Thursday, 1 November 2012

Breaking Deadoloution!

This is going to end in one of two ways.



Either this will be an awesome post and I'll get a critically acclaimed book and award for it, or it’ll turn into a huge storm of failure, twirling up into a crappy ending. It kind of reminds me of the movie ‘Taken 2’.

I have a theory which I like to add detail to every once in a while, about how the two TV shows ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ are in the same universe, and in fact lead into one another. I thought I’d make it interesting, and (somehow) attempt to draw everything into a single, awesome-filled universe, like a creamy éclair. No matter where you bite, you’ll get some eventually SICK-ening results.(he he he)

It begins with Breaking Bad. Walter White is a Chemistry Teacher who decides to cook crystallised meth. In the final episode of Season 1, he makes a different type cook, one which is 99% pure. This is blue. Tuco, who is the dealer at the time, takes these 'products' and sells them to Meth heads for Walter and Jesse. When Tuco is taken out by Hank Schrader, they become aware of this meth being a bigger deal than they originally thought. 

Anyway, I’m trying not to go into too much detail, just for the sake of:
           SPOILAHS! 
      I don’t want to bore you all to death.

Eventually, Walter turns to Gus, a meth distributor. This is where the stories begin to overlap. Now, it gets tricky because the Breaking Bad universe shows Meth heads as characters who are just crazy, but I’m going to go into the whole ‘infected’ style.

During Season 4, Hank Schrader mentions that the Blue Meth has spread over the whole of south, to further western America, spilling into Mehico (Mexico!) At this point, there is a mention in Season 4, right near the end, when Walter says there could be contamination in the laboratory. Because of this, they stay up all night, trying to solve the problem, but cook anyway.

This is where the infection happens.

At this point, a shipment of the meth is stolen by the cartel, and sold to several people, one of which is shut down by Mike and Jesse. They are known to be driving east, because Jesse tells Walt.

Walking Dead is set in East America.


This is the connection which is always hazy, as theres no mention of an infection in Breaking Bad, and no mention of Meth is mentioned in Walking dead, so it’s just a little bit of imagination and Fanfic pushing this little baby around for its ride.

Walking dead now kicks in while Rick is in his coma. You’re never really told how it’s initially spread, and theres no reason as to why everyone is infected, but let’s leave that hanging just for now while I spread this out. Now, when Rick wakes up, he is in a hospital, and everyone is a walker around him. He works his way out of the city, and goes to another to try finding other survivors. He does, and joins up with them and they make their way to Atlanta.

 Revolution has a placement in Atlanta

I have a theory that Revolution takes place between the two stories, but it is hard to explain in a single sitting. But basically, The power goes out because of lack of workers in Walking dead. Batteries don’t work due to EMP *POSSIBLY*. That’s still unthought of.

I think this is too hard to write in a single sitting. Part two will come soon, talking about Revolutions connection to Walking Dead and it’s overlap. I also have a VERY COOL connection between Walking Dead and Breaking Bad in terms of re-occuring characters!

Stay tuned, and keep on televisioning!

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Don't Worry, it'saul Good-man!

Ah, Saul Goodman. Even the name gives you a little bit of that safe feeling. And, my God, how he has exploded on the internet.

It was a late night when I thought up this brilliant idea. Actually, it's not really that much of a good idea, but I digress. The other night, I was up just playin' my vidya's when I looked over to my Breaking Bad collection. The first three seasons, none had been watched since purchase. So I thought to myself  'why don't you pick your favourite episode and have a watch.'  I decided to watch Season 2, episode 8, 'Better Call Saul!' 

This episode is one of my favourites, as it introduces undoubtably the funniest character in the show, behind the methhead who gets his head crushed by an ATM.

Saul Goodman is a self-employed lawyer, and Jesse Pinkman defines him perfectly

|Jesse Pinkman: When you get in deep, you don't want a criminal lawyer. You want a criminal lawyer.
Saul Goodman is one of the best lawyers for meth-heads, drug dealers, bikers and basically anything nearly illegal. Not only this, he provides all of the comic relief the show needs to thrive as not only a drama, but also a small comedy. A few of my favourite quotes are:

| Saul Goodman: Walter never told me how lucky he was. Clearly his taste in women is the same as his taste in lawyers : only the very best... with just a right amount of dirty!
| Hank Schrader: Saul, I've seen your ads. I've seen better acting in an epileptic whorehouse. Laughs.
| Saul Goodman: Oh, you mean the place where your mom works? Does she still have that two-for-one special?
These are the kinds of wisecracks is what makes Saul, Saul. He is an intelligent, crazy and everything inbetween those two poles.

The incredible thing is, not only is he a powerhouse on the show. He branches off to our universe. In the show he has a website named www.bettercallsaul.com.

Interestingly enough, it's the same here.
www.bettercallsaul.com
He also has a fashion page. In the shows, lets face it, he is a stud. So why not here too?
http://www.bettercallsaul.com/dresslikesaul.html

I could go on and on, but in reality, there is only so much you can say without repeating yourself too much.

So I'll leave you with a final statment.

Saul Goodman: Who can you sue? What about churches, family members, neighbours, drug dealers, The people who made the drugs, who stole the drugs, that you took... You know what to do. Better Call Saul.



Monday, 22 October 2012

Get it together, Australia.

I'm pretty annoyed.

I was thinking of writing another Analysis and breakdown of The Walking Dead episode, but I've decided against it, only because the actual writing of it is a very taxing process. The episode itself was brilliant, but I don't think the time investment is the same as what you will get out of it.

I read on Andrew's blog (Which can be found here) about the difference between free to air television, versus the paid, cable television. After reading through, it seemed to rile me up a little bit. I'm not too sure why, but whilst watching 'The Walking Dead' Last night, I seriously began to realise a bit more about the topic I didn't initially want to write about and decided it was worth the read.

Australian television is horrid. I'm sorry to those who think that shows like Big Brother and Neighbours are prime time super-quality television programs, and I understand that it might be your 'thing' to watch and this is just my opinion, but seriously? These kinds of shows, and that kind of people are the reason that the television scene is staying the same.


As soon as the episode was over, I took a little stroll to www.imdb.com to check out review scores from Australian Free-to-Air television, compared to some of the other shows, such as 'Walking Dead'. The shows are rated out of ten.

Australian Television Shows:

Home and Away -  5.2
Neighbours - 5.4
Big Brother Australia - 2.6
Dancing With The Stars - 4.2
Australian Idol - 3.4
The Voice - 6.7
Border Security - 6.2
Bondi Rescue - 6.3 

American Television Shows:

Walking Dead - 8.7
Breaking Bad -9.4
Game of Thrones -9.4
Revolution - 6.6
Dexter - 9.1
COPS - 6.2
Spongebob Squarepants - 7.7

 These are just a few television shows I've taken off the top of my head. Now, you're probably thinking, 'Gee, Kieran, you've taken all of the best shows in America, and all the worst in Australia'. My response to that is:

There's something seriously wrong with that sentence.

Let me explain. You see, I've not taken the best shows from America, but the ones which come off the top of my head. Now, I watch a lot of television, and I'd honestly put down good Australian Drama etc. if there was any. I can't put down shows which arent Australian in the category, and let's face it, the ones I put down aren't very good at all.

I think I know the reason for this.

The main problem with Australian television, is the way we watch it, not what we watch. Think about this. If you sit down to watch some telly from Australia, do you watch it purely for the entertainment, or is Australian television something that grips you, something that makes you go 'Holy jeesus! I cannot wait another week for the next episode to find out what happens to ___'. You see, Down Under, telly is a pasttime, whereas in America, it's a lifestyle. Now I'm not saying to all get fat, but instead, stop watching crap. If people stop tuning into bad television, and instead opt for quality, such as the (rare) Dexter or Supernatural, we might get more shows which are interesting and fun.

So instead of sitting on the couch like a sloth, for the love of all that is holy, go rent a good series, or buy a TV set and enjoy television, as opposed to being a mindless zombie to Australian slave television.


Tuesday, 16 October 2012

'Revolution' Season 1 Episode 5 'Soul Train'

I swear the guy on the right looks familiar!
Warning! This season is incredibly confusing, hopefully you can remember names better than I can! if not, just go down to the 4th picture to match faces to names!

Revolution had an awesome episode. Not as good as 'The Walking Dead', but let's face it; what could be better than Walking Dead last night!

Oh right, Breaking Bad.

Nah, Revolution tonight was awesome. The scenes and cameras were really well done, and I'd like to point out that the start of the episode had some extremely vibrant colours, which always makes a person like me very happy! They have also began to start to use the setting a bit better. Little things like an overgrown dish goes a long way in a shot.

Very Pretty indeed.
Straight as the episode begins, you see Captain Neville floor an unknown character, to which I assume is one of the soldiers. I thought this was a bit of a strange scene, but I'll explain later, unless you solve it yourself! Captain Neville (Who is the character on the right of the two man picture at the top of the post) then asks Danny to come into his little ring. This starts a pretty cool fisticuffs match between the two, with Neville ultimately beating up Danny. Just so you know, Neville is actually Gus from Breaking Bad, so he really fits in as the awesome officer to be feared of.

This is Danny, who is the main Characters little brother.
After this, you see the burying of another character. This character, named Maggie, died last episode of a stab wound to the leg. Both the scene showing her burial area and the scene of her actual death was surprisingly gut-wrenching for me, and I'm not exactly a softie. Something that made me go 'Oooooo!' was the awesome green grass in the scene. I really want to be there, it looks so nice.
From left to right: Miles, Nate, Nora, Charlie, Aaron.


I guess that's one thing about the whole 'Revolution' scene. The scenery is awesome. I've always been interested in overrun buildings and structures. I think it's just a really cool thing to look at and admire. Secretly I can't wait for society to fall apart and having the world as a little bit of a playground. Plus, you could climb vines, and... Wow, that would be cool.

Anyway, while the group, consisting of Charlie (The main character, and youngest in the photo, standing), Nora (The crouching female), Miles (The male with his back to the shot), Aaron (The other standing character) and hostage Nate, were walking through the trees, a horn can be heard from the distance. Of course this scared the living daylights out of me, because I'm super tired, but once again I digress.
All aboard the (Karma) train!
After this scene, it cuts to the Commander Monroe. This is basically the main leader of the militia forces, who have taken Danny from the group. Now, because you guys and girls don't need a whole breakdown, I'll just tell you to go watch the darned show (It's only 5 episodes, so a quick catch-up!). Basically, he is holding Danny and Charlie's mother hostage, trying to figure out what Ben (who is Danny and Charlie's father) was working on before he died. Supposably, Ben knew why the power went out, and how to turn it back on. *insert super shocked face here* The mother won't say a word, and so Commander Monroe is going to use Danny as a bargaining tool.



Woah, that is so confusing when I go back through it. Hopefully you followed it all!

Anyway, after this scene (which is the obligatory boring scene in the episode) It shows some backstory of Neville. I won't go into the details, because it'd take far too long, and I don't want this turning into the last post.

Simply put, Neville goes home after losing his job (on the night of the blackout), his son runs up to him and gives him a big hug. to the left, the wife can be seen as well.



I really believe that this particular flashback is incredibly important, even more important than present day content, as Neville needs more fleshing. This particular flashback shows the innocence of him to begin with, and how he was just a simple family man before the Revolution began.

| 'Will tea still be a little away?'

Neville goes downstairs to the basement to vent some anger out on his punching bag. This is when the power shuts out.



This was my favourite part of the episode to this point. As much as I like series, I love background lore and content. Neville and just the actors roles in general have always intruigued me to another level. I think that he is very capable of every role, and so when background information come out in the way of flashbacks, you get to see what the character (in this case, Neville) was like before the blackout.


Anyway, I'll jump forward here. The main objective is to get the train stopped, as it's heading to Philadelphia, to take Danny to Monroe. While this is happening, Charlie is trying to figure out where the heck Danny is and actually runs into Neville.



This scene also blew me away quite a bit. I could see that Neville could see straight through the lies fed to him, but decided not to act.

Once the conversation is over, Charlie follows Neville and I right away facepalmed. Obviously Neville knows you're not doing what you're supposed to, so stop following him you idiot. She doesn't listen to the advice I shouted at my screen and this happens.

This is the kind of thing which frustrates me about television, and one of the things that hold back this show from being 'incredible', when it's just 'very good'. The idiotic moves by Charlie cause the loss of the element of surprise, and Miles comes in to save them.


Meanwhile, Nora and her rebel buddy who isn't given a name, go and create a bomb. But no, this ain't no ordinary bomb. It's a bomb inside a piece of wood! The reason for this is so that the feeder for the fire to run the train throws it in, detonating the bomb.


Once again, I'm going to jump forward, because I'm getting tired (2:18AM). The log is placed on the pile of the train, and Neville decides it's time to move the train to Philadelphia to get Danny there. This causes an issue, with both Danny and the bomb being on the train.

So guess what, we go Wild West!



I think this may be one of the weaker points in the episode, so thank goodness it lasts for about a minute. They board the train, and...

You know what. I'd like to convince people to watch the show, so I won't say the ending. I think that the 1000 words that you've just should be enough to likely make you go and watch this!

Instead, go out and download the Episode. You won't regret it. You can find the links yourself, as I'm not going to endorse illegal downloading!

Until I don't ruin another grand experience, keep on Televisioning!






Monday, 15 October 2012

Viva La... Revolution?

Power is everything in today's society.

From cars and planes, to lights and clocks, we use power every day, guaranteed. You're using power right now, reading this. But what would you do if it was switched off all of a sudden, never to come back on.

I know what I'd do. Go crazy and sit in the corner, sucking my thumb and crying like a child. I mean, what could you do without power. I honestly say I don't go more than a waking hour without using some sort of electricity and power.

This is basically what Revolution is about! The power is shut off, and only a select few know how and why. This is a really new and in my opinion, awesome series. It's up to episode six now and is becoming one of my top fives!

The newest episode, 'Soul Train' is where I'll start from, as it's downloading now, and should be able to be read by the blogosphere sometime tomorrow! If it ever downloads that is. 

This may take a few days.
Until it's up, keep on Televisioning!

Walking Dead, Season 3 Episode 1 'Seed'

They've really amped up in the CGI and makeup department.
That was awesome.

You know, coming from a double session of Walking Dead to write about the latest episode isn't easy. I just want to analyse it all in my head, figure stuff out and then get super excited about the next episode.

But not today.

That episode was glorious. The image above I've taken myself and I think it really shows how awesome it has become. They've made the 'Walkers' (basically zombies, for non-fans of the show) look incredibly detailed. The main thing I'd like to bring to the attention is the eyes. I think they have done them up a lot. They used to look a lot more normal, but now there is some variation in the eyes, which I think is awesome.

But I guess I should break it down! I mean, that's what you are here for, I guess. I shouldn't have to say this, but there are some *SPOILERS*  ahead, and I suggest you watch the episode if you are going to before you come along and let me ruin an incredible experience.

The beginning of the episode shows how much you can do with zero speaking. I'm not even kidding, there is not a single word uttered in the entire intro sequence of before the title video plays. The camera starts zoomed right into the eye of a Walker and zooms out slowly to reveal it, which is very cool. AMC has a tendency to do close up shots of eyes, like Breaking Bad Season 2 with the Teddy bear. But I digress.

All of a sudden, Rick (the main character) kicks the door in with explosive force, shoots a Walker and then his friend, who is named T-Dog (yeah, they didn't even mention his real name, and yes, he is black which makes him even more bad-ass) follows up with what I think is a fire prod to another Walker to take it down. They clear out the house in silence, and then once it's all clear, they whistle for the rest of the team to move into the house.


They're not all pictured at the same time.
T-dog spots Walkers coming to the house, so they flee in cars and the intro sequence appears. As someone who would like to go into the script writing business, I really need to pick up some pointers of this scene, because it is just... awesome. I think that because there was no talking, it magically makes the scene more intense, as if something bad is going to happen at a moment's notice. So this was the beginning of what I knew was going to be an awesome episode.

The title ends and it opens to see Daryl, basically the hunter of the group, and Rick hunting for food. Daryl says 'While these guys and girls are washing their pants, let's go hunting', which I think is a very smart line. It shows that they still have a sense of humor, which I was worried was lost a bit. Glad Daryl is there to keep it light. They come to a train track, follow it and see a prison in the distance. This is the moment I gasped and made a little girls squeal. Come to think of it, I was far too excited to see this.




They storm the fence and make it between the two fences. After a bit of talking, they work out points to take out the Walkers and close the gate to the entrance of the prison. It was a really intense scene, but you can't really explain too much, just so much butt-kickin'.

This is where the worst part of the episode was placed. Unfortunately, in each episode, they decide that the worst characters should have a role in it to play, and it annoys me a little. I understand that these characters are from season 2, and need more fleshing out than other characters due to the time in which they are shown, but they could have done it in a more interesting way. Instead, they sung.

Yep, you read it right. They sung for a full two and a half minutes. 

Hurry!

Once the boring but nice singing was over, Rick explains that they have to storm the Jail the next day. People seem really thrilled to hear it and then you see an ad break.

There is another character, which in season 2, gets broken up from the group by accident, and is saved by a mystery character. I went looking on the Walking Dead website for the name, and ruined a bit of the Season 3 storyline, which is Michonne (see what I do for blogging!). Her character is basically a ninja with a Katana, swinging it around, killing walkers and saving the other character, Andrea. I actually have no idea what's going on, but she might have been bitten. She seems a bit... crazy.



This leads onto the scene where Rick and the gang storm the prison. This scene is unique from anything they've done so far. Actually, it's unique from basically any of their episodes so far. They're going on the offensive, taking out Walkers so they can actually move on into the armoury and a safe haven. This is where a new type of Walker is shown (kind of, anyway). The guards trying to stop the outbreak are fighting were overrun and turned into Walkers. They have all their armour on too. This provided a challenge for the group, and I thought that it was a really great part of the episode.

He doesn't really seem in the best shape, aye?


They take them down, quite gruesomely really. I won't go into details, because there are probably some squeamish out there, but they aim for the neck. Rick realises that they should clear out a cell block, and after some pretty intense (which means quiet!) camera shots, they clear it out and finally, the group has a place to stay. I had a problem with this though, because over half of them were upset about sleeping in a prison, as opposed to a concrete floor or grass. You get a bed, grow up. This is where one of the greatest music placements of the series takes place. The group are all getting ready for a rest, and the song 'Noisy Sunday' by Patrick Watson is played. It fits the scene in a strange way, as the song seems quite...Saddening, and yet, so happy at the same time.



There is an break for ads here. It was really needed, because my brain cannot handle that much awesome in a single moment. I regathered my thoughts and sat back down to be blown away once again, and I wasn't disappointed.

Rick tells the fighter group that they're going to go down into the basement area to (I think) search for supplies, although they don't say anything about it. They go down into a dark set of corridors, and right away, I was on the edge of my seat.

Down here, there were so many corpses... Eugh!
It was like this for 5 minutes, before this happened.


All of a sudden, everything went crazy. people were running left, right and centre to get out as soon as they could. This is a really good example of how the writers can turn the story from suspense to action in two seconds flat. The group get's split up, and before you know it. someone makes a huge error. It was bound to happen. Season 3 Episode 1. That's all you have to know to figure out someone is going to get hurt. And it really looks painful.

Yeah, ouch much?

I think this is one of the best things about Walking Dead. They don't care if you're squeamish or not, they just let a zombie rip into your Achilles tendon, or show a person stabbing a zombie in the head with a pipe. It's not that they don't think it's disgusting, they just don't give a rats.

So here we have a problem. Hershel has just had his leg torn up, and they need some place to hide. Conveniently, they find safe-house in the cafeteria, where they barricade the door and chop off Hershel's leg.

You probably thought I was joking.
Yeah, that actually happens. Blew me right away, I'll tell you that. I mean, within 45 minutes, a character has a leg amputated with a hatchet in a prison cafeteria. Now, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't believe it if someone told me that happened.

After the leg is off, and Hershel is totally unconscious, Rick says the dumbest thing ever.

 'He's bleeding out'.

Really Rick? I couldn't have guessed in a million years. All of a sudden, behind some fence between the serving counter and the room they are in, 5 (What I thought was) Walkers appear. Daryl walks over and realises they are human! Yay, more survivors! The last words uttered are 'Holy S-' Yeah, you get the picture.


This is where the episode ends.

Wow, just wow. I have no words to describe how cool I think this episode was. So much awesome crammed into a little 45 minute session of perfection. It's right up there with the awesome episodes of Breaking Bad and Revolution. The acting is very, very good. Rick and Daryl share a very good partnership this episode too. It's not mentioned, but I definitely got the feeling.

Just as a side note, I won't be putting together something this long again, because it made me very worn out, and it'd take an extremely long time to read. Hopefully you guys get some enjoyment out of it.

Chuck down a comment and let me know what you think of the post, I'd love some feedback from the Community, especially A.C.

You know who you are.

Until later this week, when I write up the newest episode of Revolution, stay tuned to www.televisioningkh.blogspot.com!



Sunday, 14 October 2012

Walkin' (Dead) to the Telly!

October 15.


 This is the day many thousands of fans of the television series 'The Walking Dead' have been waiting for. Finally, season 3 is upon us.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to see this masterpiece resurface for it's third instalment. As I'm typing, it is downloading onto my hard drive and I'm sitting here, all giddy-like, slowly watching the little download bar fill up it's little blue electronic liquid over the silky 'Downloading __%' text (mind you, it's excruciatingly slow). I think that I'm as excited as  'Breaking Bad's' Walter Jr. when he receives his Dodge Charger in Season 4'

9.1%

This episode will begin my journey too. The journey of Blogging! It's been something which I've always been interested in, but no content seemed appropriate. It should hopefully be entertaining and engaging for both of us!

A bad thing about the television these days however, is the fact we don't get this kind of awesome and engaging telly in 'Straya. Instead we get terrible content, like Big Brother and Packed to the Rafters. The problem with Australia's television audience is that we're too lazy. We sit in front of the television for cheap and mundane entertainment and it probably won't change for a very long time. Because people sit in front of the television and just forget each episode, we don't get stories. We get crap.

14.2%

I'm digressing. This should be celebratory! I'm Blogging about television, one of the best pieces of content around!

Now, if you don't mind, I have a bar to fill up, but I'll sign out on my favourite quote from television.

| Walter White: I AM THE ONE WHO KNOCKS. I AM THE DANGER.

15.9%.