KISS 'Psycho Circus'

We’re up to number three on my picks for the Best New Shows of 2015… And this one has begrudgingly been downgraded twice during the year.

It’s AMC’s ‘Better Call Saul’.

Yes. It’s a ‘Breaking Bad’ prequel. Yes. We get more Mike Ehrmantraut. There’s no Huell yet.

But we get origins!

We learn that Saul Goodman was once Jimmy McGill, a small-time scam artist who became a lawyer.

We learn that Jimmy is desperate to do the right thing. He wants to please his brother Chuck that suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. And he’s desperate to work at the Hamlin, Hamlin, & McGill law firm as a lawyer along side his brother.

Just like the series from which this one spawned, ‘Better Call Saul’ is brimming with dark humor, superb writing, exceptional direction, and a cast filled with actors that complement all of the above.

Jimmy or Saul, is a more complex character than we previously thought based upon our perceptions of him as being an oily, hard to grasp eel of an attorney. He cares. He’s wants to find acceptance from his peers. But most of all he adapts. He’s quick on his feet and willing to stick it out to win.

The masses may want to know more about Mike, seen in this series as a parking lot attendant, but Jimmy/Saul is undergoing a chemical process of change that Walter White went through. Jimmy is at his best under pressure. In a short time, the pressure builds against Jimmy’s lump of coal situations and somehow he fast talks his way into shining bright clarity.

Pair Jimmy’s change with Mike’s backstory and you’ve got a diamond of a series.

Michael McKean portrays Jimmy’s brother Chuck and like most comedians, Bob Odenkirk included, their dramatic acting is exceptional. McKean manages to pull of the electromagnetic hypersensitivity without making it a comedic device.

‘Better Call Saul’ had high expectations and has so far met them all.

I’m having a difficult time waiting until February to see the second season. I’m jonesing to have another taste.

Journey 'Captured'

With only six episodes in 2015, ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ is fourth on my list of Best New Shows of 2015.

Unless you’ve been living in a bomb shelter on a Pacific Island, you already know that it’s a spin off of ‘The Walking Dead’ television series and comic. But it’s really more of a prequel as well as a companion television series (I do hope there’s crossover sometime down the line).

The main character is Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), school guidance counselor with a heroin addicted son Nick and overachieving poster-daughter Alicia. Madison has a boyfriend by the name of Travis who has a bit of baggage himself to bring to the zombie apocalypse.

Now things start off slow for many fans of ‘The Walking Dead’ series that don’t appreciate good storylines, acting, or character studies.

I only say that because the second episode of ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ shed nearly 2 million viewers after debut fetched over 10 million. I saw it all over social media about how boring it was… Where’s the carnage? Blah, blah, blah

And that’s too bad, really. But I guess some viewers just aren’t into really good storytelling or perhaps the deep nuisances of the series are too much to comprehend.

Oh well… I find it very interesting to see what happened at the start of the zombie apocalypse. Seeing how the masses dealt with such an absurd thing as the dead reanimating and coming after them to feed and kill.

Madison adapts quickly to the kill or be killed mentality while Travis wrestles with his liberal political leanings.

I find watching Travis very appealing because he doesn’t like his son being shown a few gun tips from Daniel (Reuben Blades) who obviously has a shady past as some kind of torturer from El Salvador. Slowly, but surely, Travis will come around to the new version of Darwinism that the zombie apocalypse will bring about.

With ‘The Walking Dead’, viewers were thrust into this apocalyptic world when Rick Grimes woke up in his hospital bed. Grimes was forced to move and react with very little time to process what was going on. In ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ it’s more of a slow burn. It’s everything we wanted to see, but some viewers don’t seem to have the patience for it.

The most interesting character would have to be Victor Strand (Colman Domingo).

We meet him in a holding cell as he takes Nick under this wing. Victor is obviously a man of means and he’s interesting because he’s not the blue collar type that permeates the original series. Victor has a seaside mansion and a yacht for escape. He has money, charisma, and “do as I shall” attitude.

Victor seems like the perfect cast member to become either a nasty villain or formidable good guy.

I honestly believe that Victor Strand will fall into the villain category.

Why?

I foresee a moment coming when Nick must make a choice. Will it be his mother Madison or Victor Strand?

We shall see how he develops when the series picks back up in the spring of 2016.

Charlie Sexton 'Charlie Sexton'

So did you see the season premiere of ‘The Walking Dead’ last night?

Was it not the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen?

First of all, let’s give Sweetwater Brewing Company a round of applause for shelling out some bucks for cases upon cases of beer to be displayed during the supply run at the Big Spit store. The product placement worked! It made me want a Georgia Brown at that moment. Yet not one person in Darryl’s supply platoon snaps a case up for later around the campfire. Oh sure, the new guy wanted to snag a bottle of vino for later. But just one?!

Second… The name of the store is Big Spot, but they use an “!” in place of the “i”. So the obvious name to call the place is “Big Spit”.

Third… And this is the biggest issue with the first episode of the new season… A helicopter crashed onto the roof of the Big Spit. The crash looked horrific, but the store roof was seemingly fortified to take the weight of the impact of the crash along with the remaining wreckage. It’s only when a 90 pound zombie walks across the roof the camel’s back break. A decomposing straw of a zombie is too much trauma for the roof to handle and they all start falling through the roof and onto the unsuspecting group led by easy riding Darryl the bow hunter.

Zombies are crashing onto aisles with blood-spattering gore, falling onto cases of delicious Sweetwater beer, and providing general mayhem while the HEAVIEST thing on the roof (the helicopter) hangs on until the last minute before crashing through.

Now I’m not any kind of structural engineer, but I gotta call BS on this one.

So… They had nearly a year to write up a script for the returning season and this is what we get?

I know that it’s a show where disbelief should be suspended, but poorly thought out plot points are just that… Poorly thought out plot points. How did it ever get to the filming stage? Don’t they sit around and discuss these things before a location is staked out for filming? Doesn’t someone’s common sense kick in during the storyboard pre-production?

Or could the producers, writers, and directors think that the viewers are mindless zombies willing to bite into and swallow anything?

And for the fourth and final thought… Is that not the crappiest prison you’ve ever seen?

The shiny new fencing couldn’t hold back a gaggle of kids at a concert by The Wiggles. It’s flimsy as hell. The buildings don’t seem to resemble any kind of prison buildings that I’ve ever seen either in person or on a ‘Ghost Adventures’ outing.

So why do I keep watching?

It’s fun despite the some of the glaring flaws. I'm still in... For now.