The Walking Dead- CONTAINS SPOILERS!

[Tallulah]

Wait until you get to season 2 and the story goes all over the fucking map and downhill.

Yeah--I've heard it gets dumb after a while...but I still think that the basic setup + the non-generic characters would have made TWD a lot better.

It does seem like writers just hit a wall with successful shows. I loved season 5 of 24--it's probably my favorite season of tv drama ever--but then the following season was a complete crapfest, and I just lost all interest and/or faith.

 

[93JC]

I was a huge Lost fan when it first started. I watched the first season religiously and was looking forward to the second season with enormous anticipation, but I watched about four episodes of the second season and just tuned out. I tried getting back into it a couple times but it was just dumb.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

Intps suck.

 

[Rasofy]

Intps suck.

Who are you?

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

Tu madre

 

[ChocolateMoose123]

I love this show. Finale made up for some discrepancies in character actions.

 

[93JC]

Intps suck.

Sorry, but there's no way around it. Lost got... lost... after the first year. From then on the plot meandered all over the god-damn place.

 

[ZPowers]

Sorry, but there's no way around it. Lost got... lost... after the first year. From then on the plot meandered all over the god-damn place.

Season 2 and a good chunk of 3 weren't so hot, and felt especially filler-y. None of the people from the back half of the plane mattered in the long term. I've heard it was supposed to be a 6 season show, but after it was a hit the network pushed them to add at least another season. I'm not sure how much was planned from the get-go, but it's possible that was part of why those seasons weren't good. It found it's feet again later (for the most part) but it never felt quite like the first season again (which can be good, bad or neither, depending on what you like).

A bit off topic. Speaking of shows that meandered away and kinda stunk for a while, the first half of season 2 of Walking Dead wasn't very good! Also, some aspects of the rest of the show.

 

[ZPowers]

Sorry, but there's no way around it. Lost got... lost... after the first year. From then on the plot meandered all over the god-damn place.

Season 2 and a good chunk of 3 weren't so hot, and felt especially filler-y. None of the people from the back half of the plane mattered in the long term. I've heard it was supposed to be a 6 season show, but after it was a hit the network pushed them to add at least another season. I'm not sure how much was planned from the get-go, but it's possible that was part of why those seasons weren't good. It found it's feet again later (for the most part) but it never felt quite like the first season again (which can be good, bad or neither, depending on what you like).

A bit off topic. Speaking of shows that meandered away and kinda stunk for a while, the first half of season 2 of Walking Dead wasn't very good! Also, some aspects of the rest of the show.

 

[Totenkindly]

The Walking Dead

I didn't see a thread for this when I searched. The first two seasons just got on Netflix, which is pretty awesome of them. (They're also running Season 1 of AHS.)

Never read the comic, so I am coming in fresh.

Just watched the pilot. It got a little slow with the conversations between Rick and the black guy, in the middle, but otherwise I thought it was pretty decent. These are your "slow" zombies (as opposed to the crazy hopped up ones out of 28 Days Later), so the pace is a bit slower, but that fits the tone of the series. I like how it doesn't really tone down the gritty parts, it's all pretty stark and honest. I was afraid Darabont might get a little too over-emotional, but so far it's all been pretty relevant and mixes the human aspects + grit well. He also played the parts with the zombie wife and the legless zombie for pathos. So the series seems to have a lot of potential since it doesn't try to tone things down but still tries to maintain a soul.

I guess it's into Season #3 at this point, and there's 19 episodes in the first two seasons altogether.

I find it pretty remarkable that this series (post-apocalyptic) could have provided some lessons to Revolution. In both cases we see in the first episode what a culture without power and easy access to tech looks like; but Revolution seems to be a joke in comparison. Both sets of characters even hit up a large nearby city (Chicago vs Atlanta), but only Atlanta really looks as one would expect. Revolution is likely to go the way of Terra Nova if it can't capture some more realism in its story.

Also leaves me thinking about Stephen King's "The Stand," which really should have been converted into a series lasting a few seasons rather than compacted with B-rate actors and script into a few hours of story. It really deserved a treatment like this show is getting. That was the big problem with the TV versions of The Stand as well as IT. I've tried to watch both of those, a few times, and they're bad enough that I just can't watch them for long; boring, not scary, and even laughable in places.

 

[Totenkindly]

Pretty impressed with this show so far. Made it through three episodes. It seems much more "realistic" than a lot of other TV fare.

Episode #2: Pretty inventive way to escape the Atlanta scene, and there were some good moments (like the guy driving the siren sports car down the highway full tilt). The guy getting left on the roof -- another interesting subplot is unfolding. And then there's the deal with Shane (Rick's partner) and Rick's wife Lori. I also thought it was kind of touching with Rick going through the walker's wallet to find out who he was, before they dismember him and use him for camouflage. The show is really well thought-out in terms of tone and also establishing the characters; this was something that Lost did very well.

Episode #3: I had an idea going into it that Merle was gonna pull an Aron Ralston, and the show hasn't failed to deliver. That's gonna bite someone in the butt later. And then there's the whole NEW subplot with the women standing up to Ed, and Shane -- pissed off about how things have gone with Lori (and we find out Shane wasn't entirely truthful to Lori, which was hinted in Episode #1 with his expressed discontent over his own marriage) -- maintains the new pecking order. Great joke about what the women miss most from society. I really really disagree with Rick's decision to go back; in my mind, his primary responsibility needs to be toward his wife and son, and he shouldn't have been in the group to go back; but he's still got that cop blood in him, I suppose. I am really impressed also with Sarah Wayne Callies, who plays Lori; she really captures well a whole contradiction of emotions in her face and behavior when her husband returns "from the dead" while she had been moving into a relationship with Shane.

I think at this point, it's interesting watching the group dynamics evolve. Basically civilization has collapsed. So we have these small pockets of survivors; how does the line of power assert itself within the group, now, and on what basis? Ed figured he could dominate his wife like before, but Shane doesn't support male dominance at least in terms of abuse. So the new utopia at the moment seems to want to maintain SOME amount of egalitarianism, even if the group's daily tasks seem to be falling within the expected lines of the men doing the hunting and protective measures, while the women do the more domesticated tasks.

 

[Ivy]

Must... stay... quiet! We just watched the mid-season finale tonight. So I don't want to comment lest I spoil things for you. But if you have access to AMC they'll be running every episode back-to-back on NYE and NYD.

 

[PuddleRiver]

Good show! I just got into it this season so can't wait to see it New Years.

 

[Tigerlily]

Here it is @ Jennifer

 

[Totenkindly]

Must... stay... quiet! We just watched the mid-season finale tonight. So I don't want to comment lest I spoil things for you. But if you have access to AMC they'll be running every episode back-to-back on NYE and NYD.

Cool.

Sorry, I didn't find the old thread, didn't mean to start a new one. Darnit. If you want to merge them, you can.

Four episodes into it now, and it's damned good, and pretty brutal. I hope it remains such. (Again, this is why I have a hard time with shows like Terra Nova and Revolution; they don't seem very real to me, and the latter even plays at violence but doesn't have the courage to actually show it.)

The only thing good with only six episodes in Season #1 is that it was less intimidating to commit to Season #1, it can be a slog to get through a season when you're power-watching.

It's nice to see actors I miss from other series -- notably Laurie Holden, who had such an intriguing character on X-Files (who was hooking up unexpectedly with Nick Lea, AKA Alex Krycek, AKA "Ratboy"). She was always interesting.

Episode #4: The Latinos coming out of the woodwork was a wtf! moment. I felt like the encounter was resolved via deus ex machina, though -- the setup for the plot twist where it all ended up being a bluff was rather weak, although I think it was a positive thing to show other survivors who gave a crap about the weak and infirmed. In fact, I think this is going to become a theme similar to the one in The Road: There are cannibals and looters and takers, but who is going to carry the fire? Well, these guys; they bear and live out the value that humanity is more than a bunch of animals trying to survive.

Which then made the ending very perfect (even if I'm not sure how the "wave of undead" suddenly stopped) in the sense that the lack of violence where we expected it was balanced by an intruision of violence where we did not, to deadly effect. Amy's fate was also brutal, in that we spent much of the episode getting to know her as a person and potentially a recurring character, about to celebrate her birthday, and.. well, I have never heard as horrible a cry as Laurie Holden pulled off at the end of this episode. It was heart-rending. Ed, I didn't care for that much -- what a prick -- and yet I'm kind of disappointed that plot line is now effectively over.

I think the big question is whether Andrea has enough balls to plug her sister in the forehead before she rises as a zombie. I was waiting for it, but it didn't happen yet; it's rather unavoidable. And Merle is still out there, in his truck... waiting for vengeance.

I did make the connection with the holes being dug by resident heatstroke guy. I just didn't know it would be followed through on so literally.

 

[Pseudo]

I love this show!!!! My favority bit is what you mentioned [MENTION=7]Jennifer[/MENTION] about the realism. I feel like keeping to world very close to how things really are makes it more disconcerting. As the series continuous I think they hold on to this and I really like it. The fact that there are herds and a sort of a "rules" to what draws the walkers, how fast they are, how responsive they are that the survivors have to strategize with is interesting to me. Also eating, traveling, supplies.


There also not afraid to kill people, like amy, I think that's very daring and great.


I think the wave in four stopped because it was only a small herd?

 

[metalmommy]

I <3 the Walking Dead! I've been watching religiously since it started. I so don't want to wait until February to watch it again!

 

[Totenkindly]

Does anyone know where to find the compiled video of the web series about the Bicycle zombie -- the upper half of the zombie that Rick put out of its misery back in the pilot? I forget her actual name, but I was hoping there was a compiled version on the web somewhere...

I love this show!!!! My favority bit is what you mentioned about the realism. I feel like keeping to world very close to how things really are makes it more disconcerting. As the series continuous I think they hold on to this and I really like it. The fact that there are herds and a sort of a "rules" to what draws the walkers, how fast they are, how responsive they are that the survivors have to strategize with is interesting to me. Also eating, traveling, supplies.

Yeah, it is keeping with exploring the actual dynamics of what might occur during such an event. I think that's essential, because then the audience can try to work out what the characters might sensibly do, along with the characters.

There also not afraid to kill people, like amy, I think that's very daring and great.

It's kind of the same things I liked about Lost during its best years. Complex/nuanced characters (that were well-acted), a fairly gritty and realistic approach, and a sense that no character was sacred and there was real danger / potential to lose any character at any time.

I think the wave in four stopped because it was only a small herd?

It was more that they came from nowhere so I wasn't sure how large the herd was, and so I didn't know if the edges of the herd was so clearly demarcated. Why were they walking in a herd? I could expect stragglers to keep wandering in, so to speak, if the zombies were just slowly filtering out of the city. In any case, my issue is just that I wouldn't want to stay in that locale any longer, because I wouldn't know if more would trickle in at any time... and even one of them is bad, because one bite can be devastating.

 

[Pseudo]

Does anyone know where to find the compiled video of the web series about the Bicycle zombie -- the upper half of the zombie that Rick put out of its misery back in the pilot? I forget her actual name, but I was hoping there was a compiled version on the web somewhere...




Yeah, it is keeping with exploring the actual dynamics of what might occur during such an event. I think that's essential, because then the audience can try to work out what the characters might sensibly do, along with the characters.



It's kind of the same things I liked about Lost during its best years. Complex/nuanced characters (that were well-acted), a fairly gritty and realistic approach, and a sense that no character was sacred and there was real danger / potential to lose any character at any time.



It was more that they came from nowhere so I wasn't sure how large the herd was, and so I didn't know if the edges of the herd was so clearly demarcated. Why were they walking in a herd? I could expect stragglers to keep wandering in, so to speak, if the zombies were just slowly filtering out of the city. In any case, my issue is just that I wouldn't want to stay in that locale any longer, because I wouldn't know if more would trickle in at any time... and even one of them is bad, because one bite can be devastating.

Not sure about why they would be in hards except that they do respond to noise and movement so maybe the just sort of follow one another aimlessly. And since they eat animals, like the horse, I guess the could have followed some animal out there.



The comparison to lost is pretty good. both had the idea of continual power struggle as well as a love triangle. (and In my opinion annoying female lead characters). But I feel like Walking dead does it better just because Rick isn't quite so Idealized as Jack. Rick is a good leader, can handle zombies but isn't all that funny or charismatic or a ladies man. Sometimes on lost it just seemed like everything always came back to jack. It seems like the walking dead has more strong members, which makes sense since they are the "survivors". i thought the comparison of rick and shane was pretty good. Shane being narrowly focused on lori and carl, and rick having a broader sense of responsibility to "people".


I didn't enjoy the ditch digging thing just because it introduced and element of "magic" that I felt didn't need to be in there. I know zombies are realistic, but they do such a good job making it real, that didn't sit well with me.



I think you'll like it. Season 2 is much longer so it's weird to watch right after the first season (what I did) because the pace becomes different. Still a great show but just a transition. On the other hand I watched season 1 and 2 in like two days while I was sick).


I think you'll enjoy it because .....I can't say!!!!

 

[Totenkindly]

The comparison to lost is pretty good. both had the idea of continual power struggle as well as a love triangle. (and In my opinion annoying female lead characters). But I feel like Walking dead does it better just because Rick isn't quite so Idealized as Jack. Rick is a good leader, can handle zombies but isn't all that funny or charismatic or a ladies man. Sometimes on lost it just seemed like everything always came back to jack.

Funny. I would have said that Rick is more idealized than jack. Jack had a lot of demons on his back, and wasn't really well-understood by the others, even if they saw him as a leader; he was very alone. Rick seems much more like the 'good cop' that the rest automatically look up too (he wears his freaking uniform, for goodness sake), and he's married and has a kid so it's not like he's available to attract women anyway. Who did Jack ever bed besides Kate and Juliette?

it's funny that I'm probably closer to Rick in temperament, but I like Jack better and find him more complex right now.

It seems like the walking dead has more strong members, which makes sense since they are the "survivors". i thought the comparison of rick and shane was pretty good. Shane being narrowly focused on lori and carl, and rick having a broader sense of responsibility to "people".

Well, in terms of verbalized duty; but in terms of behavior, both of them are pretty group centered as Shane has still tried to take charge and keep things going and the individual group members protected. I'd probably say that Rick is ISTJ as portrayed so far, but Shane might be more F or have a strong undercurrent that lets makes him honor a few commitments above the group.

I didn't enjoy the ditch digging thing just because it introduced and element of "magic" that I felt didn't need to be in there. I know zombies are realistic, but they do such a good job making it real, that didn't sit well with me.

It depends on how far they take it. if there really was "magic" involved, then I don't like that; b ut sometimes in weird situations, people have ominous feelings that might or might not pan out. Here they did. If that KEEPS happening, I won't like it; sometimes they should feel doom over their heads without it coming to pass, just like IRL.