'The Walking Dead- TV show ONLY! Only spoilers allowed are about PAST TV episodes!

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Agree with most that it was pretty "meh."

What I did find interesting was that the gated community pretty much suffered the exact same fate that the prison did. Another group of living people came in and broke through the walls. Perhaps the next antagonist? Also the mystery of why someone went through the trouble to collect zombie torsos.

Anyways on to Washington!

Thats the only thing I found really interesting in the episode too. But they failed to bring it up in the dialogue between characters, or hint at their arrival..or really do anything to pump us up at a strong new enemy. But there's definitely a big bad group that's leaving a path of destruction and the main group is getting closer to them.

From what I've gathered (never read the graphic novel) it's this Negan guy and his crew. Apparently he's the biggest and baddest antagonist of the series to this point.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Agree with most that it was pretty "meh."

What I did find interesting was that the gated community pretty much suffered the exact same fate that the prison did. Another group of living people came in and broke through the walls. Perhaps the next antagonist? Also the mystery of why someone went through the trouble to collect zombie torsos.

Anyways on to Washington!

Very meh episode. I don't mind dream sequences, and weird imagery, but it was like the writers just got lazy. They reused the same lines and scenes over and over and over again. Felt like they were filling time.

As for the torsos though (which was the cool part) , I think I know what's happening. Tyrese kept talking about the radio, and in his dream he was hearing a report. Kinda like a civil war, the word rebels was being used a lot. At first I thought he was just remembering having to listen to the radio with his dad, even when it contained horrible stories. That's the price of being a human, being a world citizen, he was told by his dad. Even the governors 'you need to pay the bill', seemed to echo that sentiment.

However, maybe the radio was working in that room. Maybe as they approach Washington, they get closer and closer to real civilization. Only that civilization is at war. Rebels trying to reorganize the government after the collapse of society. Leftover government desperately trying to maintain control. You could even argue moral points for both sides, but I won't touch on that. The radio said the rebels were using increasing hostile tactics in their pursuit for control, even killing children.

I think, those zombie torsos is sort of a psychological warfare, much like some of the bloodiest stuff we've seen in civil wars throughout history, and recently in places in Africa like Rwanda. Villages are burned, and people who do not co-operate are killed (by being cut in half) and then forced to live on as a zombie that can't even move. That would be a terrifying tactic to use against your enemies. Show them what happens to those who don't join. Kinda like the whole chopping off of peoples limbs in the other wars I was talking about. You could leave a zombie torso or two in the village square just to intimidate people. Imagine seeing your loved one in half on a pike in the center of town, just wriggling and snapping at the air.

Or perhaps, the radio wasn't really working, and it was just Tyrese remembering about the horrors of life, but it serves as a symbol or clue of what is to come, in which case, my earlier guess would still stand. As they get closer to Washington they will find more and more people, even some remnants of a working society, but it's in the throes of civil war.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

From what I've gathered (never read the graphic novel) it's this Negan guy and his crew. Apparently he's the biggest and baddest antagonist of the series to this point.

How did you gather this using show-only knowledge?

Anyhow I guess I'm the only one that didn't go meh, but based on Daradon's analysis, there was still plenty of themes/symbolism/imagery to digest, and I think that should count as a positive even if it felt like not much was going on plot-wise.

Again, I just love how a lot of the camera work is done, e.g. Noah's reflection in the glass as him and Tyrese enter the house, the FPS view of the zombie fight with Tyrese, the shot from behind of the despondent gang pulling Tyrese's body from the van...that stuff keeps me going when there's not the shooting and the slashing happening. Pour out a 40 for another dearly departed black guy...maybe you shouldn't have been so welcoming to Noah after all, that dude put you over quota.

[bubbsy]

i am slowly getting tired of the cyclic nature of the show....

run/fight to find place to set up camp
camp at risk due to another tribe
run/fight to find place to set up camp
....
round and round we go.

i was hoping for a shift in the series and the plot this season, where the story moves away from tactical daily survival (ie. the above repetitive cyclical plot) to something bigger.

The season opener was an artsy/fartsy start, with minimal actual movement of plot. I guess it's my own fault for being disappointed. Growing frustrated with the series, i was hoping the season opener moved the needle substancially when it comes to the story line, rather than a very small plot expressed in good cinematography, etc (which i don't care for if it isn't complementing a good plot).

Looking forward to episode 2 though, still awaiting a fresh "interesting event" in the series' plot which i don't think we've had in a while.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

i am slowly getting tired of the cyclic nature of the show....

run/fight to find place to set up camp
camp at risk due to another tribe
run/fight to find place to set up camp
....
round and round we go.

i was hoping for a shift in the series and the plot this season, where the story moves away from tactical daily survival (ie. the above repetitive cyclical plot) to something bigger.
.

You starting to sound like Michonnne.

[MillerTime GFG]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

i am slowly getting tired of the cyclic nature of the show....

run/fight to find place to set up camp
camp at risk due to another tribe
run/fight to find place to set up camp
....
round and round we go.

i was hoping for a shift in the series and the plot this season, where the story moves away from tactical daily survival (ie. the above repetitive cyclical plot) to something bigger.

The season opener was an artsy/fartsy start, with minimal actual movement of plot. I guess it's my own fault for being disappointed. Growing frustrated with the series, i was hoping the season opener moved the needle substancially when it comes to the story line, rather than a very small plot expressed in good cinematography, etc (which i don't care for if it isn't complementing a good plot).

Looking forward to episode 2 though, still awaiting a fresh "interesting event" in the series' plot which i don't think we've had in a while.

You're in the same spot as I. I want the show to transition into 'the bigger picture'. What's going on across the country? The world? Every season has been, like you said, set up camp & fight off antagonist. After the first episode this season (half season), they've already positioned it to be the exact same.

I don't want to overreact from just the first episode, but even my wife who's basically a Walking Dead groupie, was disappointed.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Bad episode. Pointless death. Tons of filler. Get it together Gimple, you started out great but the last 3 or 4 episodes have been a hot mess.

[OutOfTheCube]

Yeah the first three spidoes of this season were the best this show has ever been. Then it's just been pretty much downhill from there. I thought it was well filmed and had some cool scenes but was ultimately kind of dull. TThe dialogue felt very wooden and pretentious, particularly the awkward Glen and Rick scenes and Tyrese's weird speeches.

I did like making the zombies dangerous again though. Tyrese taken down by a simple bite and Michonne's sword getting blocked and knocked out of her hand. It was a nice change from them just being kind of a bump in the road.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

I hate how they have to telegraph when a support character is going to die in that episode. 10 mins in and there was no doubt in my mind who was going to die. Add extra screen time that the character never gets with some 'deep thoughts' to show us some final character development and then kill him/her off. They've done this several times throughout the series.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

How did you gather this using show-only knowledge?

Anyhow I guess I'm the only one that didn't go meh, but based on Daradon's analysis, there was still plenty of themes/symbolism/imagery to digest, and I think that should count as a positive even if it felt like not much was going on plot-wise.

Again, I just love how a lot of the camera work is done, e.g. Noah's reflection in the glass as him and Tyrese enter the house, the FPS view of the zombie fight with Tyrese, the shot from behind of the despondent gang pulling Tyrese's body from the van...that stuff keeps me going when there's not the shooting and the slashing happening. Pour out a 40 for another dearly departed black guy...maybe you shouldn't have been so welcoming to Noah after all, that dude put you over quota.

Yeah I actually really really enjoyed the episode. I'm surprised it got as many mehs as it did. There was no shortage of action (I was a fan of the toy airplane into zombie kid's eye), a pretty shocking death. Lots of interesting dialogue between ghosts. The transitions between hallucination and real life were neat, as was the foreshadowing throughout the episode. And just overall cool cinematography. I like how they trolled us into thinking the intro was about Beth's death when really it was Tyrese's. Or...was it just an exact parallel? I can't quite tell now hahah.

[Igster]

Loved the overall feel and imagery of the episode. Felt much more "grown up" over some of the previous episodes. Much darker at times as well. I think Inglewood Jack said it best. The directing and shots in this episode were great. Really enjoyed it.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

You're in the same spot as I. I want the show to transition into 'the bigger picture'. What's going on across the country? The world?

If that's what you're looking for, you're going to continue to be disappointed. That's not what this show is about, and likely never will be.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

But nothing happened. There was virtually no plot or character development. Really confused with the big picture of this show. It's almost like they don't have a plan but need to make 16 episodes a year so we get filler like last night. They should have developed the Terminus story more, it was actually interesting. They seemed in a hurry to end it and for what? That contrived, piece of crap hospital story? Lame. Now we're here. Are we going to get another antagonist that they're just going to kill off in 3 episodes? Or just more wandering around? They need to figure out where they want to take this show. It's like they can't decide if they want to follow the comics or just make up random stuff for the characters to do each week with no larger plan in place.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by getbak

If that's what you're looking for, you're going to continue to be disappointed. That's not what this show is about, and likely never will be.

Yip, the title has, IMO, always been describing Rick et. al.


I am sure you could go back in this thread and see complaints about the lenght of time they spent farming at the jail. IIRC, people complained about that.

Part of this episode for me, is confirming that there isn't anywhere that is "forever" safe. There will always be a group that challenges the safety.

[DuffMan]

I miss Beth.

[ken0042]

I've found I enjoy the show much more when I look at it more like you would watching Sin City; it is a show based upon comic books, so look at each episode as if you were reading a comic book.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Yip, the title has, IMO, always been describing Rick et. al.


I am sure you could go back in this thread and see complaints about the lenght of time they spent farming at the jail. IIRC, people complained about that.

Part of this episode for me, is confirming that there isn't anywhere that is "forever" safe. There will always be a group that challenges the safety.

good point.

If that's the case, you'd have to think the series is close to hitting a wall soon. How many times can the daily survival cycle continue? If the cycle simply goes on and on, with the only difference being who's in rick's group, and who the antagonizing tribe players are, the show's likely past its prime.

i think you might be right, however...the mullet man character introduced a glimmer of hope to the audience that there may be a bigger theme at play (how to resolve the world of the zombie) but that inevitably got shot down as a dead end, perhaps as a reminder that there is no resolution, every day in this world, every season is about how to survive in the new zombie world.

[greyshep]

They milked pretty much a full hour running us through a slow motion acid trip death scene for Tyreese.

I want my hour back. Not sure why they figured they needed to devote an entire episode to that. Beth didnt get that kind of treatment.

Seems to me they were giving the writers the week off because they are struggling with where to go from here.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

It's almost like they don't have a plan but need to make 16 episodes a year so we get filler like last night.

I wouldn't consider a major turns in plots as "filler" episodes. And Tyrese dying is quite a major plot development. Watch an anime where they make filler episodes just because they haven't caught up with the manga. Those are true fillers, and they're generally awful lol.

Originally Posted by greyshep

They milked pretty much a full hour running us through a slow motion acid trip death scene for Tyreese.

I want my hour back. Not sure why they figured they needed to devote an entire episode to that. Beth didnt get that kind of treatment.

Seems to me they were giving the writers the week off because they are struggling with where to go from here.

In a way, they did. That whole hospital arc was pretty much just leading to Beth's death. Even worse is that they introduced a whole whack of people that we had no emotional attachment to, have them kill Beth, and then never see them again (excl. Noah)?

So instead of one episode with Tyrese, you got like 3 or 4, and it wasn't very good hahah. Give me this one interesting episode over those 3 or 4 meh episodes any day!

[rohara66]

I feel like I've watched this show for so long that I have to continue.... but with episodes like that one I think I'm done. Not to mention how the last couple seasons have also stunk.

It's.... just..... sooooo...... bloody..... boring.......