There's a show that has recently entered pre production that I have been keeping my eye on for some time now.  I've watched the news closely, I've waited to say anything on it for one particular reason...it's not a guarantee we will ever see it.  Sure it's been ordered to pilot, but lots of shows get that order and well, not all of them are ever seen by the public.  But this one, I have a good feeling about, simply because of the fact that it has made incredible progress in it's development and I fully expect the prequel series of The Walking Dead to make it to a series order. 

For those who haven't heard yet, yes, The Walking Dead is getting a spin off/prequel that will take us into the darkest days of the living dead plague that Rick Grimes managed to sleep through.  So far, we know it has a temporary title of Cobalt, that it is set in the city of Los Angeles and that the first cast members have signed on for their respective roles.  Plus, Robert Kirkman will be a guiding hand on the series, and that's a huge plus as well.

But, the beauty of a prequel like this, is that the powers that be have a chance to do new and exciting things that we don't see on the current iteration of The Walking Dead and that's saying something since the show already offers so much.  It's dark, it's gritty and it challenges us in new ways since Scott Gimple took over as showrunner.  Obviously, I'm glad that the core elements will likely be present for this pilot, but there are a few things that I would like to see for this prequel. 

First and foremost, I want to see the new tradition of strong and powerful characters that we see on the original show translate over to this one. This is a great opportunity to test these characters in new ways since we are seeing the world as they know it crumble around them. It's a chance to really explore how that effects people in ways that the genre has yet to explore. Often times they are just on the run...surviving because it must be done.  Now's a great chance to look at the fact that things will never be the same.  

I'm also hoping that the main source of conflict, is getting away from the living dead. No villains or crazy safe havens like we have seen on the original show. This is an opportunity to give zombie fans the epic meltdown of the world we always wanted.  No more being in the thick of things or seeing the outbreak from a smaller sampling of the world. This is the chance to show off the end of the world in grand fashion and place the characters in some seriously scary and dangerous situations that will leave the audience gasping for air and wiping sweat from their brow.  

I think if the show can accomplish those two key elements, we are in for an incredible ride from both shows. We'll have the original that allows us to think hard about the human condition and what we will become after our world is torn to pieces, and at the same time we'll have a show that provides us with pure, raw terror where every week our characters are trying to make it to tomorrow.  Either way I can't wait, the popularity of the living dead is a gift that keeps on giving and I'll be keeping my eye on this new version The Walking Dead every step of the way.  

Well, as the year draws to an end, I have finally come the conclusion that I need to make up a list of not just top movies I have reviewed, but the movies that have stuck with me the most since watching them.  I have been asked what draws me to the horror movies, and keeps me away from more of the serious stuff, well that is not that hard to answer.  A horror movie can take you away from the trials and pains that life can put on you on a daily basis.  Seeing someone who has it worse than you in a movie, I hate to say it, makes you feel better about your current situation.  That is one way of saying it, the second is a good scare helps make sure that you are alive.  Just a little bit about me, but one to the movies!

You’re Next – For some reason, I cannot get this movie out of my head.  After watching it the first time, I knew I would have to watch it again to make sure I did not miss anything.  With the family dynamic being examined in this film, it is easy to find out why some of the children want to take out their parents, but as most things come down to in our lives these days, it is all about the money and how much we really want it.

Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil – This is a classic throw back to all of the horror movies that have haunted our dreams for many years, but with a twist, it is a comedy and the only people that are killing are killing themselves.  With Tucker and Dale just trying to find their own way in this crazy world, they are being hunted by college kids that believe they are crazy killers in the woods.  This movie has hit a sweet spot for me as with all of the laughter that comes from it, it still provides enough blood to keep even the hardcore horror fan intrigued.

Hollow – Wanting to make sure that their relationship is pure, Scott and Emma take a vacation with their friends to Emma’s recently passed grandfather’s house.   Finding out that her grandfather knows plenty about the surrounding area, they find that there is a tree that has some sort of unnatural power.  With all roads leading to the tree, the group has to keep their eyes on what really matters, but Scott is not able to escape what is being done to him and starts looking for love from someone other than Emma.  Although this is a story about failed friendships, it shows you that the power of a strong relationship can overcome the worst of the worst, even when spirits come into the mix.

Pontypool – This is one of those movies that you would never imagine being scary based on the title and the short description that comes with it, I mean, how in the world can words be scary.  Well this movie proves that theory wrong as an unseen threat is taking over a small town and a radio host is trying to report on it, without being able to confirm it is true.  As the town gets torn up, the host, along with his crew seem to be safe in the radio station, but when one person starts to show they have become infected, the others know it is only a matter of time before they become the next victim.  It is a great movie that will keep you wondering about what is really happening in the town, as your main characters are asking themselves the same thing.

The Shrine – This movie keeps you guessing about what is really happening in a small town out of Poland where people consistently go missing.  With the locals blaming the losses on a statue of the devil that is hidden in their woods, they seem to be very focused on keeping everyone that have been involved with it away from their community.  Although the outsiders have a different plan of reporting this to the world, but the towns people know what evil comes from statue and how to keep it from joining the outside world.  Without anyone being able to communicate with each other as the language barrier has been reached between the reporters and town’s people, it is easy to see why the people in the town dislike having to protect their woods and secret from anybody else.

Yellow Brick Road – In 1940 the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire walked up a path in the woods never to been seen or heard from again.  When a group of reporters try to identify what happened to the people over sixty years later, they find that they have more problems than they could have expected.   With a strange music coming from the woods, some sort of forties area dance music, the group thinks they can locate the missing people, but when the music gets louder they find they have been targeted and must find a way to escape the woods before it is too late.  Not knowing what is behind the disappearance is one thing, but when the group witnesses what might have happened first hand, it leaves you wondering if it is only in their heads, or if there is something more sinister at play.

13/13/13 – Your birthday should be the most special day of the year, but does it hold a different meaning than you could know about.  In this story, if you have been born outside of a leap year, you are in trouble.  With only a few people having a birthday every four years, somehow they have been protected by a madness that is raging through the world.  With only wanting to make sure that their families are ok, two survivors have been able to find a way through the madness without being injured, but when their loved ones re being protected by people that have been infected, it is hard to say what will happen next.  With everyone being at everyone else’s necks while they try to battle their new type of feeling, it is a great story that keeps you wondering what will happen next as everyone is ready to kill.

Wrath of the Crows – Ok, I will be honest, I doubt I would have ever seen this movie without talking to Tiffany Shepis at MHHFF this year.  With it being on the table, she did recommend it and compared it to one of her previous films that I loved.  With a group of strangers being locked in a dungeon of sorts, they are given a new mate that is there to stir the pot.  As Princess has some sort of power at her disposal, she is able to make all of the inmates of the prison experience their wrong doing and what got them locked up in the first place.   With an unseen judge that is determining their fate, the inmates want to try to escape before their time is up, but there is no place to go as it seems their movements are being tracked very closely.  What keeps this movie spinning around in my mind is the interaction between the inmates and how they have instilled trust in each other, even with their lives on the line, they will stand up and try to help each other out before letting the judge have his way with them

The Taking of Deborah Logan – There is something special in this movie that makes me like it so much and it has to do with a loved one experiencing a fight with Alzheimer’s.  As Deborah Logan is the fighting the fight of her life to stay who she was, a group of medical students are following her around with cameras to document her deterioration.  Not liking this, but needing the money, she plays along, but a memory comes back to her that is much more dark than anyone in her family will ever understand.  Not knowing what is happening, Deborah starts acting out a bit, but there is a force guiding her to a place on her property that will answer all of the questions that she has hidden away for many years.  It was a great transformation between the kind old woman, and the shell of her as she is looking for a way out of her current predicament.  Wanting to keep the past dead and buried, she remembers enough to try to head it off, but with an unseen force pushing her, she has to try and fight it, to save herself and her family.

I do have a hard time picking out favorite movies from the horror genre, because several of them are not comparable to one another with how the different stories play out.  But what I can say is that every one of the horror movies I review, I enjoyed watching and might have seen it more than one time.  The movies that stick with me have different story lines as you can see and each one has some sort of message that comes up near the end that makes me like it even more, I think anyway.   Please, do not hesitate to comment below on what your favorite movies of this ever growing genre are, since I counted over 120 horror movies came out last year alone and I have only heard the names of thirty of them.  Stay Scared.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, I love how this show throws back to its past. This episode is no different. This episode, we got answers to some serious cliffhanger questions. What happened to Jimmy’s family? Was Jimmy still alive? What’s going on with Castiel and his whole ‘looking up Jimmy’s family’ thing?

Well, seems Claire is in a home for troubled youths. She sure seems troubled…though last we left her she had a mom…supposedly, she still does. Mom just decided it best to go find herself; leaving Claire with a grandmother that died. Since, Claire has been living on the street and doing pretty much anything she can to survive. Filled with anger, it’s no surprised she’s in trouble. Just how much, well, that’s a different story.  Castiel finds her and visits her in the home, only to be met with hate. Claire remembers exactly who he is. Of course, saying “I’m not your father” The second he sees her isn’t really helping, since that’s the first thing Castiel said upon meeting her in general. While Claire expresses her unadulterated hate for our angel, he tries his hardest to explain things. We all might have guessed this, but it’s finally been confirmed that Jimmy is dead. Has been for a long time. I’m not sure what I expected, really. Cas has been killed and brought back just as often as the Winchesters…

Trying to be the good guy, Castiel helps Claire escape the home. She then turns around and runs away from him. Who’re you going to call when your vessels daughter runs away from you? The Ghostbusters! Or, well, the Winchesters, which are kind of, not really, the same thing…right? Seems Sam and Dean are willing to help….and by willing I mean completely reluctant. Seems Dean is having nightmares of murder that he’s not telling anyone about and that makes him short tempered, while Sam is trying to make sense of all this. Cas is family, though, and family helps family. While Dean stays to help Cas check out the scene where he and Claire last were together, Sam goes to the home and sees if he can’t dig up some more dirt on where Claire might be.  Alone, Dean makes Cas promise him something. Dean knows the Mark of Cain is still trying to control him, and he refuses to be that monster again…he makes Cas promise that if he slips up, if the Mark starts taking over too much, that Cas will ‘put him down’. He knows Cas doesn’t want to, even knows Sam won’t let the angel, but he needs to make sure he doesn’t turn into a demon again.

With that awful thought, things skip right along as if your feels don’t matter. Sam finds out that there’s a kid Claire knows from the home, and they find out where he works. All while Claire ends up at a house, where a guy named Randy is waiting. According to him, she’s short. Short for what? The cash he owns some loan shark. And this is a great life lesson in to not getting involved with loan sharks. He talks Claire into robbing a convenience store for the rest of the money. As she’s about to, Castiel and the Winchester’s stop her. And the biggest ass-chewing ensues. I have to say, I’ve never been so torn in a fictional argument before. Claire has a valid point, and well, so did Cas…it’s heart breaking on so many levels. Claire leaves them, getting back to the house just in time to see Randy surrounded by the loan sharks. While she’s dragged away to another room, a deal is made. The rest of Randy’s debt vanishes if Mr. Tough-Loan-Shark-of-Doom gets Claire. 

How’s the creeper going to turn that down? Cas, Sam, and Dean, get there in just enough time, of course. And Claire isn’t horrifically raped, but instead saved by the very angel she hates. After getting a few, well deserved kicks, in she leaves with Castiel and Sam while Dean holds the guys off. These guys, however, aren’t giving up without a fight…and before we all know it, Dean’s nightmare has become a reality, literally. Kneeling and covered in blood, Dean is vaguely aware of the dead bodies around him. Sam frantically tries to rationalize that Dean did this in self-defense…but they both know he didn’t.

What all does this mean for our Moose and Squirrel? Sadly, we only get a teaser until January 20th. Does that feel like an eternity away to anyone else? It feels like torture for me. But, we at least got to see Crowley and his mother team up. Which, if you ask me, is a worse idea ever thought up.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been getting asked frequently what someone that is a zombie fan would like for Christmas.  I have several suggestions, but when it comes to movies, there are only a few that I would recommend for The Walking Dead fans out there.  But I have found that it is harder to find a good zombie novel out there that can capture someone’s imagination.  So, without further ado, here are my top books for the zombie fans out there for the holidays, in no particular order.

The Ex Series from Peter Clines.  Superhero’s vs. Zombies in no better place than Hollywood.  Overall, the idea is fantastic, you get introduced to new superhero’s with different powers and the only thing that are trying to do is keep the remaining survivors during the zombie outbreak safe from what should surely be the end of humanity.  With four current books in the series, I know that there is at least one more scheduled to come out in 2015.  The paperback editions of these books cap out at $15.99 and prices for the eBooks are $7.99-$9.99.

If you are in to a little bit more history and would like to see it rewritten, I would suggest Deck Z: The Titanic: Unsinkable. Undead.  Finding out what really happened on the Titanic on its deadly maiden voyage may for a better term float your boat.  Exploring the depths of the ship and finding that there is a secret behind the sinking of the massive boat and it may have been the only way to stop the zombie outbreak of hitting America.  With a paperback listing price of $15 and an eBook listing price of $11.99, it is a fun read for anyone wanting to give another theory of why the Titanic sank.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is no escaping the zombie outbreak with these books, but there is one that has stuck with me for a while that makes me feel very bad for the main characters.  Jonathan Mayberry’s, Dead of Night.  With more of a real life feel to it, it takes place while a hurricane hits the town.  Without knowing what is happening, officers are being pitted against each other as the infection moves from person to person.  With no lights, no way of contacting outside help, this is one of my favorite stories to date.  With a paperback list price of $15.99 and an eBook listing of 9.99, it is hard to go wrong.

If the person you are buying for likes a little bit more scientific explanations, why not get Cryonic from Travis Bradberry.  When your main character has been cryogenically frozen for twenty odd years and awakens in a country that has been taken over by the Chinese, he also finds out that he is the only one that has been revived successfully, without the need to feed like the others.  As the scientists believe they have uncovered the secret to unfreezing their patents, their cockiness leads to their demise as their next attempts fall short on bringing back humanity, but bring back flesh eaters that only want to feed on the warm bodies of their doctors.  With a paperback list price of $13.95 and an eBook price of $.99, it should add a smile to any zombie lover’s face.

I cannot forget to mention Brian Keene’s, Rising series.  Keene is one of my favorite zombie writers at this time, and it started with his book, The Rising.  When and priest and a prostitute walk into a bar…sounds like a joke, right?  But it is not. It is a fine novel about what a band of survivors that have nothing in common are able to do to survive, even when they are more focused on killing each other than trying to kill the zombie threat.  This was the closest type of zombie book that I could find that was the closest in rules to the Romero stories, it still has its differences and it should not be any other way.  With a paperback list price of $13.95 and eBook price of $7.95, it is easy to add this to your shopping list. 

Well, there you have it.  My Zombie book list for anyone having problems finding something for their zombie loving loved ones.  I know there are many more books out there by other great authors and I recommend you check them out, but I cannot vouch for them at this point as I have not had a chance to read them.  I hope this helps lesson the stress of shopping this holiday season, and please comment about any other zombie book ideas that I might have missed. Thanks and as always, Stay Scared.

Well, we won't be hearing "Carry On My Wayward Son" tonight, but it is the mid season finale of the show that has consumed my life to a slightly unhealthy level. With teaser trailers showing us tidbits of what we're going to see tonight, let's take a trip down memory lane and remember the horrible things that keep happening to my Moose.

Okay, nothing physically happened to Sam, but that's not the point. Sheriff Jody Mills is back and being forced to go to some retreat...for other sheriffs. She's there against her will, but leave it to Jody to have worse luck than the Winchesters. Our good friend Donna is back from season 9. And while we heard a lot about her ex, we finally get to meet him. Boy, was he every bit as douchey as we thought he'd be or what? The passive-aggressive mean spirited jokes he makes at Donna's expense are not going over well. Still, Donna laughs them off and decides Jody is to be her weekend partner. Because, as I said, Jody has worse luck than the Winchesters this episode. Or maybe better luck. Seems during this little get together, a gruesome murder has taken place. All that's left of the victim is his head and part of his shoulders, the rest is just bone....

Jody calls the boys to see if they've any ideas on what it could be, but they've got nothing. Dean decides he's bored and they should go help Jody. Well, what Dean wants, Dean gets. They Fed it up and make their way to the Sheriff convention, Jody's happy to see them, but a little bitter about being stuck with Donna still. She does offer to keep Donna distracted while Sam and Dean can snoop around. After all, two people are dead and it's not a coincidence anymore. It's actually Donna who finds out what kind of creature is killing these people. After a fight with Jody, she storms off and finds the main sheriff who put this whole thing together, standing over a dead officer. That doesn't seem too odd, but the sharp sets of fangs do. Seems our sheriff is a vampire. It doesn't explain the state the bodies are left in, but it's good enough!

Some snooping gets them the address of where the vamp might have gone. Donna is a bit shocked, but oddly taking things well. The whole thing seems to be a tiff between the sheriff and the underlings he'd turned several decades ago. While he wanted to stop killing people and only feast on bagged blood, they wanted their little family of murderers together. Of course, they kill him and the resulting blood bath that happens doesn't go well. Dean kills most of the offenders while Donna saves Jody's life. In the end, it seems the two cops might just have a friendship.

Dean might be trying to cover how hard he's been struggling. He tells Sam this was the first hunt where he didn't feel like the Mark was controlling him. Clearly, he's lying. Is there a way to save Dean? Can they remove the Mark of Cain? It's hard to tell, but Dean might be making back-up plans with Castiel and they don't look good....

With one mysterious murder being labeled as an animal attack, the day couldn’t get any worse, or could it? For Sheriff Jody Mills, it can…she’s been sent to a Sheriff’s retreat. I’m not sure what all that entrails, other than the fact that Jody is not happy about it. Last season we ran into a very plucky Sheriff Donna. She’d been at that magical weight loss camp, where people magically became thin. Donna has offered to be Jody’s partner for the weekend. Bonus, we finally get to meet her dick of an ex-husband, Doug! Seems Doug has no problems showing his true colors around the others. Jody’s in no mood for it and has no problem telling the guy off.

After hearing of the murder, Jody calls to consult Sam and Dean, only to be left with no answers. The boys decide to head down there and see what they can find, with Jody, despite her saying she can handle it on her own. Arriving just after a second murder, the three are utterly stumped as to what the creature could possibly be. It’s not until Donna sees something she shouldn’t that tips them all off. Apparently, the Sheriff hosting the event happens to be more than he appears. Standing over the body of a dead attendee of the retreat, Donna get’s to see a full set of very sharp teeth on the Sheriff from her hiding place. She tells Jody immediately, and the two set off to find more evidence.

Sam and Dean are soon filled in on what’s going on, and they find an address in the Sheriff’s room that leads them to a barn. Because old barns are where all things bad happen, in this show. The Sheriff in question tells them to run, but nobody makes it out without a minor concussion. When they wake, they’re all tied up, and there’s a small group of people. Turns out, the Sheriff and this rag-tag group are all vampires. He’d turned them all, but had left them some time ago. It seems they want him to join their nest again, or die. His option is to kill Sam, Dean, Jody, and Donna, or die himself. Choosing death bought our captured heroes just enough time to get free.

Dean’s able to take down two of the burley vamps, while Donna, surprisingly, comes to Jody’s rescue and kills the last. Shaken, she accepts this all well and Jody even offers advice on everything she knows out there. Seems our own surly Sheriff has made a friend in Donna.

Having been pulled away from researching the Mark of Cain, Dean admits to Sam he finally feels the mark didn’t control him over this most recent kill. Whether he’s telling the truth or not is up for debate, but I genuinely don’t think he was. Dean’s really good at hiding things from Sam, and while Sam worries, there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his older brother. Will Dean ever find a way to be free of the Mark?

What happens when Dean Winchester joins a dating site? The Internet explodes. Not really, but! Dean finds himself in a situation that was not what he wanted. A supposed date with a girl he met online turns into the discovery of a demon run prostitution ring. It seems that demons are enlisting girls to solicit sex for the exchange of a soul. So far, things seem to be running smooth for the demons, which naturally means they can’t continue on.

Sam and Dean aren’t the only ones to stumble upon this. A witch with a spell that kills demons has made herself known. After rescuing two girls she tries talking them into joining her; and learn her craft. Both agree, but they soon see that Rowena’s magic isn’t all she claims it to be. With deadly side effects, the magic is far from stable. Still, she can kill a demon without an angel blade, demon knife, or anything. Seems she can’t be all bad, right? Despite the unruliness of her magic, both girls are still willing to go along with her…until the Winchesters figure out who she is. Or more so, what she is and what she’s been doing.

Rowena is nearly caught by the oldest of the brothers. Leave it to Cole to barge into things that aren’t his business and make it all about him. That’s right, the selfish little brat is back to fight Dean over his long dead father. Dean, however, isn’t in the mood to fight. Or, beat the ever-living crap out of Cole (whom, need I remind everyone, tortured poor Sam). Instead Dean lets Cole get a few punches in before saying his piece. Explaining why he killed Cole’s father is a lot easier when he’s not a demon, and Dean does explain it in detail. Satisfied, Cole finally leaves and goes back to his family, where he belongs. While he may live to die another day, Supernatural has a way of bringing characters back to kill them horrifically later. Maybe he’ll learn not to hurt innocent Mooses.

While Dean and Sam dealt with that, Rowena got away. Not really, she got captured by demons and was tortured. Crowley, bored as usual, decides he should speak with this witch that’s been killing demons (he’d probably kill them himself anyway). While she spats off at him, Crowley stands in utter shock. Clearly he knows who this is, but I was not ready to find out who she was. It seems this witch is the King of Hell’s mother. Is this good? Never. Will this end badly? Of course! Thankfully, we get to see how it plays out (hopefully) tonight!

There comes a time where each and every one of us have questioned just how strong of a person we really are.  We wonder how much we can take and what the world can throw at us before we possibly find our breaking point and snap. Of course this isn't something we often ponder about on any normal night, only on the nights we are under duress.  

But it is now something to ponder about every single character on The Walking Dead, especially after the season five midseason finale.  I say that in part because of the brutality and despair on display this week, not from the officers at Grady Memorial, but from Rick and his group.  Especially after Officer Lamson said something significant to Rick after Officer Grimes ran him down with a police cruiser, that Rick had been out here too long. 

There is now cause for concern, because it's becoming evident that the group is struggling with not only finding a sense of purpose, but a need to heal.  When you think about it, it hasn't been that long since the Governor attacked the prison, and it hasn't been that long since the group hit the road before discovering the horrors of Terminus. They have barely had time to breathe, barely had time to gather their wits about them and now with the loss of Beth in that time frame as well, we have to worry about the mental health of the group.  

After all, Rick is in a super dark place, willing to wax anyone who crosses him in any fashion and as the leader of this group, his actions speak for the mood of the group if you ask me.  We have seen Tyreese and Sasha grapple with what is right and what is wrong.  We saw Daryl kill without hesitation, and over the last few episodes we have seen Carol question who she is. There's been no solid break for this group, and they've seen plenty that they hold near and dear disappear. 

They need something to hold on to now, and it will be equally as difficult with the loss of Beth and finding themselves on the road yet again.  They need a sense of purpose, and I'm hoping that Washington D.C. will become that beacon of hope that the group clearly needs now.  Because if something doesn't change soon, if they can't find a silver lining, some of the characters we know and love will step over the edge they stand on now and slip into the darkness they try to leave behind. 

It may not have been a wholesale bloodbath on the season five midseason finale of The Walking Dead, but each death was truly significant in some special way.  Rick's handling of the treacherous Officer Bob was a loaded statement that we will cover later on, and Dawn got exactly what she deserved at last when Daryl put her down for the atrocious act...of killing Beth Greene. 

Yes, dear, sweet Beth, the show's little songbird, is gone and her death was handled in stunning fashion and was perhaps one of the most tragic endings for a character we have ever seen on the show.  While her father's death was shocking in its own right, let's be honest, there were hints that it was coming.  When you have the Governor in the mix, standing over you, things can never end well.

But for Beth, what makes her death so downright devastating are two key things. For one, it was so sudden and so cold. In the blink of an eye, that bullet tore through her skull and we the audience were left to look on in shock. While Dawn claimed it was an accident, we all know that's a load of crap, I mean she had to pull the thing from its holster.  Either way, the deed was done and we were all left as shocked as the characters and the hardest moments to watch were those final seconds when Daryl carries her out of Grady Memorial.

As for the big reason this death will resonate with us for some time, Beth was a character who had come so far in her journey. When we first met her, she was a defiant and somewhat arrogant young woman, who refused to be told what to do or listen to anyone who didn't tell her what she wanted to hear.  This was evident in season two when Andrea's awful advice led to Beth's attempt to take her own life.  But, that moment was also the beginning of an incredible journey for Beth.  She gained strength from it, dropped the arrogance and defiance and slowly became an integral part of the show and the group with her no nonsense way at looking at things.

She was a breath of fresh air once the kid in her grew up, and she was at her strongest this season as she finally learned like so many have recently, to do what it takes to survive.  It's a shame we will never get to see where the character could have gone from here, but her death will certainly have a lasting impact on the show and the friends she left behind.  

So. Wow. As expected, The Walking Dead's midseason finale delivered as it always does and while this one was not as action packed as last year's, it was just as devastating.  So let's get right into our recap of last night's "Coda".

I'm still reeling from this episode simply because it was an absolute roller coaster of emotions. The tension in this episode held strong for every minute the show was on the air and it started with that stunning opening where Rick ran down Officer Lamson in brutal fashion.  It set the tone for an ugly episode and man...that ending.  But we will get to that in a moment, because this was also an episode that featured in a magical way, Father Gabriel's redemption.  

Yes, we caught up with our favorite Padre as he continued his search of the countryside and we finally found out why he took the time to escape in the first place, to see for himself just how bad the world had truly become.  It of course leads to a small herd of the dead following him back to the church as he tried to escape but at last...Gabriel did something worthwhile, keeping the dead at bay long enough to get Michonne, Judith and Carl out of the church to seal the dead inside, for a little while.  But before the dead could break out...Abraham and the gang came to save the day before everyone decides to head to Atlanta. 

Which brings us to the most brutal and tense moments of the night...the prisoner exchange for Beth and Carol.  Now, I'm not gonna lie, I was fully expecting there to be an incredible shoot out and carnage to say the least, but instead...the show went low fi, leaving us with an intense stand off that led to the return of Carol and Beth. But crazy old Dawn, who earlier in the episode also made sure the last of her opposition died with the help of Beth, demanded the return of Noah, since well...Dawn's a nut job. 

It was a moment that finally broke the always sweet and gentle Beth, to finally cross the line and assault Dawn...and it cost Beth her life.  Yes, in the most stunning of moments, Dawn kills Beth and I was left in utter shock.  It was so sudden, so brutal and quite frankly, such a horrible way for sweet little Beth to go.  She's a character that's come so far in such a short time frame and man...this was devastating.  The only satisfaction was that Daryl took immediate revenge on Dawn, and yes that idiot deserved it. I mean hell, she even had the nerve to pretend that it was an accident.  

But, Beth is gone, and you know it's a big deal when Daryl Dixon cries and makes the rest of us mist up as well.  In fact perhaps the most brutal moment of the show last night was when Maggie and company arrived at Grady Memorial in time to see Daryl carrying the body of Maggie's baby sister out of the hospital.  Really last night was an evening of holding your breath, grasping the couch, and wiping your eyes.  Definitely another outstanding episode, and my only complaint is that we have to wait to see the aftermath of this mess.  Until February...