This show is relentless. If it wasn’t so well written and acted, I’m not sure I could keep watching it. Much like the characters, I am depressed and sometimes traumatized by scenes and events, but I just have to keep going. Maybe it's because I really care about the characters, even the ones I don’t know very well.
Ed was a chauvinistic asshole, but even he didn’t deserve to be torn apart by zombies. Poor Amy. She was just a sweet kid who didn’t even like to kill fish. Now she’s going to be a zombie.
The scene with Jim digging the holes (which looked like graves) was quite chilling. Of course some people are going to just lose their minds. Shane tried to deal with him as gently as he could. It is obvious that people look to Shane as the leader. Even Lori was calling to Shane when the zombies attacked, asking what to do. What is the remainder of the camp going to do with two leaders? This isn’t going to be easy.
It was wonderful how the writers played with stereotypes and prejudices about Spanish-speaking Americans. Of course Guillermo used them himself to intimidate others. As an audience we expected tough gang members and a fight to the death. The Spanish-speaking grandmother walking into the fray looking for medicine was priceless. I loved Daryl yelling that they should get her out of the line of fire. These are the good guys. The ones that don’t want to shoot grannies. The bad guys would just see her as weak. What our little band found was a group of caring, selfless individuals instead of a gang. They were just trying to protect the elderly in their care. I’m glad that Rick gave them the guns, but I doubt that they will last very long.
We continue to see scenes of normal life sprinkled into the horror: the lovely, peaceful scene of Andrea and Amy fishing and reminiscing about their father, the children working on school work, everyone sitting around the fire eating dinner. These scenes just make the attack of the zombies more horrific. No wonder people let those little bits of normalcy fade away. It is hard to hold onto your humanity in such circumstances.
Then there is Merle, who is one tough SOB. Not only did he cut off his own hand but he cauterized the wound with fire, killed two zombies and took off with the cube van. I doubt that he was normal in the first place and maybe that makes him better prepared for this kind of world. It was a nice red herring to have us and Rick’s gang worried that he might attack the camp in revenge for being left on the roof.
Our little camp has been decimated. How did all those zombies sneak up on the group? Weren't there cans and such? Ed and Amy are dead, not to mention many more campers that we never met. I guess we don't get to see the full results of the attack until next week.
Bits and Pieces
The little dogs were a very fun touch. They still could be nasty bitches but it would have taken them a very long time to eat Glenn.
I think I need to retire and get an RV with a canoe, fishing gear and guns. I will try to remember the wrapping paper.
Glenn is smart and fast. Did his job as a pizza delivery person help?
Quotes
Amy: “He knew that you needed to catch the fish and I needed to throw them back.”
Daryl: “Nobody can kill Merle but Merle.”
Daryl: “You couldn’t kill him. I ain’t so worried about some dumb dead bastard.”
Rick: “What about a thousand dumb dead bastards. Different story?”
T-dog: “I’m not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions.”
Rick: “You got some balls for a Chinaman.”
Glenn: “I’m Korean.”
Rick: “Whatever.”
Guillermo: “I’m going to chop up your boy. I’m going to feed him to my dogs. Three of the evilest, nasty, man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale.”
T-dog: “We thought you were being eaten by dogs, man.”
Guillermo: “The people here, they all look to me now and I don’t even know why.”
Rick: “Because they can.”
Dale: “Had I been informed of the impending apocalypse, I’d have stocked up.”
Dale: “I give you a mausoleum of all hope and desire which will fit your individual needs no more than it did mine or my father’s before me. I give it to you not that you might remember time, but that you might forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.”
Amy: “You are so weird.”
Jim: “I remember my dream now. Why I dug the holes.”
Astonishing! Four episodes in, the first two of which I found so disturbing. Yet, now I found myself crying over the death of one of the characters. As the credits rolled, I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. Unlike so many other shows I watch, obviously no one is safe. Now, that is a sure way to ramp up the tension.
ReplyDeleteI, too, loved the scenes with Guillermo. The subversion of our expectations was masterfully handled. The only thing that would have garnered more sympathy would have been orphans.
I'm also really enjoying Daryl's integration into the band of brothers. especially his growing respect for Glenn. Who, by the way, is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Able to run into the fray and shoot, I loved his breaking down when the danger had passed. A very real response when the adrenaline stops pumping.
As soon as I saw the walkers, I thought that Merle had loaded up the truck with them and transported them to the camp. I still wonder if he did, but I certainly hope not.
Didn't they have cans strung up as alarms? How did all those walkers get in without anyone noticing?
ReplyDeleteWe lost Merle ED (I'm sorry but jack ass got it) and Amy 3 main characters dead.
ReplyDeleteOh and don't forget the horse from episode 1 he's main I don't care