The Walking Dead

[Jeremy Blackman]

Eh, I thought this episode was enjoyable. Carl's acting in the beginning was shockingly bad (how many takes to get that?), but I didn't mind the rest of it. The new characters have potential, even (or especially?) the goofy ones.

Rick's scenes were just great. Absolutely love that kind of content in this show.

[polkablues]

This was my favorite episode of the season so far. I think I would be perfectly happy if they abandoned the concept of narrative momentum entirely and just made the show entirely about character development. I can barely give a shit about whatever's at this Terminus place, or Abraham's mission to transport the idiot scientist to DC, but I was completely invested in Beth's quest to find her first alcoholic drink. I was ecstatically happy at the smile on her face when she told Daryl they should burn the shack down. I felt more of a fulfilling sense of dramatic closure when they did so than at any point in the series so far.

Side note, I can't be the only one who spent the entire porch scene hoping Beth and Daryl ended up fucking.

[Mel]

4x12 Spoilers

This was my favorite episode of the season so far. I think I would be perfectly happy if they abandoned the concept of narrative momentum entirely and just made the show entirely about character development. I can barely give a shit about whatever's at this Terminus place, or Abraham's mission to transport the idiot scientist to DC, but I was completely invested in Beth's quest to find her first alcoholic drink. I was ecstatically happy at the smile on her face when she told Daryl they should burn the shack down. I felt more of a fulfilling sense of dramatic closure when they did so than at any point in the series so far.

It isn't my favorite, but I agree with pretty much the rest. TWD can win small battles and that is far more rewarding than long arcs so far. Booze trip sounded cheesy at first, but it did pay off. I like also what they are doing with openings, which was great in this episode.

Side note, I can't be the only one who spent the entire porch scene hoping Beth and Daryl ended up fucking.

You're not alone there. I was expecting sex related question to pop in the game, they were playing earlier.

[Kal]

I thought it was one of the worst episodes of the series. Pretty bad acting and dialogue. And it would be better if the story moved forward in some way. It seems like they don't know where exactly they want to take things.

[polkablues]

Fuck the story.

[Mel]

Pretty bad acting and dialogue.

This was never strong point of the series. I will give a chance to the other approach. We have been hearing "we need to stay together" for 3 seasons straight. Now instead of talking about it, they are showing us what happens, when they don't stay together. At least this gives a bit of breathing space. Group dynamic was bit tiresome and thanks to split you need very little to make potentially every encounter with walkers or other people deadly - Rick hiding under the bed is a good example.

[diggler]

I think this episode would've registered better for me if Beth wasn't the worst actress in the universe. Even still, I like this version of the show better than the boring slog that was the prison. I like stumbling onto a new set every week, there were some inspired ideas in that Country Club (Rich Bitch mannequin was some macabre shit). The show seems to have a sliding scale of quality related to the number of protagonists it has on screen. It's best when focused on one person (Rick under the bed, Carl in the other house), still pretty good with two or three (Tyreese with the girls, Rick and Hershel in the bar in Season 2, Rick and Carol last season) and downright dreadful with the ensemble (Most of the prison, every scene at Woodbury, group debates at Hershel's farm). To break it down, the less the characters talk, the more engaged I am with the show. Everything is so well realized in regards to set design and makeup. When characters argue loudly or do other stupid things to progress the plot, it's like a child jumping up and down and screaming in front of a nice painting.

I like that neither Beth nor Daryl remembered what a pain in the ass it is to start a fire.

[Mel]

To break it down, the less the characters talk, the more engaged I am with the show.

I concur, again Rick under the bed is good example of that. Show definitely has production values from technical standpoint. If action is driven in procedural way it works: doing one task at the time in order to survive, just moving from A to B in focused manner without blabber.

[03]

....sweet

jesus


this show sucks sometimes, but when its good, it's damn good.
maybe in top 5 best episodes of the series. what you guys think

[polkablues]

Where it ended up was pretty incredible, but how it got there was kind of sloppy.

[Brando]

I really liked the opening teaser. I don't know why the show doesn't have more memorable visuals. I thought it was a flashback of a girl playing in the yard. It was such a great reveal when you realize it's a girl playing in the yard with a zombie. Perfect set up for the episode.

The rest of the episode was poorly directed. It was sloppy. I looked it up and the director of this episode hadn't directed anything prior to this episode. 

It was still an intense episode. It got darker than I thought the show ever would. The direction just held it back from being really great.

[03]

i actually didn't have a problem with the direction at all on the second viewing.
probaly the best opening teaser of the series. incredibly memorable and haunting.

carol's best performance of the show. she truly is a great character and actress.
the bad direction i think comes from tyrese, and the girls:
i'm going to overlook tyrese, he's kind of inexcusably annoying. his kindhearted big lug demeanor just bores me at times. but the girls in this episode who are notoriously shitty actors, were still shitty but in this instance i think it helped their characters.

the little one is super dumb and innocent and she displays that unintentionally through her shitty acting.
the older one is just fucking crazy, and in this episode i think her shitty acting made her seem crazy to the point of being really scary.

maybe thats a weak defense, but i thought that this episode was perfect.

EDIT SPOILERS SPOILERS
-
-
correction: this episode would've been perfect if she killed judith, too. why go there and not go all the way?

[Jeremy Blackman]

(spoilers for this ep)

I think that was some of the loudest foreshadowing I've ever experienced.

Carol:
"Sometimes you have to make difficult choices."
"When the time comes, you'll have to do what it takes to survive."
"You have to be prepared to do horrible things sometimes."
"In this world, you're confronted with ugly decisions."
"One day, to survive, you'll have to do something horrible."
"I'm going to have to put your sister down."

I liked the episode, though. Totally agree with 03 that psycho girl's craziness was enhanced by her less-than-perfect acting. She and her sister are still better actors than alcoholic girl.

But yeah, Carol was obviously the highlight. If there was a performance better than that in this show I think it would break the fourth wall. Tyrese was great too, and their characters are surprisingly good. Glenn, Maggie, Carol, and Tyrese are holding the show together right now, and I love watching all of them. Carl and Beth can fall in a pit of zombies. (Beth in a drunken stupor, Carl chasing after a butterfly or something. Natural selection.)

[03]

spoilers. s04e15 stream of consciousness bullet point review:

- sign reveal was surprisingly emotional.
- darryl and the dude in the woods scene makes no sense whatsoever as far as dialogue and human reactions. 'the rules don't apply out here' and then suddenly 'those are the rules.'? wtf?
- kris kristofferson ripoff old dude, his cigarettes emit smoke but his mouth does not.
- mullet doctor is a useless and unfunny character, if his story goes anywhere, i might the retract the former.
- train tunnel was fucking great. the light through the body shot? nice. glen is definitely one the few that has gotten serious benefit from quality character development.
- windshield message was fantastic but way too short, this show has some really amazing shots sometimes. especially this season.
- terminus looks amazing, but im kind of confused about the gates opening at the slightest touch?

overall great episode, just way too much going on.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Spoilers.

Thoroughly enjoyable episode. I even got caught up in the emotion of the Maggie/Glenn content.

The Michonne/Carl scene seemed a little bit cynically forced. It's another moment where humor is attempted, but it's not an actual joke and it's only funny to the characters in the scene. I'm not sure if Rick's reaction is meant to cue us to chuckle, or if our hearts are simply meant to be warmed.

In any case, I think it actually worked. This is what I was ranting about in Season 2; it was absurdly unrealistic how no one was forming a bond, even under circumstances where humans instinctively force themselves to form bonds. This season, it's finally happening all over the place, and things feel more real.

So the Terminus people are cannibals, right? Why else would they actively try to lead everyone there? And that was an awfully big grill.