S07.E01: The Beacon

[raven]

Quote

In the aftermath of nuclear destruction, Strand thrives in the new world.

AMC+ airdate: 2021.10.10   AMC airdate: 2021.10.17

Be mindful if you participate in the Live Posting Topic - that topic will follow the show as it airs on AMC, so AMC+ viewers will be one episode ahead.  DO NOT SPOIL those who are watching on AMC.

[raven]

Things I'm going to have to accept:

Nuclear stuff.   Availability of electricity.  Why people on any of these shows play follow the leader.

I liked the nuclear effects and watching Will make his way around. 

See show, you are better when you feature Strand.

I knew Will wouldn't make it past the episode, LOL.

I hope the show doesn't drag out the inevitable Strand and Alicia reunion and that they don't continually go back and forth with Strand.

[heisenberg]

2 hours ago, raven said:

Nuclear stuff.   Availability of electricity.  Why people on any of these shows play follow the leader.

Maybe a pick-up truck or two and a Ar15 in bonus,  Ihave heard that gas was cheap in the apocalypse.

 

2 hours ago, raven said:

See show, you are better when you feature Strand.

Yes I liked him a lot, he was badass tonight.

 

2 hours ago, raven said:

I hope the show doesn't drag out the inevitable Strand and Alicia reunion and that they don't continually go back and forth with Strand.

I hope that Alicia did not turn like Hil...  Oh... Forget it!😁

[heisenberg]

Is it because it was on AMC + and the forum will awake next week or the interest is really gone?

[Mr. Sparkle]

31 minutes ago, heisenberg said:

Is it because it was on AMC + and the forum will awake next week or the interest is really gone?

I'm sure there will be more posts next week, but interest in the whole franchise is way down. The thrill is gone, baby! 

[raven]

19 hours ago, heisenberg said:

I hope that Alicia did not turn like Hil...  Oh... Forget it!😁

[BasilSeal]

So strand is cosplaying as Idi Amin these days then?

[heisenberg]

3 hours ago, BasilSeal said:

So strand is cosplaying as Idi Amin these days then?

Da!  Da?🙂

[heisenberg]

1 hour ago, WatcherUatl10 said:

That was actually fun. I have always loved Strand's unpredictability. He was a breath of fresh air when he was first introduced, and will forever be my favorite Walking Dead character. He tries to do the right thing, but he always winds up doing what's best for him. And he STILL has done far less harm than many of our "heroes".

Throwing the dude from the roof was epic.  You never know where Strand stand for and I like it.  He can be a hero or a piece of shit but you never know until he makes his move. 

[BasilSeal]

2 minutes ago, heisenberg said:

Throwing the dude from the roof was epic.  You never know where Strand stand for and I like it.  He can be a hero or a piece of shit but you never know until he makes his move. 

The interesting thing with Strand is that they're building him up now to be a big bad figure, the crazy leader doing crazy shit because. er, well, er, the apocalypse! or something. but unlike the standard issue TWD villains doing crazy shit without any real motivation or logic, we may for once actually see why someone has come to such a point. strand is a complex individual, he's not a sociopath, he's capable of selfishness and self interest, but he's also tried to help others.

Strand has gone full dictator, not because he's evil or power crazy but because he's tried being a decent person and he thinks this approach didn't work, TBF, given that the whole trying to help people thing ended with a nuclear holocaust, he has a point.

He kills Will because Will has started to bring out his better side, and he thinks if he goes down this route again it will end badly, he thinks he needs to follow his instincts and be his true self, as Dakota told him, he's intending to rebuild civilisation via the medium of being a massive twat.

The last time we saw Michonne in the main show, she meets up with a large group of people on horses, now they didn't look like they were with the CRM, but i wonder if these people are future members of Strand's Rangers, and i wonder if this is how they will bring the strands of the two shows together either for the finale of TWD or in The Rick Movies Which Are Definitely Going To Happen (TRMWADGTH)

[heisenberg]

16 minutes ago, BasilSeal said:

The last time we saw Michonne in the main show, she meets up with a large group of people on horses, now they didn't look like they were with the CRM, but i wonder if these people are future members of Strand's Rangers, and i wonder if this is how they will bring the strands of the two shows together either for the finale of TWD or in The Rick Movies Which Are Definitely Going To Happen (TRMWADGTH)

I have read the comics and seen FTWD and TWD.   I thought that I had a clear view to the whole story until I saw what was the Commonwealth on TWD...🤨   I guess that I will have to watch World beyond to get the full story but the first episode of season 1 was so bad...  What do you think?  Should I?

Edited October 13, 2021 by heisenberg
spelling

[BasilSeal]

1 minute ago, heisenberg said:

I have read the comics and seen FTWD and TWD.   I thought that I had a clear view to the whole story until I saw what was the Commonwealth on TWD...🤨   I guess that I will have to watch World beyond to get the full story but the first episode of season 1 was so bad...  What do you think?  Should I?

If you've watched the first episode of world beyond then you  know as much about the CRM as anyone who's watched up to the current episode. The CRM is still a mysterious entity, we don't know what their motives are or why they are doing what they're doing, they can reveal too much as the CRM are a big part of the mystery yet to be revealed in Fear,

I'm a bit of a completest and hence i've watched World Beyond, it's not very good though, fewer annoying kids. more zombies plz. would be the short version of my assessment. It's not terrible, but it's not great either

[heisenberg]

17 minutes ago, BasilSeal said:

fewer annoying kids. more zombies plz.

Yeah! That's what stopped me from watching it in the first place, generic annoying kids. 

Thanks for the advice.

[BasilSeal]

9 hours ago, heisenberg said:

Yeah! That's what stopped me from watching it in the first place, generic annoying kids. 

Thanks for the advice.

WB has all the usual flaws of the walking dead franchise but  because it's aimed at the YA audience it has less zombie based gore and violence, TWD have always done the zombie set pieces very well, it's been the saving grace of the franchise when the rest of the show has been not so good. what we have in WB is all the usual TWD misses, without the one hit, and without getting too much into discussing the wrong show here, i don't think it will end up revealing that much we don't already know about the CRM anyway for reasons stated above. The CR and CRM are just a plot device added on to the TWD universe as a Deus Ex Machina to allow andrew Lincoln to leave without his character being killed off, the big reveal about the CRM will likely be in the Rick movies if they ever get made.

Meanwhile they will drip feed scraps of info via WB and also in Fear. I suspect we may learn more of the CRM in the upcoming Fear series, which will show concurrently with WB.

I wouldn't go as far as to say don't watch WB. it's not totally without merit, i'm watching it, just don't expect great things.

[heisenberg]

15 hours ago, BasilSeal said:

The CR and CRM are just a plot device added on to the TWD universe as a Deus Ex Machina to allow andrew Lincoln to leave without his character being killed off, the big reveal about the CRM will likely be in the Rick movies if they ever get made.

So to summerize without spoiling, each series as a buch of helicopters flying around with little storie attached to it.   A kind of LOST plot that spin around.  Thanks

[econ07]

Am I the only one that believes that the crops on the roof are not nearly enough to sustain all those people?  Wouldn't they need floors and floors of greenhouses?  Plus, I still don't know how that place has electricity and non-radiated water?

[kevvoi]

4 hours ago, econ07 said:

Am I the only one that believes that the crops on the roof are not nearly enough to sustain all those people?  Wouldn't they need floors and floors of greenhouses?  Plus, I still don't know how that place has electricity and non-radiated water?

I don't think any of the various gardens we have seen on any of the WD shows has been sufficient to feed whatever location is shown.  Hilltop's cornfields probably were tiny for example.  Even Teddy's bunch didn't have enough hydroponics to feed a population of a 100+.

[nodorothyparker]

As the child of homesteader types who does more than a bit of suburban backyard gardening myself, the gardening efforts in this franchise always make me chuckle. Because they're there for set decoration to imply that the characters are making an effort to feed themselves but they're never anywhere close to sufficient to feed as many people as they say they have.  Only Hilltop ever got anywhere in the ballpark when they had fields spread out outside the walls under master farmer Maggie's tutelage. As it's called Walking Dead and not Walking with Vegetables, though, I guess the showrunners figure the visual suggestion is close enough.

The visuals of the nuclear fallout and rain were pretty good with this one, even if I did spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about the various horses stuck out in it. But as I doubt they make horse-sized gas masks and we're in a universe where replacement saddle horses grow on trees, we apparently just have to go with it that they're fine. 

Man, Strand must have been waiting his whole life to finally be a big bad because he was hamming up every single line and twirling that mustache with everything he had. At points though he was coming across as the man who protests too much, so the part of him that does want to reunite with Alicia may still be struggling with it. It's nice that he thinks of Alicia as the only thing close to family he has left, but like last season when I was left scratching my head that she of all people had been tagged as the wellspring of all future civilization, I'm still left here going "Her? Really? Are we really that concerned that the future generation won't be subject to enough snippy disappointment?" 

As much as I was Team Howard in the season finale because he's one of the few people we've seen across any of the shows who didn't want to hurt or bother anybody, just be left alone with his comforts and favorite things to ride out the end of the world, he seems to have gotten on board with Strand's new world order awfully fast.

[ctlady]

On 10/13/2021 at 7:26 PM, BasilSeal said:

The interesting thing with Strand is that they're building him up now to be a big bad figure, the crazy leader doing crazy shit because. er, well, er, the apocalypse! or something. but unlike the standard issue TWD villains doing crazy shit without any real motivation or logic, we may for once actually see why someone has come to such a point. strand is a complex individual, he's not a sociopath, he's capable of selfishness and self interest, but he's also tried to help others.

FTWD's Negan before TWD attempt to rehabilitate Negan?

On 10/13/2021 at 7:42 PM, heisenberg said:

I guess that I will have to watch World beyond to get the full story but the first episode of season 1 was so bad...  What do you think?  Should I?

Go for it.  It's only 2 seasons - 10 eps in the final season

On 10/13/2021 at 7:26 PM, BasilSeal said:

and i wonder if this is how they will bring the strands of the two shows together either for the finale of TWD or in The Rick Movies Which Are Definitely Going To Happen (TRMWADGTH)

I'm at a point right now that I've lost complete interest in the potential Rick movies.  It's just TPTB's way of trying to stretch and milk the franchise and anticipation until there's nothing left.

[BasilSeal]

55 minutes ago, ctlady said:

I'm at a point right now that I've lost complete interest in the potential Rick movies.  It's just TPTB's way of trying to stretch and milk the franchise and anticipation until there's nothing left.

Exactly. now the main show is due to end, any re appearance by Rick and resolution of the CRM story line ought to happen in the main show's final season

[GustavMahler]

The way Strand was flaunting everything he had during the tour, I was waiting for him to say:

..."and we get HBO for free"...  

[ctlady]

Exactly how are the horses breathing in all the contaminated air and not dropping like flies?

[BasilSeal]

7 hours ago, ctlady said:

Exactly how are the horses breathing in all the contaminated air and not dropping like flies?

The fallout particles won't kill you straight away, it's the long term cumulative effect that is the problem, animals have shorter life spans anyway so radiation that might kill them in ten years time is less of a concern.

[ctlady]

Re-watch last night.

Regarding Strand's associate - doesn't that building/compound they're at belong to him (or where he resided) with all the things of value when Strand happened upon it end of last season?  If so, how did Strand become the one in charge?

And if Will had been on his own for 50 days (little less than 2 months) following the blast, what's this about Strand's brag that "I built all this up" to Will regarding the compound?  I know it was pretty luxurious to start, but what magic did Strand do in 50 days to make it the ultimate, all-inclusive resort package?

And I take back when I said up-thread about Strand being FTWDs version of TWDs Negan.  Strand is WORSE.  At least with Negan, you knew exactly what he was in the beginning.  He pretty much stayed in his lane.  And now with this redemptive Negan, he's pretty much staying that course as well.

With Strand, he's all over the place.  First he's your friend, 5 minutes later he's betraying you.  First he saves your life, 5 minutes later he tries to take it.  First he makes a plan to do something together, 5 minutes later he's tossing you off a roof.  This guy has cried wolf one too many times for anyone to ever believe him if he tries to convince them that 'he's a changed man'

[Emma Snyder]

5 hours ago, ctlady said:

With Strand, he's all over the place.  First he's your friend, 5 minutes later he's betraying you.  First he saves your life, 5 minutes later he tries to take it.  First he makes a plan to do something together, 5 minutes later he's tossing you off a roof.  This guy has cried wolf one too many times for anyone to ever believe him if he tries to convince them that 'he's a changed man'

At least the show has come full circle for me. This is the 1st show where I liked every character the past few seasons, now I'm back to hating Strand more than I should hate a tv character. 

[heisenberg]

9 hours ago, ctlady said:

With Strand, he's all over the place.  First he's your friend, 5 minutes later he's betraying you.  First he saves your life, 5 minutes later he tries to take it.  First he makes a plan to do something together, 5 minutes later he's tossing you off a roof.  This guy has cried wolf one too many times for anyone to ever believe him if he tries to convince them that 'he's a changed man'

I used to know people like that, employers, school mate,  even "girlfriends" when I was younger.   One minute you are the best, someone new comes in the place and then you are a piece of s...   

That's why I find Strand so interesting. 

At the beginning he was the one getting it and the "Weirdo family" giving it to him:  "So you have a boat...  We come along and we might fuck you up, if we feel like..."

[rmontro]

Since y'all were talking about World Beyond, I saw on Talking Dead the preview for next week, and some of the characters were talking about losing Will.  I quit watching FTWD awhile back.  I know Will was killed by being thrown off the roof.  Is this the same Will that they were talking about on World Beyond, and if so what is the connection?   I can barely bring myself to care about any of the main characters, let alone any of the tagalongs.

[BasilSeal]

6 hours ago, rmontro said:

Since y'all were talking about World Beyond, I saw on Talking Dead the preview for next week, and some of the characters were talking about losing Will.  I quit watching FTWD awhile back.  I know Will was killed by being thrown off the roof.  Is this the same Will that they were talking about on World Beyond, and if so what is the connection?   I can barely bring myself to care about any of the main characters, let alone any of the tagalongs.

no, different Will.

[BasilSeal]

20 hours ago, ctlady said:

And if Will had been on his own for 50 days (little less than 2 months) following the blast, what's this about Strand's brag that "I built all this up" to Will regarding the compound?  I know it was pretty luxurious to start, but what magic did Strand do in 50 days to make it the ultimate, all-inclusive resort package?

strand still has the Rangers, we'll just hand waive how they've survived the blast with their horses and got fixed up with hazmat gear and masks, and the regrouped under Strand,  but i guess if Strand's tower is in a zone without significant fallout then some of the rangers could also have been somewhere with minimal fallout.

[TWOPrefugee]

Was the length of this newest time jump ever shown or discussed? Obviously far longer than 50 days.

[rmontro]

12 hours ago, BasilSeal said:

no, different Will.

Thanks.  What a coincidence, eh?  Must be a bad time for characters named Will.

[heisenberg]

14 hours ago, BasilSeal said:

strand still has the Rangers, we'll just hand waive how they've survived the blast with their horses and got fixed up with hazmat gear and masks, and the regrouped under Strand,  but i guess if Strand's tower is in a zone without significant fallout then some of the rangers could also have been somewhere with minimal fallout.

Thanks,  I totally forgot about the Rangers.  Right now I watch the episodes one week before and I hardly remember what happened when the live stream is on.

Edited October 21, 2021 by heisenberg
spell

[gaPeach]

So in the beginning Will walked around landscape devastated by nuclear blast with gas mask.  Including but not limited to the Lighthouse.  But when he goes back with Strand neither one needs to use mask and its a lot clearer than when Will was there earlier?  How is it Strand's Tower is under blue clear skies and is walking distance of the  lighthouse that needs masks.........? 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

That's some shit writing there, and  most are asking the same question. Isn't just so__ amazing that everybody just happens to have a  special suit to wear and gas mask??? LOL.