So... who thinks they'll still be welcome at the farm next episode?
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So... who thinks they'll still be welcome at the farm next episode?
So, just to clear things up -
From the "Talking Dead" episode accompanying the show, the writer [don't recall his name - Google] specifically says "There was a line earlier Herschel said - when he was wrangling the walkers with Rick - 'This used to be Otis' job, but now we have to do it', so that tells us Otis put her in the barn, and he was never aware they were looking for her because the awareness of the search came after Herschel fixed the gunshot wound on Carl - which he didn't live to see"
He also said they shot several variations on the endings - including one where Sophia looks as she did, but they do a back-shot and we see how badly she's eaten from behind, and another where she walks out non-zombie because that's what the characters wanted to see - a way to humanize the walkers (and play off the feeling of shooting someone they knew, as they just shot Herschel's wife). The point of all the makeup choices for that scene was to be non-gory and as human as possible to set the right emotional tone for that sequence.
It's still fucking stupid, and here's why.
Point one: Herschel doesn't want them around.
Point two: Herschel knows they're looking for a girl.
Point three: Rick's group is reluctant to leave without her.
Point four: Herschel knows he has a barn full of zombies, and given the fact the girl went missing in the immediate area, she could easily be in there.
Why not go have a look? He could see for himself the girl was in there, realize Rick & Co aren't going to find her, and start nudging him towards leaving. Or even just show them the girl... Whatever. The point is it would have been way, way easier for Herschel to get rid of them if he'd bothered to go look in his own goddamn barn.
It's almost like this show is stupid and poorly conceived. I'll try to hide my gasps.
You mean the other way 'round.
Ouch.
;)
Anyway. My take on the episode last night.
I really enjoyed it. I felt as if the 'reveal' was a great use of the lost girl scenario. Did the entire scenario drag on for too long? Absolutely, but it gave the show the opportunity to have the group schism, showing a quick demonstration of each character and their motives. Shane has 'lost it' from a sense of a bygone society, but like Dale said, stands the best chance in this world. Rick is still willing to attempt to be neighborly (best word? I dunno.) with Herschel. He knows that the choice is to either respect the farm as not their own or leave. He understands that the group will be better off attempting to work it out and stay on the farm rather than hit the road. I even liked the split second 'scene' where Glenn asks permission from Maggie to join in on the zombie slaughter. I think Glenn gets it too.
The only thing that irked me about last nights episode was that Carl's lines don't seem to be well written for a child. He needs to be at least 5 years older before he starts speaking like that.
/ramble
Heh. . . I think your 4 points are only point 4. But, given what Herschel thinks they'd do to the girl and that he doesn't want them to know he has a barn full of walkers, and that there's a tree and some grass skittle bowling vinegar - why didn't Glen or Dale have the same thought you did to check the barn for Sophia? Well, because essentially Shane just did that and now gets to point it out as icing on the cake to why he was right all along.
Edit: Any "they could have done this" talk could be trumped by: Shane could shoot Herschel and live happily ever after.
Herschel made it very clear Otis always took care of gathering new walkers. Herschel also made it clear this was the first time he had to do it himself.
Glen was IN THE BARN and did not see her. Why? She is small and the barn is dark. Herschel had no reason to check the barn. He didn't know Otis did it, and why would he? She was verified alive shortly before the shooting.
To clarify...you think Herschel takes inventory of his zombies, throuroughly checks the barn for missing/added walkers, and the writers just totally blew this?
And here's one more rational explanation for you. Herschel did not want them to know about the barn. If he knew she was in there, do you think he felt they would look and go "Oh, we'll be on our way", or do you think he believed they would execute his family members stashed in the barn? He made the latter epicly clear on several occasions.
~Anselm~
keep it civil.
Fixed
Excellent episode and a great way to close out the season. I'm loving the disparity between those who precariously cling to their humanity and those who give into their unmitigated visceral instinct to survive. Shane is one BAMF and is ready willing and able to do what it takes to survive. I love what they are doing with his character. His method may be short sighted but that doesn't make him wrong. I mean look at the shameful display Rick was reduced to. Playing zombie catcher for a crazy old man who doesn't know how to let go. I would have been pissed off too.
Also nice save at the end with Rick taking the shot. A slight vindication for his character and definitely a move in the right direction. I can't wait till next season.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...kirkman-265484Quote:
On The Walking Dead's midseason finale, Shane's (Jon Bernthal) outburst closed one book and opened quite a few more for the group as Rick (Andrew Lincoln) was forced to kill Sophia, who turned up among the undead in Hershel's (Scott Wilson) barn. Breaking down the barn's barrier, Shane went against Hershel's humanitarian approach to the undead and put the group's already delicate home on the farm in a danger.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with executive producer Robert Kirkman, who created the comic book series on which the AMC drama is based, to discuss Sunday's "Pretty Much Dead Already" episode, how the death of one of the comics' original characters changes the series as well as what's ahead when the zombie drama returns for its "explosive" second half of its sophomore season in February.
The Hollywood Reporter: Sophia (Madison Lintz) was in the barn the whole time! How come Hershel never mentioned it?
Robert Kirkman: I don't think that Hershel was ever doing a cataloging of the zombies. It was painful for him because his wife and son were also in the barn. It's not like he was actually hanging out in there or paying attention to all the walkers that were in there. He knew they were looking for a girl named Sophia but who knows what zombies were are in there and how often they'd been put in there. Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) was the one who was in charge and corralling them and putting them in there. So for all Hershel knew, Otis had put the Sophia zombie in there months ago.
THR: Was killing one of the comic's original characters an easy one?
Kirkman: When a good idea comes up, you have to go with it. Sophia is a character who is still alive in the comic book series and who has contributed quite a bit to the overall narrative and informed a lot of story lines for a lot of different characters. Having Carol (Melissa McBride) survive her daughter as opposed to the other way around as it is in the comics is going to lead to interesting but different stories.
THR: It's almost like a tradeoff for not killing Shane in Season 1.
Kirkman: Exactly. There are going to be things that are exactly like they were in the comic book series, there are going to be things that are radically different. We've have a lot of very different things this season: Otis survived a lot longer and wasn't killed by Shane; Sophia; the fact that Shane is still alive -- there are a lot of big fundamental differences between the comics and the show. Yet Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie's (Lauren Cohan) relationship is almost exactly the same, Hershel's keeping zombies in the barn, the fact that they go to the farm -- there's a lot of things that are taken directly from the comics.
THR: Will Hershel's omission to Rick change his feelings about wanting to stay? Can they stay on the farm at this point?
Kirkman: That's going to be a big part of the second half of the season. Shane was very charged up at the end of this episode and Hershel is definitely going to be seen as being kind of in the wrong here. They're going to have to figure out what he knew about Sophia and exactly how involved in that process he was. These two groups are going to be very much at odds when we move into our second half of the season. Our opening to our second half of the season is going to be pretty explosive.
THR: Will the second half pick up immediately after the shooting or will it jump ahead?
Kirkman: We're not going to be doing any big time jumps. Whether we lose a day, hour or if it picks up the very minute after the scene, I wouldn't want to give away too early but there's not going to be any massive time jump this season.
THR: How will Sophia's death alter Carl's development?
Kirkman: One of the major story lines in the comics is Carl's (Chandler Riggs) dissention into a darker role; he's forced into adulthood to make terrible decisions. His character evolving over the course of the comic book series is really going to be accelerated by the absence of Sophia. That will remain largely intact and be sped up. There's going to be more darkness creeping in to the series in the second half of the season. Now that the Sophia question has been answered, they're not going to have that hanging over their heads and that's not going to be bogging them down making them have to devote time to that.
THR: Rick told Shane about Lori's (Sarah Wayne Callies) pregnancy, but not that he was aware of their affair. How long will he keep that over him?
Kirkman: I want the show to get a reputation as one that doesn't hang on to things like that for long. We have a lot of story to tell on this series and we're not going to be dwelling too much. I'm very excited that we got around to revealing that Rick knew about the relationship. Stuff like that is going to bubble up to the surface in very interesting ways in the last half of the season.
THR: How will the baby's paternity eat away at Shane and Rick?
Kirkman: It is going to eat away at them to a certain extent. This is an example of these people having to learn to let go of society and let go of the things that they were taking for granted before the end of the world. At a certain point you have to throw up your hands and say this is the world that we live in, this is a question that may never be answered. It'll be a bee in their bonnets for a bit.
THR: How much of Shane's confrontation with Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) and breaking down the barn door was all a statement to Lori that she was with the wrong guy?
Kirkman: That's something that she's definitely going to be exploring. Everyone is seeing a different side of Shane. Shane is a very volatile person and everyone is starting to catch on to that. Some people, like Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), will see Shane as a problem based on his behavior. Other people, like Andrea (Laurie Holden), will see that as something necessary in this new world. Shane's behavior is almost going to endear her to him. It all depends on everyone's take on the situation. What Lori's take on the situation is will be revealed in future episodes.
THR: How will Rick handle Shane's outburst?
Kirkman: That's a big part of the next episode that opens in February: What Rick is going to do, what his response is going to be to Shane crossing this line. Shane's been very disrespectful toward Hershel and his rules and property and that's something Rick has been trying to maintain in order for them to stay there. This is very much going to put Shane and Rick at odds moving into the last half of the season.
THR: How will Sophia's death change Rick's decision-making? Will he continue to stand up and be the group's voice of reason and compassion?
Kirkman: The entire season arc is, is Rick a good leader? Is this something he wants to do? Is this something he's qualified to for? This is a role that's been thrust upon him; he didn't seek it out. Everybody looks to him for answers and they are very clear examples of him not having the answers and making a mistake. The situation with Sophia and the fact that she did turn up dead, that is going to weigh on him. It's something he's willing to feel responsible for.
THR: Daryl and Carol seem to have found one another. Will that friendship develop into something?
Kirkman: There aren't a lot of people around. Eventually, everyone is going to pair up. I definitely do see a little bit of some kind of a relationship forming between them. Whether it's a very strong friendship or something romantic remains to be seen. There definitely is something going on there.
THR: The Andrea-Dale dynamic, will he confront her again with his concerns?
Kirkman: It's a very nuanced relationship that we'll be exploring a lot in the coming episodes. He is fatherly toward her but he's being somewhat overbearing at times and it has pushed her away. She also has to recognize the different things he's gone through and what's informing those decisions and whether or not they will reconcile remains to be seen.
THR: Any update on when/if we'll see the Governor or Michonne?
Kirkman: I can say only that we will see them eventually. We will see some new characters popping up as early as the [2012] premiere episode.
THR: Still unknown: What Jenner told Rick at the CDC. How much longer can you hold on to that?
Kirkman: It will be happening sooner rather than later.
The Walking Dead returns with new episodes Feb. 12 at 9 p.m. on AMC.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
The boldfaced point is precisely what I was thinking.
It's possible Herschel knew and, unable to reconcile the problem, was hoping they'd just be on their way. But once he got his 'in' to the group with Rick, their leader, he figured he might have had a chance getting the rest of his group to see his side of things.
Herschel doesn't believe that the wakers can't be saved. He is holding out hope that they can be cured somehow. He is acting on limited information, of course, but those are his beliefs and he clearly isn't going to be swayed from that.
There is probably some sentimental part of him that thinks he was doing the group a favor by hiding Sophia from them, provided he knew she was in there at all. He probably figured they'd just give up on her, and it's clear from the way he was able to compromise with Rick that he was hoping to make those inroads with them to get them to not be so hasty to off the zombies as purely walking, motorized death.
And to bring it back to the human theme, the 'kill or be killed' mentality when it can completely be avoided is to give up your own humanity. Those walkers were not a threat until Shane let them out.
I don't see any of this as rationalizing the storyline at all. I see it all as entirely possible character motivation for Herschel to keep a lid on the whole thing.
Things unraveled well considering the arguments about Rick not taking command like a leader should. Rick left the door open for Shane to take over. If nothing happened there, if Shane didn't take control, the story would have been weaker. It was the right way for things to unwind.
Otis has to come back, and then it reveals how Shane truly escaped.
There's too much plot there not to have that happen.
The whole season was just a build up to Rick having a chance to show that he is the only one able to do what needs to be done. Regardless of him clinging to the last remnants of old humanity. As Taiso said Shane is a straight up punk. All geeked out but when shit gets really real he's impotent.
Sophie being in the barn the whole time is a cheap move and an excuse to keep them all at the farm the entire season but it was effective once revealed. Shit, better than them finding her and having her running to her mother arms or whatever. I think the whole thing about her being relatively non-mutilated is just keeping with the groups collective innocence. Not to say they haven't been through a lot but Sophie was kind of the hold out hand. It doesn't really matter. Rick shot her straight up, shit had to be done. Making them all suck it up and face the truth.
As for nothing happening this season.. got to disagree. I did expect more to go down but on a character development level things happened. Not as much as expected but still not a total waste of time. Key characters had their spot light but everyone else didn't to do shit. The black dude, Sophies mom etc. There are way too many characters who's names I don't even know. So kind of a throw up.
Either way as a TV show and spin off of the comic the show is interesting enough to make me tune in each week. That is really all that matters.
This is exactly what I felt.
I think it was a good choice that it was Rick that had to end Sophia. He put her in the situation that got her turned, so he had to step up to her face to face to get a smack in the face and realise what he had done.
Otis coming back would be stupid. We saw that a dusin zombies was over him. No way he would escape that.
Im excited to see what happens next? How will the group react to the way Shane blew up?
Herschel, will he let them stay after they killed/executed all those walkers/people?
I agree. I feel that Rick was, at least partly, doing the deed himself as penance for the mistakes he's made. I personally think if anybody else would have had the balls to step up and try to off Sophia, Rick would have stopped them and done it himself.
100% agree. If Otis were to shamble onto the farm, I think I'd stop watching.
I can accept Sophia being bitten, running off and dying/turning somewhere alone. It was a pretty big gouge, but adrenalin can make people do amazing things. I don't think it's that hard to suspend one's disbelief for that scenario.
But Otis is nothing but bones now.
Frankly, I think Rick has the group back at the very end.
I don't think Shane took over anything. I think he had it, but he lost it the second he locked up with the rest of the group when he saw Sophia. He became just like the rest of them in that moment-a follower needing someone to take control.
I think Rick asserted himself, in one motion, to the whole group AND to the residents of Herschel's farm.
But that's going to eat at Shane. It's still effective storybuilding and Shane's action has created a lot of tension for the group to sort through for the next season.
I don't see how he kicks them out. I don't see how he can. Herschel was as lost and confused as everyone else in that moment. Only Rick could do what needed doing, and I think he knows it. I think Herschel got his wake up call and now he understands the world they live in. And I think Herschel will recognize that Rick's view is just a variation on his own mindset, but altered just the right amount for this new world.
Rick isn't immoral/amoral. He's actually a good deal like Herschel. But he is also just different enough that he's properly equipped to live in this world. A good person willing to do what is needed when it's truly necessary.
The group isn't staying on the farm. Why do people think Herschel won't tell them to leave? They have places to go and people to see.
Because it doesn't matter anymore. Why send them away now? Any hope of preserving the farm's sanctity is shot, and that's why he wanted them gone. That is symbolized through Maggie just as much as through the barn massacre.
Herschel got his wakeup call. He knows it can never be the way he wants it to be anymore. He realizes he can't make the world the way he wants it. If he did, he would have reacted more strongly during the event. Instead, he sat there in horror at everything.
And I don't see him as a reactionary sort to angrily kick them out after all that. I see him as begrudingly accepting the circumstances and continuing to strive for more hopeful resolutions. He may harbor resentment and be mistrustful of them, but he won't push them away just because they broke his rule.
The group will leave the farm eventually, but not right away and not because Herschel will be pushing them away.
My .02.
If anything, I see the group leaving on their own because of what happened. Maybe this is a good time to leave the farm and find the prison.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
I just think Herschel will come to reveal he can't protect or preserve anything anymore. Everyone and everything he loves is gone now, and can never be recovered. Even Maggie. He's lost her to the group too, just like he lost everything else. Everything his life had ever been to that point ended there, at that barn.
What's he supposed to do? Start over? Why? What's the point? The summation of his experiences and beliefs have been wiped out in a hail of gunfire and he's been shown just how fragile his philosophy is, and all the social threads it relies on to suspend it.
I think that what happens from here is:
Tension builds with the group, who remain distant from the farm people. It gradually becomes about Rick vs. Shane and factionalism. It comes to a head. There's another violent incident. The group moves on because there's just too much pain and stagnation associated with the farm at that point and wherever they're going to make their future, it won't be at a place that can now only be associated with misery.
I was waiting for Shane to shoot Hershel actually. I couldn't tell how far over the edge he went.
They have to leave the farm because it's boring. The farm setting was all about character building. Shooting stray walkers is not that interesting.
Hershel probably dies or sets fire to his house. Something along those lines.
If only the writers of this show spent this much time discussing and developing the plot instead of writing the nonsense they've been coming up with.
More like the fact I don't take apologists seriously.
I complain about it because I wish it was better. If I don't care, I wouldn't mention it at all. I will never, for instance, complain about Glee, because I don't give a shit about it. Such is my way, and I don't ask for your approval (or anyone else's).
Which is always your contention every time you poopoo something other people can intelligently defend.
"I don't like this and I know what's good, so anybody that disagrees is an apologist."
I got called out for the same type of thought process in this very thread (I don't care what others have to say when they disagree with me) and while I don't believe I was an apologist for the show, I checked my thoughts and realized 'You know what, people are making some sense about this' and adjusted my thought process to account for the fact that maybe, just maybe I don't know this show better than anyone else.
That may not work for you. That's fine.
But there is plenty of discourse going on here that more than stands up to your scrutiny.
We all want it to be better. But that doesn't make it the absolute turd, or the 'dumb fun' you keep going on about it being.
It's a flawed product but it has decent merit and is more thoughtful than you're giving it credit for being.
The funniest and most accurate reviews of this show by far are on Grantland:
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollyw...arget-practice
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollyw...-the-slaughter
I couldn't stop laughing as well as nodding since most of those thoughts went through my head as well.
Let's waste some bullets on target practice?
Dale has a headstart and yet Shane finds him in the middle of nowhere?
Lori, if you're worried about Carl are you really letting him sit there at your knees watching the walker slaughter instead of running away to the house?
Does Carl have some of Wolverine's blood in his veins?
How many freaking chickens and roosters do they have here? Did someone raid the county fair?
I like some of the changes from the graphic novel. I think expanding Rick's villain role is a great direction since he was never given enough depth in the comic. Hershel's casting is right on point. Sophia's ending was the only reasonable way to end this dragging corpse of a season.
Additionally, re-reading the first 18 issues over the long weekend made me realize that Kirkman speaks much better than he writes. His dialogue in the comic and the TV series has oftentimes been stilted, cliched, and outright boring. I can't help but imagine these characters and stories in the hands of Neil Gaiman, Michael Brian Bendis, Alan Moore, or a host of other more talented writers. If the story was not about zombies but rather a post-apocalyptic or war-zone scenario, I don't think it would have generated this kind of hype. Even comparing Kirkman to a contemporary like Brian Wood you start questioning his writing abilities. He interviews incredibly well and you can tell he has some great ideas, but why don't they turn out just as good on paper and, subsequently, on film?
I really enjoy zombie stories. I thus really enjoy the Walking Dead in both of its formats. With all the shortcomings, it is still a really enjoyable and, at times, thoughtfully written piece on human relationships. But every time I read it I want it to turn into Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, or The Preacher. The same way, I want the TV series to rival The Wire, Mad Men, or The Shield. And it falls just short.
As a quick followup, I am not strictly complaining about Kirkman. I have not read Invincible, and I do think his more recent Walking Dead narrative is much better than the early issues, to the point where I'd love for him to do a redux on the three-four story arcs in the beginning. I am also enjoying the changes being implemented into the TV series to make it a fresh product.
That said, I can't stop wishing that it was better, because this is that golden idea that has a chance to be the best ever. Kind of like LeBron had a chance to be the best ever. And watching both of these reach that level is a disappointment because you know that the groundwork is there for something truly game breaking.
You're neglecting one important detail: Despite the fact that you seemed a bit riled by what I said about your own comments about the show, I don't think you're an apologist and never have.
You have defended the show intelligently, and admitted it has flaws. Hell, you even agree with me about what a lot of those flaws are. I find the show disappointing, and you don't. That's fine.
But that guy basically asserted the attitude that anyone who thinks the show is sub-par couldn't possibly have anything worthwhile to say. In other words, anyone who disagrees with him is wrong.
You disagree with me about the show and I don't have a problem with that. But if someone just says, in effect, "This show is great and you just don't understand its greatness," I do have a problem with that, because there's a difference.
I had a local installer come in to pick up a part and he noticed my Walking Dead calendar. We had a quick one minute discussion about the graphic novel. Then I said that the show is slightly disappointing, to which he replied that he doesn't own a TV.
Whenever people say that I don't really know what to come back with. Cool? Sorry to hear that? Not even one for DVDs? What about porn? Do you watch movies on your computer? Do you live in a yurt?
You say "That's Awesome...."
No way. You say
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/p...jpg?1318992465
Invincible is good but some times he just goes on these violence for violence sake tangents. He does have a better handle on superheroes then some of the top writers working for Marvel and DC and unlike over in Walking Dead so far besides Mark( Invincible ) and Atom Eve( maybe ) he's willing to kill off just about everyone
I never said anyone who disagrees with me is wrong. And I think the show is subpar on some levels as well. I didn't say it is great and you don't understand it, I basically said you simply don't understand it. Your arguments lacked comprehension of what actually happened in the scenes you were complaining about. I cited multiple reasons and explanations of why you truly just don't understand what you were ranting about.
When you complain about stuff that the writers ACTUALLY addressed, and then get mad at the show because you didn't get it, I have to conclude you aren't following the show very well.
~Anselm~
I am aware that someone with a typewriter is a better artist than I.
So let me see if I have this straight. You're telling me -- again! -- that the reason I don't like the show is I don't understand it.
You know what, I'm going to go ahead and continue to not have any respect for your opinion on this matter. I understand the show just fine, and if you think condescending to me is going to win me over, you have another thing coming. If there's one thing I won't abide it's people talking down to me without cause, so kindly fuck off and go argue with someone who's your intellectual equal -- assuming the kindergarten has gotten out by the time you read this.
That picture is pretty incredible. Better than Etch-A-Sketch art.
They should just shut down after this year and either make an annual miniseries or movies.
I'll be missing this tonight because of a pinball tournament. I'll just catch up with the repeat next week and stay out of this thread lol. It's been going downhill lately with too much drama anyway. The drama is good - don't get me wrong - but I'd rather see more zombie killing! :)
Good to know. Whew! :)