The Walking Dead - TWD / Fear TWD / The World Beyond

[gmillerdrake]

From what I gather there are only a handful of folks in the forum still watching TWD. I really liked S9 overall and like the direction Angela Kang is taking the show. I'm cautiously optimistic about how she's going to tell this next little arc of the whisperer war.....i'm hoping she keeps some of the key elements of the Graphic Novels in place as they were really cool.

New season starts this Sunday.

[Grappler]

I liked season 9 and the change to a more tense, horror-oriented feeling in the show.  The season ended where I left off in the comics, and over the last two weeks I've been reading The Whisper War volumes and will eventually finish the comics over the next month or two.

So I'm looking forward to this season, despite losing Danai Gurira from the show. 

[gmillerdrake]

I liked season 9 and the change to a more tense, horror-oriented feeling in the show.  The season ended where I left off in the comics, and over the last two weeks I've been reading The Whisper War volumes and will eventually finish the comics over the next month or two.

So I'm looking forward to this season, despite losing Danai Gurira from the show.

Yeah. The whole 'vibe' of the show changed for the better. Kang did a real good job at that....adding the time jump and just the change of atmosphere and mood. I hope that trend continues.

As far as Guira leaving.....it's kind of bitter sweet. I feel like they've kind of neutered the Michonne character anyway so I'm not real tore up with that character leaving.....I'd like to see her get a 'good' send off though. I can't imagine they don't do anything other than kill her off. There's really no sense in keeping the potential for a return alive.

[Progmetty]

To quote Michael Corleone "Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in".
I binged season 9-B last week cause I had nothing else to watch out here, I do it by skipping a minute ahead in scenes that I know -from TWD experience- are fillers, it's pretty efficient, episodes end up being 20-25 minutes on average, of actual plot progress/action scene, definitely cause I don't expect any character building.
Instant boner when I saw Tara's head on the spike, it ruined the emotional nature of the scene for me since I was genuinely happy.
I loathe the new cast members, especially Jack Black and eyebrow girl.
Negan's entire existence stopped making sense, I don't understand how he's processing all of this from he's perspective.
The only thing I like is where the story is going.

[soupytwist]

It'll be interesting to see how much longer the show continues now the source material (the comic) has ended.  I know it's been renewed for Season 11, but there can't be much more left.    As for the show itself the last season was a massive improvement over anything the show had put out since they arrived at Alexandra - I was genuinely enjoying it again rather than watching from habit, so hope this trend continues.

[gmillerdrake]

It'll be interesting to see how much longer the show continues now the source material (the comic) has ended.  I know it's been renewed for Season 11, but there can't be much more left.    As for the show itself the last season was a massive improvement over anything the show had put out since they arrived at Alexandra - I was genuinely enjoying it again rather than watching from habit, so hope this trend continues.

I honestly wish they'd end it after next season. Focus on giving us (32) really good episodes to close it out. But I know AMC won't. There still getting 15 million viewers an episode. They'll run this thing into the ground.

Speaking of which....the premier Episode of S10 last night was possibly the most boring, uneventful....waste of time Season premier episode ever. Literally nothing happened. The crossed the Whisperer boundary. That was it. Took them an hour and ten minutes to tell that to us.

I guess I just expect too much given there are so many great shows out there with awesome content. TWD (AMC) has failed to keep pace with the competition.

[gmillerdrake]

Ugh. (2) episodes in and this show is a bore. There simply is/was no purpose to show how Alpha and Beta met. Zero. It's not necessary to explain every little nuance.....that's what makes the comic 'better' in these types of situations. We just knew that they'd been together from the start of the 'whisperers' and that's all you need to know. We already had an episode last year that showed Alpha's beginning.....no need for that episode last night.

The only thing that keeps me watching this show is the fact I've invested the years into it. To say it's a shell of what it used to be would be giving it too much credit.

[Grappler]

I zoned out during the episode.  Though I do like that they're leading up to revealing Beta's face.  Ryan Hurst all but confirmed that it will happen, and that Beta will be the country singer whose album Daniel Salazar was carrying around on Fear the Walking Dead. 

So I like the crossover aspect, but I do agree that we really didn't need to see the flashbacks to how they met.  The stuff with Gamma was cool though.

[gmillerdrake]

I zoned out during the episode.  Though I do like that they're leading up to revealing Beta's face.  Ryan Hurst all but confirmed that it will happen, and that Beta will be the country singer whose album Daniel Salazar was carrying around on Fear the Walking Dead. 

So I like the crossover aspect, but I do agree that we really didn't need to see the flashbacks to how they met.  The stuff with Gamma was cool though.

The Gamma side story was about all that was needed. I just don't see the need that these show runners/writers apparently have to explain every little thing to us? It's not that important as to 'how' Alpha and Beta met....in fact....it's better that we don't know. Leave a little mystery.

And.....comic spoiler......if they give the kill of Alpha to Carol in the show instead of playing out this storyline like they did in the comic and having Negan escape....join the Whisperer's with the goal of killing and then beheading Alpha.......that may be the straw that breaks the camels back for me and I'd stop watching. They need to keep this whisperer arc as close to the comic as possible. But I fear they're gonna F it all up. Especially if the Alpha kill goes to Carol or even Daryl.

[Grappler]

I was not expecting that to happen at the end of last night's episode.  I've been enjoying Siddiq's PTSD and his realization of what actually happened during the Whisperer murders was really powerful.  Poor dude was forced to watch it all and then he figured out who held him down. 

Angela Kang seems to enjoy putting those big moments in the episodes before the finales, so we'll have to see what next week brings.

[gmillerdrake]

Last few episodes have been ‘better’. Still curious to see how they handle this next ‘big’ thing.

[Grappler]

I hope they don't drag it out and make it part of the second half of the season, but I'd think it's likely that they will.  I'd be surprised if it occurs in the mid-season finale this week. 

At least they have me interested in wanting to continually see what happens next.  The season started off slow, but has kept my interest over the last handful of episodes.

[gmillerdrake]

I hope they don't drag it out and make it part of the second half of the season, but I'd think it's likely that they will.  I'd be surprised if it occurs in the mid-season finale this week. 

At least they have me interested in wanting to continually see what happens next.  The season started off slow, but has kept my interest over the last handful of episodes.

Kang has been MUCH better than Gimple when it comes to not dragging out things. She’s pretty good about keeping the pace going.

I agree that after a ‘slow’ start the past 3/4 episodes have been much better.

[gmillerdrake]

Did anyone watch Ep. 9 of S10 last night? It might as well been a comedy it was so bad. I'm not certain why I'm even watching any longer. I think there has been some promise since Kang took over but man.....that episode last night was brutally bad....just SO awfully written I literally laughed out loud in parts of the episode.

[Grappler]

I watched, though it again failed to keep me fully interested, except where they were crawling through the tunnel.  I'm really disliking the show keeping people around too long.  Yes, Samantha Morton is great and so creepy as Alpha, but they don't need to drag this out over 16 episodes.  Comic Negan infiltrated the Whispers and handled things very efficiently.  Instead it's been 9 episodes

I also dislike that they won't be bold and kill off characters as often.  Maybe I'm just used to Game of Thrones, where someone was killed in every episode - some major characters, some minor.  But Jerry being stuck in that tunnel should have been bitten or ripped to shreds.  I fully expected him to go.

I do like that they're keeping to the horror elements with scares and intense scenes, but the story should be more concise.  Hopefully they wrap up the Whisperer War this season.

[gmillerdrake]

I also dislike that they won't be bold and kill off characters as often.  Maybe I'm just used to Game of Thrones, where someone was killed in every episode - some major characters, some minor.  But Jerry being stuck in that tunnel should have been bitten or ripped to shreds.  I fully expected him to go.

This is my major gripe. They are holding on to these characters entirely too long. Even in last nights episode there 'realistically' should have been two or three deaths from what was going on. Instead, they all survived that frogger bit in the beginning and I'm sure the two chics who were sealed in the mine will survive.

And you're right.....Alpha should be dead by now.....I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and now that Negan is really 'in'.....Alpha needs to be eliminated within the next episode or two.

I just thought the acting was laughable last night. Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus are usually pretty good....but they're performance last night was very daytime soap opera. It was funny.

[Grappler]

I actually liked last night's episode.  It had a feel like the GOT episode before the Battle of Winterfell, which was a great episode as well.

Loved that Negan has assimilated into the Whisperers and employed his savior-tactics of blocking the roads like he did just before his entrance into the show.  And loved Eugene singing reunion-era IRON FUCKING MAIDEN even more . 

At least the show is ramping up the tension and action now, which helps keep things interesting.  Two surprise cast members are on next week's Talking Dead, so there is potential for a couple of deaths on the show.  I feel like the King is going to be killed off soon, given that he has cancer - I can see him sacrificing himself for Carol, especially if it allows her to get to Alpha. 

I'm still hoping for Negan to have his Alpha moment, but the show may place Carol in that position too.

[gmillerdrake]

I'm still hoping for Negan to have his Alpha moment, but the show may place Carol in that position too.

If they give that moment to Carol I will immediately stop watching the show for good. There's simply no reason to deviate from that particular plot point.

The show is just infuriating at the moment because it's been clear for some time now they really only put effort into making 8 or 9 episodes a season that are actually worth a crap. The others are just fillers for advertisement dollars.....and they don't even try to hide it.

[gmillerdrake]

I'm good with the way the last episode went down......Negan getting to have the moment from the comic.....the Carol twist was a neat way to deal with Rick's absence from the show. I'll say it again, the potential is there to have such a good show yet it's ruined by the (16) episode seasons. This show should have been in the same vein as GOT.....limited (10) episode seasons just packed with substance. Instead it's every second or third episode is good then a filler or two.

[Grappler]

Yeah, I liked the episode.  I was surprised by the amount of death - losing three characters all in one episode, but it was all good, especially the tease of who Beta really is.  Once I saw Negan walking behind her, I sat up going "Is this it?"  And it was - I'm glad that it occurred now, rather than at the end of the season. 

[gmillerdrake]

Yeah, I liked the episode.  I was surprised by the amount of death - losing three characters all in one episode, but it was all good, especially the tease of who Beta really is.  Once I saw Negan walking behind her, I sat up going "Is this it?"  And it was - I'm glad that it occurred now, rather than at the end of the season.

I’ll hand it to Kang. She’s done a great job at not dragging things out to just drag them out. Hi ole would have milked this season for the Negan/Alpha kill time happen in the last scene.

I think Kang has done a good job overall.....but it’s also apparent she’s being held hostage by AMC and Gimple with this insistence on having episodes that do nothing to further the plot, or....only have like 10 minutes that actually does something for the story.

[Grappler]

Fantastic episode last night, which also saw Michonne leave the show.  I loved how they did it and showed how her experiences have shaped her.  Seeing Andrea the beginning was a shock, and seeing Heath and Glenn again was touching. 

They left things open for expansion, and also makes me very interested in the upcoming films. 

[gmillerdrake]

Fantastic episode last night, which also saw Michonne leave the show.  I loved how they did it and showed how her experiences have shaped her.  Seeing Andrea the beginning was a shock, and seeing Heath and Glenn again was touching. 

They left things open for expansion, and also makes me very interested in the upcoming films.

Yeah.....I liked it also. It was handled really well....WAY open ended so there's the probability she shows up in the Rick movies or maybe even on the show again down the road. My only beef is that she wasn't able to or didn't speak to Daryl or and 'adult' to flat out tell them what she found and why she was not coming back.

I still think that...especially now that the comic has an 'end'......they need to hunker down and make next season the final season. It could totally get done in (16) episodes if they didn't waste an episode. If anything seal this think up in the next (2) seasons but that'd drag on quite a bit I think. Especially now that both Michonne and Rick are gone.....who play pretty large roles in the next 'phase' of the story. I guess they could shift those roles obviously....but they don't hold the same weight IMO.

[gmillerdrake]

also....the picture that Rick etched on that phone with the message written in Chinese stating to 'hold on a bit longer'......I'm wondering if he just speculated that Judith would one day wear his hat or if he actually had seen them at one point but couldn't reach out or act on it?

[Grappler]

also....the picture that Rick etched on that phone with the message written in Chinese stating to 'hold on a bit longer'......I'm wondering if he just speculated that Judith would one day wear his hat or if he actually had seen them at one point but couldn't reach out or act on it?

Gimple on Talking Dead wouldn't say much other than that it's part of the continuing story.  Angela Kang/Danai Guiria had interviews with Entertainment Weekly and they alluded to the fact that Rick has somehow seen Michonne and Judith sometime in between him being saved in the helicopter and the current time.

[gmillerdrake]

also....the picture that Rick etched on that phone with the message written in Chinese stating to 'hold on a bit longer'......I'm wondering if he just speculated that Judith would one day wear his hat or if he actually had seen them at one point but couldn't reach out or act on it?

Gimple on Talking Dead wouldn't say much other than that it's part of the continuing story.  Angela Kang/Danai Guiria had interviews with Entertainment Weekly and they alluded to the fact that Rick has somehow seen Michonne and Judith sometime in between him being saved in the helicopter and the current time.

That has to point to him being a 'prisoner' of sorts or just physically incapable of an escape.

[gmillerdrake]

Thought that was another solid episode. And that's why this show is infuriating. The team they have in place with Kang in charge 'can' make some really cool TV. I think all in all.....since Kang came aboard.....the show has drastically improved.

But I still maintain that AMC and the 'brass' are the ones who bring this show down with the insistence on (16) episodes a season. This show would be perfect at a 10 or 12 show season......just packed to the brim with content each episode ala Game of Thrones style. Instead we get the 5 or 6 filler episodes a season that literally nothing happens.

[Grappler]

I enjoyed it, especially all of the Negan moments and the end of the episode.

I've spent the last week finishing the rest of the comic series, pretty much picking up right where the show ended last night with Eugene and company meeting Princess.  I absolutely loved how the comic ended.  So I'm interested to see what the show does.  I have a feeling that they'll do the whole Commonwealth arc (giving Rick and Michonne's roles to other characters) but instead of ending in a fashion similar to the comic, they'll keep telling stories within the commonwealth.

They've also started some world-building with the group that took Rick by helicopter and the cast of Fear.  So I think they could start telling stories with a lot of crossover elements. 

At least I'm caught up on the comics, which is nice.  I always stayed just ahead of the show once I started reading them.

[gmillerdrake]

I enjoyed it, especially all of the Negan moments and the end of the episode.

I've spent the last week finishing the rest of the comic series, pretty much picking up right where the show ended last night with Eugene and company meeting Princess.  I absolutely loved how the comic ended.  So I'm interested to see what the show does.  I have a feeling that they'll do the whole Commonwealth arc (giving Rick and Michonne's roles to other characters) but instead of ending in a fashion similar to the comic, they'll keep telling stories within the commonwealth.

They've also started some world-building with the group that took Rick by helicopter and the cast of Fear.  So I think they could start telling stories with a lot of crossover elements. 

At least I'm caught up on the comics, which is nice.  I always stayed just ahead of the show once I started reading them.

I think they need to call it quits right where the comic ends. These other 'worlds' they're building could allow them to do the other shows....but as for the original....focus on closing this sucker out. I think with a focused vision they could do that in two seasons. And just be done after that.

I'm guessing that Negan would take Rick's spot at the Commonwealth. He's a large personality and has this whole 'redemption' arc going on. Plus, JDM is a great actor....not that Norman Reedus isn't.....but Negan's presence can fill Rick's shoes. I don't think Daryl's can.

As far as Michonne's spot there.....maybe they don't even bother with it? Maybe they give it to one of the 'new' cast members from the last season or two. It's a storyline that could easily be abandoned though....or re-purposed to a different actress.

[gmillerdrake]

Was able to get caught up on the Graphic Novel finally. Such a well done story....it really was. And, it's such an incredible bummer that they dicked around and forced Andrew Lincoln out and made that horrible mistake with Chandler Riggs. It would have been nice to see them complete the show holding as close as they could to the comic. But, they've F'd that all up because the end of the show will be nothing like the end of the comic now....especially considering how important Carl and Rick were/are to the 'real' story. Gimple should be ashamed of himself.

[Zantera]

So I fell off the wagon at the place where Negan was introduced. (I believe he appeared in like the last episode of a season and it ended on the cliffhanger who died?) At the time I just felt kinda done with the show as every week it felt like a bit of a let down. However, having recently played through some of the games again and noticing the show is on a streaming service I have - I was curious to start a rewatch to see if I could make it further this time.

I guess my question is regarding Fear the Walking Dead and how it takes place time-wise compared to the original show. I did see season 1 of it way back but it's all a blur in my head. If I want to watch it all 'chronologically' when should I start jumping between them? Or maybe just watch the original show and then do Fear separately?

Also I probably will regret giving this another go but why not.

[gmillerdrake]

Just watch 'Fear' on it's own. The first season is set at the start of the outbreak....pretty good season. S2 is a train wreck and nearly drove me to stop watching it......S# rebounded nicely and was really well done. Seasons 4 and 5 are just weird in the fact that there are some really strong episodes and arcs and some that are weak enough to make you contemplate stop watching. But, I liked where S5 left off and am curious to see how S6 goes.

As far as the main show......being a fan of the Graphic Novel I have some real issues with what they've done to the show. It's basically off the rails from the novel at this point....which isn't necessarily a 'bad' thing but the graphic novel has ended and wrapped up beautifully......wrapped up in a manner that has no possibility to happen in the show due to how far they've deviated.

Once Gimple was removed as show runner the new show runner Kang has tried to right the ship a bit. She's done a pretty good job at making the show respectable again but for me.....the damage was done with a couple moves that Gimple made that just altered the landscape too much. His first misstep was that cliff hanger as to 'who' Negan killed. Should have never strung that out between seasons....should have ended with the death. That turned a bunch of people off and he (Gimple) seemed to never recover from it making some pretty odd choices.

I still watch the show because I like zombie content....no matter how good/bad it is. I do appreciate the latest output with Kang in charge which has me more interested in the show than say two or three seasons ago.

[gmillerdrake]

So, I've been relaxing restrictions a bit for my 14 year old and 'mature' 12 year old sons can watch......and decided last night to let them start watching TWD.
 
I have to say.....I haven't seen the beginning of the show in YEARS and it was fun to start the re-watch. Darabont had such an awesome way of telling the story. One of the biggest things I noticed was his use of Walkers. He has them much more mobile and 'intelligent' than we see now.

There was a walker who scaled a fence when Glenn and Rick's gut suit disguise's failed because of the rain and they took off running......there was a walker at the storefront who picked up a rock to bust the glass out......when Rick first encounters them in Atlanta they 'ran' and climbed the tank. Just more 'human like' features.....you could see them thinking. Even the groans and noises they were making were more like humans in deep pain than just the hissing they are now. I'm curious as to 'why' that level of walker was abandoned for this 'simpler' version?

It was odd to hear Andrew Lincoln's "Rick" not be as southern drawl as he evolved into.....neat seeing Shane again and seeing how he was truly ahead of his time when considering 'how' to maintain a group.....and that was still just when they were at the quarry.

One funny thing was this obvious over dub they put in when Shane puts Daryl in a headlock/choke hold when he went after Rick at the camp. You can hear Norman Reedus say....."Choke Hold.....really.....you know that's illegal?"        Like, way to scramble AMC/NETFLIX and add that line in there.

[gmillerdrake]

Re-watch of S1 was pretty fun. Kind of falling back in love with it all again. I'm still surprised at the difference in the behavior of the Walkers from Darabont to current day. I know they'd probably try to say the Walkers are just more decayed now....but even in the 'fresh' Walkers in recent seasons they dumbed them down big time from what was portrayed in S1.

[faizoff]

I was thinking of maybe checking out season 9 since everyone raved about it. but if there is no end in sight and season 10 is wishy washy, forget it then. I semi hope the movies with Rick are worth it. But I'm only watching those if the reviews are good. Come to think of it are they still doing the movies?