AMC zombie series from Frank 'Majestic' Darabont - The Walking Dead

show's not terrible, but that was a pretty spotty ep.

just the sort of nuanced reaction id expect from sum1 that likes this show... (xp)

on the real tho is there a single thing in any post-pilot episode that is not just the worst? the acting, the dialogue, the editing, the shotmaking, the storyline, just everything? its just so mediocre, always.

I checked out already, couldn't hack another week

Better writers is def key to the future of this show, imho. I think AMC may of skimped in that dept. assuming this show would just be a 6 ep miniseries ala that terrible Prisoner remake last year.

learned via the AV Club recap this week that AMC kinda hedged their bets in a few ways - now that it's getting huge numbers, I wonder how they'll reconfigure things next season.

that entire fishing monologue was a load of fucking rubbish. like seriously so tedious and not actually emotionally affecting that it was hard to pay attention to it. that said the death was quite shocking. i'm surprised at how the high gore level makes the characters more believable as human beings. something about seeing someone ripped to pieces makes them less like a tv construction.

still like this show but that was the worst episode so far in my opinion.

^basically agree with this
major success of this suggests to me that there's an audience that will eat up any hardcore horror continuing dramatic series as long as it's sufficiently long on character building and grue
i think depp and burton are doing a dark shadows remake movie, if they weren't that would be on next seasons lineup fer shure
more monster mash on the horizon no doubt

i think depp and burton are doing a dark shadows remake movie,

*shudder*

on the real tho is there a single thing in any post-pilot episode that is not just the worst? the acting, the dialogue, the editing, the shotmaking, the storyline, just everything? its just so mediocre, always.

― ┌▪┌▫┌▪┌▫ EXIT ▪┐▫┐▫┐ (Lamp), Monday, November 22, 2010 4:27 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark

lol whats wrong with the editing? my word... this editing is atrocious!! *pinces-nez flies from face*

not even the smallest detail cld be left out in order to convey to totality of my disgust & displeasure

i have strong things to say about the location scouting too - that 'mall' or w/e looked fukken ridiculous

Stuff like the opening scene... I get that it was just stuffed in so we'd care when that girl died, but the show hasn't really earned scenes like that since we don't know or care about the characters...

you could easily argue that this scene was building the character for the girl that lived

"building the character for the girl that lived" sounds like the title of a dvd extra for season 1

hopefully it involves time-lapse photography

Yah really, why would all those young guys be Latino? Thought the whole point of an apocalypse is it threw disparate people together in the same boat, with one goal... SURVIVAL.

I was feeling the Atlanta stuff up until that ludicrousness though. The final camp attack was good also. This show does do good action. And I like the Korean kid and the old duffer with the hat and the RV.

Still enjoying this. Camp attack was decent, and I was upset to see Andrea's sister get chomped.

>why would all those young guys be Latino?

I thought the implication was that they *were* some kind of gang? So if they're already used to handling weapons, using them, and having each other's backs then it seems possible they'd make it through the initial days of the zombie horde better than lone families? Obv. I might have misread this, and I'm not sure how many gang leaders do a bit of janitorial work on the side (like Guillermo), but it didn't sit too uncomfortably with me.

How did the dead find them? Like just at random? You'd sort of assume given there were lots of "geeks" that something specific led them. Merle maybe? Or just inexplicable "they found them because they did.."

I don't think they were ever a real gang, just a bunch of grandsons going to check on Abue.. Still, wouldn't expect so many cholos in Atlanta? I was half-expecting the surprise to be that none of them had any bullets... cuz why would you be so concerned about one bag of guns when three dozen of you already had pistols?

Haven't mustered the interest to watch this latest ep yet, but beginning to suspect this show would work better not as a survivor tale but simply as a weekly zombies-on-the-rampage series. Like, each week a different camp somewhere in the States (world?) is overrun by zombies. Because as a survivor's tale it's backing itself further and further into a corner, given that there will/can never be a satisfying conclusion to the narrative, and the show will inevitably run out of steam/money/viewers before it gets anywhere close to that point, anyway. If we grow to care about any of these people, they can't really kill them off, or at least not with any frequency. If we never care about them ... then who cares, right?

If we grow to care about any of these people, they can't really kill them off, or at least not with any frequency. If we never care about them ... then who cares, right?

The comic has been surprisingly unafraid to kill main characters. Of course, you may hate the comic, but it hasn't hurt the narrative.

I suspect the promo image here gives a good clue as to who will styill be standing at the first series end: http://media.amctv.com/img/originals/walking-dead/downloads/TWD-800x600-2PRE.jpg

Actually, Amy's in that picture, so I'm probably wrong.

You know what? I liked this last episode. It actually reminded me of a stand-alone issue of the comic (coincidence that Kirkland wrote it, or has he been writing them all?) The dialogue was corny, but the acting was strong, and if the search for Merle remains stupid, lots of other stuff was pretty right on. And for once, no lame ragging on the women folk.

(Though I was dubious about how those dudes apparently ran several miles from downtown Atlanta to the camp in 100 degree weather, carrying guns, with no food and water, to arrive just in time to help fight the zombies)

Actually, Amy's in that picture, so I'm probably wrong.

I've read most of the comic and I'm pretty glad this show is not as stupid as the comic. In fact it's quite good, enough that I wish I hadn't read the comic and know all the corny plotting and stupid story arcs that may or may not be coming up.

Not to say that this show is never corny or stupid, but the comic... holy shit.

I've been reading the comic & finding it kind of a chore. Glad I'm not alone...

And they're not going to kill off the lone black guy.

Oh, don't worry, they'll sub in for him soon enough, so long as they're keeping some VERY popular comic characters.

Yeah, methinks the lone black guy (in Atlanta!) won't be alone for long.

EW article (which also addresses the lack of a clear ending) implied this short season was rushed, which I imagine affected the writing as well. Curious to see how well things improve next year. Downside of EW article is that (and these aren't really spoilers, but just FYI) Shane and Merle are apparently sticking around, with a non-denial denial that Merle may, um, become the Governor. As if that character needed more elements to push him OTT.

a non-denial denial that Merle may, um, become the Governor

You know, that thought crossed my mind while I was watching the last episode, and I thought, "No, they wouldn't do that." Apparently maybe they would. Huh.

Well, Darabont confirms Merle will not make a reappearance this season, and that the Governor most definitely later will. When the interviewer mentions internet theories that Merle will morph into the Governor, Darabont more or less responds. "Huh, that's interesting. You never know." Or something like that.

Of course, it seems like a weird choice to me, or at least as weird as introducing this Merle guy at all. Again, the show is not lacking for villains or villainy, so who needs a gratuitous vengeful racist psycho? For that matter, when they do get to the Governor, won't they realize it's, um, Merle? Who knows. Darabont says there will not be a cliffhanger this season, though.

Who is the governor?

guessing a character from the books yet to emerge

correct and one that stirs the soup on one of the longer and more engaging (and most romero-esque) arcs

How did the dead find them? Like just at random? You'd sort of assume given there were lots of "geeks" that something specific led them. Merle maybe? Or just inexplicable "they found them because they did.."

i was figuring Merle had trucked a bunch up as a sort of revenge.

watched the 3rd and 4th episodes yesterday afternoon. engaging in that i sought them out and watched them through, abusing my non-authority to override college football games that my gf's dad would have preferred. and i'm sure i'll make time for this season's last two episodes as well. i want to know what happens next (that's the thing about soap operas: you don't really have to like them to get hooked).

"engaging" or not, i still don't like this show. main problem is that i don't really buy or relate to the behavior of the main characters. they're boring and two-dimensional, and i don't believe that people this focused on survival would run their camp so carelessly. i find the main character's relentless moral rectitude more tiresome than inspiring. i'm sick of the casual pandering to gender stereotypes. and for god's sake, quit pushing everything towards unearned pathos.

I guess we don't have to worry about dropping spoilers from the comic books anymore.

apparently not!
for those of you who didn't read the books, the CDC thing is totally new.
Also the sheriff's friend gets shot in the head by his son right around the middle of this episode. So much for that plotline.
this was the episode that the dismal writing finally got to me. I have enough impetus to get through one more episode now that they've decided to go all LOST on us but then they damn well better get around to writing these people to sound like human beings

I think they sound more like human beings than any of the mannequins Kirkman writes. I thought this was wayyy better than the last ep, but it's still amazing how much they've been spinning their wheels during a six episode season. Nice ending.

I dropped this on the 3rd episode - still worth watching?

Mostly the convenient new-car-smell Challenger and the fact that the hick tied to the roof-top did not cut off the pipe he was hooked to, but his own harm for dramatic effect made my eyes roll. The whole conflict between genders is groan inducing. Or, in my case, was.

*arm, not harm

It's pretty much the same show still. If you didn't like it enough to keep watching then I don't think you'll find much to like about it two episodes later.

Who are these people who are nitpicking a show about zombies on television

Have fun waiting ten more years for the next zombie show to come along

thought this was one of the better episodes.

Best episode yet, IMO. Better dialogue, plus I actually teared up at the scene with Jim by the roadside.

liked the sort of biblical feel of the door opening...

I know this is a weird nitpicky nerdy thing to fixate on, but I am having a really hard time believing that zombies could wipe out the U.S.(let alone the rest of the world) in a 2-3 month timespan. If it had been a year, fine.

how did they get to other countries? or is this some kind of pandemic. does the show eventually look at how the virus started?

Not necc a virus. You don't find out how or why the ppl became zombies.

yeah of course could be anything...

OK prob a virus obv. What I meant was more that I don't think you ever find out how it started.

Robert Kirkman, dumbass:

EW: The whole CDC plot line hints at the possibility that we will find out why the dead have risen, which is something you’ve never explained in your comic book. Why did you decide to avoid that topic?

RK: It occurred to me that, if this were to happen to real people, then real people wouldn’t be concerned with why it’s happening and how to fix it. They would just be concerned with finding food and surviving from day to day. But Frank Darabont said, “We’re in Atlanta and the CDC is based in Atlanta. Why wouldn’t they at least pop by?” And I said, “Huh?” Because I don’t know where the hell the CDC is stationed. I don’t watch the news a lot.