The Walking "Thread"

[SecondCircle]

**Again, the thread ain't for everybody. If you don't like what you read, please padlock the door on the way out.

Well, for ye Walking Dead fans, come on in when you're done watching and let us discuss the nitty gritty. Characters, plotlines, cliffhangers, kill shots, you can find em all here.

There's refreshments in the back, but we are running low on steaming intestines. Place your thoughts here.

 

[SecondCircle]

So... while I did enjoy the first (midseason?) episode, I do think it was a bit tame. Or mellow. That's not to say that I didn't like the content.

Three strong characters of the series were explored after a devastating loss. Carl's puberty or coming of age I thought were very realistic and character driven. It seems like the "same ole same ole" for me, but it really has a level of authenticity. As a kid, Carl looks up to his father as the leader he is. And when catastrophe strikes, who else to blame in the middle of adolescence that your parent? A lot of stuff was explored there. Especially with his continued efforts to "be on his own" or show that he didn't need his father.

But for me, the highlight was Michonne. Her way of shutting down and becoming that hard and emotionless person in the face of adversity was great. So much was symbolic. Reverting back to using those walker "pets", the ones without arms and jaws to cover her. Then when she saw the tracks in the mud and chose not to follow. It really hammered home how she shut down and didn't wanna open up again. And when she was walking amongst those walkers? Symbolic of an empty shell of a life right? Like shutting people out was like she was already accepting being just another zombie right? Ah. Maybe I read too much into stuff. But I loved her refusal of that fate (samurai-ing all those walkers and finding Rick and Carl.

But I really wanted to know about the other people in the prison. Where is Judith? These? The little girls? What about the bus? Maggie? And her lover boy and her sister? Damn. All in good time I suppose.

It seems there's a LOT of aftermath to follow up with.

Any thoughts?

 

[PennLady]

I haven't seen this yet, ack! when I do, surely I will have things to say.

 

[SecondCircle]

I haven't seen this yet, ack! when I do, surely I will have things to say.

Take your time. The world has ended in here, we've got all the time in the world.

 

[johneb87]

Did anyone else's heart just sink when they showed Hershal's severed head zombified and Michonne had to end it?

 

[lovecraft68]

If it follows the comic you don't want to know what happens to the little girls.

I gave up on the comic as well written as it was.

For me comics are a medium of escapism and child like fantasy.

WD is more depressing than the news.

I can read about violence anywhere and if I want to read about rape I'll see what's going on in India on any given day.

I checked my "cool" card at the door and dropped the title after issue 50 or so.

For fans of Kirkman and Walking Dead check out his Marvel Zombies series. Hilarious, but sort of disturbing at the same time.

Make sure it is the first series though, the second and third did not feature Kirkman

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Did anyone else's heart just sink when they showed Hershal's severed head zombified and Michonne had to end it?

Mine did a little. During the pre-break episode I was wondering about that, because they only cut off his head.


As far as Carl goes...

I think that his struggle is very well written, as well as his authority issues and the fucked-upedness of growing up in this time.

But as a child actor, the kid barely had to act when he was just a loose end always getting into trouble. When he's on his own the kid does great, but when he was having his diatribe with his unconscious father, I was just wincing over and over at the wooden performance.

Super distracting

Also, that Michonne was a fairly wealthy woman who just took up swordfighting for shits and giggles...

Did ANYONE see that coming? I like it.

 

[SecondCircle]

I really liked how they did that michonne dream. Hell I thought it was just another flashback, until of course she placed the machete in the slot with her kitchen knives.

The way they progressively told Michonnes story with the dream degrading into the nightmare her world had become was great. First they had nice clothes, sitting around chatting, then they look all ragged and they're concerned about "camp". Then we see them as her pets. And her baby... man that really spoke volumes. It conveyed a lot of information to the audience about Michonne, while accurately showing us her innermost fears and horrifying reality.

Herschel head? Yeah my jaw kinda dropped. That damn head looked so realistic. (And even more so with a mouth full of pudding )

For all the people that have grown to (understandably) hate the gore factor, TWD has really done it right I think. Brutal enough to tug the heartstrings and make us wanna look away from that characters head, but symbolic enough to make the heart absolutely drop. Movies and shows can sometimes get oversaturated with it, but TWD has some really great SFX guys.

I keep thinking back to that half of a corpse Rick sees in season one....

 

[PennLady]

Okay, just watched. I liked it. Admittedly it was low-key, but I think that's what we needed after the prison fiasco.

I would rather have more of Michonne, for example, than little bits of everyone. So this worked well for me. The dream sequence was great (and I loved seeing Hardison from "Leverage" in there ). As SC noted, I loved the progressive deterioration in the dream from the normal to the terrible present. I think my favorite bit, though, was the katana handle in the knife block. I don't know why, except that perhaps it was a slick and subtle way to show the viewer it was a dream as opposed to just a flashback.

The part with her child was handled well, I think. We already had hints that something like that had happened, and now we have confirmation, but I was glad the confirmation wasn't so... direct, or maybe blatant. As I often say about trusting the reader, they trusted the viewer to put things together.

Rick and Carl were an interesting line to follow. I have to say that several times I expected we might see walkers, but it turned out to be Rick's labored breathing. It was a nice, and again subtle, way of adding some tension in a few scenes. Carl's frustration was understandable and well-played, even if you thought he was being stupid (which, come on, he was). I liked his confession to Rick -- it was a neat contradiction in how his frustration was totally understandable, but he has to do it while Rick's sleeping.

I am of course curious to see what happens to everyone else. As far as the little girls, I haven't read the comics but it seems that so far, based on what I've read, the show tones a lot of that stuff down. For example, I understand that in the comics, Michonne is raped and tortured by the Governor, but that didn't happen in the show.

 

[Seanathon]

I'm also a big fan of the WD series and the comics. I was very disappointed when Shane died because I loved the conflict he brought to the show (his character wasn't nearly as strong in the comic series). Same with Merle.

Glad to see Rick has given up on his gardening hobby and that they have left the confines of the prison. Also glad to see hints of Michonne's background as I love the episodes that show glimpses of the characters' lives before the zombie flu hit, and how it's changed them.

I'd like to see more episodes that deal with how each character survived the initial few weeks when the world went WD, and also episodes that force the characters back into the cities.

I loved the episodes in the first season in Atlanta and at the CDC, and am getting a little bored of them just having to tangle with random walkers and their internal conflicts in the middle of Nowhereville, USA.

Curious to see who the villain will be in Season 4!

 

[BigBubblehead]

Did anyone else's heart just sink when they showed Hershal's severed head zombified and Michonne had to end it?

I know this is a "horror" movie, but THAT was simply horrible!!

I wasn't sure at first how I felt about them only telling the story of these three characters and leaving everyone else out. But now I realize that it was a good move.

I am anticipating that they will gradually introduce the remaining characters only as they interact with these three characters. I could be wrong: next week could be all about Carol or another character.

We'll see.

 

[PennLady]

I know this is a "horror" movie, but THAT was simply horrible!!

I wasn't sure at first how I felt about them only telling the story of these three characters and leaving everyone else out. But now I realize that it was a good move.

I am anticipating that they will gradually introduce the remaining characters only as they interact with these three characters. I could be wrong: next week could be all about Carol or another character.

We'll see.

Yeah, that made you sad all over again. I miss Herschel. :-/

Next week will have Daryl and Beth, Glen, and Maggie at least, judging by a preview I saw on Talking Dead. The preview had D&B together but separated from the others, and it seemed Glen and Maggie were separate from each other, and who knows who else, as well. That'd work for me, though. I don't mind a slower pace building the characters.

 

[SecondCircle]

So! Lots to discuss this week I think. I think we are basically caught up on where everyone is at now, what with each group scattered about after the events of the prison.

Judith and the girls are okay... and Carol is back? C'mon I know that was a "holy shit" moment for a lot of people. Tyrese is faced with the challenge of not only having two little girls with him to look after, but Baby Judith! I can't imagine how tough that would be in a zombie infested wilderness running for your life. (Kids are tough enough as it is. Was I the only one relieved that they grabbed the baby bag?) And Carol out of nowhere. Of all people to find Tyreses... man that is a ticking bomb. "I murdered your girlfriend in the interest of the group". When does that surface? Why did Carol return to the prison? She was technically exiled. I mean it's good she did but there's gotta be more to it. And now that this group's together, where's this sanctuary they are headed for? Is it a trick or actual blessing?

Daryl is still alive (phew). Some interesting emotion of hope and despair there. She seems so frantically hopeful, and yet I see this hardened hopelessness in Daryl. He's a character that is cold until we see his interactions with the others. I think together the two of them will help one another through the devastation.

Ah, love. It makes Maggie relentless. She won't stop for rest or food or anything sensible until she finds the one thing that makes her world make sense. Glen. Though we've seen this trope/cliche time and again, it works because it's real. That was great acting on her part I thought. I mean, I knew Glen wouldn't be on that bus, but her weeping after killing that last one was a great display of hope, crying at the hopelessness of it all but joyful that the (unseen) walker wasn't her husband. Oh and this scene proves that alcoholics actually have a good grip on the world when sober.

I think it makes sense that Glen would wake up at the prison. Of course he went back, of course he wasnt on that bus. That scene gave us one final look at the devastation humans can inflict on one another. We see where the governor's relentless vengeance got us. Smoldering ruin, and empty beds that were once the home of our characters.

And Tara. The fact that Glen would come back for her speaks volumes I think to us and her. And speaks volumes to Glen's character. Not just for saving her, but for recognizing that he needed help, even if she had been the enemy.

I honestly hadnt thought about glen not knowing of Herschel's demise though it does make sense. And now three crucial comic characters have arrived to drive the story forward. This should be interesting.

We've dealt with the aftermath and seen some shocking little twists. Now the pieces arecon the board and ready to move through the rest of the season.

Er... thoughts?

 

[Seanathon]

I liked the second episode better than the first. I found Tyrese's group the most interesting (that little girl makes me nervous when she's near bunnies and babies). But I did roll my eyes when Glen came out the door in the riot gear and shoved his way through a clusterfuck of forty zombies instead of trying to run around them.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I'm getting pretty nervous with that psycho chick. I hate those shots where they just show a character pointedly looking at something in the foreground while right behind them is a wall of underbrush/open door/dark hallway, etc. They use those shots to build tension and goddamn it it's working too well.

I forget, Tori's girlfriend is dead, right? What about her sister? I know that the little girl is dead.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I'm getting pretty nervous with that psycho chick. I hate those shots where they just show a character pointedly looking at something in the foreground while right behind them is a wall of underbrush/open door/dark hallway, etc. They use those shots to build tension and goddamn it it's working too well.

I forget, Tori's girlfriend is dead, right? What about her sister? I know that the little girl is dead.

Yes, tank girl is dead. If I remember correctly, Lizzy killed her. They didn't show Lily's fate, but after she finished off the governor it didn't seem that she would try to fight her way off the battlefield. But her death wasn't shown, so anything is possible.

I thought last week's episode was a good change of pace that also revealed some important character development. It was slow--too slow, at times--but every episode can't be a frantic blood bath.

This episode was paced much quicker, covered more ground in less time, and provided the action that the fans love. It was one of the better episodes that was not a season or mid-season finale. I almost wish that this one had been 4.8 and last weeks' was 4.9. Either way, they worked as a great counterpoint to one another.

For the first time since fleeing the farm, it's impossible to predict where this story is going next. Terminus? Abraham? WTF!

 

[PennLady]

Once more, I delayed watching this. Sorry, "True Detective" won out. Unfortunately there wasn't time to watch both TD and TWD. Although that's probably a little too much bleakness all at once before bed.

 

[PennLady]

So! Lots to discuss this week I think. I think we are basically caught up on where everyone is at now, what with each group scattered about after the events of the prison.

Judith and the girls are okay... and Carol is back? C'mon I know that was a "holy shit" moment for a lot of people. Tyrese is faced with the challenge of not only having two little girls with him to look after, but Baby Judith! I can't imagine how tough that would be in a zombie infested wilderness running for your life.

That was a neat reveal, Tyreese with the kids. I'm glad to see Judith survived, but I was pretty sure she had. It felt like too much of a cliffhanger, or something, that she might be dead. Also, since she'd been in the car seat and strapped in, which I think she was, I doubt a walker would have taken the time to unstrap her. Which is to say, if she'd been walker food, there would have been, ah, remains in the seat.

But yes, that would be difficult to take a baby through the woods. As for the baby bag, don't forget they did have a plan to evacuate the prison, and before Lizzie and Mika (Micah?) broke with the plan, they had Judith and the seat and all. So grabbing the bag was probably just part of the plan.

And Carol out of nowhere. Of all people to find Tyreses... man that is a ticking bomb. "I murdered your girlfriend in the interest of the group". When does that surface? Why did Carol return to the prison? She was technically exiled. I mean it's good she did but there's gotta be more to it. And now that this group's together, where's this sanctuary they are headed for? Is it a trick or actual blessing?

I'm not sure exactly of the time line, but I don't think a lot of time passed between Rick exiling Carol, Rick returning to the prison, and Tyreese interrupting Rick and Daryl by showing them the dead rabbit, and then the Governor arriving. So I don't think Carol got all that far away. Plus, she had promised to take care of the girls so it's not too far out to think that she may have planned to come back and get them from the prison in order to keep her word.

I have also read online, and my husband floated this idea, that Carol may be covering for someone else about the dead bodies, and that someone might be Lizzie. If either theory is true, then Tyreese is with the guilty party either way, which could be interesting. If it's Lizzie, just how would Tyreese exact revenge, if he wanted to?

Daryl is still alive (phew). Some interesting emotion of hope and despair there. She seems so frantically hopeful, and yet I see this hardened hopelessness in Daryl. He's a character that is cold until we see his interactions with the others. I think together the two of them will help one another through the devastation.

Again, I don't think a lot of time has passed since the fiasco at the prison, so I don't think Daryl has had a ton of time to regress or anything lie that. On Talking Dead I think there was mention of was he returning to being withdrawn, etc., but I don't think it applies. At this point, I think it's only been less than a day, perhaps, since it all fell apart. So I think Daryl's probably on survival autopilot, and then any silence or whatever is probably him just trying to absorb everything that's happened so far, and then trying to figure out what to do next.

Beth, I'd agree, is kind of frantic, but to me it's a forced hopefulness. She'd been kind of spiraling down, I think, and now she's trying *so hard* to be pragmatic and survive.

Ah, love. It makes Maggie relentless. She won't stop for rest or food or anything sensible until she finds the one thing that makes her world make sense. Glen. Though we've seen this trope/cliche time and again, it works because it's real. That was great acting on her part I thought. I mean, I knew Glen wouldn't be on that bus, but her weeping after killing that last one was a great display of hope, crying at the hopelessness of it all but joyful that the (unseen) walker wasn't her husband. Oh and this scene proves that alcoholics actually have a good grip on the world when sober.

I'm not quite sure what I thought of the whole Maggie/Glen thing. Yes, Lauren Cohan acted it very well. But I fear this is something we have seen and may see too much of on the show: someone losing something, desperate to find it, then finds it. But what does that do for the character? Does it change them, or anyone else?

I will say it was a pretty good scene on the bus to leave you guessing about Glen. The walker certainly could have been him, from the viewer's distance, and Maggie's reaction could easily be taken as either relief that it wasn't Glen, or a kind of frustration and grief that it was. Until you found it wasn't. It worked well.

I think it makes sense that Glen would wake up at the prison. Of course he went back, of course he wasnt on that bus. That scene gave us one final look at the devastation humans can inflict on one another. We see where the governor's relentless vengeance got us. Smoldering ruin, and empty beds that were once the home of our characters.

And Tara. The fact that Glen would come back for her speaks volumes I think to us and her. And speaks volumes to Glen's character. Not just for saving her, but for recognizing that he needed help, even if she had been the enemy.

Glen has pretty much always been The Nice Guy in the group, and despite everything that's happened to him, we can see that continues. If Tara had been watching for him, or been antagonistic, I don't think he would have hesitated to shoot her. However, seeing her in the cage, kind of catatonic, must have registered with him that she wasn't a threat. Plus, he's pragmatic -- he knew his plan would work better with help and he wasn't going to be too picky about his options. So he's a decent, but pragmatic, guy.

I honestly hadnt thought about glen not knowing of Herschel's demise though it does make sense. And now three crucial comic characters have arrived to drive the story forward. This should be interesting.

We've dealt with the aftermath and seen some shocking little twists. Now the pieces arecon the board and ready to move through the rest of the season.

Er... thoughts?

I think the chaos of the prison battle has left all of the viewers a bit disoriented. Like I said, I think the events of the last two episodes must be set within 24-48 hours of the battle, maybe even within 12 hours. It's still daylight, and there's no indication a night has passed until we see Daryl and Beth at night. Even then, we don't know if, for example, the stuff with Maggie happens *after* that night, or before. I think the events are pretty concurrent, and our group isn't too far away from each other.

So, with that, we forget that Glen was pretty out of it during the battle. He hadn't recovered from the flu all the way and he was on the bus. Maggie didn't tell him while he was on the bus, and then they were separated. They've done a pretty good job of keeping up the disorientation that must follow a big confrontation, I think.

I don't read the comics, so I don't know the history/story of the new characters, but I'm curious to see how they play in.

What I really want, and I have seen this in numerous recaps on the web, is more character development on the show and less reaction to walker threats. There has been some, but I'd like to see more of it. I want to root for people for more than the fact than they are not walkers.

 

[sheablue]

I've really enjoyed the last two episodes! I have a feeling it will take a while for the group to all find each other. Maybe the will all end up at terminus, with the new 3 characters?

Just answering an earlier question about Tara's people. Lizzie and/or Micah shot her girlfriend, and she told glen that she saw a group of walkers swarm and kill her sister. She said even though her sister had a gun (remember she shot the governor) she still couldn't fight them all off. I'm just wondering how she got all the way to the prison building when she had been out beyond the fence?

Yeah, that Lizzie, she's a bit of a sociopath, isn't she. Psychopath? She was way to mesmerized in the act of almost smothering Judith. And the bunnies! I thought she was being practical and wanted to cook them for dinner. Nope.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I've really enjoyed the last two episodes! I have a feeling it will take a while for the group to all find each other. Maybe the will all end up at terminus, with the new 3 characters?

Just answering an earlier question about Tara's people. Lizzie and/or Micah shot her girlfriend, and she told glen that she saw a group of walkers swarm and kill her sister. She said even though her sister had a gun (remember she shot the governor) she still couldn't fight them all off. I'm just wondering how she got all the way to the prison building when she had been out beyond the fence?

Yeah, that Lizzie, she's a bit of a sociopath, isn't she. Psychopath? She was way to mesmerized in the act of almost smothering Judith. And the bunnies! I thought she was being practical and wanted to cook them for dinner. Nope.

I almost forgot about the bunnies.

Here, have some extras.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK70Gw74VP4

 

[PennLady]

I have to say I really wasn't sure what would happen with Lizzie and Judith. My knee-jerk reaction is to say well, they won't have a kid kill a baby. Yet the first scene in the series, just about, was Rick shooting a little girl who was a walker. So I couldn't be sure what they would or wouldn't do until it was over.

The girl who plays Lizzie had a great expression on her face. There was a tad of excitement, just a little, but mostly determination to survive even if it took this to quiet the baby.

Freaky.

 

[Swilly]

Season finale. Wow. That was quite an episode.

 

[PennLady]

Can't read yet. My f&^#*(G DVR for some reason didn't record TWD when it was supposed to. I have no idea why, and it did this to me before last year, with Doctor Who. Grrrr. So I'll watch it tomorrow. Grrrr.

 

[Swilly]

Can't read yet. My f&^#*(G DVR for some reason didn't record TWD when it was supposed to. I have no idea why, and it did this to me before last year, with Doctor Who. Grrrr. So I'll watch it tomorrow. Grrrr.

Didn't put up a spoiler, assuming others might still be waiting to watch. Was very good.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

We could talk about the last few episodes.

No one is talking about where Beth might be. Or how much danger she is in. I always thought that this show tried to shy away from rape.

In season 1, when Shane tries to sleep with Lori against her will, she fights him off, there was a scene in the comics (somebody mentioned) where Michonne is raped and tortured by the Gov'nuh, but that bit was excised completely from the story in the show. When the Gov'nuh sexually abused and humiliated Maggie, he never 'did the deed'.

But after this finale, I guess rape is back on the table. But it's also only sort of back on the table. I don't even know anymore.

We could talk about the guys Darryl is running with.

We could talk about whether Beth and Darryl can work (how old is Beth? For that matter, how old is Darryl?)

Talk about the military guys, and how that really weird Ted Nugent, mouth-breather is supposed to know some big secret about the walkers. Or about Roxy (I think that's her name) the girl with the hoop earrings and short shorts. Are any of those three actually military? In what capacity if so?

Or about Lizzie and Micah's unfortunate ending. I was pretty cynical and unaffected by Hershel. Dude might as well have had a sign on his forehead. Or a countdown. But when I realized just how fucked Lizzie was, it made me feel feelings.

I like how there isn't a single human being left from Woodbury.