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gregpurdy
Reviews
Supernatural: The Trap (2020)
I'm sure this will be good
I will update the review if it changes. But before I watch, this whole season is a 6 because the actors can't hide they are jumping ship. Before they do, consider this: The seasons that are good are GOOD and the bad ones are BAD. The difference is mostly in the production and writing. Because when the plot is good, these actors shine. Too bad they feel the need to get away; because this show is really something when the writing is good, and the writing has proven to always come around. Chances are they will be forgotten, but if they give the writers more time to catch up and do a season every other year this show would continue to be something special. Now back to work for me!
Fringe: White Tulip (2010)
Has God ever done you a solid and changed reality, just once?
This episode is the most powerful episode of any show I have ever watched, because its approach to reality relates to my experience. I got a call from my wife crying hysterically that she hit one of the ki... - and the call was cut off. I said a desperate prayer asking to change reality. We all know that does not happen. We can't pray away even one of the terrible things that happen in this world. If we could, the Holocaust would have never happened. So we can't expect reality to change, but we plead anyway. If there is one saving grace it is that this Universe was designed to be truly random. That is why an electron can suddenly appear on the other side of an impassable barrier. Or why the observed result of the quantum eraser experiment has been proved to go back in time and change the cause. I hope that moment never comes for anyone reading this, but if it does, say your prayer. Because the design of our universe can handle your request - you just need to be lucky enough for divine grace to be visited upon you in your moment of need.
Supernatural: We Happy Few (2016)
Free Will
Chuck "God" created the world and gave us all free will. So everything Chuck does should be considered in this context. Chuck also is not subject to space-time so he already has experienced what was going to happen here. We know this from His autobiography where he said it was Amara's time to shine. So just as he gave the Angels, Lucifer, and Humanity free will, he is finally giving free will to Amara. The plan is not to lock Amara up again, the plan is to offer Amara a choice between the cage and freedom, and then between destroying creation or letting it be. Amara had to sit on the bench all this time while Creation happened. Now Amara has to decide if there is some part of humanity that is worth saving. Hint: Dean.
There is one loose end. If Amara is darkness and Chuck is light and they perfectly balance each other, then how is it that Amara can't transcend space-time? I think of it as a white hole vs a black hole. Both have infinite/undefined power at the singularity, however a black hole destroys all information and a white hole creates all information and therefore all probabilities. (An example white hole we know of is the big bang.) If information cannot be created or destroyed (time can go backwards) then what we are experiencing is an illusion of time flowing. In that case Amara would have known all possible futures. However, if that was the case she would not need Donatello's information.
It had to be extremely difficult to write God into the Supernatural story-line and do it convincingly.
The Walking Dead: Last Day on Earth (2016)
Great episode. Neegan is a breath of fresh air.
I wrote this because someone needs to - this episode was actually great and people who are voting a "1" are letting their anger with the writers taint their experience.
I watched this episode with my teenage kids last night. Of course we were expecting to see who would die. We all had our bets and reasoning. We were very disappointed and confused that the writers could build this up for so long just to leave us hanging. There, I got it out of the way.
This was the best episode of the walking dead I have seen up to this point. I have trying to tell my kids that post apocalypse would revert to the wild west, not the murderous blood-fest that TWD portrays. In the Wild West people rarely underestimate frail looking women like Carol - because such women could be armed and sooner or later the predator outlaw is caught unprepared.
Finally logic and reasoning have arrived. Neegan, for all his showmanship, is very believable. The governor was great but from the ambush of the military to the foolish assault on the prison, I really had a hard time suspending my disbelief.
To understand why Neegan is such a breath of fresh air, you have to start with the premise that Neegan is the GOOD GUY. On the surface, Neegan is just a charismatic psychopath bully who murders people with his bat, Lucille. He is a clown who is the Donald Trump of villains. However looking at the facts, the real picture emerges:
1. Rick started a WAR to secure resources for his group. He did knowingly decide to mass murder rather than plant his own crops then hunt or scavenge for food to survive the winter.
2. Rick is responsible for murdering more Saviors than the population of Alexandria.
3. Rick's worst crime is the unprovoked and dastardly attack on a Saviors compound where he murdered about 3 dozen people.
4. When a leader conspires to murder so many people, unprovoked and in cold blood, how can anyone else trust you? It invites alliances against you. It also invites defections.
5. NOT ONE of Neegan's people ever defected. He is feared, respected, but also revered. If Neegan was so evil, it is doubtful his followers would claim "I am Neegan" up until their deaths. This should have alerted Rick to the gravity of his mistake. 6. For these crimes, and for the complicity of all members of Alexandria who voted for it, Neegan is justified in executing nearly all of Alexandria, if nothing else but to discourage future would be war criminals.
It is now clear that Rick is the monster here and needed to be stopped. Neegan is a toughened leader who has kept a lot of people alive and living well in a post apocalyptic hell. Rather than seek retribution, he seeks order - which is what his world needs above all. He offers Alexandria their lives and invites them into his family. So rather than execute Alexandria, he asserts his authority, dominance, lays down the law and the punishments for breaking the law. Such behavior is reminiscent of real decisions made by leaders and figures from the wild west. People like Chief Red Cloud, James Bowie, Santa Anna, Elfego Baca, and Wild Bill Hickok operated more like Neegan and less like the Governor.
So why is this such a great episode?
1. The creative trap set for Rick's people, designed to capture them whole and minimizing the danger to Neegan's men. Outnumbered and out-gunned, there was only one way for Rick to defend, which would have been to enter the woods, dig in and funnel Neegan's men into an ambush. Running only subjected Rick to detection by Neegan's scouts. This is one of the best and most entertaining traps so far.
2. Neegan's grand entrance. Neegan expertly demonstrated his dominance, authority, and moral superiority. His speech was entertaining yet logical; "You can't produce if you are dead" He laid out the logic for his decisions and gave HIS PEOPLE what they were looking for; vindication, empowerment, justice for their fallen, and punishment for the wicked out-groupers. His show was not for Rick. If it was, he would have forced Rick to decide, and agonize over that decision.
3. Best of all was Rick's transformation from cool, confident, armed, and arrogant to a frightened, horrified mess. It is a reminder to continually struggle to be disciplined, love my neighbor, and try not to take life's gifts for granted. While we need to stand up for what is right, and against bullies, arrogantly entering into a pre-emptive war is never a good idea.
Final thoughts - TWD has a great foundation for next season. They just need to stop jerking the fans around. Apparently, the seeds of Neegan's demise are sown. Anyone who builds a empire with pure coercion invites counter-alliances to form against them. 19th century divide and rule or 20th century democracy are workable, but absolutist regimes like Neegan invite counter alliances. This is the USA and too many people here would rather die on their feet than live on their knees; even if it takes time to come to that realization. People who came here are adventurers and free spirits from all over the world. Maybe the group on horseback that helped rescue Carol represent us better than Neegan.
Mr. Robot (2015)
Entertaining show. Now pay your bills, dude
First, episode one was very entertaining. Most techies will be able to identify with the main character. We are all disappointed and angry that we live in the future and it somehow it sucks more every year. The 'E' corp suits are shaping up to be entertaining villains. Mr. Robot is mysterious and lives in a cool retro arcade which draws you in.
Mr Robot claims wiping the credit cards clean will free the masses from being slaves to the banks? NOT. The banks will get bailed out or we all get to take the time machine back to the stone age. The masses will rack credit up again, WAY faster and more reckless than before. Why? Because they will simply assume that the bank fairy will come along again. Ever lend money to a relative? Ever get paid back? Ever??? Relatives expect debt forgiveness. They don't pay you back because they forget how desperate they were and their jealously blinds them into believing they deserve your money. They work harder, or are smarter, or you are mean or whatever. Sound familiar? The human race are your brothers and sisters.
Got debt? Just pay your cards down. From experience, life sucks for 1 year but after that it gets way better really fast. Those who did Dave Ramsey's debt snowball know how empowering it feels. Or negotiate your debts and pay 10 or 20 cents on the dollar. Don't worry about the banks, they expect some write-downs just like you expect your relatives to shaft you lending money. Unlike you the banks factor that into their interest rates. Or declare bankruptcy. That's capitalism's debt fairy. You won't be able to finance a car for 7 years - but that's actually a good thing. So far the show paints us as trapped cattle and never considers that we have the will to avoid our own slaughter.
I hope this show visits the real issues. Like the foolish class war. Or the real reasons behind our stagnant living standards. Or that for the first time the fruit of this technological revolution is yielding for our children a world worse off.