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Reviews
The Walking Dead: Better Angels (2012)
A Great Halloween Vibe Here.
I don't mean the movie, I meant the general vibe of the way this episode plays out. Betrayal, Foggy Nights, Lots of Blood, Zombie action, etc make this a great watch for autumn months.
We finally have it, the ending of Rick Vs Shane, and Rick comes out the other side as victor. No more fighting over Lori or Carl or the unborn baby. TWD manages to really nail in where it wants to be at this point with this episode. A clear parallel with the comics, and a sad send off to one of the best villains in TV at the time.
Daryl and Rick dig a bit deeper into their friendship element here with some back and forth banter alongside a potential first mission together (which gets de-railed by Shane's actions), but it's really cool to see where the foundation of their friendship took root and not have it be off screen.
Now just what to do about that horde?
The Walking Dead: Judge, Jury, Executioner (2012)
You Know What Happens When We Lose Our Humanity?
Dale has spent the majority of this show being the willing/unwilling moral compass of the group. At times he was frustrating to no end, but other moments showed that a real part of the old world had survived with him.
We don't get many moments of true humanity this far into the end of the world. Sophia is gone because of an accident. Daryl/Carl were injured and almost died because of it. Even strangers met at a bar can't be trusted to be friendly long enough for a conversation.
Randall is a only a small cog in the larger lesson of Dale, and unfortunately he doesn't get to see his argument come to life as he leaves the group due to a moral disagreement and meets his end alone in a field attacked by a Walker. Daryl understood Dale and what he stood for, and it's only fitting that he was the one who pulled the trigger and put him out of his misery.
The Walking Dead: 18 Miles Out (2012)
Getting Somewhere, But Still Lacking
18 Miles out is interesting for one major reason: Rick Vs Shane.
The Rick and Shane fight at the school is what everyone remembers this episode for, and in all reality has made it one of the most memorable episodes of the whole season as it's been recently meme'd to death online.
You know what people don't remember? The farm Beth trying to end it storyline. You know why people don't remember that? Because Andrea goes from being annoying to downright insufferable. Lori gets vibe checked again from likely the only other character people dislike more, and STILL doesn't see herself as wrong in the slightest. Then we stuffer through a moral choice that's so in your face that even a dog listening to this episode in the corner of the room would roll their eyes.
This episode is better than 2x8 and 2x9, but it's only better because of the acting between Andrew Lincoln and Jon Bernthal. Their friendship is stretched to the limit, and Rick proves to Shane that he can hold his own.
The Walking Dead: Triggerfinger (2012)
The Mud is Starting to Form at this Season's Feet.
As we all know Frank departed TWD over creative differences to say the least. This season does have some stumbles because of that, as at times you can see where certain issues were stretched too far for interest.
As Rick, Glenn, and Hershel escape the town they are introduced to Randall, a kid who falls off a roof while trying to leave a horde and lands on a spiked fence. When they return to the camp it starts round 3 of Shane's paranoia just a few hours after the barn is taken care of to end his last patch.
Beth is still unresponsive, and it's not exactly a very interesting storyline at this point as it just serves to humanize Andrea after her rebellious streak with Shane. Maggie gets some character building as Beth is her sister so she gets to share a story or two about their past, but most of all it's just filler.
Lori at this point is a major annoyance. She wrecks a car on an empty road...then she gets mad at Shane for saving her and bringing her back to camp (to her son) with her injuries. Then she stokes the fire between Rick and Shane with more of her passive aggressive information sharing. That's on top of already being called out last episode by Daryl for her moral high-horsing. Her character is almost impossible to like, and im not sure if it's her writing or what, but this season nails her down to being one dimensional.
Not a great episode, but the action does make it watchable.
The Walking Dead: Nebraska (2012)
The Code is Broken.
We have gone this entire series with one rule alongside Rick no matter what the circumstance: "We Don't Kill the Living."
No matter if it was in Atlanta, at the CDC, In camp on the road, or at the farm. The living are a commodity that can't be sacrificed over rage or anger. There aren't many people left, but there are too many mouths to feed at times.
That is until a rescue mission is sent for Hershel after he disappears to deal with the grief of what happened at his barn. Beth goes into shock and becomes catatonic while Hershel goes to relive the past and drink for the first time in years. While at a bar in town the small rescue team is approached by a group of survivors from Philadelphia. They break the news that the whole US is infected and even the military forts are overrun.
Rick is pressured into taking the two men's lives which breaks the moral code of his character. I consider this to be the death of "Officer Friendly from Up the Road A-Ways." and the birth of Rick Grimes as a leader.
The Walking Dead: Pretty Much Dead Already (2011)
A Mid-Season High.
After a somewhat stumble tweaked season we finally have arrived at the finale.
Shane and Dale have come to a head in their transgressions. Lori and Shane have it out in camp. Maggie and Glenn bicker about Glenn telling everyone that there are walkers in the barn. Rick helps Hershel with a couple of walkers in the swamp to help get him to agree to letting them stay. Maggie also has a hand in that as she confronts her father about his spiritual obligation to help others.
The big climax of the episode is when Shane finally has enough and confronts Hershel about walkers by shooting one in every major organ right in front of him, and then opens the barn taking out the walkers inside. We get a whole onslaught of walkers Vs survivors as they form a firing squad at the door of the barn and take them out one by one. None of the bloodshed can save them from the horror of seeing little Sophia shamble out the doors of that barn with a bite mark across her shoulder.
Rick has to be the one to put her down in front of everyone, which is his first real step in becoming the leader everyone expects him to be rather than a co-leadership between he and Shane.
The last few moments of this episode alone work wonders for the series and really cemented TWD into people's memories for many, many Sundays to come after.
The Walking Dead: Secrets (2011)
Another Stumble.
This is another one of those melodramatic episodes that doesn't really achieve what TWD should set out to be according to the bulk of the series thus far.
- Andrea is mad at Shane over some offhanded comments that he made during gun training, but then in the same episode begins to hook up with him, because why not, I guess.
- Lori finds out Hershel wants them gone now that Carl is better, but she also is still hiding her pregnancy, and she's mad Carl is learning to shoot in an apocalypse?
- Dale finds out from Glenn that there are walkers in the barn, and that Lori is pregnant, so he spends the majority of the episode putting his nose where it doesn't belong. Especially when it comes to him and Shane.
- Maggie and Glenn make another run into town where trouble strikes and Maggie realizes the world isn't as it seems to her father.
- Rick eventually finally figures out that Lori is pregnant after she fails to hide her evidence and she tells him about her affair with Shane which only makes matters worse.
Not the worst episode of the series, but definitely just a means to an end sort of affair to get us to the mid-season finale. There is of course human drama in the apocalypse, but it shouldn't all be condensed into one episode like this.
The Walking Dead: Chupacabra (2011)
Something is building.
This episode is mostly remembered as it has a return of a pivotal character from season one.
As Daryl goes out in search for Sophia with the others his horse gets spooked leading to him falling down a cliff and landing on his arrow. As he fades in and out of consciousness we see the return of Merle. It's not exactly happy though as it's revealed rather quick that Merle is actually a Walker and not really there, but we also get more insight into how Merle was an abusive older brother to Daryl who used his narcissistic ways against him for respect.
Maggie and Glenn hit some turbulence as Maggie isn't exactly sure about what to do with their hook up last episode, Lori struggles with the idea of having a sick child and now being pregnant with another of questionable paternity, Carol gets some hope as Sophia's doll is found in the creek bed by Daryl, and Hershel isn't happy to know that Daryl took one of his horses for the search without his approval.
Rick and Shane are the meat and potatoes of this episode however as it becomes clear that Rick wants to focus on Carl and Sophia, and Shane wants to move on from Sophia and find a better camp. Shane is once again not entirely wrong, and that's what makes him such a good character. He's not a bad dude for having the opinions he does, but he's also not articulate enough to present those opinions as more than frustration towards Rick, some of which has to do with his jealously over Lori and Carl not being his anymore.
Of course another star here is the finale which shows that Hershel has walkers in the barn. Something that has been hidden from the survivors as only hints have been dropped that Hershel doesn't understand the real severity of the walkers.
Once again another solid episode that nails the drama of the world without making it petty.
The Walking Dead: Cherokee Rose (2011)
Back on Track.
After a somewhat disappointing third episode Cherokee Rose comes back with an emotional bite.
Daryl goes out to look for Sophia and finds a house with what looks like freshly eaten food and used shelter. He also finds a Cherokee Rose which he then explains to Carol stems from the displacement of the native people, and the tears of the tribe mothers would fall to the earth and create a Cherokee rose to signify that God protected their children.
Meanwhile back at the farm a group of our survivors takes it upon themselves to get a Walker out of a well. This was a really tense scene the first few times I watched it, and for anyone new to the series I'm sure it is for them too. Frank gets to show off his hand at creating tight knit horror scenarios, but Robert Kirkman's fantastic character development shines through for a successful reason to the horror.
Lori asks for Glenn's help getting something from town afterwords, but of course does it in the most frustrating way possible. Her writing begins to really go downhill after this episode. I'm not sure who was in charge of her scripts, but scenes like her forced discretion request really do a number on her likability.
We see Maggie and Glenn start their relationship while on a supply run. At first it's a bit awkward as a misplaced box of condoms creates a peculiar situation, but for the most part it seems to work out for the pair.
This episode has horror, humanity, and builds meaningful dramatic stakes between Rick and Hershel over the group's welcome at the farm. A great comeback from the episode before.
The Walking Dead: Save the Last One (2011)
At times a bit of a stumble.
The reason a lot of people look back on season 2 with distaste is because they say it's "boring", and there is a lot of talk of few zombies and lots of melodrama.
This episode is a hard one to use as a defense against that point. There is a lot of melodrama here. Carol is still upset over Sophia, Lori and Rick seem to never stop bickering over what to do with Carl, Glenn is obviously lovestruck by Maggie, and Shane is clearly going through some stuff at the start of the episode.
There are two plot lines that do keep me interested in this episode for future rewatches though:
- Shane sacrificing Otis to get the supplies back. At the time it seemed incredibly cruel and depraved, but on a survival sense it was a really good idea to get himself away from the horde. This is what people mean when they say Shane was ahead of the curb for survival in this world.
- Daryl and Andrea. This plotline is great because we get more insight into who Daryl is and some of the abuses he took as a kid, but we also get needed levity from all the tragedies through Daryl and Andrea taking pot shots at one another through the form of making fun of one another.
Not a terrible episode by any means, but not up to par with episodes 1&2.
The Walking Dead: Bloodletting (2011)
The Apocalypse isn't Kind to Children
While out looking for Sophia we see Carl become the victim of an unintended gunshot. Rick now has to take him to the shooter's camp in an attempt to save his life, and this is where we meet the Greene family.
This episode introduced three incredibly important characters to the series: Hershel, Maggie, and Beth. Isolated on their family farm and mostly untouched by the walkers outside the Greene's are ironically a bit green to the dangers of the world around them.
Hershel takes the responsibility of trying to save Carl while Maggie goes to collect the rest of the group, meanwhile on the road T-Dog is fighting off a fever from a blood infection due to the cut he got in the season premiere. Once Lori and the rest of the gang has been alerted to Carl's situation an argument begins to ensue about what to do: Go to the farm and establish a base or stay on the road incase Sophia comes back?
A lot of people kind of saw this episode as a step down for the series as it mostly has to do with drama rather than survival, however for fans of Horror don't fret as Shane takes Otis (Carl's shooter) to a local FEMA outpost for medical gear giving us some great Darabont zombie action.
In my opinion this was an incredibly solid episode.
The Walking Dead: What Lies Ahead (2011)
A Great Shift in Pace
The second season of The Walking Dead was really make or break time for the series. Season one was like lightening in a bottle and barely comprehensible for cable TV in 2010.
So, when Season 2 was given an order for 13 episodes instead of just 6 there was a ton of hope among the fanbase. What would we see? More of the same? More of what we liked? More of what we didn't? This episode was set to really give us a great idea for the pace we would run at for the next 13 weeks worth of episodes.
The premiere picks up with our group just mere days after Atlanta back on their way through rural Georgia. We get a much better look at how everyday people were affected by the outbreak happening so fast. A simple highway turned to a graveyard of cars and bodies alike. Just pure destruction of so many people wanting nothing more than a chance to survive.
Rick has to live with this secret information given to him by Jenner at the CDC, and that's when tragedy strikes as Sophia goes missing and the group is thrust into a search and rescue squad. Of course, nothing can go without a hitch, and this episode's hitch was Carl getting shot in the final moments of the episode. What a great way to keep people hooked as comic fans didn't know what would change from page to screen, and new fans would want to know what is happening next.
Shane is now on a path to leave, and Andrea is interested in joining him after Dale forced her to leave the CDC rather than sacrificing herself with Jenner and Jacqui. Unfortunately, this is kind of where Andrea starts to deflate a bit as a character moving forward, but for the premiere she's interesting enough to not be boring.
Overall a solid episode and a great way to kick off a season.
The Walking Dead: TS-19 (2010)
The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
What a way to end the season.
Season One Episode 6 is Frank at his best showing off his strengths. There is no large set piece like a city to have to overdo in order to make everything feel overwhelming and scary. The CDC was a perfect option to set the finale of the season.
We get to see Shane unravel and take out his frustrations on Lori. We see how Rick really feels about the world that he's been forced to adopt over the last week or two. A couple of characters make the ultimate decision. One of them isn't as strong willed as they might think they are in the end.
Jenner was a haunting host. Every bit of the desperate sadness of this new world was perfectly portrayed on him. He lost it all. His friends, His colleagues, and His wife but felt obligated to continue going just for the pure sake of a promise he made. He had every option to "opt out" and proved that some people prevail even in the end times.
The last 15 minutes of this season are some of the most tense we see out of this series for a while going forward. It's impossible to not see how good of a director Frank is in those tense moments. Human acting is always better than CGI.
The Walking Dead: Wildfire (2010)
Take Your Safety and Shove It
This entire episode feels like revenge, but not revenge from one person to another, rather revenge from nom Mother Nature to the survivors leftover.
Jim finally found his purpose for his erratic behavior, and unfortunately it came at the cost of lives including his own. Shane and Rick come to a head about what to do next, and Shane almost takes Rick's head because of it. Daryl struggles with feeling like one of the group in the wake of the tragic loss of life. Carol begins to get her freedom from Ed. Morales decides to branch off to find his own people.
The real star of this episode is in just the last few minutes. The desperation in Rick's voice as he pleads with the security camera at the CDC, the anger in Shane's voice as he blames Rick for getting them into this situation, and a first look at just how completely void of hope the CDC actually is on the inside.
Frank does a lot of psychological digging in this one, and the show benefits from it.
The Walking Dead: Vatos (2010)
Adding Humanity Back Into the Mix
We have spent the last 3 episodes making it to the final scene of Episode 3. Now it's time to look forward and wonder where we go from here. Getting out of Atlanta, Finding Merle, and Protecting the innocent.
The Vatos are a special group in that on one hand they are exactly like the world before, but on another they are exactly what this world creates. A group of scavengers from all walks of life ready to pull a trigger to take what they need to survive. Such a small group to establish a re-occurring theme upon, but Frank did it beautifully.
Daryl and Rick begin a friendship here, and that's a spark we don't see really light off for a while. However, it's a spark that we know the moment we see it especially with a rapidly changing Shane in the mix of it all.
Of course as we all know it doesn't matter how much humanity can be added back into it on a human level, because this world is unforgiving with the dead. The first camp is taken away from us by the end of this episode, and moving forward a change of venue will become the first priority.
The Walking Dead: Tell It to the Frogs (2010)
The Dixon Brothers.
We meet up with Rick and the gang as they make it back to camp from Atlanta.
Rick makes trouble for Shane in the Lori category of life. Glenn's new toy could spell out big trouble for the groups safety, Daryl has to get the news that Merle was left up on that roof in Atlanta, and the guns are still laying on that street corner.
This episode was really great looking back because it was a perfect introduction to Daryl, and a good confirmation of who Merle was even just in a brief opening scene.
Merle is a hard man to care about due to a list of bad traits, but for someone who grew up in the south it's impossible to not know someone like Merle. Strong to a fault and more resilient than rod-iron. He is a survivor.
Daryl is a loyal brother who cares about his take as long as it means the ones he cares about are safe. He is just as strong as Merle, but where Merle is resilient in a screw you and die sort of way Daryl is more emotional. He is the softer of the two brothers, but it doesn't mean he won't take your head off for acknowledgement of the fact.
Just a great continuation of the season.
The Walking Dead: Guts (2010)
Let's Add an Ensemble to the Mix
Rick was established in the pilot as a man who wants to find what is his, but what happens when more than just a few of the dead are entered into the mix? That's what Episode 2 shows us.
From moment one in Atlanta it's high octane action. Walkers in every single corner and alley. Glenn is the first person Rick meets, and also the second person to save his life in just a couple of days. He is then quickly told how stupid he is for what he's done by a whole group of angry survivors. Morales, Andrea, Glenn, T-Dog, Jacqui, and Merle.
This episode does a fantastic job making out just how broken the world has become. At first it might have just seemed like rural America took a hit, but now we see that refugee camps are a lie and the majority of the population is gone. That all gets accomplished while we also get a hell of a heist mission to get out of the city including handcuffs, Walker Guts, and Car Alarms.
Another phenomenal effort from Frank and the Cast/Crew.
The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye (2010)
A Great Start
The Walking Dead was an amazing series that started out with Frank's leadership and style.
The pilot does a great job showing how the world was, and then showing the way it's become. In one hour he does a stellar job shifting the way the world works so that even a small Georgia community feels horribly unsafe. As someone who is from GA that's one large make of a task.
Rick is a sheriff, yes, but he is also just a man who wants to find what is his own in a world that's packed with death. Morgan is a bystander in any other story who becomes a pivotal witness to Rick's journey in ways he could never guess down the line.
Survival is key, and this premiere insured the show would survive another day.
The Bear: The Bear (2023)
Stark Duality of Success and Fulfillment
The Bear season 2 is a triumph in storytelling, character development, and general technical television making. What a phenomenal season.
It all culminates in this episodes. The Bear is here and open for business. On a customer side it all went well. On the side of their number one investor it all went well. On the side of Syd's approval of her father it all went well, and for Richie/Neil's respective roles it went perfect.
What didn't go well was the fulfillment element for Carmy. Not only did he lose the love he found this season through Claire due to an unexpected shift in audience while he was locked in a walk in freezer on the night of his opening. He also plummeted his relationship with Richie which was at the start of the night an all time high. Carmy has a lot in common with Jeremy's character Lip from Shameless in that he is incredibly smart and unnaturally talented, but he can't figure out how to get out of his own way.
Carmy needed Mikey to hire him when he came back to Chicago. It didn't happen. So he left and went to the top. Then he lost his brother tragically and took his spot. He watched as his brother's pride and joy of a restaurant became too little for him, and he's spent this whole season building the new dream. The only problem is that he has let everyone get in his way. While his team was learning the ins-and-outs of the business which he was already well versed in Carmy was splitting at the seams.
Great TV isn't feel good TV. Feel good TV can feel disgustingly insincere. Great TV makes you feel things that you don't want to feel, because that shock/sadness/anger/etc is what sticks with you. All the great shows do it and The Bear is quickly rising the ranks. I was slightly worried season one might have just been a one and done success, but after season 2 I am more than comfortable to cement this as the best FX show I've seen in a very very long time.
Shout out to the cast and crew.
Shout out to the directors, editors, writers, cinematographers, set designers, casting agents, guest stars, and anyone else who made this season happen.
This is an Emmy winner.
The Bear: Forks (2023)
Everyone has a story
Richie from the start of this series has kinda been the loud mouth dumb cousin. The first season spent a lot of time showing him as the number 2 who knew the dirty secrets of life in The Beef. He didn't like Sydney, He was pissed Carman was back to take Mike's spot in the kitchen, and he was scatterbrained to say the least.
Now it's Richie's time to shine after almost a whole seasons worth of wanting to find his meaning in the world. We have seen him as a dad now, We have seen him as a husband, and now we get to see him as a professional. Learning from the best just like Carman did for so many years before now.
Richie really comes into his own in the kitchen, and knowing what he can do now should give great insight into what The Bear will become once it's time to open its doors.
The Bear: Fishes (2023)
If I could give this a 20/10 I would.
What a phenomenal episode of TV. Probably the most tense I've felt watching a show since the days of Mr. Robot when it was airing week to week. Just phenomenal writing, acting, and style from top to bottom.
I can't believe that I just sat watching an episode of TV that took an hour. It felt like a whole afternoon's worth of tension and sadness. It really shows how much pain exists for the main characters in the baseline show seeing just a glimpse into one single Christmas.
Lies, Secret Habits, Threats, Screaming, Violence, and backstory rule this Christmas.
The guest stars in this one steal the show and give everyone a burst of energy not achievable without their existence. Bravo to every single person involved in making this episode of The Bear.
Silo: The Janitor's Boy (2023)
Better than episode 4, but not by much.
I really want to give this show credit. This is better than a lot of the slop that's being churned out by streaming services these days.
However, there seems to be a mid-season slump that these writers insist upon. The last two episodes have been barely more than half meandering fanfiction. Not the good kind either.
I will say that most of the acting is still great, unfortunately there are a few characters that I can already tell will be annoying until they day they are killed off. Yet, it is only 5 episodes in and now the series has been given a second season, so I am re-interested.
I will say the silo is still an incredibly interesting set piece that we have barely seen any of. We have seen some of the very bottom, a lot of the very top, but only a bit in the large middle section. The one downside to the silo however is it insists upon it's characters being oblivious to a lot of very obvious stuff, like what stars are for some reason, because I guess the founders decided stars were a bad part of history and stripped them from the books allowed.
In a book you can make a character oblivious and it's a lot more charming, because you don't have to watch a grown adult struggle to act like they can't figure out basic concepts.
Barry: a nice meal (2023)
A quick summary of Barry so far:
Barry Season 1: A story of an ice cold killer who finally realizes that death isn't his only talent, and maybe life is worth living. The sun is in fact behind the clouds, and sometimes all you need to help find it is real support. Unfortunately, even when you find the sun you can still get burnt.
Barry Season 2: Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes your mistake might be worse than others. You can either live with that mistake and try to become a better person, or you can fall into a depression and let it consume you. However, even if you choose the first path it won't absolve you of guilt.
Barry Season 3: The past can and will come back to bite you, because your actions have a sometimes unknowingly profound impact on others, and a castle built on a bad foundation will absolutely crumble when the ground beneath it gives way. What makes you who you are? The sum of your actions, or the intention of them?
Barry Season 4: Um, so yeah then Barry is in prison for like 5 minutes I guess, then it's 8 years later for some reason, and we gotta kill Hank's husband, because that will give him a reason to be around and lose all his development....and uh, let's see, oh let's throw some faux horror stuff in there too, because if Jordan Peele can switch genres then why can we? Oh yeah, and let's shove all of this into the same number of episodes as the seasons before it even though it's pretty clearly meant to be done over more than 1 season.
Honestly, there is nothing the last episode can do now to make this show end in a satisfying way. Unfortunately this last season of Barry appears to be a sacrifice from HBO to hope that whatever new parent company they have next month will keep them. Bill and the team obviously still have their hearts in it here, but unfortunately their hearts are trying to pump blood into a frozen corpse. This show should have ended in season 3.
Thank god Succession is actually getting a well written ending.
Silo: Truth (2023)
The story is solid, the writing is a bit cookie cutter
I think this show has a lot of potential to become the big show for Apple. Episodes 1-3 were all great science fiction, and they all had a very tightly written storyline.
I don't know if they were all done in rapid succession or not, but this one just doesn't feel anywhere near as well written. A lot of this episode feels like it was penned by someone who finished a big scene and now doesn't really know where to take the rest of the chapter.
The dialogue feels stiff to say the least with lots of storyline cliches. The beaten dad, the dead mom and brother, the angst ridden kid, the angry man who misses his girlfriend and wants to fight the world, the unhappy assistant, etc etc etc.
I understand how this can seem like a bit of a pre-mature death warning for a show that's only 4 episodes into its run, but this is the point where a lot of new series are either made or broken. Everyone starts their show with a bang, and ends the first season with a bang, but that middle section is where you can really tank your viewership.
In terms of acting I am still really impressed. No one seems to be stumbling or reaching the end of their potential which is a good thing! I just hope the writing staff can keep up with the stamina of the acting talent here, because it would be a damned shame to burn this cast on bad scripts.
Barry: the wizard (2023)
Definitely a bit disappointing
I love Barry, and I have watched for years as Bill has brought one of the best comedy dramas I've ever seen come to life.
The problem is that I feel like this episode is indicative of what Barry will likely suffer from overall which is a rushed ending. I was on board with the idea of Barry being in prison for this season, but now we have this strange time jump and everyone is both different and the same all at once.
Gene isn't interesting. Barry is barely the main character of the last season of his own show. Sally has been reduced down to a shell of her former self. Hank got his ending and now is being forced into a lingering story. Same with Fuches.
I can't help but feel like Barry deserved another two seasons rather than cramming the ending all into one. I've loved aspects of this season, but it feels very messy.
Who knows, maybe Bill has a stroke of genius up his sleeve and Barry will end it's run on a completely unexpected high, but as of now it just feels like meandering to the finale so that it's characters can finally either live or die.