Amph The Walking Dead and Spinoffs on AMC

For me, the best part of last night's episode was the arena scene.

I kind of figured out the military was there to contain rather than to protect and experiment rather than heal.

The episode did note that the military personnel and resources are running thin and are facing desertion among the ranks.

I am interested in the new character in the cage that dealt his cuff links away for the junkie. Too bad the season will be over next week and we won't get much more of that guy this season.

Overall, not very compelling and not fearing the walking dead in season 1.

 

I wish that this show would convey more of the military situation in containing the outbreak. The sudden skip from police rioting to martial law did the show very little favors, imo, and now giving us the implication that the military is struggling without demonstrating how or why is further serving to extinguish interest in this show's premise. The show, as I understand it, was conceived to portray how society goes from our world today to the world Rick Grimes and company are constantly on the run from. But it just isn't delivering.

 

The One About How Useful Torture Is was enough for me. I can say goodbye without seeing how the season ends.

 

I thought it was a decent "bridge" episode between how society was and what it becomes on Walking Dead. Creepy prisoner dude kinda set the theme. The military is clearly operating without any sort of oversight so they go from military men to the scavengers that rule the world of The Walking Dead, it's the in between step that is happening now as people put aside their duty. The containment units aren't barely overseen with any sort of code, it's just straight up bartering and conniving. The torture guy is what is going to rule house in the new world, for worse. Basically a big question the WD world is "what happened to the military?" and, well, it was this.

I also kinda liked when Alice was biking around and claimed territory over the curb to the mailbox. And she was disrobing all sexy-like in various scenes.

And asking about the bruise on the military guy's face "Momentary lapse of patriotism, sir!" The main guy had a couple of good rants in the ep, he's going from caretaker to tyrant, and I think it'd be fun if he just... disappeared from the show. That kind of stuff happens in the world.

 

The military still has intermittent appearances in the Walking Dead though. So I don't believe that FtWD is accurately portraying how we go from A to B. The military we've seen in TWD appeared to still be operational, if on a smaller scale. Therefore, they didn't just become scavengers and looters. I mean, what about the soldiers that the Governor ambushed?

 

who knows what those guys were up to? it's possible they just bounced with the gear.

 

I believe a Band of Brothers would still exist after the fall of civilization, especially if they're young and have no other families to go to.

And I too was hoping to see a broader scale of the collapse of society (like World War Z) instead of being confined to the main characters, but it just wasn't in the production budget.

I wanted to see a scene where the military was just overcome by walkers like this:



or this



but all we got was an off camera sense of the situation when the military troops run into the building and we hear communications of things going bad and then a retreat by the troops. I think that's all we're going to get from this series which is disappointing but should have been expected with a TV budget.

 

Even with a TV budget, Universal/BBC was able to give us great scenes in Battlestar Galactica. And even AMC's own The Walking Dead has some pretty intense battle scenes.

Add in the fact that every year AMC is demanding more money from viewers and cable companies solely due to the Walking Dead's popularity and my sympathy for their "TV show budget" lessens substantially.

 

I hear you. Perhaps they're (AMC) investing some of their revenue into other shows like Into the Badlands. Sons of Anarchy and Mad Men just ended, so they need to come up with some new stuff.

 

*cough* Sons of Anarchy was on FX, not AMC.*cough*

 

whole batch of uber decomposing walkers from Walking Dead S6. Some of them barely look human now, it's kinda cool / gross.

http://www.hitfix.com/harpy/new-the...ight-make-you-throw-up-a-little-in-your-mouth

 

So, yeah, Alexander Dumbass that I am, I caved and watched the season finale.

Spoiler

Torture scene resolved in a head scratching Saving Private Ryan kind of way.

And then, Abigail.

Spoiler

why would anyone think they could tool around the world in a luxury stinkpot after the apocalypse...because refueling that thing is going to be accomplished...how? Maybe the goal is to keep it anchored offshore as a secure fortress home and base of operations so you're unreachable by zombies. Couple of questions.

1. Who is going to crew it? Are we going to put the school counselor down in the engine room?
2. Maybe the crew is sitting there waiting for them (all zombies by now?) ... have to wonder why they would do that
3. I'm pretty sure the show isn't going in the direction of Zombieland Pirate Adventure a la the final sequence of the Dawn of the Dead remake. But who wouldn't want to see that? Put me down for that spinoff series.

 

Well the only relatively normal non aggravating person on this show is dead now so I guess I'll stop watching.

 

Unsympathetic, morally compromised people unite to survive the zombie apocalypse. That's the show.

 

I'm surprised that no one likes this show because of the characterization. If there were more people like Rick around during this time the apocalypse might not have been so bad.

I guess I'm just used to stuff like this already with movies like NOTLD and its sequels, where the characters aren't all golden boys and girls who reflect our great American ideals. Naw. Human beings are ***** and they will always be *****.

 

That person was still aggravating, as is every character.

Any way, my thoughts on the finale:

Spoiler

Thank goodness there was finally some much-needed momentum! Unfortunate that only two episodes (one being the finale) had any momentum at all to speak of. Also, how do the protagonists justify releasing a horde of zombies on an occupied military base? All they knew were that Nick and Mrs. Salazar were sent there for medical treatment. Shouldn't they have assumed that other civilians were also there for medical treatment? Didn't they bother to consider that an arena's worth of zombies might compromise the well-being of all the civilians in that base? Yeah, they went ahead and released many of the captives, but to what fate? To be eaten alive by the horde without any hope of escape. All to save a mostly useless junkie and an old woman.

The protagonists manage to escape by using other cars that were in that parking garage. Why were the soldiers so insistent on getting the SUV? Couldn't they use those other cars? Also, if those soldiers were intent on raping Alicia, why did they abruptly decide to leave her behind? Seems unlikely that they would suddenly go from "Hey, you might be useful for carnal reasons" to "on the other hand, I could use the extra leg room in the car, so you shouldn't come after all."


As for the yacht, I don't particularly see how stocking your boat full of supplies and trying to survive afloat is any worse than fortifying a house or other land-based building. Rick and company often have to go scouting away from their various home bases for resources to sustain their people. Why is it unbelievable for a yacht crew to do the same?

Now sure, the yacht needs a knowledgeable crew. But it's clearly already out the water, so maybe it's currently manned by a crew under that one guy's employ.

 

Woman 1:"Don't let Travis do it"
Woman 2: "Don't let Travis do it"
Both: *let Travis do it*

 

Not a bad first season, but it doesn't beat TWD's first season

S6 airs next Sunday

 

burning LA backdrops were impressive in that last episode. Not sure LA has ever been destroyed more picturesquely.

 

I agree the characters on the show weren't all that likable and cause alot of viewers to be disinterested. However, after watching the season finale of Fear The Walking Dead it makes sense to do so. I felt the show wanted to illustrate average people living their mundane and petty lives pre-zombie apocalypse and how they will evolve; a pacifist will give in rage; the junkie without a path will lead others onto one; a slow witted mother to become a cunning survivalist. I say in watching the after show, Talking Dead, where the actors and creator strongly hint at events that will happen next season.

As for Abigail, none the characters had any long term solutions, so their best option was to seek the best short term solution and then get a better understand of the situation.

As for the soldiers in the parking garage:

Spoiler

I don't think they were true rapists, but I think they did their best in trying to scare the girl (I can't think of her name) into coming with them. Or one them convinced the others just to let her go as she'll be more of a problem than a benefit.

 

Looks like they blew the budget on the final episode but I thought it was worth it, very tense and had a lot of great zombie invasion scenes (and the bitten dude's head exploding in the helicopter rotter, Daniel casually strolling up to the gate with a herd of zombies behind him). I'll admit that I thought the kid was going to bite it (or get torn apart) in the hallway and some good editing with the frickin card key not working. Good bits too like the doctor being completely worn out by the army turning away and alone with the corpses, the discovery of the burned ash pile in the back, Strand and his moment with the dude being munched on, Nick saying the world actually seems like how it always felt to him. Even Travis' final moment where he had to kill his ex wife but Madison is there for him was a pretty dramatic note to end on, worked well as they realized what their lives and their world is now. The new guy they picked up seems like he'll be a blast and I hope them going avast on the high seas would provide something that'll make the rest of the series different from Walking Dead as that's a ground-game grind.

 

This show makes me want to play the Telltale Walking Dead game if only so that I can make better choices than these characters.

 

The Telltale game is actually almost better than the comics. One could definitely argue that it is. Both the first and the second one...they're masterpieces.

 

They're releasing a mobile game. But I don't think there's been much progress on a third season.