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The Walking Dead: Home

Hershel: “We can’t stay here.”
Glenn: “We can’t run.”

Be careful what you wish for. Here I thought the roller coaster ride had wimped out but they were just holding us in that place at the top, just before the drop. Our little group can’t stay at the prison anymore. They are being overrun by walkers on all sides. They could clear it out again but there are fewer of them and the Governor is likely to come back if he thinks they are still alive. It was nice while it lasted but it’s pretty clear that nothing lasts in this new world.

Rick is continuing to lose his grip on reality but as Carol says, can you blame him? Lori was his rock, even when he wasn’t speaking to her. He has had to deal with so much death and responsibility and it is eating away at him. I think that the safety and the stability of the prison has also given Rick permission to lose it. He will have to get his proverbial “shit” together if they are going to get out of this. Hershel was right. The prison is not “home” anymore. It can’t be. But Glenn is also right. They are in a worse spot than they were before. Hershel is not as mobile and the baby is a definite liability. On the bright side, Daryl is back!

It didn’t take long for Daryl to return but I really enjoyed the bits with Daryl and Merle alone. Daryl has changed and perhaps he always was the better man. Merle continues to be a jerk, treating Daryl like crap, standing by while Daryl tried to help people and then attempting to steal their stuff. I loved it when Daryl took Merle on. Merle is a coward and a bully and Daryl finally called him on it. Merle is in a difficult place. He is not welcome in Rick’s group but he won’t survive long without it. I hope it actually knocks some sense into him but I’m not holding my breath.

In Woodbury things have settled and the Governor is working his psychopathic magic again. He knows exactly what buttons to push and how to lie effectively to each person. He uses Andrea’s sense of responsibility and his own vulnerability to keep her in Woodbury while he attacks the prison. Maybe she will be the one to kill the Governor when she finally gets a clue. The Governor manipulates Milton with a mixture of fear and friendship. Woodbury is probably one of the few places that Milton could survive and continue to be his own geeky self. He was obviously shaken by the acts of the Governor and perhaps that contributed to him being a terrible liar but he knows that he will not survive either the wrath of the Governor or the destruction of Woodbury.

Hershel was lovely during this episode. He tried to calm Glenn and get him to see reason. He could see how much pain Glenn was in and he tried to calm his fears and rage. Thank goodness Glenn didn’t go storming out after the Governor. He would have met him halfway and been slaughtered. Hershel also tried to reason with Rick but to little avail. I half agreed with Rick when he said that perhaps Hershel should take over the leadership. At least he has some wisdom. Unfortunately, Hershel would make a good leader in a settled situation but not so much as a battle commander.

Kudos also to Maggie who isn’t putting up with Glenn’s bullshit and doesn’t feel like it’s her job to make him understand. She wants him to man up in a very different way than we usually think of it. He needs to take responsibility for his own feelings and get a grip. It doesn’t look like there is going to be much time to work such things out anyway as it looks like the rollercoaster ride will continue next week.

Bits and Pieces

The “walker bomb” was interesting. Of course, clever people are going to figure out how to use the zombies. Michonne used them for pack horses and the Governor uses them as a weapon.

Loved Michonne hacking her way out to Hershel even though they had relegated her to sleeping in a prisoner van.

I cheered when Daryl showed up and saved Rick, especially the little nod between them. No hugs for these macho guys.

So there are other babies still around. I wonder how that little group has survived this long. Too bad they didn’t stick around so we could find out.

We finally get to know Axel and he gets shot in the head. For those who read the comics this was strangely a relief.

Things I could live without - the zombie head being squished by the hatch and then the same car running over a zombie head. I find it hard to believe that this appeals to some people.

Quotes

Daryl: “Ain’t nothing out here but mosquitos and ants.”

Michonne: “He had fishtanks full of heads, walkers and human, trophies, he’s coming.”

Glenn: “Did he?”
Maggie: “Rape me? No, no. Do you feel better?

Daryl: “Man, I went back for you, you weren’t there. I didn’t cut off your hand neither. You did that. Way before they locked you up on that roof. You asked for it.”

Daryl: “You lost your hand because you’re a simple minded piece of shit.”

Merle: “I damn near killed that Chinese kid.”
Daryl: “He’s Korean.” (Nice loop back to one of the first episodes)

Glenn: “With Daryl gone and Rick wandering crazy town, I’m the next in charge.”
Hershel: “What are you proving?”

Hershel: “This rage is going to get you killed.”

13 comments:

  1. Wow, Doc. You were super fast with your review this week! Kudos.

    I'm with you on Axel. I haven't read the comics, but he always creeped me out, and I was constantly on edge whenever he was in the mix. I just felt like he was going to do something awful, so when he took a bullet to the head, I was definitely relieved. (Oy, I'm like Rick. I have difficulty accepting strangers into the group!)

    Now, I completely understand why Rick is losing his shit. It makes complete and total sense to me. And I don't want to rush him through his grieving process or anything, but I DO NOT want to watch any more of him chasing around ghost Lori. That cold open was groan-inducing. Hopefully the Governor's attack and Daryl returning to the group (thank goodness) will give him some incentive to come out of the woods.

    I would LOVE it if Andrea is the one to ultimately take down the Governor! Give her back some agency and have her come to her senses soon. Michonne had her shot; now it's Andrea's turn.

    Was anyone else confused by the logistics of the attack on the prison? It took me a long time to figure out that the person on the tower was from the Governor's group, and then I just kept wondering how the heck that person got up there. Is that tower exposed to the outside? I thought they were all inside the fence. At any rate, the staging took me out of the action a bit.

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  2. Relieved by Axel dying because of the comics? Axel never harmed anyone in the comics.

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  3. He was the only prisoner left and they mix things around on the show so I kept waiting for nastiness and was relieved when it didn't happen. It is one of the issues when you read the graphic novels and watch the show - at least if you are a bit squeamish like me. It's interesting that they tend to keep elements from the graphic novels but switch up the characters and that sometimes changes everything.

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  4. Ps. @Jess. It's a holiday here. That's why I am so speedy with this review :)

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  5. THE WALKING DEAD is a comic book series, not a graphic novel. The individual issues are collected in trade paperback form. Referring to THE WALKING DEAD as a "graphic novel" gives the comic series more weight than Kirkman deserves.

    This episode was a step up from last week but the writing and Andrew Lincoln's acting are still the weakest part of the show. The man can't emote. Heavy breathing, wide eyes and keeping his mouth open is not acting.

    I did like the zombie bomb -- that was clever.

    So there are other babies still around. I wonder how that little group has survived this long.

    That's one of the things they need to do on the show – expand the scope from the Grimes Gang to other parts of the East Coast if not the whole US and then the world.

    I'd say there was a baby boom nine months after the initial outbreak.

    The world's ending, best to go out having fun. Effing would be the way most would go out. Then -- OOPS! -- we survived, now the Mrs. is pregnant and all the ladies who had a man or found a man on that "last night" are pregnant.

    Even without OBGYNs to help birth the babies, the majority of babies would survive birth. If not, then there would never have been a human race in the first place.

    How long has it been since the outbreak? At least a year by this point. I'm sure there would be dozens of little turnip-heads all around the world (if the zombie outbreak is worldwide).

    Too bad they didn’t stick around so we could find out.

    I'm sure Tyrese and the Tyrese Crew will pop up just as The Gov and his Woodbury crew launch their next attack.

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  6. @Hellblazerraiser - You make a point about babies but I just don't think they would last very long once they were born. It's hard enough to go grocery shopping with one of those things let alone escape zombies. I think that a show that looked at the impact of the zombie apocalypse all over the world a la WWZ would be great but it wouldn't be the Walking Dead and obviously, from my reviews you know I enjoy it the way it is. The same goes for comic book vs. graphic novel. I actually called it a comic book by accident as I grew up with comic books but I really do think "The Walking Dead" is a novel in graphic form but perhaps we should agree to disagree about Kirkman's awesomeness level.

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  7. We'd probably get into a nasty argument about Kirkman.

    BUT!!!

    If THE WALKING DEAD is a "novel in graphic form," then Kirkman has either launched his core characters into a Chronic Hysteresis or his record is skipping, because it's been the same story told four times since the ending of the prison arc.

    Kirkman is part of a prima-donna crop of contemporary comic book writers who can only write one story. At this point, some of them (Snyder, Kirkman, Spencer) don't even try to hide their deficiencies.

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  8. I don't see why babies wouldn't last long once they're born.

    We don't know the details of the "plague" or whatever it was that lead to the zombie outbreak.

    In both, we've only been shown small portions of the landscape. Lots of highways and woods and some small towns and one city, but Georgia and its woods and forests aren't the world. (I can't remember if the book and/or the series have moved out of Georgia yet.)

    The world is a big place. We know that the soil isn't tainted on the TV series and in the comic series. So crops can grow. All the animals haven't been killed off. I really doubt walkers can wipe out all the forest critters in less than a year.

    Animals can be hunted and eaten. Babies can be fed. Mothers can nurse them. Water can be boiled. The walkers can be held off.

    Not all humans would revert to barbarism. We know this from the TV series and the comic book -- there are some good, sane people out there.

    I don't want to read a comic book about raising babies on a "dead" world.
    I don't want to watch a TV series about raising babies on a "dead" world.

    But I do want to see glimpse of the outside world -- I want to see what's going on in the world.

    I was excited when Shane and Andrea were thinking of leaving the Grimes Gang. I had hoped the narrative would split in two that way, instead of the way it's been split this season.

    The show has potential, but the writing has to be there first.

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  9. HBR, it sounds like you're done with the show. You've posted a comment expressing your displeasure on pretty much every review for a long time. I'm not sure why you're still watching it!

    Personally, I think TWD is an outstanding series about people on the ragged edge, and I always watch it when it airs; it never sits unwatched on my DVR. I don't know the comics or the graphic novels or whatever they are; for me, it's just the series and only the series. And I think Andrew Lincoln is doing an outstanding job, and so is the rest of the cast. I care about the characters and I'm deeply into the story. It's one of the few shows that I never miss.

    And if Doc weren't doing such a great job reviewing it, I'd have to do it myself. So thanks so much, Doc, for another terrific review.

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  10. "It's hard enough to go grocery shopping with one of those things let alone escape zombies."

    This made me laugh so hard I choked. I hope I can work this quote into a conversation with the next new mom I meet. "Hey, you think you've got it rough with a newborn? At least you're not fending off a zombie horde on 3 hours of sleep a night!" :-)

    Jess, I got horribly confused with the staging, too--just when I thought I had it figured out, a new camera angle would make me realize people were in a different spot than I had thought.

    I would like to nominate Andrea (once she returns, as she must) or Maggie as ruler. As much as I love Glenn, I am incredibly uncomfortable with the idea that the line of succession moves through all of the men first.

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  11. First of all: Thank you for the responses to my question last week.

    It´s really interesting to read all your different opinions on the show. I would not condemn it in such a harsh way HellBlazerRaiser does but I am far away from calling this series outstanding. To me it´s more like a guilty pleasure or a series to kill the time with.

    But I support HellBlazerRaiser`s opinion that this series needs to branch out to other places and people. Introducing new characters just to kill them off is getting boring. And the core group is so small (and partially annoying) that they will bore me to, I fear.

    Another thing that bothers me I realized this week is the fact that there is no plan or goal. They live in this world with zombies and try to survive. But what are they doing to change things?

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  12. HBR, it sounds like you're done with the show. You've posted a comment expressing your displeasure on pretty much every review for a long time. I'm not sure why you're still watching it!

    I want to be done with it! But I can't leave it yet.

    Zombies are pretty much the only horror "beastie" that can still scare me* -- actually make me tremble. Zombies hit me right in the gut. I guess I have a masochistic side, since I watch THE WALKING DEAD even though some of the set pieces almost knock me over.

    I do like some of the characters and actors -- Glenn and Maggie rock. They just aren't written well often enough.

    The series is severely flawed, but it can be more.




    *There were scenes from both seasons of AMERICAN HORROR STORY have frightened me too; particularly the first season's Halloween episodes (the end of the first part made me dizzy) and the Bloody Face mask from the second season. A couple of scenes from THE FOLLOWING made me jump too, but that's more terror than horror.

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  13. Axel getting sniped scared the crap outta me and I've seen this episode before

    That's how good the show is even when you have seen it before it still shocks you

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