Ok so one of the best things about entertainment is talking about it afterwards. That said, not everyone I know in real life watches what I do, or is caught up. SO, I thought I’d start a new blog series where I type away my thoughts on stuff I watch. I’m calling it Tube Talk (super original, I know). This isn’t necessarily a place for full reviews on whatever I’m watching, but more so the most important thoughts I had after watching.

Today, I wanted to start with two of my current favorite shows, The Walking Dead and Looking. Caution: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Walking Dead: ‘After’ – Season 4, Episode 9

To me, there are two types of Walking Dead episodes: 1) Action packed, nail biting, and OMGWTF episodes. 2) Slow and sometimes boring, but ultimately is necessary to make future episodes action packed, nail biting, and OMGWTF episodes.  ‘After’ was of the latter kind. Compared to the #1 qualities the mid-season finale had, the latest episode was pretty slow paced but had important character developing qualities that JUST HAD TO BE THERE, OKAY?

There were two stories packed into this episode: one with Rick and Carl, and another with Michonne. Again, I’m not going to do a full review and hash out every detail of the episode, so here are my takeaways from each storyline.

Rick and Carl: Let’s just put it out there…Carl is annoying. He started out all cute and innocent, but as he grew up, I started to like him less and less. After this episode, though, I really thought of what it must be like to be Carl. Childhood is already messed up as it is, and Carl had to go through a zombie apocalypse for a good chunk of his younger years, seeing his mom die, learning to kill zombies to survive, and having to deal with really messed up people. That would have probably made any one of us super annoying, too. This, by no means, makes me a Carl fan, but I feel you, Carl. I feel you.

In this episode, we see the ultimate clash between Rick and Carl that previous seasons had been building up to. As Carl grew up, he started to defy his father, something we all did to some extent, minus the zombie apocalypse, of course. Carl just wants to do things without Rick breathing down his neck, which bothered him so much that Carl actually said he’d be okay if his dad died. However, after Carl has a few brushes with death when he does indeed try to do things on his own, he realizes that while he is more mature and independent, he CAN’T do everything on his own, and he actually does need his father. Rick, after all, is the only family Carl has left (considering Judith doesn’t magically reappear in a future episode). Likewise, Rick finally accepts the fact that Carl can hold his own without him always being there, and that he should give his son more credit. Again, it was sorta boring watching all of this except for the very end, but it HAD to happen. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

Michonne: There’s not much to say about Michonne other than the fact that we got to see a lot of her pre-apocalypse life through a weird nightmare she has. From what I’ve read, the nightmare features her son and lover, and someone else I forgot. Point is, it was interesting getting to see Michonne in a different light, and I’m hoping that we get to find out more about her backstory in future episodes (especially since I haven’t even reached her in the graphic novel because I’m a slow reader). Other than that, we see that she catches up with Rick and Carl at the end, bringing some of the ol’ Prison Gang back together.

Like I said, it was a slow and borderline boring episode for me, but otherwise, I thought it was totally necessary and important for the overall story.

Looking: ‘Looking For $220/Hour’ – Season 1, Episode 4

First off, I was almost ready to call it quits on Looking. Somewhere between the beginning of the second episode and the end of the third, things got dull to the point where I was ready to stop tuning in late at night while keeping the volume super low so my family wouldn’t hear the sex scenes. BUT, this latest episode was enough to get me interested again.

There were a few story lines in this episode, but the one I want to focus on is Patrick’s (Jonathan Groff). Here, we see Patrick’s relationship with his boss, Kevin (Russell Tovey), take an odd turn. In Episode 3, we find out Kevin has a boyfriend, after Patrick awkwardly hits on him at a party, not knowing at the time that Kevin would end up being his boss. In Episode 4, Patrick and Kevin are alone at work, working on a future video game for their company. The flirtation is clearly there, which is complicated, since you know, Kevin has a boyfriend. A boyfriend who makes their relationship long distance, and therefore stressful. The boyfriend makes an unexpected visit, causing Kevin to momentarily leave Patrick to tend to his bae.

It is these few hours away from Kevin that Patrick gets help from his friend Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez) in realizing that Patrick’s relationship with his boss is a mere fantasy connection, and that Patrick is willingly falling for someone who is clearly out of bounds, just because Kevin is the closest he’s gotten to a guy without completely screwing things up. In some ways, Patrick is settling for affection even though it’s clearly not right. Eventually, Kevin comes back and lays on the flirtation thick, and we learn that Kevin is wanting from Patrick what he can’t get in his current relationship. Patrick realizes this and turns down Kevin’s offer to grab a bite, which is a shame because I actually thought Patrick and Kevin could be cute together. However, while this bridge seemingly has burned, it also has built another bridge back to Richie (Raúl Castillo). More on that…with the next episode!

Overall, I think what Patrick went through with Kevin really stood out to me because I think we’ve all gone through a time where we found ourselves longing for someone we knew we shouldn’t long for. Sometimes, we get so desperate (dare I say…thirsty?) for affection that we, to use a common quote, “accept the love we think we deserve.” I know I’ve been in a situation where I was crushing hardcore, but in the back of my mind I knew it could never happen in the long run. But I kept the fantasy going because that was all I thought I deserved at the time. Luckily, I snapped out of it and was able to focus on something other than an impossible romance, but it’s good to see the situation play out again in the form of a TV show. Kinda like a cautionary tale to prevent it from happening again (or tying to at least. The heart can be such a pain sometimes.)

And with that, I conclude my first ever Tube Talk. I’m not sure if it completely made sense, and I’d still love to have an in-person conversation about these shows, but until then, this will have to do. Let me know if you’ve seen these episodes and want to discuss! I’m all for it!