The Walking Dead (official thread, 'clams not allowed)

[Emo EMAW]

We need to have some more characters that are sort of "safe."  Like Michone was a good addition.  Can Tyreese be a long standing character?  I hope so.  Will they kill Glen?  Doubt it. 

[The Big Train]

It's about ready to get crazy you guys, have a little faith.

[Cartierfor3]

I actually enjoy this season, and I'll tell you why. You see, this season is about who retains their humanity and who loses it. Each person mourning death differently, the blond saying "we don't get to be upset", the little girl being said about Nick the Zombie, Tyrese being messed up by going out on a run. Their examining the emotions of the characters more and moving the plot less. That's more interesting to me than 45 minutes of zombie smashing every week.

[Emo EMAW]

I like it when they are forced to deal with new constraints and problem solve or die, make difficult/impossible decisions, etc. 

Like I actually thought it would have been more interesting if Rick had planned an ambush for the Governor instead of the hap hazard way it went down.  They let him/them off the hook too easy. 

[star seed 7]

season 2 was more than a slow "start" it was a slow "season".  this one is starting to shape up that way too 

[Paul Moscow]

I like it when they are forced to deal with new constraints and problem solve or die, make difficult/impossible decisions, etc. 

Like I actually thought it would have been more interesting if Rick had planned an ambush for the Governor instead of the hap hazard way it went down.  They let him/them off the hook too easy.

There's not a sense of community with this group, no centralized decision making apparatus. Herschel referenced some pow-wow that the group was going to have but that we have never had insight into. We are nearly half way through this season and I have no built in relationship with any of these people. Tyrese's girlfriend? Whatever.

My other point where I think they are missing is the creativity behind their survival. There has to be some ingenuity or at least some heavy supply stealing in order to keep that place running. I want to see the food pantry or how they reinforce the fence, is there an alarm system, who has nightwatch, or show me something creative like how they heat the water or generate electricity. Show some cool engineering junk that I wouldn't be able to do on my own without an iPhone and like 4 months of prep work.

[CNS]

They have a council.  That is a centralized decision making apparatus.

[star seed 7]

They have a council.  That is a centralized decision making apparatus.

yeah, and they've showed it like 8 times.

[Emo EMAW]

I like it when they are forced to deal with new constraints and problem solve or die, make difficult/impossible decisions, etc. 

Like I actually thought it would have been more interesting if Rick had planned an ambush for the Governor instead of the hap hazard way it went down.  They let him/them off the hook too easy.

There's not a sense of community with this group, no centralized decision making apparatus. Herschel referenced some pow-wow that the group was going to have but that we have never had insight into. We are nearly half way through this season and I have no built in relationship with any of these people. Tyrese's girlfriend? Whatever.

My other point where I think they are missing is the creativity behind their survival. There has to be some ingenuity or at least some heavy supply stealing in order to keep that place running. I want to see the food pantry or how they reinforce the fence, is there an alarm system, who has nightwatch, or show me something creative like how they heat the water or generate electricity. Show some cool engineering junk that I wouldn't be able to do on my own without an iPhone and like 4 months of prep work.

  This.

[Paul Moscow]

I recall the council being central to the plot at end of the last season and in season's prior but not in this one, like hardly at all. Point notwithstanding though there's no direction for the group and as emo said no goal, just survival,  maybe that's the point but its stalling the show, IMO.

[Belvis Noland]

I've always thought a fundamental component of a good story is cliffhangers.  I love a good book where I finish a chapter and can't wait to turn the page.  Or, in a good show (BB for instance) each episode concludes, leaving you wanting more. 

TWD has been like this at times, but it's pretty clearly lost its way.  I don't want stretches of episodes devoted to "character development" in lieu of story development.  They aren't mutually exclusive concepts. 

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

The problem with this show relying on character development is that most of the remaining/new characters suck. For example, I don't care about Carol getting all dark because I don't give a crap about Carol. Now that I think about it, the lack of interesting characters is going to be a big problem even if the plot does start moving again.

[Belvis Noland]

The problem with this show relying on character development is that most of the remaining/new characters suck. For example, I don't care about Carol getting all dark because I don't give a crap about Carol. Now that I think about it, the lack of interesting characters is going to be a big problem even if the plot does start moving again.

I'd add Angela to that list of crap characters but, fortunately, they killed her off. 

I do like Carl, Tyrese, and Daryl though.  Would be cool if zombie mob descended on prison and these 3 were the only ones to escape.  Mashone would be an acceptable survivor too.   

[Paul Moscow]

The problem with this show relying on character development is that most of the remaining/new characters suck. For example, I don't care about Carol getting all dark because I don't give a crap about Carol. Now that I think about it, the lack of interesting characters is going to be a big problem even if the plot does start moving again.

I'd add Angela to that list of crap characters but, fortunately, they killed her off. 

I do like Carl, Tyrese, and Daryl though.  Would be cool if zombie mob descended on prison and these 3 were the only ones to escape.  Mashone would be an acceptable survivor too.   

The loss of Lori has made me care less about Rick. With her character you were given insight into Rick's psyche and the tension between the betterment of the group vs the risk to their family and vice versa - plus the subplot with Shane. There isn't a whole lot we get from Rick now besides physical manifestations of his anger  whereas before that would be the final action (like w/ Shane) rather than the first, or perhaps only indicator of his decline.

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

The problem with this show relying on character development is that most of the remaining/new characters suck. For example, I don't care about Carol getting all dark because I don't give a crap about Carol. Now that I think about it, the lack of interesting characters is going to be a big problem even if the plot does start moving again.

I'd add Angela to that list of crap characters but, fortunately, they killed her off. 

I do like Carl, Tyrese, and Daryl though.  Would be cool if zombie mob descended on prison and these 3 were the only ones to escape.  Mashone would be an acceptable survivor too.   

The loss of Lori has made me care less about Rick. With her character you were given insight into Rick's psyche and the tension between the betterment of the group vs the risk to their family and vice versa - plus the subplot with Shane. There isn't a whole lot we get from Rick now besides physical manifestations of his anger  whereas before that would be the final action (like w/ Shane) rather than the first, or perhaps only indicator of his decline.

Good point. Lori wasn't my favorite character, but the Lori Rick Shane dynamic was interesting. Rick isn't nearly as interesting now. Same with Daryl and his brother. That was really good. Then they killed off the brother. Now Daryl is flat.

[hemmy]

I cheered Lori's death. She was the Skylar White of TWD.

[The Whale]

They need to come up with an eventual goal, which is a large part of what made season 1 so good.  Get to safety and hang out there, then get to the CDC when safety ended in disaster.

Lately, it's been missing that, and focusing more on every day survival and the loss of humanity, which is boring.  They should be able to do both.

It's still confusing why the remaining survivors wouldn't pick better weapons or wear the body armor.  "Hmm...looks like Michonne has no issues talking down walkers from a safe distance with that bad-ass sword.  Should I use a razor sharp machete?  Nah, I'm good with a hammer or a little knife."

[Asteriskhead]

I think you are way downplaying or missing that part of Rick's character that will have him do anything to protect Carl's life. stupids

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

They need to come up with an eventual goal, which is a large part of what made season 1 so good.  Get to safety and hang out there, then get to the CDC when safety ended in disaster.

Lately, it's been missing that, and focusing more on every day survival and the loss of humanity, which is boring.  They should be able to do both.

Agreed. But even if they start moving again, they're going to need better characters.

It's still confusing why the remaining survivors wouldn't pick better weapons or wear the body armor.  "Hmm...looks like Michonne has no issues talking down walkers from a safe distance with that bad-ass sword.  Should I use a razor sharp machete?  Nah, I'm good with a hammer or a little knife."

Exactly. If I'm in a zombie apocalypse, I'm going with a weapon that puts me at least a few feet away from the teeth/claws. Baseball bat seems like a nice, if messy choice. Maybe all the sporting goods stores were cleaned out early on.

[Belvis Noland]

They need to come up with an eventual goal, which is a large part of what made season 1 so good.  Get to safety and hang out there, then get to the CDC when safety ended in disaster.

Lately, it's been missing that, and focusing more on every day survival and the loss of humanity, which is boring.  They should be able to do both.

Agreed. But even if they start moving again, they're going to need better characters.

It's still confusing why the remaining survivors wouldn't pick better weapons or wear the body armor.  "Hmm...looks like Michonne has no issues talking down walkers from a safe distance with that bad-ass sword.  Should I use a razor sharp machete?  Nah, I'm good with a hammer or a little knife."

Exactly. If I'm in a zombie apocalypse, I'm going with a weapon that puts me at least a few feet away from the teeth/claws. Baseball bat seems like a nice, if messy choice. Maybe all the sporting goods stores were cleaned out early on.

Bombs, incendiary devices seem like logical choices too.  May not kill the zombies, but could neutralize large portions of zombie herds.  they need to welcome an engineer into their ranks. 

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

Too bad they can't find some guy like Walter White who can teach them how to make automated trunk mounted machine gun turrets. Seems like a simple, natural solution to killing both nazis and zombies.

[The Whale]

They need to come up with an eventual goal, which is a large part of what made season 1 so good.  Get to safety and hang out there, then get to the CDC when safety ended in disaster.

Lately, it's been missing that, and focusing more on every day survival and the loss of humanity, which is boring.  They should be able to do both.

Agreed. But even if they start moving again, they're going to need better characters.

It's still confusing why the remaining survivors wouldn't pick better weapons or wear the body armor.  "Hmm...looks like Michonne has no issues talking down walkers from a safe distance with that bad-ass sword.  Should I use a razor sharp machete?  Nah, I'm good with a hammer or a little knife."

Exactly. If I'm in a zombie apocalypse, I'm going with a weapon that puts me at least a few feet away from the teeth/claws. Baseball bat seems like a nice, if messy choice. Maybe all the sporting goods stores were cleaned out early on.

Bombs, incendiary devices seem like logical choices too.  May not kill the zombies, but could neutralize large portions of zombie herds.  they need to welcome an engineer into their ranks.

Maybe they should be dumping some gas on the walkers at the fence and lighting them up.  Solves both the walker and the cleanup problem at once.   

[EllRobersonisInnocent]

This season has been awful.

[Pete]

This season has been awful.

I bet it picks up fast, going forward.

[EllRobersonisInnocent]

This season has been awful.

I bet it picks up fast, going forward.

Hopefully, I'm still going to watch even if it doesn't. I'm pot committed and can't fold now.