The Walking Dead -- TV Series Thread

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Pretty solid episode. Enjoyed it.

Talking Dead indicated that Abraham should have died in this episode? Glad they changed it some which implies other future deaths may not occur.

Oh I'd say they'll occur ... just not neccessarily to the same people as in the comics.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

While they were on their face-stabbing spree, it bummed me out that the felt the need to include the one room where a guy seemed to have polaroid shots of all the people he killed. This feels like such an obvious - "we need to make it clear to the audience that these are BAD guys." I wish they had played it more straight, and maybe not have the 2 guards be the most collosal dicks in the world.

Actually, that was major foreshadowing, if you go back and look at how they died..It's pretty apparent to me that they will pull no punches when the season ends and they finally meet Negan.

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Oh I'd say they'll occur ... just not neccessarily to the same people as in the comics.

*nods*

It is nice to know that while they still keep some of the methods from the comics, they can still surprise you with who they pull them out on.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Another solid episode.

This half-season, or whatever you call it, has been great so far.

I read the comics and totally forgot how Abraham died in them. It's been a while.

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Another solid episode.

This half-season, or whatever you call it, has been great so far.

I read the comics and totally forgot how Abraham died in them. It's been a while.

Agreed. They are getting it "right" in this season...though I can't quite put my finger on what it is compared to other seasons with more ups & downs. Maybe they've just killed off all the annoying characters?

That arrow scene was beyond jolting and intense.

[cthomer5000]

I think more often I'd like to see them taking a ton of precautions and have a random death, rather than decide to be completely off the chain idiots which inevitably leads to death.

Just felt like a shit end to the episode to me. They've been on a bit of a hot streak, but I didn't love this episode.

[Edward64]

That was a pretty intense episode. Doesn't look good for the good guys ... my guess is there will be a death next week.

Carol was great. In a way I'm getting tired of her being a bad ass but this episode was a good one for further developing what happened last week.

[Radii]

Well that was a whole lot of stupid.

[MacroGuru]

If it follows the comic...next week is going to shock the hell out of a lot of people that have never read them.

I am ready for it, but knowing the writers, they are going to do an end around and shock everyone.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

If it follows the comic...next week is going to shock the hell out of a lot of people that have never read them.

I am ready for it, but knowing the writers, they are going to do an end around and shock everyone.

Unfortunately if it follows the comic I had it ruined by a friend of mine. The people on here have been pretty good about avoiding spoilers. Which brings me to a question... what exactly does someone get out of spoiling it? I ask mostly about my friend but also in general? Am I supposed to respect that he gave away a major plotline that I could have looked up myself if I wanted to? (He doesn't even read the comics just spoilers)

[Subby]

Why last night's Walking Dead has me finally ready to quit watching https://t.co/7HEFG9zn44 pic.twitter.com/bjFqifRWY1

— Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) March 28, 2016

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by panerd

Unfortunately if it follows the comic I had it ruined by a friend of mine. The people on here have been pretty good about avoiding spoilers. Which brings me to a question... what exactly does someone get out of spoiling it? I ask mostly about my friend but also in general? Am I supposed to respect that he gave away a major plotline that I could have looked up myself if I wanted to? (He doesn't even read the comics just spoilers)

I read the comics but my wife doesn't and we both love the show - and she loves hearing about what is happening in the comics. And honestly, with how often they've diverged from the comics, no matter what happens next week, it is bound to surprise - even if the same events happen in the same manner (which, given even recent history, would surprise me).

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by Radii

Well that was a whole lot of stupid.

This. Everyone acting like idiots in face of an imminent threat makes it hard to enjoy the action sequences that I think we're supposed to like.

It would be one thing if you had a single character kind of going off the reservation at a bad time, but in this case you have:
- Carol leaving on her own
- Darryl leaving to hunt down a group
- Two people leaving to chase Carol
- Three people leaving to chase Darryl
- Darryl not listening to reason from group
- Group getting split into 2x2
- Michonne and Glenn not immediately heading back to their cars, but seemingly wandering deeper in forest to get ambushed by a pack of Saviors
- Darryl the tracker + Rosita getting ambushed by same pack of nigh invisible Saviors
- Saviors electing not to kill any of the four people, just to shoot Darryl for reasons that don't immediately make any sense at all
- Rick being OK leaving Morgan out there hunting down Carol when they are approaching "all hands on deck" showdown with Saviors

But other than these couple holes, pretty pumped about Negan?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

This. Everyone acting like idiots in face of an imminent threat makes it hard to enjoy the action sequences that I think we're supposed to like.

It would be one thing if you had a single character kind of going off the reservation at a bad time, but in this case you have:

A couple of the list as noted here stand out to me, from amongst a truly "how many stupid moves can be packed into one episode" kinda night

Michonne and Glenn not immediately heading back to their cars, but seemingly wandering deeper in forest to get ambushed by a pack of Saviors

That whole sequence seemed like everybody got lost. In theory, I guess, Michonne & Glenn were headed back to the cars when they got grabbed. But if so does that mean that Darryl & Rosita had doubled back too?

Saviors electing not to kill any of the four people, just to shoot Darryl for reasons that don't immediately make any sense at all

re: shooting Darryl, that seemed like doohickey Savior Lieutenant guy decided to make it tougher for Darryl to be problematic. Let him worry about not bleeding to death instead of how to escape.

Rick being OK leaving Morgan out there hunting down Carol when they are approaching "all hands on deck" showdown with Saviors

I kinda understood that too since, apparently, Morgan is planning to save them rather than kill them. His absence from the scene might very well be no great loss.

[Johnny93g]

I stopped watching because i think the writing is horrible, but my pvr still records it. My buddy likes it, but he thinks it's fun to tell me what happens to get my reactions.

So....Carl gets shot in the eye. This girl, who is about as qualified as me to be a doctor because we have both seen an episode of ER, decides some suturing would be nessessary. She sutures him up really good, and without the training of a real doctor, Carl is able to heal from this normally life threatening bullet to the head....

Fast forward to this weekend when my buddy tells me that this same girl, who now calls herself the doctor, gets shot in the head, right through the eye with an arrow. This time, they don't even try to save her. She's way dead. No signs of life.

Arrow, dead...Bullet, Alive...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That's truly awesome. I may have to start watching again, that's comedy gold!!!!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

I stopped watching because i think the writing is horrible, but my pvr still records it. My buddy likes it, but he thinks it's fun to tell me what happens to get my reactions.

So....Carl gets shot in the eye. This girl, who is about as qualified as me to be a doctor because we have both seen an episode of ER, decides some suturing would be nessessary. She sutures him up really good, and without the training of a real doctor, Carl is able to heal from this normally life threatening bullet to the head....

Fast forward to this weekend when my buddy tells me that this same girl, who now calls herself the doctor, gets shot in the head, right through the eye with an arrow. This time, they don't even try to save her. She's way dead. No signs of life.

Arrow, dead...Bullet, Alive...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That's truly awesome. I may have to start watching again, that's comedy gold!!!!

Yeah, that's a pretty poor and largely incorrect recount of events.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Yeah, that's a pretty poor and largely incorrect recount of events.

Please correct me then...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

Please correct me then...

I ask this in all sincerity ... why would anyone bother to try?

You're kind of clearly enjoying trolling the thread more than the show, why waste the time to get in the way of that?

Watch the f'n show, or don't.
Enjoy it, or don't.

But maybe don't troll about, m'kay.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I ask this in all sincerity ... why would anyone bother to try?

You're kind of clearly enjoying trolling the thread more than the show, why waste the time to get in the way of that?

Watch the f'n show, or don't.
Enjoy it, or don't.

But maybe don't troll about, m'kay.

sorry to upset you lil guy. I made an observation about something i thought was amusing and completely fits into the HORRIBLE WRITING that has been a hallmark of a show you clearly love. No need to get defensive. You don't like my post, ignore it. Telling someone what to do on the the internet...haha, funny.

[Honolulu_Blue]

While, I pretty much agree with this...

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I ask this in all sincerity ... why would anyone bother to try?

You're kind of clearly enjoying trolling the thread more than the show, why waste the time to get in the way of that?

Watch the f'n show, or don't.
Enjoy it, or don't.

But maybe don't troll about, m'kay.

I will still gladly be cordial and do this...

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

Please correct me then...

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

So....Carl gets shot in the eye. This girl, who is about as qualified as me to be a doctor because we have both seen an episode of ER, decides some suturing would be nessessary. She sutures him up really good, and without the training of a real doctor, Carl is able to heal from this normally life threatening bullet to the head....

Fast forward to this weekend when my buddy tells me that this same girl, who now calls herself the doctor, gets shot in the head, right through the eye with an arrow. This time, they don't even try to save her. She's way dead. No signs of life.

Arrow, dead...Bullet, Alive...

Okay, first. Carl did get shot in the eye. But the bullet grazed his eye/the side of his head. It took out the eye and some of the orbital bone around it, but the bullet never entered his head or so much touched his brain.

The crossbow bolt, however, entered into the back of Denise's head, went completely through her brain, and then went out the eye.

I don't think it's too hard to see how the scenario Carl was involved in would lead to the loss of the eye, but not death, whereas Denise would not likely survive a crossbow bolt through the brain.

Second, Denise was a psychiatrist, which means she is a trained physician. She was pre-med in undergrad, went to medical school for four years, did rotations while in medical school (which means she worked at a hospital for a few weeks/months doing various different tasks - ER, surgery, oncology, psych, etc.) So, while she was a psychiatrist and not a surgeon, she was medically trained. So, she did, in fact, have the "training of a real doctor" and is much more "qualified as [you] to be a doctor because [you] have ... seen an episode of ER", whereas she, you know, went to medical school and worked in hospitals for a few years before becoming a psych resident.

As for this...

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

sorry to upset you lil guy. I made an observation about something i thought was amusing and completely fits into the HORRIBLE WRITING that has been a hallmark of a show you clearly love.

No. The writing isn't "HORRIBLE". That, again, is just not an accurate statement.

It's been uneven. Sometimes bad, sometimes great, lots of time in the middle.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

Telling someone what to do on the the internet...haha, funny.

Noooooo ... I gave you options and followed up with a related suggestion.

I realize that you appear unlikely you have the class, decency or simple good sense to run with the advice but {shrug} at least I offered.

[Logan]

I'm not one to apologize for the show, but they also made it really clear in one of the earlier episodes this season that Denise was attempting to actually put her prior medical knowledge to better use and learn more of the skills that she would need as the only doctor the people had at that point. And when I say "really clear", they were beating the viewer over the head with it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Horribly tacky to end that with a cliffhanger IMO.

Not the good kind of thing to me, more like kinda pisses me off at fucking with the audience to that extent.

[SnowMan]

Yea.. One the best scenes of the series and they ruin it with a cliffhanger that didn't need to be. Ask the risk of being that guy, the comics handled it way better

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SnowMan

Yea.. One the best scenes of the series and they ruin it with a cliffhanger that didn't need to be. Ask the risk of being that guy, the comics handled it way better

I feel like a decision was made that they either couldn't -- or shouldn't -- recreate the scene faithfully in terms of visuals

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Horribly tacky to end that with a cliffhanger IMO.

Not the good kind of thing to me, more like kinda pisses me off at fucking with the audience to that extent.

Agreed. Wholly unnecessary. After the nonsense they pulled with Glenn earlier this season, it's particularly bad.

Originally Posted by SnowMan

Yea.. One the best scenes of the series and they ruin it with a cliffhanger that didn't need to be. Ask the risk of being that guy, the comics handled it way better

While I feel the show is generally a pretty good improvement on the comic, I agree.

[Chief Rum]

I have never read the comics but I felt the same way tonight. That was a terrible cliffhanger to leave the show on.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Horribly tacky to end that with a cliffhanger IMO.

Not the good kind of thing to me, more like kinda pisses me off at fucking with the audience to that extent.

Yeah I think I mentioned it to you a week or so ago on Facebook that I'd heard about a probable cliffhanger happening but didn't want to be more specific. Not everyone was familiar with the comics.

That being said, I haven't watched in a season but I'm sure I'll watch them all at some point. Leaving the audience hanging with a "who died" cliffhanger is horrible when it will be 6-7months till it's resolved. It's unnecessary to break the audience/show unwritten agreement like that and it's bad storytelling. Small episode run shows such as this should(I'd consider each 8 episode block its own season basically) always conclude the storyline within the allotted amount of episodes.


Now if this was a fall season into spring season cliffhanger that's more reasonable as the amount of time the audience has to wait is significantly shorter(2.5mo vs 6mo)

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Agreed. Wholly unnecessary. After the nonsense they pulled with Glenn earlier this season, it's particularly bad.

Yup. Having all of the main characters lose their minds last week to generate this type of situation in the first place put most of what happened tonight in a negative light for me going into it. I know others have a different view on Carol's arc, but Carol is just too damn important a character for this show to have her go from king badass to this person we're now seeing without serious screen time and development. We could have gotten here in a brilliant way, instead of... whatever this is. And then the cliffhanger... if its someone who has been with us since season 1 or 2, they could have shown that tonight for devastating effect. Delaying it, meh. And if its someone more recent, all it does is further the problems created by Glenn's situation that the main cast are completely invincible.

Practically speaking, in this day and age where contracts are hard to keep secret, where pictures are taken on set and where so many things get leaked, its very likely that we will be able to rule out many of the cast as the victim just based on info we'll find on pop culture sites. We may even know exactly who it is weeks before the premiere. So even if it wasn't a bad idea from a storytelling perspective, its a horrible idea logistically given how this shit works in the real world.

Bleh!

[Logan]

Brutally boring for 75 minutes, a really good 14 minutes, and a disaster of a final minute.

(ballpark)

[Kodos]

I didn't hate the ending as much as everyone else, but I do suspect it won't be a truly major character that gets it. I think we have clues that it is not Carl or Rick ("take out his eye and feed it to Rick"). I could see it being Glenn.

I thought it was annoying that the convenient pregnancy complication set the whole mission in motion, and that the Saviors seemed to just know when they'd be going to the Hill (whatever it's called). It just seemed very contrived. The Saviors anticipating every move was also annoying, just as it was annoying when our guys attacked the other group and came out unscathed. Battles shouldn't be so one-sided all the time.

Also, doesn't it make sense for Negan and his guys to just wipe out Rick's group entirely? Rick's group has already proven that they are dangerous. And the Saviors are not short on people to take over Alexandria. Why not do the safe thing and kill them all?

I agree that the Carol crisis of conscience is annoying as well. Especially when the shit is hitting the fan for the rest of the group.

Still love the show, but the season had it's share of plotting problems.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Kodos

but I do suspect it won't be a truly major character that gets it.

I suspect this too. Honestly if its anyone but Glenn, Daryl, Maggie, Michonne, Carl or Rick, I think its a complete disaster for the show to have done it this way. But if I had to put money on it, I'd guess its someone else that has had very little screen time and development comparitively. If I had to bet on one specific person, it would be Eugene. They spent a bit of time in the last two episodes building up his character slightly, they showed him to have an important skill to the group, they practically gave him a sendoff in the finale, and Negan's comment about "Taking it like a man" or whatever it was would be fitting given the quick turn they've done with him now being presented as capable and useful.

Even though its the most telegraphed thing, I think it *needs* to be Glenn. That's the only possible way they could justify all of the shit with him earlier in the season.


Has anyone been reading reddit or fan boards or anything? They have *seriously* pissed off their most loyal comic book fans and viewers apparently. I'm not a comic book reader but I heard what was supposed to happen here, tons of comments about how "this sould have been Walking Dead's 'red wedding'" and that they completely botched it. The show is so popular I'm sure it will be fine, but this is just hilariously bad.

[Logan]

I'm sure they'll do incredible premiere numbers, which they'll point to as justification. And then those numbers will plummet (relatively speaking).

[panerd]

It really can't be Carl because then to have any semblance to what would happen in real life Rick would immediately be dead as well. (Or Maggie and Glenn for the same reason) I am also worried that it will be Sasha or the guy whose name I don't even know who recruited them to come to Alexandria. I agree with an earlier post that Eugene has had a lot of build up to make him seem like a more important character so it could be him.

I think it is a throw back to "Who shot JR?" or even more recently the end of each season of Lost. I am not as mad as most though I would have liked to see who it is as well.

[Kodos]

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/walking...-misses-234745

This states things better than I did.

[Honolulu_Blue]

A few tings...

1. Yes, they totally botched the ending. I know what they were trying to do with the whole cliffhanger thing, but it didn't work, especially with what they did with Glenn earlier in the season and how they ended the prior episode with Darryl getting shot. You can only attempt that move so often and eventually it gets old. There was such build up and anticipation for this and the scene, otherwise, was really good. Then... crap.

2. I agree with Radii that, in the era of the internet, there will be constant spoilers and crap about which cast member showed up where, if they signed on for a new series, etc, etc. I really no longer care who dies. It would have been intense to see it happen last night. Six-seven months from now following all that speculation and those rumors? Not so much.

3. I read the comics. Overall, I think the show is much, much better than the comics. The characters are better. The writing is better. The plots and execution are better. This scene, however, was better in the comics. The whole way it played out was.

4. Speaking of... The whole trek to Hilltop was stupid. How did the Saviors know they were going to Hilltop then? Or have they just had all the roads between Alexandria and Hilltop blocked off for a few days now? That's possible, but seems odd. Why do they go through the effort to make such elaborate roadblocks like the zombie-chain or the wall of wood and fire? That's a lot of work and effort for psychological warfare. How did they know that the group would stop the RV where it stopped, in the middle of the night in the woods, and for some of the group to finally get out and walk on foot? Negan and his people were just too omniscient. It was all too much. It would have been better and much more believable had it been more straightforward.

5. Yeah there is internet outrage, but there has been plenty of internet outrage at this show in the past. I would be surprised if the ratings are at all affected by this. The premiere numbers will be huge as always and there will be a drop, as always. The key numbers to watch is the comparisons - i.e, episode 2 of next year versus last year and so on. If there is a big drop there, then perhaps people did finally bail. I'll believe it when I see it.

6. The Carol stuff. I think you can look back to the episode where Carol killed the little girl and confessed to Tyrese that she was the one who killed his girlfriend and that other guy to stop the spread of the super flu. At the end of that episode, after she confesses, she slides a gun across the table and essentially offers Tyrese the opportunity to kill her. Granted, Carol kicked a TON of ass since then - primarily Terminus and versus the Wolves - but you could say these acts of violence always affected her. There was also the scene of she killed all those wolves when she was on the porch looking quite shaken. Still, they could have handled it better and more deftly. It's weird that her killing the red headed Savior woman - who had kidnapped her and Maggie, threatened to kill them a few times, and was overall a seemingly horrible person - was what tipped her over the edge.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

How did they know that the group would stop the RV where it stopped, in the middle of the night in the woods, and for some of the group to finally get out and walk on foot?

My assumption(s) is this: they (somehow) knew the group was en route to Hilltop. I can't explain how they knew, but let's give them that one for a moment. From there, they knew how many ways in there were, they easily have the manpower to block them all, they were willing to do so because Negan is Negan.

The "knowing they'd approach on foot" only came about once Eugene was captured, that would have made it kind of obvious what was next.

6. The Carol stuff.

I think all of this ... angst for lack of a better word, it simply the TV show trying to get her back more in line with her eventual comic book path than with the Superwoman she had become.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by Radii

Has anyone been reading reddit or fan boards or anything? They have *seriously* pissed off their most loyal comic book fans and viewers apparently. I'm not a comic book reader but I heard what was supposed to happen here, tons of comments about how "this sould have been Walking Dead's 'red wedding'" and that they completely botched it. The show is so popular I'm sure it will be fine, but this is just hilariously bad.

This should have been one of the most brutal, violent deaths in Walking Dead history, and instead it was cartoony with red computer blotches and 6 months of waiting. I've been waiting for this moment the entire season and I couldn't have pictured it turning out any worse than it did.

I do think that they casted Negan pretty well, and the Saviors definitely looked ultra powerful this time. They've pretty much been pushovers the rest of the season, so it's nice to show them as much more than that.

[Edward64]

Sad sad sad. But the right thing to do.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Walking Dead premiere reaction | Jon's Three Cents

[kingfc22]

That was brutal.

[Kodos]

Hopefully Rick gets to carry through on his statement at some point.

[Ned Doolittle]

The taking Darryl hostage is the monkey wrench that rick probably didn't anticipate. That kind've thwarts any retaliation plans they may have had. As long as they have Darryl, rick and company can't do anything.

[Dutch]

I had no idea that much of the cast was British. I'm always amazed at how well they can pull off American accents.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Yes. That was brutal.

That was a pretty great episode. Very tough to watch, but well done. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the course of the season.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Yes. That was brutal.

That was a pretty great episode. Very tough to watch, but well done. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the course of the season.

Ditto, both loathed and enjoyed it immensely.

I think the only character death that I hated worse than Glen's after they teased he had dodged another bullet was Opie's on SOA.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Ditto, both loathed and enjoyed it immensely.

I think the only character death that I hated worse than Glen's after they teased he had dodged another bullet was Opie's on SOA.

Stringer Bell and Wallace on The Wire were pretty bad.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by panerd

Stringer Bell and Wallace on The Wire were pretty bad.

Tasha in STNG!

[GoldenEagle]

I think last night's episode would have been better as a season finale. The Glenn death lost some of its edge because we haven't seen him in six months.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Tasha in STNG!

That was pretty abysmal. Still, it cleared the way for more Worf, so I didn't mind.