The Walking Dead: The Television Series

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Angrist

I decided for once not to comment on the show. Just know that I enjoy it just enough to keep watching.

This. So far the concept is what is keeping me going, and my curiosity to see how the series differs from the comics. But I'm starting to lose my patience with what I believe is he series' need to put gore and zombies in front of the characters. The well sequence could have been accomplished in one segment. I feel like they are needlessly trying to stretch out the plot and it is lacking any of the page-turning genuine shocks from the books.

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Coming from a Canadian... do southerners all wear cowboy hats as well?

Only in Alberta. I wish that was actually a joke.

I feel like they are needlessly trying to stretch out the plot and it is lacking any of the page-turning genuine shocks from the books.

That's definitely a possibility. It's not like there haven't been shows that are guilty of dragging on scenes to fill time.



Last episode wasn't my favourite, but I still enjoyed it for what it was.

[KillerGremlin]

I've been following Reddit's /r/TheWalkingDead subreddit. Lots of fans complaining about the same stuff we are, and lots of comments like:

"If you complain so much, why do you keep watching the show!"

The obvious answer is that I've read the comics, and I'm heavily invested in The Walking Dead mythology. I'm a super fan. But there is another reason.

This was my epiphany last night:

Part of the reason why I am watching the show is because I want to be here when the Titanic sinks. There is a sadistic level of enjoyment I get from watching really bad writing. I also get some laughs too. Unintentional comedy FTW.

I'm with Prof S in that I have a lot of curiosity as to where they are going...morbid, morbid curiosity.

I think it is human nature to want to watch destruction. The 9 o'clock news, Nascar, destruction derbys, the X-games, war, weird porn like the pain Olympics, and bad writing. Eh?

[Angrist]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

Part of the reason why I am watching the show is because I want to be here when the Titanic sinks. There is a sadistic level of enjoyment I get from watching really bad writing. I also get some laughs too. Unintentional comedy FTW.

For a while I felt like that with Terran Nova. But then I realized I wasn't only wasting my time, I made my day worse by watching the show.

[Vampyr]

I still watch it because I think it's a good show and enjoyable. I have my complaints, but I still think it's one of the better things on TV right now.

Plus it's zombies.

[KillerGremlin]

It definitely has good things going for it.

Humor: dangling the Asian kid in the well.
Sexy: Sideboob, peeing on stick
Well-rounded cast: Asian delivery guy, black guy named T-Dawg, Nazi rednecks

and zombies!

I like the Hershel Green convo between Rick and Hershel this episode. And did anyone see the shot where they cut to the barn? I think some crazy stuff is going to go down, and they are already setting Hershel up to be a nutter.

[Typhoid]

I think he eats people.
or slave labour or something. Zombie labour. I think the dude's fucked up though. I've always thought that, he sort of seems too good to be true. Then again the dude could just really love Jesus. That barn could just be a church.

[Angrist]

That would be awesome, but I think they're going for the boring option here. He's just a friendly old guy who likes his privacy.

[Vampyr]

Originally Posted by Angrist

That would be awesome, but I think they're going for the boring option here. He's just a friendly old guy who likes his privacy.

ಠ_ಠ

[BreakABone]

Well, we find out about the barn... well if you haven't read the comics.

This was a good ep, mostly because it focused on the best character of the show, IMO.

And.. yeah we have some dumb folks

[KillerGremlin]

If they kill Daryl I'm pretty sure I'm done with the show. Rick continues to suck at acting, and the Rick-Lori-Shane drama is so over the top it borders on Telenovela Soap Opera.

It shouldn't really be a surprise though. Norman Reedus made Boondock Saints enjoyable. His resume includes acting in an over-the-top role and making it funny, serious, and believable. He is the only character on the Walking Dead who isn't totally forcing the cheese, going way over the top, or sucking ass. I enjoy his acting, his character, and his time on screen.

In my honest opinion, Daryl has filled Rick's role on the TV show. In the comic, Rick had hallucinations and spiritual epiphanys. He saw darkness but he was a real survivor.

In the TV show...Rick is a punk ass, whiny BITCH. In the words of Jesse Pinkman...haha. Seriously though. So far Rick's character is a vehicle for forced drama. He is an obnoxious, archetype character. The writers have basically written Rick into a corner and I don't know if they will be able to un-fuck him.

I don't find Rick's character remotely believable...or enjoyable to watch...or anything like the comic character. So why is he in the TV show again?


What I liked:

--> The Post-Apocalyptic intro

--> Maggie is so hot. So hot. That short hair...T&A...holy crap. I would do things to her illegal in most Mormon states.

--> The barn. What is that? The first interesting plot point this season? Yay!

--> Hershel vs. everyone.

--> Hershel is psycho. They've done a good job with his character. I guess the writers occasionally hit the right note....

--> Daryl. I love Daryl.

--> Merle. This was brilliant. Genius. I love the ambiguity too...like he could be alive (99% unlikely since he had both hands...) but he is probably a crazy hallucination. But you have to think he is still alive based on the house scene from last episode.

What was bad:

--> The Intro was really fucking dark. This is not the first time too. The Otis/Shane scenes were very dark. They need to get better lighting people. I know they cut the funding on the show, but they shouldn't do dark scenes if the lighting is going to suck.

--> The intro scene was clearly the same highway scene from the last few episodes. Again, I get the budget issues...but I had a hard time suspending disbelief.

--> Who the fuck is the new guy helping them out? Where did he come from? Oh, it's Jimmy! Well we better clear that with Hershel. /eyeroll

--> Sophia - the search for really boring TV continues...now with dramatic music and intense dialog between Rick and Shane! And fucking snakes! Sophia has to be the worst plot point ever. It's sad that Shane is the only character preaching common sense. There is a 99% chance she is dead. If she isn't dead, it's not worth saving her because she already proved that she is a stupid character who is too stupid to just chill under a car. If not now, she will certainly fall to Darwin soon.

--> Dale: "Jesus, Glenn! What were you thinking."
Glenn: "I have a penis." or "Have you seen Maggie?" or "Dude you're going to be banging Andrea in 4 episodes, chill out."

Well, that's what I would have said.

--> When did Andrea get a gun? Why is she such a dumb cunt? Can someone shoot her in the face? Jeez.
First rule of gun training - DON'T POINT AT THINGS UNLESS YOU WANT IT TO DIE

This is why we don't give civilian fuck-wits a firearm. That's like zombie rule number 344. I'm keeping track for the real zombie Apocalypse.

To elaborate on this dumb-fuckery, why was a gun used in the first place? It's a single walker, you have pitchforks and stuff. And we already established that the walkers are attracted to sound. Why would you risk firing a gun and making all that noise?

I assume this is just really bad writing. Really bad. Like...is this a FOX TV show bad.

--> "niggers and democrats." Seriously, can we fire the writers again?

CONCLUSION

Final episode grade: B

Conclusion: I enjoyed Daryl, Hershel, and the closing sequence. I feel like the plot moved a little bit, but not enough to warrant 42 minutes of TV Show. Rick, who is central to the comic, has become an obnoxious whiny bitch character. The Rick-Shane-Lori drama continues to border on 11am Soap.

[KillerGremlin]

Oh...final thought. While I liked the intro, did anyone else wonder about the napalming? I don't recall a government contingency plan, and far as I could tell Atlanta was intact, the 'burbs where Rick woke up was intact, the CDC was intact....so what did they napalm?



I've come to terms with the fact that the writers for this show suck. So I expect a certain amount of bad writing per episode. But yeah. I'm more concerned that I hate the Rick character and want to see him eaten by 14 zombies. It isn't supposed to go down like that!!!

[Professor S]

I really liked last night's episode, and it was huge improvement over previous eps. They're finally moving into the psychotic meat and potatoes of the series and not just playing with zombies and gore. I also liked the fact that Shane confronted Rick about spending so much time searching for the girl. I don't think that they'll kill off Daryl, but considering his alienation from the group, Merle hallucinations, and the fact that people he's helped save just shot him in the face... I think there is a good chance he might turn on the group after a while. Also, I know a lot of you are waiting for Michonne... but I think Daryl might be this show's Michonne. Replace the samurai sword with a crossbow and he is the group's zombie killing badass.

As for there being unreasonable decisions being made by characters, well, they're stuck in the middle of an unreasonable situation so I'm willing to let a lot of that slide, especially when they address it in the story.

Overall I think they finally have the story back on track. I'm just wondering when zombie Otis shows up with bullet holes in him...

[Teuthida]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

Merle. This was brilliant. Genius. I love the ambiguity too...like he could be alive (99% unlikely since he had both hands...) but he is probably a crazy hallucination. But you have to think he is still alive based on the house scene from last episode.

I really thought that since they made it a point to show both his hands twice, the third time we saw him Darryl would assume he was a hallucination until we see one of his hands missing.

[BreakABone]

I find it funny that last night was one of the best episodes, but based on a character and a scenario not presented in the books.