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Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Walking Dead 5x10: Them


I think this week's episode of The Walking Dead should've been sponsored by the Mars candy company. Because everyone was hungry, crabby and in need of a Snickers. Of course, in this case it wasn't a caramel, peanuts and nougat candy bar that satiated everyone but dog meat. The Walking Dead everyone!

Actually I have very little to say about this episode. Not a whole lot happened. The group was on the road, struggling to survive and sad because, as we discussed last week, living in the zombie apocalypse sucks. That was pretty much the episode.

Daryl, Maggie and Sasha are all mourning Beth/Tyreese in their own ways. Daryl needed to find a private place to cry. Maggie just took her anger out on a cowardly priest. Sasha alienated everyone with her words and actions. She disregarded strategy in favor of head on combat with a horde of zombies. Rick and company help her out and nearly get killed in the process. Way to go Sasha.

In the end the mourners mourn but move forward. The group finds the will to live thanks to a grandiose speech by Rick who pretty much tells them that their reason for living is to find a reason for living. A freak storm nearly kills the team but actually ends up saving them from zombies. Aside from character developments, the only plot point to occur was the ominous, mysterious stranger introducing himself at the end of the episode. He seems nice...but a lot people on The Walking Dead SEEM nice.

All in all, this wasn't a bad episode. Unfortunately, there's not a terrible amount to analyze. However, I do have one complaint. The narrative timing of this part of the series doesn't seem to match up with the actual, in-story timing.

To the viewer, we had Beth die, then Tyreese and then an episode dealing with the aftermath of both deaths. I will first say I disagree with this decision by the writers. Having two main characters die in back-to-back episodes but saving the mourning of both characters for the same episode diminishes the weight and significance of both deaths. But that complaint may just be a matter of personal opinion.

What really bothers me is that, while both deaths were close together from a viewer's perspective, they really weren't that close in the story. Beth died three states ago. You'd assume during those travels is when most of the Beth mourning and discussions of Beth would take place. I suppose people could have bottled up their emotions that entire time but that's hard for me to believe considering the only thing the people in the group really have to do all day is talk.

Then again, I'm not expert on grief. Also, I speak of timing as if The Walking Dead gives us any indication of how much time has passed or how fast the group is traveling. So maybe I should just enjoy the character moments and start speculating on what this mysterious stranger has to offer.

Other Thoughts:
Maggie looks different to me. I'm not sure if it is a new haircut or what but for a split second I didn't recognize her.

When I saw Daryl scrounging for food and eating a worm my only thought was, "Somebody dedicated their time and skills to farming doesn't seem so ridiculous now, does it?"

I'm sure some people will object to dogs being shot and eaten. I don't know, they've eaten other animals so why not dogs? Animals are animals, right? Especially when you're literally starving.

Hey! We finally get see Maggie react about Beth!

Some people seem to distrust Father Gabriel. I think what we see is what we get. A scared, cowardly priest.

Rick's group was wary of the bottles water left for them. If someone's sneaky enough to deliver water without anyone noticing then they probably could find easier ways to kill Rick's group than through poisoned water.

So, Rick makes a grandiose speech in which he declares that it is in fact they who *sigh* are the walking dead. I'm surprised they decided to hang that lantern during a seemingly random season 5 episode.

If a stranger walks up to you saying they have good news then it's a good bet you're going to hear all about Jesus.

9 comments:

  1. If a stranger walks up to you saying they have good news then it's a good bet you're going to hear all about Jesus.

    Hardly a soothing though, remembering the fellows in The Ghostbusters questioning if their late troubles have been in fact because the dead have started walking.

    Though, if they some day choose to end the series, no better way to go than those still alive suddenly hearing galloping sound and then been cut down by some folks on colourful horses with swords and bows and scythes. Followed by Dawn who spouts something about only the strong (and cynic and dehumanized) surviving.

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  2. This season has been rather poor. After 4 high flying seasons, the 5th one is... well... boring

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  3. I liked this episode more than the last one. Which isn't saying much, granted.

    He seems nice...but a lot people on The Walking Dead SEEM nice.

    Well, let's see, we've had megalomaniacs, rapists, and cannibals, so I'm guessing this next group is going to be led by a megamaniacal cannibal who wants to rape everything he eats. Because all people who aren't the main characters have to be abhorrent monsters, apparently.

    Also, I speak of timing as if The Walking Dead gives us any indication of how much time has passed or how fast the group is traveling.

    Yeah, I wondered about that too. To us, Beth and Tyreese died around the same time, but to the characters, there's been time between them, which isn't really made obvious.

    my only thought was, "Somebody dedicated their time and skills to farming doesn't seem so ridiculous now, does it?"

    Certainly no one like that could possibly survive in a zombie apocalypse, what with the way they'd have to focus all their efforts on keeping people alive instead of just being a constant violence machine.

    I don't know, they've eaten other animals so why not dogs? Animals are animals, right? Especially when you're literally starving.

    Yeah, I had no problem with that given their circumstances. Frankly, my only concern was whether or not those were zombie dogs and, if they were, what impact eating zombie dog would have.

    If someone's sneaky enough to deliver water without anyone noticing then they probably could find easier ways to kill Rick's group than through poisoned water.

    They were probably worried about roofies. But yeah, at that point, if whomever left the water wanted them dead, they'd be dead. Drink the damn water.


    So, Rick makes a grandiose speech in which he declares that it is in fact they who *sigh* are the walking dead. I'm surprised they decided to hang that lantern during a seemingly random season 5 episode.


    Ditto. What's funny is, earlier in the episode, me and Mrs. Teebore kept making that joke, like "wow, they're just ambling along, it's like *THEY'RE* the Walking Dead", that kind of stuff. Then the episode goes and does the same thing, seriously. It was pretty funny.

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  4. It's like the creators have read all the accumulated criticism and this was their "oh, yeah?" answer.

    "Yeah, I know: stranger danger." He didn't really have to turn to the camera and wink.

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  5. // If someone's sneaky enough to deliver water without anyone noticing then they probably could find easier ways to kill Rick's group than through poisoned water. //

    Yeah. And Eugene wants to drink the water? Let him! Something goes wrong that's one less person to feed and frankly he's contributing the least to the group in terms of defense by far. (This comment has been brought to you by cynicism. Cynicism: From the makers of nihilism. As seen on The Walking Dead.)

    I could not believe how insanely ham-fisted that "walking dead" line of Rick's was. Plus he contradicted himself right after, I think; I honestly didn't rewind to make sure, but as I heard it he threw out that they were the real walking dead and, when Darryl replied, Rick basically said, "Hey. We're not the walking dead."

    How this show decides what to, well, show us constantly confounds me. We skipped over months of potentially fascinating society-establishment at the prison in favor of jumping to when things went south and now there's a slow, grief- and subsistence-based episode that, focused purely on Beth and not Tyreese as well, could've/should've occurred on the road from Georgia to Virginia amidst new locations. Time jumps are absolutely fair game in the storytellers' bag of tricks, and especially with Carl in the mix they're periodically essential, but it feels like things swing from lull to threat, maybe with grief/aftermath as a distinct point too, without consideration of a wealth of other veins to mine.

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  6. @Blam: Let him! Something goes wrong that's one less person to feed and frankly he's contributing the least to the group in terms of defense by far.

    Indeed. Cynical or not, I had pretty much the same thought.

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  7. @Teebore: // Cynical or not, I had pretty much the same thought. //

    Just to clarify, too, I meant that as dangerously thirsty as they were it was totally worth it for one of them to be a test subject re whether the water was all right to drink and Eugene was probably Candidate #1.

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  8. No spoilers, but I will say that the Aaron plot is taken from the comics, and I really love it. If the show follows its source material we're in for a major sea change in how the series operates, which is no bad thing given - as has been mentioned - how relentlessly it focuses on how crappy the status quo is.

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  9. @JP Chapleau: I will say this season hasn't been as exciting as the last couple but I'd still say season 2 was still the most boring.

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