To cleanse the palate. This one feels broodier to me than the usual fare, a little more Dark Knight-ish, shall we say. Although admittedly, having seen neither of the first two “Iron Man” movies nor any of the Nolan Batman series, I’m flying blind here. Jonathan Last is a superhero connoisseur, though, and he’s picking up a TDK vibe too, so there you go. Argument from authority. Confirmed.

Let me atone for the lack of “Iron Man” commentary by sharing my only strong reaction to the first two episodes this season of “The Walking Dead”: Whoever was in charge of casting five hardened criminals holed up in a prison overrun by zombies for 10 months and settled on these losers should be fired. The guy in the middle, in particular, felt like a joke character from the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour.” Pull it together, AMC.