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Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Walking Dead 5x15: Try


Rick, this is why we can't have nice things. You get brought to this very nice and relatively safe place and you just can't be happy. You can't accept it. And you can't accept any trains of thoughts that aren't your own.

You haven't always been like this. I mean, yeah, you've generally made bad decisions. But at least most of those decision were for the right reasons. You listened to people. Tried to reason with them. You would try to do the ethical thing.

Now, Rick, you're broken. You're incapable of taking one step back and looking at what you're doing. Sure, you're in a new place with new people who do things differently than you. And, sure, some of your points have merit. But you know what you don't need to do? Demand that they conform to your rules instead of having a level-headed, respectful debate and compromising.

And, yes, a man abusing his wife is awful. But you know what the wrong thing to do is? Make romantic advances at the wife of an abuser. Especially when you're in position of authority. Offering a helpful hand while simultaneously offering a different part of your anatomy will only serve to complicate matters and send mixed signals. Jessie needs to realize that she needs to get out of her situation for herself and her child. She should leave her husband because she knows it's best for her not because it's best for you.

Then you go and beat Pete up, Rick. (And shouldn't you have been able to handle Pete more soundly? But I digress...) Sure Pete's an asshole and I'm sure it felt good to wail on him at the time. But it'll ultimately do no good. Pete won't get sense beat into him. Heck, it may even make him more sympathetic towards Jessie who I'm sure is already feeling a lot of conflicting emotions.

I will admit, your original idea that Jessie and Pete should be separated was a good one. But, again, Jessie should be apart from Pete but that doesn't mean she should be with you. She should probably be on her own while she sorts things out.

Then again, this isn't anything I should be teaching you, Rick. You already know all this. You're were a friggin' cop! But I suppose that was long ago. So, whatever. Act like Shane. Plot to take over Alexandria and then become the new governor. Heck, maybe if rations get low you can start eating people to complete the trifecta. In the end. I'm sure everything will work out for you.

Other Thoughts:
Despite my feelings that the final episode is going to just be a big battle between Rick's group and Alexandria, I was heartened a little by Glenn's line, "We are them now."

Carol's pretty upset over Pete's physical abuse of Jessie (and rightfully so). But apparently psychologically abusing a young kid is A-OK.

Deanna is taking her son's death harder than I expected. Well, harder may not be the right term. But she's obviously just been sitting at her house moping for a long time. It sounds like losing people isn't all that uncommon, even to the Alexandrians. The zombie apocalypse is so death filled I'd think you'd get desensitized to it. I'm not saying that she wouldn't mourn. I'm only saying that I'd think her mourning would be on the inside while she keeps on keeping on the outside.

Pete's an asshole. But, still, the fact that he's the only doctor in town still makes me wonder what should be done.

I think I'm pretty much on Rick's side regarding the death penalty vs. exile. Although, it still feels unseemly. (At the same time, Rick talks a big game but has he ever actually executed someone because of a crime they committed?)

So we got a nice teen romance plot brewing. I'm already bored with that.

Sasha's impulse to hunt zombies isn't necessarily a bad one Although, it does waste bullets

Sasha claimed that things "worked out" for Michonne. Not sure what she means by that.

I feel like there's overwhelming sentiment that the Alexandrians are "lucky" and got the wall up "just in time." I think building a wall to keep the zombies out is making your own luck.

It would be ill advised to have Rick's group come into Alexandria and not have stories involving friction between the new comers and the established residents. I just would prefer a slow burn. And I'd prefer the friction mostly take the form of rational discussions. You'll always have those unwilling to compromise and maybe, eventually, something happens that causes a giant rift between the people inside the walls. But that could happen in a season or two. Not after, around, 3 episodes. There was barely even a settling in period. The Walking Dead rushes too fast towards the next big shake up.

9 comments:

  1. Despite my feelings that the final episode is going to just be a big battle between Rick's group and Alexandria

    There's someone out there carving 'W' on apparently living people, and tying them up for the zombies to find, and someone who seems to have a use for a lot of zombies cut in half. Not wanting to subscribe to the world-view promoted by the show, but I don't really think rational discussion is going to cut it this time.

    And Morgan.

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  2. But of course for folks whose modus operandi is to generally leave other people behind and prefer one's own safety, what a terrible surprise really of them to leave a woman and possibly a kid to be beaten up too just to keep the precious doctor.

    I've been watching only from this season on, but I'm wondering if the hell the show is succumbing us to is specifically that of Dante's and were at the Circle of Cowards as we speak. Brush up the ol' X-Men Annual 4, for a road map.

    (Well too late for cowards really at this point, as the Eight Circle sins are in full motion already, and Gabriel leaning strongly on the Ninth. He'll probably throw the doors open for the divine retribution to enter Alexandria where he thinks evil resides. It's what he did to his congregation, anyway. He's totally the means of God's Anger here, like, and not like at all guilty really about that stuff. Meant to say this about his unhingedness on the previous episode already.)

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  3. You know, I could get behind an episode all about how Rick is losing touch with reality and the rest of the group has to step in and make him realize how wrong he is. If I had any confidence that's what this episode is setting up. But it's not, because on this show, Rick is always in the right, no matter what.

    I will say, I did enjoy the sense of mounting tension on display throughout this episode. This is an odd comparison to make, but it felt a bit like "Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 1", in that you knew what was going to happen but not how, exactly.

    So here, we know things are going to go to shit in Alexandria by the end of the next episode, but we're not sure what exactly will trigger it: the brooding despair of Deanna in the wake of her son's death? The conflict between Glenn and the Guy Who Sucks At Being In A ZompiePoc? The stupid teens making out in a tree while zombies lumber by? Sasha risking her life to rage-kill zombies? Rick fighting the urge to pull a Shane? The group Daryl is tracking, which is probably the group carving "W"s into zombies?

    It could be any or all, and I liked the way the ep just kinda through all those balls out there, leaving us uncertain which would ultimately trigger the breakdown of the new status quo.

    And shouldn't you have been able to handle Pete more soundly? But I digress...

    I thought that too. Dude's a surgeon, not a UFC fighter...

    But apparently psychologically abusing a young kid is A-OK.

    Anything Carol does is A-OK, because the ends justify the means, especially when "the ends" is "what Carol wants", apparently.

    But, still, the fact that he's the only doctor in town still makes me wonder what should be done.

    This seems like an idea rife for exploration that the show will gloss over on its way to speedily blowing up the current status quo and putting everyone out in the wild again. The guy deserves to be punished, but he possesses a skill necessary to the survival of the group, so you can't kill or exile him. And even if you forced separation from his wife, locked him up or something, and he was still willing to serve as a doctor, would anyone trust being treated by him? Is the sacrifice of Jessie and her kid(s?) worth what you gain from having a happy doctor on hand, as Deanna clearly believes? Those are all interesting questions that the show will eschew in favor of reinforcing how right and kewl Rick & Carol are about everything.

    Sasha's impulse to hunt zombies isn't necessarily a bad one Although, it does waste bullets

    I've long been in favor of making a concerted effort to hunt zombies. Every one they kill is one less zombie to sneak up on them at a dramatically important moment. But yeah, the question of ammo is problematic. Better if she was doing it via melee weapon or something.

    I think building a wall to keep the zombies out is making your own luck.

    Yeah. There's "not as smart/seasoned as us" and "lucky", and the show seems to insist Alexandria is just the latter when they're clearly the former. They haven't survived this long entirely on luck, but that doesn't mean they can't still make mistakes/learn things.

    The Walking Dead rushes too fast towards the next big shake up.

    This times a million. They could have gotten an entire half season, maybe a full season, out of last week's episode. The back and forth between the two groups, mounting tensions between them, highlighting the differences between them, all building over the course of more than one episode to a conflict.

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  4. Oh, and where do we think the "W" comes from? I'm trying to remember if there's anyone of note left from Woodbury (which would be a huge coincidence, given how far from the town they are now).

    I'm hoping maybe it's for "Wolverines", and Charlie Sheen & Lea Thompson will turn out to be part of the group...

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  5. Teebore: the group carving "W"s into zombies

    Into still-living people, Teeb, as witnessed on the girl tied into the tree.

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  6. @Teemu:
    Into still-living people, Teeb, as witnessed on the girl tied into the tree.


    Right. I just meant zombies in that that was their end state. Though I suppose we don't know he/they aren't ALSO carving the W into already-zombified people.

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  7. Equal opportunity carvers, eh... hmmh.

    Teebore: to pull a Shane

    I salute you. I've tried to establish one myself, about the usage of an English verb faultily without the appropriate postposition in a way that gives the sencence an unintentionally raunchy meaning, f.ex. "we gonna blow this guy (up)", but whenever I've told them that I pulled a sandrabullock, the guys didn't seem at all interested in discussing grammar at that point.

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  8. About the fisticuff, I can't help myself thinking about Neil Gaiman and American Gods. In the novel Shadow thinks about the two sorts of fights existing in prison: there's the dead-serious fight, where you put the other guy out in seconds before he does you, and then there's the 'don't fuck with me' fight that you make as showy and long as possible, because it's for sendind a message to people other than just the one you're pounding. I think Rick is going for the latter here.

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  9. @Teemu: "I've been watching only from this season on, but I'm wondering if the hell the show is succumbing us to is specifically that of Dante's and were at the Circle of Cowards as we speak."

    I wouldn't be surprised if all 9 circles are represented in The Walking Dead. Although I doubt it it would be eloquent enough to be in the right order.

    "there's the dead-serious fight, where you put the other guy out in seconds before he does you, and then there's the 'don't fuck with me' fight that you make as showy and long as possible, because it's for sendind a message to people other than just the one you're pounding. I think Rick is going for the latter here."

    I see what you're saying. But still, even if it was a long fight I would think Rick would have had more of an upper hand for the majority of it.

    Of course, I also had similar thoughts to the Governor. Rick's an officer trained in hand-to-hand combat. The Governor was just some guy. Why was he so tough to beat one-on-one? I'm not saying the Governor couldn't have learned how to fight but some explanation would have been nice.

    @Austin: "You know, I could get behind an episode all about how Rick is losing touch with reality and the rest of the group has to step in and make him realize how wrong he is."

    I think there are lot of plot lines the show could've gotten more mileage out of. Like that or the doctor plot line you also brought up. The guy's an ass but very useful. That has legs.

    "I'm hoping maybe it's for "Wolverines", and Charlie Sheen & Lea Thompson will turn out to be part of the group..."

    That...would be fantastic. Especially if Charlie Sheen is coked out during all his scenes.

    But speaking of militias, I understand that zombie fiction as we know it didn't exist in The Walking Dead universe, but there had to be End of Days survivalists out there who had created their own bunkers. One wonders if they're complexes are around and how they're doing?

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