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

I never minded Andrea too much - on a show of badly written characters she didn't really stand out - but these past two episodes she's really become annoying.

^agreed

the suicidal thing and her and dale bugged me. who cares. its the end of the world. either kill yourself or go get some firewood or something. totally do not miss dale by the way...

Yeah, nine months or whatever on the run from zombies, protected only by a taciturn amateur samurai, would probably fuck you up, but don't really know what happened to Andrea during that span. Also, she was annoying beforehand. Too many demons for a second-tier character to carry.

thoughts:

that Governor and Maggie scene seriously creeped me the hell out - maybe because i knew how much worse it was in the books

reaaally hope they don't kill off Glenn, as i always suspect whenever they suddenly give a character a push

also glad Rick's group didn't stand there and deliberate on killing the crazy hillbilly

i really, really hope there's a good payoff to Andrea being so oblivious, but it's unlikely

Guv and Maggie stuff really really uncomfortable. Kind of glad they pulled back if it was worse in the books.

oh god yeah Guv/Maggie was so hard to watch. really terrifying. and the way Guvna messed with Glenn at the end by kissing Maggie

really looking forward to next week, shit's really popping off now

love that rick and the gang stormed into a guy's house, murdered him, threw him to the zombies and made their escape out the back

felt like that dude's backstory should be a webisode or little comic or something

loved the way the zombies set upon the dude afterwards, like the way they swarmed the horse in the city in the first season

they were probably pretty hungry at this point

Just catching up on last week's (skipped the one before that). Don't mind the phone stuff (knew it from the comic). Hate every scene with Andrea and Merle, none of which go anywhere. They're stuck in circumscribed character loops.

Wait a minute, what the fuck was up with that hermit who has been living in a shack a mile from Woodbury for, what, a year? Was the script five minutes too short or something, and one of the writers was all, hey, what if they get trapped in a shack with a hermit for five minutes!

Rest of the staff: "Yeah, that's a great idea! What then?"
Writer: "Then? Then ... uh ... the hermit goes nuts and they throw him to the zombie horde!'
Rest of staff: "Awesome! What then?"
Writer: "Then ... everyone leaves?"
Rest of staff: "Awesome!"

Also, what the hell, next week is a midseason finale? Does that mean there's going to be a long break before new episodes resume?

Deleted scene:

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well they didn't want them getting to woodbury too quickly

also mishonne needed to show them her sword skillz

part of me wondered if that dude had been hiding under that comforter for the entire zombiepocalypse

loool josh

part of me wondered if that dude had been hiding under that comforter for the entire zombiepocalypse

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, November 26, 2012 2:16 PM (27 minutes ago)

The "I'll call the cops" was pretty blatantly suggesting that.

kind of a cool plan when u think about it

Hermit was just playin' dead, under the covers.

Also I don't know if the Hermit death showed Mishonnes skillz or tough/merciless decision making skillz. Not sure why Rick and Daryl aren't as jumpy around her as they were with crazy ponytail inmate. Only difference is he was a little more outwardly nutty and dangerous before shit went down. I guess there was more of an alpha struggle going on in that situation.

not that this is shown/illustrated in any way but darryl and rick could probably get a sense right away from mishonne vs ponytail as to how erratic/freaked out they were...since mishonne carries herself pretty confidently in a fight, they didn't have to 'babysit' or pick up any of her slack

Also, what the hell, next week is a midseason finale? Does that mean there's going to be a long break before new episodes resume?

Final eight episodes of the season air starting in February. They did this last season as well. They don't want to air new episodes over the Christmas break. This season is also 16 episodes, so I wonder if they're using the the break to allow for more shooting.

come on you guys give glenn some props for zombie fighting tied to a chair!!

Merle/anyone would have expected him to just die so it's strange that they wouldn't just shoot him in the face after he ended up surviving the zombie.

Cool scene though.

Like the point seemed to be "kill Glenn/revenge for leaving me on the roof" so why wouldn't he kill Glenn after his miraculous victory?

yeah glenn was kind of a badass with the chairfighting scene

v proud of him

i think merle was just pissed at him and figured if he made it he made it and if he didn't no big deal.

yup yup, glenn deserves mad props for that one

he was ice cold

Was kinda hoping the Governor would come in and be like "hey, guys - MY CHAIR! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY FUCKING CHAIR?!"

I understand that the Gov has ... issues, but I'm not sure where his ire toward the other crew comes from. Like, what's in it for the Gov? Also, why would the Gov keep a loose canon like Merle so close? Merle has injured or taken out more people than he has zombies. Also, what is up with the mad scientist, and why does Gov keep that guy around? Also, why is the mad scientist so stupid? I'm a little worried they're going to burn Woodbury down to the ground before they even give a glimpse of the Gov beneath his surface. And yes, I have read the comic, which is partially what is making the portrayal so perplexing. The heads in the tanks, his mood swings - is there a method to his madness?

mad scientist seems around just to feed the governor's hope that his daughter can be "cured" which is an angle i like, as much like Hershel he'll have to face the inevitability and hopelessness

merle actually seems a little toned down compared to the rest of his psycho shooty group, just a little dumber? when they killed that military outfit in the premiere, merle was the one who actually had something of a human reaction to the whole thing

i doubt they'll kill off the gov before the end of the full season - i'm hoping like Michonne we'll get some real flashbacks going more into his background soon

mad scientist seems around just to feed the governor's hope that his daughter can be "cured" which is an angle i like, as much like Hershel he'll have to face the inevitability and hopelessness

Sure, but remember: we're over a year out now, several months post farm. Surely they've figured out how things work, no?

but the governor is psychopathic and delusional and won't let it go. at least, that's how i'm interpreting it - they haven't been too explicit about it yet

my prediction is that michonne or someone will come in and axe his daughter and then he'll go into full blown rage mode or a crying fit

mad scientist seems around just to feed the governor's hope that his daughter can be "cured" which is an angle i like, as much like Hershel he'll have to face the inevitability and hopelessness
Sure, but remember: we're over a year out now, several months post farm. Surely they've figured out how things work, no?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, November 29, 2012 9:11 AM (1 hour ago)

Well in this case the Gov is trying to have scientist guy figure out essentially if there is any shred of his daughter's consciousness or memory still trapped in her zombie body.

That's all well and good, but it doesn't quite explain why he is psycho on top of that, compelled to rape, torture and kill interlopers. Or National Guardsmen or whatever. His craziness seems to be divergent.

this last episode kind of highlighted that the Guvna's kinda rick + crazypoints minus any real integrity (though the lack of perceived integrity is just because we haven't hung with him through his backstory, he might have been a standup guy like rick fro at the beginning to, who the fuck knows).

but guvna's got a group of people + a town (Woodbury) that he's hellbent on *protecting* and he'll go to whatever lengths necessary to protect those thigns, because in his own mind Woodbury itself is enough of a justification. He's protecting ~a way of life~

now granted he's completely fucking batshit. so the lengths that he goes to, and the reasons that compel him to go to those lengths do not of course hold up to any rigors of logic really at all.

but in his mind that's what he's doing. and we haven't really seen much of Woodbury to believe it's worth preserving but maybe that's not the point - the point is *he's* super in love with this thing he's built so that's pretty much all the motivation he needs.

Maybe the hermit thought his shack was his own private Woodbury.

Anyway, don't know why he would consider Rick et al. a threat apropos of nothing.

they've survived up to this point on their own outside of the 'magical' woodbury --- they're a threat because it proves that the guvna isn't really necessary for people's survival. and rick's a threat to his leadership.

you have to think like a hunkered down fascist dictator for it to make sense

the "they didn't have THESE WALLS" line excuse following the military slaughter definitely keyed that mindset in for me

i felt a sense of pride when the gov was so shocked that they took over the prison with 10 people. MERLE said it couldn't be done! that's how i know i still like this show.

i know, i was kinda chuffed for rick over that too

Did the Gov actually rape her or was he leading her (and Glenn later) to believe that in a mind game?

i think the latter

god I fucking hope so

He clearly was trying to get her to talk by making her think he was going to do that, and when she still held her own he backed off then the scene cut. So...

He didn't actually rape her, but the implication is he could have, and as far as the show is concerned he may as well have. Like someone noted above, horrifying but nothing near the Gov. analog in the comic, who was pretty much just a psycho. The show is confusing things - motives, characters - by conflating two storylines from the books, the Gov. and Woodbury.

Cutty!

Said that out loud when he came on screen

good episode, loved the new group introduction. the Woodbury rescue was great, too.

also, yay, they let Danai Gurira emote!!! finally! great confrontation b/w her and the Governor, though I kinda wish she had just said "uh, he sent a death squad after me" instead of stomping off quietly

speaking of which, Andrea's stupidity really did cross a new line here, i mean, come on, AQUARIUMS OF ZOMBIE HEADS. there is no rational explanation for that one. she really needs to pull out of this character dive ASAP when the show comes back, or just kill her off already.

also i'm gonna say it again: wtf AMC, you had to kill the black guy again? i was kinda joking about the minority actor rationing, but i mean, seriously, this is getting kind of fucked up