Revolution Season One, Episode Ten: Nobody's Fault But Mine

This episode opens with the Trenton campaign five years after the lockout. Monroe tells Miles that they are actually running out of bullets. Miles is shot and tells Monroe that he has to go because someone has got to lead the men but Monroe refuses to go and says, "if you're dying, then I'm dying with you." In the present day Philadelphia, they are walking through the streets when Miles notices that Charlie's head is bleeding again.  Nora knocks on a door and says that she has a gift for Major Kilping.  When Kipling opens the door, Miles holds a knife to him and says that he is the only friend he has in town.  Neville knocks on Monroe's door and tells him that though they get a message from Wheatley saying that he had captured Miles, but has not shown up.  Neville suggests that Monroe run but Monroe says that they are days away from an outright war with Georgia and that he is at a critical turning point with Rachel.

Miles leaves Charlie and Nora with Kipling. The Militia bursts in and Nevile says that Kipling is one of the few friends that Miles has in town.  Charlie says, "if you're so smart, then where is Miles?" When Charlie starts to resist, Neville injects her with something and they drag her into a room and lock her in. Charlie asks where her friends are.  It turns out that Charlie has been imprisoned with Rachel. Charlie is shocked to see her mother and cannot speak at first.  Rachel tells Charlie that she is beautiful and when she tries to embrace Charlie, Charlie steps back.

 Neville tell Aaron that he recognizes him as the wizard of google and says that he bets that he was high and mighty when the lights were on. Neville says that he was one of the poor bastards once and now he needs Miles to save his fat pockmarked ass.  Nora realises that they are being used as bait and that this is nothing more than a trap.

Rachel tells Charlie that she was trying to kill Monroe and escape with Danny. Rachel says that this whole thing is her fault and that she never should have left them but Charlie tells her that she needs to stop.  Rachel realises that her daughter has grown up.

Miles returns and realises that the group has been taken.  Rachel asks Charlie if she was with Ben when he died and if he said anything. Charlie admits that Ben said she reminded her of Rachel and to go and get uncle Miles.  Rachel is shocked to learn that Miles is there and asks if he hurt her. Sgt. Will Strausser enters the room and says, "seeing you ladies together has me more than a little aroused."  Stausser then takes them out of the room.

Neville is pouring a drink when Miles shows up holding a sword to Julia's neck.  Miles offers Julia in exchange for his friends. Neville asks Julia if she is alright and Miles tells him to unload his clip. Unlike when Miles had his son, Neville quickly complies.  Neville starts walking towards Miles and says, "you went to my home and laid my hands on my wife."  Miles again demands the return of his friends but Julia says that she is not some hysterical bitch.  Neville asks why he should help him because he believes that Miles is just going to slit their throats anyway.  Julia tells him not to but Neville says that he has no choice and that they should wait there.

Strausser takes Rachel and Charlie to see Danny, who has clearly been beaten.  Charlie tells Danny that she had to come because Danny is her brother.  Neville returns with Nora and Aaron and Miles demands that they be uncuffed. Miles demands that Neville get Charlie and Danny and when Neville says that they are not there, Miles puts the tip of his sword to Julia's throat.  Neville says that Monroe asked for both the kids personally.  Miles orders Neville into a closet and forces Julia in with him. Neville says, "I'm going to kill you one day for this."

Monroe introduces himself to Charlie and Rachel asks what he did to Danny.  Monroe answers that he is done playing games with him.  Monroe shows Charlie the pendant and explains that with an amplifier it makes planes fly and tents roll.  Charlie asks Rachel what Monroe is talking about and adds, whatever he is asking you to do, you can't do it.  Strausser point a gun at Charlie and Danny and tells Rachel that she has to choose between her kids.  "Which one do you love more?" Strausser asks. Charlie tells Rachel not to do this and says that some things are more important than family.  Charlie stands up and says pick me and desperation, Rachel says that she will fix the amplifier.  Monroe orders Charlie and Danny to be taken back and says that if Rachel even steps a little out of line that both her kids are to be killed.

Aaron, Nora and Miles have made their way to the location that Neville said Charlie and Danny were being held.  Miles says that he has no way to get in, but Aaron thinks he knows a way.  Rachel is working on the device and Strausser is taunting her and saying that he wants her to sabotage the machine because then Bass will turn the kids over to him. Jeremy Baker approaches Monroe and asks what he is going to do if he confronts Miles. Jeremy is concerned because they have always had standing orders to bring Miles in alive. Jeremy suggests that he be allowed to kill Miles but Monroe asserts that he can.

Two years before the blackout, Mile finds a drunk Monroe.  Monroe says that he always thought that he would be dead by now after two tours in Iraq. It seems that Monroe's entire family has died thanks to a drunk driver.  Monroe says that it should have been him and so Miles takes the bottle away and tells him that it's enough. Monroe says that he has nothing left but Miles reminds him that he has him and asks what the hell would I be without you.  Miles points out that they have been brothers their whole lives and asks Monroe for the gun before he does something stupid.

Charlie is continuing to work on an escape, as Danny listens at the door.  Charlie hits the guard over the back of the head when he walks in and picks up his gun. This stuns Danny, who asks if she knows how to use the weapon, Charlie nonchalantly says, "I guess I'm going to have to learn."

 Aaron leads Miles and Nora to an intake plant.  Nora instructs Aaron to wait outside with a bomb.  When Aaron asks how he will know if something goes wrong, Nora assures him that he will know. Rachel continues to work on the device and powers it up.  Charlie and Danny are spotted and shot at. When Monroe hears the shots he sends a guard to go and see what is going on.  Unfortunately, Charlie's weapon quickly runs out of bullets.  They make a run for it and Miles stabs one of the guards in the back.  Danny is shocked to see Miles.  When Miles tells Charlie that they have to go, Charlie says that they can't because Rachel is there.  Miles is shocked that Rachel is alive but instructs Charlie to get Danny out of there.

Moonlight & Mechanicals by Cindy Spencer Pape Book 4 of the Gaslight Chronicles

In this fourth book in the series, we return to the Hadrian clan, whom we first met in Steam & Sorcery. The Hadrian brood is all grown up and now the children are finishing their education, or engaged in work for the order.  In Moonlight & Mechanicals, the protagonist is Winifred Hadrian (Wink), the engineer of the group. From the moment she was saved by Constable Liam McCullough, Wink fell hopelessly in love with the werewolf.  Though Liam McCullough holds Wink in high regard, his troubled past has led him to believe that he is simply not husband material.  Liam is determined to play Cyrano de Bergerac to Wink's suitor Connor.  Liam's firm belief is that if he can get Wink safely married off to a man he knows will not mistreat her, that she will be safe from him always.  Like all good plans of mice and men, things don't work out the way that Liam plans.  People and animals are going missing in Wapping, the area where Wink ran the streets as young street urchin and in order to solve the mystery, Liam must work closely with the entire Hadrian brood, thus drawing him closer to Wink than Liam feels comfortable. Against a backdrop of intrigue and even threats the Queen Victoria herself, Liam must deal with the ghosts of his past, as Wink presses him to believe in the pure goodness of his nature.

As a protagonist, I quite liked Wink. She is not the fainting type and actually prefers to have good solid clothing which she can move freely in and work in.  Having been given the freedom to pursue her interests, Wink works for The Order as an engineer and is fully capable of supporting herself. Wink has no patience with being treated as though she is delicate and therefore rightfully bristles when she left out of part of the investigation, and when Liam suggests she should retire from danger. When Liam is resistant to a relationship, she initiates sex, with no shame or discomfort. Wink has a strong personality, with a mind of her own.

Though Moonlight & Mechanicals is most certainly a steampunk romance,  the romance did not overwhelm the plot. Pape did a great job of creating an interesting mystery to build the relationship between Liam and Wink around. The mystery never felt ancillary to the romance and this equal weight kept the plot intriguing, even though as a reader I knew that Moonlight & Mechanicals, would end with a declaration of love, as romance novels typically do.

We once again had the inclusion of Aunt Dorothy, who is a lesbian.  We are told that she has been in a loving committed relationship for years with Miss Julian but that it is simply not acknowledged in polite society.  I would have been happier to actually see Miss Julian in this novel, rather than simply a reminder that Aunt Dorothy is a lesbian.

666 Park Avenue: Season 1, Episode 8: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

 Jane is now missing after last episode when Jane went spelunking in the middle of the night (as you do). Henry is wandering around with missing fliers and his best kicked-puppy dog expression. The Dorans are, of course a pillar of strength

Jane is in New York, sort of – a silent empty New York, then one with silent people who tell her she shouldn’t have come telepathic New York then normal, busy New York (it’s this one that freaks her out).

She is found and taken to a psych hospital where she’s silent until Henry arrives (Henry is not a big fan of the police detective after he was so doubtful about Jane’s hallowe’en attack).  The doctor says she’s had a disassociative episode – she’s blocking out a trauma and to heal it she has to remember. The doctor insists she be kept in a hospital for 2 days.

Henry explains this to Jane – and also asks if she told them about her grandmother who had a mental illness. Jane doesn’t find this reassuring since she’s trying to convince everyone she isn’t mentally ill and even Henry doesn’t believe her.

When the nurse tries to put a blood pressure cuff on her, Jane flashbacks to being pinned to a table. She panics and lashes out at the nurse, needing to be restrained and sedated. Henry, watching through the window, is not reassured by Jane’s sanity. While Jane is half unconscious from the sedative, we hear the nurse talk about a man who was the same with the cuff – and he spoke about a spiral staircase. His name was Julian Waters

Jane talks to the police detective and tells her about Julian – in the high security ward. He passes on a package from Nona, Jane’s necklace and a picture of herself at the Drake. She tells the detective she doesn’t know what they mean. After being forced to take her pills, Jane staggers to the secure ward for violent patients. While there we get treated to what almost sounds like the sound track from a zoo (really 666 Park Avenue I think I heard monkeys) until she finds Julian’s cell. She asks him if he went down the stairs, he says no, he came up them.

She returns to her cell, remembering a little more about going down the spiral stairs, but when she returns to Julian’s secure cell (seriously? This place needs to redefine the word “secure”) she finds blood stains forming patterns on the wall – and Julian hanging from a bedsheet noose (this is the SECURE cell in a psych ward? Damn this place fails). But being dead doesn’t stop his eyes opening and him telling Jane “you shouldn’t have come here” along with the rest of her little flashbacks.

Once Upon a Time: Season 2, Episode 8: Into the Deep

 In present day fairly land, Cora is not happy with Hook – he’s stolen her protection spell and not got her the compass. Hook tries several tricks (even his pretty pretty face with the obligatory pirate eye-liner) to try to convince her to keep him on side – but she dumps him, refusing to take him with her to Storybrooke when she leaves. She has a different plan, returning to the massacred sanctuary that Mulan, Lancelot and Phillip had, she uses one of her many stolen hearts to raise the bodies as zombies.

Meanwhile, Emma, Aurora, Mulan and Snow are discussing Aurora’s dream – and the fact she saw Henry. Snow, who was also under a sleeping curse, tells them she thinks the room was real. They hatch an idea – they can talk to Henry who can talk to Rumple to find them a way out.

Back to sleep Aurora and back to the fiery room with the disco floor to talk to Henry, tell him Snow and Emma are fine and ask for his help

Henry wakes up and tells Regina and Charming that Emma and Snow are alive yay! And they need Rumple’s help to stop… Regina’s mother. Much less yay.

Time to go see Rumple, who is having a burger date at Grannies with Belle (Granny, like everyone else, hates him. I’d almost pity him if he weren’t so utterly awesome). Regina comes in and tells Rumple they need to talk – Granny tries to empty the diner fearing a black magic duel, but Regina assures her it’s ok. Rumple snarks at Regina (“hey Belle, this is the woman who locked you up for 28 years”) and makes it clear she’ll get nothing from him. But Regina mentions Cora is coming – Rumple says he handled her before – in the end – but Regina points out this time he has someone he cares about that Cora can target.

In Fairyland, the gang look for a safe space for Aurora to sleep and find Henry again – and Mulan notices Aurora’s arm is burned. Realising it’s from the dream she tells Aurora not to risk her life for strangers – but Aurora is determined to help.

In Storybrooke, Henry prepares to sleep in Rumple’s shop (Regina bringing his blanket from home – I do like that we’re holding on to Regina has Henry’s mother – the series has been awful in that regard) and Regina and Rumple snark over whether Rumple is more powerful than Cora or not (I love these two sniping at each other). Rumple gives Henry the way to capture Cora – the same way that was used by Snow and Charming to capture him – using an ink from the bottom of the ocean, accessible only by mermaids. Or him, he has a private supply. Because he’s Rumplestiltskin, of course – and they’ll find that in his gaol cell.

A great plan but the message in the fiery disco is interrupted by Mulan waking Aurora early – their camp has been overrun by Cora’s zombies. In the fighting, the group gets separated and Aurora is taken. In Storybrooke, Henry wakes to tell them that he couldn’t get a message through – and he also has burns.

Aurora is held captive by Cora who was apparently aiming for someone else. She hopes that she can trade Aurora for the compass and questions why Aurora is loyal to them. In exchange for her co-operation, Cora offers to tell her how to get Phillip’s soul back from the wraith – but Aurora isn’t having it, nor will she sell her loyalty.

Review: The Night Eternal by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, Book 3 of the Strain Trilogy

 Ephraim, Nora, Fet, Gus and their allies are back in a world that has fully fallen under the Master’s control. Their little resistance is doing its best to fight back, but they’re little more than a nuisance. The world is firmly under the Master’s thumb. There are even camps set up to process humans to provide blood and labour. Humanity, the survivors, have settled into ruts of fear and appeasement, trying to survive under their new masters

Even the skies have been darkened by the nuclear fallouts, leaving only a few short hours of sunlight every day when the vampires are forced to hide.

It is only through the Lumens, the book left by the deceased Stakhian, that they have any hope to finally destroy the master and free humanity. They may have one last chance to free them all.

But while he may be one of the few ready to fight back, Ephraim is falling apart. The stress of the years apart from his son and knowing his son is in the Master’s hands have worn him down and left him dependent on alcohol and pills.

This book has a lot going for it. It has some very realistic, very strong, very emotionally deep characters. It has a fantastic concept that brings a genuinely original slant to the entire concept of vampires. The creatures described are so different to what pop culture has turned vampires into. And it returns very much to the vampire’s root as a source of horror and fear, rather than a tragic, romantic figure.

It has some extremely detailed world building and history, describing the origin of the vampires and what that means and how that is linked to killing them. It has some really strong characters with a lot of depth who truly convey the enormity of the dystopia they’re living in, how much is at stake and how much they’ve lost.

And it has an excellent plot – it has a mystery, it has a goal beyond mere survival, it has action and it has an well maintained theme of grittiness and despair.

Despite all that, I didn’t like it – and I tried desperately to do so.

The first and simplest reason is the same problem that has stopped me enjoying the whole series. It’s long. It’s very very very long. Nothing is described quickly, the language is evocative and very very descriptive giving you a full and very immersive feel to every scene. You can practically see the location and every emotion the characters feel is presented in the fullest detail, making it all very very real.

And very very slow. I won’t say the writing is bad, because it’s not. It really does give a wonderful impression of the locations and the settings and it tells us everything the characters are feeling in great depth. But it does TELL us a lot. Through internal monologues  that seem to go on for pages, we truly learn every nerve wracking, near breaking thought going through each character’s head. This isn’t always a bad thing – it was probably the only window you could see Zack’s slow transformation, for example – but it was done with every character and it was so very slow.

In a book where the monsters have taken over and the survivors are racing to find a solution I find the general slowness and need to dip into nearly every character’s head for a long long long exposition of their feelings just destroys all the tension. I can’t run with the plot because I’m bogged down by the internal emotional drama. It’s too much, I’m drowning in it and can’t go along with the story because I’m just lost in their grief.

Misfits Season Three, Episode One

 As we are still behind the current season, we are continuing to post our catch up posts on Monday.  Every Wednesday, the recap and review of the current episode will be featured.

This is our first introduction to Rudy, who is set to see Seth.  When Seth enters his waiting room, Rudy is gone.  Rudy is chasing his twin on the street and then he follows him into a building and up to the roof. One of the Rudy's is upset that the plan is to get rid of him.  The two of them begin to struggle and they both fall off the roof.  Fortunately for them, they don't fall far and are both okay. One Rudy climbs inside of the other.

Simon is still busy practicing to be his future self and he is dressed in his all black gear again.  Simon seems to be having a much easier time moving around than before.  At the end of last season, the Misfits all got new powers and it seems that Simon's power is the ability to see into the future.

At the community center, the new probation worker takes money out of the donation box to buy a drink.  This is Sean's first interaction with Rudy. Rudy in turn lectures the other new people on probation and he is absolutely as disgusting as Nathan.

Kelly is in meeting trying to sell her designs but they don't believe that she is indeed a rocket scientist and quickly throw her out.  Kelly believes that the man she is meeting with thinks that she stole the designs, rather than drawing them up herself. 

Simon enters his flat (once again directors, thanks for the shirtless scene) and Kelly shows up to complain about her new power.  Kelly says that no one believes that someone like her could be a rocket scientist.  Kelly, Simon, Alisha and Curtis all decide to head to the bar.  Kelly asks about Nathan and Simon says that he is still in Vegas with Marnie and Nathan Jr, but he wants all the misfits to go to Vegas for his wedding. Simon adds that it's Nathan's plan to use his power to cheat money out of the casino, to pay for their trip.  

 Rudy shows up at the bar and the moment Alisha sees him, she claims to be tired and suggests they leave. Rudy is busy trying to hit on one of the new girls on probation and he is falling flat on his face.  Rudy heads to the bathroom, where the other Rudy tells him that the girl he is trying to chat up is out of league. It seems that one Rudy is a disgusting pig and the other has all of the conscience.  Both Rudy's go their separate ways and both begin to chat up girls. The blonde who is talking to the Rudy with a conscience, believes that she had him all wrong, but when she asks him to go somewhere else, Rudy declines.  The blonde then runs into the second Rudy, who is now kissing the girl he was chatting up.  In a fit, she uses her power and freezes everyone in the room. She walks over to Rudy, grabs an empty bottle and then hits him over the head with it.  The blonde then puts the broken bottle into Curtis' hand before walking away.  When everyone comes to, no one can explain the broken bottle, or Rudy's injury.

At the community center, Curtis tells Alisha and Kelly what happened the night before.  Alisha makes it clear that they should not get involved in whatever is going on and Kelly points out that this is the kind of thing where they could use the "guy in the mask."

Disgusting Rudy wakes up to find the girl he was making out with the night before watching him. Rudy then heads to the bathroom to clean up, where he is confronted by the Sensitive Rudy, who is concerned that he just had unprotected anal sex.  Disgusting Rudy replies that cute girls don't get HIV but the other Rudy is not impressed.  Disgusting Rudy does not want to listen and asks, "do you know how rare it is to find a girl who genuinely likes it up the ass?"  When decent Rudy threatens to go and tell the girl everything about them, a fight begins. Disgusting Rudy stabs his twin and he ends up being stabbed as well.  With all of the noise, the girl is concerned, but when she opens the door, there is only one Rudy left.

Disgusting Rudy ends up talking to the blonde and he starts to brag about having anal sex. The blonde is not at all pleased and so she stops time and then throws Rudy down a flight of stairs.  Curtis and Alisha approach Rudy to see if he is alright, but the Blonde freezes them yet again. When the Misfits come to, they see that the blonde has set it up to look like they threw a rock through a window.  Curtis starts running and he is caught by the police, but when the cop turns him around, he is no longer a man.  This means that Curtis' new power is to turn into a woman.

Curtis catches up with Rudy, Alisha, and Simon and explains that he got away by doing his thing.  Rudy picks up that this is a reference to the storm and says that he is cool with all of it. The Misfits take Rudy back to Simon's flat.  Of course, the first thing that Rudy wants to know is if turning into a girl has given Curtis sexual confusion. Apparently, the ability shift gender was the only power that Seth had left.  Rudy then asks Simon if he would fuck the girl that Curtis turns into but Simon says that they have never seen her. Rudy says, "I have always wanted me own vagina - not to keep because I have heard that they require a lot of upkeep like cleaning and polishing."  Rudy then pauses and picks up the picture of Alisha and Simon in Vegas.  When Alisha then enters the room, Rudy is clearly shocked to see her, so Alisha explains that she and Rudy went to the same college. Rudy grabs his stomach and then makes a hasty exit.

Back at his own place, Rudy is looking through a shoe box and he pulls out a picture of Alisha. One Rudy holds the picture out to the other.  Clearly something happened between Rudy and Alisha.

Seth is on the phone and he is looking for a specific power.  Kelly shows up to talk to him about taking someone's power but he does not take her seriously.  Seth says he isn't going to do anything about the girl that is freezing people. As Kelly is walking out of the room in frustration, she tells Seth that the new power she has is rubbish.

At the community center, Sean is yelling at Rudy, asking who took the donation box for the blind. Rudy tells Sean that he saw a girl carry something to locker number 43.  When Sean opens the locker, sure enough the dog is in there.  The blonde is walking through the community center, when she sees Rudy, who informs her that Sean is looking for her, because he believes she stole the dog.  The blonde threatens Rudy but Rudy tells her that there is nothing that she can do, because Sean has already reported her.  Before the blonde can use her power, Sean demands that she go to the office.  The blonde is escorted out by the cops but before they can drive away, she freezes them and walks away.

Fangs for the Fantasy Books of the Week

Every week on the Fangs for the Fantasy podcast (archives here) we read a book and discuss it on the show. The review for the book of the week always goes up on 3:00pm (EST) on a Monday (Monday’s book review).

To give people a chance to read along with us, every Monday we’re also going to include a list of our planned books of the week for the next few shows, so people can get the books, read them and join in the conversation.

19/11-26/11: Eternal Night by Guillermo Del Toro

26/11-3/12: Kindling the Moon by Jenn Bennet

3/12-10/12: Hunted by the Others by Jess Haines

10/12-17/12: The Turning by Jennifer Armintrout

17/12-7/1/2013: The Awakening by LJ Smith

We will have a hiatus over the Holiday season, so there will be no podcast on the 24th or 31st of December.

 

We will discuss each book on the latter date – so on the 17th December, we will discuss The Turning by Jennifer Armintrout

We will post a new list every Monday with any changes or new books.

The Walking Dead Season Three, Episode Seven: When the Dead Come Knocking

Glenn is tied to a chair and Merle tells him that he didn't mean him any harm and that he was an asshole, just like he was on the rooftop in Atlanta. Glen tries to tell Merle that they went back for him.  Merle calls T Dog a spearchucker and asks where T Dog is.  Merle then asks about the rest of the group but Glenn does not answer, so Merle suggests that Maggie will help him out.  Maggie is locked in a similar room by herself. She can hear everything that is going on.  Merle tells Glenn that he likes that he does not scare easily and then holds a knife under Glenn's nose as a threat to cut it off.  When Merle lets go, Glen head butts him, which earns Glenn several punches as Merle asks over and over again where the camp is.

At the prison Rick is staring at Michonne who is standing at the gate. The zombies are beginning to take notice of her and so she pulls out her katana and starts to kill them.  Finally, Carl asks Rick if they should help her. Michonne falls to the ground and passes out, but before zombies can eat her, Carl shoots them. Rick opens the gate and goes out to get Michonne and Carl grabs the baby formula. Rick picks up Michonne and carries her into the prison and lies her on the cement ground, though he tells the group that she is not coming in the cell blocks.  When Michonne comes to, she reaches for her katana and Ricks kicks it out of the way promising not to hurt her.  Ricks asks Michonne her name but she does not answer him. Rick tells Michonne that she will be locked in and that her wound will be treated.  Michonne tells Rick that she didn't ask for his help but Rick answers, "it doesn't matter," and leaves.

Darryl takes Rick to see Carol and they embrace.  Apparently, Carol fought her way into a cell and then passed out dehydrated.  Rick starts to cry and Carol tells him that she is sorry.  Carol then takes the baby from Beth, as Michonne looks on.

Back at Woodbury, Philip answers a knock on the door and Milton informs him that Mr. Coleman is ready. Andrea is getting dressed and Philip tells her that he could use her help.

Rick goes back to Michonne and tells her that they will tend to her wounds and then send her on her way. Michonne tells them that the supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy and a pretty girl.  Rick grabs Michonne's wounded leg and she makes it clear that he is not to touch her.  Rick points out that she came there for a reason and so Michonne tells them that she believes that they were taken to Woodbury, which is run by the Governor and his paramilitary group.

Glenn has been beaten to pulp and Merle tells him that he is a lot tougher than he remembers.  Once again, Merle asks where everyone is hiding and Glenn says that it is only a matter of time until the group comes looking for him.  Merle is not impressed and says that there are too many of them. 

Hershel treats Michonne's wounds and the group gathers to discuss the situation. Oscar asks how they can trust Michonne and everyone agrees to go after them. Michonne is up on her feet and asks if the place was over run and if they cleared the place out by themselves and Beth answers that it was and they did.  Rick pulls Carl aside to talk about shooting Laurie and says that no one should have to go through that.  Carl asks Rick how long he will be gone and Rick tells him that if anything happens to get everyone locked in the cells and keep them all safe.  He instructs Carl to take care of his sister. As Rick goes to leave, Carl says that Darryl has been calling the baby asskicker and so Rick asks what they should really call her and Carl suggests naming her Judith after his third grade teacher.  With that Carl, Rick Darryl, Oscar, and Michonne get into the car and head for Woodbury.

Philip takes Andrea into an area where a Mr. Coleman is lying on a bed being fed ice chips by Milton. Philip leaves telling Andrea that Milton will bring her up to speed. Milton starts to question Coleman as Andrea watches.  Something sketchy is going on here.

Glenn is still restrained and this time, Merle enters the room with a walker and asks where the group is.  Merle tells Glenn that after eating him that the walker will be hungry again in an hour. When Glenn doesn't answer, Merle releases the walker and closes the door.  Glenn kicks the walker in the stomach and manages to get to a standing position, while still tied to the chair  Glenn manages to smash the chair and use the leg to kill the walker. I don't know about you but I was worried.  I thought that might have been it for Glenn.

It seems the plan is to let Coleman die and reanimate, so that they can find out if there is anything left of him when he does.  Coleman volunteered to be the test subject, as he was dying of prostrate cancer and they had no way to treat him.  It's Andrea's job to kill him once he becomes a zombie.  Andrea says that when people turn they become monsters.  Andrea asks Milton if he has seen this before and he says no. Coleman passes and together Milton and Andrea strap him to the bed.

Merle meets with Philip and says that Glenn won't say where his people are.  Merle admits that they know Andrea and Philip decides to go and talk to Maggie.  Maggie is still tied to a chair when Philip enters the room.  Philip uses a knife to free her hands and then asks if he can sit.  Philip says that they will take her back to her group and that this was all just a misunderstanding. Maggie asks to talk to Glenn but Philip says no and that her people are dangerous because they handcuffed Merle to a roof and left him there.  When Maggie does not give up the location of her group, Philip orders her to stand up and take off her shirt.  Maggie says no and Philip tells her to take off her shirt or he will bring Glenn's hand in there.  Maggie takes off her shirt and Philip tells her to continue and so she removes her bra as he watches.  Philip stands, takes off his belt and walks over to Maggie. Philip grabs Maggie and forces her down on the table, but she tells him,"do whatever you're going to do and then go to hell."

Rick pulls the car off the road and they all get out.  Michonne says that they have patrols and so they are better off on foot from here on in.  They begin to walk through a forested area. Rick thanks Darryl saying that he knows what he did for him and the baby, while he was working things out. Darryl simply replies, "that's what we do."  A group of walkers comes out and the group starts fighting hand to hand but realise that there are too many of them and so they run to a cabin.   The cabin is quickly surrounded by walkers.  They find an armed man lying on a bed and he instructs the group to leave.  The man threatens to call the cops and Rick says that he is a cop.  Rick drops his weapon and the man demands that Rick show his badge.  Rick knocks the gun out of his hand and they grapple but the man gets loose.  As he starts to open the door, Michonne kills him with her Katana.  They open the door, throw the man outside and escape out the back. 

Coleman starts to reanimate and Milton starts asking him questions but Coleman is only interested in eating.  Milton wants to try without his restraints but Andrea says no.  Milton releases them anyway and when Coleman lunges, Maggie puts a knife through his head.