S01.E02: Blair / Gina

[raven]

Quote

In a fast-paced, reality-twisting buddy-action heist, a disgruntled receptionist and her overbearing boss are trapped together as Atlanta collapses under the Walker Apocalypse, forcing them to work together in order to escape the city.

Streaming on AMC+. As always, proceed at your risk for spoilers before the airdate.

Airdate 22.08.21

[Mr. Sparkle]

I thought this episode was interesting, if not great. At least they tried something different. Online opinions are very divided. 

[kevvoi]

I liked it - but have to say that while the thought of the zombie apocalypse is depressing, ground hog day zombie apocaplypse is even worse.  I think I would have liked it better if they had actually resolved whether the pair had actually died or not (and if not - what was the mechanism for the time loop???).

[Nashville]

Ok y’all; I think if I can all just LET GO of the notion that ANY of this has ANYTHING to do with the larger TWD franchise - other than, yaknow, the whole zombies-eating-people commonality - this might actually be enjoyable in a lighter fare kind of way.

[MrPissyPuppy]

10 hours ago, kevvoi said:

I liked it - but have to say that while the thought of the zombie apocalypse is depressing, ground hog day zombie apocaplypse is even worse.  I think I would have liked it better if they had actually resolved whether the pair had actually died or not (and if not - what was the mechanism for the time loop???).

I was hoping that they would be shambling off like zombies at the end and it would make you wonder if all of the zombies were reliving their own personal ground hog day.   

[mandolin]

That was worse than the Beth/Daryl episode by far, and for me that is saying something.

[Fellaway]

I spent much of the ep mind-boggled by that green thing Parker Posey's character was wearing. It looked like sod made into a poncho.

[seacliffsal]

I was really looking forward to this for a change in tone and Parker Posey.  And yet, I just sat here wondering what in the world I was watching.  This once great show may have splintered into a thousand spin-offs, but if they don't even make any sense do they really exist?

[Whimsy]

I liked it. I like Groundhog Day type of shows. I am totally ok with TWD trying something different. I like the through-line of the zombies but otherwise being very different. 

[cdnalor]

I don't know if it's just the hairstyle, but that first shot of PP made me think of a young Jessica Walter.

I like the idea suggested above that they are actually zombies and the virus doesn't just reanimate the body but replays your last memories on a loop, although that may sound like a version of hell.

[TV Anonymous]

WTF was that?! Was that a thought experiment or something? In 12 years of The Walking Dead franchise history, never once time travel is mentioned. In fact, aside from the walkers themselves, nothing in this universe is depicted to be different than real life. And I hate it that there is no explanation on the time loop.

[diebartdie]

hated this episode (but only as it is *supposed* to be in TWD universe. Taken as some other thing, it was fine.)

[Nashville]

1 minute ago, diebartdie said:

hated this episode (but only as it is *supposed* to be in TWD universe. Taken as some other thing, it was fine.)

Think of it as more like a Five Below version of Rod Serling is taking advantage of the TWDverse environment to work up a few loosely-associated skits, and it’s much more palatable.  😉

[OoohMaggie]

Having managed to watch it as it was broadcast,rather than having to piece together several small clips which weren’t in the correct order, it did make slightly more sense. I still think it was pretty awful, Ok it was different but it just doesn’t belong in TWD world.

[Nashville]

57 minutes ago, OoohMaggie said:

Having managed to watch it as it was broadcast,rather than having to piece together several small clips which weren’t in the correct order, it did make slightly more sense. I still think it was pretty awful, Ok it was different but it just doesn’t belong in TWD world.

Oh c’mon now; we can make room in the TWDverse for a little lighthearted fluff.  😆

Actually, the more I watched - and the more I thought about it - the more it grew on me. Some comedic undertones in both Posey’s and Bell’s performances were handled with a deftness which was, well, surprising:

• The change in their attitudes as they went through successive iterations of the time loop, from horror to exasperation to “oh hell, guess I’m dying again” resignation…?  Stellar.
• And Bell in the final scene, where she’s trying to maintain as much calm composure as possible - but you JUST CAN’T IGNORE how the right side of her hair is singed into tight scorched little ringlets, while the left side is totally poofed out…?  I was cackling.

Dont expect any heavy themes, and you won’t be disappointed.  😉

[iMonrey]

I didn't hate it, but I didn't get it either. Was God intervening until Blair and Gina found the right course of action to save the people below the bridge? 

This wasn't a horrible episode but a much better episode would have explained why they were stuck in a time loop and how they got out of it. This isn't Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone, it's a story within the Walking Dead world, it should fall somewhere within the scope of that and make sense within that.

[rmontro]

On 8/22/2022 at 10:56 AM, MrPissyPuppy said:

I was hoping that they would be shambling off like zombies at the end and it would make you wonder if all of the zombies were reliving their own personal ground hog day.   

As some have said, maybe this was kind of a fun episode, but it doesn't really fit in with the Walking Dead universe (not that I'm liable to care, at this point).  But that's an interesting idea.  Only problem is, it still doesn't quite fit with the Walking Dead universe, because we've seen that the zombies don't have any brain activity going on, so it seems doubtful that they are all stuck reliving their own time loop.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I was hoping that they would be shambling off like zombies at the end and it would make you wonder if all of the zombies were reliving their own personal ground hog day.   

That would make more sense if they died the same way every time but in most scenarios they were incinerated by a tanker explosion which wouldn't have left behind enough of a corpse for them to become zombies. Plus we've already had a version of what it's like because we've seen Sasha, Rick and Alicia all spend an episode inside a fever dream before their ultimate deaths.

The thing that drove me bonkers is that they never tried just staying at the office, as far as we were shown. What would have happened if they'd just stayed put? I mean Blair tried it once but then purposely went outside to get eaten.

[Nashville]

29 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The thing that drove me bonkers is that they never tried just staying at the office, as far as we were shown. What would have happened if they'd just stayed put? I mean Blair tried it once but then purposely went outside to get eaten.

I think that was the point.  Deciding to do nothing was still a decision, albeit one with abysmally low survival potential; if they didn’t venture out into the burgeoning ZA, the ZA would come to them.

[Red Bridey]

I have to say I am enjoying these stories. I am so sick and tired of the "Walking Dead Universe" that anything that is a little funny and nonsensical like Groundhog Day Zombie Apocalypse or Road Trip with Terry and Olivia is finally making me smile. I like Parker Posey and found her character entertaining to watch. What an outfit! Had to laugh at the blonde saying something like, "How many things do you wear around your neck?" because I was wondering about that weird pink thing OVER the weird green thing, and the huge earrings...just very strange clothing choices. I guess I was expecting to leave this program on and pay no attention to it like I do with Fear and OG because there are too many competing plots and characters and I can NEVER remember who is with whom and where they all are in relation to each other. Please, just give me a simple story that has a little humor and I can go along with this tired, confusing and past-its-sell-by-date series. Until it's over. And then I am done. DONE.

[BasilSeal]

On 8/23/2022 at 7:26 PM, OoohMaggie said:

Having managed to watch it as it was broadcast,rather than having to piece together several small clips which weren’t in the correct order, it did make slightly more sense. I still think it was pretty awful, Ok it was different but it just doesn’t belong in TWD world.

i agree. whilst the idea of a groundhog day style time loop is no more unbelievable than reanimating dead people, the conceit of TWD is that it takes place in a world where zombies are real but no one has ever seen a  zombie movie, we accept that though zombies are a physical impossibility, here they are real, but part of the conceit is that walking dead people aside, all other physical laws are the same, there aren't super heroes with special powers or magical spells that alter reality, it's the world as we know it but with this big old lumbering metaphor as an existential threat on which we suspend out disbelief ijn order to see how ordinary people react to this extraordinary circumstance.

If you suddenly introduce some other unreal element to the story, it breaks the trust of the viewer, i mean if you can die and go back and do it over multiple times like in a videogame, why didn't any of the hundreds of dead former characters not get the same do over?

Changing the rules like this is comparable to that episode of the Dukes of Hazard where the space alien turned up, we're in full on shark jumping territory here.