AMC's The Walking Dead

I vote for a jump ahead a couple of years, if for no other reason than getting a new actor for Carl. The kid reminds me of Billy Mumy of the Twilight Zone episode It's a Good Life crossed with Danny from The Shining and Damien.

 

That suuuuuccccccked.

So much that made no sense. And if this show is still having existential crises over who or who not to kill, it really hasn't gotten very far.

 

Its odd, finished catching up with Downton Abbey and TWD this week. What I like about both shows is seeing how the various characters react to changing circumstances and how relationships change. I do wish TWD was a little more ambitious though.
I think one of the reasons the show has seemed stagnant in recent years (Farm and Prison) and burned through show runners is that AMC is pretty cheap and figure as long as the zombody count reaches two dozen a week and they can shed some salary of a regular every couple of weeks and the ratings stay up, they don't see much of a reason to change directions.

 

Well, I loved it. The TV critics seem to be mixed, the zombie-genre fans pissed. But I love these kinds of curve balls, and I didn't think The Walking Dead had the stones to execute one. There was something so South Park about this whole episode, about it serving as a finale to a season that had built up such clear and predictable expectations. No one would have been unhappy with a hard-core standoff between the prison group and Woodbury residents. The show could have set that up, taken this season out in a blaze of glory and had people in awe with some cut where The Governor gets away, setting up next season.

Maybe the show should have done that. Maybe Glen Mazzarra knew he was on the way out and decided to leave next season's showrunner with a much more difficult script and a frustrated chunk of the viewership. The Walking Dead has been so successful that messing with the formula, particularly creating a more passive finale for a blood-thirsty fan base, is an enormous risk.

There was a whole lot of great television in that hour. The opening scene was shot wonderfully, carefully setting up The Governor's next moves in killing his own people. His decision on using Milton to kill Andrea, one way or the other, was masterful and in character. Milton really brought it this episode, though, with some rather powerful emotion. I thought he would stick around because he had a lot to offer, and much of that came out this week. Remember his skepticism about the death aspect of the biters, his conversations with Andrea in which he so desperately wanted to believe there was humanity left in these creatures? That was gone tonight, replaced by the bitter cynicism of a man who had been killed by the person he most trusted.

And then there was Carl, that angsty son of a bitch who is turning into quite the man. Carl doesn't look up to his father any more. He's seen Rick too weak, too often. He's told Rick it's time to step down. Carl's story line was wonderful today. The way he eyed that Woodbury boy in the woods, unwilling to break his stride. He was right to kill him, right that he didn't set his gun down quickly enough. The boy clearly didn't see Carl as a threat, and Carl has learned that anyone not scared of you might come back to bite you, literally. Carl's speech to Rick might make people think of The Governor, but I don't see it that way. I see it more like something out of Michonne's mouth, a complete refusal let his guard down. Carl isn't without compassion; he's without trust. That comes in handy in this world.

Where I'm torn is when it comes to Andrea. She refused to admit she was wrong, remained an idealist to the end. And they glorified her for it, which they always were going to do. This season unfortunately was really about Andrea. She was the main character in most senses. Her indecisiveness and poor decision-making when she finally reached one killed a lot of people this season, this episode, even. And it's right in her wheelhouse to act like she would do it all again, like her wonderful plan was foiled because other people couldn't play their parts. I wasn't comfortable with Andrea being made out to be the hero or the truly good person who was out for everyone's best interests, but I have to admit they earned it this season. They put in a lot of time to carve out that ending for Andrea, and I can appreciate that much more than I can appreciate her dumb ass character.

I'm interested in what comes next. I'm much more interested now than I would have been after a more straightforward clash. They've put the show in a tough position with lots of new group members who won't be able to fight or flea or do much of anything useful. No one wants to see this show stagnate, but they will have to be creative in avoiding that. Certainly, a mass execution of children and elderly seems a bit tactless.

Mazzarra doesn't have to worry about that, though, so he gave this season the ending he wanted. He gave us a twist we didn't expect and some crucial character development. He set up a new challenge for the future, a new set of major obstacles. He kept the villain around, and we all know The Governor won't go quietly.

 

It'll be interesting to see how the governor does on the road. His group could prey on groups like Tyreese's, which was strong enough to survive but still fairly weak, but those have to be growing fewer and fewer. There have to be a lot more governors out there. It was the town that gave him ultimate power, not just as a pool for warriors, but as a provider, a man who can bring peace. Without the power of his town he's no different than the other utterly ruthless, cold blooded leaders who have to be roaming all over.

 

One difference: He's strapped with an obscene amount of weaponry.

 

Also, I was disappointed by the attack on the prison, not because it wasn't the all-out brawl we were led to expect, but because it didn't make a lot of sense. It's hard to believe the group of attackers would stampede that easily. I realize they're just citizens, but still ... I guess the Gov. would send them down into the dark first as cannon fodder, but you'd think he'd have a way to ensure their "enthusiasm" beyond the first noise in the dark.

Then, it's hard to believe Rick's group could honestly think simply scaring Woodberry's group away with flashbangs would be enough to preserve peace. How could they possibly sleep at night knowing the Gov. was still out there, so close, sworn to kill them, with that many people and those kind of heavy weapons? They didn't even seem to be trying to actually kill Woodberry's army. Waiting until they go into the prison, then attacking them when they came back out was a good plan, but why not set up in places you'd actually be able to kill some of them? Why not unload into that flatbed filled with soldiers? Did we even see Rick, Daryl and Machonne through that whole thing? Maybe I just missed them.

Finally, how could the team not have a plan for after the attack? They stood around arguing about what to do next. At least that fits with the theme that they weren't very well organized or prepared, but I don't feel like this is a group that would go about its security and strategy that thoughtlessly. It'd have been a lot more in character to ambush them Kevin McAlister style.

 

Fair enough, but he left the .50 cal, didn't he? Certainly still has those grenade launchers, assault rifles and the bazooka.

At the same time, I assume anyone still alive at this point is strapped to the teeth and probably armed with military gear.

 

I liked this better, it seems, than most people. Versatile summed it up well. This wasn't exactly what everyone was expecting. I appreciate that, especially after the last eight or so episodes were mostly predictable time-wasting.

 

I also thought Carl was in the right to shoot the kid.
He said drop the gun, not hand it over.
Drop. The. Weapon.

Someone summed Carl up pretty well: that he lacks trust. And that's not a bad thing. But I think there is a going to be a battle for Carl's sense of right and wrong over the course of the next season.
He is far stronger than Rick.

 

I agree with most of this, especially the bit about Carl. The way that kid was looking at him, still holding on to the gun. I kept expecting him to pull something. Herschel's dead wrong on this one.

 

I definitely see Versatile's point about the show throwing a curve in the sense of a not-so-bloody season wrap-up but when you build up to something so much and then don't deliver, it'll leave a lot of people understandably angry.

It's like buying a pack of fireworks and only one or two little ones works. The big one just has a long fuse that keeps you waiting for that boom moment and then when the fuse finally reaches the end, you get nothing but a small fizzle and a puff of smoke.

I'm not saying they're done building to that moment they seemed to promise this year but man, it was just disappointing.

On the plus side, Carl is an unexpected plus to how things are going for this show. Chandler Riggs is playing that part great and I look forward to more crisis of conscience confrontations with his father.