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[StoOgE]

This show has gotten bad.

I stopped reading the comics around this point, but if this is what they devolved into I'm happy I did.

It's just pure shock value at this point, characters aren't developing which is all the show really had going.

Their motivation is always exactly what it has been, and they all make 'hard choices' every week, but then everyone is shocked every now and then by a hard choice.

I'll keep watching because I don't have many shows I watch.. but blargh.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

This show has gotten bad.

.

weird. Most would say it has gotten better over time. There's lots of other great shows, if you think this one has been getting worse (when it hasn't lol) give something else a chance.

Watch Hannibal! Or The Americans! Or Homel....just watch the americans

 

[StoOgE]

weird. Most would say it has gotten better over time. There's lots of other great shows, if you think this one has been getting worse (when it hasn't lol) give something else a chance.

Watch Hannibal! Or The Americans! Or Homel....just watch the americans

Really?

I think the early show had character development and even through season 3 there was some character growth for some characters that had to grow up or become changed people. Season 1 had a problem with really really stupid plot points (good hearted gang, CDC), but I felt seasons 2 and 3 sort of got back on track, and walkers were actually still a threat at that point.

Since Season 4 we've been getting nothing but re-treads of woodburry, including one that was literally the governor creating a second gang of people to attack the prison. That clearly should have wrapped in the prior season and not been given another half season.

The back half of season 4 was pretty decent in a sort of character vignette sort of way, but nothing of any consequence happened other than everyone finding everyone again and bob becoming somewhat likeable. It was actually reasonably refreshing for the show to take a step back and slow down, but they didn't do much with anyone and they all feel reasonably the same as they did at the end of season 3.

Now we are getting nothing but over the top unbelievable bad guys left right and center. The governor was honestly too much even in the comics, but since then we've had the biker gang, the people who eat people, and now the indentured servants.

I think the show would do well to take a breather again and slow things back down and make these characters more rounded.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

i love how every character in the show keeps forgetting the "disguise as a zombie by wearing zombie guts to walk among them completely unnoticed" trick.

Carol did it in the season premiere.

How does that happen? What is that website?

It's a website that posts TV ratings. Someone in the comments just blurted out a spoiler for no reason.

I stopped reading the comics around this point, but if this is what they devolved into I'm happy I did.

Beth isn't in the comics and neither is this hospital arc.

It's just pure shock value at this point, characters aren't developing which is all the show really had going.

Is it? When was the last time the show, in your opinion, focused on character development? Season 4? Because, I mean, there's been very little room for character development since the group was captured by cannibals. The main group never really had any time to settle down and breathe throughout the first 3 episodes.

And the reason they broke the big group up into three smaller groups is so they could give more of a focus to each character without having to ignore the other characters for long stretches of time for no reason (like Lost did).

I thought this week's episode did a fairly good job of continuing Beth's journey towards the Strong Person path that she started down last season, and the episode didn't revel in shock value (I can't think of the last time an episode of the show did that to be honest).

I'll keep watching because I don't have many shows I watch.. but blargh.

What other shows do you watch?

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

They didn't do a good job of making it seem like there were a load of guards around. I think I saw one guy on a roof and that was it.

 

[FartOfWar]

makes sense that the main entrance the coppers use would be guarded. It's literally the entrance to the building. And they obviously seem like a pretty organized lot. Not that far of a leap to make. Some of you killin me with your overthought questions.

As for the walkers on the lot, maybe they keep them there to keep intruders out.

You're killing us with your "never set foot in a large public building, no, not even once" shit. Emergency exits abound in a major metropolitan hospitals.

 

[Jest Chillin]

You're killing us with your "never set foot in a large public building, no, not even once" shit. Emergency exits abound in a major metropolitan hospitals.

The lower levels have walkers all throughout them. They said as much in the dialogue and it's shown when a walker reaches through the elevator door and grabs Chris when he's lowering himself down.

 

[FartOfWar]

Really?

I think the early show had character development and even through season 3 there was some character growth for some characters that had to grow up or become changed people. Season 1 had a problem with really really stupid plot points (good hearted gang, CDC), but I felt seasons 2 and 3 sort of got back on track, and walkers were actually still a threat at that point.

Since Season 4 we've been getting nothing but re-treads of woodburry, including one that was literally the governor creating a second gang of people to attack the prison. That clearly should have wrapped in the prior season and not been given another half season.

The back half of season 4 was pretty decent in a sort of character vignette sort of way, but nothing of any consequence happened other than everyone finding everyone again and bob becoming somewhat likeable. It was actually reasonably refreshing for the show to take a step back and slow down, but they didn't do much with anyone and they all feel reasonably the same as they did at the end of season 3.

Now we are getting nothing but over the top unbelievable bad guys left right and center. The governor was honestly too much even in the comics, but since then we've had the biker gang, the people who eat people, and now the indentured servants.

I think the show would do well to take a breather again and slow things back down and make these characters more rounded.

It is essentially a fight manga, where instead of cyborg ninjas that practice Jovian judo, there's an ever nuttier parade of dysfunctional groups under the guidance of plausibility-straining dictators. I get this. In a sense, this is the story of human history. But to go directly from the keBob eaters to Ms. "They rape so you can eat" is hilarious.

 

[FartOfWar]

The lower levels have walkers all throughout them. They said as much in the dialogue and it's shown when a walker reaches through the elevator door and grabs Chris when he's lowering himself down.

I see what you're saying, but any other stairwell as opposed to the walker-watering trough which is specifically outfitted to feed walker hordes?

 

[Jest Chillin]

I see what you're saying, but any other stairwell as opposed to the walker-watering trough which is specifically outfitted to feed walker hordes?

It would depend largely on the building but unless it's absolutely massive, there's typically two, which can easily be covered by guards, locked with a seperate key, or may even be impassable.

I mean.. at the point where you start asking questions like, "How many stairwells? What about Fire escapes? Couldn't they steal keys to the cars?" etc... you're not actually pointing out plot holes but actively looking to create them.

 

[FartOfWar]

It would depend largely on the building but unless it's absolutely massive, there's typically two, which can easily be covered by guards, locked with a seperate key, or may even be impassable.

I mean.. at the point where you start asking questions like, "How many stairwells? What about Fire escapes? Couldn't they steal keys to the cars?" etc... you're not actually pointing out plot holes but actively looking to create them.

I'm a level designer. Sue me.

 

[Jest Chillin]

I'm a level designer. Sue me.

Hahaha, no worries. The last part of that comment was really about how many different people seem determined to pick apart the minutia of the episode in any way they can fathom. It's an imperfect tv show so at a certain point we, as viewers, have to accept the premise presented. Chris said it's the only way so we kind of just have to take his word for it.

 

[FartOfWar]

Hahaha, no worries. The last part of that comment was really about how many different people seem determined to pick apart the minutia of the episode in any way they can fathom. It's an imperfect tv show so at a certain point we, as viewers, have to accept the premise presented. Chris said it's the only way so we kind of just have to take his word for it.

I didn't say I think these things make the show terrible. They were honestly only questions I ask as I watch. The fact that Chris said as much shows the writers were concerned with the issue as well.

 

[Volimar]

I thought it was a good episode and I like Beth and the actress that plays her.


So there.

 

[-Deimos]

I don't know why people are saying this was a terrible episode but it was kind of confusing. I thought I missed an episode or something. Overall, I still enjoyed it.

And I think it's safe to say it was Noah who was with Daryl at then end of the previous episode.

 

[dc89]

Really enjoyed this weeks episode. In a way it reminded me of the episode which solely focussed on The Governor and how he survived. The one with this scene and song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1MsjIOUG10
I think the show is on the up, enjoying this season so far.

 

[The Silver]

The one thing I'll never understand is how zombies constantly sneak up on people.

These zombies are clearly more than they let on, they're as silent as ninja and then once you spot them they're moaning and making noise nonstop. I smell shenanigans,

 

[demolitio]

The one thing I'll never understand is how zombies constantly sneak up on people.

These zombies are clearly more than they let on, they're as silent as ninja and then once you spot them they're moaning and making noise nonstop. I smell shenanigans,

"Wait, I thought that was just your stomach growling..."

The scene with Beth and the doctor at the gate was a perfect example of that just so the show can act like it was a surprise and scary. I mean, they're looking directly out that gate yet didn't see them approaching?

The show just does a horrible job of being consistent with that stuff and just tries to go with the cliche surprise moments instead.

 

[poppabk]

Hahaha, no worries. The last part of that comment was really about how many different people seem determined to pick apart the minutia of the episode in any way they can fathom. It's an imperfect tv show so at a certain point we, as viewers, have to accept the premise presented. Chris said it's the only way so we kind of just have to take his word for it.

I think the problem with the episode was that they never explained the escape plan, and then it went wrong as far as I could tell, so we were left confused about what was supposed to happen with the key etc. I thought the new characters they introduced were pretty interesting, I especially liked the doctor. It sucks that it seems like we won't get any resolution next episode - but I guess that is how the show is going to deal with separated groups, giving them dedicated episodes.

 

[MrPressStart]

I thought the episode was really good. I like how they break it up from time to time and give you a taste of other groups and the way the have dealt with everything.

!) Noah mustbe with Daryl
2) Carol could be setting them up... maybe they watched them take the other doctor in and made a plan for them to do the same to her
3) Is Noah the only take away from the group at the hospital?


I wonder if the doctor will come along for a bit..... Unless they plan on kiling a major character... they need a few disposable group members from time to time.

Still think about the helicopter from the first season.... I wonder if they will ever find out where it came from?

 

[Godan]

Still think about the helicopter from the first season.... I wonder if they will ever find out where it came from?

Was that not the one that crashed in season 3?


Edit: They also seem to still be very close to the city. You would think by now they would be a good bit away from Atlanta.

 

[MrPressStart]

Was that not the one that crashed in season 3?


Edit: They also seem to still be very close to the city. You would think by now they would be a good bit away from Atlanta.

Maybe it was.... not sure.
I know it seems as if they have just been hanging in the Atlanta suburbs the whole time. I am ready to see them hit the road.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Was that not the one that crashed in season 3?

Yes, and the same one they saw in season 2 as well.

 

[Cornballer]

- Andy Greenwald in praise of TWD for Grantland: Undead and Loving It: How Did AMC’s Flagship Show Suddenly Get So Good?

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Great article. Some choice quotes:

I long felt that The Walking Dead punished its critics the same way its bedraggled heroes dispatched ravenous zombies: by stabbing them in the brain. The show was noisy, violent, and unrelentingly dumb.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the glue factory. The show that returned for its fifth season last month isn’t just improved, it’s taken a wildly unexpected turn toward being great.

After all, it’s far easier, not to mention more pleasurable, to watch a show for what it is rather than what it isn’t. And a summer spent slogging through the amateurish splatter of The Strain made me newly appreciative of the essential competence of The Walking Dead.

For the first time in its wildly successful existence, the show is using brains for more than just dinner.

Locking The Walking Dead into Hershel’s horse farm and, later, the prison made for a smoother production [but] as relaxing as this may have been for those involved with the making of The Walking Dead, it was absolutely tranquilizing for the audience. Sure, the dead could walk, but, for three and a half interminable seasons, the living barely managed an amble.

Hershel’s home-cooked meals — and later, Hershel’s burgeoning vegetable garden — were the narrative equivalent of Lucy’s football: Rick kept running toward them, only to fall flat on his face when they were inevitably taken away. Now falling is all he does.

We’ve had four episodes this season and four different locations. There’s been no complacency because there’s been no lull. Gabriel’s church had a dark secret, but it took only a week for it to be revealed. And while the broad strokes of Beth’s sojourn into “Slabtown” on Sunday night were familiar — a fake sanctuary, a leader making bad choices for the sake of the greater good — the specifics were fresh enough to draw me in. (All horror movies have the same rhythm; it’s the melody that sets them apart.)

With his tree-trunk arms and a torso like a barrel, Chad L. Coleman is a physically imposing presence as Tyreese. But Gimple recognized what David Simon saw years ago when he was casting the crucial part of Cutty on The Wire: Coleman’s eyes aren’t just windows into his soul — they’re distress calls. There’s a gentleness and ambivalence to Coleman that belies his size. Gimple has smartly written Tyreese in the direction of that contradiction.

A severed limb and a slaughtered extra can demonstrate the extremity of The Walking Dead’s universe, but nothing communicates the resulting anguish and sorrow like Coleman’s perpetually collapsing face.

Gimple has also done wonders with the characters he inherited. For years, Beth Greene seemed as inessential as her late father’s beloved apple butter. The thought of a bottle episode built around her seemed impossible — unless AMC provided us with the bottle. But Emily Kinney has done much to locate the steel buried beneath her character’s sweet exterior. Watching her transform into a comfortable killer has been more jarring than seeing the same thing happen to Carl. Melissa McBride’s Carol has also been massaged into a fascinatingly complex antiheroine, willing to do the unspeakable but unafraid to accept the consequences.

The Walking Dead is likely to remain the most violent show on television, but, thanks to the addition of all these talented Wire veterans, it’s also become the most diverse. This is both admirable and welcome, particularly after the early missteps of the Darabont years — seriously, the show is set just outside of Atlanta and there’s only one African American in the cast? When Danai Gurira’s Michonne sat with Gilliam’s Gabriel on the stairs outside the church the other week and had a conversation informed by their wildly divergent perspectives, it was one of the few times this year that a cable drama has passed what is essentially a racial Bechdel test: two characters of color talking about something other than a white person. That The Walking Dead does this regularly shouldn’t be noteworthy in 2014. But it is.

Four episodes in, the fifth season of the show has traded the unwieldiness of a katana for the surgical precision of a scalpel. Not many series have been able to make a creative leap so late in their run, but surprise reanimation has always been The Walking Dead’s thing. As I said at the top, the show doesn’t need to be good. But I’m so pleased that suddenly, surprisingly, it very much is.

 

[Toa TAK]

- Andy Greenwald in praise of TWD for Grantland: Undead and Loving It: How Did AMC’s Flagship Show Suddenly Get So Good?

Fantastic article.

 

[.GqueB.]

It's just pure shock value at this point, characters aren't developing which is all the show really had going.

I keep hearing this but at what point since Terminus has there been any room for character development? They've been busy trying to not get eaten. I'm sure the show will slow down now that the groups are split up as I think that's the point.

This show has been great since the second half of last season and the hate just doesn't seem genuine to me. I didn't watch it until right before this season started because I didn't like the Gov'ner arch because he was so cartoony. But they slowed the show down, gave them some room to breath, developed the characters a bit and then went back to survival mode. Great pacing. I'm loving it and I've never really consistently enjoyed this show week to week.

Now I didn't LOVE the last ep because it was so goddamn awkward but it was still decent compared to their past offerings.

 

[shinobi602]

So I just finished "Four Walls and a Roof"...

Why the fuck isn't Maggie panicking and wondering where Beth is? She hasn't even acknowledged her sister's absence once yet after they all escaped the prison

 

[HadesGigas]

So I just finished "Four Walls and a Roof"...

Why the fuck isn't Maggie panicking and wondering where Beth is? She hasn't even acknowledged her sister's absence once yet after they all escaped the prison

Daryl told her what happened to her in the season premiere.

 

[shinobi602]

Daryl told her what happened to her in the season premiere.

Didn't he just tell her she's missing?

 

[Jest Chillin]

Didn't he just tell her she's missing?

She asked if she was dead or missing and he said, "she's just... gone." Meant to convey that he has no idea either way.

 

[shinobi602]

She asked if she was dead or missing and he said, "she's just... gone." Meant to convey that he has no idea either way.

That'd drive me even more insane as a sibling. The fact that that line is enough for an older sister (who's so attached to her family) to just go 'ok' and move on is a little laughable.

Terrible writing on the creator's part :-/

 

[Ithil]

Maggie's just a shitty sister.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Yeah Daryl's "She's just gone..." line always bothered me. Like you're not going to tell your squad that she was taken? You saw someone drive off.

 

[HadesGigas]

He said she's gone to Rick.

He told Maggie that he knows she's alive.

 

[Jest Chillin]

He said she's gone to Rick.

He told Maggie that he knows she's alive.

My mistake.

 

[shinobi602]

He said she's gone to Rick.

He told Maggie that he knows she's alive.

It's completely out of Maggie's character to just leave it at that. Given how she is on the show, she would scour the ends of the Earth until she found Beth before anything else.

 

[RPGamer92]

It's completely out of Maggie's character to just leave it at that. Given how she is on the show, she would scour the ends of the Earth until she found Beth before anything else.

If you replaced Beth with Glenn sure. She hasn't really cared about Beth at all.

 

[HadesGigas]

She has no clue where she'd be, and knows the captor could travel by car. There's literally NOTHING to do other than hope you stumble upon her somehow.

With Glenn the situation was different, and even then she didn't "scour the ends of the Earth", she came up with a decent plan for guiding another lost and wandering person to the same place as her. (In the most batshit insane way she could with walker blood and all, but yeah).

 

[mujun]

This show has gotten bad.

I stopped reading the comics around this point, but if this is what they devolved into I'm happy I did.

It's just pure shock value at this point, characters aren't developing which is all the show really had going.

Their motivation is always exactly what it has been, and they all make 'hard choices' every week, but then everyone is shocked every now and then by a hard choice.

I'll keep watching because I don't have many shows I watch.. but blargh.

I don't agree with pretty much any of this.

First off the first three episodes have been some of the best episodes over all the seasons. Subjective of course but many seem to agree. They've had some solid development (include parts of season 4 here) of the characters, the choices they make seem more consistent and logical and the pace has picked up and hit a good level rather than crawling along at a painful pace at points.

Secondly I think they've done character development really well with the focusing in on every one of the characters throughout season 4 (some of it clumsy and slow, of course), including going back to their pre-apocalypse lives and making some of their fears, desires and motivations more clear.

I also like the way that the group physically reuniting also brought about a hardening of their determination led by Rick after he himself took a major step and let go of any fantasies about living a peaceful life. He did whatever it took to stop the guys who Daryl was with and that was a major change that led to a change in attitude basically for the whole group. They've gone on to show their determination to maintain that attitude at many points since then. Taking out the cannibals in the church being a key scene.

I think there is a lot of potential for the future, too, at least for this season. They are either going to get to Washington or something will happen that will make them give up on that plan. Either way it's about more than finding a place to settle down and set up defenses. No need for time filler stuff like killer flues or random zombie migration either.

 

[Ties]

So I just finished "Four Walls and a Roof"...

Why the fuck isn't Maggie panicking and wondering where Beth is? She hasn't even acknowledged her sister's absence once yet after they all escaped the prison

thats the power of glenns diq

 

[Evil_Silver]

I don't agree with pretty much any of this.

First off the first three episodes have been some of the best episodes over all the seasons. Subjective of course but many seem to agree. They've had some solid development (include parts of season 4 here) of the characters, the choices they make seem more consistent and logical and the pace has picked up and hit a good level rather than crawling along at a painful pace at points.

Secondly I think they've done character development really well with the focusing in on every one of the characters throughout season 4 (some of it clumsy and slow, of course), including going back to their pre-apocalypse lives and making some of their fears, desires and motivations more clear.

I also like the way that the group physically reuniting also brought about a hardening of their determination led by Rick after he himself took a major step and let go of any fantasies about living a peaceful life. He did whatever it took to stop the guys who Daryl was with and that was a major change that led to a change in attitude basically for the whole group. They've gone on to show their determination to maintain that attitude at many points since then. Taking out the cannibals in the church being a key scene.

I think there is a lot of potential for the future, too, at least for this season. They are either going to get to Washington or something will happen that will make them give up on that plan. Either way it's about more than finding a place to settle down and set up defenses. No need for time filler stuff like killer flues or random zombie migration either.

I agree. Season 1 and 2 were great, season 3 and 4 were terrible. But this season has been pretty good so far.

 

[Evil_Silver]

Fuck, I just got spoiled about something that happens in the mid season finale via the shitty TV By the Numbers comment section. As if you needed another reason to avoid that cesspool, here it is.

:/

The pain. I had major spoilers for season 4 and a major spoiler for season 5 game of thrones revealed to me. I know how it feels.

 

[MaddenNFL64]

Not sure what was so confusing about this ep. I read that a lot. It was pretty fucking straightforward.

Ya I don't get it. It made complete sense. Liked the episode myself.

 

[Palpable]

Why exactly as that amputee chick dead in Dawn's office? Suicide? It was never made clear.

 

[-Deimos]

Why exactly as that amputee chick dead in Dawn's office? Suicide? It was never made clear.

It was suicide.

 

[Godan]

Yes, and the same one they saw in season 2 as well.

They didn't see it in season 2. We only saw it at the start of the last episode to show the walkers gathering into a heard and how they got to the farm. With it all starting from them followiing the noise of the chopper when it went over the city.

It was suicide.

Yeah I think she did that too becasue she knew she would turn and so she could come back and get Dawn as it was her office she was in.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

They didn't see it in season 2. We only saw it at the start of the last episode to show the walkers gathering into a heard and how they got to the farm. With it all starting from them followiing the noise of the chopper when it went over the city.

Oh right. I forgot that the audience were the only ones who saw it.

 

[Mix Master]

this past episode is the worst of the walking dead. beth is a side character, a lame one at that. and they give her a full episode? fuckoff

 

[Social]

this past episode is the worst of the walking dead. beth is a side character, a lame one at that. and they give her a full episode? fuckoff

I kind of agree. It was a really confusing badly directed episode that felt boring and kept dragging. The rest of this season has been decent though.