The last few minutes of The Walking Dead's final season 2 episode last night seem important enough to cover here, or at least give Topless Roboteers a place to discuss it in the comments. Of course, some folks might not have seen "Beside the Dying Fire" yet so I've moved my thoughts until after the jump -- but everyone should consider the comments here to be a SPOILER-APRROVED zone.
In other Walking Dead news, Robert Kirkman and producer Glen Mazzarra revealed on Talking Dead last night that Treme's Danai Gurira has finally been cast as fan-favorite Michonne. So that's cool. Now, to the jump...
SPOILER-APPROVED ZONE:
Daaaaaammmmmmnnnnn.
There was a lot to like in the season finale of The Walking Dead. Tons of zombie mayhem, Rick seemingly turning just as crazy as Shane, the final shot of the prison, and T-Dog being that wily rapscallion we've all come to know and love. But the above video pretty much outdoes it all. I happen to agree with Zack Handlen over at the AV Club that for non-readers of the comics, this shot is so jarring and weird -- and The Walking Dead needs a significant dose of weirdness.
At any rate, the general improvement of season 2 after Frank Darabont got shitcanned does seem to indicate that it was for the best. The Walking Dead is by no means perfect, but certainly the second half was a lot better than the first. Now new showrunner Glen Mazzarra will have a chance to do an entire season on his own -- so if Darabont really was the one holding the show back, then season 3 should be awesome. Given the last few minutes of last night's episode, I'm certainly feeling optimistic.
This was bad writing period. Take a page from LOST guys. Shane easily could have left with Randall and find his other group.. who is led by no other than the long lost Merle. The big group of Zombies comes and Rick has to lead everyone out, where they find the prison. That would have been much better... The possibilities of going this route are a million times better then just making Shane go crazy and killing him off. Merle's group could be under orders from the governor or also find the prison, or attack Ricks group with Shane sabotaging them, but maybe even still trying to kill Rick... I mean THINK PEOPLE!
I agree that the ending was just a bit twisted bit I did like it. Everything was awesome and fell into place quite nicely. The Walking Dead never ceased to amaze me with all the thrills and chills and I re-watch them quite a bit at DISH Online. That’s where I do most of my catching up of TV shows when I miss them on TV, or just want to watch them again. DISH Online is something DISH gives their customers and employees like me when you’re subscribed to DISH, and it’s free!
The other thing was, I remember reading that for the finale the cast at the end would be 'vastly different' from the starting cast.
Two deaths of characters (ESPECIALLY one that was never really properly introduced at all and the second who was only there to say OH NOES OTIS!) and introducing a fan favorite comic character (who feels sorta out of place in the TWD tv world) are not that drastic.
Killing suicidal Beth, we-don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-token T-Dog, Hershel, and like 2 others along with those two, that'd drastic.
Also, lol at the commercials trying to compare Mad Men to TWD when they stole the budget from it :D
Doug, Go back an reread the article before the break. If you were upset about having the episode spoiled, it's because you clicked the link, watched the clip, and read the comments in the 'spoiler-approved' section before you watched the episode. Rob made no serious implications as to the idea that the new character would be revealed in the season finale.I don't normally comment on anything, but your ignorance moves me, and frankly it stands out in this thread.
Look, maybe you meant this post as a joke. If so, then disregard my reply. If not, and if you are seriously complaining about the spoilers, then I must admit that I am puzzled by your anger. There was almost as much spoiler warning text as there was spoiler text on the page, and calling others names because you refuse to read those warnings is just impolite. Also, I would note that every entry on TR has a "by" line, which is obviously one more thing on the page that you didn't bother to read. So, as I understand what happened, you went to a site were reviews of recent television shows are common, clicked on a link that explicitly mentioned an episode of a show that you hadn't seen, ignored the repeated warnings that the episode would be discussed, and then, apparently, read the entire post before realizing that it contained spoilers. As such, I believe that it is you, good sir, who is wearing an ass for a hat.
I'm a bit behind on the show, but I have mixed feelings. On the Michonne front, finally! We've had one owner of a vagina retconned into having an actual functioning brain. But almost every other woman on this show has been a stupid cliche from start to finish. Michonne was so badass in the comic that I can't see her as being anything but someone who's both a woman and can actually do something other than cry, crash cars(because lol female drivers!), and cook.
On the other hand, the prison was pretty much my least favorite part of the comics. It was really much of what I disliked about season 2 in a bit lighter form. So I'm a bit worried how they'll do that as anything but a rehash. On the other, other hand, it's a chance to deal with the season 2 themes when written competently.
Except that's a load of horseshit. Andrea didn't start off as a badass in the comics, it was a step by step process much like in the TV-series. Maggie, Laurie and Carol were never badasses in the comic, why the hell would they be badasses in the TV-series? To keep you from screaming chauvinism?
ARE YOU F*%KING SERIOUS!? They should rename this "The Talking People"! Really, you could skip half the episodes so far and you wouldn't miss JACK SHIT. Check out the the itunes podcast "We're Alive" if you want people in a zombie holocaust actually doing things like building defenses, looking for other survivors, or just COMING UP WITH A GODDAMN PLAN. Really-a farm house? A place with no defenses and a crazy old dude who keeps a bunch of zombies in his barn because he thinks they're "just sick". Sorry to bust yer bubble, but a smell a lot of nerd denial here...
There is a TON of nerd denial about this show, the comic had a compelling storyline, characters that drew you in and made you care about them and scenarios that seemed viable, the TV series has Spanish gangsters that care for the elderly and an inability to make you empathize with someone you are supposed to. I reference Lori on this, if you know what she was like in the comics then her inevitable story arc closing was a sad moment but in the TV show I cannot wait for it to happen to that poorly written unlikable woman. That said the non-Darabont episodes are VASTLY better and seem to be trying to get back on the right track.
Not an action show. "Walking Dead" has always been about the character relations and how they deal with a world gone to hell. Not an action show. Lots of talking in the comic. Not an action comic. Notice a pattern? Don't watch (or read) if it offends you. That is all.
I would love a show about how people relate to each other on a dying planet. The problem is that 90% of the time the show just gives walking talking stereotypes who are as much zombies as the actual zombies. I mean it took almost two seasons for a single female character who did something besides cry, bitch, cook dinner, get pregnant, try to kill herself and fail, or crash cars. And even that only came about because they decided to retcon one of the weak characters into a badass overnight.
I will lose my mind from awesome if Lori meets the same fate on the show as she got in the books... but im not sure if AMC will let them go that far...
After the show skirting around two very controversial topics (Dale and Andrea's relationship & Carl killing Shane) I wonder how they're going to handle Michonne being put in rather bad situations in fear that groups will complain just like some crackpot did in the comics, claiming that it's a racist power fantasy or some silly thing like that.
Yeah, they really wussed out on those. Though I think the whole Carl thing was a decent compromise since I don't think his character was developed enough to shoot Shane, but having him shoot walker Shane was a nice middle ground. Plus I think the whole Dale and Andrea thing fell victim to behind the scenes politics as the actor wanted to leave the show because Darbont did.
Some of the more shocking prison scenes will certainly be toned down. There are no young kids from the farm, so no scene of the twins getting their heads chopped off and surviving as zombie heads. Though I guess such a fate could befall Beth.
I think the second half of this season really shows how brutal season 3 can/will get. The farm got boring, but, man did they find a great way to get them out of there. BETTER than the comic (I'm only referring to the way they're transitioning from the farm to the prison). When they actually get to the prison, if they cover half of what happens in the comic, I think everyone will be happy.
And what a cool/fun way to introduce Michonne! Really looking forward to season 3.
I flipped my SHIT last night. Multiple times. FINALLY. The zombies overtaking the damn farm was the best thing to happen to the TV series all season. Now I'm just interested to see how far AMC is willing to take this.
Finally Rick gets his balls out! Sure, it drives him half mad in the process, but at least now he isn't listening to twelve people tell him what to do and then wrestling with what he should do.
"Yeah, I killed my psycho best friend. Gut him like a pig. Now shut the fuck up, or get the fuck out!"
Though I don't see what a big deal the "we're all infected" was. So what? So when you die you're guaranteed to become a zombie. Maybe I'm just not a proper zombie-genre lover but wasn't that always pretty much a possibility. I mean, it's not like anyone's dying of natural causes in this world anymore anyway.
I can understand why the group was pissed at Rick for keeping that a secret. All season long, Herschel's farm has been used (partly) as their post-apocalyptic hospital. Between Carl and Beth, you've got two potential zombies resting up in the spot they feel safest. If either of them had died and turned, they would have killed at least one or two people just because they didn't know they were a threat.
No, I completely agree with your take on the "everybody's infected" storyline. Perhaps it's a bit disappointing to the them, if they're holding on to some delusional hope about killing off all the zombies in the world or curing them or whatever, but I wouldn't say it's a game-changer just yet.
Also RICK IS AWESOME. It pissed me off to no end that they all expect him to take charge, make the hard decisions and keep them safe, then look shocked when he's finally like, "Fine, I'll do all that, but you do what.the.fuck.I.say."
And Lori is such a horrible, whiny bitch. Andrea started out that way, and then slowly turned into a badass, so I can respect her now. Why the hell wouldn't you be trying to get your shit together to keep your son safe instead of mindfucking everybody and being obnoxious??
My god Lori was infuriating. I was ranting about it to my wife. Chalk me up as another who doesn't get why they weren't high-fiving Rick for offing Shane.
nice been waiting for the character to pop up on the show and the execs to finaly say they have cast Michone her and the governor is going to make a real interesting third season .
I hadn't seen last night's ep until just now and it spoiled nothing for me, I just assumed she'd be in season three at some point. Ithink he struck just the right tone with the article.
Also, excellent episode.
Also, Matt must be tasting lace, his panties are in such a wad.
Oh for fuck's sake... the picture (both of them, and ESPECIALLY the one from the comic) doesn't mean shit unless you're actually familiar with the character. And if you are familiar with the character, you have no right to complain about spoilers.
They don't even show her face in the clip Rob posts.
<rantnotparticularlydirectedatmatt>
I swear to christ that "SPOILERS! Oh god, my desecrated ears/eyes!" has got to be THE greatest First World Problem in the history of whiny, white middle-class tragedy. You live in an Information Age, you spoiled bastards---an age when news and entertainment moves damn near the speed of light. Stop wetting your beds every time the world responds to diversions at a pace you can't keep up with.
In my day we suffered spoilers about Soylent Green, Darth Vader and Norman Bates...ALL. THE. FUCKING. TIME and well before we ever saw the movie. And we did it barefoot. Uphill. For 10 miles. In the snow. </rantnotparticularlydirectedatmatt>
He posted casting news about Season 3 above the jump, so it's fine. There would be no reason to believe that she showed up in last's night episode; we didn't see the Governor last night, did we?
This season was twice as long and it had less money and was still some of the best television on the air. I hope Darabont goes to something like True Blood or something else that is royally sucking in the meantime.
When that katana blade saved Andrea's life, several of my friends who were watching with me all squealed (YES, LITerally squealed) with delight before yelling "MICHONNE!"
It was awesome. Season 3 is set up to be quite a step up.
I agree that it feels like Darabont was holding the season back - the slow pace of the farm was appreciated at times, but it lacked the urgency and impending danger that exists in this world (and in the comics). The second half of the season seemed to ramp that up with dangers from both other human camps as well as the inevitably coming zombies. The fact that they actually discussed fortifying the house and gathering supplies seems to indicate the characters were actually looking outward and toward the future instead of constantly inward.
Shane's descent into madness was well-played. Jon Bernthal did an excellent job with it.
Prison or Walmart? I only read the first volume of the comics, but I figured it had to be a prison. Also, the reveal of Jenner's secret was pretty cool. Can't imagine how Rick sat on that for the whole time. Ohh and Lori. Really?! You hint to your husband that something has to be done about Shane and then get all upset and acting afraid of him when he actually does something about it?
I got the impression she was more surprised he actually did it. She only got upset when he told her that their precious son got his hand dirty and his innocence strippen from him when he off'd Shane's body...
I yelled at Lori with her reaction that Carl was there. Are you surprised since you never keep an eye on him? All she had to do was keep him in the house, but it is Rick's fault that he was out there.
"Walking Dead" takes a lot of shit it doesn't deserve from people wanting a full-out action show where zombies are the main focus. I love it and think Rick Grimes is a strong enough character to hold everything together (even annoying Lori, useless Carol, still-there T-Dog and inexplicably fearless and unbelievably irresponsbile Carl).
I don't expect a full out action show. But I do want one of two things. Action/horror, or believable and well written characters. What I've seen of the show tries to do option two while dipping a finger in option one and fails at both. I'm sticking around, even if a bit slow in watching, due to the first couple episodes. There was just so much potential there. They managed both of those options so perfectly. It had zombies, it had character development, it had everything. And then they just decided to make it about....really pretty much nothing.
Hey, I think we had some serious breakthroughs with those characters.
Lori: Rick! How could you kill Shane?! I wasn't done mindfucking him yet! Oh wait, now I can do it to you!
Carol: Sure we spent 6 episodes worthlessly searching for my zombie daughter, but take me on your steel horse and ride away Daryl, my hillbilly knight!
