Walking Dead

[Setanta]

Perhaps you might recall a couple of someones setting a fire in a recent episode?

Old age has kicked in, I can't remember.

As soon as Carol

[Ironwood]

I didn't really like the resolution of it, to be honest.  It was obvious from a mile away (and a few episodes back) that this was coming.

As to 'not being able to act' I actually thought older lassie did 'Crazy In The Coconut Fruitcake' quite well.

Also, the first 10 minutes had so much foreshadowing, the screen may as well have been black.

[Cyrrex]

I thought she was okay, but a bit uneven.  Of course, her character could be described as uneven, so there's that.

What I mentioned about being not thrilled about the first 2/3rds of the episode was more the acting done for Tyrese.  That guy does big angry zombie killing dude well enough, but everything else he does seems a little ham-fisted, and I thought some of the scenes were set up poorly as well.  What then redeemed it for me was Carol's acting towards the end, plus...

 

So even an otherwise ham-fisted, obvious-as-shit-bad-situation-incoming episode still manages to have impact anyway, and I can't help but think the writers did it to me on purpose.  I shouldn't be surprised at this point how well they pull off the Big Moments, and yet I am.

On a related subject, now that the Tyrese/Carol situation is fully resolved and she is redeemed in his eyes, I fully expect Tyrese to get munched. 

[Ironwood]

I think he'll be around for a while.

[apocrypha]

Interesting coincidence:

[Threash]

The writer of this episode also wrote "Clear" the episode were Rick Michonne and Carl go back to his old police station and meet up with the black guy from season one, the one were they ignore the hitchhiker and he turns up dead at the end.  He is also the new show runner, which actually gives me hope for the future of the show.  Usually the show tries to milk the dramatic fallout of traumatic experiences without actually having the balls to go through with them.  Like Maggies "almost" rape or Carl is a cold blooded killer storylines or even with lil kick ass not being really dead.  And when they did have the ball to go through with it, like with Sophia, they milked it for a whole season.

[HaemishM]

Holy fucking shit.

Best episode this season.

I forgive you.

Triple agree. That scene with Tyrese and Carol at the end... fuck.

This season has been directed, acted and written at a level so far above the previous seasons, it's unbelievable. It's like it's not even the same show.

[KallDrexx]

Perhaps you might recall a couple of someones setting a fire in a recent episode?

So apparently I have the memory of a rock but I'm failing to remember someone setting fire to something recently.

[Mithas]

Beth and Daryl set fire to the house they were drinking in.

[Merusk]

On a related subject, now that the Tyrese/Carol situation is fully resolved and she is redeemed in his eyes, I fully expect Tyrese to get munched. 

Funny, I figured it would be Carol getting dead.  I looked at the confession to Tyrese as finally having snapped after losing her adopted daughters and wanting someone to end it for her.

[Threash]

On a related subject, now that the Tyrese/Carol situation is fully resolved and she is redeemed in his eyes, I fully expect Tyrese to get munched. 

Funny, I figured it would be Carol getting dead.  I looked at the confession to Tyrese as finally having snapped after losing her adopted daughters and wanting someone to end it for her.

And clear the way for a Beth/Daryl relationship :P

[TheWalrus]

When the older girl was yelling at Carol, my wife looked at me like I was a monster when I said they need to put that chick down asap. Minutes later, I was proved right.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, about halfway through I was like "They got to put that little girl down."

[Ironwood]

This is silly.

[Evildrider]

This is silly.

[apocrypha]

That is exactly what I said at that point. Talk about telegraphing it. This show is many things, subtle is rarely one of them.

[Ironwood]

This is silly.

Well, that's silly as well, but the whole Darryl thing is silly.  Stupid woman is silly (foot trapped.  omg.  stupid made up tension).  Scientist saving world is silly.  Terminus is REALLY silly.  Hot Soldier woman still having perfect make-up is silly.

This episode really just distilled the whole silliness into one black hole of silly as I watched it.

I can't see how next week is going to be even remotely interesting, given that.  It's also particularly hard to swallow given the Carol episode we just had to endure.

EDITED FOR THE READING COMPREHENSION OF THE GREAT JS :

When I said 'endure' here, I mean that the Carol episode was particularly hard hitting and difficult to watch.  It took itself seriously at least.

[jgsugden]

If you do not enjoy the show, don't force yourself to watch. 

They're playing with the expectations of the comic readers. They realize there ate several potential storylines they could draw upon, and they're hinting at multiple of them... which could mean we're not headed for any of them.

[Ironwood]

 

[jgsugden]

Dude.  You called it silly 8 times in 3 lines of text.  Then you said you doubted the next episode could be remotely interesting and that you had to 'endure' the Carol episode that many people thought was really good.  You had about 10 insults for the show in about 75 words. 

You're not just being critical - you're straining to piss on the show as hard as you can - and you're doing it all over episodes that made the crew proud (read some recent interviews).  Expect more of the same.

[Merusk]

Don't argue anything from comics is silly with jg. It's not worth it.

[Ironwood]

Doubling down on that with 'If you don't like it don't watch' is pretty much the playground answer to that.

Given what we just got with the Children episode, all the made up shit in this episode WAS silly.  You want me to spell it out for you because you perceive it as high art ?  Ok.

Daryl, rather than following the trail of a motor vehicle, has abandoned the lassie he had a hugely touching moment and bonding with in favour of some murderous retards.  Explain that to me in a way I'll understand and even remotely believe.

The woman punishing herself to follow Maggie-betrothed to the point of damaging her knee and then, as if she wasn't clumsy enough, being trapped in a pile of rocks, in the most unbelievably made-up moment of dramatic tension, is also not hugely believable, for her, or for Glenn.  Glenn is NOT this guy.  Would he pursue Maggie ?  Hell yes.  Would he subject this woman to it ?  Nope, nope, nope.

The Scientist is quite literally retarded and has explained nothing to anyone and done nothing except appear retarded.  Yet everyone is treating him as some kind of mythical savior, including two rather sensible folks who literally just met him five seconds ago.  Explain to me how them suddenly following the Messiah Mega Brain is NOT silly.

Terminus may as well have fucking Admiral Ackbar welcoming them.  Explain to me, given all they've gone through, why not one single one among them haven't even remotely smelled fish ?  And then, Tasha Yar.  I mean.  Jesus Christ, it's Tasha Yar, last seen being slain by Dexter.  Go on, explain it to me.

The Soldier, who hasn't even explained who the hell she is, has at least found trousers and a jumper, but she's still perfectly made up.  Maybe it's Maybelline ?  Explain that to me.

These are things in the past we'd palm off, usually because they're in separate shows.  In this one they were ALLLLL there.  It's stupid and, alas, totally broke my immersion big time.  If it wasn't for Southland Cop, I'd have been chucking stuff at the TV.

So, to sum up, Fuck Off.  I'm not straining to do anything.  I'm saying that this last show was weak as all hell and it's a fucking shame because this season has been top notch.

I have no idea why they were particularly proud of THIS one, seeing as it was such a fucking turd, but if you wanna white knight, you go right ahead, you crazy madman.

[Ironwood]

Don't argue anything from comics is silly with jg. It's not worth it.

Hey, it could be worse, I could take Agents of SHIELD out to the woodshed.  Though at least I'd have May and Skye if I did that.

[jgsugden]

Dude.  Expect more of the same.  Act appropriately.  All I'm saying.

[Ironwood]

I am.  I'm acting entirely appropriately to watching a show that has had moments of transcending the retardery of the comic book on which it's based, only for it to swoop back down into the stupidity from whence it came.

[Hawkbit]

In a similar situation, I would actively move in the opposite direction from a place named Terminus.  Just saying. 

Also, the Ackbar reference made for a great mental image.

[jgsugden]

We have different definitions on appropriate.  For instance, "retardery" =/= appropriate.

[Cyrrex]

Doubling down on that with 'If you don't like it don't watch' is pretty much the playground answer to that.

Given what we just got with the Children episode, all the made up shit in this episode WAS silly.  You want me to spell it out for you because you perceive it as high art ?  Ok.

Daryl, rather than following the trail of a motor vehicle, has abandoned the lassie he had a hugely touching moment and bonding with in favour of some murderous retards.  Explain that to me in a way I'll understand and even remotely believe.

The woman punishing herself to follow Maggie-betrothed to the point of damaging her knee and then, as if she wasn't clumsy enough, being trapped in a pile of rocks, in the most unbelievably made-up moment of dramatic tension, is also not hugely believable, for her, or for Glenn.  Glenn is NOT this guy.  Would he pursue Maggie ?  Hell yes.  Would he subject this woman to it ?  Nope, nope, nope.

The Scientist is quite literally retarded and has explained nothing to anyone and done nothing except appear retarded.  Yet everyone is treating him as some kind of mythical savior, including two rather sensible folks who literally just met him five seconds ago.  Explain to me how them suddenly following the Messiah Mega Brain is NOT silly.

Terminus may as well have fucking Admiral Ackbar welcoming them.  Explain to me, given all they've gone through, why not one single one among them haven't even remotely smelled fish ?  And then, Tasha Yar.  I mean.  Jesus Christ, it's Tasha Yar, last seen being slain by Dexter.  Go on, explain it to me.

The Soldier, who hasn't even explained who the hell she is, has at least found trousers and a jumper, but she's still perfectly made up.  Maybe it's Maybelline ?  Explain that to me.

These are things in the past we'd palm off, usually because they're in separate shows.  In this one they were ALLLLL there.  It's stupid and, alas, totally broke my immersion big time.  If it wasn't for Southland Cop, I'd have been chucking stuff at the TV.

So, to sum up, Fuck Off.  I'm not straining to do anything.  I'm saying that this last show was weak as all hell and it's a fucking shame because this season has been top notch.

I have no idea why they were particularly proud of THIS one, seeing as it was such a fucking turd, but if you wanna white knight, you go right ahead, you crazy madman.

Gotta say, I pretty much agree with all of this.  I didn't like this episode much.  I felt that it combined all the things that have been only bothering me slightly into one big, annoying hour. 

To add another, the gang of bad guys that Daryl hooked up with, the ones that kick each others faces in and may even kill one another on a bad day...suddenly they have some code of honor that makes them follow some poor guy that choked out one of their group?  They are really going to follow him all that way just for some revenge.  Um, okay.  Sure they'd do that. 

It's like they are going out of there way to add a bunch of annoying and not believable characters we don't need.  I don't care if they were in the comics (and while we are at it, pretty much nobody else does either).

[Evildrider]

Rick did more than kill one of their guys.  He left a zombie landmine that could have done a lot of damage.  With their warped sense of "honor" I can see them going after him.  Especially since they just seem to be a drifting group with no mention of a home and such.  If that is the case, it could because they also have nothing better to do.

[Velorath]

Agree with some things but:

Daryl, rather than following the trail of a motor vehicle, has abandoned the lassie he had a hugely touching moment and bonding with in favour of some murderous retards.  Explain that to me in a way I'll understand and even remotely believe.

The Scientist is quite literally retarded and has explained nothing to anyone and done nothing except appear retarded.  Yet everyone is treating him as some kind of mythical savior, including two rather sensible folks who literally just met him five seconds ago.  Explain to me how them suddenly following the Messiah Mega Brain is NOT silly.

The Soldier, who hasn't even explained who the hell she is, has at least found trousers and a jumper, but she's still perfectly made up.  Maybe it's Maybelline ?  Explain that to me.

When Beth is taken it happens at night. He tries following until sometime during the day so we're looking at several hours to possible half a day. Given that the roads around there look clear the car could be well over a 100-200 miles away at that point. Presumably we'll find out what happened to her at some point because it's a fictional show and convenient stuff like that happens (like everyone meeting up on the way to Terminus), but realistically it makes sense for Daryl to not just continue running down the road by himself in a zombie apocalypse chasing after a car.

The two folks who just met the scientist aren't really treating him as a savior and are quite willing to go their separate ways when their goals aren't coinciding. They tag along when it's convenient because safety in numbers and all that. I assume Abraham follows him because he's trying really hard to be a "it's all about the mission" military guy. If he wasn't doing it, he'd probably have no idea what to do with himself.

Rosita probably gets her makeup done at the same place Beth and Maggie do. I think it's right next to the barber shop everyone goes to to keep their hair and facial hair a consistent length and style and where Glenn maintains an absolute clean shave.

[Surlyboi]

If Glenn's like me at that age, he has to shave once every other month.

[Velorath]

For the record, I do think the whole thing with Glenn and Tara going into the tunnel though was absolutely retarded, given that Abraham and the others ended up making it to the other side of the tunnel faster, not even getting into the danger of it. For that matter I'm not sure why Maggie had gone through the tunnel either.

[Ironwood]

The two folks who just met the scientist aren't really treating him as a savior and are quite willing to go their separate ways when their goals aren't coinciding. They tag along when it's convenient because safety in numbers and all that. I assume Abraham follows him because he's trying really hard to be a "it's all about the mission" military guy. If he wasn't doing it, he'd probably have no idea what to do with himself.

I disagree with most of your explanations here (but it's a free country) but for this bit I want to explain that the two folks I was talking about are black woman and The Wire Black Bloke, not the soldiers.

They both met the scientist, have heard NOTHING about him AT ALL except SAVIOUR, and agree to go to Washington with him.   It's really, really badly done.  Especially if, like me, you know what's coming.

The two soldiers I might buy, Maaaaaybe.  But those two ?  I thought they were better than that.

[Setanta]

In terms of the comic books, I don't find the TV series over the top. Plenty of clichés there too.

I find the writing of the Telltale video games to be better than both of the above.

But I enjoy watching the series and reading the comic books and am willing to suspend judgement over reality because you know, zombies are real amirite?

Re Beth, I thought there was more depth to the relationship with Carol than one episode with Beth.

[Velorath]

The two folks who just met the scientist aren't really treating him as a savior and are quite willing to go their separate ways when their goals aren't coinciding. They tag along when it's convenient because safety in numbers and all that. I assume Abraham follows him because he's trying really hard to be a "it's all about the mission" military guy. If he wasn't doing it, he'd probably have no idea what to do with himself.

I disagree with most of your explanations here (but it's a free country) but for this bit I want to explain that the two folks I was talking about are black woman and The Wire Black Bloke, not the soldiers.

They both met the scientist, have heard NOTHING about him AT ALL except SAVIOUR, and agree to go to Washington with him.   It's really, really badly done.  Especially if, like me, you know what's coming.

I don't really want to jump to conclusions there because that sequence came towards the very end of the episode, plus the scientist and his buddies just helped save Glenn's ass so they probably get a little leeway. I'd be very surprised if whenever the Terminus stuff is finished and the group inevitably ends up on the road again, if there isn't some deeper discussion about whether or not they should actually go with these guys to D.C. and what the scientist actually knows, but that's just not where the show is at right now.

I'm not going to argue that this show has great writing, and in fact even defending small bits of it here leaves me feeling a tad unclean. It is currently better writing though than any of the previous seasons and most of the comic as well, not that either of those set the bar high. This was absolutely one of the weaker episodes, I just disagree with some of your reasons as to why.