AMC's The Walking Dead

No, she slices them off at the jaw line (thus destroying the brain) and not the neck.

 

Can't believe there's people defending that episode. Just because something is slow, it doesn't equate to "character development".

What got developed? Carl acted like a whiny teenage bitch and ate enough pudding to get himself condemned Augustus Gloob-style to death by chocolate. Oh and Michonne cried and had some weird, failed Manchurian Candidate tribute flashback. Nurse! The screens!

This show is one episode away from me walking away from it. They are completely bereft of ideas.

 

Seriously? Are you kidding?
The show was all about Carl and Michonne and was nothing BUT character development.
At the start of the hour, Carl played the role of cocky teenager who had had enough of his dad and blamed him for everything bad that's happened. He was cocky and immature and thought he didn't need his dad anymore. The bulk of the hour showed what life would be like for Carl on his own and he almost got killed twice. By the end of the hour, Carl learned without a doubt that without his dad, he'd most likely be dead now and found out that he's not as strong as he thought.
Michonne, meanwhile, started the hour in her old position of "I'm fine by myself alone in the woods," and even chose not to follow the footprints, believing she was fine with the way things used to be.
And she could have lived that way. She's hardened, she can survive on her own. But seeing that zombie version of herself and reflecting on her past, she realized she's better off with others than by herself. And, for maybe the first time, she found comfort and relief in being with others.
I'm sorry if you couldn't see that.
But if you didn't like that episode, I don't know why you're watching. That was beautiful entertainment and great storytelling.
Unless, of course, all you care about is zombie kills. And even then, Michonne took out 20+ walkers in a fell swoop and Carl killed four others and episode after perhaps the show's most violent episode ever. What the hell else do you want? I mean, seriously. It's like some people complain just to complain.

 

I saw all of what you're talking about. So what? Just because they attempted it doesn't make it well-executed entertainment. Just because they tried to develop a character doesn't mean they didn't telegraph it all at every turn -- Ooh! Carl and Michonne found out they can't do it alone! What a breakthrough! (But certainly not at break-neck speed. Good Christ does this show labor on and on and on ...)

Maybe it would've been better if the vast majority of it wasn't sleep-inducing. Maybe it would've been better if this show hadn't ignored these basic concepts of character development two or three seasons ago when these characters appeared. Maybe it wouldn't seem cynical to spend two shows on the fate of the prison characters (as next week's episode is clearly about the other survivors) ... as big an admission as any that they don't have enough ideas to move the plot along.

Bottom line is I don't give a shit about most of these characters. And in Carl's case, I sure as hell don't sympathize with him. Like many, I eagerly await the day he's bitten, which by the way, would've been a more realistic fate/reap-what-you-sow moment for his decision than a "dramatic" escape to the roof with his vat of pudding.

As for wanting zombie KILLS! ... no. Actually, as I've stated before, I think the threat of zombie kills and zombie porn is what keeps people reflexively defending this show in perpetuity. They tolerate interminable bullshit just to get to the show WITH THE GOOD SHIT!

I will say this though. This show has lost its way in that it distanced itself from making zombies the threat. A show about a zombie apocalypse should, you know, be about the zombie apocalypse once in a while. Not about Carl's teen or Michonne's adult-life crises, which, of course, in a real zombie apocalypse, wouldn't mean jack shit to the proceedings at hand.

 

I hate trolls. Seriously.
The show established in one of its first few scenes that an individual zombie is not much of a threat. Ergo, after your initial wave of "Oh shit! What's happening???," the zombies wouldn't be much of an obstacle to survivors.
The real threat, then, is in groups of zombies. It's only natural to assume the easiest way to take on a group of zombies would be to align yourself with other humans who can fight with you/protect you/watch your back.
In that scenario, the biggest problem in the world (as it is in ANY group setting) when there isn't a horde of zombies knocking on your door would be coexisting within your group.
This is an extension of that.
I just don't understand how anyone who has watched the show this long can hate last night's episode. It just doesn't make sense.
In fact, please clarify your opinion with some examples of shows you do enjoy because, otherwise, I'll just assume you're filling the internet-mandated role of troll in this topic.

 

Ah, I see the name-calling-because-you-don't-agree-with-an-opinion portion of the thread has begun.

Season 1 was interesting because it set the scene. I liked the first half of Season 3. It established an alternate form of survival (Woodbury, pre-Governor meltdown), had brutal consequences for trying to co-inhabit/tame the prison and had a general sense the show was going somewhere.

Since then? A lot of dicking around, ridiculous/boring sub-plots and holes in the main plot you could build an interstate through.

The show has switched writing teams -- what? -- three times since then? It shows. It's had no unified vision or coherence.

Worse, there are "untouchable" characters in a show where anyone should and could be dead at a moment's notice. No one should be untouchable. Play the Walking Dead video game. Or don't, because it follows that anyone-can-be-dead-at-any-moment ideal with absolutely depressing focus. That's how it's done.

Part of it is the nature of TV and having identifiable characters, but if a show is written well and based on an interesting concept (as this one should be), than it can be overcome.

 

I thought this week's episode was outstanding. The tension was so thick, I thought zombies would pop out from anywhere, everywhere.

I like the juxtaposition of the quiet of this episode... the world is emptying out... against the chaos of the prison destruction. It looks like next week brings us back to the chaos by picking up the strings of the other survivors.

While I understand that people don't like Carl, I do and I think he's an important character. And if you really love this show, how can you not like getting a peak at Michonne's character? We've waited a long time for that.

 

They can change the other writers all they want. It is still Kirkman's vision.

There are certainly flaws in the show, but I have to agree with the others. If you hated that episode that much, I really don't understand why you are watching any more. If you really didn't think there was any character development, then you are just so fed up with it that you can't even see the positive.

It was going to slow down this episode, but it wasn't nearly as slow as you make it out to be. The parts about Carl weren't just about him. They were about his relationship with his father, which continues to develop into something more balanced.

Michonne tried going back to what had worked before and they gave us a look at how she got to that point, shutting down emotionally after losing her child and her boyfriend (and whoever that other guy was). My only problem with the episode is that it was a little too close to the Governor's temporary redemption earlier in the season, from nearly giving up to allowing others back in.

 

They say Seinfeld was a show about nothing.

That actually describes The Walking Dead. It has nothing to say and nothing to do.

 

I just figured they concentrated on Carl, Rick and Michonne as a cost-cutting. Don't have to pay all the actors for the episodes they're not in. That's a well-established way for shows that are over budget to rein things in and get the money men off their backs.

 

Generally TV contracts used to state that if you are an opening-credits regular, you have a contract for every episode, regardless of how many you appear in. That seems to have changed. Many of the current cable shows actually contract the actors for a percentage of the season, so they are only paying most of the principle actors for 13 or 14 out of the 16 episodes.

 

Honestly man, at this point I recommend you pick up the second compendium of the comic book, read the whole thing and decide if you want to keep watching the show because if Sunday's episode was too slow for you (assuming they keep on the path they're headed), you're going to be disappointed with the rest of the season.
Not every episode can be like the tank scene in the pilot. Sometimes, dare I say, they're going to focus not just on surviving but on actually living. For most of us, it's a good change of pace.