"Walking Dead" Cable Series

[ninja-elbow]

Sonofabitch!!!!!! Just burned through 94 issues of the comic and now I guess I'm waiting for the next one to come out. Anyone know when it does?

About three weeks.

Era: wait, I'm off because I receive my comics monthly now. Better look on the release schedule on Image's site.

[majorhavoc]

I was watching very closely when Rick confessed to Lori what happened to Shane. I'd bet good money her body language in that scene was tightly choreographed.

Rick's monologue began with her holding him in a tight embrace. When he revealed that he had killed Shane; that in the end Rick wanted him dead so it would finally be over, the embrace loosened considerably. But when he said - almost casually - that Carl put Shane down after he turned, Lori completely withdrew and doubled over. Rick sounded almost casual about what Carl had done. When Lori straightened up she was glaring at her husband with her face partially masked by that lock of hair.

In my mind, that whole sequence, in which Lori scarcely uttered a word, conveyed 1) She still had very real feelings towards Shane and 2) She is furious about what kind of father Rick is being to Carl.

I doubt she even knew Carl had a gun. She's still clinging to the unrealistic belief that Carl (and her unborn child) could have some sort of life that doesn't involve death, killing or the constant possibility of both. That was essentially the bargain she struck with her husband early in Season 2 when Rick convinced her to keep the baby.

I blame the writers for the fact that we're all coming up with multiple interpretations of Lori's behavior leading up to this event (her Lady MacBeth speech in the tent = Lori wants Rick to kill Shane. Her tearful apology/thank you at the windmill = Lori wants Shane to take a shot at Rick. Or alternatively, both Lori speeches = "OMG messing with boys' heads is so much FUN!").

Overall though, an epic episode. I might just be looking forward to this fall more for TWD than NFL, which is a more frightening prospect than a, than a ... zombie apocalypse itself.

Two great little pieces of artistic direction in this episode that you wouldn't see in a lesser production. One suspense and one poignant.

1) The scene with Herschal reloading in front of his homestead and that walker coming up behind him: totally thought he was dead until Rick stepped into the frame and served some righteous justice care of his iconic S&W [ETA Colt; thx Cu Chulainn] Python. Would have been so easy to just have the old guy hop into the Suburban with Rick and Carl and call it a wrap.

2) That lingering camera shot on the car windshield as the group prepared to leave the highway one last time. And the rain-streaked words "Sophia Stay Here" fading from view. Hope that Sophia was alive was the reason the group didn't leave the farm when Carl was well enough to travel. Hope that the farm could offer protection was the reason why they stayed. That shot symbolizes the abandonment of much of the hope our beleaguered group had left.

[ghcpa9]

The Lori response has got me questioning as well, I like what others have speculated. Apologies if others have stated it, but Lori could also have reacted the way she did because Rick new about the infection but convinced Lori to still have the baby.

Regarding Michonne's minions, even without jaws and arms, why would they not try to attack her? I mean they are mindless, why are they subdued?

[Cu Chulainn]

Just to nit pick some of the nitpicking.......

Re: group plans.
It's already been said that the group lives in an alternate reality with no zombie movies. No doubt no ZS, either. Now, think of our world, where there are zombie movies and ZS.......how many8 in that group would have had any plan? The civil right lawyer and her little sis? Nope. The cops? Probably not, they'd figure on being on duty in a crisis, maybe housing their families at the station if they had to, to keep them safe. Dale was already on a bug-out. His plan was to hop in the 'Bago and go for it. If you look closely, the ONLY guy that had a bugout plan in the whole show was Ed. Much of an asshole that he was, he was even right to bawl out Carol for running her flap about having "boxes and boxes of MREs". I don't know why, but as soon aas they were hopping in vehicles, I figured they'd head to where they left supplies for Sophia. I think that's the only place to meet they every established, and it seems they fell back on that, even though they knew Sophia's state.

RE: Fall of the 'Bago.
Jimmy was an idiot. Once he heard them hit the roof, give them a few seconds maybe and drive off. They can get off the roof when there's time. The ONLY reason Jimmy got up and went to the door was to eliminate a redshirt cast member. Same thing with the zeds going only for Patricia.

The only real nitpicks I have are the head shot with pistols while in a car in motion -- that'd be wicked hard even with the shotguns at that range. That, and at least once I counted Herschel fire seven rounds ON SCREEN from his shotgun with a standard four round tube. Before that, I counted eleven off screen without enough time between to have put any more shells in the tube, nor did he seem to carry any. I'll chalk all that to dramatic effect. The one I don't get is starting a big fire, when they established in Season 1 that small fires were SOP in the woods so as not to attract zeds.

Re: the Ricktatorshiop.
His reaction is understandable, and he probably wouldn't have said it if they hadn't pushed him. "I just killed my best friend for you people, for Chriost's sake!" said it all. THEY look to him for leadership. Lori (when you see the episode again, you'll see he's looking right at Lori during most of his tirade, but most especially talking about Shane) set him up. My take on the look she gave him is twofold: I think she blames him for Carl being the one to drill Shane, when it's her fault he wasn't in the house. I also think she was pumping both of them (Shane and Rick) with the intent that Shane would force the issue, and he'd kill Rick. My take on Rick and Lori is that he was seriously P-whipped by her before the whole end-of-the-world thing, and she intended for the confrontation to rid her of him. I think she was also taken aback at him admitting that he wanted to kill Shane to just get all the drama over with. I think that was on his mind as he was tirading.

I don't blame him one bit. If I had a group constantly putting me in charge, fomenting all kinds of drama I had to deal with and then pissed and moaned about every decision, I'd say pretty much what he did. The only one that's had his back the whole time was Daryl. I do like how fast Daryl shut Carol down. My take on that was he put her on notice that if she wanted to be with him (which was the whole point of saying that he was just Rick's henchman, and she was just a burden, he deserved better), she wasn't going to pull the drama all the time. Time will tell.

Andrea. Hell, I've been in lust with Andrea from the get-go. To be honest, I'm more interested in seeing Andrea, Warrior Goddess, develop than seeing Michonne, though she may be the catalyst of that.

[Cu Chulainn]

1) The scene with Herschal reloading in front of his homestead and that walker coming up behind him: totally thought he was dead until Rick stepped into the frame and served some righteous justice care of his iconic S&W Python. Would have been so easy to just have the old guy hop into the Suburban with Rick and Carl and call it a wrap.

My head just exploded.


COLT Python. . .

[kbilly84]

Fuck it. I thought I was about done when Dale died. Now, not only am I fully addicted to the show, but I FUCKING HAVE TO read the novels. RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

Goddammit. Why did the season finale have to be so good?!?!?

I'm so mad and so excited. All at the same fucking time. FUCK FUCKITY FUCK-FUCK-FUCK.

[RickOShea]

The only real nitpicks I have are the head shot with pistols while in a car in motion -- that'd be wicked hard even with the shotguns at that range. That, and at least once I counted Herschel fire seven rounds ON SCREEN from his shotgun with a standard four round tube. Before that, I counted eleven off screen without enough time between to have put any more shells in the tube, nor did he seem to carry any.

Yeah, those pistol shots were magnificent. But they did show Glenn missing with his shotgun as Maggie was haulin' ass down the fence row.

Hershel did fire a few too many shots from his shotty......But atleast they did show him reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out more shells a couple of times.

[Cu Chulainn]

Aye, like I said, I'll let Herschel slip. Most of the time, he was off camera a lot, and I'll give them a pass, and say he reloaded off camera, except the two times where it was blatant.

I also have not problem with the shotguns from the cars. Glenn did miss, and IIRC, he had to fix a short-stroke one. The pistols still bother me, though.


Forgot to add, I like Hershel's little butt-stroke at the end. He's actually turning into one of my favorites.

[catalyst]

Aye, like I said, I'll let Herschel slip. Most of the time, he was off camera a lot, and I'll give them a pass, and say he reloaded off camera, except the two times where it was blatant.

I also have not problem with the shotguns from the cars. Glenn did miss, and IIRC, he had to fix a short-stroke one. The pistols still bother me, though.


Forgot to add, I like Hershel's little butt-stroke at the end. He's actually turning into one of my favorites.

That's because he got a drink in him and his demons are coming back to light. Little do you know... Hershel is really Merle.

[RickOShea]

Forgot to add, I like Hershel's little butt-stroke at the end. He's actually turning into one of my favorites.

I like TV Hershel waaaay better than the GN version.

IIRC, in the GNs Hershel ran Rick's group off. After they found the prison, Rick* went back to the farm just to check on them and invited Hershel's family to come stay at the prison (cause the spring thaw was happening and more and more walkers were showing up at the farm).

*That Rick is a stand-up guy.

[DrthTater]

A moment of silence, please, for the death of the best character on the show.

http://i.imgur.com/H0pd6.jpg

[SeerSavant]

Hershel is definitely warming up...


Am I the only one that chuckled then thought, oh my, that was aweful, when he was talking about the resurrection (from the bible) then stating, I didn't think it was gonna be like this... I dunno if that was supposed to be funny or not, but I laughed, then facepalmed, ohh, that was bad...

In fact, Hershel's faith (hope I'm not treading on rules here) is one of those character points that i think actually defines his perception of the world as it has become, rather than the standard trope of "loosing faith" when confronted... Looks like his faith is adapting... It seems the writers are treating that aspect with something more than the standard disregard, or using it as a tool for drama...

Andrea is another that I think is going full on, awesome... Her run thru the woods shows that gut check survival mindset that I think was missing from them all, hell, a half dozen episodes before...
T-Dog... I like how he isn't blindly hunting for the group, he grabbed who he could and hauled ass... In my opinion, possibly bad for the group, but good for T-Dog...

And Daryl, he's still kind of soft spoken, when his opinion is offered, almost defensive... Possibly that is just with Carol, who I think could be his rock, or she could be his anchor... I hope it's the former, I like them as a potential couple...

Rick... Seems you got some doubt's about your wifes motivations, there huh? Bout damn time, buddy...


Edit, Yeah, DrthTater... I'll miss the RV too... (the fact that my family had one when I was a kid, is probably leading that, but the Bago is a cool ass vehicle... and not a bad instant home when needed...)

[nathat]

It's about time Rick said "step up, shut up, or leave."

It's the typical person who complains about leadership, but has nothing to offer but a few crys.

My favorites remain the same, and I'm starting to wish Daryl, glenn, the new Herschel, maggie, and Andrea would hit the road and leave the rest behind. Rick is welcome if he leaves his wife behind. T-Dog is welcome I guess, who knows? I know nothing about him!

Right now, I just want Lori to get eaten. If I was dealing with killing a man, who tried to kill me/take my family/steal my whole life out from under me, and my wife was not there to support me....gah. She is and has always been my least favorite character.

[Evan the Diplomat]

I'm OK with lighting a fire to send a signal and create a diversion. I'm not OK that he had to be on the barn floor and opening the door to let the zombies enter. Torch them outside the barn, the barn will still catchfire and the flames will attract attention.

Burning down the barn. I thought Rick put himself unduly at risk.

Excellent point. Why not just climb up and toss the ladder aside? Or bring it up with you, they could have corralled more walkers that way.

I thought Rick's main reason for starting the fire was to try to draw the attention of all the walkers that were spread-out everywhere, not just the ones that were hot on his and Carl's heels.

[HuntingBow96]

God what an awesome finish to a great season, But Who was that who saved Andrea? Hostile, Friendly? And Rick well...

However Isnt Daryl A beast?

[Dagny]

Some reviews below (the first one is particularly in-depth). I am hoping TWD writers will be consistent in their characterizations for season 3 and do a lot better for the women. The actress who plays Lori must be especially frustrated. Will be interesting to see how two strong women - Michone and Andrea - interact and coincide. Both lawyers pre-apocalypse. Andrea amidst her aspiring bad@ss ways and Michone's apparently already well-honed. Andrea does not yet realize that Shane is dead - the alpha male she was most in the process of emulating - but she will surely be beholden to Michone for saving her life.

How will Andrea react to Michone's armless sidekicks? Will she aspire to become as tough and independent as Michone? Will Andrea hold a grudge against Rick for ditching her at the farm and then driving hours down the road?

How many miles did Andrea cover on foot while the rest of the group was driving? I'm thinking Andrea may not catch up with the group at the prison for a couple episodes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-r ... 59765.html

"Could someone, somewhere, please figure out who Lori is supposed to be? She's the most contradictory character on the show, and that's saying something. This isn't a show that has used its female characters well (especially Andrea, who I had such hopes for) and there's something really problematic in how often they're reduced to cooks and maids as opposed to fighters."

"...Too often, the characters have been stick figures -- little more than talking walkers -- put through various experiences for plot purposes."

http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/2012/03/th ... -fire.html

"Enough of this paper-thin crap about hope in a hopeless world. “This is no longer a democracy” is MUCH more engrossing a concept to consider. The whole point to post-apocalyptic stories – or at least, a big part of the appeal – is to force the audience to ask the question “What would I do in this situation?”



WORTHY REVIEWS OF ALL THE SEASON 2 EPISODES:

http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/category/t ... lking-dead


http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/03/the-wa ... the-house/

"...the series - which does boast a large cast of characters -continued to paint the women as overly emotional, unhelpful and constantly causing more problems. It's just hard to want to like the situations they put themselves in or the way that they act."


-

[catalyst]

had Rick shot Lori instead of Shane, the survivability of the group with Shane instead of Lori would have been better. Bro's b4 hoes! Shane thought Rick was dead - he tried keeping his family alive. When Rick came back, they didn't butt heads - Shane backed down immediately. If he wanted confrontation, he'd have killed Rick sooner - not let Lori get re-attached to him. Hell, Shane could have worked out a way for Rick to "accidentally" get bit, I'm sure. Instead, he backed off. Discontent, but none the less, backed off. It was Lori that kept the drama going. Rick and Shane could have slugged it out and gone on living, but once again, it was Lori with the Drama adding fuel to the fire.

And why Maggie and glen, instead of Maggie and Daryl? I'd have thought her and Daryl would have hit it off better. Not that I dislike Glen, but he just isn't as "strong" of a character as I'd figure Maggie would go for. She's a country gal and Glen is an asian kid from the city. If SHTF and you're a fertile female, are you going to date Short Round, or Indiana Jones...?

Besides, Carol is too old for Daryl. Maybe Daryl will get some beth love... I just don't really like him with Carol. I guess I'd have stuck Glen with beth, and Maggie with Daryl. Had Daryl not been in the show, then I'd get it... but when they put him in the show he was my top choice for Maggie.

[DrthTater]

Maybe Daryl will get some Patricia love...

I say you she dead

[catalyst]

Maybe Daryl will get some Patricia love...

I say you she dead

Nothing a little Vaseline won't fix... I kid...

Yeah, I think I meant beth. whoever the one who sliced herself up. patricia was otis' wife, right? she wasnt much use any more anyhow. at least now she can walk forever half eaten like otis. interesting how they both died so others may live... ouch.

And yeah, I know Beth was with Jimmy, but he's a non-issue now, since he decided to pull up to the barn in the RV and give the walkers a ride on Dale's bus.

[edit]
yeah after checking the wiki... i guess they made the logical *age-related* pairings...

I didn't realize Carol is aprox the same age as Daryl. Jeez, she looks so much older than him. I guess I keep picturing him as a 20-30 something in boondock saints. With Maggie only 22, I guess it makes more sense with Glen, but then again... I do think Daryl has greater survivability than Glen.

[majorhavoc]

Fuck it. I thought I was about done when Dale died. Now, not only am I fully addicted to the show, but I FUCKING HAVE TO read the novels. RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

Cry me a river, pal. At least you've got something to look forward to during the long summer hiatus. I've already read Compendium One. What does that leave me? A big fat nothing, that's what.

Seven months until my next fix? Are you shitting me? Seven months?

[DrthTater]

Oh please. I read the comics monthly. I have to wait up to 4 weeks at a time!

/firstworldproblems

[catalyst]

Fuck it. I thought I was about done when Dale died. Now, not only am I fully addicted to the show, but I FUCKING HAVE TO read the novels. RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

Cry me a river, pal. At least you've got something to look forward to during the long summer hiatus. I've already read Compendium One. What does that leave me? A big fat nothing, that's what.

Seven months until my next fix? Are you shitting me? Seven months?

Amazon has lots of solid zombie books you can read. I enjoyed Day By Day Armageddon. I'm currently reading Rise. Its okay so far. Next is Among the Living.

[ninja-elbow]

Cry me a river, pal. At least you've got something to look forward to during the long summer hiatus. I've already read Compendium One. What does that leave me? A big fat nothing, that's what.

Seven months until my next fix? Are you shitting me? Seven months?

You still have compendiums 2 and 3. Or Volumes 3-15 (volume 16 in June 2012) of the TPBs.

[ninja-elbow]

My points to be made - and nothing unique:

1) Great episode.

2) The head shots from cars was a bit ?? ??

3) Lori - not rooting for her but I am not a hater either. Things that have happened to her in the past 3-4 months: husband shot and in coma while on duty; ZPAW; left coma husband in hospital to escape with Shane - partner, friend, and known tail-sniffer; had sex with Shane tail-sniffer; husband shows back up a few weeks later; quasi-raped by Shane after she cuts him off; still in ZPAW and witness to people getting torn apart while screaming and begging; Carl's only kid friend is lost; Carl get's shot in guts; preggers; in ZPAW; no stability; Carl's kid friend gets it in the head; Shane turns 100% asshole; Rick's authority is in question; still in ZPAW; both men she is into constantly leave to do dangerous shit; drama at the homestead amongst others; preggers = mood changes; "Carl, get in the house!"; Carl is never in the house; we might execute some teen; Shane is first stabbed by Rick, then shot by Carl; homestead is kaput and stability lost; ZPAW all up in her face; no supplies and it's getting cold out.

It's been a rough 3-4 months.

4) A coupla' bug out bags sure would be handy right now, hunh? Not even ZPAW fantasy BOBs, just your standard 72 hour kits as per Ready.gov would be REALLY NICE. Keep a few in each vehicle? A few more by each door?

5) Hooded character that saved Andrea is Michonne: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michonne <<<<<< SPOILERS IF YOU CLICK!!!!!!!

Michonne, pronounced "Me-shone", is a mysterious African-American woman armed with a katana and extremely efficient with it. She first appears towing two zombies (her boyfriend and his best friend) in shackles and lacking their arms and jaws, and she causes no small consternation among the group.

6) Michonne and Prison were shown. I'm excited to see how Kirkman does this for TV.