The Walking Dead Review – 2.04 ‘Cherokee Rose’

After some hit and miss episodes, is there still life in AMC’s zombie horror series? Kieran Mathers finds out…

As a series, The Walking Dead has never aspired to the sprinting pace of 28 Days Later’s “infected”, and is usually content to amble along like a good old fashioned Romero zombie. But now it seems the series is degenerating into a legless corpse, dragging itself hand over hand, week by week, despite some occasional spikes in activity.

This week, our characters clear a well. Seriously, they hoist a zombie out of a well. Daryl (Norman Reedus) takes a walk in the woods and the little girl whom the audience no longer cares about is still missing. Some cars move … that’s about it.

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The Walking Dead Review – 2.03 ‘Save The Last One’

Is The Walking Dead living up to its potential? Kieran Mathers takes a look at the latest instalment…

Zombies have it pretty easy. Robbed of their higher brain functions, all they have to worry about is food. (And what exactly happens if a zombie doesn’t eat? Can they get any deader? All comments gratefully received). They certainly don’t have to contend with the existential crises that beset our heroes this week; is life worth living and what are they prepared to do to save themselves?

As Lori (Sarah Callies) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) watch their son Carl (Chandler Riggs) slowly succumb to his injuries in the farmhouse, they are forced to wonder whether it would be kinder to let him die. We’re forced to wonder too – Carl’s distended belly and seizing fit are really tough to watch and his parents’ helplessness makes it all the more harrowing.

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The Walking Dead Review – 2.02 ‘Bloodletting’

Good news, zombie fans – AMC have announced that The Walking Dead will return for a third season next year. But will we still be watching? Kieran Mathers weighs the pros and cons of the latest episode…

Like the final floundering heartbeat of a zombie plague victim, this episode only manages sporadic moments of life. When it’s good, it’s very good but when it’s bad it’s ugly.

In this episode, Grimes has to get his son to a doctor. Realising they don’t have the correct equipment to save him, Shane and a companion head back into town, where an overrun FEMA hospital might provide the equipment they are looking for…

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The Walking Dead Review – 2.01 ‘What Lies Ahead’

A bitter struggle to survive. Mindless, shambling antagonists. A dwindling team facing a bleak and uncertain future… But enough about the backstage politics! What did Kieran think of the Season 2 opener?

I can’t imagine The Walking Dead being made by a major network. The offspring of such movies as Day of the Dead, it’s very much a work of horror and lends itself to graphic dismemberments and decapitations, so credit goes to AMC for being brave enough to push the boundaries.

And, until recently, the gamble seemed to be paying off.

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Game of Thrones Review – Ep 9: ‘Baelor’

War. Huh! What is it good for? Reviewer Kieran Mathers finds out, and wonders whether the show will deliver on all its promises. Be warned that there are mild spoilers ahead. And, for those of you not yet up to speed, check out our Game Of Thrones primer.

How to talk about this episode without ruining it? Not mention the end, I suppose. Fans of the book, you know what’s coming and they don’t change it one bit. Those of you who have not read ahead … well, you’ve got such a treat coming. It’s the one moment in this show that I wish I hadn’t known about in advance. It’s brilliant, and one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen from a major TV show. I don’t know if the popularity of this show will continue, but if it fails after the properly commissioned second series; well, at least they have their integrity. Bravo, everyone involved, bravo.

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Book Review – ‘A Dance with Dragons’ – George R.R. Martin

The latest Game of Thrones sequel has been a long time coming. Can it maintain the momentum of George R.R. Martin’s winning streak? Our reviewer Kieran Mathers, no stranger to the kingdom of Westeros, finds out…

If you’ve not yet read Kieran’s reviews of the Game of Thrones TV series, you can start here. And come back tomorrow, for the latest instalment!

Numerically, this book is very impressive. It weighs 2.5kg and has over a thousand pages. It costs over £25. It is written from the perspective of eighteen characters. It took over six years to write and picks up plot lines over eleven years old. It features voyages of thousands of miles, a cast of hundreds of thousands, deaths by the thousand. It is the defining case when referring to modern epic literature.

And … I don’t think it’s actually that good.

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