Tonight's adventure: "Vatos"
OR
"Oh. Old People."
This week's episode was written by Invincible creator Robert Kirkman.
Sisters Andrea and Amy sit in a boat out on the Kool-Aid blue waters of the quarry. They have different fishing methods, though both are well experienced. "As you know," Andrea explains, "We are sisters, twelve years apart in age."
"Yes," says Amy. Their father taught them each different knots, because they too are different. They wonder whether their parents survived all this down in Florida. It might be better down there. But then again it probably isn't.
Like the bespectacled eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, Dale sees all from his perch atop the mobile home. He spies Jim the mechanic up on a hill, digging at a frenzied pace. Dale does not like what he sees.
Meanwhile, in the dead metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia: Daryl the redneck reels on T-Dog, ready to launch an arrow between the man's eyes. He admonishes T-Dog for leaving his brother in the kind of situation that would necessitate sawing off his own hand. Rick steps in, leveling his sidearm at Daryl, promising he won't hesitate to put him down. Daryl backs off, gathers Merle's discarded hand in a hand-kerchief, which he stashes in Glenn's backpack. They follow the trail of blood down into the building.
Back on the outskirts of the camp, Dale approaches Jim about his digging. Jim does not wish to discuss his digging. It's a private kind of digging.
Amy and Andrea present their haul of quarry fish to the rest of the camp. They are all impressed, tired of eating squirrel and Kellog's blueberry Nutri-Grain bars. It is too bad the quarry does not have an Arby's. Dale shows up to ruin everyone's fun, alerting them to Jim's new hobby of digging human-sized holes.
"Like the Shia LaBeouf movie," Shane mumbles. And no one understands.
In Atlanta, Rick and his crew follow Merle's trail through the department store. They take out a few walkers, but Merle has already done much of the job for them. They discover a kitchenette where Merle used a hot skillet to cauterize his wound. Gross, we say, just moments after a jawless walker is executed on screen. Merle's trail ends at a smashed window, where he seems to have made his escape. If they're to follow him, they'll need Rick's lost satchel of guns.
Shane and the rest of the camp for some odd reason, approach Jim, who's still burrowing. Using sophisticated psychological methods, Shane attempts to calm the man so he'll stop freaking everybody the fuck out. Jim refuses to relent, continuing to dig and never offering his reasons. It's hot, says Shane. Take a break. I'll come back later and help you. Jim questions Shane's authority and wonders whether he'll be pummeled into submission for disobeying. Lori implores Jim to knock it off because he's scaring the kids. Shane finally wrestles the man to the ground, not attacking him, but cuffing him. Jim breaks down, saying the only reason he escaped the walkers in the first place was because they were too busy eating his wife and kids.
Who wants fish?
Glenn uses the floor as a dry erase board, pitching his plan for grabbing the bag of guns. He'll run in to secure the package while Daryl covers him from one side. If Glenn is unable to return that way, he'll escape to a position 90 degrees and two blocks off, where Rick and T-Dog will wait for him. Daryl wonders where Glenn developed his tactical skills. In a previous life, Glenn delivered pizzas.
They split up and Daryl covers Glenn out in the alley. Here comes the first wince-inducing moment in the episode, when Daryl refers to Glenn as a "Chinaman" and Glenn is forced to correct him, saying he's Korean. It feels anachronistic here, a slur that this young character probably wouldn't use, unless ironically. And it didn't come off as such. Anyways, crossbow up. Glenn makes a mad dash onto the block, ducking behind abandoned cars as he makes his way toward the tank and the dropped bag. The walkers take notice, but he's quick enough to grab the bag as well as Rick's hat and make it back to the alley.
Almost.
Men jump both Daryl and Glenn in an attempt to take the bag. Daryl fights them off, firing an arrow into one man's ass. A car pulls up and the men subdue Glenn, pulling him into the vehicle and speeding off. Daryl tries to take chase, but he's forced to close the gate into the alley when a swarm of walkers appear from the other side. Rick and T-Dog arrive in time to grab the guns and grab the remaining attacker, a scrawny kid in a wifebeater.
Shane brings water to Jim, who sits shackled to a tree. Lori and the kids sit just a few yards away for storytelling reasons. Jim has calmed down a bit and apologizes for his actions, especially for spooking the kids. He doesn't know why he started digging the holes, except it has something to do with a dream he had. Jim creepily assures Carl that his dad can do just about anything, that it'll all be okay. When the boy wanders off to do man stuff with Shane, Jim looks at Lori and implores her to never take her eyes off the kid. Lori nods politely.
The scrawny kid Miguel leads Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog to an old factory where they intend to reclaim Glenn. The leader of this operation is a man called Guillermo, who emerges from a loading dock. Guillermo is not a very big man, but whenever he speaks he either gesticulates with his hands, shrugs, or turns his head to the side as if working a jawbreaker or experiencing a small stroke. The deal is this. They want the guns, which they see as finders keepers since it was out on the street. They'll kill Glenn if they don't get Miguel and the bag. Guillermo doesn't much care that T-Dog sits on a nearby rooftop, sniper rifle aimed at the man's brain. Rick calls times and they shuffle off to regroup.
Rick feels he owes his life to Glenn, so they're going in after them. The boys arm themselves to the teeth. They return to the factory, ready for a standoff. It's essentially a suicide mission, given the numbers. Luckily, all is not as it seems. An old woman appears, looking for assistance. Guillermo seems embarrassed. The assembled warriors instantly soften, and Rick immediately lies about the situation, saying that Guillermo and crew are simply helping him with a missing persons case. The old lady then leads them off to find Glenn. See, the reality of the situation is that this rough urban street gang is really just a bunch of keys watching out for the abandoned seniors at an old age home. Guillermo was once a custodian. Others are nurses or relatives of the elderly patients. Glenn is in no real danger, watching as one of the "thugs" aids a man experiencing an asthma attack. Rick freely offers the majority of the weapons to Guillermo and his people before heading back out to the street.
The boys head back to find their van missing. Merle. Shit. Shit.
Andrea looks for wrapping paper in Dale's RV, and he tries to help. It's Amy birthday tomorrow, and she wants to wrap the necklace she looted for her.
Jim is freed and invited to join in the fish fry with the others. Father of the year Ed naps in his tent, ignoring his family's offer to join them at dinner. His face is a bruised and swollen mass of yellow and purple, capillaries burst in eyes. Shane walloped him good.
Dale tells everyone some batty old person story about clocks or something and then Amy has to tinkle.
Ed hears movement outside his tent, and he grouchily turns from his nap to look outside. A walker waits just outside the flap, and it immediately rushes him. What's weird is he actually looks worse than the thing that's gnawing on his wind pipe. And it's not alone.
A swarm of walkers descends upon the camp. As Amy steps out of the RV, one of them attacks, sinking its teeth into her exposed arm. Shane begins dropping the zombies from the high ground, firing headshot after headshot. Down below, Jim and Morales lay into the walker with baseball bats. Soon Rick and his crew appear and join the fight. Up on the hill, Rick races to Lori and Carl, embracing the frightened boy. Behind them, Andrea cradles a dying Amy in her arms, horrified and racked with grief. The girl dies there and Andrea unleashes a primal, despondent moan.
Jim remembers his dream then. "Why I dug the holes."
Quick plug: An in depth discussion between myself and cohost Dave Accampo on the first two episodes of the series.
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I laughed my ass off when I found out he was a custodian. I love the changes. As long as they’re staying true to the meaning of the story, I don’t care. I’ve loved each episode for different reasons.
Lots of new material but I still liked it.
Correct me if i’m wrong, but i think this is the first episode where we’ve seen people with significant dialog get attacked and killed. It’ll be interesting going forward to see who survives. That last few minutes were crazy. A totally intense sequence. I’m really glad that wife beater/child molester dad got his.
The gang of Thugs working an elderly folks home was an interesting dynamic that i didn’t see coming at all.
The one thing that bugged me in the beginning is explaining Merle’s escape through dialog. It was a bit expository, but i guess it was needed. Its as if they knew everyone had roof top questions that needed to be explained. ha
Overall a pretty fun episode….sad that there are only 2 left!
"Dale tells everyone some batty old person story about clocks or something" Hilarious. I want Paul to write an episode of The Walking Dead. I’d probably love every second of it.
I enjoyed this episode, but not as much as last week’s. The "Vato" nurses seemed a bit superfluous, but were interesting enough. I like that they are already killing fairly prominent characters and hope they stick to that. It’s time to move. I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle that.
@Paul – The water in quarries often looks like that, because there is very little water flow. It makes the water very clear and very smooth. Like blue glass.
@stuclach – This fascinates me. Would an isolated lake look the same if it didn’t have trees and stuff in it?
This was a good episode, but, for me at least, not a great episode. There seemed to be a lot of potential here, a chance to find out about these survivors before they are ambushed by the walkers, and why we find out a little about Amy and Andrea, and you could even say a bit about Dale, i thought finding out more about these survivors would have packed a greater punch at the end of the epsiode. And I questioned how neccesarry the nursing home scene really was. I understand that yes we are seeing how other people are surviving, and what people will do for those who need help, but can’t help themselves, but for the 4th episode of a 6 epsiode sereies, i wonder if it was the best place for it.
The walker effects were great though, and are probably some of the better zombies i have seen in awhile.
Dale is my favorite character from the books and it’s so F’ing awesome that such a great actor is playing him in the show.
I didn’t wince at the "chinaman" remark. I’ve been to small towns in Georgia. Plus Norman Reedus is 41. I’m not sure how old the character he’s playing is but i could buy a 40 year old from georgia saying chinaman
@weaklyroll–what do you need to "find out"? I don’t want to sit through each character’s entire backstory. Yes this show is about the people, but i don’t think it needs to be that much about them. Any sort of expositional device that would have them telling in depth about their old lives would have totally been hokey and would have taken up the entire show. As the one lady said…the world ended. To me that means your old life is dead….they’re just surviving now.
I get more about the characters from their interactions and how they carry themselves than having them sitting around and giving us their life story.
This show just get better with each episode, and last nights was no exception, This show has great dialog and pacing. I am loving every minute of the changes to the comics, in fact I have managed to not reread them until the seasons over. I also have to say they did a great job from the start , with them having all the extra Lunchables, (extra cast) running around it makes for more intense scenes, such as lastnights attack on the camp. Two more episodes to go and I seriously cant wait to see them. What makes it more exciting is the fact that we have no idea about Merle, he is this loose cannon that no one knows what going to happen and it lends to the anticapation. I am becoming a fan of Daryl and seriously wouldnt mind him staying on for the time being he has become a likable character even though he is not a part of the comicbook cast.
@wally i wouldn’t want them hanging around just filling in backstory either, that gets mundane and slow. and i would have loved to see more interactions from the camp, and while this episode did have some of that, i was just looking for more of it. and this story is about people, i think that there should be a greater emphasis on them. that last scene with andrea and amy was sad, and maybe because i have read that scene i knew it was coming, but i wasn’t as sad or touched as when Rick finally found lori and carl. and the world may have ended, and there old lives may be dead, but i would have liked to see more of there new lives, especially for amy and andrea, who do some laundry and fishing. Maybe i’m not seeing something that others are, or maybe this is enough for people, but i was looking for some heart wrenching stuff out of that last scene, and i really didn’t get it.
Probably my least favorite of the 4 episodes so far, but still very good. i enjoyed the twist with the "gang" members being caretakers, fighting to care for their group. It is this type of moral dilemma that i love about the book/show – how far will people go to protect their lives and the lives of those they are caring for.
A couple of questions while trying to avoid spoilers…
How do people think they will end this 1st season of 6 episodes? I thought going in that it would end with a conflict between shane and rick, but with only 2 episodes left I don’t think they have time to get to that? maybe they will end the season leaving the hill, finally finding a safer place to live?
What are the predictions of what will happen to Merle? I think it would be cool if he ended up being a certain very important villian from the comic down the road, but that would mean his story wouldn’t have much resolution in these 1st six episodes.
I hope that they don’t rush through storylines – shane vs rick, Merle’s story given that they were originally only approved for 6 episodes.
@Paul – thanks for the write-up, i look forward to them every monday morning.
All the camp stuff was great.
They did not need the conflict with the nursing home group at all. Between the stuff going on back at camp, trying to get the guns and Merle it is really unnecessary.
I had plenty of internal winces of embarrassment when watching that section of the episode. Dude who plays Rick has so much acting juice that he never comes off lame even when surrounded by some lame actors/situations.
Overall, this was the weakest episdoe of the four, which bums me out cuz it was Kirkman.
I liked this episode. I did not love this episode. Some of the scenes in the camp were excellent, particularly the scene with the sisters. The zombie attack at the end, though expected, surprised me with its timing. I do not understand why you set up your pre-school 5 yards from the scarey sun stroke victim who was just scaring the he’ll out of your kids. The portion in Atlanta… was not great. The show is far too reliant on these one dimensional stereotypes that have little or no depth. These twist where they are helping out old people was unexpected but also not useful. It doesn’t explain their previous testosterone laden idiocy. Why do they want these guns? Every back they show had a pistol or shotgun. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to take from that set up? Don 19t judge a book by its cover? Well, they have given me no other reasons to support that thesis.
I was worried about Jim being tied to the tree. I liked that bit. It made me nervous for him and I thought it was a bad idea to leave him tied to a tree . . . cool little bit.
I loved this episode. Probably my favorite since the pilot. The attack at the end was so perfectly timed — my stomach was in knots from the tension for like 20 minutes after the show ended.
Better episode, but I lost interest in the Atlanta section of the episode. The dialogue from Guillermo felt very preachy toward the end. As well, I feel the Zombie attack at the end would have gone over a lot better if I cared at all for any of the Super Numeraries, instead it was "Oh, that guy in the background of a lot of camp scenes got bitten. Cool?" The going back for Merle plot of the last two episodes really felt like a delaying/padding problem and the logic flaws in it where evident. (The fact that there was a magical second exit from that once inescapable rooftop just made me snicker.) The brief scene between Andrea and Dale was the highlight of the episode, the fishing cold open was a close second. And Jim is fairy interesting, too. Much like last episode the greater cast felt washed out. Though uneven, I felt this was the cloesest to being back to what Episode 1 was. Did anyone else notice that Kirkman’s episode’s biggest contribution to the show was the transition way from "Geeks" to "Zombies?"
Seriously. Watch Guillermo. He can’t speak without moving his hands or pivoting his head.
This was my favorite episode since the first one. The retirement home part was so much fun for me. I am in no hurry to see the plot of the comic advance at a fast rate. As I am content to just look at a post zombie apocalypse world. I did not understand why wife-beater back at the camp did not scream when he got attacked, but whatever. The ending action sequence was done very well and was quite intense. I could have done without the viscera hitting the camera lens, but not a big deal.
Re Chinaman: I think that there are areas in the South where the use of anachronistic slurs continues. Less than 10 years ago when I was going down for Mardi Gras, we used to stop for the night at my buddy’s relative’s place in Arkansas. I was quite surprised to learn that the term ‘colored’ was still in use by people in the mid-twenties (at the time) age bracket.
Very appropriate that Kirkman writes the first episode where a crap-ton of characters are killed off. I’m with Conor, best episode since the pilot.
Damn shame there’s only two more episodes this season though. I wonder if it will end on the same note as the first trade, but Shane doesn’t appear to be as tied up inside as he was in the book… yet.
@joshrichardson Yeah, I’ve been wondering if it will end like the first trade as well. i really hope it does
Tread lightly!
@Conor Aye Captain
@Conor My bad! I was a fool for thinking it’s possible to escape the Kirkman Bubble.
@joshrichardson: No worries. No spoiler lines have been crossed although we’re right on the edge.
@Paul – That’s not really my area of expertise, but anything with no flow and now contaminants would probably look a lot like a swimming pool.
Also @Paul – My wife is the same way. She MUST move her hands while speaking. She can’t even talk on the phone without waving them around (leads to lots of dropped phones).
The dialog for Guillermo sounded a bit awkward to me. But overall the show was awesome.
I don’t know what it says about me as a person but watching this episode I kept thinking, "You know, it’s perfectly reasonable in this situation to tie to a tree the guy manically digging a bunch of people-sized graves."
@conor I wonder why no one made mention or asked Jim why he was digging holes that looked like graves.
@WeaklyRoll: Oh, I think the fact that they were grave-shaped holes was heavily implied in the way they kept asking him why he was digging.
If you are just reading the comic for the first time, do not read the comments over at the Onion’s AV Club website (which is a great site). They aren’t nearly as good as the Ifanbase at not spoiling.
I don’t know why you’d need another discussion forum. 😉
Agreed – best episode since the premiere. I’m also glad they didn’t kill off *all* the extra folks with the attack last night.
I thought this episode did a good job of making Rick Rick. We got to see some more of his nice-guy attitude, which is going to be important when…well, you know.
This episdoe was my favorite since the pilot. It had the feel of the comic with the bait and switch realities. With events in the TV show happening the way they are, I’m beginning to wonder how this season will end.
Hopefully season one ends with the aliens showing up!
Best one since the pilot. Glenn and the dogs! That cracked me up.
The camp site scene was the best scene so far. It made what was an otherwise lackluster episode great.
@praxjarvin I saw that second door, and wondered the same thing. Where was this door before? Seemed to easy and convenient. I generally don’t like to poke holes in plot lines or nit pick, but that was glaring.
spoil? a zombie drama, it has interesting twists and juxtapostions of characters in it (which show the true genius of Kirkman) but I’m glad I never bought the hype and picked this book up, just judging from the show anyway. It is well crafted and entertaining overall. but nothing really new it going on. the skill and craft of making you care about the characters is enough though, enough to make people want to watch this or read this and it has masterful control over cliffhangers that allude to a much bigger scope of the world created here and things to come, so I understand the addictive nature of this, but it’s not for me.
just offering a counter argument, I’ve watched the last 3 episodes, haven’t actually seen this one yet, but I wasn’t super inclined for the show so I think I’m done with it now. but I hope this doesn’t ruin anything for those of you who are enjoying the show or book, just had to get that off my chest.
@lostartist The show is a pale imitation of the comics in every way.
Don’t know if this has been mentioned or not, but a Season 1 Wrap-Up Podcast would be cool, any thoughts on doing one?
I just wanted to touch on something that seems to have bothered many , the Vatos, I ve read a few of the reviews and everybody keeps saying how they really didnt need to be in the episode, and i disagree, I think they need to be here for a few reasons most importantly because it shows that our group is not the only people left, and I also think it re enforces Rick’s belief that He is doing the right thing , by going back for Merle, the radio, and the guns. Somone has to do the RIGHT THING, and sometimes its not going to be the people that you think they are, Readers of the comics should embrace this most considering the adventures our group endures, know what I mean. That being said I have one more thing to say about the Vatos, their actions alot of viewers thought it was dumb , well even Rick asks what exactly was he thinking. Oh yeah and the part with Merle and the roof, do you remember anyone actually checking the roof, cause i dont remember the roof being an issue to get off of, it was only an issue that merle was handcuff on top of it and that they padlocked the door, no one said there wasnt another way up or off. Nor was it ever implied that it was
@LocoLoop73: Well said.
@LocoLobo73 – With only 6 episodes to work with it seems a bit like the time spent on the "Vatos" could’ve been somewhat better spent. I didn’t have any real problems with them being in the episode, but I didn’t feel they were necessary. Perhaps my perspective would’ve been different if I hadn’t read the comics.
This isn’t the comics. I can’t say it enough, and they’ve made it extremely clear for the last 3 episodes. We don’t know what they should or shouldn’t be spending time on since we don’t know how this season will end.
This was my favorite episode so far. Each episode has had something in it that’s had my stomach in knots. And only two episodes left! Anyone know how long until the Season 2 debuts?
Probably my favorite episode since the pilot. The last scene made this one for me. Right out of the books and super intense.
I’m slowly coming to grips with the new material. It was hard for me at first to resist wanting a dedicated, accurate adaptation, but I’m coming around. At first I didn’t like the nursing home bit but after I thought about it more, it grew on me. This episode was written by Kirkman, and I wouldn’t be suprised if he came up with this idea later in the series, and simply couldn’t fit it in to the current continuity.
All these creative plot changes will be totally worth it if Darryl sticks around. Love that guy. Norman Reedus is killin it on this series.
This ending was incredibly effective at both giving the audience some serious action and trimming the herd down to the cast that really matters. I’m still in shock at what AMC is getting away with in terms of graphic content. This is by know means a gripe. Personally it warms my heart to live in a world where I can watch a jawless zombie get an arrow shot through the face on cable television.
Bring on next Sunday!
This epsiode perfectly showed everything great about The Walking Dead. Great cast, awesome zombie carnage, and that group of good people who do bad things to survive is a good hint at the future of Rick’s group and perfectly shows what people would need to do to survive in this world.
The problem with the nursing home crew was it was poorly written and acted.
If these were really good people trying to protect themselves against bad people, they would have made the trade of man for man and not tried to "take from the weak" by going for the gun bag too (And I totally understand why they would want the guns).
Not only that, but some of the dialogue was cringe worthy, the intelligent "gangster" thing did not come off well and the grandma coming out to end the conflict was lame as fuck.
Once they made it into the nursing home section of their compound the acting/writing improved a bit but everything up to that was painful.
Hey guys heres one more tid bit , He wasnt a gangster he was a janitor, A janitor whom was trying to sound intelligent and act like a leader. He also acted that way so as to show that he was not willing to back down or trust these guys with the guns.Guilmero also states that he has had previous run ins with others who have been looting and feigning friendship in order to take advantage of them. He also wouldnt have wanted to give Up Dale as a bargaining tool,until he knew hwere they stood. Oh yeah and did it look like Dale was really being held. It was all BS these guys were not really Gang Bangers they where people who came together. Its fine not liking something and its fine to criticize the show ,but dont knock the writers and storyline for having poor dialogue and plot. This is not some unintelligent show that just drones on for an hour this is a show that has complex interaction between people in dire situations. Finally this coming from someone who lived in Miami for 20 years and how many intelligent sounding gangster do you know. Me none. The Smart ones GET OUT
Also , yes we all know that there are two episodes left but I think they have earned the benefit of the doubt that they are going to draw the first season to close on the right note. I have watched 4 episodes that boarder on the brilliant and im sure that a man that has his Comic series plotted out to issue 150 will have the ending of the first arc being one to remember
Notice gangster in quotes.
Exchange a man for a man would have been an easy thing. You can still look a badass when you shove Glen over to Rick’s side.
I like the show a lot too. I love the comic. I love Robert and Frank.
But it don’t matter how much I love something, I’m not going to overlook dips in quality and what I consider the lowest point in the show.
I don’t understand the hate towards the gangsters. I’m GLAD they weren’t all stereotypical gangbangers more worried about protecting their turf even in an apocalypse. I think its perfectly believable that they had day jobs and maybe even gang related pasts. Most major cities have programs in place that help former gang members reform themselves, learn a trade and get a job. Also we have to remember …..there’s an apocalypse on. And he said something to the effect of they’ve been muscled before. Its a dog eat dog world and they saw an opportunity to help their "tribe" and they went for it. We’d all do that. I think they were acting tough because thats what the world created for them. Also i think its cool that they adopted the helpless senior citizens as members of "their gang". Its a very tribal instinct and also honorable.
I think it was a great use of time…a show like this has the danger of becoming a microcosm…focus on one group only giving us the impression that they are the ONLY survivors. For me i now assume that there are others out there and other possibilities….i wanted to know if this was a localized outbreak or national/global? I like the idea that we are only seeing part of this word and there are so many unanswered questions, which puts us in the shoes of the characters who don’t know themselves whats going on.
I loved the gangsters too.
This was a really good episode. Some of the acting was a bit shaky, and the whole beginning with Andrea/Amy made it predictable where it was gonna end in this episode. Outside of the nitpick though, I can’t think of much wrong with it.
Kirkman did a pretty good job…..writing his own characters and situations….but making it different enough to make it look fresh. The stuff with the gang was getting old, but I liked the (Patent Pending) "Robert Kirkman 180 degree turn" in terms of the plot. It’s a little unrealistic that anyone would save the elderly in any type of apocalypse. (I’d think they would be the first to go) Then the zombie attack at the end was a nice way to end the episode. Although I was a bit shocked they got away with some of the violence. Like the horse scene, I’d thought they would go quickly after the zombies ganged up on them….but nope. It was really messy, especially with the corpses piled up in the end.
Overall a good episode and can’t wait for next week.
….Oh I forgot another nitpick! There is no way on Earth Merle could escape that building, walking around the city, and end up stealing (if it even was him) the van. He might be a tough son of a bitch, but you can’t do much fighting zombies with one arm with massive blood loss. Also, if there was an alternate route to get out of that building, why didn’t they use it in the first place in episode 2?
@NextChamp He didn’t have massive blood loss. He had a tourniquet initially and then cauterized the wound.
I also don’t think it’s unrealistic at all to save the elderly. Logical? No. Unrealistic? Also no. Nostalgia and emotion would probably play a huge factor for (most of) the survivors
@gobo: Even still. Merle had to fight his way past zombies in the building and also on the street. Again I know that is weird to point out considering its a show about ZOMBIES. But I just found it to be unrealistic.
Also, I guess it wouldn’t be unrealistic if people tried to save the elderly. But it definitely doesn’t seem logical to do so….especially considering a good amount of them could die at any moment and turn into the undead.
@tnc–cauterizing a wound is one of the oldest battlefield surgery/survival techniques to save yourself from dying from a massive wound like that.
its been a while since i’ve been to med school (and by that i mean never) BUT if a saw blade is too dull to cut through handcuffs, can it cut through bone that cleanly? Try carving a turkey with a dull knife…… I mean even if it has a tooth to it, it’ll be able to file that chain down to the point that you can snap it right? Or are Georgia handcuffs made of adamantium?
@wgm I’m pretty sure cuffs can be hardened against stuff like Hacksaws. Bones? Less so.
@wgm Also at the wrist he can cut in between bones, no? It’s not like he’s cutting through his forearms, there’s a small gap of non-bone in the wrist he could theoretically have forced the saw through.
I think meeting the group of Vatos was perfect because just like in any real disaster, there is not only the primary danger, there is also the human X factor, that in many ways can be way more dangerous than the obvious problem that got us here in the first place. I was a teenager in Brooklyn back in the seventies during the blackout. At that time the biggest, scariest danger was not from there being no electricity. We didnt arm ourselves to protect our businesses from the dormant traffic lights, we picked up our guns to defend ourselves from the roving bands of scumbag looters that were stealing and destroying property sometimes only a block away. The zombies are secondary.
Also this episode is the first one to convey the DREAD that reading the stories do. In the book, I HATE when I findmyself liking someone because it is at that point that the “Aww crap! This isnt gonna last is it?” starts to dominate my emotional state.
I liked the second half more than the first, but thats cause the second amy said, "i have to pee" i turned into a gitty little school girl awaiting the bloodbath. However i do understand the whole nursing home sequence as a means to show the world HAS moved on and changed people like custodians into fearless leaders, and for that, even though as a WD reader I didn’t need it, i appreciate it.
I am VERY happy that it did take this long to bring the "Geeks" into camp. In true Kirkman style, we got comfortable, not worrying about the walkers, getting sucked into some good dialouge when BOOM. Now that all the Atlanta Malarky is over with, I am looking forward to some real interpersonal stuff between the main group over the next 2 weeks.
I also have a theory for all of us readers…. Is it possible this new stuff and the new characters is for us? Until last night i was assuming anyone not from the comics has the words zombie fodder across their foreheads. But what i have come to accept is they are characters just like the rest of them and it is with them, we as readers, are able to do what we did months and years ago. We fell in love with characters knowing they might not last, and with these new characters, we can do that again… Ok T-Dawg, your move.
…but that’s just me
@ed209AF: I don’t think he new material is for us (there aren’t enough of us to move the ratings needle on a show like that) but for the other people working on the show who want to tell their own stories and not just film what Kirkman has already written. You probably don’t get Frank Darabont unless you let him do a bit of his own thing.
While I wish this season would end like volume 1, I don’t think it will. Volume 1 ends in winter, in episode 4 it was 100 degrees out.
I got tons of sympathy for Shane since episode three and through this one.
I love how they are developing his character.
He is a better character than the one in the comic.
Maybe they plan on prolonging his conflict beyond season 1 . . .
@scorpion – Shane telling Lori that Rick died was a really nice touch, although I still prefer the "one night" from the comic
@conor–thats a good point. We all talk about how comics are a collaborative process…well so is TV and Movies. The Filmmakers don’t want to just "animate" comic panels…they want to interpret and make their own thing.
@gobo–i guess if its high tensile steel it would be tough. I was looking around on google and found some other forums talking about this… The discussion on the hacksaw/handcuff thing is crazy. One guy tried it out at his butcher shop with a pig’s leg, said it was near impossible and took like an hour. Yeah. Anyways, why didn’t Merle just cut through the rusty metal he was chained to? Hacksaw’s work better/faster on things like metal then they do on soft things. I guess Merle is gonna get all evil dead on us and come back with a Chainsaw attached to his stump…or at the very least a hook. Merle the Pirate Red Neck (beard)
@wgm Did he do it on a joint in the pigs leg or just tried to saw straight through the bone? Ultimately, we have to remember that Merle was panicked and seemingly suffering from some kind of sun stroke so he probably wasn’t thinking completely straight.
@gobo–he didn’t say, but it was a but much to read. There were other comparisons to the movie SAW. haha. Lets not forget…Jesus told him to cut off his hand and thats why he survived. =)
Hey on the whole cutting his hand off, Gobo makes a great pointy if he had cut it at the joint it would have been eaiser for him to do also being that his wrist was already cut up from the cuffs he would have already had a good starting point for the blade. However I think its a stupid arguement any way cause i mean did anyone scream about how its near impossible to take off someones head with one clean swipe of an axe, or being able to bury a baseball bat six inches into some ones skull. Lets remember guys this is a Tv show and on top of that , its a show that centers around a zombie apopcalypse, so everything has to viewed with that in mind.
It’s just a plot device, everything else is semantics
gobo: "This isn’t the comics. I can’t say it enough, and they’ve made it extremely clear for the last 3 episodes. We don’t know what they should or shouldn’t be spending time on since we don’t know how this season will end."
This can’t be emphasizede enough IMO. So far besides a few underlying guidelines, it’s been it’s own show way more than I think people understand. It’s going to continue to pick a few things from the book. And we’ll probably get a character or two thrown into the show as a wink to the fans. The amount will likely come down to how many episodes Kirkman ends up writing. At this point, I get the feeling that the other writers and people in charge prob read the first volume or two to get a feel for the tone and vibe, and that’s it. And I’m very glad that is the case. I love not knowing what’s coming up. Also, creative minds work best when allowed to be creative. You don’t exactly get the best work when you have a bunch of people trying to copycat someone else’s work.
I’m almost to the point where I’m starting to feel that avoiding spoilers for the comic book isn’t really as big a deal as we all orginally thought it would be. Knowing that there’s a small chance that a certain plot line from the book is used in a show thatseems to mostly be doing it’s own thing, to me isn’t all that big a deal. But I totally respect the feeling to avoid them. Especially on a comic book site where there’s people who will likely go and read the book. If this were the AV club, it would be different. But so far, I’m getting a vibe that the show is mainly going to be using the characters and their overall emotional arcs. Not exactly following plot lines the way we envisioned
Really sucks that there’s only 2 more episodes. And for those here who have been trying to figure out where the story is going to be at the end of ep 6. My guess is a confrontation with good ol’ Merle. It might not be that exactly. But being 2/3 through this initial mini-season, for me it’s fairly obvious that he’s being used as the initial villain. It’s not exactly some grand scheme. But for a short first season, it works. Especially considering that the creators basically wrote this first run of eps as a set up for a long running series. They’ve said that they wrote the episodes with continuing in mind.
Initially a Rick and Shane confrontation may have seemed like a logical close to the first season. But it’s clear (to me, at least) that it’s going to be a bigger deal than a plot wrapped up in 6 episodes. And with good reason. TV series aren’t as able to swap main characters in and out as Kirkman has in his book. You need to keep people around a bit more for them to resonate with the audience. Killing off Shane in 6 weekly ep’s doesn’t have the same affect as it does doing so in a monthly comic book. You have to build on the tension a good deal more IMO before coming to a climatic resolution.