Director, writer, and actor Mel Brooks is the king of parodies. No matter how many modern films come out satirizing horror or romantic comedies, no one can do it like the master. Best known for transforming Mary Shelley's tale of Frankenstein into a classic comedy, Brooks does so again with Brahm Stoker's Dracula.

Taking creative liberties from the classic tale, solicitor Thomas Reinfeld (Peter MacNicol) becomes a insect-eating delusional ward to Dracula (Leslie Nielsen), a vampire - obviously. They journey from Transylvania to London where he has bought a castle. Crossing paths with his new neighbors Dr. Seward, his daughter Mina, her fiance Jonathan, and his ward Lucy, Dracula's true identity is closed in on by vampire hunter Van Helsing.

Young Frankenstein, starring Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle, is one of Brook's most popular parodies. The 1974 comedy fares a little better with the production value than here with Dracula Dead and Loving It, but still the cast is hilarious. Exchanging Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, and Peter Boyle, you get Leslie Nielsen, Amy Yasbeck, Steven Webber, and Harvey Korman. Even the good man himself Mel Brooks join the cast as Inspector Van Helsing, who is not as gung-ho and adventurous for taking down Dracula as we normally see his tale played out.

Brooks is famous for taking well-known characters and turning them on their ear, as well as producing original works that are purely wild and zany. Here he does the same with great exaggeration. Famous lines are altered for laughs. He pokes fun at the colloquial English terminology. Jonathan Harker and Van Helsing are convinced Sewards' ward Lucy has been turned into a vampire. When they try to stake her, he has to be realistically dowsed in blood. And, that's just the start!

Dracula Dead and Loving It is one of the many strange movies my grandmother played for me and my sister when she watched over us as children. While Brooks' filmography is certainly familiar to true movie buffs or comedy-aficionados, it's been wonderful and refreshing to see the cult following this 1998 flick seems to have on places like tumblr - with movie lovers my age. This movie isn't as well-known as his other works, but it's got all the laughs to make it a worthy gem.

The premiere episode of The Walking Dead left us in turmoil as thousands of walkers wandered towards Alexandria. As the final moments of First Time Again faded to black, an unknown culprit blaring a truck horn instigated a domino effect to Rick's plan of directing those walkers out of a massive quarry.

For only the second episode of the newest season, JSS may be at the top of the pack of favorite episodes. When the producers and writers declared that this sixth season was bigger and better, they weren't kidding! It left us catching our breath after nearly an hour of action-packed gore and subtle character conflicts.

6. Meet the Wolves
Season five was filled with hints about the next possible conflict for Team Grimes: the Wolves, a wild group ravished by the apocalypse and left to act out animalistically; slaying anyone in their way without an conscious. Basically, a pack of wild wolves.

JSS commenced with a seeming slow start showing the origins of Enid, one of the teenagers that discovered Alexandria. And, within the bat of an eye, the wolves invaded Alexandria, looting and chopping up every person they could.


5. Sorry, Gabriel - it wasn't you
Even though most of us, including myself, blamed enemy #1 Gabriel on literally blowing the horn it turned out one of the Wolves. They didn't just scale the walls with flamethrowers and through the front gates, but also with a huge food truck. Deanna's son Spencer, located in a watchtower, tried to shoot out the tires but ended up shooting the driver instead. The Wolf's mangled body was pushing up against the truck's controls, letting the horn blare.

Luckily, Morgan was right there to take out the driver before he became a walker, and turned off the horn. But, as we already saw from the season premiere, who knows if that will stop deterring the walkers from coming towards the gates.

But, how did the Wolves know exactly when Rick and the other defenders of the group were outside the gates? How did they get that intel to make their move?

4. Enid
The meaning of the episode title JSS was revealed to be a moving mantra by one of Alexandria's most mysterious survivors: Enid.

In the opening of the episode, her backstory before reaching Alexandria was explored. She was trying to survive with her parents on the road. When they were killed, she was left to wander the wilderness by herself surviving on anything that she could.

Within this episode as the Wolves attacked Alexandria, she took refuge with Carl in his home. When she officially seemed to leave the safe zone behind, a single note was left for Carl: Just Survive Somehow.

Enid could just be a troubled teenager; isolating and protecting herself from the rest of Alexandria and getting out before Alexandria was destroyed.

But, the timing and behavior during the Wolves' bombardment invited more questions about her. She wasn't in any type of alarm about their presence. Having already considered that Alexandria has too many blindspots to be safe, she wanted to get out. Perhaps with the trauma she's faced before, she is now too-far removed from having a reaction to the attack. However, did anyone find it odd that Carls' place was one of the few homes left untouched? And, that Enid had a key to every house in the neighborhood? She may not be a full-pledged member of the Wolves, butis it possible she knew about them? Is she a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

3. Mama Bear Unleashed!
The Wolves massacred so many townspeople over a mere forty-five minutes. Even though Alexandria could have been open season for any group, could they have defended themselves better? Sometimes it's not about being trained with weapons but being keeping an eye on your blindspots and even getting creative with what you have on hand to take down a walker.

Alexandria might have had sufficient exterior barriers from the outside world. It feels devastatingly easonable that Alexandria would be invaded in any capacity when the townspeople had no inkling of preparation - even vigilance.

One person heeded the call for action Rick made last season - to be prepared. Jesse made a massive character turn-around in her home as the Wolves broke into every house, killing and stealing. Armed with a gun, she locked her and her youngest son in a closet. Needing to protect her emo teenager Ron, Jesse's Kill of the Week towards a female Wolf was absolutely ferocious! It was like a Mama Bear protecting her cubs. This might be one of my favorite takedowns of the series. The intensity is insane!

source2. How Many Second Chances?
Alexandria was left mostly unprotected and unprepared while most of the abled bodies were working on the quarry-walkers. Somehow Morgan made it back from the rest of the group outside the fences in time to ease some of the Wolves' bloodbath. However, his mindset of seeing that every life is precious might be one of their biggest downfalls and could have been one of their biggest assets.

Last season, Morgan came across some of the Wolves in the forest. He beat them within an inch of their life but didn't kill them. On that same day, Aaron and Daryl were out scouting and their photographs of Alexandria left behind in the dust of another Wolf trap. Their recovery of the photos have set a debate about who is to blame for Alexandria's massacre: Morgan or Aaron?

History repeated itself during the Wolves' attack. Morgan was beating them down, and even had one tied up. They could have gotten answers from him, if he wasn't too far gone to give any, before Carol executed him. Towards the end of the entire showdown, and out of the watchful, merciless eye of Carol, Morgan let a few attackers go with a simple threat never to come back. Are second chances worth it if they put a group at risk but serve an individual's sanity and morality?

1. Carol
Who doesn't love this woman - at this point in the series? As soon as the Wolves attacked, and Carol watched as some of her Real Housewives of the Alexandria Pantry get slaughtered, she unleashed her protective instincts and skills. Dressing up as one of the Wolves, she maneuvered through the streets killing as many assailants as possible. She wasn't taking any chances, and if it weren't for Morgan/Maggie/Aaron, and a few others capable of doing what needed to be done, she single-handedly rescued a lot of Alexandrians.

The do-what's-necessary side of Carol was exposed long before Terminus. In burning Karen and David's body before the onset of a flu-like virus throughout the prison, Carol stepped up to protect others. She did so again with Lizzie, who was a threat to herself, Tyrese and Judith. And, again with Terminus saving the entire prison group. As the group entered Alexandria, dressed in floral sweaters and playing happy homemarker, Carol never bid farewell to being on-guard. This serves well for when the group is being threatened by walkers or humans - but she didn't instantly regroup as we thought she could. Sitting one of the porches after the massacre, that facade began to crumble. Similar to her abusive marriage to Ed, she continues to suffer in silence but now it's only of a different kind. Like Rick, it's not that they like killing, but it's unavoidable to stay alive. Will her wall begin to crumble or just make her stronger?

BONUS:
Aaron discovered that one of the Wolves was carrying his lost backpack of photos to Alexandria - implying it was his fault that their safe haven was found by his mistake. Ross Marquand did an awesome job with his small scene in JSS. When tweeting about it, I was surprised to wake up the same morning with his tweet-back. SWEET!

The aftermath of the zombie hoard from the quarry setting out for Alexandria continued to be answered. We witnessed how a narrow margin of the civilians from the safe zone survived from the Wolves last week, but what would be Rick's plan to deter the walkers from the town's walls? What would his and the others reaction be to the atrocious violence that took place while they were gone?

6. The Beginning
Rick's plan fell apart. He ran all the way back to the RV to bring more of the walkers away from Alexandria. Michonne and Glenn banded up the rest of the inexperienced Alexandrians to start heading home. Daryl strayed away from Sasha and Abraham to help Rick.

Releasing thousands of walkers from quarry was a desperate move to get ahead of the walkers before everyone was devoured by them. Now the fear and misery continued to grow as they tried to break up the rest of the zombies and get home. This was probably some of the worst chaos to have ever happened to the group. They're out in the open more than ever, and yeah they can handle themselves well with walkers and people, thousands of them on hot on their tale in every direction. This was a cluster**** to say the least. They're trying but it's nearly impossible.

QUESTION:
We all know Rick's plan was to lead the walkers out of the quarry. Thousands of them were already in the pit attracting more and more. Eventually, the trucks acting as barriers was going to fall, and in fact, it was already failing when the group arrived to fix it.

Did anyone else think that his idea to lead them out of pit was to wing them around quarry, so they fell off the cliff and died? Sure, they could've built barriers and tried killing them, but making firebombs or shooting the zombies would've just attracted more attention. Those barriers wouldn't have been sustainable for very long anyways.

I didn't think the plan was to release thousands of walkers 50 or so miles away from the safe zone, as if it wouldn't take them a few weeks or so to backtrack towards Alexandria. I digress.
source5. Michonne Ain't Having It
Rick warned Glenn and Michonne to leave anyone behind who wasn't out for snuff, and to just keep heading home. Of course, when the group separates, they are bombarded by walkers immediately and even more Alexandrians get hurt or die - leaving Glenn, Michonne, Heath, Nicholas, Annie, David, Scott to continue onwards.

They end up in a nearby marketplace stranded in a pet shop. Walkers are coming in all directions. Glenn, decides to go forwards and set one of the buildings on fire for Rick as a marker of how far he's traveled. Nicholas joins him because he knows the five-street radius of the shopping center. They're basically sitting ducks, and while Glenn goes out to risk his life for the group, Heath keeps giving Michonne shit about all their failed decisions thus far.

Having overheard Rick's orders, he continually doubts Michonne - her decisions, that she isn't going to abandon them, that her and her group's safety is the top priority over them. Thank god Michonne wasn't having any of anyone's doubt. Honestly, I wasn't having it either. I just loved the way she shut people down because Alexandrians don't know left from right in the post-apocalypse.

source4. Nicholas
When it came to Nicholas, and subsequently, Alexandria, I had to have a good long think after Thank You. Because that's not only how I roll but the cowardice of the safe zone kept bugging me.

Deanna, as the leader of Alexandria, doles out jobs to her community members. Because someone needed to go out make runs, and it seems very few people except Aaron had previous experience dealing with violence on a daily basis, she gave inexperienced civilians the task of going on runs. Other people who were recruited, excluding Ricks’ group were few and far between, and didn’t have the skills of killing walkers or assessing threats. Alexandrians didn't even have the leadership to learn how to do secure runs carefully and with tact, like Rick's group learned how to do in the prison (standing in a circle so all directions are covered, or clearing every room of a house they entered).

So what did Alexandrians do in the face of trouble? They turned their backs. When a team member was bit, he or she was just abandoned. This is mentioned at least a dozens or so times by Nicholas to other characters who are still alive and also have a track record for deserting their friends, or confessing it from a stream of his guilty thoughts. Team members weren't given mercy and killed, they were left to be eaten alive and to turn into a walker. That was it. That was their M.O.; an unspoken golden rule to leave when their friends got bit and to return home with one person missing action like some big sacrifice was made.

Even if a swarm of walkers threatened other peoples’ well-being, they didn’t know how to react or instinctively have a plan in place to defend themselves. In season five's episode Spend, Abraham is helping David's construction team when they are attacked by walkers. Everyone hid and ran. Francine was injured and they left her to die - except Abraham who fought until the very end and kept them working. When speaking to Deanna about Abraham's leadership, David was in awe of it - like he couldn't imagine how someone could take charge like he did. It's understandable; nobody has been there to really train them.

Some fans (mostly Chris Hardwick) goes all gung-ho on Rick when he immediately knifes someone after they've been bit in an area that can't be severed like Tyrese or Herschel. But his methods are not an act of murder; it's an act of mercy. No one in their right mind wants to be left to turn. This was heavily expressed through Andrea and other characters who wanted the choice of how their life ended, and usually it was before they turned. Also, no survivors want to have to deal with another walker, a friend or loved one no less, coming after them. So it’s better to end it before the process begins.

Behind their barriers Alexandrians don't have to see or think about walkers. The few who are doing runs don't know how to handle when their plans go awry. They don’t have guards in the watchtowers. They haven’t comprised ideas on how not to be walker bait, let alone human bait like the Wolves.

The conflict of Alexandrians isn't that they haven't gotten their hands dirty or that they don't know how to defend themselves. The conflict is that they're in complete denial of the post-apocalypse and its bloody, gory, heart-wrenching repercussions. This isn't to say that people haven't lost loved ones or made sacrifices, but that this safe zone is really a smokescreen for community, or sanctuary.

Even when someone in the community did something reprehensible, like Pete abusing his family, he was essentially given permission to keep doing it in service of his skills (even though he was drunk plenty of the time and could have killed someone who was severely injured). Jessie didn't receive any support for herself or her sons, yet everyone knew about it. Exile (as far as we know) was an empty threat.

Alexandria is another version of Woodsbury without the militarized front; without people at the walls guarding everyone, without using walkers in wrestling matches to unleash pent-up aggression. It's the Pleasantville of the Zombie Apocalypse.

This is a major reason why after thinking about it long enough, I can't fault Nicholas to a certain extent for his cowardice. Ye, he is a grown man. Yes, Yes, he ditched Glenn and Noah, and Noah was ripped apart. Yes, he should't have attacked Glenn. But, a part of his attempt at survival was what Alexandria nurtured: dump the others as lost causes.

Nicholas' plan after abandoning Glenn and Noah was that they would be killed on their own; that even if they managed to survive, he could beat them home to Deanna and tell them that they were killed. Which is exactly what he tried to do.

But the hitch in his giddy-up was that Glenn did make it and Glenn is not like an Alexandrian; he doesn't understand that code of leaving people behind and not saying anything about it; to just file it away as a freak accident. So that's what Nicholas' motivation was in luring Glenn out to the forest to murder him; to cover up his cowardice, one that's been enabled by his community. He didn’t want Glenn’s mercy, but moreso than that, he didn’t want a daily reminder of what he did nor did he want that one encounter to be held over his head every day.

When Glenn showed him mercy, Nicholas decided to step up. He's probably one of the few in the community who's ever been given that opportunity. Nicholas saw in Glenn what he wanted to be and thought he could be.

But, in Thank You, Nicholas (obviously) goes into shock. His automatic focus in a time of crisis was to see what was going wrong in a plan and find his exit strategy rather than what the solutions were, which was what Glenn was trying to teach until the very end. They probably could’ve made it. They had knives. They could have leaned down just far enough not to get nabbed by a walker and start stabbing walkers in the head where it wouldn’t hit the skull. But Nicholas was thrust into a situation where he had to confront his past. He faced every street corner where it seemed another Alexandrian was left to rot, and he manned up to end his one friends’ life. He also saw the results and utter destruction of his choices by leaving every man behind.

The final moments of Nicholas’ choice are really quite poignant. At last, he tried to do the right thing. Standing atop of the dumpsters surrounded by walkers and not seeing any way out, Nicholas could have easily and purposely thrown Glenn off, shimmied over to the wall (which wasn’t that far away) and run out of there, heading home or out to the forest.

Instead, Nicholas chose suicide; he came to a full realization of his own cowardice and was also blinded by a sense of failure that they weren’t going to make it. For a brief moment Glenn had become his friend and mentor. I don’t think he wanted to see Glenn get ripped apart; a massive difference from the malice he showed in the season five finale. Nicholas mumbles “Thank you” for all things; perhaps one of the fewest moments of a clear conscience he’s had in situations like this where he didn’t just hit the road and not look back. By looking his friend in the eyes in his final moments, if Glenn hadn’t been knocked off, Nicholas killed himself thinking he gave Glenn a sense of being appreciated for his attempt to help him. His effort and belief wasn’t wasted. I don’t think he made a cowardly choice; he made an overwhelming one. The only issue with the cliffhanger is that Glenn’s arms were on Nicholas’ arms when he fired the gun, so Glenn toppled over too.

Can we say that someone from Alexandria gave themselves up to the "greater good", for another man's survival - even if something inadvertently bad came out of it anyways? When he shot himself, his intention was one of sacrifice, even if it’s not the most noble version of that word. The only blood he wanted on his hands was his own.

source3. We Need To Get You Home
The last camera pan we saw of Glenn was walkers eating someone's intestines, seeming to be his. And, then that was it. Of course, we were left agonizing over whether Glenn is dead or somehow manages to stay alive.

So, where do I begin? The episode itself lead up to this single, probably most powerful, jawdropping "WTF I can't believe what I'm seeing" moments on The Walking Dead. Ever. I'm not sure any characters' death compares to this (they are excruciating in their own way).

Yet, I called it pretty early on. Why? Because it was so vastly different and apparent that something was going to happen to Glenn. I really appreciated the writers' approach with this episode - to give and link a number of moments of Glenn's life to previous moments. But, other deaths, no matter how ill-justified we felt or how horrendous those deaths were, didn't happen as haphazardly as this one (except maybe Andrea's but even that had a warped inkling of closure).

If you pay attention to the series' details or to specific characters and their evolution, anyone could see what Thank You was attempting. It was powerful but not necessarily subtle. It closely paralleled Rick and Glenn's initial meeting in the first season, and laid out a trail of homages fans could recognize: Dale's RV not working and Glenn knowing how to fix it (the same vehicle that leads Rick stranded at the end of the episode), Glenn holding onto Herschels' watch, Glenn saying "We've all got a job to do", Glenn calling Rick dumbass - does the list go on?

Even Nicholas' suicide paralleled Rick's attempted suicide before Glenn's rescue in season one. The bombardment of walkers. The slow motion of Rick and Nicholas' acceptance to suicide. The jarring of the camera as the bullet ricocheted. The lack of sound in the intensity of the moment.

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David and his relationship to his wife Betsy paralleled Glenn and Maggie's relationship. While faced with his inevitable doom after being bit in the back, David lamented about how Betsy changed him after the apocalypse; after everything was lost, he found a new side of himself with her that pushed him to survive for her. Glenn evolved from a teenage pizza driver to a responsible leader. They both have changed each other and been each other's last hope of survival as everything else has gone to hell in a handbasket.

While the close connections helped Glenn's development full circle, they didn't feel natural to me. All of a sudden these moment signifying who Glenn is as a person was thrown into the cauldron and scooped up one by one. This episode just wasn't like Coda - in the way that we felt at least Beth was surviving in her own way, still singing and trying. She wasn't just another dead girl. Or like Tyrese holding onto his father's imitation to listen to the news and take action. No, this felt more like when a minor character who is in the background not doing anything all season suddenly has a monologue about their past or their wounds or their triumphs. You know something is up and it is; they end up getting killed.

Glenn has always been apart of the pack; about making a a family from the community and not counting others out; about having a job to do save others. It was fitting he was apart of the episode but not necessarily the center of it (that belongs to Nicholas). I really did appreciate this episode, but if the big cliffhanger of Glenn's mortality wasn't there, my interest might not be as strong as it is.

source2. The Shock of it All
Is Glenn dead? We don't know for sure. I just remember somewhere during the halfway mark of his peril blacking out and calling out that his time was up. I think my exact words and actions was screaming "Oh shit" and then fleeing the room because I couldn't watch.

"No one is safe in the apocalypse" - this is a phrase echoed every time on Talking Dead when a character we love dies. This isn't news, but this also isn't a consolation to fans, as least that's how I feel. We know no one is safe in the apocalypse but if someone's time is up, certainly a longterm character, shouldn't it feel like it was a longtime coming? Shouldn't it not be used as a "maybe not, maybe so" cliffhanger?

One of the reasons Glenn died seemed strangely out of character, if not the circumstances of how but also the whys.

Obviously, Maggie is pregnant and he wanted to get home to her. So, why would he follow Nicholas who was far beyond saving or bringing back to reality into a war zone? Why didn’t Glenn wait at the pet shop? Why didn’t they just radio Rick again that they were going to be late, they were stranded with people hurt and walkers at them? that they were still trying? Rick's plan didn't necessarily count on Glenn's signal because they would be heading home regardless.

Glenn was brave but he was also reasonable. The five streets they attempted to venture were blocked from walkers and they were coming from every direction. He wouldn't have made that chance. Everyone has a job to do, but wouldn't Glenn's had been to stay put for a little while longer until the coast was clear? To me it wouldn't have been to squeeze out logic and go for the big bravado.

A main construct of the episode was about not leaving others behind, and that's exactly what he did. That's exactly what Rick did. That's exactly what Daryl did. But their jobs were different than his. Glenn's job was to push through to get home, and like Glenn, he wouldn't have left others in peril. But by also clearing the path, he put himself in peril - the last risk he wanted to take.

But, the writers took that chance. And, they did leaving us in peril too.

Among the many consolations available and debated, perhaps the biggest one is that Glenn's name was not listed on the Talking Dead In Memoriam. Steven Yeun also didn't make an appearance as a special guest. The show took a huge risk of leaving us on a cliffhanger, but is it one that paid off?

source1. Thank you Glenn.
Somewhere in season four, I contended that Glenn could die. Because he's the last of the core group that isn't necessarily a hardcore bad-ass, who isn't an anti-hero, who isn't always in the midst of some big conflict. He's a well-rounded supporting character that is up for grabs, but his death shouldn't have been literally treated that way.

Glenn has been one of the most profound and effective characters - like Tyrese, Dale, Beth, Glenn, Herschel. They all provided us with a different kind of bravery, optimism, and hope.

Not everyone has gone over the deep end like Rick, or Michonne, or Morgan. Not everyone has had that transformation of losing themselves and coming back, or not coming back.

Some characters have found the humility, patience, kindness, and grace to survive. Some of them do it differently. Some of them are seen as weak by Talking Dead standards - “nobody is safe in the apocalypse” excuse is a cop-out that “weaker” characters don’t survive or know how to.

But they do - because they don’t lose their sanity; they push forwards; they learn; they teach; they protect; they sing; they make mistakes and try to bring communities together; they lead with ease rather than inner conflict boiling over at every turn. They also know how to kill when it's necessary, and not to always be "shoot threats and ask questions later". These heroes may not have to push all the buttons and take all the slack like Rick does, but they finds ways to survive somehow.

I hope Glenn has found a way to survive. If the parallels are true to season one, perhaps the walkers are eating away at Nicholas, and Glenn has just enough time to protect himself from being snacked on too. Maybe he'll use some of what's left of Nicholas (sorry) to cover himself and get away. Maybe there will be another distraction to break away the crowd and he'll be spared. All we have is hopes at because that's all we're left with and that's what Glenn was about.

Perhaps the most redeeming quality of the episode was that its title was Thank You. It does have negative connotations with Nicholas’ suicide/death but it has to be said, at least for now: Thank You for all the episodes we had with Glenn and Steven. Thank you for the amazing evolution and growth we’ve seen with one of The Walking Dead's underrated leaders. Thank you for Glenn’s kindness, patience, and forgiveness. Thank you Steven Yeun.

Last Thoughts:

• If Glenn is dead, it's heartbreaking. If Glenn is alive, it's great. But, if Glenn is alive, do we really want him to survive only to be killed by Negan comic-book style?

• Nicholas and Glenn's outfits were nearly identical - so we really don't know whose guts is getting ripped out.

• One of the saddest things is that Glenn probably could've fixed what was wrong with the RV

Set in the early 19th century, Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is a vibrant aspiring writer penning ghost stories. Her work is turned down by possible publications with editors suggesting to add a twist of romance, something she won't adhere to. When a mysterious aristocratic inventor Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) lures her into a whirlwind romance and marriage, she is whisked away to his and his sister's (Jessica Chastain) mansion after her father's death. But, there is terrible secret surrounding her new home and life. Edith's mother visited her as a ghost with a warning to beware of Crimson Peak. It is one that she does not heed until it is too late,

Like Cushing's novel, director Guillermo del Toro's highly anticipated gothic film is not about the horror, but romance. It's hard not to fall in love with the extraordinary detail of this world exploding with color and detail. The golden and bold hues of Edith's home before Crimson Peak is like a dream-like utopia. Her costumes and home are filled with warm oranges, almost like looking at her life with rosy colored glasses as we are too. In contrast, the slab of a castle sits on a wintry slope slowly slinking into a red-clay oblivion, illuminated with greys and sharp blues. Though not a horror or scream fest, del Toro creates a creepy and beautiful false sense of security for his heroine and audience.

Crimson Peak is all about the supernatural but not really. His ninth film is a haunting exploring redemption. Edith learns about the darkness of someone and then keeps on loving them. Thomas and Lucille are trapped by their pasts, and Edith is caught in the crossfire. Her natural curiosity and warnings by her mother inspire her to lurk deeper into the shadows of their dismal home that is literally bleeding with secrets. Ghosts and supernatural phenomena are more of a catalyst rather than a tool to scare; they're creepy and visually stunning but not necessarily "jump out of your set" terrifying. It's a dark, enchanting fairytale with an aura of fear occupying such an opulent setting.

The cast here all provide some wonderful work. Mia Wasikowska is wonderfully spunky as Edith. She brings a natural charisma as a charming and innocent ingenue. When the stacks seem up against her, she is easily someone to root for. And, Tom Hiddleston makes that both a difficult and easy task. One gaze at him and it's not a struggle to understand how easy it is to be swooned by his mystery, no matter how a puzzle he may seem. (He also just looks really great in period clothing, and yes, we see his butt in a romantic-entanglement scene.) Jessica Chastain gives an exciting and gruesome performance we haven't seen before. Her transformation as Lucille is one that won't be forgettable for a while.

Crimson Peaks' has some cracks in the foundation - mostly to do with the studios' marketing. Posters and trailers promoted Guillermo's work as more horror than romance. While the film is creepy, it's not similar to the gore-fests horror movies are like these days with. In nightvision handycam, CGI phantoms don't grasp an unsuspecting mother or father from behind and whisks them into a dark hallway. A scary doll isn't sitting in the corner casting possession over a house. Instead, the story is purely a romance with a ghost story at its center. It's not about surprise scares but suspense, but is it enough suspense without killer thrills is up to anyone who sees it.

Personally, I loved the story and the characters. My biggest wish that some of the phantoms such as Mother and cast a bigger spell and impact to the story, but it's a fun ride nonetheless. The production is truly spell-binding, and the experience is creepy at best and a little unfrightening at its worst. The movie suffers mostly from the studios' failure to market it well. There is a fine difference between gothic horror and romance, and Crimson Peak is definitely the latter. If anyone goes in expecting one thing and gets something else, they're bound to be disappointed. I was sort of spared that confusion and really loved it.

Crimson Peak (2015) Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain

I'm a huge nerd for questionaires. On a little old website called LiveJournal, friends could send each other questions and memes about their favorite fandoms and life in general. Mostly these days "ask box" challenges are passed around on tumblr. Grabbing a Halloween-themed ask over on tumblr, I thought it'd be fun to answer some of them here. I tag anyone who wants to do the same thing here or on tumblr, and feel free to leave a comment of your answers!

Bat: If you could transform into any kind of animal, what animal would you be?

It's not truly fall without wandering into the world of suspense. Director Alfred Hitchcock is the master of leaving audiences on the edge of their seat and attempting psychological horrors in cinema never before accomplished before. Celebrating some of his best work, here are posters from his illustrious career.

Felix Meyer
Unknown artist
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Kevin Tong

Ryan Tym

Alan Haynes

Alain Bossuyt

Laz Marquez

The sixth season of The Walking Dead has shot off like a rocket or a rollercoaster, I don't know which is a more accurate description. Last week's episode Thank You threw everyone for a loop. For nearly a week fans and pop culture blogs theorized over one core characters' fate as we were left with one of the show's biggest cliffhangers. If there is one thing that showrunners are succeeding with so far is making major departures from the expected.

This week's newest episode Here's Not Here was no exception. Parting from the freight train of feels we experienced before, more sides of fan favorite Morgan James finally came to light.

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6. Clear
Morgan's temperament in the third season was far from how he and his son Duane greeted Rick in the pilot. Driven crazy from killing his family and other survivors who had turned into walkers, Morgan holed up in Rick's old stomping grounds. As a one-man wrecking crew he barricaded himself into an apartment loaded with weapons and supplies; the walls were etched with directions and reminders of the emotional traumas he had experienced. His one and only determination was to clear walkers and people, anyone who got in his way.

Starting to clear walkers in the forest, Morgan's mask as a predator showed as he killed and burned bodies day after day. He killed two humans who ran into him, and didn't even have a chance to appear threatening to his safety, with his bare hands. Suffering from PTSD, he painted rock and trees in walker blood: Everyone Turns. Pointless Acts. Morgan seemed too far gone.

Tonight's episode began with Morgan bearing down at the Wolf he had locked up earlier. Remembering that the stranger liked winded conversations like in the movies, Morgan began to tell the assassin a story of his past. The timeline was bookmarked between Now and Then.

source5. Eastman
While Morgan was slaying walkers and people he stumbled across a man living in a log cabin. The stranger's peaceful demeanor was shockingly different than any other person he or we'd come across before. Morgan's instincts to kill the man kicked in but the big man took him down with a similar bo-staff Morgan now carries around. Instead of being hurt or threatened, he was put into a barred cell within man's home. That stranger was Eastman, a cheese maker who was Morgan's chance at transformation.

Here's Not Here was essentially a two-character drama starring John Carrol Lynch as Eastman, and Lennie James as Morgan. The Walking Dead met The Karate Kid, or Star Wars - whichever wise mentor teaching his young grasshopper the way movie floats your boat. Lynch was exceptional as Eastman, subtly emotional and some of their exchanges contained some slight timing for comedy. Both of them did a bravo job, and I was happy that this episode slowed things down a bit.

Before the apocalypse, Eastman was a forensic psychologist tasked with bringing psychotics back from the brink. While Morgan crashed in his cell repeating "I Clear" and "Kill Me", Eastman continually tried to feed him and through conversation reach parts of him that he knew was still there - appealing to healthy, stable aspects of Morgan that were buried by still existed.

source4. Revelations
Since the episode Clear Morgan's attachment to the word clear itself  and using it as a mantra was an interesting concept. I wanted to figure out more about why this word was being used over any other one, beyond what Webster's dictionary might offer.

Drawing back from the third season where we saw how unstable Morgan was, he used a similar Bible phrase of "meek will inherit the Earth". Knowing that a lot of details in the show are easter eggs, I thought there might be additional religious correlations to his use of the 'clear' too. There are many interpretations and translations of the Bible, so I wish no disrespect or to exude any iota of being an expert on the subject.

In Here's Not Here, Revelations 22:1 was the closest passage I felt came close. However, there are several Genesis passages that may also qualify Scott Gimples' meaning. (Of course, he could have also just picked the word 'cause it's in the comics or some such. lol)

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the Bible its mentioned (for an example of this scripture) that the garden of Eden had a river of its own. Throughout the Bible itself, water is an emblem of life or eternal life. Symbolically its role is one of transformation through spiritual delights, purity, activity, progress towards God or fulness.

Eastman shows Morgan a new way to commit to in the world. His farm is also bearing fruit and vegetables, as well as a river not too far from its property. The riverbanks are actually where Eastman begins teaching Morgan the martial arts form of Aikido. His transformation itself takes place in an eden-like atmosphere. Earlier in the episode, the only moment of peace Morgan achieved was standing alone in the quiet forest with the sun cascading down on the meadow around him. It's here in this one somewhat safe haven that Morgan accepts and realizes Eastman's philosophy. He begins living in a pure state of mind, a renewed sense of knowledge and the state of the world, and stops bonding himself to a mental, emotional, and spiritual hell.

The book in Eastman's house, the one left for Morgan to read, was The "Art of Peace", so there are obvious hints of Japanese spirituality in Eastman's teachings as well. The use of Aikido is not justifying the killing of another person as many institutions do, but to avoid killing altogether, even the most evil person. In various Japanese sets of beliefs, water too means purification in stages of transformation.

Eastman's instructions guide Morgan out of his own mind, redirecting his thoughts and not living in the past. What he's done, he's done. Trauma and pain inflicted on us doesn't require equal and opposite reaction of justice, revenge, or violence. People can stay or they can go, but he won't allow them to kill him. In accepting that, accepting other people and protecting everyone, he is in turn protecting himself.

A deleted scene within the episode Clear revealed more of Morgan's scripture related mindset too - "People like you, the good people, they always die. And the bad people do too. The weak people, the people like me, we have inherited the Earth."

From Matthew 5:5, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

The word meek is often misunderstood as weakness, but looking closer at its origins it means strength brought under control. But having this strength also means not to inflate your ego or courage over your services. The scripture as a whole means that those who are in accordance to God and do the service of others, while being meek and generous shall inherit the Earth (or land, ground, God's Earth).

In this world I wouldn't presume to call Morgan weak even if his mindset is severely unstable and not exactly the patient person as suggested in more meanings of the scripture. He obviously believes he is doing a service to others, as much as himself, but he does not hold himself as more courageous or giving himself an inflated ego. I think these are pretty self-evident in the scenes he has with Rick, as his guilty and obsessed train of thought rambles through. He is simply clearing the path, and might reach a place of physical paradise as well as spiritual prosperity and peace - which in a way leads him to Eastman.

It might be a stretch but I thought it was some interesting ideas to consider.

source3. The Doors In Your Mind
At the beginning of the episode it seems like Eastman has locked away Morgan in his home. Until, he mentions that he's going to sleep and asks Morgan not to hurt Tabitha. We realize later that the cell door was open the whole time and Morgan is the one holding himself mentally and physically hostage.

One of the best aspects of the episode was not only Morgan's transformation, but also Eastman's. Why have a cell in a log cabin in the first place?

What we learn about Eastman is that from his previous career was a forensic psychologist, delineating whether or not if criminals were rehabilitated for release. One of his cases involved a psychopath Crighton Dallas Whitten. Eastman had sent him to prison, making sure he never got out again. Instead the prisoner weaseled an escape, went to Eastman's home, murdered his family, and then walked to the corner police station covered in blood and surrendered.

A year later, Whitten was still working plots along the highway planting chrysanthemums and marigolds. Eastman kidnapped Whitten and brought him to his cabin, put him behind bars and watched him starve to death. It took 47 days.

Even for someone who knew from professional experience that people not built to kill and that people can heal from trauma, the restitution Eastman accomplished didn't recover or justify what he had suffered. Even to obliterate a psychopath who had destroyed his life, Eastman came to believe all life was precious.

I found it quite incredible that Eastman still lived in the cabin where Whitten was killed because that in itself could turn into an ugly reminder of his actions. And, yet he managed to mentally stay ahead of his trauma through his constant practice of acceptance.

Similar to the Japanese beliefs briefly touched on earlier, the closed doors we hold ourselves prisoner to in our minds leads to an open way, if we choose to do so. We can't keep opening the same doors and relive horrible moments of our lives; that's how we stay prisoners to our pasts.

2. Goodbye Tabitha
It was darn tootin sad to say good-bye to another animal and Eastman. Tabitha was Eastman's only companion besides Morgan, a small goat that minded her own business in the farm's gated garden and front yard.

Unfortunately, she and Eastman came to an untimely end. Morgan began soaking up Eastman's lessons in Aikido and how to mentally recover to stay alive. While they were practicing, Eastman was bit in his back by a wandering walker, which almost triggered Morgan's old instincts. While Eastman returned to the farm to bury the walker that bit him, Morgan stayed out there allowing a couple safe passage. While returning to the farm, he found Tabitha being attacked by walkers. And then Eastman made his choice that he was ready to go and ended his own life with a gun in his outhouse.

If I didn't say it before, I'll say it again: John Carroll Lynch really stole the show. I just appreciated a character like Eastman much more than I expected. Even though he and Tabitha ended up dying, I felt like it was a peaceful death:

After seeing Morgan making baby steps to sanity, and Tabitha died, he was ready to go. Morgan may have had to bury his body, but the blood wasn't on anyone's hands. Similar to characters like Andrea, who chose to end her life before she turned, so did Eastman. He didn't go by anyone elses' hand or on anyone elses' conscience except his own. With Morgan as his apprentice and friend, Eastman achieved some form of redemption from the mess with Whitten.

1. Too Far Gone The Other Way
Even after sharing his story, one of the Wolves Morgan was talking to still held onto his own code: he will kill everyone, every person, the children too. Morgan has met his own Crighton Dallas Whitten and still attempts to follow in his mentor's footsteps. Still thinking he can change him, he locks the Wolf into one of the vacant Alexandria houses.

One quality that Eastman found in Morgan that made him think there was a human still inside the facade of a monster was his past and ability to save people. The Wolves are clearly people who identify in some way with the real world but go about destroying it for their own survival.  Seeing how he used to be in the past, is it reasonable to think that The Wolves are not beyond saving?

Like other past characters who represented hope or peace, nobody has attained Morgan's similar level of peace. Nobody else (practically) shares in his code that all life is precious. But is it also reasonable to think that Morgan has gone too far the other way - to think that these people have a chance of coming back from the edge?

Quick Thoughts

• My only real qualm with the episode was perhaps its length. I'm unsure how much time was needed showing Morgan sitting in his cell threatening Eastman to kill him or to be killed.

• Stand-alone character-centric episodes are always refreshing because we're allowed to slow down a bit. For a survivalist show, if we didn't learn more about the characters we might eventually see die or get killed, it would just be weekly executions.

• Here's Not Here received criticism for being manipulative; it felt like bait giving us more reasons to support Morgan before he is killed off. I didn't find that exactly to be true. I thought the episode was more formulaic than manipulative. Glenn's possible death was manipulative; all of the parallels leading up to a Jon Snow cliffhanger.

• Even if Morgan dies later on this season, I'm happy this episode didn't end with his death. We are still given some room to breathe and to witness exactly how Eastman's lessons impact Morgan's decisions in continuing to deal with Alexandrians, Rick and the Wolves.

Last week's episode focused on an extended flashback on Morgan, leaving us with heavy-loaded questions about Rick and Glenn's survival as hoards of zombies came their way.

Episode 5 titled Now returned us to Alexandria following the Wolves' attack and how the dwindling number of civilians would move on despite such a severe blow to their community.

source6. Carol & Michonne MIA?
Now acted as nice padding in between chaos and character studies and let us see how Alexandria was going to fail or succeed after their violent attack. What were their baby steps of recovery going to be? But, instead of coming away feeling more supportive of Alexandria, there were just some bizarre choices made in how the scenes were arranged and some characters were featured over others.

As one main example, Carol and Michonne were completely MIA. We only heard of them in conversation or in passing from Rick to another character. Maybe Carol needed a long deserved break and she was sitting on her porch smoking some of Pasta Ladies' last cigs.

But what would Carol think of Daryl missing? What are the dynamics between her and Morgan, and what will Rick think of each of their choices? Rick banished Carol from the prison when she confessed to killing David and Karen. He won't even bury the bodies of murderers in their yards, so what will he think of Morgan keeping one of the Wolves as a pet project? Obviously the writers are holding out...but there are enough details about their assailants at least for them to be more cautious right now - even if hope has wavered and the death count has risen.

And, then Michonne's lack of participation in Maggie's attempt to find Glenn was puzzling. Again, there wasn't a more dynamic conversation about Glenn (and Nicholas) missing because he is a prime member of their family. The news of his absence was like talking through the grapevines. Even in the previous episode, Michonne sensed something was wrong with Glenn when he didn't make the signal. Even though Heath and Scott were able to get home safely on their own, she didn't go back for him? She didn't go with Maggie to go find Glenn? What was she doing this whole episode since we never saw her with Heath or even at Scott's bedside?

These seem just like small moments, but usually we get a stronger sense of what characters are up to when they are not the central part of the story, and in Now, that wasn't the case.

5. Alexandrians: Survive and Conquer, please!
Alexandrians continue to play the fine line of "I care about them" and "Really, Rick just take over the whole damn place already". The wool has been lifted from their eyes: their safe-haven was never that - ever. So, after the attack and the walkers are led right to their gates - what do they do?

Loot the pantry and hide from any new responsibilities.

Deanna's son Spencer seemed to turn the tide against the other Alexandrians committing wrong against each other. He gave a sweet little speech about not thinking irrationally because that will lead to the community's downfall. And then he swiped some booze and crackers for himself.

I liked that promise of chaos within Alexandria: another added element of how people will turn on each other when the chips are down, especially since they all have been living pie in the sky for so long. They'll have to start rationing food, the use of electricity, and ban noise so as not to attract the walkers. They are all trapped, so what will that be like?

But, the individual Alexandrians are not that interesting to me right now to examine or pay that much attention to. I'm not necessarily bored because there's Aaron, Eric, Deanna, Heath, Denise, Jessie and her son Sam (ixnay on her son Ron) but some of them are really pushing my buttons... That's my biggest struggle right now. Some people might have extra on-screen presence but do they rally up feelings of empathy? compassion? excitement? even hate or love to hate? Not right now. I'm not at the point of feeling manipulated to care for one character because he/she will replace somebody else...but maybe our core family is the ones we've been with since the beginning, and there isn't room for other minor ones.

I will say thank heavens for Denise, because like Jessie, she was another example of a character coming to terms of her capabilities. Glenn showed Tara his faith in her, and that strength lives on in Tara who was able to give Eugene some building blocks to courage, and now Denise. Her impetus of believing that it's the end of the world so she is going to take a chance on Tara was sweetly met with Tara's belief that it isn't the end of the world. Their shared intimacy and realization of feelings isn't wasted one way or the other. I love them together and hope their relationship continues to build.

source4. Chances
One chance that is completely bogus is the one Rick is taking on Ron. The kid had a crush on Enid and she hit the road after the Wolves' attack. Of course, raging teenage hormones and leftover angst after seeing your stepfather-to-be kill your father being what they are, his tunnel vision is to blame everything on Carl.

Yet Carl saved Ron's life when the Wolves' attacked. In wanting to skip over the fences to find her, Ron held that against him saying he will tell Rick and everyone else, they will go looking for him and someone will end up dead over his impetuousness.

There's totally gonna be some #PrincessBride action with #TheWalkingDead: Hello...my name is Ron...you killed my father...prepare to die.

— Katy Rochelle (@KatyRochelle) November 9, 2015

So cue to Ron asking Rick to give him a gun and teach him how to fight. All of a sudden he wants to know how to defend himself? Maybe he did see his mom fighting off the Wolves and that scared some courage into him. However, to me, that little twerp is t-r-o-u-b-l-e.

Showrunners, do not think I missed that camera shot of Ron holding onto his knife while gazing at Carl. I did see that. And hopefully plenty of other fans did to and might sense the foreshadowing or warning ahead. My red flags shot up and now I'm concerned that Rick, or Carl, is going to get in this assholes' crossfire.

At the top of the series, Rick said that he doesn't take chances anymore. But, he really is: with the plan that they thought was going to work, with thinking they can handle the Wolves without being more prepared, with letting his guard down for Ron.

He is a complicated teen, and I may be jumping the gun, but his intentions are dubious at best. Ron is going to be the biggest chance Rick takes. I don't think it is going to pay off. And, I will be done with this show if something happens to Rick because of this little punk. I could handle if a comic book "accident" happens to Carl but not Rick.

source3. Deanna
Some fans' reception of Deanna this week was a little unfair. She lost her husband and her son, one right after the other. Then, Alexandria was overthrown by the Wolves. While I sometimes take the point of view that characters have to learn faster about the world they are in instead of moping around (aka 95% of Alexandrians), she has a lot on her plate. The Safe Zone Congresswoman's rosecolored glasses has been torn from her face and the new reality she faces is tough. Rick is treading on safe water, and somewhere deep, I think he wants her to pull through and they can both lead the community. It's just up to her to get to that place of perseverance.

When finally facing what the community had lost, Deanna drew the community on a map and writing Dolor hic tibi proderit olim. From the Roman poet Ovid comes the longer phrase: Perfer et obdura, dolor hic tibi proderit olim. When translated means "be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you." This was a perfect mantra for her at this time, as well as a common theme throughout the show.

She went from talking about planting crops with Maggie to hiding in a truck during the Wolves attack, to taking down a walker. Her only other son blamed her during his alcoholic rant for all the losses and false sense of hope. Deanna spent most of Now shell-shocked and wandering the streets with an empty look in her eyes. Her first walker kill, who seemed to be on circus stilts for gods' sakes, was pretty brutal. And, I was really excited to see her take one down!

Tovah is really a fiery actress; the venom and anger in her eyes is amazing. There's a ferocity underneath that cold exterior that I pray we get to see play out more. Her rage, if not also stupidity, to slam her hands against the fence in outrage, as walkers crammed against the outside gates, like "I'm still here! Come and get me! See if you can really take me down!" attitude was showing there's still a fighter in there.

Harking back on season's passed, the showrunner did not do Lori and Andrea justice. But, there was a lot to analyze those characters nonetheless. Whether they were loved or hated, they were two female characters who butted heads with the lead males, one an anti-hero, the other a villain. I don't think we've had that in a while. Michonne and Carol are great examples of strength and complexity, and the show has an eclectic group of women hands down. But, I'd love to see specifically Deanna rise to power - whether that means working against or alongside Rick. Tovah is truly enigmatic in interviews about her character, and I'd love to see more of what she can do when she has her emotions in check, her head on straight, and the capacity to lead Alexandria without a naive sense of optimism.

source2. Jessie and Rick sitting in a garage
Oh, speaking of interesting women, (say what you want Richonne shippers) but I really like Jessie. Since JSS, and especially in that episode, she's shifted gears entirely. She killed one of the Walkers in cold blood. She managed to kill Betsy (David's wife) who committed suicide and turned into a walker. For her to grasp so quickly on doing what needs to be done to survive is miraculous in a place like Alexandria. She heeded Rick's calling to kill or die, she protected her family, and it was awesome.

But, in protecting her children, Jessie's also lost their trust. It's a rough exchange. She's not winning any cool points with her youngest Sam, who she tried to bribe with cookies. She's not winning Mother of the Year awards with Ron - ever. Her "kill or be killed" new stance is off-putting to her children who suffered abuse from their father, who her boyfriend killed. Complicated, much?

But does her grasp of reality warrant a major propulsion into a relationship with Rick? I'm not sure. I've never been a hardcore shipper in any fandom. Those feelings of "these two people have to be together or I'll hate everyone who dare comes between them" have never resided in me as a fangirl. To me, I see Rick with Lori; even though, yes, she's dead, and he's automatically shipped with her because they were married. But I don't hate that Rick is with Jessie but I don't love it either. I don't hate that Rick wasn't with Michonne, even if he wasn't with Jessie. I just didn't see Rick with anyone - in general.

The concept of "now", being in the present moment, and seeing value with the future was a core characteristic of this week's events. After killing the Wolves Jessie didn't want to delay what went on between them. Rick was feeling vulnerable, perhaps finally he wants to feel something other than responsibility for everyone else, so he's acting out on humankind's instinct for closeness. So the progression of the kiss Rick and Jessie shared in the garage was....just kinda there, I guess. I didn't see the sexual chemistry or spark the producers' claimed they've had since the beginning, but it too was just kinda there.

source1. Maggie's pregnancy and I LOVE YOU AARON
Maggie is pregnant. That was the shocking news not heard around the world. Because as soon as Glenn was thrown into the sea of walkers, every blog regurgitated theories about what Maggie and Glenn's conversation in this season's pilot was about and every which way Glenn could've or didn't survive the walkers who were enjoying an intestines brunch. It was a bit of a media overkill, to say the least.

So, the news itself might not have been shocking - but the delivery of it was beautiful.

After receiving word from Michonne that Glenn didn't succeed in making a signal, Maggie decided to see if he was still alive. Immediately, Aaron stepped up to the plate. This seemed like an odd friendship, just because of the newness of it, but both Lauren and Ross did a splendid job.

First, I loved that Aaron took the initiative of deflecting the Alexandrian's brewing outrage towards Rick. He didn't wait to confess that dropping his bag of photographs in their enemies' territory is how the Wolves found them. He wasn’t a coward; he didn’t take Rick aside and tell him about the photos - he unburdened his guilt to everyone and was courageous enough to take backlash.

So, Aaron tags along with Maggie and continues to be a cabbage patch kid unicorn of humanity and awesomeness. He isn’t a nuisance, or a hard-ass, or a know-it-all. He goes with her as a friend, not making the side-trip about himself. He genuinely wants to help and be there for her with whatever the outcome may be. A small part of it may be to recover the damage that was done in Alexandria, but they both share a commonality to accept or battle against the unknown.

For Maggie, it’s was what would’ve happened if she had gone with Glenn; would he still be alive? would they both still be alive? What if she told him not to go and stay with him - how would they feel if others died or went missing instead of them?

For Aaron, his doubts comes from what would’ve happened if he didn’t drop those photos - would the Wolves still had attacked? How much of that is purely on his shoulders (since we the audience know that Morgan let three Wolves go)?

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Both of them come clean with their doubts, and Maggie announces she's pregnant. She's terrified. She wants to see Glenn's face, she can't believe she doesn't have a photo of him, she told him to burn the photograph he had of her because they would never be apart. Instead of charging ahead with her instincts to track him down, she doesn't endanger herself and her baby. It's such a grown-up moment because Maggie and Glenn are each other's homes. But there is nothing she can do about his survival.

Each other's safety is a core element of their love and marriage. To think that Glenn made that call to try to get home to them by putting himself in danger is the opposite of what Maggie has to do now. She and Aaron don't go into the marketplace, and they accept the terms that because Glenn's gone doesn't mean he's dead. They don't have a choice to ponder the what ifs or why things happen. They just do, and they only have the now to deal with.

Continually, I just loved their scene together. It wasn't hugely filled with action or a drawn out character study but it was profound.

Because what does Aaron do when Maggie tells him she’s pregnant? He immediately hugs her. There isn't a seconds hesitation. And, it’s so sweet; he doesn’t back away in shock, or frown, or look shocked, he’s not invasive about their relationship, he’s just there for her. It's rare in this world filled with tears of grief, anger or frustration, there is a bundle of joy coming (hopefully) and it will affect the community in a positive way.

Even later while patrolling the fence and staring down the monsoon of walkers, Aaron is clearly willing to believe in what Maggie wants to believe about Glenn. He isn’t telling her she’s wrong, that Glenn doesn’t stand a chance, he doesn’t even judge their relationship or their past; not like when Sasha fought internally against trying to find Glenn back in season 4. Surely a lot of this comes from Aaron's relationship with Eric and how he treats others like he wants/demands them to be treated, but I just love how kind Aaron is.

Ross makes Aaron a complete person: complex, emotional, wanting to survive, willing to help, knowing to kill walkers, willing to lead, to take chances on people - almost like a flash back of season 1 Rick. I came away loving him even more than I did. This probably means he’s going to die. Bastards.

And, Maggie's pregnancy opens up a lot of opportunities for her growth as a character - if the writers give her any. In the past, Glenn and Maggie shared that not living in fear is what's kept them alive They've faced pregnancy scares. We've seen the lengths they'll go to (even ignoring that Maggie has a sister for a whole season) to be together. But, the imprint of Judith's birth and Lori's death has always been an interesting, unexplored layer to Maggie as a wife and potential mother. Now with a bun in the oven, I hope there are some interesting ideas or transformations from that experience of that in the works for her.

Maggie, Aaron, and the rest of the group are just waiting. We're in the same agony as they are, with not bracing for the worst and trying to accept what's going on now. It's torture.

Quick Thoughts

• Now, as a whole, was off-kilter. This was an okay approach, but I think it was just a tad disorganized. Perhaps the episode wasn't boring but that the timing of Morgan's episode threw us off way more than what was expected.

• I appreciated how much the writers gave attention to Rick wanting to wait for the rest of his family to come home, especially Glenn. He didn't go all cock-eyed, head-tilting impatient and crazy on everyone.

• Part of that I think is because, if he was to send out a group to try and find the others, who the hell would he send except core characters who are needed in Alexandria to fend off walkers or more Wolves?

• If they aren't going to bury the Wolves' bodies, couldn't they catapult or toss the Wolves' bodies from one of the rooftops or remaining watchtowers? Maybe some of the walkers might be distracted long enough that our guys can kill some of them.

•  If Daryl didn't help Rick lead the walkers away from Alexandria, or apparently didn't reunite with Sasha/Abraham, where the **** did Daryl go? what New Orleans swamp portal did he magically travel to?

Quite possibly the most popular tweet I'll ever come up with....

I still miss Tabitha. #TheWalkingDeadpic.twitter.com/OkAedpsOpK

— Katy Rochelle (@KatyRochelle) November 9, 2015