Castle, Oct 29, 2013

The 2013 Halloween episode of Castle was as excellent as any of the series to date. The dialogue was as Whedon-esque as ever, rapid back and forth banter with frequent pop culture references("A felonious monk! Ha!) The cut scenes flowed smoothly.  And the music was appropriately light and ominous at the same time. 

Of course, Nathan Fillion is the shows standout. His way of blending the every-man persona with witty, rich-guy sensibilities  makes him irrestible to males and females alike. He has excellent comedic timing, with facial expressions that say everything while saying nothing at all. It's amazing that he hasn't migrated to the big screen more often. 

And since day 1, Castle has been able to do something that so many shows have not; it has a strong female lead that comes across as tough and no nonsense while still appearing feminine. Stana Katik is superb in this role. Too many shows today try much too hard to make their female lead really just a man. It doesn't work. We love strong female characters, and when it's done right, like in Castle, it's knockout. But when it doesn't work ( think Prime Suspect) it fails miserably. 

Walking Dead review

It's going to be really hard for The Walking Dead to live up to its first season, but so far this season does not disappoint. It's been a perfect mix of story telling, character development and zombie assaults!

I'm glad that Rick seems to have sobered up a bit. I didn't like the tension being built by the unstable Ricktator; but art is supposed to make you feel, whether it's a positive or negative emotion. However, only about 1/4 of the current survivors have even seen Rick in leader-mode. I'm not sure how the newcomers would take to Rick just putting on his hat and saddling back up. 

Carol's character has certainly taken a turn down a dark road, one that her long-dead abusive hisband set in motion back in season 1. She just seemed to snap after Sophia's death. She'll now just kill anybody at any time. At first I was glad she seemed to be taking charge of educating the children, but now I worry she shiv one of them for talking back.