Walking Dead

[Raguel]

Zombie Horde ?  Sure, let's hide in a tree.

 

No different when they've hid under cars and stuff.  The walkers are pretty oblivious unless they see or hear something on the show. 

you ever wonder what part of a zombie is dead? They can walk, eat, see, smell, and hear.

[Tannhauser]

But couldn't they smell sweet human flesh in Season one?  That's why at the interstate the survivors covered themselves in walker-goo right?

[HaemishM]

Why you guys want to keep cockblocking COR-EL?

[Surlyboi]

[Evildrider]

But couldn't they smell sweet human flesh in Season one?  That's why at the interstate the survivors covered themselves in walker-goo right?

Well the difference in that instance was they were trying to walk among them.  Michonne didn't smear guts on herself either, she just had two walkers with her in proximity.  The kids were far enough away, where unless those zombies have super smell, they aren't going to notice them.

[Ironwood]

Being fair, the fucking tree was the LEAST of my issues with this episode.  It felt very, very forced and wrong.

But the Tree thing Bugged me.

[Tebonas]

Rick has gone full circle and is essentially Shane now. And yet I have the distincive feeling I am supposed to root for him because the Alexandrians are idiots.

They could at least let him say "I was a Police Officer, if you want to pretend you are civilized, sanctioned spousal abuse is something a sane society doesn't abide. So fuck your order if it doesn't uphold basic rules of decency" instead of "U r hot, he bad, u wanna be my woman now?" Thats just insulting to the Rick of previous seasons.

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, I don't like how that played out.  Rick is often on the verge of cracking, but it doesn't make sense to me that he goes totally bonkers as a result of that fight.  I sorta understood and agreed with everything he did up until the end of the fight.  Then he starts flipping out and shrieking at everyone?  No.  It didn't fit his character, hot MILF notwithstanding.  Would have made more sense with a cold, calculated coup in the immediate aftermath, not that hissy fit that he threw.  And then Michonne clobbers him, and it wasn't an "oh snap!" moment so much as it was a "why the fuck did she do that?"  Even if she didn't like what he was doing (she clearly wanted to make it work in that place), it didn't feel like she'd do something like that.

I dunno.  I am confused.

[MrHat]

Yeah, I don't like how that played out.  Rick is often on the verge of cracking, but it doesn't make sense to me that he goes totally bonkers as a result of that fight.  I sorta understood and agreed with everything he did up until the end of the fight.  Then he starts flipping out and shrieking at everyone?  No.  It didn't fit his character, hot MILF notwithstanding.  Would have made more sense with a cold, calculated coup in the immediate aftermath, not that hissy fit that he threw.  And then Michonne clobbers him, and it wasn't an "oh snap!" moment so much as it was a "why the fuck did she do that?"  Even if she didn't like what he was doing (she clearly wanted to make it work in that place), it didn't feel like she'd do something like that.

I dunno.  I am confused.

I just gathered from the last couple episodes that Rick was already on the path of "wtf is wrong with these people".  They made it a point to show him struggling with control over Feral Rick. I think that's what the show has been trying to show us, just the difference between Rick's group and the Alexandrians is that struggle between eating someone who died so you can live and 'civilization'.  Hell, Rick's group has been arguing all season about "being out too long". 

So, I sorta get the fight and the exposition, but it was a bit much.  As for Michonne, I just figured that was her way of saving Rick from himself.

[Tebonas]

All of that would have worked fine without the central piece being Ricks obsession with that married woman that materialized out of nowhere like he is a teenager that wants to get laid for the first time. This part makes the whole arc utterly ridiculous.

[MrHat]

All of that would have worked fine without the central piece being Ricks obsession with that married woman that materialized out of nowhere like he is a teenager that wants to get laid for the first time. This part makes the whole arc utterly ridiculous.

Ya I agree.  That whole part where she said "would you do it for anyone?" and he was like 12yo "no".

[Ironwood]

Michonne was the only part of this episode that I liked and worked for me.

She's the part of the Law that Rick has forgotten and she's done without for far too long, as evidenced by the flashback scenes.

[Xanthippe]

It's as though Walking Dead has a whole different set of writers this season.

Characters are not being true, and everything is being dragged way out.

Every week, there is the obligatory zombie porn - zombies eat somebody/something, zombies are killed in new and inventive ways.

This show has become one that I'm watching out of habit.

[Cyrrex]

Michonne was the only part of this episode that I liked and worked for me.

She's the part of the Law that Rick has forgotten and she's done without for far too long, as evidenced by the flashback scenes.

She can be conflicted about it all she wants, but to knock him senseless like that?  She may have fucked him and their whole group over.  It doesn't seem like something she would do.  Just like his flip out doesn't seem like something he would do.  And let's talk about Glen getting all weepy all of a sudden about everything. 

I mean, I am not going to ragequit the show or anything, it is still the best thing on TV.  Just not sure I understand where this is going.

[Signe]

I thought last weeks episode was really good.  I don't think this one was all that bad, either... they may have stumbled a wee bit... I still thought it was good.  BUT - Carol, Carol, Carol... she's the same.  A little bit mean but in a cool, interesting way.  Some times I think she should be the leader, especially when Rick has his little insanity moments. 

But then, again, you know me and zombies.  I thought Z Nation was brilliant!   

[HaemishM]

Rick has quite clearly fucking lost it, and Michonne saw that. Since they came back from hiatus, it's been clear her character is the one that's the voice of reason - it's just that she's been conflicted about it because she knows how much Rick has sacrificed to get them somewhere safe. But Rick has so blatantly lost it - all the things that he did to make the prison workable are the same kind of things the folks in Alexandria are doing only now he's being all Shane on them because the Governor's attack and the assault by motorcycle bad boys and then the Fine Young Cannibals at Terminus have utterly pushed him back over the cuckoo cliff. The season finale will be 60 minutes of agonizing over whether he can come back from that, followed by 30 minutes of "THE WOLVES ARE HERE!!!! DUN DUN DUHHHHHH!!!!" cue black screen cliffhanger and the angry raging of millions of fans.

[Setanta]

I could go with Rick losing it due to the pressures of the job and always looking out for his people. I could even get him paralleling the governor so that we could watch a good man become broken. But not over some new love-interest - that was the most pathetic bit of writing I've seen and it just doesn't fit with his character at all. Rich has always been about the group, not his individual needs.

Michone I got - that worked well as someone who wanted peace and order after all they had been through.

[Selby]

They could at least let him say "I was a Police Officer, if you want to pretend you are civilized, sanctioned spousal abuse is something a sane society doesn't abide. So fuck your order if it doesn't uphold basic rules of decency" instead of "U r hot, he bad, u wanna be my woman now?" Thats just insulting to the Rick of previous seasons.

This is exactly my thought as well.  I just felt his little flip out at the end was... misplaced.  A bit more "law and order must be preserved" would have made it considerably more believable (especially considering the other guy started beating on him first) than losing it like that.

[Evildrider]

[Selby]

I was wondering the same thing too... "there's got to be a reason for showing that level of detail..."

[Evildrider]

I was wondering the same thing too... "there's got to be a reason for showing that level of detail..."

[HaemishM]

I don't think Rick spazzed out because of wanting to lay the pipe on hot blonde milf. I think that was just a trigger for the anger that he barely keeps beneath the surface. We've seen it all along in this show - when he killed Shane (but only when Shane threatened to kill him AND did something that endangered the group), his stabbing of the head motorcycle guy (after Carl was threatened), the slaughter in the church of the FYC (after they managed to get some prime Bob meat) and his attempts to get the Governor to stop being a dick. He manages to barely control the rage until he can't anymore but when he lets it out for whatever reason, he's unable to dial it down at all.

Rick was totally right to do all the things he's done that I mentioned above - he just shouldn't have done them all with such ferocity, using more force and violence than necessary. There's an escalation of psycho going on based on how bad he's seen the world become.

EDIT: And really, looking at how it went down, why didn't Rick just shoot the guy (either in the head or the leg) instead of having this knock down drag out Neanderthal punch up? Because he can't control his anger once he lets it out.

[Ironwood]

No, I get that.  He even says it "I'm trying not to kill you."

But I dunno, it's not coming across well.  The episode hit just a huge run of bum notes.  Except Michonne.

[jgsugden]

The whole premise of the season was "Were they out there too long"? and "Do they get to come back?"  They grinded these folks to the point where the answer was supposed to be in question.  When they find civilization, should they join it, or protect people by teaching them that is isn't possible anymore? 

Hypo: What if Rick and company had encountered Jessie, Pete and the kids on the road to Alexandria rather than in Alexandria.  Would Pete's abusive nature be a threat worthy of getting him killed?

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, it woulda.  Only it would have been death by accidental zombie.

[jgsugden]

My point there - if Rick is seeing Alexandria as not being realistic about the world in which they are living, rather than seeing them as a last bastion of civilization that needs to be built upon, seeing him act as he would out in the world makes more sense...

[palmer_eldritch]

It's strange because this season has generally been really good, so I still have hopes for the finale.

A story which showed how everything Rick has been through finally caught up with him might be good but in this story did seem a lot as if Rick was trying to get someone out of the way because he wanted to shag the guy's wife. Obviously I know the guy was an abusive dick but while I'm sure Rick genuinely wants to stop that it also looked like he saw that as an opportunity for him to step in.

[Evildrider]

It's strange because this season has generally been really good, so I still have hopes for the finale.

A story which showed how everything Rick has been through finally caught up with him might be good but in this story did seem a lot as if Rick was trying to get someone out of the way because he wanted to shag the guy's wife. Obviously I know the guy was an abusive dick but while I'm sure Rick genuinely wants to stop that it also looked like he saw that as an opportunity for him to step in.

it wasn't that he was trying, he does want him out of the way.  He doesn't necessarily want to have to kill him though.  I saw it more as Rick was really trying to keep himself in check, then Pete just went buck wild and in the process hit Jessie.  At that point "nice" Rick left the building and he went pure survival mode.

[Threash]

[Surlyboi]

[Segoris]

[HaemishM]

That did not go like I expected.

[Nevermore]

[taolurker]

[jgsugden]

I'm surprised they didn't bang on it before popping it open.  I assumed they were all doing that all the time...

To be honest, I've always been curious why they never figure out how to set remote control distraction tools.  I still feel like mindless undead should be a lot less of a problem if you tried some real solutions rather than cowering behind walls.