Samx

I decided to watch this episode at my parents house after we'd had Thanksgiving dinner (Thanksgiving for us had been postponed) and my dad, who is 81 and has never seen the show, basically did a running commentary that spoke my mind about the state of this episode. "Why are they tripping so much? Shouldn't they be used to this by now?" "Why are they just running around like idiots?" "She's smart, she has a samurai sword - why don't more of them have swords?" "Is she a regular [Maggie]? Oh, then she won't die." [during Deanna and Rick's ~serious~ talking scene] "Oh, no one's giving you an Emmy for this, just get on with it already!" Worst MSF in the series. Maybe I overestimate CDB but I feel like they've been in worse walker-related situations and it blows my mind how ineptly they handled most of the episode. Maybe I'm underestimating the amount of walkers or just don't see them as real threats to anyone who is remotely capable of taking care of business. Part of me wished the horde's purpose was to wipe out non-essential ASZhats (re: 99% of them) -- it's clear Rick still sees them as useless, as seen from his reaction to Deanna's "please take care of Spencer as one of your own" Rick: "Ehhh" The "Prologue" for the next episode was not exciting - of course Negan is coming,

I enjoyed the acting but got tired dodging all of Gimple's anvils. Like many, I thought we were in for a plot twist that Eastman was really CDW (which might have been the better story). The CDW/Eastman story felt like a Red John redux and made me think Gimple half-assed a lot of this story because he needed to fill the longer running time (which I assume was scheduled by AMC ahead of time, as crackpotted by me below). I think this Very Special Episode of AMC Presents The Walking Dead was 90 minutes solely so that AMC could run its trailers for Into the Badlands and Preacher while having TWD audience's attention. Knowing that this week's episode had to be a longer one for AMC's purposes, it's possible Gimple decided this particular episode would be it since it's too early in the season to advance the main plot for 64 minutes, and the Glenn/Rick cliffhanger would ensure everyone tuned in this week. As much as the audience was excited for Morgan prior to S6, we all know his backstory isn't what warranted the 90 minutes. ETA: For those who didn't watch The Mentalist, Red John was a serial killer and show's Big Bad whose history w/ the main protagonist parallels the Eastman/CDW story.

THIS. This is why I am holding out hope that Glenn isn't actually gone yet. My biggest problem with this show is that they tend to linger on tertiary characters' stories/situations as a way to explore deeper ~themes~ in TWD universe, even as it parallels to our heroes' own stories. It gets really tedious and hard to watch sometimes. Putting aside all the other signs that point to Glenn maybe being alive, I refuse to believe that the writer's genuinely think Glenn's attempted redemption of Nicholas (and ultimate failure at his own expense) was the best way to service and honor Glenn's character 6 seasons in. Overall, I enjoyed the episode, especially the last half just because it got me jumping off my couch and screaming at my TV. The season so far has been great energy wise so although I like Morgan, I worry his episode will be another Governor-esque walkabout story even though I know Lennie James will be superb. Hopefully the action level stays elevated. I'd like to see more Ninja Morgan.

Agreed - if there is an initial time jump, I don't think it would be very long. A week or two at most. I'm actually a little nervous that the show will meander on the Rick/Morgan thing for 2-3 episodes which will be torture - I want to see how it plays out but not forever. Considering how industrious the Wolves have been so far, I'd imagine they'd be pretty eager to find ASZ (assuming they weren't the ASZ cast outs). My hope is that the Wolves show up within the first 3 episodes and then maybe a significant time jump will happen between Season 6A and B. They have to age Carl up soon because Chandler will be sporting facial hair before we know it.

On the Britt/Kaitlyn comparisons, because I see it so much in this forum: Although I wish Kaitlyn had an air of confidence like Emily, the show took away any feeling of control these girls had by pitting them against each other and making them "earn" it. Kaitlyn is obviously still feeling like she has to earn her right to be there and that is so disheartening. It's obvious the show boxed her as the girl with the great personality versus Britt's Great Beauty and no matter what any woman says, deep down, that's always a shitty feeling. Especially when Kaitlyn had more fan support last season. Of course the truth is that Britt is stunningly beautiful - she might be the best looking contestant this show has ever had - but that is the only reason the show is keeping her around and that is annoying. I would not be surprised if Britt ends up being the Bachelorette at some point. Brady's time will run out as soon as the hype dies down and the cameras go away. Having said all of that, I am enjoying this season and find myself actually laughing out loud at some of the goings on, this episode in particular. Whether Kaitlyn is "fake" or not, I am enjoying her and I am rooting for her. Clint won me over a little bit this ep even though I am not fond of his friendship with JJ. LOL at whoever said "villains gotta vill" - these guys are obviously here for TV (duh) and know what they need to do to keep it interesting. They're hitting all the marks. And somehow, knowing they know that, makes this more fun to watch. Can't wait for next week.

I was really impressed how well Roy handled himself in the prison brawl and kind of felt like he was under used and/or misused until now. Anyway, great ep for CH and I am sad to see him go. I don't know if they plan on putting him in the spinoff or on another show but I am sure CH will be back on our TV and movie screens soon. Me: "OH JUST HUG HIM DAMMIT!" Not into Ray. Into OG Team Arrow. Minimal Laurel was perfection. Capt. Lance is the worst cop of all time. Thea's scene with R'as was great - I've really come to enjoy her and root for her.

And in case anyone still has doubts, the official AMC trivia/story sync for this episode confirms that Pete is the one Rick killed. Hopefully someone "killed" Reg before he turned and hopefully that person was Deanna.

I think the "cliffhanger" was supposed to be that annoying feeling you got when Morgan FINALLY reunites with Rick but at the worst possible moment and now you have to spend all summer thinking about how much ~conflict~ there's going to be between the two. Personally, I felt like everything was somewhat "wrapped" up. The Wolves are not nearly as compelling as the Termites, so I'm not terribly concerned about whatever fresh hell they're going to bring.

It was a huge screw up I wish the show would acknowledge. I watch Arrow and there was a big screw up last week where the Arrow just left a sidekick unconscious at a scene in order to make his dramatic exit. The showrunner answered questions about it on a blog and straight up admitted that it was a huge over sight. I believe his words were "Yep, we fucked up. Sorry guys." IF ONLY Gimple and TPTB were cool enough to admit these mistakes.

Crap, you're right. I forgot about those pics at the end. I guess zombie raves wouldn't make sense either, unless the exiles went really off the deep end and are just doing this for funsies and biding their time to strike. I'm sure they're just random crackpots but I figure those exiles have to come into play at some point later since Aaron made such a stink about them. Damn, so we can't blame Kirkman for this mess. I'm not as compelled by the Wolves as I was before Morgan handily ninja'd them into submission. I guess they only present a real threat if you get trapped at that obvious trap of a cannery or if you don't know how to ninja. Here's hoping they cast an Explanation Wolf for S6.

Maybe they see the walkers as "Wolves" too and they're trying to "repopulate." Not sure if all those walkers were captured as humans and subsequently turned, or if the Wolves corralled a bunch of already-walkers for their weird ass mission. Maybe Skeet Wolf is our glimpse into what Lizzie would have become in the future, considering the walkers a part of her "wolf pack" so to speak. If the theory that the ASZ exiles became the Wolves is correct, then maybe that woman tied to the tree was the woman exile and the other two turned on her. Ugh. I don't know. I hope I won't have to look at comic spoilers to explain this whole thing.

Actually LOLed at Sasha/Febreeze. Some of the jokes were ripped from memes that have been circulating since Sunday night but if the author was too busy last week to post then maybe they really rushed through this one. It's okay. Seems he has the opposite of that problem (no complaints here!). I think he does a decent job though, probably helps that he (allegedly) stays in Rick's accent when he's on the set. Maybe Lauren Cohan should consider doing the same. When she has to put some force behind her words, it gets a little cringe worthy. I've noticed when trying to do accents, it's easier to do it when you're whispering or speaking softly, so maybe that's why everyone freaking mumbles on this show.

Exactly. These story lines reappear because these are things that would keep occurring in the ZA. As for the "hidden bite" thing, it could certainly happen again so soon. We just hope the writers wouldn't do such a thing because Glenn should go out in a blaze of glory. Glenn fighting the walker while tied to a chair in S3 is still one of my favorite "fight" scenes, maybe one of my favorite scenes period. A hidden bite just seem so unceremonious in comparison (unless Nicholas got bit, then by all means yayyyyyyy!)

Hee. That scene did feel oddly...sensual? Blech. They haven't really done a great job explaining how the infection can be transmitted because I thought open cuts/wounds could turn someone. 28 Days Later, this certainly is not.

Originally posted an update about the photo recap but morgankobi beat me to the punch. However, if you want to sleuth around reddit (but beware because it is spoiler country over there sometimes - comics and show), here's a link to the photo recap author's page: http://www.reddit.com/user/The-Nard-Dog