AMC's The Walking Dead

I like the episode because I'm working in downtown Atlanta right now and I knew exactly where it was being filmed. I can see the skywalk and parking garage from my hotel window, they showed my hotel (in passing), and my place of work was in the background during the bridge scene. I wish I could post photos, because I've been taking "real" photos and posting them on facebook against screen grabs. Let's just say that the show's producers didn't have to use too much Hollywood magic to make the city look rundown (no offense to anyone who lives here and loves it).

 

Agreed. They were interesting and got dispatched a little too quickly given what has followed.

 

I'm glad they didn't drag out the Terminus escape. The first four episodes were great entertainment.

I often suspect the writers of intentionally staying away from action and story momentum. At leats they didn't eschew thtose things at the beginning of this season.

As for why they avoid action and story momentum, I have two theories.
1. They don't have enough ideas.
B. They believe their normal glacial pacing makes the show seem thoughtful and intelligent.

 

I don't know. I like the slower, character-focused episodes. The last thing I want this show to be is a version of 24 with zombies and if you have too many episodes like the ones that kicked this season off, that's exactly what you get.
I do think it suffers from the week in between episodes though. I remember HATING Season 2 the first time I saw it because I thought nothing happened but when I rewatched it on Netflix and could bang out three-four episodes in a row, it was substantially more engaging and interesting than I remembered it being.
But I may be in the minority in that I liked the last three episodes so what do I know?

 

C. They don't have a big enough budget to maintain the action so they load up with endless bottle episodes.

 

I've never watched '24,' so I can't respond directly. I'm just reiterating my point that action and story momentum are not diametrically opposed to character development. These things don't have to be mutually exclusive.

A lot people like these slow episodes. That's cool. Different tastes.
I really enjoy the show, and I get frustrated when it bogs down or meanders in navel contemplation.

Bubs, you could be right. Lack of budget is the reason behind the original bottle episode.
This is a pretty successful show, though. I'd imagine it's budget is fairly robust.
Of course, it's probably an expensive show, and I don't pretend to know anything about tv show financing and budgets.

 

I think the problem lies not in the individually slow, character-building episodes, but rather running three or more of them consecutively. After four action-packed episodes, I'm cool if they slow down for a show or two. But when they give us a month of stagnating storyline after kicking ass to start the season, it makes the difference that much more stark.

 

The split in the cast doesn't help the slow epps.

What show goes 3 weeks without showing its main character without having major problems? (In this case Rick). Sopranos could be episodes that revolved around the kids of the other guys, but Tony was always seen in some fashion. I guess The Wire didn't always show McNulty, if you accept him as the main character. He's no where near as important as Rick in this world though.

 

I've enjoyed them but Rick should be in every episode. The story revolves around him.

 

Was thinking today the title "The Walking Dead" does that refer to the zombies or the survivors?

 

Both
The constant question of the show: is this life worth living?
If the living surrender their humanity, are they really any different from the zombies?

 

Agree.

Someone mentioned banging out multiple episodes, and I wonder if that figures into the pacing. Lots of people now binge-watch, and maybe they're OK with plodding pace that barely moves along the story. They don't have to wait 7 days in between episodes. If you watch 'em one at a time, that's more annoying, I think. I binge-watched Breaking Bad and came away feeling it was the best TV I'd ever seen. Wonder how it would have hit me 1 hour at a time for however many years.