Powerful for fans to see Darryl cry.

Half a season to save Amy and she dies anyways. Nice.

Often it's the journey, not the destination.

Any time they spend an entire episode on 1 character you know their time is up soon. The Gov, Hershel, Beth...just wait I'm sure there will be an episode for mullet mania at some point.

I'm not really sure I understand the motivation for Dawn(?) to want the young guy (didnt he do some famous commercial?) back. What was the point of making that stand for a kid that keeps running away from your place? Seemed way too forced unless I just completely missed something in there.

I know. I already admitted that I am not the target demo for this show. That said, I came to the realization last night that all this show seems to be about is 1) Meet new outsiders, 2) Lose someone we are supposed to care about, 3) Maybe add some friends and move one, 4) Back to 1.... All with the point of creating "drama" and character growth. The show is no longer about the Zombie Apocalypse (yes, I guess it never was) and that's just straight up disappointing to me.

I want their deaths to mean something, and I don't think they ever will.

She could not let Rick get the better of her, she was just trying to one up him by forcing him to turn over the guy.

Straight up pissing match.

And it fits with the narrative we'd been given (especially in light of the challenge to her authority she'd just fended off), she was looking for a way to reassert herself.

That's Chris, from Everybody Hates Chris

For me, the weakness of the whole hospital storyline was that I just... didn't really care about any of those people. Until the last episode, I had a hard time getting a really good sense of things. Dawn finally started to coalesce into a pretty interesting character in the last episode, which finally started to pull things together for me and made the arc more meaningful, but until then... not so much.

I did like seeing an alternative "society." It's interesting to see how different types of regimes form up under these circumstances. I did enjoy that aspect of it.

In general, the show is what it is. It's capable of some really great scenes, but it's also a bit clumsy at times and very capable of missteps. Still, overall, acknowledging it's flaws, it's probably the show I look forward to watching the most of anything currently on TV. I enjoy it.

Something vaguely interesting just hit me about the end of last night's episode.

We saw "Stone Cold Rick Grimes" at the beginning of the episode when he bumpdrafted the escaping hostage (hey, let's call him what he was). So everybody is in "okay, he's totally gone Shane" mode. Talking Dead had Rick's total one strike & you're out mindset as a fairly prominent topic.

But the very end of the final scene, despite his hardened atttitude, he still offers a chance to anyone who wanted out of Grady to come with our merry band.

Is that consistent? Or incongruous?

I feel like you could always bank on a good premiere and a good finale. That was the definition of meh. In order to get the emotional effect they wanted, they needed to kill Carol. Nobody gives a shit about singing Amy.

I think it's pretty consistent. Rick is definitely Stone Cold, but he's still willing to give people a chance. One. A single chance. If they fuck with him or his people, he will end them, but he's still not closed into giving people a chance to join them. Been plenty of examples of that, most recently (useless) Gabriel and Noah.

I also don't blame anyone from the hospital for NOT going with Rick. I mean, yeah he offered, but the whole group looks a bit like a bunch of crazy people.

I gotta disagree on that one. While somewhat polarizing, she had a pretty strong appeal to a lot of folks.

Melissa McBride: 310k Twitter followers
Emmy Kinney: 505k Twitter followers

And I'd say that's not an inaccurate representation of the popularity of the two. Carol is more useful than Beth, I don't think she's as beloved by the fans.

People cried when Beth died. Unless it's hugely dramatic (which is a definite trend for this show) I think they'll be more storyline concerned by a Carol death but not nearly as emotionally impacted by her absence.

Good riddance to a useless character.

Wait.

Have any of you been driven to tears by this show? Beth's death or otherwise? I think the last time a TV show made me tear up was the Futurama episode where Fry's dog Seymour is shown waiting for him in front of the pizza parlor for the rest of his life....

No tears for Beth, but I'll admit I got a little misty when Opie bought it on SOA :eek:

Ive cried at least 5-6 times, probably more over the length of the series. Beth dying didnt make me cry, but the reactions from Daryl and Maggie brought it on quick. Even watching the Talking Dead and seeing Emmy Kinney breakdown got me to well up. Im a big ole baby when it comes to tv/movies for some reason.

Herschel. Dale was close. Merle was heartwrenching.

my wife cried - the first time I've noticed her do that during this show.

Me? I'm just glad the stupid hospital arc is over. In a show that occasionally features some bad writing, this segment was the absolute worst.

I knew someone died and there was a huge outcry, so honestly I was thinking it might have been Darryl getting killed. So when Beth was the one I actually was a little relieved.

the only death I can think of that really got me was Sofia.

His got me for sure, only time I have cried for this show.

I didn't cry for Sophia. But damn I think I just stared at the screen really hard for a good long time after the credits rolled. That one was brutal.

I dont know if it follows the comic story linearly but the hospital would have felt better timed if it happened sooner. Perhaps after the prison.

I know there would be logical knowledge gaps that the group would have to a degree but the hospital just feels too ridiculous to still be plausible after what, well over a year in this world? I know the arguments for Dawn and others to keep holding on to hope and all...but it seems to me the experiences of the cops that go out on missions would be enough to negate that hope at some point much sooner.

I really dont like to be critical of shows that are premised on the absurd, but its getting more and more difficult for me to suspend my disbelief at times.

This show has never made me feel anything other than annoyance.

Never cried on this show. Maybe tears of joy when what's her face died.

Andrea, Lori or Beth? For me it was all of the above.

Lori.

And you keep watching it why?

For me, the two most emotionally powerful scenes were:

1. The scene from the first episode where Morgan tries and fails to kill his wife with the rifle. Just an amazing performance.

2. The entire last few minutes of the episode from when it's clear that Carol has to kill that little girl until Carol and Tyreese left that house. That entire thing was gutting.

Steve, I know what you mean, because we're talking a whole season of episodes (second half last season, this first half season) since the prison, but think about the actual timeline.

The prison feels FOREVER ago. But in that world, the Governor died maybe, 2-3 weeks ago.

For me, your #1, while powerful, was muted because it came in the first episode. We were still getting used to this world and accepting the world view. There was tragedy everywhere. I think it kinda buried the Morgan-wife thing a little.

Your #2 and Sophia were very strong moments. I would also put up the confrontation between Rick and Shane in the second to last episode of Season Two as a very intense moment as well.

Hershel with the Governor was pretty brutal of course, and Rick versus the biker gang leader is a big time intensity winner (although that isn't about emotional intensity but shock value).

I don't think I would've cared much about Beth's death, but the way it happened was so dumb it negated any impact. Your group is the one with guns drawn, but instead of trying to tell Rick or Noah it's not happening you decide to give her a non-fatal stabbing with scissors? Good riddance.

My impression was that Beth was going for a fatal blow with the scissors - aiming for the neck - but fucked it up and ended up getting a bullet in the head for it.

He does the same thing in the Sons of Anarchy thread. Never really understood it either. I happen to like both shows but for shows like Lost and West Wing that started out great but lost my interest I didn't waste my time watching and bitching about them. I just stopped watching.

As for Beth... Didn't care. Worthless character that we were supposed to care about. And I would care about Rick, Carl, Daryl, and Glen so it's not like I'm not emotionally invested I just think she was a terrible character.

I loved the hopital at first as a short detour showing a different way that different people are living in this world. We saw all we needed to in the first episode at the hospital and I really liked that. Everything after that first episode didn't do enough to give me an attachment to it and we already knew enough about the general idea there that it felt like wasted time.

I don't need to care about people if I get a quick look (one episode) and then we move on. This was way too far past that to work though. They did an ok enough job with Dawn in the mid-season finale, but that only adds to the running joke about how learning more about a side character means they are probably dying in the next 45 minutes.

I am fine w/ Beth and what happened with her. They should have tried to develop her sooner than they did, but that didn't happen, when they did finally give her some attention it went just fine for me. Outside of the actual death itself feeling dumb and silly, of course. But her general arc was decent enough.

Tears of joy I hope?

Seriously though, they handled her death really really well so I can understand being moved by it, but her character was such a train wreck I was just relieved they actually got rid of her.

I actually thought, watching "live", that she stabbed her in the shoulder/upper chest. It was only later that I realized she was aiming for the neck & basically missed.

I know I'm bad. I have poor TV self esteem problems. I keep hoping this show will become more. I just can't quit it.

Dola

I may have been spoiled about Beth dying like 2 months ago which obviously meant this whole arc was pointless to follow.

It never looked to me like she was going for the neck - she never appears to raise her shoulder enough, but the scissors were also somehow pointing down in Dawn's chest and in her left shoulder when Beth clearly was stabbing up from the waist on the opposite side, so I'm not sure how much I should read into anything. (Link to .gif here - https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/rip-beth.gif )

Either way, I definitely think there was a better way to handle (and write) that scene rather than having the hostage exchange work and Beth decide to give a monologue and stab Dawn then... Maybe have Dawn demand Noah (and Beth stab her/get shot) after Carol was exchanged but before Beth was, or at least have Beth give a little attempt to dissuade Noah from just walking over on his own when the two sides were in a Mexican standoff with seemingly equal firepower (if not an advantage to the Ricktatorship.)

Maybe if Dawn just was like "we saw you shoot that guy" and then executed her to get even.

I saw it as Beth sacrificing herself to save Noah, I kinda expected them to say that during the Talking Dead, but nope.

I hated that Beth was shot basically from the chest up, but the hole in her head was dead center top and the exit wound was right out the back. Little things like that drive me nuts.

Not much in the way of spoilers in the interview (as long as you've seen the mid-season finale) but it was interesting to see showrunner Gimple give credence to my gut instinct watching it in real-time.



'The Walking Dead' Showrunner Scott Gimple on the Finale's Big Death and the Return of You-Know-Who | Yahoo TV - Yahoo TV

Or had a sniper take out one of them as they were leaving, but I guess given how they're approaching things now they never would have left the hospital until they got their revenge.

JIMGA's link reminded me of Eugene and another annoyance (although this one is more of a TV trope than Walking Dead-specific.) I've had concussions before to the point of being/feeling useless for a couple days after - it's possible to show a person awake but disoriented like that. If someone actually gets knocked out cold for an hour, let alone multiple days, they almost certainly have serious brain damage!

I didn't follow the link, but just reacting to your spoiler...

Exactly my thoughts as well.

I drew the same conclusion you did ... but it seemed pretty overwhelmingly the other way around from nearly all the reactions I saw, both on TD and on social media.

Regarding Dawn, I don't see why there would be any confusion over whether she meant to shoot Beth in the head. She was just as surprised as everyone else, and started to explain it was an accident... I'm actually pissed at Daryl for shooting her. She was a lot more interesting than Beth as a character.

The guy who played the villain in Collateral Damage is fronting the new Walking Dead spinofff

Tom Cruise?