The Walking Dead -- TV Series Thread

[JonInMiddleGA]

Didn't we already see this episode, back when our merry band hit Negan's outposts the first time?

That was just ... I mean, talk about an hour's worth of filler. It technically didn't lack action per se -- and maybe they think will reverse the viewer erosion -- but that felt like I'd just wasted an hour of my life.

[Honolulu_Blue]

It was all right.

I found it kind of confusing. I wasn't sure what exactly everyone was doing and why.

The prolonged gun battle outside with the cars just didn't feel right. I wasn't sure what they were trying to accomplish either in general or during any specific moment. People's location was hard to follow. They seemed to be using an awful lot of bullets. It was just kind of poorly executed and choreographed.

Since when did Morgan become John Wick?

The Morales call back was interesting.

I liked Rick finding the baby room, though it's unclear as why the baby was being held in some remote location. That might be explained later, or not.

Some interesting moments, for sure, but overall not super exciting despite all of the tension and action trying to make it so.

[Mota]

My wife and I both thought last night's episode was dull dull dull.

Tons of action. Nothing but action. But it was a bunch of B-Cast people spraying a bunch of bullets around, with no meaning. Should I care about the bad guy who was trying to figure out the plan? Or random Kingdom / Hilltop / Alexandria people wandering through nameless hallways?

Right now I see a cast which is much too big. Maybe it worked in the comics (it did), but it doesn't work on the TV show. When you show me that many people, I don't care about any of them.

[Edward64]

Trying to get psyched for tonight's episode. Hope its better than last week.

Any theories on Rick's flashback moments?

[Edward64]

Eh, I guess it was okay. Lots of killing.

The Jesus and Morgan fight scene was nice. The buildup between kill'em vs let them live is interesting. Next week looks like more of the same.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I give this week higher marks than last week, so that's something I guess.

Not sure I loved some of the story elements all that much but some of the little things that worked better this week to me made some difference.

I also thought they did a better job of not making all the cuts seems quite so much of a clusterfuck.

[Edward64]

Eh, not a great episode IMO. Three episodes pretty much the same.

-- Carol could have shot the 3 loading the machine gun no problem
-- A machine gun at close to point blank couldn't take care of a motorcycle and jeep
-- Lost alot of respect for King E. Can't take care of a nerd and then acting like a wuss for pretty much the 60 min

On the other hand, the short on the red machete looks interesting.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The death I've dreaded all season. Not sure whether that sense of dread looming over the show will help me going forward or not.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Eh, not a great episode IMO. Three episodes pretty much the same.

-- Carol could have shot the 3 loading the machine gun no problem
-- A machine gun at close to point blank couldn't take care of a motorcycle and jeep
-- Lost alot of respect for King E. Can't take care of a nerd and then acting like a wuss for pretty much the 60 min

On the other hand, the short on the red machete looks interesting.

Strongly Disagree. I loved the episode. I thought it was great. Definitely showed just how great the show can and has been when they do things right. Sadly, episodes like this have been the exception, not the rule over the last season or two.

[Kodos]

My wife said she'd have rather had the King die than the tiger. I kinda agree.

This season has been pretty "meh" so far.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Strongly Disagree. I loved the episode. I thought it was great. Definitely showed just how great the show can and has been when they do things right. Sadly, episodes like this have been the exception, not the rule over the last season or two.

Was definitely my favorite episode of the season. Definitely brought me in more emotionally that I had been in a while.

[SteveM58]

I guess they cut costs by holding off the Negan & Ganriel stuff for 3 episodes.

The show episodes feel like its entirely about big moment ep1, filler, filler, filler, setup finale, finale.

And maybe thats essentially what this show, and most shows for that matter, really are at the end of the day when you boil them down. But I felt like we got some good revelations and new interesting things happening in those filler episodes. I haven't felt that way the past 3 episodes though. Yes, the tiger died saving King E...but I really didn't care by that point. The episode had so many cliche moments like the over the top guy that took him hostage, Carol pulling ninja stuff even though she clearly isn't physically able to make a dive roll behind the car. It just didn't matter to me by that point.

[CrescentMoonie]

I was just hoping the episode would end. Such a boring waste of time. Negan has been great, but the rest of the last season or two has been awful.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by SteveM58

I guess they cut costs by holding off the Negan & Ganriel stuff for 3 episodes.

The show episodes feel like its entirely about big moment ep1, filler, filler, filler, setup finale, finale.

And maybe thats essentially what this show, and most shows for that matter, really are at the end of the day when you boil them down. But I felt like we got some good revelations and new interesting things happening in those filler episodes. I haven't felt that way the past 3 episodes though. Yes, the tiger died saving King E...but I really didn't care by that point. The episode had so many cliche moments like the over the top guy that took him hostage, Carol pulling ninja stuff even though she clearly isn't physically able to make a dive roll behind the car. It just didn't matter to me by that point.

Yeah, that guy was channeling Jim Carrey big time.

Also, a guy with a .50 cal machine gun spraying in full automatic fire at a car should be able to hit it, even if it is slowly moving from side to side on a straight road.

Did the backstage people completely change over between last season and this season? This show has been very good up until now, and all of a sudden it is just terrible. I want it to be good. I loved the comics. But maybe for the first time, the material that made the comics good isn't conveying over to the screen.

I'm not looking forward to another 40 minutes next week of random people that I don't care about, spraying 1,000 bullets at other people that i don't care about. It's very sad that I'm just hoping for people to die, so that I don't see their characters again. They need to cut the cast into about 25% of what it is, and make us care again. So GO ZOMBIES GO!!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mota

It's very sad that I'm just hoping for people to die, so that I don't see their characters again. They need to cut the cast into about 25% of what it is, and make us care again. So GO ZOMBIES GO!!!!

I dunno, this cast -- oversized from a practical standpoint as it is -- feels more watchable than the steady stream of "just fucking DIE already" characters that we had (Laurie, the annoying a.f. blonde chick Andrea).

They're somewhat generic at times, but at least not specifically annoying to me by their very presence.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Mota

I'm not looking forward to another 40 minutes next week of random people that I don't care about, spraying 1,000 bullets at other people that i don't care about ... GO ZOMBIES GO!!!!

Yup, this is how I feel for the past 3 episodes.

Looking forward to Negan and Gabriel next week to break the random people spraying bullets.

[CrescentMoonie]

At least with characters like Laurie, time was invested and they meant something to the storyline other than being fodder.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Mota

Yeah, that guy was channeling Jim Carrey big time.

Also, a guy with a .50 cal machine gun spraying in full automatic fire at a car should be able to hit it, even if it is slowly moving from side to side on a straight road.

Did the backstage people completely change over between last season and this season? This show has been very good up until now, and all of a sudden it is just terrible. I want it to be good. I loved the comics. But maybe for the first time, the material that made the comics good isn't conveying over to the screen.

I'm not looking forward to another 40 minutes next week of random people that I don't care about, spraying 1,000 bullets at other people that i don't care about. It's very sad that I'm just hoping for people to die, so that I don't see their characters again. They need to cut the cast into about 25% of what it is, and make us care again. So GO ZOMBIES GO!!!!

I had a similar issue with the .50 cal chase scene. Not only did him missing that much make any sense, they actually had him hit Rick's jeep, only to have the .50 cal bullets ricochet off it. No. That bullet would punch right through that jeep and kill it. It's a massive gun.

The one thing I liked about this episode, over the prior two, that it wasn't largely about random people spraying bullets at each other. It was pretty much contained to Carol, Ezekiel, and Jerry, with Rick and Darryl at the end. That made the episode work for me. I thought the guy playing Ezekiel did a fantastic job with the whole thing and I really enjoyed the emotional impact of the character's arc. Unlike the prior two episodes, which was a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing (other than, apparently, they don't need to worry about ammo anymore and whoever choreographs their fights scenes doesn't know what they are doing), this episode had some solid emotional heft and impact to me, at least.

I really quite like both the actor and character of Ezekiel. He matters to me. Jerry is fucking sweet, too. Deuces! Also, I don't mind Carol being a bad ass ninja. She's Carol. She deserves it and has earned it. Still one of the most impressive character arcs ever in the history of TV.

They had an entire episode last year focused on making ONE bullet. I know they got guns and ammo from the Women's Compound, but how much ammo could they possibly have? Apparently, all of it. All of the ammo, because even after giving away half of it to the Garbage Weirdos, they still gots more than plenty to spare.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I dunno, this cast -- oversized from a practical standpoint as it is -- feels more watchable than the steady stream of "just fucking DIE already" characters that we had (Laurie, the annoying a.f. blonde chick Andrea).

They're somewhat generic at times, but at least not specifically annoying to me by their very presence.

Andrea was awful. Some of the episode with her and the Governor were some of the worst in the series. The most egregious being the one where he stalked her throw the woods and into some abandon factory or something like some stupid villain in a cheap, rate slasher flick.

While I think the show has, in large part, been superior to the comic in pretty much ever way, the character of Andrea is not one of those ways.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Andrea was awful. Some of the episode with her and the Governor were some of the worst in the series. The most egregious being the one where he stalked her throw the woods and into some abandon factory or something like some stupid villain in a cheap, rate slasher flick.

While I think the show has, in large part, been superior to the comic in pretty much ever way, the character of Andrea is not one of those ways.

Her work in that whole season w/Guv was just horrible. I don't think I can ever watch her in anything again it was so bad.

They did the character no favors by making the changes to it for TV. From what I know of the comic, she was probably more one-dimensional there but at least she served a purpose beyond simply being incredibly f'n annoying.

[Edward64]

Much better episode last night. Enjoyed the Negan-Gabriel interaction and also the alpha males fight scene.

[Kodos]

I thought Gabriel should have taken one for the team and just held open the door and let zombies pour in before Negan used the zombie smell trick.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Pretty easily the best episode of the (half) season to me.

Funny how that works, put your best character & best actor on screen a fair bit, the quality goes up.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I thought Gabriel should have taken one for the team and just held open the door and let zombies pour in before Negan used the zombie smell trick.

Nah, just shoot him.

Rick trying to negotiate with the weirdos is pretty strange (how can he ever trust them again?). I would take care of Negan and then get my vengeance on those rats.

[Mota]

I loved that episode.

It even showed some humanity for Negan. A tinge of why he became like that, but mostly why he is like that. And you see that the Saviors without Negan would not have lasted long at all, it was going to fall apart really quickly.

In this case, I would say that 1,000 words beat 1,000 bullets quite easily.

[Edward64]

Oh any theories on the helicopter? I don't remember it in the comics (but have stopped reading them a while now).

[PilotMan]

All in all it's been a 2 star season.

Best part this week was Carol's choice between helping E and shooting bad guys. It felt like a throwback to the game. A real choice, where both outcomes are bad end up with a bad thing happening. Of course, after they made it happen, while I was reveling in the moment, they blew it with the dumb as fuck chase scene.

Negan and Gabriel was probably the best part, and you guys are right, there's been so much wasted time with fighting, stupid tactics and god, remember when firing a gun was a really bad thing?

It draws bad guys, and zombies. Now they can't seem to stop. Have unlimited ammo, and fire at will without worry of any of the repercussions that they set up in earlier seasons.

It's still just a live action comic strip. A lot of the realism was stripped away seasons ago. We can't expect complete adherence to realism when it's based on comics.

[Edward64]

Nice episode. Lots of things happening, no longer mindless shootings.

Like Carl and Siddiq, looking forward to see how that evolves.

Rocket launcher was a little too much.

Rick being stupid.

The Hilltop situation is not that hard. Kill the "leaders" first, then kill anyone else that doesn't look cowed (e.g. like most of them).

King E still being a wuss.

Good to see Carol and the gang (other than for Rick) being focused.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gotta think that helicopter is involved in the character crossover that was revealed on Talking Dead.

[Edward64]

Good thought but still can't figure out how they will do it. It is a crossover from the East to West coast.

[Mota]

I liked the last 2 episodes. More focus on the individual characters.

I really dislike Ezekiel in this show. Hopefully whatever they are doing to him will make him less cartoony, whatever it is about him it just doesn't work on the TV show.

Nice to see Carl, and good to see the character growing up. Also Michonne used to be a favorite of mine, hopefully they will go back to what made her great.

[Edward64]

Pretty good episode tonight (other than for the Rick filler, waste of time).

I liked the focus on Eugene.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Mid-season finale thoughts:

- They fell back into one of the most annoying plot devices the show has put forth to date - the all-powerful and all-knowing Saviors. They pulled this stunt during the Fifth(?) season finale when the Saviors put up all of those roadblocks, managed to corral Rick and his entire group into that forest, surround them and capture them. They pulled off very similar feats last night - managing to take over The Kingdom (not too hard given all of their warriors were wiped out), take over Alexandria, and set up a road block to blackmail The Hilltop into turning around and going back.

They did this with a ton of people, plenty of cars, and a significant amount of guns and ammunition. This all despite the fact that, they had all of their outposts taken out where many Saviors were killed, had 30+ people captured at Hilltop, and had the Sanctuary surrounded by a horde. Apparently all of that didn't put a dent into the Saviors man power, guns, ammo, etc.

It's irritating.

- That said, there were some solid moments last night. I liked the Ezekiel stuff and Maggie was great.

- Poor Carl.

[Jas_lov]

Yeah, I was hoping they'd wrap up the Negan storyline and they just undid the whole season in the finale. Saviors miraculously get out of it and regain power and they didn't even show how.

[Flasch186]

Every parent in the world couldnt believe Michonne left that toddler by herself playing next to the creek unsupervised.

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Every parent in the world couldnt believe Michonne left that toddler by herself playing next to the creek unsupervised.

YES!

[Edward64]

Wasn't a great episode IMO.

I did like the Carl surprise and the deviation from the comics (the kid has gotta go to college), Eugene's self-recrimination, and Maggie the executioner.

Not a big fan of the Negan arc (too much) and the past season and this half-season mostly sucked. The plot lines and pacing just seems off to me.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I can't believe Chandler Riggs' dad is going off on AMC and the show runners for killing off Carl. He should be bending over backwards to thank them for allowing his not-very-talented kid star on one of the most popular shows on TV over the last several years. The kid lucked out big time. It was a good run. It's over. Move on.

[PilotMan]

Finally got through the mid season. This season has had a few good moments, but otherwise, it's been uneven and really struggles to have any continuity. I just didn't feel very engaged in the episode. As someone said, they undid a lot of the season, rolled out old tropes with the Saviors. They have so many story lines going on that it's just too hard to really keep track of who is where and what each of them are doing, thinking, etc.

This season is a great big meh so far. Entertaining, but it continues to trend down.

[miked]

I must have not been paying attention, is Carl dead? He was in the sewer and looked like he had some shrapnel wound or something (I assume that's what it was since he was next to the explosions)...

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by miked

I must have not been paying attention, is Carl dead? He was in the sewer and looked like he had some shrapnel wound or something (I assume that's what it was since he was next to the explosions)...

Looked like bite marks

[PilotMan]

Yeah he's been bit. It happened earlier in the season and he's been keeping it a secret. Scott Gimple said in Talking Dead that they were sure that everyone figured it out when it happened. The Mrs, actually said something about it when it did (earlier episode) because it was handled so nebulously.

[Edward64]

Last week's Carl episode was great. Sorry to see him go (and who needs college anyway, he's probably already set for life). The montage of him enjoying life when he knew he was going to die was really well done.

Tonight's was eh, not much going on but did enjoy the last scene with Rick (why are you always so "greasy" when Michone isn't?) and Negan on the telephone.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The gap between Negan's scenes & almost everything else for the past year is just remarkable.

At this point, he's starting to look like Lenny James next to the FTWD cast.

[Edward64]

Primarily a Father Gabriel and Tara & Dwight episode.

The Gabriel stuff just seemed "off" to me and how they ended it meant I wasted my time. After all this, no need to justify or prove to me about the loss in faith. Now if it was to redeem his faith, that would have been cool.

Not a great episode.

For the umpteenth time, ready for this Negan arc to end (e.g. first half of season wasted with senseless shooting, wasted opportunities, and bizarre Rick w/dumpster folks).

I did like the reunion at the end, thought that was well done.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

ready for this Negan arc to end

Problem is, once it does, about all that's left is waiting for Darryl to be killed off.

[Edward64]

Yeah, read up on some recent TWD comics and the Negan character is still around.

Maybe time for them to make a big break with Carl's death and do something (not in the comics) imaginative and streamline the cast - is Enid needed anymore, leave Maggie behind at the Hilltop while the gang goes gallivanting, kill of Gabriel and Jadis etc.?

[panerd]

Finally caught up. As others have said kind of choatic and all over the place. At least there is action, some of the previous seasons have really dragged in the middle episodes. I think I only stick with it because of my committment but it still entertains me enough.

Few thoughts/questions...
1) Was it my imagination or was there a helicopter in one of the scenes earlier in the year? (It possible I am confusing this show with Fear) If so the helipad at the dumpster is somewhat intriguing. Otherwise why waste so much time on the dumpster people? There has to be some payoff right?

2) So Negan is going to blast guts at them? Didn't they cover themselves in guts for like the first 4 seasons to walk among the dead? Has this virus gotten stronger?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by panerd

Finally caught up. As others have said kind of choatic and all over the place. At least there is action, some of the previous seasons have really dragged in the middle episodes. I think I only stick with it because of my committment but it still entertains me enough.

Few thoughts/questions...
1) Was it my imagination or was there a helicopter in one of the scenes earlier in the year? (It possible I am confusing this show with Fear) If so the helipad at the dumpster is somewhat intriguing. Otherwise why waste so much time on the dumpster people? There has to be some payoff right?

2) So Negan is going to blast guts at them? Didn't they cover themselves in guts for like the first 4 seasons to walk among the dead? Has this virus gotten stronger?

There was a helicopter sighting in TWD. Not sure about how it ties to Jadis/Dumpster folks but one theory is this how Morgan gets to the Fear (west coast) with the helicopter.

They did cover themselves with gunk previously so they can walk undetected among the zombies. However, they show how Gabriel got some infection from doing that (I think) and so it can be 'weaponized' also.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by panerd

So Negan is going to blast guts at them? Didn't they cover themselves in guts for like the first 4 seasons to walk among the dead? Has this virus gotten stronger?

Perhaps it's just that the continuity is getting weaker

The role of the walker guts in the comic seems to have been somewhat more specific than the "let's just fling 'em over the wall" version that Negan gave on TV.

Spoiler

It's not just "blast guts at them", it's more like "kill them with a weapon that was covered in infected gore" if you look at the summaries of that sequence. So "I shoot you in the neck with a gory arrow, I ensure that you turn after you die." What it suggests is that Negan hasn't realized that we're all infected & don't need to die at the hands of a walker in order to turn ... which really seems to be just as stupid as the original notion here