Life's Too Sports

The Season 1 finale of The Walking Dead: World Beyond launches with a flashback scene, as Leo and Kari Bennett look upon Iris and Hope as newborns, having already formed an unbreakable bond. (This scene proves particularly meaningful by the episode's conclusion.) A quick time jump now depicts Dr. Leo Bennett (who appears to be perfectly safe) sharing an evening meal with his colleague and life partner, Dr. Lyla Bellshaw. Elsewhere, his daughter, Hope, continues her journey to New York alongside Huck, having recently discovered Huck's deceitful intentions  -- in an emotionally-charged turn of events, Hope pulls Felix's gun on Huck, demanding to know her true identity. Alexa, cue the opening credits. Meanwhile, Elton and Percy (whose journey is hindered by a gunshot wound) make their way towards Silas' isolated living space to offer him a consoling truth -- Huck killed Tony  and shot Percy during his attempt to escape; thus, Silas is innocent . The newfound proof of his ...

Sunday's two-part season finale of The Walking Dead: World Beyond picks up directly following  last week's stunning revelation that Huck (or Jennifer, if you prefer) is actually the daughter of Civic Republic Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek. In their encounter, Huck ensures her mother that she's making progress with "the asset" -- meanwhile, Elizabeth reveals the intention behind her actions in the series premiere, having  provided Hope and Iris with a map to their father to keep things on course. A quick cut to present-day illuminates that Huck is intent on preventing the group from reaching their destination -- while the others sleep, her reckless driving renders their vehicle useless, and the group must depart on foot, seeking shelter and materials to patch a faulty tire. As they move towards safety, Felix recalls interviewing Huck upon her arrival at the Campus Colony -- in this fateful moment, he also met Will Campbell, a "more qualified" inte...

Sunday's midseason finale begins in recognizable fashion, as walkers munching on a deer carcass are killed by Virginia's rangers while Strand and Dakota ride in comfort towards a safe house. In their interaction, Dakota urges Strand to move forward with his escape plan, as she doesn't wish to live under her sister's rule any longer -- much to her chagrin, however, Strand insists on biding his time. Unfortunately for Strand, his casual escort system quickly goes awry when the horse of one of Virginia's rangers (Terry) rejoins their group without its rider -- Strand and Samuels quickly set off together to check for a horde of walkers ahead, but find only an inexplicably fallen tree. While the pair are away, a deadly conflict ensues -- the remainder of their convoy is brutally slaughtered, and Dakota (Strand's most prized possession) disappears. After the recent destruction of Tank Town , Strand fears that Dakota's life (and in turn, his own) may be in jeopardy...

In Episode 1.07 of World Beyond , horror-struck viewers watched as a friendly game of " Truth or Dare " descended into a crime scene -- our resident magician, Tony, was found dead, with Silas and the presumed murder weapon resting helplessly nearby. Thus, this week's episode begins with Silas tied to a swing set frame as his traveling companions discuss his fate -- Iris and Elton believe that Silas may be innocent, while the others argue that frequent evidence of his violent tendencies cannot be ignored. (On a personal note, it seems rather odd that Percy, a grifter who hasn't proven his trustworthiness , is nowhere to be found. I'm hopeful that he factors into next week's season finale somehow.) Meanwhile, Huck returns with a plethora of Iris' drawings that Silas evidently plucked from Campus Colony garbage cans while performing his janitorial duties -- in Hope's mind, this revelation lands as an unforgivable offense. Nonetheless, Elton visits Silas t...

The cryptic title of this week's episode becomes immediately self-evident when Paige (a woman seeking to escape Virginia and her rangers) commits suicide rather than explaining the meaning behind her spray painted message: " The End Is the Beginning ". Subsequently, Virginia's rangers are instructed to gather any useful information and then "Bury Her Next to Jasper's Leg", an ominous request that quickly sets the tone for the remainder of this week's episode. As the title sequence wraps, viewers are quickly thrust into a high-stakes operation, as June (and her apocalyptic rescue assistant, Sarah) are forced to conduct an emergency appendectomy on a man named Malcolm. Unfortunately, Malcolm dies before June is able to do more than create a small incision, and as she refuses to accept her failure, June is nearly killed by his reanimated corpse. Nonetheless, John and June Dorie are soon reunited, with John proposing a plan for the couple to flee Lawton ...

In last week's episode , our gang expanded by two members, adding grifters Tony and Percy to the mix en route to locating Dr. Leo Bennett somewhere within the CRM headquarters in New York. Thus, "Truth or Dare" begins by adding the finishing touches to our party of eight, as Felix and company roll up in their newfound transport to collect Huck, while she struggles with military flashbacks after collecting an EGA from a fallen empty. As Felix and Huck bond over their shared affinity for Mountain Dew, Tony uses his "magical insight" to locate hidden CRM fuel caches which promise to afford our gang the ability to complete their journey by vehicle. However, Iris takes Tony's discovery a step further, using a map given to her in the series premiere  by Elizabeth Kublek to uncover her father's precise location -- it appears that Leo Bennett is (visually) stationed at a "double-helix" DNA strand in Ithaca, New York. In celebration of their recent goo...

Two weeks ago, Fear the Walking Dead reunited Dwight and Sherry in unexpected, yet incredibly genuine, fashion. However, this week's episode made it readily apparent that Negan's reign of terror did not end with Rick Grimes' epic throat-slash in the Season 8 finale of The Walking Dead . But let's rewind for a minute... Episode 6.05 begins with Dwight and Sherry sharing a tender moment of reunion, though it's quickly interrupted by a radio call from Hill, informing Dwight that he's missed his check-in. Once again, Dwight lies to Hill, insisting that he must continue scouring off-map terrain, though he's concerned about Al's unexplained disappearance. Reinvigorated, Dwight suggests that he and his wife run off together -- unfortunately, Sherry refuses his proposal, and viewers quickly learn why when Dwight is abducted by masked figures. This new, seemingly shady group is constructed primarily of Virginia's outcasts, as Sherry and company seek to end ...

This Sunday's episode connects to its title almost instantaneously, as a rather cryptic introduction features Iris narrating the world's descension into chaos, juxtaposed with a cheerful shadow puppet show. (Don't worry, it makes sense by the episode's conclusion.) But first, let's rewind to the moment in which the group first meets Percy, a potentially untrustworthy " Madman Across the Water ". Initially, Percy informs our gang that he's alone, though his story seems to possess countless variations. Courtesy of Hope's blatant mistrust, however, viewers learn that Percy's truck was hijacked by a pair of men named Mike and Tony -- Percy confesses that he wished to hide the truth as his truck carries many barrels of refined fuel, its possession the comparative equivalent of "winning the jackpot". Following a heated negotiation, Felix and the four teenagers agree to depart with Percy to recover his truck, holding him to the promise of ta...

Season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead has sought to resurrect the "bottle episode" in an unprecedented way. Our  season premiere  focused on Morgan's battle to outlast gangrene and remain alive -- viewers were then treated to a parting of the ways between Strand and Alicia before last week's emotional episode  centered around Dwight and Al. Thus, it took four episodes for the fandom to learn of John Dorie's fate -- he has become one of Virginia's most trusted rangers, stationed squarely within the fences of Lawton. While John writes frequent letters to June, he initially seems to have become well-adjusted to Virginia's way of living, doing his best to contribute to their future with his peacekeeping duties. Unfortunately, everything changes when a man named Cameron meets an untimely end -- despite Virginia's insistence that Cameron had a drinking problem and errantly stumbled into some walkers, John wants to launch a full-scale investigation. During Camer...

This Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond features the collision of many opposing forces, including differing opinions on whether our gang should return to the Campus Colony, their ongoing struggle to cross a river during a storm (with a horde of empties on the horizon), and Elton's relentless mental confrontation with his past. While Felix is convinced that the group should turn around (as he intends to keep his promise to Leo Bennett and protect his "sisters"), his so-called deceptive plans are foiled when Hope overhears him talking to Huck about swaying Elton to join their miniature mutiny. Eventually, Hope blows up on Felix, blaming him for allowing their father to leave with the CRM, accusing him of never acting like her (adopted) brother, and realizing that the time has come for her to grow up and care for herself. Yikes. Later, Felix tells Iris that Leo and Will have to be safe with the CRM -- evidently, Felix feels guilty, as he was supposed to a...

Thus far, Season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead has produced two intriguing bottle episodes -- the season premiere (revealing Morgan's fate) and last week's emotional rollercoaster (revolving around the trio of Alicia, Strand, and Daniel). However, Sunday's "Alaska" may feature this season's most powerful narrative to date. Though the episode begins with Morgan gifting supplies to Rachel and her newborn baby (also named Morgan), his promise to return with Grace and the remainder of his people will have to wait until later in Season 6. Indeed, this week's episode focuses primarily on the journey of Dwight and Al, who have set out to examine locations where "things have gone south", reporting back to Virginia to help her organization avoid similar mistakes. To make their task more bearable, the pair create a grim game for themselves -- snatching licenses out of the wallets of fallen walkers and trying to collect as many states as possible. It's ...

In last week's episode of the most recent  Walking Dead spin-off, Felix and Huck reunited with the four teenagers in their quest to rescue Dr. Leopold Bennett from imminent danger at the CRM headquarters in New York. However, the pair of young adults seem to possess a more realistic mindset than Iris, Hope, Elton, and Silas -- Felix insists that the gang doesn't know what they're walking into, remaining determined to keep them safe. When our party of six stumbles across an abandoned high school to conduct a supply raid, they split into three pairs -- Felix intends to convince Elton that their mission is foolhardy, Iris blows off Hope in favor of Silas, and Huck attempts to uncover the true meaning behind the trail that Hope left behind. As the pairs go their separate ways, Iris ensures Felix that she remembers their training techniques, quoting his statement: "It's all about avoidance." Hope soon echoes this sentiment, feeling that Iris has avoided speaking to...