Re: Walking Dead Winter Break, let's talk Season 2 up to this point. *spoilers inside*
Cannoli Send a noteboard - 06/12/2011 11:29:34 PM
First, I have to officially eat some crow. When I first saw the trailer for the show I mheh'd it thinking the zombie theme would wear thin really quickly. Well, Season 2 up to this point hasn't even had many zombies in it and even those who have appeared have represented more than just the cliche zombie. And I take my crow fully, the show has has really been character driven and has a pull to it that brings me back every week. Kudos to the writers and actors.
I have found this year's presentment of zombies to have a message. The herd in the "herd" in the beginning and the zombie hanging from the tree showed the hopelessness being a zombie. They are truly apocalyptic creature, left to wander until they decay into a mess of rotted flesh. They truly have no souls, nothing left of humanity in them. It is a truly sad end for mankind. And then the zombies pull out the zombie in the well, the bloated and rotting piece of flesh that one cannot see and not feel a little sorry for. What are the producers doing? They are making us feel bad for the zombies who would most definitely eat us in a heartbeat given even a second to get close? Combined with the slaughter in the end and the discovery of Sophia I found myself thinking the first half of the season might be some of the best writing of the show so far.
The only problem I had with it was that it took so long and there was no character development, just ongoing exposition, hammering home the same traits about the same characters over and over again. Daryl is gruff, but reluctantly cares, and is determined; Dale is wise and insightful and overprotective of Andrea; Andrea has a huge chip on her shoulder and is determined to prove her self-sufficiency; Shane is ruthless and resents Rick and they keep having the same conversations over and over again. It's not the lack of "action" that slowed it down, but the lack of forward progress, with the characters or the plot. I'm hoping, given the irregular first season, this half was planned as a jumping-on point allowing anyone to pick it up, get involved, and secure themselves for a faster ride come 2012. I have found this year's presentment of zombies to have a message. The herd in the "herd" in the beginning and the zombie hanging from the tree showed the hopelessness being a zombie. They are truly apocalyptic creature, left to wander until they decay into a mess of rotted flesh. They truly have no souls, nothing left of humanity in them. It is a truly sad end for mankind. And then the zombies pull out the zombie in the well, the bloated and rotting piece of flesh that one cannot see and not feel a little sorry for. What are the producers doing? They are making us feel bad for the zombies who would most definitely eat us in a heartbeat given even a second to get close? Combined with the slaughter in the end and the discovery of Sophia I found myself thinking the first half of the season might be some of the best writing of the show so far.
Speaking of Sophia, did you see it coming or were you surprised? Interestingly, I didn't see it coming. I was surprised when she walked out. By the way, how did Glen not see her from the top view?
Dark barn, not expecting it, shorter than the other ones and easier to overlook... And by the time the slow buildup of the barn scene got going, it was obvious that with this being the last episode in a while and no other way for Sophia to return with a plot development that would appear to take up the rest of the episode, yeah, it was pretty obvious. By the time they got to the end and it was obvious there was some big reveal in the barn, what else could it be?Also, do you think Herschel knew all along or didn't realize that was the girl they were looking for? Some things up to this point can now be reinterpreted a little if thinking of it in terms that Herschel knew all along. The two that stick out to me most are the weird looks the group got when Daryl (I think maybe it was Shane?) asked the group "Has anyone thought about what we do if we find her and she's a walker?" That is my paraphrase but if I recall correctly, Herschel was there and gave a weird look. Also, could it be that he was so adamant that they leave because he knew that once it came out that there were walkers in the barn and that Sophia was one of them that they would kill her?
He very well might not have known. He did say that Otis was the one who rounded them up, and Otis died before they could move past Carl's crisis to give much detail about the little girl they were looking for. As for his silence on the matter, he couldn't reveal how he knew without exposing the barn, and he did not want to risk that, because he correctly assessed the attitude of the group towards walkers and what they would want to do with a barn full of them. And the weird look you refer to could very well be simply a reaction to their own difference of perspective on the walkers. He knows, after all, what HE would do in their shoes, and he can't really believe that this is an issue for the group. "She's still the little girl you're looking for! What difference does it make if you find her and she is one?" Speaking of Herschel, I really don't like him. I don't like his character and I am really hoping the group moves on. In the preview for the return in Jan/Feb Herschel tells Rick they have to leave and shuts the door and Shane goes off on him and tells him he has become just as delusional as Herschel. Shane is really pissing me off but I think he is right. Herschel is delusional, danger surrounds the farm on all sides and he thinks he can rope up walkers and store them in a barn until a cure comes (not comprehending that the world outside is destroyed and there probably will never be a cure?) I think even Maggie has come to the conclusion that Herschel is wrong in his thinking of them as people.
Well, it's his choices and his ideals on how to live his life and address the new world. And he has the right to demand they go. It's not like he's kicking them off the island, after all. If they want to establish a fortified farm under their principles, there are, as was pointed out already, plenty to choose from. Speaking of Maggie, she is totally hot!!!
Indeed, and this is the least hot I have seen her look, after recurring roles on at least two other shows, where she was hot enough that her English accent did not detract from it at all. Seriously though, I am having a little bit of a hard time with the love affair between her and Glenn. They have some hot, end of the world sex and now they are in love?
The rules of love and relationships are not set in stone, and we are no wiser or insightful as to their nature in our progressive times as any other society at any other point in time. People adapt, and a lot of the slow-development of our ideal relationships has to do with luxuries such as leisure time, medical care to extend lifespans, access to greater numbers of potential mates, and fairly set customs for meeting and getting to know one another that people generally follow. In their circumstances, they're pretty much the only choices. Maggie's other options are all a at least a little bit too much older than her, like Shane or Dale or T-Dog or Daryl, and some of those a bit rough around the edges or fairly useless. Glen is the guy closest in age to her, to whom she is not related, and he is, in her assessment, a very capable individual. And she knows there's hardly anyone else left alive, and not many better prospects are likely to come along. A similar situation exists for Glen. She's attractive and closer to his age than the three older women accompanying him. The two members of the road group closest to him in age are married, with the group psycho as her backup mate, and a missing child. Even Andrea is up there in years, being almost a generation older than her adult sister. As with Maggie, she's got a good list of pros, with availability significant among them. Not sure I'm buying it but we'll see.
Daryl has become a favorite of mine and I love the dynamic of Sophia's mom beginning to mother him and get him to be proud of himself for doing the right thing in contrast to Merle's "fathering" him to be a hateful bigot. Daryl's character is some of the best writing on the show.
I wish that just once he'd say the prayer and pull back the hammer on his crossbow before killing a zombie. Daryl has become a favorite of mine and I love the dynamic of Sophia's mom beginning to mother him and get him to be proud of himself for doing the right thing in contrast to Merle's "fathering" him to be a hateful bigot. Daryl's character is some of the best writing on the show.
I think Shane is beginning to piss everybody off and Andrea is starting to aggravate me too.
Starting? Only starting? Did you forget how in season 1 she was pulling the same chip-on-her-shoulder bullshit, attacking Rick at their very first encounter, because he didn't know they were there or that he was supposed to be thoughtful of the safety of the group that had center-of-the-universe-Andrea among its number? And then the world revolved around her sister, and when she got killed, while everyone else was pitching in, and disposing of the bodies and securing the camp, Andrea sat there uselessly cuddling her corpse, and incidentally doubling-down the potential threat in the midst of the camp. And she was the one who bitched the most about having to do the laundry, when she was the one with absolutely no combat skills and all she showed evidence of providing on the scavenging run was a rather useless birthday present for her sister. The reason the women did the laundry was that the men were the only ones providing protection, technical skill, and sustenance until her fishing trip. And then there is the massive suckfest of the current season with the obnoxious attitude (because, after all, it's not like anyone ELSE lost a loved one! Useless Carol bears up better with her only child missing than Andrea did with momentary separations from her adult sibling) and over-estimating her importance, abilities and rights in just about every episode.And, I am tiring of Dale's constant philosophizing. I would love to see Dale put in a position where he has to make a decision to action that confounds everything he professes in his "wisdom".
Loved the idea of hiding the guns far away in the middle of the swamp, where no one would be able to get them in case of a real emergency, and if that emergency manifested as an attack that killed the most elderly of the group first, everyone else would have no idea where their weapons were. Not sure what needs to happen with Shane and Andrea but they are really starting to bug me.
Andrea has to grow up and learn to take correction, and everyone else needs to stop giving her a pass for her fuckups like the sister-corpse incident and shooting Daryl and throwing a tantrum because Shane was actually treating her like an adult who could handle stress and pressure. Stalking off alone is not just childish, it is not even merely suicidal - it creates a potential threat to the rest of the group, because she could turn into one of those threats if she does get killed, and we have already seen how the group will drop everything to search for a missing member, even a useless one like Sophia, and at the cost of two serious injuries. Andrea disappearing down a dirt road because Shane was not polite and flattering to her would, at the very least, have Dale beating the brush for her. Shane is just a menace. Even if his attitude is understandable and forgivable, he doesn't work in a group. He wants to play like that, he has to do so on his own. Either you accept that the benefits of being with a group come with obligations, like protecting the useless members, even if you don't want to bang their mothers, or he has to take his survival of the fittest attitude elsewhere before a fitter member of the group realizes they will survive better without having to worry about him leaving another one of them as zombie bait.
Guess I'll leave my initial thoughts with one more question. What is it you think the doctor told Rick before he blew up the CDC? Is it revealed in the comic? If so, tell me!
It's a gimmick that the writers can use to reveal information at some later point. As I am sure others have said by now, the whole CDC arc is completely original to the show.
Cannoli
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Inde muagdhe Aes Sedai misain ye!
Deus Vult!
*MySmiley*
Walking Dead Winter Break, let's talk Season 2 up to this point. *spoilers inside*
02/12/2011 04:47:00 AM
- 748 Views
I predict a messy end for Shane by the end of the second half of the season.
02/12/2011 10:21:54 PM
- 392 Views
I understand both Shane and Hershel's positions, but Shane is pissing me off more
04/12/2011 04:29:24 PM
- 527 Views
Re: I understand both Shane and Hershel's positions, but Shane is pissing me off more
04/12/2011 11:57:22 PM
- 406 Views
Re: the comic
04/12/2011 11:59:54 PM
- 409 Views
Re: the comic *potential major spoiler concerning whisper*
05/12/2011 09:51:42 PM
- 543 Views
Re: Walking Dead Winter Break, let's talk Season 2 up to this point. *spoilers inside*
06/12/2011 11:29:34 PM
- 549 Views