TV: The Walking Dead

[Animeniax]

I still think the writers did that on purpose with Andrea, feeding on the fan hate for the character. I'd be surprised if they didn't purposefully introduce another character that fans will hate next season. People like to find someone to shit on, and it's usually not the villain who is instead respected for being badass.

I also liked the small scale mission with Rick, Carl, and Michonne. It allowed for some bonding and character development, which I'd like to see with some of the lesser characters. Here's hoping Beth gets a love interest, though no one in the current group really qualifies except maybe Rick.

[Sapphire]

Anyone who likes walking dead may want to check out the BBC show In the Flesh.

As far as I can tell, it's about (SPOILER) the re-assimilation of former zombies (they finally found a cure... something I've NEVER actually seen on TV) into society.(/SPOILER)

The main male character is so good. I love UK TV.

[darkshadow]

I'm glad they are moving on from the prison

[Animeniax]

Looks like an action-packed season they have in mind, with a focus back on the zombie apocalypse instead of human enemies.

I'm happy they are moving on from the prison too. I think they should find a large ship and move onto it in a bay. No way could zombies attack them then.

I like seeing Darryl and Beth getting googly eyed with each other there near the end of the trailer. Much more appealing coupling than Darryl and Carol.

[Archangel]

I'm glad they are moving on from the prison

What trailer were you watching? They don't seem to be even half done with the prison.

[darkshadow]

You must be fucking blind and stupid cause it clearly showed the prison being breached, all of them saying they should leave and then footage of them actually on the road and in other places, and the fucking sanctuary message.

[Animeniax]

What trailer were you watching? They don't seem to be even half done with the prison.

It looks like most of the season is setting up for them to leave the prison, but they actually spend most of the season at the prison. Really where else could they go to get away from the zombies besides an island, a ship or maybe a high rise building. They could occupy the upper levels.

[lilphatboi88]

I agree. Most of it looks like it's still taking place in the prison.

[Penner]

New ep is out!

Btw, go watch this ep of "Talking Dead" aswell, because fucking Nathan Fillion is a guest on it!

[Animeniax]

Pretty good episode, though half the new characters died.

I was surprised that Beth's boyfriend died (he's actually had some decent roles in other films) but happy because she's too hot for him. It kinda looked like she and Daryl would hook up, but then there's Carol who's too old and gross for Daryl. Also, I thought for sure Rick had a new love interest, but then she zombified herself.

I like that Carl is no longer on the road to becoming a sociopath.

[Penner]

That kid at the end seemed to go from healthy to sick really damn fast, and he didn't seem to be wounded or anything so my guess is that there's some disease that has infected the animals/water supply or something like that.
Maybe all the walkers being killed and piling up around the fence is starting to absorb into the ground and the plants/animals/humans in turn absorb all kinds of diseases and crap from eating/drinking that shit?

They kept showing dead animals and drew extra attention to 'violet' the pig mysteriously dying, so something is clearly wrong...

I think we talked about this a while back that old people might die in their sleep and become walkers, and that kid at the end is pretty much the same result... has no one at the prison thought about people getting sick and just dying when everyone is asleep?

edit: Another point brought up in the "Talking Dead" episode is that mysterious person who was feeding a rat to a walker at the fence in the middle of the night, maybe that is drawing them in, kinda like how if you keep feeding wild animals eventually more and more will show up.

Not sure what the reason for that would be, maybe an "inside man" still loyal to The Governor?

[Animeniax]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing (plus I recently watched WWZ which has an interesting twist on what causes zombism and how to fight it) that the kid was sick with some deadly virus or bacteria. Bad news is that he was shown preparing food earlier in the day, and had contact with Daryl, Carol, and Carl. He wasn't wounded until he collapsed and slammed his head into the floor in the shower room, at which point he died and turned.

One thing I noticed right before he turned, they showed everyone sleeping peacefully in their cells, but with the cell doors open. Personally I'd sleep with the cell doors closed, to protect from people dying in their sleep and coming back as zombies as well as from a zombie attack at night. That or post guards 24/7.

The feeding scene didn't occur yet, just in the trailers right? I don't think it would take some devious insider to ruin their chances at survival. People do dumb stuff, and the rest of us pay for it.

[darkshadow]

Boring, uneventful, ugly episode.
The only highlight was the apparantly new kind of zombie.

[Alhuin]

As much as I love the Walking Dead, this episode kinda pissed me off. Season 3 ended with Rick bringing in the survivors from Woodbury, so it's easy to believe they've created a better "community" in the time between seasons. But then you have Carl, who mysteriously came back from the brink of "being a sociopath", as Ani posted... and Rick, who mysteriously doesn't want to carry a gun anymore. You have Beth who obtained a boyfriend out of nowhere, despite all signs in season 3 pointing to Carl as the love interest. You have lumberjack black dude (I don't remember his name) mysteriously being separated from his wife in season 3 and having a new love interest. I'm sure there's a bit more I'm forgetting at the moment, but I think I've made my point.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with shaking things up a little, but at least have it make fucking sense.

Probably the most logical situation I noticed about this episode was the fact that Michone(sp?) is still looking for the governor. Better to try and find him before he regains his "sanity" and starts up a new army.

[Animeniax]

I think having the community is why Carl and Rick have changed a bit back to their pre-outbreak selves. A lot of the Woodbury folks are older folks who can help raise Carl and shoulder the load of being adult, and the kids can help him be a kid again (which we kinda saw in the episode). Rick not wanting to carry a gun is too much of a departure, I agree with you there, but it makes sense that he's had enough of killing and shooting things.

I don't think Carl and Beth were ever together given their age differences. Carl is what, 10, 12 tops? And Beth is 17 in season 3, probably older now. Her boyfriend didn't survive so maybe they will go with Carl, but he's still too young. I also don't think Tyrese (the big black dude) was married to the black chick from his group, so he's free to shack up with the Woodbury chick.

[Penner]

I think (not 100% sure) they said in the 'Talking Dead' aftershow that it's apparently been like a 7 month timeskip since last seasons finale.

[Animeniax]

7 months is plenty of time for some personality changes, especially in tight quarters with constant contact

I checked WD Wiki and they have Beth listed at 17 or 18 and Carl at 14. Still too much of an age difference, and I'm not sure they're right about Carl's age.

[KitKat]

I don't know if Carl is back from the brink yet. Kids are pretty resilient, but that's a lot of trauma for one boy to handle. As much as it seems like he's going back to normalcy now, I think his issues will come out again when they're on the run. A lot of his parenting was done by Shane, after all, at a critical time in Carl's life when he was very vulnerable.

The group is large enough now that defending the prison is do-able, but on the run they're going to have low mobility, making them an easy target for Walker mobs. I was surprised that the one kid's condition deteriorated so fast. You'd think that the camp would have some kind of night patrol, just in case of trouble. If they have an outbreak of sickness among the camp with everyone in such close quarters and poor conditions, it's going to keep them short-handed and preoccupied, giving the walkers more opportunity to break down the defenses.

Are they hauling away the walker bodies periodically? Because after 7 months, if there are dozens of new walkers every day, there would surely be enough that they'd be piled all the way up to the top of the fence. You'd think that the walker population would be getting thinned out by now after so long, with their bodies decaying past being usable. Or at least becoming fragile enough that they're slower or clumsier and therefore easier to kill.

I liked Carol's "storytime" lessons. She shouldn't have to do so under cover though. Each one of those kids needs to be able to defend themselves, and so do the sheltered adults of Woodbury for that matter. For all that Rick wants them to have a normal childhood, part of their normal now and for the rest of their life will be killing walkers.

I didn't find any of the new characters this episode particularly interesting. Here's hoping next episode gives us more reason to care about them.

[Animeniax]

They probably did rush Carl's return to normalcy a bit, but we'll see how he reacts to the next dire situation that requires him to make a choice.

I think the prison gives the survivors a false sense of security (kind of like how it gives people outside a false sense that the wicked are separated from society and will learn their lesson during their confinement). I mentioned how they sleep with the cell doors open, and yeah they should have some sort of night patrol. However, I think the threat could only come from inside because the walkers outside the gates don't pursue unless they sense there is fresh meat. I wonder how long a walker will pursue its quarry once it is out of sight/hearing.

I was also wondering about clearing away dead walkers. They had that long scene where survivors kill walkers along the fence, but the bodies didn't pile up, and they mentioned how more and more were coming every day like you said.

I like that they are making Carol into something more than a victim, but it's hard to shake how weak and useless she was in that first season. I thought for sure she was zombie bait early on, but she's out-lasted pretty much everyone.

[Penner]

New ep out!