The Walking Dead

[polkablues]

also: someone help me with this, when abraham punches the bejeezus out of eugene at the end, i kind of got the impression from the music swell and the close up of his limp body and from abraham falling to his knees that eugene had been killed by the force and angle of the punches, and also because he's pretty weak. but EVERYONE is telling me that i'm crazy and he's not dead and they even discussed the characters future on talking dead. am i crazy? am i seriously the ONLY person that came to that conclusion based on the way they shot that scene?

I think it's a real possibility. The way he got knocked out and fell face-first onto the pavement, that impact could easily result in death.

Not saying that's for sure the case, but it's absolutely a possibility based on what they showed us.

[Mel]

TWD is taking "Lost" detour: character-centric episodes, flashbacks, cliffhangers, comparison with the other groups. Part of that could be seen in later half of previous season. So far I'm all for it, since there are moments where show feels fresh.

Spoilers for (next) episode 5x06

This sneak peak if way more dramatic than half of season two, even if I don't buy it. Still my bet on how long Beth's cliff will hang is up to grab.

[Jeremy Blackman]

SPOILERS FOR NEXT EP?

That's basically just final confirmation that Beth is alive, since they definitely wouldn't reveal it in a sneak peak. The initial confirmation was:

Anyway the Beth cliffhanger is the most non-cliffhanger of non-cliffhangers. Of course she made it back alive; why else would Daryl be smirking? Also, Carol is not one to be hidden in the bushes, so obviously it's Beth. The only twist I can anticipate is that Carol isn't with them, but that's unlikely.

Now I suspect the laundry boy is also in the bushes. It's still possible that Carol is elsewhere.

[Jeremy Blackman]

the only thing that was just eye rolling stupid to me was the forced dialogue about eugenes mullet. that was such a dumb thing to talk about considering the premise and logic of the show. 'why do you wear your hair like that' is retarded the same way 'why do you have blood on you' or 'why are you eating catfood to survive' are.

Yup exactly. And Eugene's mullet isn't even severe, as mullets go. I dare say it's mild or even borderline tasteful.

However, I do want to say this was probably the first Walking Dead episode ever to have more than one moment of intentional humor. Possibly even 3, I think. And they actually worked. Best one was probably Glenn's reaction to Abraham announcing he was going to go have sex.

[polkablues]

However, I do want to say this was probably the first Walking Dead episode ever to have more than one moment of intentional humor. Possibly even 3, I think. And they actually worked. Best one was probably Glenn's reaction to Abraham announcing he was going to go have sex.

That was great, as was Eugene's "Cards on the table... I was watching them."

[polkablues]

There was such a great moment in this last episode, when Carol and Daryl are sitting in the car surveilling the cops from the hospital. One cop leaves the car and walks out of sight, Carol and Daryl are straining to see what's going on, when JUMP SCARE, something hits the window of their car. They see it's just a zombie and sigh in relief. That bears repeating: THEY SEE IT'S JUST A ZOMBIE AND SIGH IN RELIEF.

How amazing has the development of this show been that they can pull off that moment and it barely merits a second thought. OH GOD IS THAT ANOTHER PERSON no, it's just a zombie, we're safe. There could be whole books written about the trope subversion going on in that one little throwaway moment. If Scott Gimple had been in charge of this show from the beginning we would be talking about it in all-time-classic terms by now.

[Mel]

Spoilers 5x06

Anyway the Beth cliffhanger is the most non-cliffhanger of non-cliffhangers. Of course she made it back alive; why else would Daryl be smirking? Also, Carol is not one to be hidden in the bushes, so obviously it's Beth. The only twist I can anticipate is that Carol isn't with them, but that's unlikely.

Turns out it is cliffhanger in the end - feels good, when writers can pull off twist like that. I wasn't so optimistic about any season yet of TWD and it isn't even a mid-season.

[03]

fuck  this show;

[Jeremy Blackman]

SPOILERS

That was one of the lesser episodes of the season, perhaps, but it was still good. Incidentally, I think the ending was less plausible than the ending of the Homeland ep. Shame. I was cringing as soon as she turned her back. That is probably the weakness of this season... building to these moments of surprise that are altogether not surprising.

[03]

spoils


yeah definitely. let me rephrase my frustration.
it was a very good episode but painfully obvious filler.
they are stretching this shit out WAY too much. has it seriously taken us 4 episodes to get to this goddamn hospital. oh my bad, we're not even there yet.

eugenes presence is just annoying at this point. everything in this episode with him and abraham was just silly and pointless little filler scenes that accomplished absolutely nothing.
another who gives a shit a moment would be her finding the yoyo. the way they edited that scene made it seem like she found some CRAZY shit that would add a weird twist.

i guess i'm mostly pissed because this has been a truly amazing and artful season so far. a couple episodes have been kind of weak, but 'no sanctuary' and 'four walls and a roof' like episodes were so great it didn't really matter.
oh well, looking forward to finally getting some satisfaction next week.

[Jeremy Blackman]

it was a very good episode but painfully obvious filler.
they are stretching this shit out WAY too much. has it seriously taken us 4 episodes to get to this goddamn hospital. oh my bad, we're not even there yet.

I think I agree with that. I ended up feeling selfish that I just wanted them to get to the hospital already, because the filler content was pretty good. For example, Rosita is an actual human being now. Still, the pace set by the season premier... well, things have certainly shifted into a lower gear.

[Kal]

So nobody has seen the mid-season finale??? 

<<<< SPOILERS >>>>

Probably the weakest finale I can remember. The whole thing seemed slow, boring, predictable and uneventful.

- If someone HAD TO DIE in that episode, for sure it was going to be Beth after getting so much exposure already this season on her own. Especially when they do the "Beth is alive" bit to Maggie. Too obvious.

- By far the best moment was the beginning of the episode and Rick chasing, running over and then just killing that dude. Awesome.

- The whole setup leading into the meeting with the hospital people was weird. Then it all just happens. It wasn't fun. That scene was OK but considering we were waiting for like 6 episodes for that meeting it was totally lame. And then they just leave. What was the point of all that with the hospital? All the other stories with the Governor, Terminus, etc seemed to have a much more interesting arc with deeper characters. I could not tell one hospital dude from another. The doctor was supposed to be relevant and he didn't say shit.

- The priest is a moron. Why did he do all that? And why do Michonne and Carl just stand there outside the church not beating the crap out of him or figuring out what's next? It just happened that the fire truck drove right at that moment. It was not very good.

- Morgan. Can't wait to see what he's up to.

Anyways, I could go on but I won't. I want to hear what others think. I felt like this season had some incredible moments and episodes but this was disappointing to me and sucks that we have to wait 2 months to see what they come up with next.

 

[polkablues]

It was fine. As good as this half-season has tended to be in terms of character work, they never figured out how to make that hospital setup either sensical or compelling. I'm happy to be done with it and on to the next thing already.


*I know "sensical" is not an actual word, per se, but it deserves to be, so I'm trying to make it happen.

[03]

it was awful. if i didn't see it coming, i'd be offended.
spoilers obvs
-
-
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bullet points of horrible:

-beths death was bullshit and non sensical.
she's back with the group. she's free. she's safe.
so she decides to stab an armed woman that has shown her compassion and protection to the point of betraying people she's known longer. in the shoulder. beth, who has been trained on how to kill things effectively by doing so on a daily basis for a huge amount of time now, stabs an armed living person in the shoulder with a pair of scissors. i'll just let that sink in for a second.

- carols return having zero attention given to it felt odd, as did the entire exchange scene. so much build up for absolutely nothing.


 more later. rewatching now.

[Mel]

Spoilers 5x08

Probably the weakest finale I can remember. The whole thing seemed slow, boring, predictable and uneventful.

- By far the best moment was the beginning of the episode and Rick chasing, running over and then just killing that dude. Awesome.

- The whole setup leading into the meeting with the hospital people was weird. Then it all just happens. It wasn't fun.

- The priest is a moron. Why did he do all that?

- Morgan. Can't wait to see what he's up to.

Anyways, I could go on but I won't. I want to hear what others think. I felt like this season had some incredible moments and episodes but this was disappointing to me and sucks that we have to wait 2 months to see what they come up with next.

Seems like this season is full of great short moments. On the other hand supposed big payoffs often feel heavy handed and predictable. Few other points:

• Seems like Beth is victim of less favorite character thing. Not surprised.
• About priest: they are slowly running out of characters that are confused by applying their morality to the new reality.
• Noah - Glenn is no longer underdog. Wonder if some members of group will pick on him after Beth's "sacrifice". (Eugene is different kind of beast - more of a sandbag than anything else right now.)
• Morgan - I wonder if we will get character centric episode on him. Seems like a way TWD is heading toward.
• Undercutting Carol - she was a bad ass few episodes ago. How will she handle it?