The Walking Dead

[shmenguin]

Also, they were drunk. And sometimes drunk people do dumb things. A drunk redneck and a first time boozer burning down a shelter isn't nearly as dubious as michone not killing the governor when she had the chance last season. Or pretty much anything Lori ever did. So yeah, it wasn't that realistic, but it's still an improvement.

[the wicked child]

I'm not sure what people expect from this show anymore.

For them to actually try a bit and not just rely on people watching because "ooh, zombies!". It always feels like if they tried a little harder, it could be a great show instead of a decent show with occasional moments of greatness. JMO though.

[Hockeynut!]

The hate for this episode is laughable. Did you honestly want a Tom Hanks 'school teacher' moment from Saving Private Ryan for Darryl? There couldn't be two different characters on the show than Darryl and Beth. They have nothing in common. The awkwardness and tension between the two felt genuine, IMO. There were some cliched moments, and the fire at the end was a little over the top (maybe the fire is seen by one of the other groups...or the smoke the next morning), but we know more about each character than we did before.

I'm not sure what people expect from this show anymore.

Who wanted a Tom hanks moment? All I want is for the show to feel real. In this episode, everything felt forced and cliched.

Beth decides now is the moment to have her first drink.

Darryl suddenly quits speaking and walks around like a 2 year old throwing a tantrum.

They go to a country club so Darryl's class envy/hate of the rich/disdain for Beth can play out against the rich vs poor backdrop.

Darryl decides to have Beth drink moonshine.

They get drunk in the middle of the forest when there are zombies everywhere.

They burn down a shelter when there are no other places to hide - at night.

All of the above just seemed incredibly fake and forced to me. It all happened because of the plot, not because it grew organically from the characters/the story. I want the show to stop beating us over the head with everything (Beth was spoiled! Darryl was a bum! Carl's a brat!) and give us nuances. Right now, the only character who feels real is Michonne. I want the show to not be so cliched and silly. I want the show to respect the characters, not make them idiots who would have never survived 10 days if this really happened.

Take the last episode with Glenn and the new characters. Glenn wanted to go back and find Maggie (even though they'd driven for 4 hours past the bus so they're approx. 120 miles away at a min.) so what does he do? He stomps around and acts like an eight year old who just got grounded. Why? Why can't these people speak? Why can't Glenn explain that he wants to try to find his wife because she's the only thing he has left in the world? These are human beings, they should understand that, even if they think it's a fool's errand. But no, the characters aren't allowed to behave realistically they have to fight, draw attention from the zombies and end up almost dying and losing the safety of their truck. The only reason that went down was to force the plot in the direction the writers wanted to go.

I don't want zombie porn, I want a show that feels like real people in a real world. I like subtle, slow burn episodes of dramas. This episode was neither. TWD comes off like a toddler putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Instead of finding the pieces that fit together naturally they just beat on them and force them into place. Sure, the puzzle eventually goes together but it certainly doesn't look as good as it could have.

[Hockeynut!]

I'm not sure what people expect from this show anymore.

For them to actually try a bit and not just rely on people watching because "ooh, zombies!". It always feels like if they tried a little harder, it could be a great show instead of a decent show with occasional moments of greatness. JMO though.

[largegarlic]

I finally got around to watching last week's episode last night. With all of the other good shows on right now, this one just doesn't feel like a priority.

That said, I kind of liked this week's episode insofar as the intentions seemed to be good. A big problem has been that the characters are mainly one-dimensional, if that (some like T-Dog were probably zero-dimensional), so there were few really worth liking or hating. The writers are clearly trying to correct this; they're just doing it clumsily. As others have said, though, now we know more about Daryl and Beth, which is a good thing going forward.

[JeffDFD]

Yeah, they are going to have some pains to fix past mistakes and I appreciate the attempt to develop the characters. I had no problem with the purpose of the episode, and I do not need constant zombie or human war to keep me interested. I just think they got a little lazy in some parts in order to force the issue of developing the characters. I think they could have executed it better is all. I still enjoy it no matter what...but perhaps wait until morning until you burn down your only shelter? Maybe even frame it as a distraction for nearby zombies so you can escape? Haha, I am not a writer but I don't think DD should do obviously stupid things just because he shared a moonshine moment with a little girl. He has been such a great character in the series so far so it felt a little lazy. Just like the "I am so mad at rich people so I am going to bludgeon this zombie in an emotional rage" was a bit over the top and could have been a bit more subtle.

[shmenguin]

Darryl's been so incredibly reserved, that the situation demanded that he blow up, IMO.

[JeffDFD]

I didnt mind that he blew up...I agree it was due...but I thought the manner and circumstances they presented were a bit cheesy. Like in the Avatar movie when the mineral they needed was called "unobtainium." It was like...look...I get it - I don't have a problem with the story being about man wanting what is not theirs to take and man being evil/greedy whatever...but I just had to roll my eyes when it was called unobtainium. I felt the same way in this episode with DD blow up.

Again...I like the show and enjoy watching. I just think they could have done a little better. I think it could have worked better if he blew up at Beth because she wanted a drink and nice expensive clothes and then he blows up because he felt he can't protect her and couldn't protect the jail or something.

[JeffDFD]

And let me reiterate...I will keep watching this show even if it gets super cheesy. I watch plenty of TERRIBLE zombie movies at other times complete with people accidentally walking backwards into zombies and doing other dumb things. I still enjoy it. I just thought, in this episode, it was a little lazy compared with what they can do and even have done in the past

[columbia]

It didn't succeed in making me care more about their characters, which was presumably the point.

[Pitt87]

So the Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita characters seems to be a pretty literal translation from the comic... more behind the spoiler, in case others are not reading the comics:

Spoiler:

Abraham is eventually killed by a guy with a crossbow... some -- but not all -- of the other main character deaths have been derived from the comics... points to Daryl being a Savior, which means Negan can't be far off...

um, no...

You gonna tell me those guys don't look like Saviors?

[Malkamaniac]

Thought at least a few people would die tonight.

[columbia]

It didn't succeed in making me care more about their characters, which was presumably the point.

Should have skipped last week altogether.
They did a good job with these two tonight and a good episode all around.

And now I'm going to worry about that dog.

[JeffDFD]

It didn't succeed in making me care more about their characters, which was presumably the point.

Should have skipped last week altogether.
They did a good job with these two tonight and a good episode all around.

And now I'm going to worry about that dog.

We heard what happened to the dog.

[SolidSnake]

It didn't succeed in making me care more about their characters, which was presumably the point.

Should have skipped last week altogether.
They did a good job with these two tonight and a good episode all around.

And now I'm going to worry about that dog.

We heard what happened to the dog.

Yea unfortunately.

[FreeCandy44]

Nice to see the mayor of Charming from Sons of Anarchy getting work.

[shmenguin]

That'll do, walking dead. That'll do.

[columbia]

It didn't succeed in making me care more about their characters, which was presumably the point.

Should have skipped last week altogether.
They did a good job with these two tonight and a good episode all around.

And now I'm going to worry about that dog. :(

We heard what happened to the dog.

I was choosing to ignore that.

[JeffDFD]

It didn't succeed in making me care more about their characters, which was presumably the point.

Should have skipped last week altogether.
They did a good job with these two tonight and a good episode all around.

And now I'm going to worry about that dog.

We heard what happened to the dog.

I was choosing to ignore that.

The dog was just making that noise to warn DD and Beth not to open the door. He then scurried away back to his safe dog house with mama doggy and their 5 puppies. They lived most of their lives there and then were the main reason why dogs survived the zombie apocalypse as they spread out and repopulated the earth after things were safe again

[Spangler]

The dog didn't have any character development, so I don't care what happens to him.

[relantel]

An eventful episode that really didn't amount to any real movement.

And only 3 episodes left on the season.

[the wicked child]

Last night's episode was much better than the previous one. I suspect that the majority of the remainder will be all of the stragglers making their way to Terminus.

And trying to find Beth. Hopefully that isn't another Sophia situation.

[relantel]

Our household was cheering when Beth was taken. They were more annoyed with the implied Daryl-Beth relationship.

[DelPen]

Any bets that Beth will be trapped by a cougar?

[DelPen]

So the Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita characters seems to be a pretty literal translation from the comic... more behind the spoiler, in case others are not reading the comics:

Spoiler:

Abraham is eventually killed by a guy with a crossbow... some -- but not all -- of the other main character deaths have been derived from the comics... points to Daryl being a Savior, which means Negan can't be far off...

um, no...

You gonna tell me those guys don't look like Saviors?

Way too early for the Saviors unless they are glossing over a lot of time and catch up to the comic by next season.