S05.E06: Consumed

[Nashville]

Cardio is very important in a zombie apocalypse...gotta keep fit!

Rule #1!

ETA: making URLs my bitch

Edited November 17, 2014 by Nashville

[paigow]

Daryl & Carol walked by a tank early on - hope he remembers where it was so he can Governate the hospital.

[Raven1707]

I'm 90% sure that she had attached ziploc bags to a coat hanger to hang out the window (presumably to collect water for her empty bottles).

 

I'm 100% sure, but then I've already watched the episode 5 times. Which is, of course, perfectly normal behavior and not the least bit obsessive.

[Pete Martell]

I would have loved this episode if it had been cut in half.  It was like they had a bunch of extra footage from the other episodes that they didn't use so decided to fill this episode up with it.  I did like the flashback to why she went back to the prison, but showing her watching Karvid burn and burying Lizzie was just a waste of my time.  We all know Carol has done some horrific things, Carol knows she has done some horrific things, and bringing them back is like beating a dead horse.

 

If these scenes had gone on for about 10 minutes, I'd wonder what the decisions were, but many of them just felt like glimpses in the eye to me (Carol burning the bodies was very quick). I think such short flashbacks were a decent way to remind viewers of everything on Carol in the last few seasons. 

[NoWillToResist]

Remember Carol keeping the grenade? Maybe she wasn't always shown to be smart… but maybe forward thinking at least.

 

I wonder how much of this has to do with her life with Ed. One would think that an abused wife would develop almost a sixth sense about when shit might go down and plan ahead on how to minimize the fallout, or have a defensive Plan B ready to go...

[RedheadZombie]

Going by that logic nobody would have had sex before 1920 or so, given the lack of contraception and basic health care/checks.

 

Sure it was accepted to have a large percentage of women die in child birth, or post-birth infections.  They didn't know any better, nor did they have easily accessible birth control.  Modern women (especially those knowing what happened to Lori) are going to have a better grip on their hormones.  If you leave out the risk of death from pregnancy/child birth, and death from STDs, the thought of a wicked UTI is going to be a big deterrent.  And I would imagine the life-affirming desire to bang wears off after the first one hundred times you almost die.  Frankly, it's pretty stupid to risk pregnancy while you're perpetually on the run.

 

You know what, that's almost exactly what Morgan says to Rick during S3's Clear, when Rick asked him to come back to the prison with him.  Morgan refused, because Rick, Carl and Michonne, all the people they loved, all the people at the prison, were going to die.  Hmmm....  wheels turning....  perhaps the good ship Carol and Morgan will be setting sail at some point in the near future (by TWD standards that means 5 years from now, 1 month show time).

 

Oooh ........  I could buy into that ship.  Presumedly, Morgan doesn't have emotional intimacy issues, and he's very alone.  I think Carol deserves a guy like that.

[kikismom]

 I liked that Daryl wrapped the walkers in blankets, and I thought of Andrea gently placing the blanket over Sophia's body.  It wasn't just that Daryl took care of the putting down, and the burning, he did it with the respect for a dead mother and child as if he'd known them.

 

 

Sorry, but I can't help smiling when people talk about developing syphilis insanity...it's like when your IUD needs to be removed: you think what will happen in 7-12 years is important? Important enough to turn down a romance or even friends with benefits? You'd have to be the most confident person left on earth to assume you'd live long enough for it to be a problem.Shit, literally most of the characters on this show haven't made it to the 18-month mark.

 

Just speaking for myself, it's like telling Daryl to stop smoking because it's hazardous to your health---they're in the extinction event of the human race!

It would be the luckiest problem you ever had if you developed some problem that takes years...it means you outlived everyone.

 

Which might not be so lucky. Frankly, insanity might be a blessing. Or, look at it another way...all the survivors without syphilis will be insane too. Just because. And if you're nose is jacked up you'll be a beauty queen next to hacked up, limbless, frankenstein-stitch-faced other survivors.

 

People die of Type II diabetes but it these people found a shitload of candy bars then screw the Surgeon General, eat up!

(Flashed on the scene from Zombieland where Woody Harrelson finds a crashed truck full of pink Hostess Snowballs and stalks off because he was hoping for Twinkies.)

[bosawks]

I was at a meeting today and all I could do was stare at my legal pad and wonder, "Is this really that combustible?"

[SoSueMe]

Daryl & Carol walked by a tank early on - hope he remembers where it was so he can Governate the hospital.

Ooooh, how does that work? Would someone have to have left the key and a full tank? Lol.

[ViewerPDX]

Daryl apparently carries around a legal ledger? LOL. No, I'm assuming he took that from the shelter. It was just kind of random and funny.

 

I'm a sports' junkie, so I was anticipating a cheesy "Daryl pulls out legal pad and pen, and starts diagramming to Carol the plan" scene.

 

"See, there are 8 walkers here, and 4 here, and if we run up the middle, we're golden, Carol, GOLDEN!"  

 

I was dreading it, so thank you, show, for not making that happen.

 

Instead, he did the smart Daryl thing, and used the paper as a flaming distraction right before they ran like hell out of there.  Who says rednecks don't know the best use for paper?

[maplebrew]

That was 10 minutes of story stretched out to be an episode. That art exchange was pure filler to me and example of this episode's liberal padding. Much as I like Carol and Daryl as characters, they are two people who aren't much for conversation. It showed. Not much happened except for them scoping out the area. That Carol ended up being maybe the last pedestrian in human history to get hit by a car didn't help either.

[ViewerPDX]

Daryl & Carol walked by a tank early on - hope he remembers where it was so he can Governate the hospital.

That was the same tank from Season One, I assume.  

[Imnotmaggie]

I thought this episode was a snooze fest. While I do like the Carol character, this was just way too much. I thought the flashbacks were a waste of precious storytelling time. We didn't learn anything about Carol we didn't already know from them. It feels to me like the writers are shoving her down our throats. It's like we had "I will step up and do what needs to be done" Carol in 4B, then we had "super hero" Carol at Terminus, and now we have to watch  " Carol's angst". I wish some of the Carol time this season would be given to Glenn, Michonne, or Maggie.

[Morrigan2575]

Ooooh, how does that work? Would someone have to have left the key and a full tank? Lol.

Was that the tank Rick crawled into in S1 by any chance?

[NoWillToResist]

I was at a meeting today and all I could do was stare at my legal pad and wonder, "Is this really that combustible?"

 

He grabbed it when they left the shelter...I remember wondering why he wanted paper.

 

However, I will give him major props for being able to toss that thing so fucking far away. In my experience, throwing a wad of paper like that tends to open the pages a bit and catch the air, slowing it down. I'd be lucky to throw it five feet away from me. Daryl threw it from behind a building and got it on the other side of a main city street. That's impressive shit to me!

[RandomBiter]

Bit of a slower episode than I expected, but exciting none the less.

 

The Daryl / Noah interaction was strange though...

 

Hopefully we're in for a couple of blockbuster episodes from now on in.

[Bec]

I can totally understand that if you aren't a big Carol fan that you'd hate this episode.

I guess I'm a Carol fan! Kind of snuck up on me this season, I never thought much of her before. She was mostly a background character even though she has been in the show since the beginning. She was the last person I suspected when she confessed to the killings at the prison. I was like "whaaaa?" I didn't even fully believe she did it, I kept thinking, no way, she's covering for crazy Lizzie or something.

 

Frankly I didn't give a damn about Karen and David, so I wasn't ready to hang a long time character over it, even if she wasn't my favorite.

 

The Grove warmed me to her a little more, but I didn't really get to full on love until she took out so many Termites. Then it was like "when did Carol get awesome?"

 

It was good to read TImetoread's explanation of Carol's character progression, because I didn't really think about it that deeply. This is kind of like an origin story for a superhero, isn't it? Full of tragedies and mistakes and lessons learned.

 

I don't think the show tapped all the story they can out of Carol yet. She doesn't even have to be front and center a lot - she has really only been front and center for a few episodes in this entire run of four+ seasons. Just keep her in the team. It would be a waste to take her out of the show completely after laying all that groundwork.

 

This show has a bad habit of killing someone off right when I go from "meh" to "okay, I dig this character now". Just this season that happened with Bob. Stop doing that, show! Feel free to kill off people I don't care about, like the priest whose name I forget, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita and Beth. In that order.

 

I would like more Glenn and Michonne, too, but a few episodes of Carol is nowhere near as bad as sitting through all the Shane and Lori and Governor crap. And even one Beth-centric episode is one episode too many.

 

Edited because it's been four+ seasons, not three+.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Bec

[SoSueMe]

Was that the tank Rick crawled into in S1 by any chance?

 

 

That was the same tank from Season One, I assume.  

Guess so....

[RandomBiter]

So we've had six episodes of season five, and as far as I can tell this is what everyone has done so far...

 

Rick: Killed 1 bad guy

Judith: Nothing

Carl: Nothing

Maggie: Nothing

Glenn: Nothing

Michonne: Nothing

Gabriel: Looked scared

Rosita: Got naked

Tyreese: Looked even more of a wuss, buried a body

Sasha: Flirted with Bob, looked sad

Bob: Be clumsy, get bitten, run off like a wally, die

Daryl: Went to Atlanta chasing a girl

Morgan: Went for a walk

Tara: Checked out Rosita

Eugene: Checked out Rosita, admitted to lying

Beth: Worked in a hospital

 

Carol: Saved the gang from Terminus, left for Atlanta *exception to the rule, good character development*

 

I love the show, I really do, but I feel like so far this season other than easily killing last seasons baddies then finding some new dangerous people to replace them, literally nothing interesting has happened.

 

I hope the show can find a key goal and have each episode work towards this goal somehow (like Lost and 'getting off the island').... I know "saving the human race" is a tall order, and a bit unrealistic, but at least it would give the show a central focus... currently it feels like they are just moving around looking for new people to dislike and eventually kill.

[Turtle]

Sorry, but I can't help smiling when people talk about developing syphilis insanity...it's like when your IUD needs to be removed: you think what will happen in 7-12 years is important? Important enough to turn down a romance or even friends with benefits? You'd have to be the most confident person left on earth to assume you'd live long enough for it to be a problem.Shit, literally most of the characters on this show haven't made it to the 18-month mark.

 

 

Exactly!  Plus, there has to be a lot of down time, and they don't have TV or internet or even games.  Sex is fun, and (usually) doesn't require a lot of equipment!

 

And now I officially have spent way too much time thinking about Zombie Apocalypse sex. 

[LexiconDevilOne]

Daryl & Carol walked by a tank early on - hope he remembers where it was so he can Governate the hospital.

My son spotted that. He said, "Is that Ricks tank, from season 1?"...

[LexiconDevilOne]

I'm 100% sure, but then I've already watched the episode 5 times. Which is, of course, perfectly normal behavior and not the least bit obsessive.

But, how many pages of notes did you take? Or did you take any at all? Slacker... :)

[Iguessnot]

That's one of those things you have to chalk up to only making sense because that's what the script says they do so Noah can rob them.  Sometimes I really have to remind myself this show is one long horror movie and like the Geico commercial tells us "When you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions.  It's what you do."  Because otherwise, yeah, just sloppy and stupid for two characters who are trying really hard to be neither.

Okay, where's Nashville and his avatar?

[GreyBunny]

If there isn't a Daryl the Art Critic app, it needs to be invented. 

 

I want to take it to some pretentious art galleries, press the button, and hear Daryl's voice say that the paintings look like a dog scraped the canvas with its butt or an opossum puked up its entrails or something like that.   

[missy jo]

now I officially have spent way too much time thinking about Zombie Apocalypse sex.

 

When I'm watching TWD, I spend way too much time thinking about various bodily functions and how they accommodate such. Ew. Sorry.

[Madding crowd]

I found it slow and the flashbacks were kind of boring to me, although this show still beats out every other show on TV right now. I already knew Carol was an abused wife, I didn't need to see her and Daryl in the shelter. I also already knew she changed both after Sophia died (and onto the prison), and when she had to kill Lizzie. There was also nothing unusual in her brief hiatus away from Rick and his group, I would assume she broke down and cried and didn't need to see it again.

 

I also knew Daryl was abused as a child and I don't think reading a book is going to really help him at this point since it seems unlikely he will have a spare minute to read it. I also already know of the bond between the characters, so nothing new outside of them running into Noah.

 

I still don't understand at all why they were just going into random buildings, why we saw Carol hanging bags outside the windows etc. It all seemed like things we would see the first season, when people were finding out how to live. I also couldn't believe the hospital cops didn't hear a car following them, considering of course, no other traffic. Then for them to magically know that Beth was in a hospital didn't quite make sense. The car that took her was not a standard ambulance, and it looked like it was more associated with a funeral home than a hospital.

 

Count me in on someone who would be all about ZA sex. The likelihood of being alive long enough to worry about STD's cancels out some of the threat for me. i would also trust condoms, just like I would drink old water standing around in an office water cooler, cause there is no other choice in this world. It reminded me of a story: on a family vacation, my brother in law threw a fit because his daughter (aged 5) drank out my son's (age 7) water bottle. Then we met a man who just returned from volunteering in a place in Africa where the whole village shared one drinking vessel. It's all relative. 

[AngelaHunter]

An ambulance is like a cat! Even if it jumps off a bridge nose first, it lands on its "feet".

 

Just now watched, and didn't mind it, maybe because I like both of these characters and care what happens to them.

 

Something puzzles me and that is why does a ZA seemingly result in streets being covered in cardboard? Where did it come, why was it strewn everywhere? Was everyone running from zombies carrying it and then dropped it? Sorry if this has already been brought up but I can't catch up on all the posts here.

 

I liked Daryl stealing Noah's ciggies and wanting to leave him for zombie chow. I didn't blame him, since Noah stole their weapons and was happily going to leave them to death by zombie.

 

And now I officially have spent way too much time thinking about Zombie Apocalypse sex

 

.It's hard not to when this show seems to be going through contortions to deny it. (well except for Abe and the nasty plowing of Rosita) Carol/Daryl in the shelter, lying on a real bed and not even their elbows touched? I'm not saying they had to spend the night going at it, but not even a hug, a cuddle - nothing? It just seems to me to be so unnatural to never seek out that kind of comfort.

 

 

[Diane M]

Since Daryl and Carol are my favorite characters, any episode with them in it is fine with me, although I do miss the rest of the family.

[Watcher0363]

Laura Prudom, News Editor, Variety...........

Despite previously telling Daryl that she didn’t want to talk about what had transpired with the girls, a compulsion to confess took hold of Carol this week, as if she hoped that Daryl could absolve her of the sin. But Daryl didn’t want or need to hear — “I know what happened; they ain’t here” — and even after Carol told him “it was worse than that,” he still wasn’t interested in hearing the details. He knows Carol is a good person and that she will always do what is necessary, and he clearly has no desire to judge her, no matter how much it might satisfy her need for self-flagellation to hear him tear her down or question her choices.

 

She said what I was thinking about Carol from last nights episode. Carol just needs to be a victim. I wonder if the writers are doing this on purpose or if it is just an accident that works really well.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Watcher0363

[Bruinsfan]

Now THAT'S how to do a bottle episode.  I loved it.  Not a lot of exposition but Daryl and Carol get each other on a certain level so it's not needed.  Just a look or a nod and that's enough. 

It really worked for me because Melissa and Norman are good enough actors to make scenes meaningful without much dialogue (and it helps they're playing my favorite characters), but I think it could only work with those two actors/characters. If the Beth/Deliverance General episode had gone silent for that many long stretches I'd have been channel surfing halfway through.

[Nashville]

Well, let's get THIS started:

 

IMHO Carol didn't accidentally run out in front of the CrossCops - they sped up and nailed Carol deliberately.

 

Noah called it perfectly when he said Rapin' Lou and the Boys in Blue would respond to the gunfire.  When we first see the CrossMobile from the upper-story window, the cops are cruising at a slow patrol speed, about 10-12 mph - which makes sense given the circumstances; they've heard gunfire in the general vicinity so they're slow-rolling it, letting the idle pull the car to minimize engine noise, hoping to see or hear something to pin down the source.  If the collision with Carol had been an accident - if, in fact, she had run out in front of the car on its cruise - the car would have still been doing the same rate of speed.  Carol would've gotten a major jarring, possibly one or both legs broken, and been knocked down in front of the car.

As it was, however, the car was doing at least twice that when it impacted with Carol - better than 20mph, and probably closer to 30 - fast enough to cut her legs out from under her and scoop her up on the hood, then flip her off when the car braked.  The driver had to have gunned it when he saw Carol, then braked immediately after the hit.

 

One extra note (don't click unless you saw the TTD sneak peek):

According to this report you don't get into double-digit (10%+) fatality percentages from auto-pedestrian collisions unless the car is moving at 25mph or greater at moment of impact.  In the TTD sneak peek, Dawn and the other cop are discussing whether Carol should be taken off life support - so odds are the car was going at least that fast, if it put a 49yo woman on a respirator.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Nashville

[bunnyblue]

Good lord there was a lot of gazing out of windows in this episode. I was worried Carol & Daryl would be spotted by Dawn and her cops as they stood at the window looking out at the hospital. They're lucky they weren't spotted.

 

I loved seeing Atlanta again. After so many seasons of nothing but woods and small towns it was a welcome sight to see Carol & Daryl in a city. The shot of them driving down the same highway Rick rode in on was beautiful. So much decay in just the 1 1/2 years since we last saw it. I may have squeed at the shot of the tank. I'm grateful there was no sign of the dead horse next to it. Stupid Rick; still haven't forgiven him for that.

 

As an unabashed Carol fangirl, this episode was damn near perfect. I loved the opening scene. Girl got in a good cry and then went looking for new shelter. I was worried they would reveal she tried to kill herself or immediately drove back to the prison and stalked it until the Governor showed up, but nope, she was going to try to make it on her own. 

 

I don't think the episode revealed anything new about where Carol's head is. I already know she feels lost, isolated, and depressed from all the crap that's gone on in the past week. And I already know that Daryl's aware she's struggling and he's trying damn hard to give her space but also unwilling to let her get too far away. Daryl knows that whatever happened to Lizzie and Mika still haunts Carol. And she knows enough about him to understand why he swiped the book from the woman's shelter. They convey so much to each other with actions, looks, and a few words here and there.

 

This episode further cemented their already solid friendship. I'm not a shipper but I can see where they could go that way if the show so chooses. A Carol & Daryl relationship wouldn't be totally out of left field. But I do prefer my Walking Dead with as few romantic entanglements as possible. I did like how Daryl wouldn't let Carol shoot Noah over their stolen weapons but he was pissed off enough to let him die after Noah almost got Carol killed. 

 

I'm so glad they figured out where Beth is and Daryl will now head back with Rick and company to try to rescue Carol and Beth. This hospital/cross people arc has gone on long enough and I really do want a resolution soon. And I like Noah; hope he sticks around for a while. 

 

I've come to the conclusion that vehicles and our group just don't go well together. Abraham flipped the bus last week. Carol and Daryl go over a bridge in a van and then she gets run over by a car? Seriously, Carol, how do you not look both ways before crossing the street knowing the station wagon was circling the block? 

 

Solid episode after a few clunkers and I hope the next 2 pick up the pace even more.

[Nashville]

Okay, where's Nashville and his avatar?

 

Here!  :D

[BrokenRemote]

I, too, think the car sped up to hit Carol on purpose. I think they did the same with Beth. It fits their M.O.: if the victim lives, you've saved them and they owe you. If they don't, you've given up on them within a day if they don't seem like they're going to live/be of any use, not having wasted many resources. (Rapey Cop told us they were so far afield when they found Beth because they were following up on a stash of guns out that way they'd heard about, so they didn't waste resources just looking for her so far out.)

So if they don't make it you get your indentured victims/employees/orderlies to toss the corpse down the elevator shaft. If the person you plow down is a woman, even better.

(Edited for typo fix.)

Edited November 18, 2014 by BrokenRemote

[Pete Martell]

Can you imagine how awesome this episode could have been if Slabtown would have opened with Noah robbing Daryl and Carol, with us not knowing who he is yet?  They could then use flashbacks to show Beth's situation and her helping Noah escape, mixed with Daryl and Carol's journey to find her. 

 

Many viewers never would have forgiven Noah. They always would have seen him in the worst light, assumed the worst of his relationship with Beth (that he was just using her, didn't care about her, etc.). Even with an episode before this one which was mostly about showing him in a positive light, he still got tons of fan hate last night, even on Talking Dead, where I'd expected better from the people involved. 

Edited November 18, 2014 by Pete Martell

[Pete Martell]

Something else that this scene showed (discussed on Talking Dead) was that Carol actually cried watching Daryl do this for her. This was the first time in a very long time she hasn't had to do something like this all by herself (I'm looking at you Tyreese!) and she realizes that maybe she doesn't always have to be so hard and strong...there are others she can rely on who will help her.

 

Daryl's quick nod when she thanked him was also telling. He didn't need to be thanked for doing something for someone he cared about, especially when he knew how difficult it would be for her. He just did it because it was the right thing to do.

 

Her relationship is very different with Tyreese. One might say that his forgiving her for what she did to Karen and David is what helped get her on the path she's currently on, to where she could accept Daryl's help.

[Bec]

What's all this about there being no sex on the show? There had been a whole bunch of post-ZA sex going on (or it was at least heavily implied):
Lori & Shane
Lori & Rick
Andrea & Shane
Andrea & The Governor
The Governor & Tara's sister
Maggie & Glenn
Tyreese & Karen
Tara & what's-her-name-who-got-shot-in-the-head-by-the-kids
Rosita & Abraham

 

There might be some that slipped my mind.

 

I don't think we got:
Bob & Sasha
Beth & Zack
But they totally would have ended up doing it if only one half of the pairing didn't die.

 

Come to think of it, following horror movie tradition, pretty much every pairing had someone who gets killed except for Maggie & Glenn and Abraham & Rosita (I'm rooting for Abraham & Rosita to be killed, though, not because they had sex but because I just don't care for them.)

 

I would have dug a Carol & Daryl hookup, but maybe the lack of a hookup means neither of them are going to die. Silver linings people.

[Turtle]

Bec, you're right that there have been some sexual relationships.  But your list doesn't include most of our lead characters: Rick (other than Lori a while back), Daryl, Carol, Michonne, and hell, even Carl, who has got to be deep in to puberty by now.  Moreover, there are a lot of now-dead characters who we never saw seeking any physical comfort.  Given that this show has probably had at least 100 characters whose names we learned, many of whom stuck around for a bit, a list of a dozen people who have had sex isn't really that high.  

 

Obviously, no right or wrong answer here, it's all just opinion.  I think that, in a real ZA situation, there would be more comfort sex, or at least more "everything but."  Or maybe I'm just a sex-crazed maniac.  Either way, I get why the show doesn't show us that, unless it serves the plot (e.g., Andrea & Gov).  

 

Unrelated: the more I think about it, the more I really like this episode.  Carol detailing her path from timid abused wife who never took any action, to vigilante who maybe took too much action, to persona non grata, and then to where she is now was really well done - not overly saccharine but poignant nonetheless.  And Daryl let her know that he knows who she is (although not the details of what she's done) and respects/ loves her.  Daryl grabbing that book was great, but even better was the look between him and Carol when it fell out of the bag.  She knew exactly why he grabbed it, and he knew that she knew, but neither was going to press the issue.  I just really liked it.  

 

Also, I'm really sad for Little Daryl.  His early years must have been unimaginably awful. 

[The Mighty Peanut]

I'm a sports' junkie, so I was anticipating a cheesy "Daryl pulls out legal pad and pen, and starts diagramming to Carol the plan" scene.

"See, there are 8 walkers here, and 4 here, and if we run up the middle, we're golden, Carol, GOLDEN!"

I would draw crude stick figures of him and I...wielding the crossbow.

[AndySmith]

The fire anvils landed on my head harder than the van landed after it fell off the bridge.

Is Carol supposed to be a smart bad ass or not? You'd think she'd have suggested that she and Daryl use zombi...er, walker goo to disguise themselves. She's still a Mary Sue, although with everything that's happened to her, she's gone from Mary Sue Rambo to Mary Sue Terminator. Don't get me wrong, I like the actress and am ok with the character, I just don't love Carol. I could have done without all of the "Oh noes, Carol is sadz and tormented!" flashbacks, since they didn't really offer anything new.

I really hope she and Daryl never ever ever ever hook up. I do like their relationship as it is. Not every spark of chemistry between 2 actors or characters has to flame on into full blown shippiness (then again, I might be biased, since I do worship at the Church of Shippers Ruin EVERYTHING). I like seeing real platonic relationships between male and female characters on TV. Heck, Rick's friendship with Michone is the only thing I can tolerate about him.

Overall, the pace of the season so far isn't working for me. I'm not enjoying these episodes of just focusing on one group. I'd much rather they had sub-plots of what the others are up to while still focusing on one group each episode. It does look like things might be picking up over the next few episodes, so fingers crossed that it does.

[Pete Martell]

So we've had six episodes of season five, and as far as I can tell this is what everyone has done so far...

 

Rick: Killed 1 bad guy

Judith: Nothing

Carl: Nothing

Maggie: Nothing

Glenn: Nothing

Michonne: Nothing

Gabriel: Looked scared

Rosita: Got naked

Tyreese: Looked even more of a wuss, buried a body

Sasha: Flirted with Bob, looked sad

Bob: Be clumsy, get bitten, run off like a wally, die

Daryl: Went to Atlanta chasing a girl

Morgan: Went for a walk

Tara: Checked out Rosita

Eugene: Checked out Rosita, admitted to lying

Beth: Worked in a hospital

 

Carol: Saved the gang from Terminus, left for Atlanta *exception to the rule, good character development*

 

I love the show, I really do, but I feel like so far this season other than easily killing last seasons baddies then finding some new dangerous people to replace them, literally nothing interesting has happened.

 

I hope the show can find a key goal and have each episode work towards this goal somehow (like Lost and 'getting off the island').... I know "saving the human race" is a tall order, and a bit unrealistic, but at least it would give the show a central focus... currently it feels like they are just moving around looking for new people to dislike and eventually kill.

 

It mostly depends on whether or not something happening = good material. In season 3, they made sure to have random moments where Things Happened (like Oscar's death or Axel's death), but I had no real reaction, as it mostly felt like clumsy material based on the idea that there must be a shock value death to keep viewers caring.

 

I do think this season has been slow, but I don't think it's just for the sake of killing time. I think they're trying to move on from some of the old to prepare for the new. It hasn't always worked, and I'd be happier if I was seeing more of my favorite characters like Michonne and Rick, but I'm really happy that TWD has moved away from the BOOM POW BOOM!!! concept of storytelling.

 

I also think some of the characters have done far more than the descriptions suggest. Tyreese struggled with his not wanting to take a life, and finally gave in because he wanted to spare his sister pain. Sasha had to deal with losing a man she cared deeply about. Tara had to confess her ties to The Governor, even though it could have cost her her life. She used that acceptance to help reach out to Eugene, which in turn helped spur him to tell the truth about himself.

 

Is that as much of a big TV moment as Tara blowing a bunch of walkers away? No. But it's something I cared deeply about, and I think it went a long ways to making her character unique, to making her have a valuable role on the canvas. 

 

It's the same reason I liked this week's episode. Technically "nothing happened" with Daryl and Carol, but we got to see their characterizations and internal conflicts, see them as real people struggling in this world. Not Carol the superwoman or Daryl the loyal soldier with the shy smile and the woobie feels. As someone who tends to shrug my way through Daryl's "badass" zombie kills, I was happy to get to see more of who he is underneath the fanon posturing. 

Is Carol supposed to be a smart bad ass or not? You'd think she'd have suggested that she and Daryl use zombi...er, walker goo to disguise themselves.

 

I feel like if the show overuses that it will become like the sonic screwdriver on Doctor Who.

[Pete Martell]

I also knew Daryl was abused as a child and I don't think reading a book is going to really help him at this point since it seems unlikely he will have a spare minute to read it. I also already know of the bond between the characters, so nothing new outside of them running into Noah.

 

Since early season 4, we hadn't seen Daryl and Carol have more than a few strained conversations. Technically we knew they were close, but they are also very different people from early season 4 (mainly Carol). For me the relationships are the main part of this show. I knew that Daryl and Rick were close, but I was still happy to be reminded of this late last season. I knew that Rick would accept Carol back into the group, but I was still happy to get to see this scene oncamera. 

 

I don't think the book was so much to remind us that Daryl was abused as a child as it was to tell us that he's going to try to learn more about his feelings regarding the abuse, which is a huge step forward for him.

[AndySmith]

 

I feel like if the show overuses that it will become like the sonic screwdriver on Doctor Who.

 

The thing is, you can't introduce something like that on the show and then have the characters ignore it. Especially since it is something that can make a huge difference in their lives.

Edited November 18, 2014 by AndySmith

[Pete Martell]

The thing is, you can't introduce something like that on the show and then have the characters ignore it. Especially since it is something that can make a huge difference in their lives.

 

For me it mostly depends on the circumstances. I think other than the ambulance scene, maybe, nothing they did here warranted them putting on the goo. If it was an episode where they were constantly near walker packs then I'd wonder where it was.

[AndySmith]

Their entire time spent roaming the streets of Atlanta would have been an appropriate time to use it. None of that "run fast and stay close to buildings and throw fire bombs to distract walkers and hurry hurry hurry and hide behind garbage cans" would have been necessary had they worn Walker Camoflage.

[Pete Martell]

Their entire time spent roaming the streets of Atlanta would have been an appropriate time to use it. None of that "run fast and stay close to buildings and throw fire bombs to distract walkers and hurry hurry hurry and hide behind garbage cans" would have been necessary had they worn Walker Camoflage.

 

I'd think they'd still be doing most of that to evade being seen by the hospital group.

 

Logically, the characters should wear it every time they leave a safe place. I just don't really want to see the characters constantly wearing guts on their faces. 

[AndySmith]

 

I'd think they'd still be doing most of that to evade being seen by the hospital group.

 

The hospital group probably wouldn't notice them much out in the streets, and just assume they were walkers as well, so wouldn't really pay them much attention.

 

I do get your point, but it is still problematic when you introduce something like this onto a show and not have it thought out more thouroughly. In hindsight, it would have been better had they not introduced it at all.

[NurseGiGi]

Okay, I've watched the episode twice and still haven't seen the tank.  Can someone tell me approximately where in the episode it's seen?

[Turtle]

Re Wearing zombie guts:

I've always thought that the characters use that only in desperate situations, when they have no other options.  And that makes sense to me.  They hate the walkers, yet the walkers also remind them of people they used to know.  And the walkers still seem kind of like people, in that they have the basic shape of humans and were in fact once humans.  And the walkers are the things they fear most.  Smearing the walkers' guts all over them is understandably something they are reluctant to do.  It kind of seems like giving up or giving in somehow?  I'm not explaining my thoughts very well.  But maybe they just really don't want zombie blood all over them.  And maybe there's a fear that they could get infected if the blood gets in to their mouth or an open wound?  

 

That said, I do they think they should at least have a couple of "walker dummies" on hand whenever they travel, like scarecrows, but covered in walker blood.  It would make things so much easier.

[mandolin]

An ambulance is like a cat! Even if it jumps off a bridge nose first, it lands on its "feet".

...

Something puzzles me and that is why does a ZA seemingly result in streets being covered in cardboard? Where did it come, why was it strewn everywhere? Was everyone running from zombies carrying it and then dropped it? Sorry if this has already been brought up but I can't catch up on all the posts here.

This gave me such a good laugh. I try not to nitpick my favorite show, but Mr. mandolin doesn't have that issue...he has been going on and on about the paper, etc in the streets for years. Ha. Last night I even had him tell me the ZA was here, and I immediately threw any nearby papers in the air to show him the appropriate response. 

 

Also, the van thing...even I thought it was ridiculous.