Well that wasn't easy to watch...

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Does anyone think it was too much? I'm debating continuing with the show.

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

My main thought at the end of this episode was ........How are they going to get out of this one.

I'm not sure what peoples' problem with this episode are. I have a few friends that really hated it. It's a zombie show, so extremely gory violence is a given. And the reason that his current crop of tv shows blow away anything prime time was ever able to do is partially due to the fact that the protagonists aren't safe. I could never get very invested in shows like the A Team or Macguyber or whatever, because I knew that o matter what, the protagonist would survive. There was never any real danger. Shows like walking dead and game of thrones do away with that limitation, and it makes a better, more realistic show, imo. It was harsh seeing the most innocent protagonist get, not only mutilated and killed, but also taunted and humiliated... But it certainly got the show back on track, for me. Glenn getting out of that dumpster scene made me think the show was starting to go soft. Lastly, the scene was taken, almost verbatim, out of the comic. To me, it's always best to stick to the source material as closely as possible. So that was a bonus.
However, I'm really bummed about the death of Abraham. He was my favorite character. Kind of like a new and improved version of Daryl.

Guitarist for Black Valley Moon & Down By Law

I haven't seen it yet. The internet already spoiled it for me, so I know whats coming.

My problem with the show is that it's pretty much just one formulaic cliffhanger after another, and that so far the resolution of 90% of their messes is Rick being Rick. It just gets old.

I'll keep watching, but if this season keeps using cheap cliffhanger gimmicks (last season was terrible with them!) I will probably jump off the bandwagon.

I agree with Josh. They are just making it too painful to watch. I have enjoyed the show despite my wife's protestations for years now but it's too unrelentingly dark and brutal to go on much longer. I felt the same way about Penny Dreadful – liked a lot about it but sometimes it repulsed me.

Squink Out!

Endless conflict is both realistic in an apocalyptic setting, and necessary to keep a story going. I was a fan of the comics from day one. I even have a letter printed in the 2nd or 3rd issue where I tell Kirkman that this would make a great tv show/movie. I also told him his title was generic, and we argued about the blue hue of the zombies in the orginal Dawn Of The Dead. Lol.
Anyway, yet another great thing about the new breed of television is that most great shows start with a definitive ending in mind. Not meant to go past x number of seasons. As opposed to the old prime time way... keep churning it out until people stop watching... just make it up as you go along if you have to. So, while I see the need for endless, seemingly hopeless fighting for the characters in WD, I do see it as a creative dead end at some point. I hope they have the sense to cut it before it gets too stale. I mean, the whole idea that only total assholes can survive in such a situation doesn't seem entirely realistic. Lawlessness would create chaos, no doubt. But I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be a community quickly built by like-minded, decent people. As opposed to just a world suddenly full of bandits and psychopaths.
But anyway, I'm not nearly to the end of my rope. Watching Fear The Walking Dead made me realize how boring a zombie show can be. And Walking Dead is a long way from that, at this point.
One thing I miss is zombies being a real danger. In the early episodes, they were so menacing and ever present. Now, they just seem kind of like background noise. It seems like anyone armed with a sharp pencil could take out about 100 of them.

Guitarist for Black Valley Moon & Down By Law

I don't know. I have always been a huge zombie movie fan. Hence, why I had issue one as soon as it came out. I realize that part of the appeal of the zombie theme is the thought of a reset to a simpler life. No bills, no cubicles, living by your wits, etc. Like the wild West. But it is fantasy, of course. As soon as you had to get your leg cut off because a scratch got infected, you'd be begging for civilization, again. And of course, I could never do without air conditioning here in FL.
But, and I am probably in the minority here, I am primarily a fan of zombies in zombie movies. I remember being impressed by the comic in it's character driven story. But I also remember thinking that by the season where they just sat in a house on a farm all day talking that the show creators really got lost in the idea of emphasizing drama over horror in what I consider to be a horror based tv show. I remember watching a "Talking Dead" after one of those episodes, and someone had written in complaining about the lack of zombies (something I heard from quite a few people at that time). And one of the show runners simply replied "This show is about characters", almost smugly. As if people don't realize this. It's still no excuse to have such lengthy 'relationship building' seasons, where we feel like we're watching Gilmore Girls, or ER.
Anyway, I have no problem with pure hopelessness of the situation for the characters. But I do see that they are going to get stuck in a rut, as any show would after about 8 seasons. That's why I have no problem with upping the violence and sense of loss/danger. At least that's something to ward off the inevitable, and keep me engaged. I'm not really thrilled with the prospect of another story of 'seemingly perfect community that's hiding a shady agenda/faulty leader' story line.

Guitarist for Black Valley Moon & Down By Law

Here's 2 cents from the cheap seats. I've never read the graphic novels so I'm ignorant on how the show could/should go and am pretty much just a generic zombie fan.

I will stay until the last zombie dies cuz:

A. I like zombies!

B. The show has real characters that I've grown attached to.

C. It breaks my zombie heart when two (2!) of my favorite characters and arguably one of the show's most beloved heros gets their noggins turned into strawberry pie. I see this as the show letting us know, post-apocalypsely that you really really never know who's next. Could the show function without Rick? Now there's a question. I think he is cast as the ultimate sufferer, the world hoisted upon his shoulders unbidden. He rolls the stone uphill eternal. Sliding in the blood.

D. I love cliffhangers. And these are cliffhangers with zombies!

In conclusion, I always prefer slow zombies to fast zombies. With fast zombies you don't even have a fighting chance. I mean, isn't it bad enough that you have to deal with zombies? Sheese.

PS: CAROL KICKS ASS!!!

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

Last edited: Oct 27, 2016 09:37:36

I agree with Sonic Chris here, gratuity is a turn-off. It seems to indicate a decadent viewership, who are inured to the most atrocious brutality. I don't want to watch it, just as I have not seen Mel Gibson's movie about Jesus Christ's Crucifixion. I don't need it.

Watching FTWD into the end of season 2 now; the violence is toned down and there is a bit of subtlety lacking in TWD. The acts of gratuitous violence, like when the San Diego lads shoot the Mexican farmer in his chicken barn, stand out as moral outrage because the show is not so utterly blood-soaked. I think a little criminal sadism and wanton slaughter goes a long way in a narrative.

Squink Out!