as exciting as it sounds. There was honestly no reason for us to have to see any of this, as Daryl and the others could have just shown up at the Hilltop's gates and said, "Whew, I thought we'd never get here!" The only reason any of this is here is so the show can tread water until the season finale. 

The only semi-important events in the entire episode are Dwight reluctantly returning to the Saviors, and Negan deciding to use zombified weapons against the Hilltop. As relevant as these two plotlines were, they took up just a fraction of the languid runtime, and could have easily been incorporated into other, more exciting episodes. Again, the show's padding here.

Father Gabriel has always been one of the more flat-out annoying characters on the show, and he was even more aggravating than usual here. His absolute and utter confidence that God was looking out for them made him seem less like a man of faith, and more like a smug, sanctimonious asshole.

It was also incredibly obvious that this episode was setting up Gabriel for a huge fall. Every sentence he spoke was ridiculously pointed and on the nose. Every time he smiled in rapture and evoked the name of God, you just knew he was climbing another rung on the Karmic ladder that was about to snap in half and toss him to the ground.

In any other series, seeing a believer get slapped down hard would be tragic and shocking. Unfortunately eight seasons of The Walking Dead has trained its audience to recognize that hope equals disaster, and this episode didn't disappoint. Gabriel's fall was so telegraphed it became unintentionally hilarious.

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
As we begin, the Saviors are searching for the escaped Father Gabriel and Dr. Carson 2 (who Eugene helped escape from the Sanctuary many episodes ago). They drive over a bridge, and a few seconds later Daryl and a few Alexandria survivors— including Rosita, Tara and Judith— emerge from the brush. Dwight's there as well, and I guess he's kind of a prisoner? Or not? It isn't really clear. Anyway, they're all desperately trying to make their way to the Hilltop before the Saviors find them.

Tara's still peeved at Dwight for killing her girlfriend Dr. Cloyd several seasons ago, and doesn't believe he's really changed sides. A walker approaches, and Tara pretends she's going to stab it, but sort of throws it at the injured Dwight. He catches it and barely manages to dispatch it without any weapons. Daryl glares at Tara and hurries the survivors along.

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Dr. Carson are sitting in a car, hopelessly lost as they try to find the Hilltop. Gabriel's apparently feeling better, having gotten over whatever disease he caught from smearing walker guts on himself back in The Big Scary U. He squints at a map, and Carson asks if he's OK. Gabriel replies he's fine, as "God's leading the way." Yeah, well God's also the one who let the zombie apocalypse happen, so why trust in him?

Carson examines Gabriel's eyes and discovers they're infected by... something. He says if Gabriel isn't treated immediately, his vision could be permanently damaged. Suddenly the ever-squirrely Gabriel says he hears a bell, and takes off into the woods.

Back with the Alexandrians, Tara asks Daryl why Dwight's still alive. Daryl, who believes Dwight really has changed, tells her now's not the time to kill him. Surprisingly, Rosita agrees. She says the killing needs to stop, especially considering they just lost Carl.

At the Hilltop, Carol, Morgan and Young Henry stand guard over the Savior prisoners, including the assholeish Jared. Henry wants to know which one of the Saviors killed his brother Ben. If you'll recall, Jared killed Ben way back in Season 7's Bury Me Here. This cute little psychopath obviously has nothing but revenge on his mind, which worries Morgan and Carol. And when MORGAN'S concerned about someone's mental state, you know they're in trouble.

At the Sanctuary, Negan tells Eugene that Gabriel and Dr. Carson escaped, and asks if he knows anything about it. Eugene of course helped the two escape a few episodes back, but wisely pretends to be clueless. Negan promises he'll catch them both, and when he does he'll torture 'em to find out who helped them leave. Gulp!

Negan then says the Sanctuary's low on bullets, so he's giving Eugene his very own outpost, one dedicated to making ammo.

Gabriel follows the bell sound and finds a deserted house in the woods. They cautiously enter and find the owner, dead and reanimated in the bedroom. Carson finds the homeowner's gun, while Gabriel notices the floor's strewn with pill bottles. Carson examines the pills and says they're exactly the kind of antibiotics that Gabriel needs. Once again Gabriel smiles smugly, and says God's providing for them. Carson's had enough of Gabriel's pontificating and sucker punches him, knocking him unconscious. OK, I made up that last part, as I was hoping that's what would happen.

In the woods, Daryl tries to decide which way to go. Dwight says the Saviors are undoubtedly on their trail, and will catch them soon. He says their only chance is to go through a nearby swamp, which the Saviors avoid because it's too dangerous. Daryl and Rosita agree with this plan, which angers Tara. Others in the group agree, wondering why they should trust Dwight. Daryl reminds them that Dwight saved their lives by killing several Saviors back in Alexandria. Dwight tells the Alexandrians he hates Negan as much as they do, and only wants to stop him. Daryl decides they'll head for the swamp.

At the Hilltop, Diane reports to Maggie. She says they're dangerously low on food and supplies, and will have to drastically cut rations to survive. Maggie asks about the prisoners, and Diane says they'll have to tighten their belts even more if they intend to feed them as well. She says Jesus is out scavenging, and will hopefully bring back enough food for everyone.

Maggie walks out to the makeshift prison. Gregory asks to be let out, saying she can't keep him locked up forever. Aiden The Friendly Savior approaches and says they don't have to be enemies. He asks if they can get some occasional time outside the pen. Maggie hisses that she doesn't have the resources to assign them all guards, and wouldn't do so even if she did. She announces she's cutting off their rations altogether.

Dwight tells Daryl that his wife Sherry is the one who let him out of solitary back at the Sanctuary. He says she escaped and fled into the forest, and is out here somewhere (foreshadowing?). They come to the swamp and Daryl and Rosita wade in to clear the area of submerged walkers. Suddenly they're surrounded by soggy zombies that pop up out of the water. Daryl, Rosita and Siddiq quickly dispatch them all.

The rest of the Alexandrians wait in the woods as the swamp is cleared. Tara sees a small group of walkers shambling around, tosses a knife to Dwight and tells him he just volunteered to help her clear them out.

Back in the house, Carson gives Gabriel the pills and tells him to rest. Gabriel accidentally knocks a giant piggybank off a table, and it shatters on the floor. Carson looks inside it and finds car keys and a map. He opens the map and realizes they're just a few miles from the Hilltop. Again, Gabriel smiles beatifically and says God's guiding them. Sigh... We get it, script! You're setting Gabriel up for a gigantic and obvious fall.

Dwight puts down several walkers, and stupidly tells Tara he's sorry he killed Dr. Cloyd. Of course this sets her off, and she points her gun right at him. He asks what good killing him will do, and of course she replies that it'll make her feel better. She shoots at near point blank range, but somehow misses him. He takes off running and she follows him through the woods. Eventually the two of them come out into a clearing. They hear voices and both dive for cover. A group of Saviors appear, searching for the Alexandrians.

Carson sees a garage behind the house and heads for it, hoping there's a car inside. Gabriel hangs back and waits. He looks up and sees a sign hanging over the garage. He squints and barely makes out that it says, "CAUTION! TRAPS!" He yells to Carson to stop, but it's too late. Carson steps in a bear trap and it clamps tightly on his leg. Suddenly several walkers hear his screams and come a' shamblin.'. Carson shoots a couple, but another falls on top of him, causing him to drop the gun.

Gabriel fumbles around in the grass, and eventually finds the gun. He holds it up, squints and fires. Miraculously he hits the walker and doesn't blow off Carson's head. I guess we're supposed to believe God guided his hand and aimed for him.

Meanwhile, Tara and Dwight are still hiding from the Saviors. The group starts heading in the direction of the Daryl and the others, so Dwight makes a decision. He pops out of the brush, much to the surprise of the Saviors. He lies and tells them he was ambushed by the Alexandrians, but managed to kill them all. He says he's been wandering through the woods alone ever since. They welcome him back into the fold and leave.

Tara's stunned, as she realizes Dwight really was telling the truth all along, and just sacrificed himself for the sake of the Alexandrians. She turns and sees Rosita behind her, who says she witnessed the whole incident. They return to Daryl, who's livid. He says Dwight could be leading the Saviors to them right now. Tara and Rosita assure him Dwight really has switched sides, and won't betray them. Daryl starts ranting that he's gonna kill Dwight the first chance he gets. He then glances over and sees Baby Judith looking at him in horror, realizes what he's doing, and stops.

Gabriel frees Carson from the bear trap, and they open the garage door to reveal a car inside. The get in, and Carson says maybe Gabriel's right, and God's looking out for them after all. Naturally at that exact moment they hear guns cocking, and when they look behind them, they see they're surrounded by Saviors. D'oh!

They're loaded into the back of a truck, as Gabriel assures Carson this is still part of God's plan. Just then Carson reaches for a Savior's gun, as another one shoots him dead. Hmm. Was THAT part of God's plan too?

Daryl and the others finally make it back to the Hilltop. Carol rushes to the gate to greet them. Daryl shakes his head and simply says, "Carl." Carol and Maggie are stunned, while Enid collapses to the ground.

Later Morgan, Carol and Henry are guarding the prisoners again. Henry asks how Carl died (did he ever even meet him?). Carol says he died helping a stranger. Morgan stands up and lies to Henry, telling him that Gavin killed Ben. He says Henry already killed Gavin, so it's all settled. Carol smiles, approving of the fib.

Maggie offers some food to Siddiq, apologizing that it's not much. He disagrees, saying it's everything. He asks if they have a hospital, announcing that he has medical training. This shames Maggie into deciding to let out two Saviors at a time for work and exercise. Just then, Rick and Michonne arrive.

Cut to Eugene at his outpost (already?). Negan bursts in with Gabriel, who covers for Eugene and says the escape plan was all Carson's idea. For some reason, Negan puts Gabriel to work sorting bullets instead of killing him. 

Negan then asks how the bullet-making's going, saying he's gonna need lots of them soon to wipe out the Hilltop. Eugene says he's working at capacity, but it's gonna take time to build up enough ammo. Negan ominously says that won't do. In a panic, Eugene suggests psychological warfare, by building a catapult to throw walker parts over the fence at the Hilltopians. Negan dismisses this ridiculous idea, but it gives him a brainstorm of his own.

Back at the Sanctuary, he rounds up the Saviors for a demo. He bashes in a walker's head with Lucille, and then rubs her in its gory wound, coating it with blood and brains. That way, even a glancing blow by a Savior weapon will infect and kill the Hilltopians. Evil!

Thoughts:

• Once again, the vague Virginia geography comes into play. Gabriel and Dr. Carson escape from the Sanctuary (with a little help from Eugene), but actually get hopelessly lost on their way to the Hilltop! How the hell is that even possible? All the little communities on the show seem to be within a ten mile radius of one another. You could probably pick a direction at random and have a pretty good chance of running into one of them.

• Father Gabriel's always been a twitchy and unlikable character (in my opinion), but he was extra insufferable this week. He spends the entire episode smugly asserting that everything that happens to them is all part of God's plan, and he's "looking out for them."

The show's touched on religion a few times in the past, as characters like Hershel have claimed they still have faith. This baffles me no end. I have no use for God or organized religion NOW. There's no way in hell I'd continue believing and praise his name after a zombie apocalypse. A god who caused something like this, allowed it to happen or was powerless to prevent it isn't worthy of worship.

• Man, have you ever seen two more imbecilic post apocalyptic "survivors" than Father Gabriel and Dr. Carson 2? I can kind of excuse Gabriel for acting like an idiot in this episode, as he can barely see. But what's Carson's excuse? How the hell did he ever last this long in such a world?

• At the Hilltop we see Henry, as he sits glaring at the captive Saviors. He's trying to figure out which one of them killed his brother Ben, so he can murder them in kind.

In the comic, at the end of the All Out War storyline, Negan's captured and tossed in a makeshift prison inside Alexandria. Carl then secretly begins visiting him, and the two form and unlikely bond, as Negan gives him advice and becomes sort of a surrogate father to him.

Because showrunner Scott Gimple stupidly killed off Carl, we'll never get to see him form his relationship with Negan. Or will we? I wonder... is Gimple grooming Henry here to become something of a substitute Carl? Will we see Negan be imprisoned and Henry sneak in and start bonding with him? I'm thinking that may be where they're heading.

• At one point, the still-pregnant Maggie sits worriedly in her Hilltop office.

Hilariously, we see her staring in wonder at Baby Gracie, who Rick rescued from a Savior outpost back in The Damned. It's almost like she's never seen a baby before, and doesn't understand what this tiny human is supposed to be.

And why not? Maggie's been pregnant since goddamned Season 5, and she STILL isn't even showing yet! Hopefully being in the presence of an actual, honest to goodness baby will cause the dormant embryo in her womb to start growing.

• Oh boy! Another conference room scene! I dunno about anyone else, but that's the main reason I watch The Walking Dead— to see endless fascinating boardroom meetings!

• Near the beginning of the episode, Negan tells Eugene he's giving him his own bullet-making outpost. Then in the third act, we Eugene's actually making ammo, as his outpost is up, running and humming along!

Jesus Christ, that was fast! It's unclear how much time passes during this episode, but it appears the whole thing takes place all in the same day. Somehow the Saviors got a foundry up and running in just a few hours!

• As Daryl and the others clear the swamp, we see some really fun waterlogged walkers rise up out of the much. I particularly liked the way their moans gurgled as the water ran out of their soggy bodies.

• All through the episode, Tara's incensed by Dwight's presence in the group, as he's the man who shot an arrow through her girlfriend's eye.

At one point she gets Dwight alone and says she's gonna kill him. He tries to assure her he hates Negan and he's left the Saviors. She hisses, "Don't care. You don't get to switch sides and make it OK."

Um... Tara? Did you maybe forget something?

Sometimes I wonder if the current writing team has ever seen the show before.

• A group of Saviors approaches, as Dwight and Tara hide in the brush. Even though Dwight hates the idea of going back to the Sanctuary, he does so in order to save the Alexandrians. This completely gobsmacks Tara, who realizes he was telling the truth all along.

Tara then turns and sees Rosita's been behind her the whole time and witnessed the incident. Wha...? How the hell did Rosita catch up to Tara and Dwight? Last we saw she was clearing out the swamp with Daryl and Siddiq, a good half mile away! 

Did Rosita really finish clearing out the swamp, trudge back through the brackish, waist-deep water, see that Tara and Dwight were gone and then sprint through the woods in the exact direction they went and then catch up to them in time to see everything that went down? I'm starting to think she's secretly a teleporter!

• Apparently when Gabriel slathered zombie guts all over himself back in The Big Scary U, he picked up some horrible bacteria from them. As far as I know, this is the first time anyone on the show's ever gotten sick from this trick.

The infection almost killed him a few weeks back, but apparently he managed to overcome it enough to move around. Unfortunately the infection's settled in his eyes, and threatens to irreparably harm his vision.

This is of course a real thing, as infection-related blindness is rampant in some Third World countries.

It's too bad Father Gabriel's not part of the Mobile Infantry anymore. I bet they could fix his eyes up in no time! Remember, Service Guarantees Citizenship! Would you like to know more?

• As Dr. Carson explores the abandoned house, Gabriel looks up and is barely able to make out a sign that says, "CAUTION! TRAPS!" Why the hell would the owner of the house put up a warning sign? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of a booby trap?

• Sure enough, Carson 2 triggers a bear trap, and writhes helpless on the ground as a gaggle of walkers approach him. Gabriel sprints to the rescue, and we see him actually stomp on several other traps as he makes his way to Carson.

I guess the implication here is God really is watching out for him, and kept the traps from clamping shut on his ankles as he clumsily plodded over them (insert eye roll here).

• Gabriel eventually rescues Carson, and the two find a fully fueled Jeep inside the garage. Hooray! They're saved! Until they hear guns cocking, and turn around to see a group of Saviors standing directly behind them.

Note that this scene is edited with precise comic timing, so even though it's deadly serious, it's impossible not to burst out laughing.

• I can't let Dr. Carson 2's death go without commenting on it. Even after the two are captured by the Saviors, Gabriel sits in the back of their truck smiling like an idiot, still insisting this is all part of God's plan.

Carson, who witnessed firsthand the miracle of Gideon shooting a walker in the head while his eyes were closed, is finally convinced. Given everything that's happened to them in this episode, there must be a God watching out for them, right?

Believing himself invincible, Carson lunges for an inattentive Savior's gun, and instantly gets his blown off by another. Way to go, Gideon! Your stupid misguided faith in a petulant, mercurial god just got your friend killed— as surely as if you'd pulled the trigger yourself. Have fun living with that knowledge!

• Back in Honor, Daryl assured Rick that he'd get Judith safely to the Hilltop. All through this episode though we've seen Tobin (the guy in the very back center of the screen) schlepping her on his back. He was even playing with her to keep her occupied!

Now suddenly the group's made it to the Hilltop, and guess who's triumphantly carrying Judith through the gates? Is it Tobin? Nope! It's Daryl, who apparently grabbed the kid and carried her twenty feet just for show.

• Daryl tells the Hilltopians that Carl didn't make it, and we see a montage of Carol, Maggie and Enid reacting to the news. The soundtrack then plays a distinctive tinkly, descending piano riff that's dark and foreboding.

Note that this tune is INCREDIBLY similar to the Bella's Lullaby theme from the Twilight series. Seriously, it's reeeeeally close. Go ahead, look it up. I'll wait. See? Told you! I guess the composer didn't think anyone would notice?

And yes, I'm very embarrassed that I recognized music from the Twilight movies.

• When Maggie finds out the Hilltop's almost out of food, she decides to starve her Savior prisoners. Then Siddiq shows up and thanks her for the meager rations she gives him. For some reason, this triggers a 180 degree turn in Maggie, and she decides to feed the Saviors again. Really? That's all it took? A couple nice words and she completely changes her mind about these dangerous thugs she's holding prisoner?

• Negan really needs to make up his mind. Last week, Simon wanted to wipe out the Garbage Pail Kids for no other reason than they were annoying. Negan warned him not to touch a hair on their collective heads, saying that people are the greatest resource in this brave new world.

Then just one episode later, he's willing to wipe out the entire Hilltop by infecting them with zombie blood.

So which is it, Negan? Are people valuable cogs in your supply chain or are they expendable?

• After speaking with Eugene, Negan gets the bright— and nasty— idea to coat the Savior weapons with walker blood and guts, so that even a glancing blow will infect them.

Negan explains it to his troops like so: "You all know how it works. You get a bite, some kind of wound from one of these things, something from them gets in you, and you die. You join the club which sucks. What if we could use that to our advantage? (He jams Lucille into a walker's gory chest) Ah, you see how Lucille is getting to know our beautiful, cold friend here? That's it. Look at that. No more smashing and bashing. With this Well, this, it can just be a touch. Or a big, wet kiss. Either way, this gets you full membership, and that's what we want. We want people to join the club. Hilltop is gonna learn to toe the line one way or another, dead or alive Or some kinda shit in between."

This scene comes directly from Issue #122 of the comic, where Negan gets the exact same idea. It's amazing just how close the episode is to the comic. The entire sequence is played out almost shot for shot and word for word. Note that Negan's language is a bit more colorful in the comic, of course.

Of course this brings up an issue that fans of The Walking Dead have been debating for years— just how does the zombie virus work?

In the vast majority of zombie movies, the undead carry some kind of mysterious virus. When a person's bitten by a zombie, they contract the virus, become sick and eventually die. They then reanimate as a zombie themselves.

The Walking Dead's a bit different, in that EVERYONE is already infected with the zombie virus. It doesn't seem to cause any problems for the living though—everyone seems to be perfectly healthy. No fevers or infections to be seen. However, when anyone in this world dies for ANY reason, they reanimate shortly after death.

However, a zombie bite or scratch will also infect or kill you in this world, causing you to die and come back. It's not quite clear just why there's a secondary method of infection in this world, or how exactly it works. The consensus is the zombie's bite doesn't transfer any kind of virus to the victim. Instead, a walker's mouth is crawling with all sorts of horrible bacteria, which causes a massive infection when they bite their prey. Once they're dead, whatever's already infected anyone makes them reanimate. Complicated!

Negan's plan is actually a good one, since even a slight cut or glancing blow from a blood-soaked knife or bullet will infect the target. In effect, it's simulating a zombie bite.

There's just one problem— in past episodes we've seen characters shoot walkers at close range and get splattered with zombie blood and guts. It covers their faces, no doubt getting in their eyes and mouths. And yet they don't get sick. If even a slight cut from a bloody weapon spreads the disease, shouldn't blood in the eyes do so as well?

It probably seems silly to argue disease vectors and realism in a show about shambling corpses, but it's not. Horror films and TV shows need clear and well-defined rules, and they need to stick to them. Otherwise you've got chaos like we have here.