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

Hah, maybe they'll all eventually wagon train to Bentonville, Arkansas!

A long time ago I happened to be kicking around "last man on earth" story ideas at the same time I was working at a grocery wholesaler. The warehouse-exploration possibilities were pretty ripe for terror.

I want to bump the person that said something along the lines of "I'm not looking forward to the ILX discussion" but I can't find that post anymore
― Life! The Story of Life (CaptainLorax), Thursday, November 4, 2010 11:24 PM (1 week ago)

Loved the show. This thread is going to suck though
― Jeff, Tuesday, November 2, 2010 11:04 AM (2 weeks ago)
― circa1916, Wednesday, November 17, 2010 6:37 PM (2 hours ago)

you found it for me :)

Actually, that's one thing that did niggle at me a little... would the supplies you get in downtown Atlanta be any better than what you'd get at a suburban Wal Mart?

could not find latest chillwave releases at the wal-mart so they had to go into the city

Could have sworn in this past ep when womenfolk were chatting about what they missed most, one said "texting." Coffee maker/texting/vibrator pretty much covers it, though.

re: sex argument - having sex in end of the world scenarios isn't uncommon

dirty southern assholes and the cowboy policeman seems to be the atmosphere of the show so far... it's different than other zombie shows/movies that I know of and I like that the show has this extra layer of above zombie apocalypse stuff. but I can see myself being sort of disappointed if the sexism gets worse or continues to pop up at least once in every single episode. it's more prevalent than racism at this point. it wouldn't be so bad if it was limited to only a few terrible people - which is why I'm hoping that Shane isn't going to be betrayed anymore sexist than he already is

meanwhile I do hope that Carl's character gets developed some more because he has favorite potential. some other characters might have potential as well but I'm not really seeing it yet

I don't think the main guy is going to become much more of a character than the straight-man hero type (with little flaws here and there to humanize him). He is going to be kind of boring in that way. the tough decisions he'll probably eventually have to make will build up his character and make him more likable. and he'll probably get some bad ass kill scenes as well

if next week's episode is anything like the preview then we'll be back to zombie survival mode which will undoubtedly be enjoyable. throw in some good special effects, cinematography, sets, zombie makeup, creepiness and badass kill scenes and I'll be set. it doesn't take much for me to enjoy zombie apocalypse stuff

One did indeed say texting. Which I would miss, but not nearly as much as the whole "safety and not having to worry about getting eaten" thing. Yeesh.

A lot of these post-apocalyptic survival questions (rural vs. suburban vs. city for supplies, etc.) are what I wish the show were going to deal with. The comic has done a shitty job of it, I was/am hoping the longer form of a TV series might do better.

"Eventually I hope he gets an eye-patch, too."
lol, it happens to the main meanie in the comic!

BTW the zombie lynch mob in this episode was kinda upsetting? Like just for a second you're like "aw, poor zombie just wanna eat a little venison; why you gotta beat him like that?"

Also, it took them an awful long time to dispatch the zombie. So maybe they were enjoying it?

re: sex argument - having sex in end of the world scenarios isn't uncommon

No doubt ... if the world is ending. But when the world has ended and you've survived solely on speed, strength and wits? And sudden, horrible death can be around any corner? Anyway, small matter. Why do I seem to recall the Shane/wife thing in the comic being slightly less than fully consensual?

I think the overtone in the comics is that she's just fucking him because he's become the protector, not because she's enjoying it (as she appeared to be during the fifteen seconds of missionary before doggie)

er, 'fucked him' I don't remember the comic ever saying it happened more than once

Pretty good episode, IMO.

Once the necklace appeared, death was imminent.

i was a little underwhelmed by the latin kings benevolent gangster association; this show has sort of a glancing understanding of people

but a good understanding of zombies, so

I'm still on UK pace, but glad someone else has addressed stupidity of sawing off hand rather than sawing off cuff.

i was a little underwhelmed by the latin kings benevolent gangster association; this show has sort of a glancing understanding of people

― old LOKO heads (forksclovetofu), Monday, November 22, 2010 1:39 PM (36 seconds ago) Bookmark

Hah, yeah, I'll say.

Didn't dig that episode as much... was kinda WTFing at the vatos the whole time. 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... I couldn't even remember the names of the sisters.

I'm still on UK pace, but glad someone else has addressed stupidity of sawing off hand rather than sawing off cuff.

― ailsa, Monday, November 22, 2010 1:42 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

Did you see how flimsy that hacksaw was?

I think I remember reading the creator going on about how WD was really about people - not zombies. Yeah OK.

couldn't saw off cuff, but why not just the thumb?

^^ like any good zombie story, really. It's about how people react and the way relationships evolve. xpost

Not buying the gangbanger with a heart of gold crap, though.

^^ like any good zombie story, really. It's about how people react and the way relationships evolve. xpost

Not buying the gangbanger with a heart of gold crap, though.

― kate78, Monday, November 22, 2010 2:01 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yeah, I don't really have a problem with them wanting to focus on the human drama - can you think of any great zombie story where that wasn't one of the most important elements? - it just has to be well done. I just didn't buy into it so much in this episode.

in a perfect world, i think six episodes of the sheriff finding his way to the family and then a full season of "life in the encampment" woulda been the right way to go, but everything I read leads me to believe they had this set up to cut bait if it was a ratings disaster so they likely needed to rush out a solid one shot storyline for DVD resale in worst case scenario.
My hope is that, now that they have solid ground underneath them and a lot of potential storylines old and new to move into, that they take their time and build up characters and explore relationships and GET BETTER WRITERS
clearly we've got the "what do i do with the body when i know it's going to turn" and the inevitable return of merle on the horizon but if we can

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

put the survivors on the road to the prison or the farm, put merle down or elevate him to a boogeyman either way and get moving into season two, I'll be looking forward to better storylines ahead.

this show is terrible

you are terrible (unless you are a zombie in which case an exception would be made for you)

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.