nodorothyparker

John and June's standalone episode last season was one of the best of the show's entire run. There was something achingly lovely about the way it conveyed loneliness and the need for human connection at world's end. Yet the show can't seem to figure out how to write them as a compelling romance outside of that. It tried a bit in the Humbug's Gulch episode in wanting to parallel them losing and finding each other to Dwight and Sherry's story, but beyond that, you're right. There hasn't been much. Maybe if the show didn't have 5,000 other characters it has to write for? Neither show in the franchise has done terribly well in writing good coupling.

I don't think the original recipe of the show was "amazing" either. Travis and Madison were so miscast as a supposed couple in love that the actors had actual anti-chemistry, yet the actress had a weirdly vaguely sexual vibe with the actor playing her son as well as her son's similarly aged cohort. There was plenty that was ridiculous or just poorly thought out in the original recipe. Lots of bad behavior by ugly American refugees in Mexico? The underground bunker where everybody but Alicia conveniently suffocated and turned? The worst survivalist preppers ever? Or the introduction of Proctor John, who seemed like he had potential be an interesting villain, only to blow him and everybody else up with the dam an episode later. I thought the reboot started out strong with the introduction of John Dorie and the gradual reveal of what happened to the original recipe crew. Most of the current cast are likable enough characters played by decent or better actors. But they've been meandering now for nearly a season and a half with little more than "we want to help people" to go on. It's becoming tedious and throwing an equally tedious female Negan wannabe in a cowboy hat into the mix isn't likely to fix it.

Both shows in the franchise have forever wrestled with the idea that people would trade away a lot of themselves to do terrible things to keep themselves or people they care about safe in a world where there is no more larger society or institutions of central authority to provide that. This show seems less convinced that everyone would be so quick to turn cannibal or mow down other people just because the head lunatic of wherever they happen to be is convinced that's what has to be done. Both shows though lean pretty heavily on the idea that most people will go where they're led, whether it be wearing corpse masks and living as feral animals or abandoning ever dwindling supplies they may genuinely need later by the side of the road on the off chance that it may "help" someone.

So that episode ... happened. While I think they were going for the same this isn't nearly as innocuous as it all seems vibe with the condo HOA of doom that the mother show has done multiple times, it wasn't fleshed out nearly enough to give me any real sense of that. It was more like oh, here's some gated condos, zombie pool fight!, horrible actress emotes horribly about something something something in a hat, the person you're looking for wandered off I guess, oh here's your stick back. So from the map we're to get that they apparently have a chain of settlements across Texas. And? This is all feeling uncomfortably too much like the introduction of the Saviors, which also happened in spurts partway through the back half of a season seemingly out of the blue. Except, and I feel dirty even typing this, the Saviors actually made more sense as warlords sprung up in a landscape with a sudden vacuum of any larger central authority. I don't hate this kinder gentler version of Daniel The Torturer (mostly because I do enjoy Reuben Blades) and thought he had nice chemistry with Grace, even if I'm amused by nuclear fallout girl suddenly being the belle of the middle-aged ball and having unspecified TV illness symptoms that of course result in her jumping to self-diagnose herself as fatal. I can sort of buy Daniel saying fuck it and deciding to go along for the ride after wandering alone for however long and connecting with an Ofelia substitute, even if I would have expected him to be a bit more savvy than to be all in with the hokey "we help people" mission and not immediately understanding that yes, sometimes bad guys are bad and we can't just play nice with them. The fact that they're spending entire episodes carrying the cat around in the carrier I'm guessing speaks to the reality of how difficult it is to get cats to cooperate to do anything until they just feel like it. As much as I appreciate the cat representation in the ZA, I can well imagine the crew having planned having it roam about or interact with the actors and at some point after so many takes going oh the hell with it, just carry him. But they've saddled Daniel with a cat, so now we'll be forever looking for it if he's not in the scene.

It's okay. She's only unspecified TV dramatic sick.

That is a really great song and curiously appropo for what this show is trying to be.

This actress, and I use the term loosely, is making me want to throw something at her.

Tonight is a bit of a struggle.

Underwater zombie fight!

Sure, Morgan, now is a great time to talk about your feelings. Oh hell, Al has a history with the mouthy terrible Calamity Jane wannabe, doesn't she?

I initially thought the same thing. I really need Daniel to remember that he was a professional torturer and that he doesn't suffer fools or put up with this kind of nonsense.

So I may have zoned out there. Is this seriously about a bitchy condo HOA with really strict enforcement?

And so they left the two cans they still have unguarded.

This show's promos always leave me wishing the show was half as well done as they are. I watch them thinking Yes, this looks like a show I want to watch and then I remember what the show generally ends up being. I guess we should be impressed they finally remembered they still had an Oceanside group. Hopefully some better actors have moved into it since last we saw them. It's not like any of us would remember or notice if they subbed in a whole new Oceanside cast. Don't tease me, show, with that "take their fear out on Negan" bit unless you really mean to follow through on it. I'm not interested in round 37 of they remember they're better people than this just in the nick of time to stop themselves from bashing Motormouth's head in and they all learn a valuable lesson about forgiveness. Or remember Rick's legacy. Or something.

Airdate 2019.09.15