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[mujun]

There is also the threat of a forest fire, and where do they get that amount of fuel to create and sustain the fire.

The best was would be to lead them off a high cliff, but there wasn't one around. Otherwise leading them downhill away from their home is the only viable way.

No threat of forest fire in the quarry surely. Looked like the zombies were at the bottom with nothing but cliffs of rock and earth.

I saw the pics, too. They don't explain why the zombies don't burn. Link me to some info not just pointing me to pics that offer no explanation. Surely their brains would cook in their heads. Their skulls seem far thinner/more fragile than those of the living when you see how easily they are stabbed or bashed in with sticks.

 

[OléGunner]

No threat of forest fire in the quarry surely. Looked like the zombies were at the bottom with nothing but cliffs of rock and earth.

I saw the pics, too. They don't explain why the zombies don't burn. Link me to some info not just pointing me to pics that offer no explanation. Surely their brains would cook in their heads. Their skulls seem far thinner/more fragile than those of the living when you see how easily they are stabbed or bashed in with sticks.

I get where you're coming from but firstly where would the crew find enough gas/flammable substance to effectively burn thousands of walkers in the quarry?

Even if the fire spread quickly walker to walker they'd need so much gas or whatever not readily available around Alexandria.

And also yeah a hot enough fire would burn their brains to a crisp but most we've seen in the show just reduce them to charred skin or functioning walkers seared onto an asphalt road.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Andy Greenwald - ‘The Walking Dead’ Keeps Shuffling Toward Greatness But Never Quite Gets There



Cripes, it sounds like he wants The Walking Dead to be a Twilight Zone-esque anthology series where each episode is wildly different and unconnected from the last. As a critic, Greenwald is generally hit or miss, and I think this article definitely classifies as the latter. Thoughts?

Miss... mostly. I *do* think we should get an episode with one of the characters or residents of Alexandria pondering the meaning of life given this change of leadership, the notion that life isn't worth living, etc. Suicides in the zombie apocalypse are something we see regularly in terms of "once the outbreak started, husbands and wives got in bed and committed suicide together."

But at this point the absolute psychological impact of survival... and the "why am I even trying?"... should be huge. They could have gone down that road with Sasha. It actually looked like she was going in that direction. I do think they could have an emotional episode like that. Gabriel is another candidate. It would be an amazing episode for a priest to contemplate that, given suicide is considered a sin.

So yes, I agree to an extent that there are boundaries they can push.

 

[crazyrabbits]

Whether the walkers are able to be killed by fire or not is irrelevant. That quarry was being contained by the equivalent of spit and glue. It was a persistent danger, and the group didn't have any other options available to them.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

They could get a bunch of thread and tie it across the road between trees and the walkers walk into it taking their head clean off.

 

[ElyrionX]

Just saw it. They really upped the budget huh?

 

[Razmos]

Now that I think about it, whoever activated the horn back at Alexandria couldn't have known that it would draw the herd, since as far as they know, the group had only gone out for a trial run and weren't supposed to be putting the plan into action until the next day.

I imagine next episode might go back in time a bit to focus on the people left in Alexandria and the events leading up to whatever that noise is.

(maybe they'll use a sepia filter so people will understand what's happening)

 

[Ultra Numb]

Episode 1 Ratings

According to “live plus same-day” estimates from Nielsen, the zombie drama averaged a monster 7.43 rating in adults 18-49 and 14.6 million viewers overall — up slightly over the show’s season 5 averages but below its fall 2014 premiere (8.65 in 18-49, 17.29 million total viewers). That year-ago opener remains the show’s highest-rated telecast on record.

Last March’s fifth-season finale averaged an 8.16 rating in 18-49 and 15.78 million viewers overall.

“The Walking Dead” was the No. 1 program on Sunday night, even topping NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” Its 7.4 rating in 18-49 also exceeds all broadcast entertainment telecasts since the start of the television season on Sept. 21, beating the premiere of “Empire” (6.7) by 10%.

AMC will release “live plus-3” ratings information on Friday for Sunday’s “Dead” premiere, which could garner larger percentage gains than usual due to its expanded 90-minute running time. In addition to Major League Baseball playoff action, competition for live viewers also included the big-market NFL game on NBC between the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants.

On social media, “The Walking Dead” was mentioned in nearly 1 million tweets Sunday (956,480), generating 3.6 billion potential impressions via 825,000 unique users. It was also the No. 1 show Sunday on Facebook.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-walking-dead-season-5-premiere-ratings-1201615801/

According to this it crushed everything on Sunday except its own records.

I will say that I don't think the S5E01 number will ever be topped by TWD... unless Rick/Daryl dies in a finale or something. I'd wager a big reason why the S5 Premiere was so big was because of the cliffhanger of the previous season, it was the biggest yet with the whole group in immediate danger, trapped. Not to mention that FTWD is now a thing.

I wonder how big of a difference DVR will add.

 

[mm04]

Only thing that puzzles me is why they didn't use something louder than a car engine. You know just in case something louder came along like it did.

Other than that it was solid plan. Who the hell can sleep at night knowing thousands of zombies are down the block? Get them the fuck away asap.

This is friggin Georgia. They couldn't find a single car with a subwoofer in the trunk and a Sir Mix-A-Lot CD in it? C'mon!

Also, I agree the plan was solid. Here's the thing, the semi trucks fell over anyway so they HAD to do something at that point.

 

[More_Badass]

This is friggin Georgia. They couldn't find a single car with a subwoofer in the trunk and a Sir Mix-A-Lot CD in it? C'mon!

Also, I agree the plan was solid. Here's the thing, the semi trucks fell over anyway so they HAD to do something at that point.

Actually they're in Virginia now

 

[Ultra Numb]

I agree that the plan was solid.

Honestly, that truck falling so that the walkers could exit in humongous amounts pretty much gave them no choice. I thought it was fine plan, giving what they had to work with. According to Andrew Lincoln, they were dealing with over 40,000 walkers... any plan they came up with would of involved risk and people were to likely die regardless. They were on borrowed time.

Fire?

Great idea. Lets just add the risk of flaming walkers getting out to a forested area.

Bombing?

The military tried that and it worked out so very well.

Killing them in small quantities?

It's a herd of tens of thousands of walkers and more were filling up the quarry all the time. They could of potentially fortified the barriers and did it from a point of safety or tried to create a bottleneck to let a few out at a time but that would take a very long time, something they didn't have much of. Not to mention the amount of resources that would take.The number of walkers was massively increasing, Rick was right about any barrier they put up would eventually fail.

Rick's plan of leading the walkers away definitely had its flaws, but it was also working. The horn blowing - which is probably due to the wolves attacking - was unforeseen and shot that plan to hell, but unforeseen events could shoot any other plan to hell as well.

Anything they tried was going to run the risk of that herd getting to ASZ. There was an advantage to this plan though... once they had emptied the quarry out and lured the walkers 20 miles away - and the walkers would have kept going on their own further as we saw in season 2 - they could have then reinforced barriers to continue using the quarry to trap walkers in a more controlled, manageable way. Now that they know about it, they could send scouts out to check on it frequently and kill the smaller number of walkers that got trapped in there with less risk involved. Even with the horn blowing causing the plan to fail, they can still do that later.

 

[The Artisan]

anybody see the ad for no man's land? looks like the innocent people still trapped inside the terminus containers will make it out after all.

 

[hey_monkey]

Andy Greenwald - ‘The Walking Dead’ Keeps Shuffling Toward Greatness But Never Quite Gets There

Cripes, it sounds like he wants The Walking Dead to be a Twilight Zone-esque anthology series where each episode is wildly different and unconnected from the last. As a critic, Greenwald is generally hit or miss, and I think this article definitely classifies as the latter. Thoughts?

FtWD could have done some weird, neat stuff, but TWD is pretty set at this point. I mean, it's season 6 for chrissakes. People have expectations and there are ongoing plotlines to carry forward. Was he just trying to inspire angry commentary?

 

[The Artisan]

another thing, I know it's kinda old but does anyone think that this painting that michonne found was supposed to be a a foreshadowing to mary?

 

[Starfield]

 

[BLOODED_hands]

another thing, I know it's kinda old but does anyone think that this painting that michonne found was supposed to be a a foreshadowing to mary?

Oh Eugene er, I mean, The Artisan.... Of course it was. Many people saw the similarities and connected the two. Everyone on Reddit and I think everyone on GAF, I believe, when they saw that painting and when they saw her at Terminus.

 

[SamuraiX-]

Just saw it. They really upped the budget huh?

Haven't had a chance to read all the EW interviews that came out yesterday but Nicotero mentioned that they were really trying to go for more expansive shots in the premere. They actually attached a camera to an aerial drone to film a few of the scenes, which they've never done before. Really cool stuff.

 

[The Artisan]

Oh Eugene er, I mean, The Artisan.... Of course it was. Many people saw the similarities and connected the two. Everyone on Reddit and I think everyone on GAF, I believe, when they saw that painting and when they saw her at Terminus.

that painting's creepy as fuck.

 

[Escape Goat]

The Terminus people used to live in Alexandria?

 

[bearythebear]

I liked the ep. The show works best when there's less sappy "are we the walking dead?" stuff, and more big action set pieces.

I have no interest in whatever the fuck is going on with Abraham and Sasha, or creepy Rick flirting.

 

[thecosmicfly]

...Why couldn't they just build a wall at the top of the pit to guide the walkers back off the cliff? Or start digging a gap/slope in the road for them to slide down? Sure, not a permanent solution, but it'd buy them enough time for the coming weeks to actually hash out a better solution, or find a combine harvester or whatever.

Goddamnit writers Rick, think before you act.

 

[Chorazin]

...Why couldn't they just build a wall at the top of the pit to guide the walkers back off the cliff? Or start digging a gap/slope in the road for them to slide down? Sure, not a permanent solution, but it'd buy them enough time for the coming weeks to actually hash out a better solution, or find a combine harvester or whatever.

Goddamnit writers Rick, think before you act.

Same reason why said about building barricades. The noise and proximity of food would have drawn more and made them work harder at breaking free.

 

[The Artisan]

The Terminus people used to live in Alexandria?

no. i was just asking an outdated question.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Was he just trying to inspire angry commentary?

He (and a lot of other critics have) removed the comments section from his page, so who knows?

 

[Sadist]

Haven't had a chance to read all the EW interviews that came out yesterday but Nicotero mentioned that they were really trying to go for more expansive shots in the premere. They actually attached a camera to an aerial drone to film a few of the scenes, which they've never done before. Really cool stuff.

Felt that the season opener had a lot of great shots actually. Improvement over the earlier seasons.

 

[hey_monkey]

He (and a lot of other critics have) removed the comments section from his page, so who knows?

Ehhhh, comments on reviews and criticism can be spoiler hotbeds so I don't fault them reconsidering comment sections.

 

[Zoe]

...Why couldn't they just build a wall at the top of the pit to guide the walkers back off the cliff?

You realize at some point they would build up high enough that there wouldn't be enough damage to them, right?

It's happened in real life

 

[The Artisan]

uh oh, has this been posted yet? ratings/views actually slumped. i was hoping for another record breaker.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-walking-dead-season-5-premiere-ratings-1201615801/

 

[Palpable]

uh oh, has this been posted yet? ratings/views actually slumped. i was hoping for another record breaker.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-walking-dead-season-5-premiere-ratings-1201615801/

Yes

 

[The Artisan]

Yes

my bad.

all I had to do was scroll up.

 

[vityaz]

Now that I think about it, whoever activated the horn back at Alexandria couldn't have known that it would draw the herd, since as far as they know, the group had only gone out for a trial run and weren't supposed to be putting the plan into action until the next day.

Probably spied on them and ran back, or was with the group when shit went sour.

 

[Ultra Numb]

uh oh, has this been posted yet? ratings/views actually slumped. i was hoping for another record breaker.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-walking-dead-season-5-premiere-ratings-1201615801/

It was going to happen eventually... I'm actually kinda surprised that the show has had this kind of growth for this long... and that's assuming next episodes ratings aren't higher which seems questionable but it's TWD. I don't know what to believe with ratings with this show anymore.

We'll see what happens. If the show kill off Daryl in a finale for example, I could see the record being broken again for the following season E01.

 

[Javier]

I thought this was a pretty good episode due to it being quite action-packed, lots of characters being awesome, and a few funny moments. Almost everyone (except Carl) got a moment in the spotlight so it made for a nice way to catch up on the series.

My biggest problem were the dual timelines. Not because they were there, but because of the color/B&W switching. I understand why they did it, but come on, your audience is not dumb. Some of us have watched six full seasons of LOST. We can tell past and present. All you need to do is establish the first flashback with a caption ("A few days earlier...") and we're set for the rest of the episode. I'm also 100% positive some flashback scenes were in the promos in full color, so this feels like a last minute change.

But all in all, it was good. The action scenes were exciting and the character building moments were interesting. Not among the best episodes, but enjoyable.

Memorable moments:

- Holy shit at the zombie hoard at the beginning. Gimple wasn't joking when he said zombies will be a bigger threat this season.
- It amazes me how forgiving Glenn is. Had Rick been there Nicholas would have died back in the Noah death episode. I do kinda like the fact that he's redeeming himself while working with Glenn and Heath. Speaking of, Heath is pretty cool. Loved his interactions with Glenn ("Are you ready?" "No, but since you're doing it anyway").
- Carol still freaks me out. But I love Morgan can see through her ruse, as well as Carol's none-too-pleased reaction. I wonder how long before Carol tells Rick that Morgan has to die or something like that.
- Unpopular opinion, but I don't really hate Ron. Pete may have been an asshole and a wife-beater, but he was still Ron's dad, so Ron's attitude towards Rick is understandable. To be honest, I was a bit bothered by the scene where Rick talks to Ron like he's talking to his own son. I can buy that Rick didn't want to bring up the subject, but here he was acting like if nothing had happened.
- Poor Gabriel. Offering his help and then Rick telling him "No." without hesitation was brutal. That, coupled with getting told by Deanna he was wrong earlier in the episode, probably makes him the character with the worst shoes to be on.
- Best line of the episode goes without a doubt to Abraham. ("We're doing it live!")
- And finally, RIP Carter. Just when I was starting to like you. You may be lucky if we get another flashback.

 

[someday]

I think it's interesting that during Talking Dead they asked the viewers the question had Nicholas redeemed himself during the episode. When 70% of the respondents said NO, Nicotero and Gimple seemed actually surprised. I think this shows us that they feel they've done enough to make Nicholas a good guy all of a sudden, after one moment of not getting a main killed.

 

[SamuraiX-]

My biggest problem were the dual timelines. Not because they were there, but because of the color/B&W switching. I understand why they did it, but come on, your audience is not dumb. Some of us have watched six full seasons of LOST. We can tell past and present. All you need to do is establish the first flashback with a caption ("A few days earlier...") and we're set for the rest of the episode. I'm also 100% positive some flashback scenes were in the promos in full color, so this feels like a last minute change.

I don't think you're wrong about the bold. From an interview it sounded like the decision was made/changed from what they did originally to the black and white not long before the premiere last weekend. And you say that it should be obvious but a few people in this thread didn't seem to get it. Nicotero is pushing Gimple to leave the scenes in color for the Blu-ray release though.

I think it's interesting that during Talking Dead they asked the viewers the question had Nicholas redeemed himself during the episode. When 70% of the respondents said NO, Nicotero and Gimple seemed actually surprised. I think this shows us that they feel they've done enough to make Nicholas a good guy all of a sudden, after one moment of not getting a main killed.

I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot more to Nicholas's redemption arc. Maybe they were hoping the audience would show some sympathy. 30% isn't bad to me considering most people wanted him about as dead as Gabriel last season. I think it was a good first step for Nicholas in this ep. His arc should be interesting to watch.

 

[bidguy]

i thought that heath guy was sasha with glasses at first lol

 

[Escape Goat]

Do they have indoor plumbing? Toilet paper? These are things worth fighting for.

 

[WadiumArcadium]

Finally got round to watching it and I really enjoyed it. Having Morgan back is really great and I seem to be in the minority that liked the flashbacks. The black and white was a nice callback to the comics. Speaking of which. Heath looks like he's been pulled straight out of them. I already like him, hope he sticks around.

I'm in the 'good plan' camp. It's not like they had all the time in the world to come up with an alternative.The CGI was a bit wonky at times but I appreciated the larger scale they were going for.

I reckon Enid is the horn blower.

 

[Majestad]

What's the consensus on the past episode?

I thought it was interesting, although the pacing was wonky. It was really impressive to see such a shitload of zombies though, and Eugene's plan was good stuff.

 

[Escape Goat]

What's the consensus on the past episode?

I thought it was interesting, although the pacing was wonky. It was really impressive to see such a shitload of zombies though, and Eugene's plan was good stuff.

It was an entertaining episode that had the group working collectively to avert disaster instead of Rick saving the day with a gun or Michonnes sword.

The cast needs to be thinned out. Everyone except for the original crew are interchangeable at this point. Rick, Darryl, Carol and Glenn have established skills/roles in the group. They have purpose. And until they leave I dont see the writers letting anyone else develop too much.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

My biggest problem were the dual timelines. Not because they were there, but because of the color/B&W switching. I understand why they did it, but come on, your audience is not dumb. Some of us have watched six full seasons of LOST. We can tell past and present. All you need to do is establish the first flashback with a caption ("A few days earlier...") and we're set for the rest of the episode. I'm also 100% positive some flashback scenes were in the promos in full color, so this feels like a last minute change.

Remember when they did flashbacks in season 4 with Bob and everyone was confused even though they made it super obvious that they were flashbacks? Yeah.

 

[The Artisan]

It was going to happen eventually... I'm actually kinda surprised that the show has had this kind of growth for this long... and that's assuming next episodes ratings aren't higher which seems questionable but it's TWD. I don't know what to believe with ratings with this show anymore.

so will the views continue decline per every season premier from here on out? did twd finally hit its peak of popularity with season 5?

We'll see what happens. If the show kill off Daryl in a finale for example, I could see the record being broken again for the following season E01.

there is no fucking way they're gonna do that. in fact I feel like they would only even do that to provoke the audience, knowing how much of a following daryl has.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

so will the views continue decline per every season premier from here on out? did twd finally hit its peak of popularity with season 5?

Only time will tell.

 

[The Artisan]

Only time will tell.

well, in the time between season 5's finale and 6's premier, quite a few million people aren't as hyped for the show as they used to be

 

[hey_monkey]

May have just been a lot of cord-cutters.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Fear the walking dead probably turned some people off. Too much zombie content now. They should have at least spaced the 2 out some.

 

[SamuraiX-]

Although those initial numbers weren't comprehensive, the only explanation for the viewer count dropping by over a million between the Season 5 finale and Season 6 premiere is that a good chunk of dead heads got their fix from FTWD. Pretty funny if that were the case considering the show would've accomplished exactly the opposite that AMC wanted. lol

I mean, the Season 3 finale was probably the lamest one of the entire series and viewer numbers spiked by almost 4 million between that and the Season 4 premiere.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Although those initial numbers weren't comprehensive, the only explanation for the viewer count dropping by over a million between the Season 5 finale and Season 6 premiere is that a good chunk of dead heads got their fix from FTWD. Pretty funny if that were the case considering the show would've accomplished exactly the opposite that AMC wanted. lol

I mean, the Season 3 finale was probably the lamest one of the entire series and viewer numbers spiked by almost 4 million between that and the Season 4 premiere.

yeah are the numbers we usually get from nielson? I could swear they aren't...

but yeah I could see walking dead fatigue due to FTWD. And now they're going to do talking dead for that too. The show aint bad from the little I've seen but eyeroll. lol.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I definitely think Fear the Walking Dead cannibalized part of The Walking Dead's ratings and hype. We'll see where things stand in the coming weeks, but even if TWD's ratings don't bounce back, it was probably worth it for AMC to have a second (very popular) zombie show on the air.

 

[Teemo]

Has the show or comics mention how the walkers don't completely decompose and wither away? Those walkers were busting their heads wide open by walking into the barricade.