The Walking Dead TV series courtesy of AMC.

dspoonrt said:

Good points. I do wish Darabont was still connected with the show. He's a movie guy, whereas the writers currently working on the show are TV guys - they deliver less week to week.

Since you brought up other AMC shows, I will say that I'm intrigued by Hell of Wheels. I love the Outlaw Josey Wales-esque storyline and the lead actor, Anson Mount, is great. They're only two episodes in, but I can't wait to see where they're going with the series. Of course, I'm a sucker for Westerns.

Click to expand...

I thought the preview looked interesting, but never gave it a chance since I was transitioning to watch all of BSG finally.

Agent Sands said:

I thought the preview looked interesting, but never gave it a chance since I was transitioning to watch all of BSG finally.

Click to expand...

You should give it a try. It's interesting thus far. I'd probably wait until there's at least 5 or 6 episodes out to start, though. It is a hassle waiting on these young shows to start developing.

I still need to go through BSG. That'll be a few months of my life.

I think what really bugged me about the last episode is that Daryl fell on his arrow, but no one gave a thought to the fact that he might be infected; he always reuses his arrows, and I'm sure he doesn't sterilize them (who knows if that would do anything anyway). I'm just finding that this season is full of holes in general, but I still want to at least see where they are going with this season.

I tell you, this shit is the new lost....

Renmauzo said:

I think what really bugged me about the last episode is that Daryl fell on his arrow, but no one gave a thought to the fact that he might be infected; he always reuses his arrows, and I'm sure he doesn't sterilize them (who knows if that would do anything anyway). I'm just finding that this season is full of holes in general, but I still want to at least see where they are going with this season.

Click to expand...

Shit, I forgot to mention that. When he fell, I forgot about the fact that zombie goo is gonna be on his arrow (which, to be honest, is a way better point than I'm about to make), but he was swimming around in a stream for a long time. It wasn't standing water, at least, but I thought, "Shit, he's gonna get an infection." You can't just roll around in the dirt and in a dirty stream with a really deep wound and not have it get infected.

For fairness's sake, Herschel did say, "I can't believe we're using the antibiotics this fast" or something like that. But c'mon, what ever random shit you're gonna find at the drug store isn't going to handle everything.

After catching up on the last two episodes a few nights ago, I agree with the general sentiment in this thread.

My only thing to add is that I find the acting incredibly limited and see that as the main long term problem for the show. Andrew Lincoln has basically just given us the same raspy, weathered, beaten down voice expressing love for his son and little variety otherwise. Laurie Holden is pretty much just combining her The Mist and Shield roles, which turn her into a far more whining and annoying Andrea than in the comics. And Steven Yeun's interpretation of Glenn casts him as a shallow loner with a predilection for spouting off cliche generalizations (i.e. all women being on a period at the same time).

Since the end of last season, I've tried watching some other works performed by the main cast and the majority of them are forgettable. There is no single powerful force that will keep the show going through slow plot devices, no Michael Chiklis, Bryan Cranston, or Jon Hamm. I've yet to see any of the characters push their acting boundaries and give a performance where I look at them and say, yup, that's the Rick in the comic book taken out of the pages and enriched by a live actor. I know that one can't constantly compare this to the original source, but if this had been called anything BUT the Walking Dead, it would be headed for a quick cancellation.

I don't want to say that Kirkman is mailing it in, but so far he's no Joss Whedon.

The thing is that I really like the portrayal of Rick on this show but he just isn't being given enough to really actually DO here.

They say he's the 'leader' of the group, but I just don't feel it. I don't see him taking control of situations at all.

Like when Laurie started pissing and moaning about not being able to use a gun, it would have been cool to see Dale go to Rick and say 'this might be a problem because...'

It may not have been in Dale's character, as he seems to be a guy that would rather do things 'his own way' and just hope everyone else picks up on the clues.

So maybe have Rick pick up on it on his own. I don't care if he's 'occupied' with other stuff. Just write a little scene where he notices the divide between Dale and Laurie, the reason why, and actually handles the situation.

That's just one example. It could be anything, really. Any dispute the group's having. If he's going to be 'the guy' on the show, then he needs a moment where he actually gets to fucking BE 'the guy.'

Otherwise, he's just another character. And too much of the source material depends on Rick to lead the group. If they keep mining the original story for the bulk of their material, there's no way around this, IMO. It's just hardwired into the framework of the original story. The wild departures from the original plot and trying to tell a story about a broader base of characters has only exposed, perhaps, a weakness of the source material in that the characters all grow in Rick's shadow.

Which is fine. It's natural for the source material, and I never really had a big problem with it. But it's clearly at cross purposes with what the TV show is trying to do, and they can't borrow so much of the source material and then ignore this basic fact.

I still say Laurie should be younger. It would have made for a far more provocative series of developments. She's being written very young and naive about the world. Would have been perfect for a 22 year old girl just starting to live her life. But it just all seems wrong, given Laurie Holden's particular style of acting.

I don't think Kirkman's writing it in as much as he's just starstruck. Toys, boardgames, video games, TV show, ratings buzz, everyone on his jock. Kirkman envisioned this all from a simple independent comic book that was originally supposed to be a spinoff of the public domain Night of the Living Dead.

And now it's grown into a multi-media juggernaut.

It must be incredibly surreal for him right now. He might be getting lost in all of this. Or maybe he's frustrated by the direction of the show and is playing the 'good soldier.' Perhaps he doesn't want to rock the boat. After the Darabont blow up, there may be an AMC mandate to avoid any internal negativity. I can't psychoanalyze the guy, and I shouldn't even be trying. But from the outside, I see it as one of these two scenarios.

.02

Kiselgof said:

I don't want to say that Kirkman is mailing it in, but so far he's no Joss Whedon.

Click to expand...

Joss Whedon would have already made Michonne the main character. (played by Gina Torres, of course)

From the last episode:

All I can say is thank god they're finding out what's in the barn. The plot has been stuck in neutral for weeks and they don't even use that time for character development.

Shane doesn't care about people and Daryl cares about finding the girl: both things we already knew about them. All it amounts to is an episode that can be safely skipped.

Eric said:

All it amounts to is an episode that can be safely skipped.

Click to expand...

That's a good point. I'll add this: an episode where a main character gets shot in the head that can safely be skipped is an indication that this show is in trouble, whether we like it or not.

I guess right now we can pretty much agree that the show is "okay." It's better than nothing. Without this show, I figure I'd just be waiting for Archer to come out again, and Spartacus: Vengeance to come out end of January.

I read the article about how Darabont was booted from the show, for arguing about not being able to pay the crew appropriately for their work. That's corporate america for you. And this season has truly stunk as a result. Way too much time spent in houses with no zombies. I figure it's a matter of time before the cast happen upon a survivor psychiatrist, so that they can all just sit, indoors, and discuss their feelings, like in the Sopranos.

Agent Sands said:

I guess right now we can pretty much agree that the show is "okay." It's better than nothing. Without this show, I figure I'd just be waiting for Archer to come out again, and Spartacus: Vengeance to come out end of January.

I read the article about how Darabont was booted from the show, for arguing about not being able to pay the crew appropriately for their work. That's corporate america for you. And this season has truly stunk as a result. Way too much time spent in houses with no zombies. I figure it's a matter of time before the cast happen upon a survivor psychiatrist, so that they can all just sit, indoors, and discuss their feelings, like in the Sopranos.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have to agree. The show has potential, and it's ambitious, but for the most part they've squandered a lot of that potential. It's interesting to hear that most of the reason for the nose dive this season is AMC not taking the show seriously and cutting corners where they really shouldn't have. It's OK. It's definitely something that could go off the air tomorrow and I wouldn't care. Ironically, and I was talking to Eric about this recently... I preferred a show that was pretty-critically hated, Falling Skies, way more than Walking Dead. Mostly, because I thought what they were doing in that show was pretty cool... and there was a lot of interesting detours that lead to nice plot progression. Noah Wyle is also pretty damn charasmatic, and the cast has a good balance of weak and strong acting. Anyway, the Walking Dead is sort of on life support with me.

nruva said:

Yeah, I have to agree. The show has potential, and it's ambitious, but for the most part they've squandered a lot of that potential. It's interesting to hear that most of the reason for the nose dive this season is AMC not taking the show seriously and cutting corners where they really shouldn't have. It's OK. It's definitely something that could go off the air tomorrow and I wouldn't care. Ironically, and I was talking to Eric about this recently... I preferred a show that was pretty-critically hated, Falling Skies, way more than Walking Dead. Mostly, because I thought what they were doing in that show was pretty cool... and there was a lot of interesting detours that lead to nice plot progression. Noah Wyle is also pretty damn charasmatic, and the cast has a good balance of weak and strong acting. Anyway, the Walking Dead is sort of on life support with me.

Click to expand...

I think life support is a great way to put it. It really is on life support.

They are spending way too much time looking for that little girl....

In the first season there was a lot more going on, more people and a lot of different places.

At least there's a good chance of something interesting and important happening in the next episode...

Yue said:

At least there's a good chance of something interesting and important happening in the next episode...

Click to expand...

I don't think anything noteworthy is going to happen. I was talking to a friend of mine tonight about the show, and he said he thinks it'll be like the comic: nothing will happen for a really long time, then all of a sudden all hell will break loose. I figure that'll be the season finale.

Maybe they'll call off this fucking search next episode... But somehow I doubt it.

If you combine all the things that happened in the 6 episodes of the first season, and the first 6 episodes of the 2nd season, which one had more accomplished

The only way finding that girl will work is if a lot of people die.

They can always jump the shark and egregiously stray from the continuity by introducing a new element, like the governor kidnapping the wandering girl. I can see them expediting the show by skipping entire chunks of the comic this way.

Wouldn't that be the worst of both worlds though? Nothing has happened for a while. I crave some story here. It seems to me that skipping a bunch of the plot -- plot I want to see, but haven't yet -- would just make things worse.

They need to wrap this shit up and move on though, either way. Unfortunately it's obvious that this entire season is going to be about the farm, though (and maybe the girl as well). I seriously doubt they're going to move on before the end of the season.

Show is ok, more needs to happen. Are they going to go anywhere else location wise? Or just keep walking or driving til the next town they see?

HeartlessNinny said:

Wouldn't that be the worst of both worlds though? Nothing has happened for a while. I crave some story here. It seems to me that skipping a bunch of the plot -- plot I want to see, but haven't yet -- would just make things worse.

They need to wrap this shit up and move on though, either way. Unfortunately it's obvious that this entire season is going to be about the farm, though (and maybe the girl as well). I seriously doubt they're going to move on before the end of the season.

Click to expand...

not with only 3ish episodes left, they are going nowhere. maybe a little somewhere in the finale for the setup to next season.

cdamm said:

not with only 3ish episodes left, they are going nowhere. maybe a little somewhere in the finale for the setup to next season.

Click to expand...

Three episodes is enough for them to get to the jail.

My understanding is that there are seven more episodes left.

One more tomorrow and then they break until February (I think) and come back with six more.

I believe that's the plan. Or something like that.

Pretty sure it's supposed to be a 12 episode season, broken up into two halves.

WTF? really walking dead? if this was the first or even second time absolutely nothing happened i woudnt be upset. I know its about more than zombies. Its about the survivors.

for the couple of moments of tension (what? 6-7 minutes of screen time if that.) and about 15 minutes of genuine story happening, there was an awful lot of nothing happening.

also now i feel kind of bad for rick, now that we all know that lori cannot deep throat .

I liked tonight's episode because it did have more suspense. You can tell whoever is directing the show is trying to skimp a lot on costs, but for this episode it was okay. A lot of good development. I can see this kind of going the way of the comics, but was wondering if maybe Kirkman is using the show as a vehicle to retell the story the way he wanted it to be. Maybe he's not as detached as people are saying. Maybe.

Agent Sands said:

I liked tonight's episode because it did have more suspense. You can tell whoever is directing the show is trying to skimp a lot on costs, but for this episode it was okay. A lot of good development. I can see this kind of going the way of the comics, but was wondering if maybe Kirkman is using the show as a vehicle to retell the story the way he wanted it to be. Maybe he's not as detached as people are saying. Maybe.

Click to expand...

hmm.. damn it all. i'm still waiting for the torrent to show up so i can download it on my phone. sadly, this and 'Regular Show' are the only things on tv that i watch otherwise i'd buy a tv and get cable or sat.


btw, you guys notice the tie between this series and Stephen King's "The Mist" movie? Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden & Melissa McBride were in both....
coincidence?...