When we last left Travis, Madison and the rest of the Los Angeles survivors on Fear the Walking Dead, the situation looked grim. The Abigail compound was left burning, it seemed as though Daniel perished in the fire and the rest of the group was scattered to the wind. Madison took off with the girls and Strand in a truck. Travis and Chris took off on their own so a father could help his son and Nick, well Nick decided he was better off with the dead than with his own family.

It was a dismal and bleak midseason finale and it left all of us wondering where exactly the story would decide to go from there. As it turns out, last night's midseason premiere would bring forth something that I've heard quite a few fans clamoring for as the first half of season two pressed on, character development, and quite frankly it did it in beautiful fashion. There was no major pressing test or quest on hand for us to better understand the people we have been on this journey with, there was merely the open road and the silence of the world to allow us to reflect with our characters...or character in this case since the first episode back from the break was all about Nick, and 'Grotesque' taught us everything we ever wanted to know about the young man who has spent so much time struggling.

For starters, we learned exactly how tough of a kid Nick really is and how adept he is at survival. Faced with the wide open spaces of Mexico before him, Nick had to deal with some incredible hardships. he lost all of his food and water in a misunderstanding with another pair of survivors, but that certainly didn't stop him. Anything the man ever read about or learned along the way in life about staying alive in the wilderness he applied to his situation and tried his best to survive the elements and while it was incredible to see nothing stop Nick or bring him down, there was a sorrow that you felt for him when it came to facing off against the one thing he simply never handles well...human beings. 

For a good majority of the episode, anytime Nick faced off against his own kind in any form or fashion, the results were disastrous to say the least. One meeting we briefly discussed, where he was forced to abandon his supplies, and in his next encounter he found himself under fire from renegades who killed the infected for sport. It spoke to his decision to stick to death and the desolation of the world he once knew, yet while this was all fascinating to watch, it only grew our curiosity about Nick further. Why be so adverse to dealing with mankind? What could motivate a man to want to pursue death and be surrounded by it over anything else? 

The answer as it turns out...was that Nick was a on a spiritual journey to understand death and what it means because it has taken so much from the young man. A series of flashbacks explained this to us in great detail, and in these delicate moments from the past we learned more about Nick's time in rehab, where he befriended and fell in love with the first walker we ever saw on the show...Gloria. She was, of course a beautiful conundrum. Supportive and loving of Nick, but she was also dangerous, since she also supported his drug habit.  

But her love was not the main reason Nick went on this journey. That came about from the death of his father. His dad was a man he viewed as lazy and weak, but ironically enough, when he spoke of his dad, there was a sense of hope that perhaps someday he would see the man become more in life, and to know his father would never receive that opportunity and that Nick would never get to say to him what was in his heart was outright devastating. The memory of his father is now clearly with him always, especially considering the night before the dead began to walk the earth, he was reading a book his father gave to him before shooting up with Gloria and clearly her death was equally as jarring to Nick, as was the bastardization of it with her resurrection.

The good news is however, that Nick did indeed survive his lengthy and harrowing journey and even found a sliver of civilization that seems to respect the dead in similar fashion to Celia's beliefs. But the tragedy therein is the fact that while Nick claims to want to find a place where the dead aren't viewed as monsters, in reality he sees them as an opportunity for philosophical answers whereas this group no doubt sees these beings as natural evolution and those parallel views will eventually clash. Because at some point, Nick will find the answers he seeks, and understand that these creatures are living death and to be feared and he will also learn what death means to him on a personal level and what it means to honor those we've lost...and when that day comes, let's hope he is far away from this camp since some of these folks may see any belief outside of their own outright dangerous.

Either way, this was a low key, fantastic way to start the second half of the season. It was filled to the brim with sheer beauty visually and plenty of horrific moments as well to satisfy the zombie and gore lover in all of us. The scene where Nick begins to hallucinate and hears the dead speaking is one that comes to mind immediately as chilling to say the least. But the show does deserve some serious credit for spending so much time on Nick and what the man is all about. He no longer seems like a punk junkie out to do whatever. He is truly a broken man looking for purpose at the end of the world, and well...if the show continues on this character driven path, something its sister show does often, then perhaps it will finally win over the skeptical fans and find its true potential at last. Time well tell, but so far so good and next week it should be interesting to see what life is like in this tiny community outside of Tijuana. Until then.

I think it's safe to say that mankind's love affair with the ghost is still going strong in this day and age. Despite our technological advances and desire for truth, there is still a fair part of us that believe in the unknown, if only to prove whether or not such things truly exist. That fascination has led to numerous television shows that use the latest technology to see if these spooks and specters exist and well...it's quite incredible to see so many people working to disprove or prove whether or not there is more for our spirits and souls when we pass into the great beyond.

It's something I will fully admit to being curious about myself, in part because of my love of horror films and in part because...the numerous stories that still pop up about ghostly encounters pique my imagination and leave me wondering if there is indeed something more we don't quite understand, which led Shae and I to add an extra enhancement to our recent voyage to the Stanley Hotel, by participating in their legendary ghost tour to see if by chance we could have a close encounter of the supernatural kind.  After all, the hotel is well known for being haunted and the spirits that wander the halls of this iconic hotel continue to be spoken of and documented on a regular basis. 

Now, out of respect for the Stanley Hotel and the special way they handle this tour, a lot of the nitty gritty details of the tour I will be leaving out in this blog. Instead, we'll talk about the experience and whether or not some strange things happened for a couple of reasons. For starters, these guides work extremely hard on putting together a one of a kind experience for the guests on the tour, injecting their own personality as they speak of the ghosts and because quite frankly, if you're up at the hotel and you're interested in the tour, you flat out need to experience it, also if by chance you do take the tour, ask for Leigh. She was our tour guide this go round and she was absolutely incredible and made the tour fun, exciting and informative and well...spooky. 

​With all that in mind, I will make sure to clue you in on a couple of specifics as best I can so the story I tell makes a little more sense. For example, one part of the tour that instantly drew me in was the fact that we were given what one could equate to a totem. These were objects that would entice the spirits to interact with us, because these were lightweight objects that they could move, and well...much to my surprise, these objects did indeed move.

Our first goal on the tour was to see if the spirits would respond and it was fascinating to hear people gasp at seeing their object move and Shae and I were witness to it up close and personal when Leigh asked the spirits nicely to shift her object around. It was eerie to say the least and while our totems hadn't moved yet, the night was young and there was more to see. We went from location to location, learning more about the hotel and its haunted history. A personal highlight for me was Room 217, and a personal goal this trip was to potentially photograph something spooky. But alas, nothing showed up on digital film but a few light refractions, and that's okay. Because there were plenty of strange moments to commit to memory over film. 

​Case in point, on the fourth floor, where the majority of activity is often found in the hotel, Room 402's door was open. No one was staying in the room, and there was a family nearby peeking in to see if anyone was in there...but that door should have never been open, since the hotel has switched over to magnetic key locks and our tour guide did casually point out that the door should have been closed. It could have been a case of neglect from housekeeping sure, but on this night...one has to wonder. Not to mention, several people walking by that room pointed out a 'musky' scent which Leigh said should correlate with Lord Dunraven's spirit being in the area. It wasn't the last time a strange scent would pop up either, outside of Room 428, 'The Cowboy Room' where Shae once stayed, a gal in our group said she smelled perfume indicating the possibility that  the spirit of Flora Stanley was near. 

Yet, there was little that I had personally encountered, and that all changed in the last leg of our tour. Where in the hotel we went, I won't reveal, but I will say this room/area is considered the source of the Stanley's attraction to spirits and well...something about that place didn't feel quite right with me. You know the feeling, where something in your gut tells you something is amiss or off...well that feeling was with me the entire time in that place, and while I had hoped this was where my camera would finally capture something, it did not. But...Shae did break out her totem, hoping to see something happen and lo and behold...that little bugger moved, several times.  

Was it the definitive proof that part of me had been hoping for? Sadly not, but it did most certainly leave me wondering. After all, some of the stuff that happened on this tour was certainly out of the ordinary. The open door for one, and quite frankly, the feeling in my gut and Shae's totem moving about. Which means perhaps another trip will be necessary in the future to see if by chance something a little stronger happens or if I can snag it on camera, and for those true believers out there thinking I should leave well enough alone, always remember that the Stanley's spirits are not malicious in any fashion, they are simply there for reasons we cannot explain, and for the non believers rolling their eyes at this tale, go up there, take the tour and let's discuss it after that. Either way, this was a fun filled evening, filled with the unknown and spooky moments and I think it is safe to say...there is much more to the Stanley Hotel than we will ever understand...

At its core, Outcast is truly a story about good vs. evil. There are good guys, there are bad guys. There is a grand conflict brewing where the entire world is at stake, which means that last night's season finale should have been pretty by the numbers; with a grand showdown between good vs. evil, with good coming out triumphant, full of experience and a new found resolve to continue to fight the good fight at every single turn.  

But, 'This Little Light' bucked that standard style of storytelling completely. This was an ugly, angry and outright devastating season finale where plenty of mistakes were made, and we're not talking about people's feelings being hurt, we are talking about outright destructive mistakes that there are no going back from. But before we get too deep into that, let's take a little time today and discuss some of the more interesting little nuggets this show provided us with when it comes to the evil and how difficult those first few hours and even days are for the possessed, because this one picked up right where we left off last week, with whatever darkness that is now inside of Megan trying to adjust to a brand new life in this brand new body it happenes to inhabit. 

If anything, we learned not only are those first few hours dangerous to say the least...but they're also incredibly confusing for the the possessed. They don't understand a single thing that is going on around them, and to top it off, the sounds and sensations of the world they now inhabit is almost too much for them to bear. Which means evil Megan's first experiences on earth were outright terrifying as she wandered the city in the middle of the night, without a clue that Kyle and Reverend Anderson were trying desperately to find her. The reasons for such an intense search on Kyle's end quickly became clear. He has come to realize that there is a limited window to remove the evil from a person, the longer it stays, the more damaged the person is when it is finally removed, making it critical to find his baby sister in time to free her of this madness.

Kyle also worked it out with the Reverend that at some point, these creatures seem desperate to find some sense of normalcy when they are frightened, something that feels familiar and safe which led them right back to Kyle's house, in the hopes of finding Megan there. But alas, when they arrived she was nowhere to be found, but that does not mean their theory wasn't spot on, they were just a few minutes behind Sidney, who discovered Megan cowering in the house and did his best to help her by calling in his lackeys; Ogden and Kat to take her someplace safe, and in the process, Sidney was finally able to figure out how to get his hands on Kyle Barnes for far more nefarious purposes...his daughter. 

He makes use of Patrica's son to kidnap the girl and then taunts Kyle to meet him alone, something Kyle is happy to do, if it means his baby girl is safe and it leads Kyle oddly enough, into a locked storage room with his daughter inside Caldwell's just off of main street, where it is revealed that Sidney has more or less set up a triage/adjustment center for the newly possessed in this town, giving them proper care as they adjust to their new lives on earth. This of course, should have been the moment where Sidney reveals the master plan for his kind, but instead...he merely points out the fact that he needs Kyle before heading off into the night. Thankfully, Anderson followed Sidney the whole way; and goes inside to save Kyle, leading to a stunning battle royale where Megan is saved and freed from the demon. But not by Kyle, oh no...it turns out little Amber has the same power as her father and it is her hands that free her Aunt from the horrible darkness within.  

Yet while one should expect a happy ending here, there is none. Sure, Megan is free, but her husband is dead and she is shattered over this fact. Anderson thinks he finally has Sidney exactly where he wants him and goes back to the demon's trailer to burn it to the ground, only to discover the next day that there's a good chance he burned Patricia's son Aaron alive instead of his enemy and Kyle and Amber decide to leave and hide to not deal with this madness any further...only to have a group of people at a gas station stop and stare at them in awe. It's proof that evil is still everywhere, and growing stronger by the day, and despite his best efforts to stop it, Kyle Barnes is still for one hell of a fight. In the end though, this was simply a stunning season finale, only because this is one of the few times in storytelling that you come to realize that evil is outright winning the grand battle against good, and that final image of all those people staring down Kyle and Amber is burned into my memory, because it speaks to that fact and that we are going to be in for one hell of a ride come season two. Until next year.

If there is one absolute, paramount thing that horror has to accomplish to truly reach us and terrify us...it has to remove any sense of hope we have for our characters. We have to believe that they are doomed and vulnerable, because at that point, empathy takes over...and we are in for one hell of an emotional ride and last night on Outcast, the moment where we no longer felt safe when it comes to the characters arrived at last.

It could not have come at a better time of course, with this being the penultimate episode before the season one finale and 'Close to Home' made sure to rattle us in epic and painful fashion by taking everyone that mattered to their all time low before punching us in the gut with one hell of a frightening revelation. But before we get into that...let's talk about John Anderson, the now former reverend of this town because his fall from grace was the most gentle one of the night. Still desperate to keep a hold on the one job the man ever loved, Anderson does a little digging for intel and discovers the time and place as to where his replacement is being discussed and in classic Anderson fashion...shows up to beg and plead for his job back, before Sidney arrives and...gets his clock cleaned by the former good reverend. Charges are pressed and Anderson beats them of course, leading to what should be a confrontation between John and Sidney when Anderson shows up at Sidney's new place. But it's here that he discovers that Patricia's son is hanging with the Devil and when he confronts the young man about this, his temper costs him his relationship with Patricia, leaving him alone in the world.

While Anderson was grasping desperately to keep some semblance of his life together, Kyle was trying to put his family back together. Faced with the fact that Amber isn't quite healed from the day Allison was possessed, he decides it is high time to provide her with some sense of normalcy. He has Megan pull a few strings to get her enrolled in school in Rome and then heads off to find his missing wife to convince her to come home. It leads to a touching moment between Kyle and Mark as the once judgmental brother-in-law helps Kyle break into his old home to see if by chance Allison was there, only to find old memories and fading hope that he would ever know where his beloved wife went. But a surprise visit from her mother yielded an answer after some pleading and as it turns out...Allison decided that not only was she a threat to her family, but to herself and took the time to commit herself to a mental health facility and by the time Kyle found her...she informed him of the fact that this was where she belonged and to do his best to raise their child. 

Yet, as if that wasn't enough, to strip Anderson of anyone or anything he's loved in recent days and rob Kyle of a future with a complete family after redeeming himself...the show decided it was time to go one step further and bring about the ugliest moment of the night, by allowing for Megan to be taken by the Darkness. Sidney had mentioned the fact that those close to Kyle were often taken by these beings simply because of the fact that he served as a beacon in a way, and that part rung true since his sister emerged from her shower, confused, as the demon within tried to figure out where it was. Now we also learned the first few days of transition into the human body are difficult as well, and dangerous for others and that's also true...since when Mark came to see if his wife was okay, she was quick to slam his head into the mirror and in the process...slice open the jugular. As he lay there bleeding out, we finally saw just how powerful this evil is and how much it buries the original person/personality deep within the soul as this iteration of Megan slowly pulled out the glass and watched Mark die with utter fascination. Oh...and let's not forget...she's also pregnant, while possessed.

So there we are. Our main characters are as broken as can be, at their weakest mentally and physically in a way and now poor Kyle has a tough decision to make. To rip the darkness from his sister's body and risk her further harm...or salvation and top it off...there's something horrible coming over the horizon. Patricia's son hinted at it. So did Chief Ogden and well...one cannot help but get the feeling that Sidney lied about a few things...all in the hopes of keeping Kyle off the trail so that he can execute whatever it is he's been planning. After all, Ogden and Kat are setting something up in town...and in a way it feels like an infirmary is being prepped for newly possessed humans as more of these beings find fresh souls to claim as their own. Either way, the stage is truly set for one incredible showdown. The question now is who gets to walk away the victor...the light...or the dark? Until next time.