Yeah... I don't see any way that he makes it to next season. I'd expect him to go out heroically (probably saving his brother or Carl or something).

BTW, the Shane thing was kind of weird.

Almost like the poor actor needed some money or something. :)

For those that watched both, the new cast member introduced tonight is played by the guy that played Cutty on The Wire. Sounds like those that have read the comics are looking forward to his character, I don't know anything about that but I really like that actor, I can't wait to see where it goes with him.

Thought it was a nice way to end the half-season. I had also forgotten about Merle telling the Gov that Michonne was dead.... so that explained a lot of the Gov's anger in that final scene. Thanks for that callback, Swaggs!

What a solid eight episodes. Just fantastic.

The Govenor is fantastic. The guy playing him is amazing. He pulls it off so well. He's cold, totally insane, but also incredibly personable and charasmatic when he needs to be. As the viewer you see the entire picture, which makes his scenes all the more creepy/impactful, but you could see how people who be duped by him. Easily one of the best TV villians we've had for a while.

I don't really think they are making Merle out to be a good guy at all. Just last episode he was torturing and beating the shit out of Glenn and let loose a walker on him while Glenn was tied to a chair. He was also about to take Glenn and Maggie out and kill them. Lets not forgot he killed one of his own men simply because he didn't want to go after Michonne anymore. Merle is not a sympathetic character. He's been put in this position because he lied to the Govenor about Michonne. Given Darryl was with her, the Govenor's assumption that Merle was working with them is not that big a leap. It will be interesting to see how Merle and Darryl get out of this one.

I liked Rick seeing Shane. Just a few days ago he was so crazy that he was hearing voices and a telephone ring. He's still cracked and a man on the edge and I'm glad that they are still playing that up. I think the actor playing Shane is staring on some new Franka Darabount show - a LA Confidential type thing - so it's not like he needed the work.

The Carol/Axel exchange was the funniest little scene in the 2.5 years of this show.

I would be hard pressed to think of a character who has made a bigger turn around in a half a season than young Carl. He's gone from an annoying little scamp who didn't little more than wander off and get into trouble, into a pretty interesting, compelling kid. His rescue of Tyrese's group was great.

Love the actor playing Tyrese. Seems like we'll be getting the first decent black character on the show since the guy and his son in the first episode. I loved T-Dogg and miss him, but he was not a very well recognized character. Sad to see poor Oscar go, but it was inevitable the moment he agreed to come along.

I am still not sold on Michonne either. I didn't quite understand why she had such a personal vendetta agaisnt the Govenor. I guess she knew he was a bad person and he did send out a group of men to hunt her down and kill her, so maybe that was it. Maybe she felt like she would still be hunted down unless she killed him or something. That fight was brutal.

This was perhaps one of the most annoying leaps in the history of the show for me. I haven't read the source material but I'm reasonably familiar with what it contains. Her hatred of him makes sense given all the events there, but given the changes in the TV show storyline it felt a long way off the mark last night. The motivation for her behavior simply didn't seem to be there on TV, and her tactical blunder in handling the confrontation annoyed the shit outta me as well (should have shoved the walker at him & then taken him out in the next moment).

Awesome 1st half of the season.

I was a little surprised at the Governor turning on Merle as I watched it but reading thru this has kind of reminded me of the little things that have added up in the Governor's mind to give him doubt as to Merle's loyalty/honesty. Though trying to kill Glenn with a walker does taint that line of thought in my mind.

Speaking of Glenn...I thoroughly enjoyed his scenes. My wife & I were both loving how he went from scared/timid Glenn to Rambo-Glenn fighting for survival, tearing apart a walker for weapons, etc. Awesome development of him as he really needed those scenes to make you believe that he is a highly capable guy in this world.

Also agree that the level of hate that Michonne has for the governor has been a little unfounded in the show.

I mean, from Michonne's knowledge (or what we have seen of her knowledge), Rick & his group are more or less doing the same thing the governor's group is doing. They are a group of people who don't trust other people & are fortifying their environment. Michonne's distrust of the governor is fine...but why it led her to essentially work towards his demise is not logical to me. I think they should have had some sort of rift (such as forcing Michonne into those "zombie games" to get her katana back or something).

I guess the issue for Michonne for me comes down to...why would she align with Rick's group more than the Governor's group...if she were to align with ANY group? I'd think it more likely (based on her TV show character development) that she would go back to being a loner as soon as she can.

I forgot about the Merle/Michonne thing until Merle came in after The Governor was attacked. That look that Gov gave Merle was awesome.

Wow, this half-season was good. The last two episodes in particular were intense.

Don't forget that Michonne found that cage with all the walkers (and put them all down) before she left and she found the blood on the tank.

I realize she hasn't been a great character, but I don't think she's been that bad. Her character is kind of brooding and mysterious, with the implication that she's been through some nasty stuff/abuse.

The fresh blood on the human vehicles that Michonne found was pretty telling as well.

I never understood that personally. How does that mean anything?

I mean, I understand not buying into this governor guy from pure instinct...but how is human blood and/or bullets lodged in the vehicles inconsistent with "they got attacked by walkers & were likely shooting at them"? Plenty of bullets are going to miss and, if the soldiers were killed by walkers, plenty of blood would be in lots of places.

I asked myself during this scene...why would a hardened warrior like Michonne have any bones (pardon the bad joke) about this? Why would she have any opinion either way? I mean, she brought her own "friends" along without arms or jaws for the longest time.

Or is it because they are caged? Then shouldnt she have been more offended at Rick & co. caging her in the prison (even after taking her weapon) as opposed to Woodbury where she was "free" to walk around (albeit without her weapon)?



Dont get me wrong, I like her. I just don't find her scenes that have been (presumably) building up her dislike/hatred for Woodbury to be all that logical. I still enjoy it & just follow along & suspend my disbelief by saying "well, they want me to think she hates the governor & Woodbury" so I comply. shurg

It didn't support the narrative that the Governor had given. That they had been overtaken by walkers and that the people of Woodbury were too late to rescue them.

I'd like to add that Carl has really shocked me on his progression this year. I was hoping he was zombie fodder all through the early parts of the show, but now he's probably the best thing on the show. Very interesting turnaround.

Regarding Tyreese's group and the wounded girl - I realize it's probably too late since she was bitten some time ago, but do you think someone from Carl's group should point out that if you amputate her arm, she might not turn? Perhaps the ex-veterinarian lurking around in the background on one leg? It's probably worth a shot before you bludgeon her to death with a hammer.

I think it needed to be chopped immediately. She was a goner by the time they reached the prison.

Midseason Finale was excellent, loved every minute. Although they might want to talk with Rick about this.

Yeah, I think it has to be done pretty quickly. It was a bad spot, right up there near the shoulder. She was a goner pretty much the moment she got bit.

I think in regard to the hole in the fence at the prison, Rick only secured the area where his people would be. He didn't go over to the other side of the prison. I visit another board where people nit-pick the show to death, and no one has mentioned that.

Tyrese's group would have been able to open doors and gates and such that walkers wouldn't have been able to.

It looked like she was dead by the time Carl got them to the room he locked them in. Not worth risking one of their people in that situation.

That was the part of the fence that Axel was complaining about being down in an earlier episode.

Not to mention, that scene ("his third time around") was when they had taken the small fenced in area just outside the prison, before they had even decided to take the prison.

I agree with both of you that's it's not likely to work, but considering you're in a situation with ample cells, possibly a pair of handcuffs, as far as you know some time on your hands, and no definitive knowledge that it won't, I think it'd be worth a mention and a shot.If she was dead then, I take it back - get that hammer Cutty. I don't see why it risks people though if she's still alive now - do it, staunch the bleeding, then lock her in a cell or handcuff her like they did Herschel.

Just finished season 2. I thought things were dragging some what at the beginning of the season, but picked up the last few episodes. Some good shit happened in the last 2-3 episodes. :D

At the behest of someone here, I just watched all of Season 2, and all 8 episodes of season 3.

Awesome.

About time!

Best show on TV, in my opinion. February 10th is seeming very far away right now, unfortunately.

At least we will have Franchise Hockey Manager to hold us over.

Sweet, I'm totally into this show and just discovered "mid-season finale's" and shit like that. However, Feb 10th isn't such a long wait. Can't wait to get started again.

All my students keep telling me it is the best show as well. I'll have to take the DVD plunge soon to start it up. I've got to add this to the other shows that I haven't watched yet: Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Weeds, and now Walking Dead.

I'd go

Breaking Bad
Walking Dead







SOA
Weeds

you forgot Louie! Breaking Bad and Louie are, to me, leaps and bounds above anything else on TV right now. After that I'd put Mad Men, Justified, Parks and Rec and Community (pending what the show will become without Dan Harmon) in a 2nd tier. Walking Dead's 3rd season could end up moving it up into that second tier maybe for me, but its not quite there yet. Homeland and Game of Thrones are the two most notable shows that I haven't seen yet. Maybe Sons of Anarchy too, I'm seeing a lot more chatter about it lately.

I think the pilot episode was the best first episode of a series I have seen.

Thanks for the recs, particularly in the order. I did just have season 1 of Breaking Bad delivered (got a good deal on it) as well as 1-3 of Mad Men (forgot to add those). But Walking Dead is high on my list too.

All of these shows are on Netflix basically if you have that.

I have been told by many people that Breaking Bad is one of the best shows on TV, but I don't understand why I should care about a show that focuses on a guy who has cancer and decides to produce and sell meth to take care of his family. Enlighten me, please, because I can't currently get past my rigid anti-drug principles to make myself watch it.

Now show is for everyone. If you have ridig anti-drug principles such to the extent that you wouldn't care at all, then this one probably isn't for you.

The show is pretty fantastic. Great writing, characters, drama, incredibly tense. Despite the fact that I find the main character pretty deplorable - as you're meant to - I always want him to get away (mainly because I feel bad for other characters).

It's not like the show is pro-meth. They are a means to an end, and are appropriately demonized.

Maybe I'm the only one who does the "What Ifs" on becoming a drug kingpin? I never actually would, but I get bored a lot. I've always found BB to be entertaining drama fantasy. And funny as hell at times.

If the characters are believable and well written, then I suppose I should at least set aside my biases and give it a chance. Believable character development is rare in tv shows.

That is good to know. I've personally witnessed to many lives ruined by drugs, and if they aren't glorified, then I'm more likely to be able to watch and enjoy the show.

Drugs are not glorified at all in the show.

FWIW, I'm probably as hardline an anti-drug guy as you're going to run across (capital offense for 2nd conviction has long been my preference). I'm also an occasional viewer of BB and can't say that I've ever felt like the show noticeably ran afoul of my feelings on the subject.

It's not "pro-drug" that I ever sensed, it deals with them in a fairly matter of fact way, it's the widget that they happen to manufacture & the inherent risk of the industry is essential to the drama of the show. And there's not any hesitation to show the extremely negative outcomes associated with that risky business.

Like I said, take that FWIW.

:eek:

So does that go for any drug, such as pot? Is this your way of cleansing all hippies from the face of the earth?

HB misspelled "rigid" as "ridig."

teehee

I like capitol offences myself.

Clearly not the thread, but I'm not going to go as far as capital punishment. Permanent exile is more where I'd stand.

Absolutely, always has. (This is not a new statement from me by any means, which is why I referenced it so casually here, it's come up on the board more than once previously)

Soon, when it is inevitably made legal nationwide, it won't be an issue anymore and we can tax it properly.

Cool pic that's way too big

Read the latest Walking Dead version, they killed off 1 major (on the list above) and 1 somewhat major character. Major disappointment and no guarantee the TV series will follow the comic.

If you're speaking about "Lucille" I strongly doubt that happens as well.

Glen Mazarra(sp) out as show runner really has me concerned.

Agreed. Hope it doesn't have as big of an effect as I am thinking, but it is worrisome.

Yeah, it is a bit worrisome, given AMC's difficulty keeping and working with it's shows behind-the scenes talent, but I'm willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt until they prove they are incapable of making The Walking Dead a good show.

Sounds better than it is

http://www.freakonomics.com/books/fr...pts/chapter-3/

Recorded the marathon of Season 3 and finished it tonight.

Can't wait for February 10th.

Question for those who are into the comics as well...

Are they an on going series or has it ended and I can get the whole thing in a trade paperback?

It's still an on-going series.

You can collect in two ways:

1. Trade paperbacks. The 17th trade paperback just came out in early December.

2. The Massive compendiums. I think there may only be 2 of them so far. Probably a cheaper route to go (though I haven't compared costs), but the downside is that you really do have to wait a pretty long time between each publication.

I guess you could buy the first two big compendiums and then start picking up the trade paperbacks from where the 2nd one ended. That could work.

They are incredibly fast reads. There isn't a ton of dialogue and there are many panels that are just zombies and/or desolation.

Only a couple weeks away!

I can't wait!!

I believe the timing will work out nicely...

Just as season 3 of "Downton Abbey" is over, my Sunday night viewing will switch back to "The Walking Dead" which will then smoothly transfer over to "Game Of Thrones".

Hopefully the gap between the end of "Game of Thrones" and the last few episodes of "Breaking Bad" won't be too long.

I guess there will be some "True Blood" in there as well, though I don't consider that show to be appointment viewing. I record it and catch it when I can. It's on a lower tier.

New episodes start on Sunday-

According to Feinberg/Sepinwall this season opener is a bit of a "talky" type episode. [bill burr]Oh Jesus[/bill burr]

Anyways, also the Glen Mazzara firing thing is still bizarre, and I gotta wonder what exactly these "creative differences" that lead to the split were. Like if he was attempting to divert from the source material or something.

The first half of this season was really strong. Let's hope that we don't get 8 hours of Andrea being dumb, Merle being Merle and the Governor talking and talking and talking with his dumb fake accent.

Not bad -- I thought the end (the vision that Rick saw) was pretty chilling.

That ending earned a "creepiest moment ever" from my son. I won't go quite that far (little girl in pilot still gets that from me) but it's way the hell up there.

I'm seeing some disgruntled chatter online at the moment but honestly, I don't know if I thought this episode could have gone much better. If anything, I was surprised at the intensity in the first half of the episode.

It's a fine line between the worst of the farm & turning it into a non-stop combat festival. I thought they walked that line exceptionally well with the possible exception of a couple of scenes (a Woodbury scene that felt a little forced and the Carol bit, which I think might be some disturbing foreshadowing & was therefore necessary).

More motherfucking Lori. Just great.

Dola-

I'm guessing that the Merle and Daryl Walking Dead game that comes out will feature this time when they are away from the rest of the group maybe?

My impression from the few screenies I'd seen was that the game was prequel, but you could well be right too.

+1, really solid episode.

Definitely a solid episode. Rick's meltdown at the end of the episode was well done. Things are setting up nicely for a larger confrontation between Rick's group and the Governor.

I liked it well enough.

I think there needed to be an episode that slowed things down a bit and allowed the characters to react to all of the various traumatic experiences that were suffered over the last few episodes.

I liked the fact, for example, that when Rick, Maggie and Glenn were arguing about what happened and trying to push the pick-up off the road that you always saw zombies shuffling in the background. You also have zombies constantly around the prison. It's a far, far cry from the nearly zombie-free farm house of the second season. The issues that they are dealing with are also much more raw, urgent and grim.

My son picked up on that same thing & praised it immediately. I didn't notice until he mentioned it (and then when they turned the shot 90 degrees & you couldn't miss the one just down the gravel road)

I agree, a much more realistic touch to this scene than usual.

I'm not sure I'm liking Rick's mental state arc. I'm just not sold on it adding much to the story yet. I will be very disappointed if there's no other payoff than:

I'll tell you what I'm expecting after last night

Sunday night’s midseason return of the AMC zombie drama delivered 12.3 million viewers and a 6.1 adults 18-49 rating — its biggest yet in both measurements. Against the Grammys... wow.

Talking Dead works much better on an hour format. The other format felt like Hardwick spent half the show coming in and out of commercial break. Since the show is not currently filming, they should have cast members on it nearly every week this year. In the fall, nobody was really available, except when they were killed off like T-Dog

One thing I kept thinking when they were showing the scary silhouette of Ghost Lori was, "Wow. Ghost Lori is nowhere near as bone thin as living Lori. The afterlife must agree with her."

So far we've had Rick's psychotic episode with the telephone, him "seeing" Shane during the gunfight and now this. Stable, he is not.

How much is an ad spot on this show vs a normal network one? Anyways it would be nice if they spent some extra money next year and expanded our landscapes vs getting another season on the barn/prison/static landscape. I rewatched "save the last one" the other day and I love that stand alone type setting.

From an Adweek article earlier this week

Same article says

The Walking Dead Scares Up 12.3 Million Viewers and a 6.1 in the Dollar Demo | Adweek

I'm guessing they sold these episodes at the fall 3rd season rate? I wonder if they will sell the next season at 4-450/30 secs? There's like 30 some spots in an hour right?

Dola-I know selection bias and all that but it sure seems like everyone I encounter watches this show and I can't really recall feeling that before with another show.

Not that much of a bias, 12 million is HUGE nowadays.

Hmm ... lemme think. 46 mins of content give/take, so about 14 mins or 28 :30s per hour. Minus a couple of spots that go back to the local cable systems, and maybe 1-2 that AMC keeps for themselves to promo with.

I suspect they'll get around $350k for the upfront, be in the mid/high 400s for scatter (if the ratings hold). Problem is - for smart buyers anyway - is that pricing is based on the series avg rating but the real bangs for that kind of bucks are the premieres & the finales. You're probably overpaying for the rest of the season to get into those.

edit to add: As for the money, I imagine there'll be some profit-taking for the network & some money put aside for the inevitable cast salary bumps that lie ahead. I'd be surprised if any significant amount of it went toward actually increasing the production budget.

Ok weird I missed your post.


So then I must have not been paying attention with a couple of episodes before the break. That means:

Correct if I'm wrong on that though.

Sure, but I'll have to spoiler it. I'm pretty sure the confusion lies in how I phrased something without expanding on it properly.

Part one of your spoiler... it happened off screen and we just heard the noise so some people wonder if he didn't actually do it.

I think it was left intentionally ambiguous.

Carl fired a shot, but we didn't see where it landed (and Maggie, I believe, was waiting outside for him, so it may have been for her benefit).

When Rick returned, the body was gone.

She was either eaten by fat zombie after Carl shot her or got up on her own (after Carl didn't shoot her)...

I tend to believe Carl shot her, but at this point the TV show has almost completely diverged from the graphic novel, so we will have to see.

I was among those people ... except for Kirkman's confirmation of her death

IIRC, there's actually a more forceful statement somewhere about that, to the effect that they were surprised that anyone doubted the death because it never really crossed their minds to do anything other than kill her.

I tend to believe Carl shot her too. Based on how he's behaved since then, I think it's true. It would actually be a huge diservice to the character if he ended up not doing it.

I am not sure if we've ever witnesses a more improved character in television history from Season 2 Carl to Season 3 Carl. He went from an annoying little scamp who did stupid stuff for plot devices and whose presence on screen was rarely a good thing to, well, a really compelling character. That little kid's been fantastic.

I really don't know if I should spoiler tag this or not, but, I'll err on the side of caution.





I had always thought that Carl did shoot her even though it was off screen. It made me think after reading some posts in here that maybe he didn't shoot her. However in this last episode,


That's what got me thinking after reading some of this thread, since it was off screen, that maybe he really didn't do it. But, I'm firmly back on the side now that he did actually do it.

I agree with you that I think he shot her, and the TV show has diverged, but the one thing I have noticed with the TV show is the writers don't treat us like we are dumb and fuck with our minds that something we expect happened didn't happen.

Apparently in Montana, the zombie apocalypse has begun:

KRTV's Emergency Alert System Hacked To Warn Of Fake Zombie Apocalypse (VIDEO)

Heavy.

Followed by damn.

Okay, so I must have missed it. Who drove that van in and what happened to him/her?

My son said he/she ran out of the gate, I didn't see them either.

My money is on Andrea tbh. They worked too hard to hide the identity, so it's either Andrea or the geek guy.

That finish is probably in the top 3 adrenaline scenes of the show I think. I'm not sure my heart rate ever climbed any higher during a scene.