The Walking Dead -- TV Series Thread

[stevew]

Loved the "in memorium" segment on tonight's Talking Dead.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

Loved the "in memorium" segment on tonight's Talking Dead.

Unless I missed it, they left out "Walker, Texas Ranger" ... which I was kinda waiting for during the roll

[JonInMiddleGA]

Somewhat redundant if you just walked Talking Dead but there's a good bit here (totally spoiler for tonight's ep, quasi-spoilers for next season)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...ichonne-301394

[mckerney]

Anyone else hoping the Lori miscarries and the zombie fetus eats her from the inside?

[Easy Mac]

I assume they're just going to lock Carl in solitary confinement at the prison so he doesn't get out, right?

Also, since I haven't read the comics and have no idea if/when Carl dies, do people think his story line will play out like it does in the comics, given that the actor will age much faster in real life than he would in the comics?

[Draft Dodger]

I gave a big fist pump as soon as I saw the flash of the blade that saved Aundrea.

I agree that the episode had a lot of WTF moments, which is surprising after last week seemed so...together

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I assume they're just going to lock Carl in solitary confinement at the prison so he doesn't get out, right?

Also, since I haven't read the comics and have no idea if/when Carl dies, do people think his story line will play out like it does in the comics, given that the actor will age much faster in real life than he would in the comics?

and WHEN will producers and casting agents discover that kids age?

[chadritt]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

and WHEN will producers and casting agents discover that kids age?

The character is ten....who else could they cast other than a kid?

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

and WHEN will producers and casting agents discover that kids age?

I actually wouldn't complain if they occasionally recast a kid's role if the series continues over seasons, but the scope of the show is condensed. Is it messy from a visual standpoint, of course. But if it gives us a stronger or better narrative, then just do it. I would be fine if they just put a bullet in Carl, because the character sucks and the actor is annoying. But taking Lost as an example, they obviously had something try wanted to do with Walt, but they just seemed to not remember kids age. That role should have just been recast and deal with a slightly off visual continuity.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Chandler Riggs turns 13 this summer IRL, albeit looking younger than his real age thus far, but isn't Carl much younger than that in the source?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I thought the tidbit about Herschel revealed in both the interview I linked & on tonight's TD was interesting

Spoiler

The original script was to kill Herschel last week, they changed their mind & decided there was more story there to tell. I tend to agree, plus now we can wait for him to die each & every week

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Chandler Riggs turns 13 this summer IRL, albeit looking younger than his real age thus far, but isn't Carl much younger than that in the source?

Wait, a 13 year old boy has a worse throwing motion than my two year old girl? How is that possible.

[Jas_lov]

If Lori is pissed at Rick because he didn't protect Carl how about watching him to make sure he doesn't leave the house! That made no sense. Shane did try to kill her husband, you'd think she would be on his side. Decent episode otherwise. Next season Lori needs to die.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Wait, a 13 year old boy has a worse throwing motion than my two year old girl? How is that possible.

It's like an inverse Bart Simpson. They cast a girl as Carl so that he wouldn't get too manly.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Wait, a 13 year old boy has a worse throwing motion than my two year old girl? How is that possible.

He's a theater kid, what can I tell you?

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

If Lori is pissed at Rick because he didn't protect Carl how about watching him to make sure he doesn't leave the house! That made no sense. Shane did try to kill your husband, you'd think she would be on his side. Decent episode otherwise. Next season Lori needs to die.

I was really hoping that there would have been much more carnage, because so many of the characters are so useless. I'm assuming that Hershel's one daughter might have been saved for a prison related story line. I'd be happy if Lori dies in childbirth or something.

And I think it will be excellent if Andrea turns more into a badass next season.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I actually wouldn't complain if they occasionally recast a kid's role if the series continues over seasons, but the scope of the show is condensed. Is it messy from a visual standpoint, of course. But if it gives us a stronger or better narrative, then just do it. I would be fine if they just put a bullet in Carl, because the character sucks and the actor is annoying. But taking Lost as an example, they obviously had something try wanted to do with Walt, but they just seemed to not remember kids age. That role should have just been recast and deal with a slightly off visual continuity.

and, they should announce it like they do on the soaps, with a voiceover. "Now playing the roll of Carl..."

[Grover]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Anyone else hoping the Lori miscarries and the zombie fetus eats her from the inside?

I had been thinking about this. If they're all infected... what becomes of the fetus as it develops.

[Swaggs]

With the prison story-arc coming up, I am guessing that next season will be the pinnacle of the series.

Good episode overall. Nothing too surprising, but awesome to see Michonne and the CGI prison (hopefully they'll work on that a bit for next season).

I liked how they revealed that they were all infected in the comic, much better. Hopefully not too spoilerish, but be warned if you plan to read them:

Spoiler

in the comic, someone commits suicide and then comes back. Much spookier and edgier, in my opinion. Speaking of, hopefully we get to see Tyrese soon.

[Brownkeg8]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Good episode overall. Nothing too surprising, but awesome to see Michonne and the CGI prison (hopefully they'll work on that a bit for next season).

my first thought of the prison shot, looked like an attempt to make it appear as it did in the comic book.

[Hammer755]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I could do without the headshot after headshot at distance with a handgun from a moving vehicle.

I do like the show, but there are consistently things like this that drive me crazy. It's difficult enough to hit a stationary target from that distance while standing still. But to hit a moving spot not more than a square foot in area while driving in a bumpy field and achieve near-100% accuracy is crazy.

Also, the show seems to mess with the zombie sliders at their discretion when it suits their needs. They showed a walker climbing a vertical fire escape ladder in one of the episodes in downtown Atlanta, but now they can't traverse the ladder in the barn where Rick & Carl escaped?

[Kodos]

Yeah, the accuracy was driving me insane. Headshot after headshot after headshot. I can tell you from Left 4 Dead ... it ain't that easy!

[cthomer5000]

You can't fit 8 people in a minivan in a life or death situation?

[stevew]

I'm annoyed with how each day lasts approximately 4 hours.

[Ragone]

Hey Jimmy.. Pull the rv over here to completely expose yourself to the rampaging horde of zombies so we can get away.. k thx bye!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ragone

Hey Jimmy.. Pull the rv over here to completely expose yourself to the rampaging horde of zombies so we can get away.. k thx bye!

Dude didn't even have the driver's side window closed, I was pretty sure he was gonna end up as zombie chow

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

You can't fit 8 people in a minivan in a life or death situation?

Only if they are clowns...

[Blackadar]

Decent episode with three glaring problems.

1. This ain't Mass Effect or Counterstrike, folks. The head shot parade was insane and defied belief. Trying to shoot zombies in the head while driving 20-30 MPH over rough terrain isn't going to happen. Also, how many shots does that rifle have, Hershel? 25? 30?

2. Jimmy's death was moronic. You pull over into a herd and don't even have the door closed?

Ok, I could forgive those two...but this next one almost ruined it for me.

3. Lori's reaction was again evidence of horrible, sloppy writing where there's no consistency. Just a few episodes ago she was telling Rick to essentially kill Shane. Now she's upset when the deed is done in self-defense? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Even my wife, who is much more forgiving than I am, said that was "dumb".

But at least "Teh Stupid" was covered up by some good zombie action.

Also, I was wondering if anyone else caught this. In Episode 1, Rick sees a helicopter in Atlanta and starts to gallop after it. That's when he turns the corner and meets up with a huge pack of zombies and has to take refuge in the tank. That's the real start of his zombie journey, which ultimately puts him at the farm. This pack of zombies followed a helicopter (the same one, perhaps?) out of Atlanta and, like Rick, ultimately ends up at the farm. I just thought that was interesting and some nice consistency.

[samifan24]

I was so confused about Hershel's people who died: one of his daughters and Jimmy, right? Which one was Jimmy again?

[samifan24]

Oh and here's what I don't understand: the zombies aren't smart enough to open doors or rip down fences but they know that a person is flying a helicopter and to follow it to find other people and food? How does that make sense?

[stevew]

That was Otis' wife and Jimmy. Jimmy was with Hershel's suicidal daughter. And he was possibly born in a barn, since he forgot to close the door in the RV.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Oh and here's what I don't understand: the zombies aren't smart enough to open doors or rip down fences but they know that a person is flying a helicopter and to follow it to find other people and food? How does that make sense?

They're not smart enough to follow it to find other people and food. It's far more instinctual. They're probably attracted by movement and sound. Since that was the only external source of movement and sound, the chopper started them on their path.

If it was the same chopper from Episode 1 (I think it was), then remember it took weeks for the herd to get out to the farm. Following the chopper was just the start of the journey for the herd - the rest of it was sheer dumb (bad) luck.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Jimmy's death was moronic. You pull over into a herd and don't even have the door closed?

IIRC it was previously established that zombies could get through that door. Andrea trapped in the bathroom? I don't recall that door being left open.

Lori's reaction was again evidence of horrible, sloppy writing where there's no consistency. Just a few episodes ago she was telling Rick to essentially kill Shane. Now she's upset when the deed is done in self-defense? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

It seemed dumb but Talking Dead kind of went with the same notion that I mentioned while watching it: she's not so much pissed at him for killing Shane in self-defense as she is (however clumsily) upset with herself for her role in it, with Rick for not telling her what Jenner said, and by extension for the notion that she may be carrying a zombaby, It's not just that she's pissed at Rick, it just looked that way.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by chadritt

The character is ten....who else could they cast other than a kid?

A midget!

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

You can't fit 8 people in a minivan in a life or death situation?

Not anymore, since it was an Hyundai. The show was sponsored by Mazda now so they couldn't make the Hyundai that awesome any more.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Why is Lorie mad at Rick? That makes less than zero sense? If Rick had told Shane they were turning back on the Randall search after he figured it out, he would have just killed Rick anyway.

Based on the link Jon posted and just generally, Lori being Lori, her reaction made sense to her. I think Lori is just a pretty selfish and unpleasant person. Remember during the whole Dale's Pleas For Randall episode, when Rick was trying to decide. She said she would support him, but never went as far to say that he was making the right decision. It was very flimsy.

Lori tends to run hot and cold. I think Lori was racked with a bit of guilt at what she caused. She slept with Shane, she went back and told him it was meaningful, she told rick Shane was "dangerous". You add the whole, you're infected, your baby too, into the mix and after everything that happened, she reacted as she is wont to do... pulling away and trying to blame someone else. Based on flashbacks and from what we've seen so far, she and Rick haven't been a great match for a while.

Also, Rick didn't really deliver the news all that compassionately. He was pretty cold and distant, not even looking her in the eye when he talked about it. Again, this is very consister with Rick's character since he isn't one to talk about things really.

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Also, why does the big reveal even matter? It changes practically nothing. It's not like they're immortal, they're going to die anyway.

The big reveal matters for a whole host of reasons. First, it means there are likely a TON of more zombies than anyone originally thought. It also means that this thing isn't likely going to go away. You can't kill all the zombies (or most) and hope that's that. So long as people die and aren't disposed of properly there's a risk.

Second, for the immediate group, it was really dangerous for Rick to keep that bit of information secret. What if he had died before he told anyone? The knowledge that everyone is infected and that anyone who dies, regardless of how, will turn into a zombie could have led to one or more deaths. For example, someone gets shot in the stomach and dies. They leave that person's corpse alone for a bit while they make sure those who were bit and/or scratched are burned/head shotted or whatever, that person gets up and bites someone and all hell breaks loose...

It was a very dangerous secret to have. Life or death type of stuff.

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Their reactions to Rick made no sense. The idea that they were all appalled that he killed Shane under those circumstances was something they couldn't understand. Didn't Herschel watch Rick kill 2 guys in a bar for the exact same reason 2 weeks ago?

I agree with Jon, I thought the reactions were all pretty understandable. I think Hershel, of all people, is totally a Rick supporter. Ever since the barn and then bar, Hershel has been all "Let Rick decide..."

As for the rest, I think they were just a bit stunned with how Rick just said it. They are all afraid, tired, hungry and just found out Rick had been keeping a huge secret from them. Then he drops the "I killed Shane" bomb. It's all a bit much to take. What he said made sense, but no one actually saw what happened. They just have to take Rick's word for the fact that it was self defense. Shane wasn't two random strangers in a bar. He'd been a key member of the group since the beginning. He was really their leader before Rick showed up. He was a bit crazy and unstable there at the end, but still had never harmed anyone in the group and a lot of his ideas and decisions were the right call, despite being harsh.

Originally Posted by stevew

I was really hoping that there would have been much more carnage, because so many of the characters are so useless. I'm assuming that Hershel's one daughter might have been saved for a prison related story line. I'd be happy if Lori dies in childbirth or something.

And I think it will be excellent if Andrea turns more into a badass next season.

Considering they had just offed two major characters in the prior episode, I think bumping off two minor ones was all we were going to get.

Andrea was quite the bad ass there at the end. I loved that entire scene of her on her own. Great stuff.

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Decent episode with three glaring problems.

1. This ain't Mass Effect or Counterstrike, folks. The head shot parade was insane and defied belief. Trying to shoot zombies in the head while driving 20-30 MPH over rough terrain isn't going to happen. Also, how many shots does that rifle have, Hershel? 25? 30?

2. Jimmy's death was moronic. You pull over into a herd and don't even have the door closed?

Ok, I could forgive those two...but this next one almost ruined it for me.

3. Lori's reaction was again evidence of horrible, sloppy writing where there's no consistency. Just a few episodes ago she was telling Rick to essentially kill Shane. Now she's upset when the deed is done in self-defense? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Even my wife, who is much more forgiving than I am, said that was "dumb".

1. Eh, it's a zombie show. It's pretty common in zombie books and movies and what not for headshots to be the exception, not the rule. People only tend to miss the head when its necessary to make things a little more dramatic (see, e.g., the attack of zombie Randall on Darryl and Glenn). They showed the old man reloading at least once off screen and maybe he did so a few times on screen.

2. I don't think his death was that moronic. They really panicked. They just sort of ran out to the vehicles in an effort to mobilize and hopefully drive/lure the zombies away. The general idea was a good one, but it lacked a bit in execution. As I see it, poor Jimmy ran into the RV and was so panicked that he didn't check to see if that side door was locked. He tried to do the brave/right thing pulling up to the barn to get Rick and Carl, but sadly, that door was unlocked and when he ran back to see if he could help... Grab, bite, chew... Nom nom nom.

3. See above. To sum: Lori being Lori and Rick being Rick. You add in all the tensions of the moment and the past few weeks and the fact that bitches be crazy and there you go.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Not anymore, since it was an Hyundai. The show was sponsored by Mazda now so they couldn't make the Hyundai that awesome any more.

Indeed. Maybe Hyundai's marketing dollars got used up by the end of the season and they just couldn't let that old, reliable rig do anything else. It was a good car, but it was also a compact car.

I suppose they could have tried to pile everyone up into the back of T-Dog's pick-up truck.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I guess they've already cast the person in hood and with the samurai sword who saved Andrea there at the end. They just announced it, though I am sure it's been in the bag for a while now.

I am not familiar with the person they cast.

[Easy Mac]

Any estimates on how long Andrea was running?

Even assuming they were planning to hang Randall at dusk, it was established they started searching during the day/evening. Glenn and Darryl got to the Randall killing spot sometime at night, but I wouldn't imagine it could have been maybe an hour of so to get out there and get back, which would put us around 6:30-7:00 PM. The zombie attack started a few minutes after that, but let's be generous and say it was 8 PM. Assuming we didn't see everything, there's still no way the attack took over an hour, which means Andrea hightailed it out of there by 9 PM.

She is then saved by our sword person sometime after dawn, more likely around 6:30 or 7 AM.

This means she had to have been running from zombies for a good 10-11 hours.

Now, I understand zombies were all over the farm, but given that she was running and they were shuffle-walking, and given the difficult terrain that would have made the zombies fall numerous times, surely she could have outrun all of the zombies by morning, right?

[Simbo Klice]

My brother and I decided Herschel was wearing the Metal Gear Solid bandana somewhere on his person, and that's why he didn't have to reload 25 times. As for the driving headshots, it seemed to me like they missed as much as they hit- I was actually pretty happy with that.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Any estimates on how long Andrea was running?

Even assuming they were planning to hang Randall at dusk, it was established they started searching during the day/evening. Glenn and Darryl got to the Randall killing spot sometime at night, but I wouldn't imagine it could have been maybe an hour of so to get out there and get back, which would put us around 6:30-7:00 PM. The zombie attack started a few minutes after that, but let's be generous and say it was 8 PM. Assuming we didn't see everything, there's still no way the attack took over an hour, which means Andrea hightailed it out of there by 9 PM.

She is then saved by our sword person sometime after dawn, more likely around 6:30 or 7 AM.

This means she had to have been running from zombies for a good 10-11 hours.

Now, I understand zombies were all over the farm, but given that she was running and they were shuffle-walking, and given the difficult terrain that would have made the zombies fall numerous times, surely she could have outrun all of the zombies by morning, right?

It's impossible to say.

We have no real sense of time between when they started to look for Randall, which let's say was near dusk, to when Shane and Rick had their standoff. That was the trigger event. Who knows how long they were wandering around the forest for. Was there any indication as to time? It could have been much later than you are guessing.

Also, it's hard to believe that Andrea could have continued to run for that long, especially since she was carrying a large bag of ammo. So, possibly she ran/walk/ran/walk and perhaps even paused to rest, giving the zombies so time to catch up. They don't get tired, remember. It's also hard to say just how large the herd was and even if the zombies that she was encountering in the morning were part of that herd or were just drawn to that area as a result of all the gun shots, driving around and the fire. They are pulled that way and then see fresh meat in the form of Andrea and then start to follow her.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Indeed. Maybe Hyundai's marketing dollars got used up by the end of the season and they just couldn't let that old, reliable rig do anything else. It was a good car, but it was also a compact car.

I suppose they could have tried to pile everyone up into the back of T-Dog's pick-up truck.

But they couldn't! For whatever reason they left that back where they all met up. Didn't quite understand that one.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

But they couldn't! For whatever reason they left that back where they all met up. Didn't quite understand that one.

That's right. The cars they had at the end were Hershel's truck, the Hyundai and Darryl's motorcycle.

Maybe they left the pick-up behind because it was almost completely out of gas. Given the loss of the RV and how they essentially took off without any supplies, I imagine they didn't have anything to use to cyphon gas out of the vehicles.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Oh and here's what I don't understand: the zombies aren't smart enough to open doors or rip down fences but they know that a person is flying a helicopter and to follow it to find other people and food? How does that make sense?

You may have missed it because it was quick, but, the little montage of the herd went from:

1. Eating the dog in Atlanta (I assume it's Atlanta)
2. Hearing the helicopter
3. Following the sound of the helicopter
4. Herd getting bigger and bigger
5. Herd in the trees near Hershel's farm
6. Herd hears gun shot from Carl shooting Zombie-Shane
7. Herd changing direction towards gunshot


I'm willing to suspend my disbelief with the uber accurate head shots and Hershel having found the Infinite Shotgun Shells cheat, so that didn't bother me. That's a classic tv/movie meme, so no biggie. However...Lori. I don't know if it was just bad acting or bad writing or possibly bad editing, but, her reaction to Rick near the end was a bit confusing. So she wants Shane gone...cool. She kind of looks mad when Rick revels what Jenner said...fine. THEN, she freaks out after Rick explains to her what went down with Shane. So, is she mad and not letting Rick touch her, because of Rick not telling everyone what Jenner said or is she puking behind Rick's back because of what he did to Shane? Or is she acting that way because of the Rick/Shane thing? If she's mad because of Rick/Shane...bad writing. If she's mad because of Rick/Jenner...bad acting/possibly bad editing.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

1. Eating the dog in Atlanta (I assume it's Atlanta)

Was that a dog or was that supposed to be Rick's horse? I couldn't quite tell.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Was that a dog or was that supposed to be Rick's horse? I couldn't quite tell.

At first I thought it was Rick's horse, but, it looked too small. Looked to be the same color. And if I remember correctly, one of the zombies was holding the head of the dog and chomping on it. Maybe a nod to Michael Vick?

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

It seemed dumb but Talking Dead kind of went with the same notion that I mentioned while watching it: she's not so much pissed at him for killing Shane in self-defense as she is (however clumsily) upset with herself for her role in it, with Rick for not telling her what Jenner said, and by extension for the notion that she may be carrying a zombaby, It's not just that she's pissed at Rick, it just looked that way.

Also, she only acted stunned as Rick told her about killing Shane. It wasn't until he said that Carl was the one that put down Zombie Shane that she doubled over and got super pissed. So I'm thinking that she's mostly mad over Carl's involvement. Possibly mad at herself somewhat (but lashing out at others) because she didn't keep Carl safe.

[stevew]

9 million viewers, 4.7m 18-49 for the finale. Crazy to think that it did that well in spite of itself.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by sabotai

So I'm thinking that she's mostly mad over Carl's involvement.

Crap, that was actually my #1 point last night sitting here watching it and I was too dumb to include it in my post.

[DanGarion]

Great meme's from the finale. Spoilered for your protection.

Spoiler