The Walking Dead

[mattman91]

So, a couple reasons for reviving this thread...

1) AMC has made one of the most predictable announcements in TV history saying they are developing a spin off (of sorts) to The Walking Dead. It is not technically a spin off because it will not include any characters we have seen before on The Walking Dead (other than the Walkers). The series will take place somewhere other than Georgia and will tell the story of some other survivors of the same zombie apocalypse. They sorta have to give it a completely different setting, don't they?

2) Over the summer, when AMC replayed every single episode of the first 4 seasons, I recorded them all and (over the course of about a month) my family powered through the entire series thus far. Now that I am caught up, it has been fun to read some of this thread to see what folks were saying. I am inclined to agree with everyone who felt season four was somewhat frustrating and was filled with characters doing really illogical things. There were plenty of episodes that felt like a real waste of time too. If I had been waiting a full week to watch some of them and then knew I had another week to get to the next one I would have been really angry.

A few comments about what is to come...

• It is pretty clear to me that the Terminus folks are going to be cannibals, perhaps even a cannibalistic cult of some sort. I can't think of any reason you would intentionally want people to come to you only to lock them up if you did not have some really nefarious reason for attracting other survivors. Canibalism makes the most sense. Given the way The Walking Dead refuses to let our heroes off easy, I am betting someone we know and like will get eaten. Tara, Bob, or Sasha would be my guesses.
• Like many of you, I think the nerdy scientist guy (Eugene) is lying when he says he has been in touch with Washington and that he knows what caused the zombie Apocalypse (neither he nor anyone else on the show ever use the word zombie). Part of that belief is the fact that the Eugene character in the comic books does that very thing (lies about knowing about the plague) as a way to get others to protect him. That said, I think the TV show is consciously trying to split off from the comic book as much as it can. To whit, there is no Terminus in the comic books.
• The show has continually added side characters, who after often fodder for death, but it is not afraid to kill off main characters either. If we go back to the very beginning we still have Rick, Carl, Daryl, Glenn, and Carol still alive. I feel like Rick and Carl are pretty safe and Daryl has grown into such a popular character I have a hard time seeing him being offed any time soon. But I think Carol and perhaps even beloved Glenn could be in real danger this season. I hope not though!

Lastly, a complaint about how AMC replayed the series. As they would go into commercial breaks, they would sometimes do trivia bumps in and out. Generally, there was nothing to these but midway through season three they put up a trivia bump that said "Adrea is still alive in the comic books. She and Rick are lovers." This bump was timed so that it was pretty much impossible for people watching the series to avoid. My wife and I caught it and screamed at the TV (Andrea would die after being bitten by zombified Milton) because we were a good 4 or 5 episodes from Andrea's death at that point. The same thing happened to each of my sons while they were power-watching the show. Grrrrrrr. AMC really spoiled that aspect of the show for us. AMC also kept on showing quick cut highlights of various seasons during the commercial breaks, including a clip of Daryl tossing a grenade inside a tank and blowing it up. As a result, the moment we saw the Governor come across a tank, I knew that the tank would soon attack the prison and Daryl would have to destroy it. How hard would it have been to time your bumps and promo reels so newbies to the series would not get stuff spoiled, AMC? Grrrrrrr.

--Jason "the Terminus folks steering our heroes to the train cars with machine gun bullets was idiotic... I hope the writers get smarter next season" Evans

I just want to know what happened to Beth...

[moonpie23]

that's the thread that everyone i know has asked….what happened to beth…

guess we'll find out…


this season had better be better…...

[Highlander]

that's the thread that everyone i know has asked….what happened to beth…

guess we'll find out…


this season had better be better…...

My two favorite episodes so far - The Grove from last season and Pretty Much Dead Already from Season 2. Both involved dramatic moments with children, and were some of the more gut wrenching ones so far. I did enjoy last season - seeing Beth and Daryl grow closer, as well as Carl and Michonne become good friends was time well spent. I liked the fact that they didn't try to cover every character in each episode, instead focusing on one primary story line each week. I thought that worked well.

Looking forward to this season.

[Blue in the Face]

that's the thread that everyone i know has asked….what happened to beth…

guess we'll find out…

She's in AA.

[weezie]

I heard some Irish guy on the radio touting Ireland as one of safest places to be on the face of the earth when the inevitable zombie apocalypse occurs.
Not to mention the Guinness...

[JasonEvans]

I heard some Irish guy on the radio touting Ireland as one of safest places to be on the face of the earth when the inevitable zombie apocalypse occurs.
Not to mention the Guinness...

What was his rationale? Was it just that Irish folks are too nice (or too drunk?) to bother eating your face off?

-Jason

[weezie]

He said zombies can't swim because you have to have a brain to think about swimming. And if the zombie just floats on the top of the water, eventually the zombie bodies would blow up from their zombie body gases. The people on shore would have plenty of time to also shoot the floating zombie bodies. I think Ireland's relatively small size would make protecting the coastlines fairly easy.
But then again, I'm not a zombie expert, these were all the Irish fellow's projections.

[alteran]

He said zombies can't swim because you have to have a brain to think about swimming. And if the zombie just floats on the top of the water, eventually the zombie bodies would blow up from their zombie body gases. The people on shore would have plenty of time to also shoot the floating zombie bodies. I think Ireland's relatively small size would make protecting the coastlines fairly easy.
But then again, I'm not a zombie expert, these were all the Irish fellow's projections.

Sounds like Florida would be even safer. More bodies of water, faster bloating/exploding. Gators would probably be able to handle zombies, obviating the need to shoot them in the water.

Ohmygod-- what if there are ZOMBIE GATORS?!?!?!

Never mind. Back to Ireland.

[alteran]

that's the thread that everyone i know has asked….what happened to beth…

guess we'll find out…


this season had better be better…...

I'm pretty hopeful, based on the article in the most recent Entertainment Weekly. (Couldn't find a link, sorry-- but EW has a lot of other TWD stuff up, and they are usually pretty excellent about flagging spoilers.) The producers said they really plan to hit the ground running this season-- they will answer most of the questions about Terminus and the cliffhanger season finale in the 1st episode, rather than dragging those things out over 3 or 4 episodes, which seems the usual pattern for most shows.

I think I mentioned last season, I got the vibe that the writers really couldn't wait until they wrote about Terminus and were kind of going through the motions with a lot of shows last year, frequently being sloppy with how people might be expected to react in various situations.

Currently optimistic about this season. 6 more weeks, argh!

[weezie]

Sounds like Florida would be even safer. More bodies of water, faster bloating/exploding. Gators would probably be able to handle zombies, obviating the need to shoot them in the water.

Ohmygod-- what if there are ZOMBIE GATORS?!?!?!

Never mind. Back to Ireland.

Well, you have a point but the humidity and heat in FL would make the whole sitch pretty smelly. Ireland's cooler climate, plus you forgot the abundant Guinness, would provide a far more pleasant overall sporting experience.

[wilson]

Sounds like Florida would be even safer. More bodies of water, faster bloating/exploding. Gators would probably be able to handle zombies, obviating the need to shoot them in the water.

Ohmygod-- what if there are ZOMBIE GATORS?!?!?!

Never mind. Back to Ireland.

Well, you have a point but the humidity and heat in FL would make the whole sitch pretty smelly. Ireland's cooler climate, plus you forgot the abundant Guinness, would provide a far more pleasant overall sporting experience.

Zombie leprechauns, guys...ZOMBIE LEPRECHAUNS.
34120a7073168bd4cc9a43b2661f58ee.jpg

[moonpie23]

Nom nom nom nom...

here we go!!!!! Chomp chomp!!

[moonpie23]

umm....wow....they kinda stepped it up...

what did y'all think?

[FerryFor50]

umm....wow....they kinda stepped it up...

what did y'all think?

Fantastic opening episode. Great way to kick off season 5.


Slight spoilers:

I think the group is going to learn that they should have followed Rick's instincts at the end rather than moving on.

I wasn't as down on season 4 as many people, but it was a little plodding at times as they built up the character back stories more. I thought the Meshonne storyline was particularly well done, especially the dinner scene.

Looking forward to the rest of season 5.

[JasonEvans]

I think the group is going to learn that they should have followed Rick's instincts at the end rather than moving on.

Are you saying you think that Gareth might come back to haunt them?

I can't imagine the show did not kill him off in dramatic fashion without having a plan for bringing him back into the story at some point, probably within just a few episodes. I was sorta disappointed that Denise Crosby (Mary) was killed off so quickly, but I guess Terminus had to lose a significant character in the destruction at some point.

I would have thought they would take a little longer to destroy Terminus and rescue our heroes from it. I mean, we just got there one episode ago and now it is gone.

-Jason "how awesome was that post-credit scene?! Excited to welcome Morgan back... assuming he is no longer insane (a biiiig assumption, I think)" Evans

[FerryFor50]

Are you saying you think that Gareth might come back to haunt them?

I can't imagine the show did not kill him off in dramatic fashion without having a plan for bringing him back into the story at some point, probably within just a few episodes. I was sorta disappointed that Denise Crosby (Mary) was killed off so quickly, but I guess Terminus had to lose a significant character in the destruction at some point.

I would have thought they would take a little longer to destroy Terminus and rescue our heroes from it. I mean, we just got there one episode ago and now it is gone.

-Jason "how awesome was that post-credit scene?! Excited to welcome Morgan back... assuming he is no longer insane (a biiiig assumption, I think)" Evans

Yea they did manage to wipe out Terminus pretty quickly. Just goes to show how far they've come as a collective and how brutal they've managed to become. They applied a lot of the "tricks" they've learned along the way to get out of that situation efficiently. They definitely are not the cattle...

And yes, Gareth will be back. What's unclear is how dangerous he is. He didn't seem as hard core as the Governor... guess we'll find out!

[JasonEvans]

And yes, Gareth will be back. What's unclear is how dangerous he is. He didn't seem as hard core as the Governor... guess we'll find out!

The show sorta tried to make the actions of the Terminus folks seem at least a little bit justified. If we had seen people starving to death a bit more and seen how terribly desperate they had become, in addition to seeing them being brutalized by folks they intended to help, it might have even made Gareth a tiny bit redeemable. I would not have minded having him eventually join our group. But, I am not nearly there yet and I can't even begin to see Rick coming face-to-face with him and allowing him to live. Heck, same with Daryl and Glenn. Once you have your head on top of that trough, I don't think you could ever forgive Gareth.

I do agree that Gareth didn't seem to be nearly as insane as The Governor. I mean, Gareth didn't keep his zombified daughter chained up in his bedroom, he just eats people in a neat, orderly fashion. Still, vengeance can do a lot to people and he will certainly be seeking some kind of vengeance. I wonder if he will even know that Rick's people are the ones who blew open the walls around Terminus?

A quick question -- what caused the gunfire that drew the zombies (and Carol) to Terminus? Was that supposedly from the "roundup" of Rick and the others? I got the impression everyone had been in the train car for at least several hours, if not a day or two, by the time the events of the episode began, but maybe it was almost immediate. I hope Rick learned a lesson from all this and will always leave someone outside when they go inside an unfamiliar place. Having a person armed and watching (the way Carol accidentally was) is a safe hedge of your bets when entering a place like Terminus.

As an aside, as I saw our group walking away from Terminus at the end of the episode, it occurred to me how little the show deals with the problems of fresh water and food. We see Daryl and others hunting some of the time, but they are now a wandering group of about 20 people. You need about a half a gallon of water (or other water-based liquids) per day, more than that if you are exerting yourself a lot, which they are. Food is less necessary, but even if Daryl shot a deer, that would probably only feed the group for a couple days (to say nothing of spoilage without refrigeration). My point is that I hope the show does not just leave our heroes wandering amidst the trees for a long time. They need to get back to moderately civilized areas where canned foods and potable water should still be somewhat easier to find than in the wild... but also where they are bound to find more zombies.

-Jason "anyone else think Carol shooting a bottle rocket at the gas tank was just an impossible shot? Of course, the resulting zombie flambe was worth it!" Evans

[FerryFor50]

A quick question -- what caused the gunfire that drew the zombies (and Carol) to Terminus? Was that supposedly from the "roundup" of Rick and the others? I got the impression everyone had been in the train car for at least several hours, if not a day or two, by the time the events of the episode began, but maybe it was almost immediate. I hope Rick learned a lesson from all this and will always leave someone outside when they go inside an unfamiliar place. Having a person armed and watching (the way Carol accidentally was) is a safe hedge of your bets when entering a place like Terminus.

As an aside, as I saw our group walking away from Terminus at the end of the episode, it occurred to me how little the show deals with the problems of fresh water and food. We see Daryl and others hunting some of the time, but they are now a wandering group of about 20 people. You need about a half a gallon of water (or other water-based liquids) per day, more than that if you are exerting yourself a lot, which they are. Food is less necessary, but even if Daryl shot a deer, that would probably only feed the group for a couple days (to say nothing of spoilage without refrigeration). My point is that I hope the show does not just leave our heroes wandering amidst the trees for a long time. They need to get back to moderately civilized areas where canned foods and potable water should still be somewhat easier to find than in the wild... but also where they are bound to find more zombies.

-Jason "anyone else think Carol shooting a bottle rocket at the gas tank was just an impossible shot? Of course, the resulting zombie flambe was worth it!" Evans

The gunfire was from the roundup of Rick, where they led them to the cars. It was a time/continuity flashback, I think, with Carol and Tyreese.

Carol finally gets there as they are being led off to the slaughterhouse. The shots they hear that conveniently interrupt the "fun" are from Carol.

As for the water, I never get the sense that the water is ever tainted, really. For one, they're all already infected. Two, there really isn't much industry or pollution anymore. There are plenty of lakes, rivers, abandoned homes, etc to get water from.

The Carol shot seemed impossible, but think of it this way... she didn't need a direct hit. Just to get close enough with a flame to ignite the propane (in my best Hank Hill voice). That would have been enough, I bet. Of course, would make a heck of a Mythbusters episode!

[JasonEvans]

The gunfire was from the roundup of Rick, where they led them to the cars. It was a time/continuity flashback, I think, with Carol and Tyreese.

Can I just say that I loved that Terminus sent out folks to set off firecrackers and gunshots to divert walkers away from their home base. When we first saw Terminus last season and there were no walkers clawing at the gates, I found it unlikely and strange. But, the show actually explained it to some extent. That was attention to detail that we rarely see on an episodic TV show. I really appreciated it.

-Jason "so anyone want to guess where we will head next? I am betting the first half of the season is a lot of wandering before they decide to head to DC. I envision a season finale shot of the Lincoln Memorial just crawling with Walkers" Evans

[fuse]

Don't know if we'll see him again, the lone crazy tattoo faced guy seemed to have potential for a larger role or backstory.