Rewatch: Re-live the Walking Dead

[kj4ever]

Anyone up for a rewatch?  There are 70 episodes so far and 11 weeks left before the season premier. 

 

That would be six episodes a week until October 11th.  We could rediscuss our rewatch here.

 

Anyone up for it?

[HalcyonDays]

kj4ever - are you thinking about rewatching from season 1 - episode 1 - the premiere episode??

 

SIX episodes a week! You people must be in serious withdrawal. And this is a great idea!

 

If there is sufficient interest, then discussion should take place in individual episode threads. We are doing the same over in the X-Files thread - basically I'm creating the episode threads individually and people are discuss even though the show was long over. Considering how must you guys post, I suspect a fair amount of posts!

 

Right now, we have the generic threads for each season from 1-3 and season 4 is half complete with individual episodes (it was around the TWoP closure I believe), but if this is done, we should really do individual threads for all seasons. I have no issue with creating them, as long as there is some demand for this rewatch.

 

This thread should really be dedicated to discussing the logistics and interest of the rewatch itself.

[walnutqueen]

Well, AMC started re-airing the show last Sunday; my DVR recorded it automatically; I automatically watched ... 

 

I think they are airing mini-marathons of one Season every Sunday - that's going to be tough, but I'm nothing if not obsessed and going through withdrawals.  :-)

[Anela]

I started watching it on Netflix, two weeks ago, and then stopped. I might put it on again later.

[Macbeth]

I am watching it while I do housework on Sundays.

 

I really liked the soundtrack on the last couple of episodes of S1.  It had a M83 feel.  Very different.

 

How much do I hate S2.  How I didn't give up mid-season is a mystery.  I don't know how I had faith it would get better but it did.

 

The whole "my wife, my son" men thumping their chests and the systemic destruction of female characters.  They had Lori and Andrea's characters do incredibly dumb things to bring on the fan hate.  

 

Andrea - leaving Beth alone with her struggle on whether or not to commit suicide.  Lori playing Rick against Shane ensuring one would be dead by the end of the season.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Macbeth

[Macbeth]

On this weeks rewatch of S3 somethings I noted:

 

      1.  Michael Rooker is a fantastic actor and brought alot to the series with Merle;

 

      2.  The actors may be really grungy and in need of a bath, but they are driving the latest models of cars and trucks.  The product placement on TWD is a little ridiculous;

 

     3.   I know that the character of Carol was supposed to die this season.  TWD should learn a lesson.  Carol's storyline has been so great.  Imagine what we would have lost if she had been killed off.  TWD needs to tone done its "off with their heads"  attitude.  To bad they didn't learn this before they killed Santa.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Macbeth

[bosawks]

I tried again with Season 3 and I just can't with the pirate king.

[EverCat]

That's the thing...I was watching and thinking how they killed off Merle and Santa so they could give us more Pirate King and Tyrese (not to mention Eugene & his crew).

Why?

[kj4ever]

The rewatches blow me away because you realize how much stuff has happened to them in such a short period of time.  Between the real time that it takes 5 seasons and how Carl grows you almost think they have been at this forever instead of what, under 2 years?

[SoSueMe]

I caught a little glance at "Indifference" this morning. The ep with Carol and Rick coming upon the fruit hippies. I'm pretty sure I saw a gas price sign that had shifted upside down and the price #s spelled out hell. I love catching stuff I missed the first, (or second, third, lol) times I've watched.

[bosawks]

Bob, sigh, how I did grow to love thee...

[raven]

Kinda forgot that "Alone" was a pretty good episode.  Bob on his own at the beginning, the Bob/Maggie/Sasha trio, Maggie/Sasha slaying some walkers together and then the hug with the three of them at the end.  Awwww..RIP Bob and your positive outlook. :(

Kinda forgot that "Alone" was a pretty good episode.  Bob on his own at the beginning, the Bob/Maggie/Sasha trio, Maggie/Sasha slaying some walkers together and then the hug with the three of them at the end.  Awwww..RIP Bob and your positive outlook. :(

[Janimo]

Watched "The Grove" again......heartbreaking......All four actors were so effective.....:'(

Melissa McBride is freaking brilliant...but that's just my two cents.

[Ohwell]

This rewatch has made me realize how tired I got of  "The Ongoing, Amazing, Everlasting Twu Wuv Story of Maggie and Glen."  I'm sick of those two and if either one or both gets chomped next season, I won't mind.

[Raven1707]

As much as I love this show, I no longer jump to when AMC airs these full-season marathons...DVD marathons rule! The Season 5 DVDs will be available on August 25th, so sometime between then and October 11th, I hope to indulge in a full-series DVD marathon.

[Timetoread]

Watched "The Grove" again......heartbreaking......All four actors were so effective.....:'(

Melissa McBride is freaking brilliant...but that's just my two cents.

 

I caught The Grove too.  It's not one I rewatch often because the pathos gets me every time:  how PERFECT that home in the grove would have been for Tyrese and Carol to stay and raise the three girls; how Lizzie wasn't at all "bad" she was just so terribly, irreversibly sick that the only thing to do with her was the worst thing ever; that Mika was so cute, smart and self aware and that she knew the difference between being tough and being hard and was making inroads in teaching that lesson to Carol; that Tyrese was still a big old punk (sorry, even this episode didn't fix that); that they showed up with three smiling girls and left with only one; that with the death of the sisters, that entire family was wiped out.  This episode was devastating.

 

For those who don't know, the Season 5 Bluray shows a different (director's cut) of this episode in which you see Carol pull her gun and then YOU SEE LIZZIE'S BODY FALL.  Andrew Lincoln was on the commentary and he'd never seen the episode, when that happened he shouted "Jesus F-----g Christ!"  I found that my own stomach turned even harder than upon first viewing and it occured to me that this show depicted the actual execution of a minor child.  You don't get more hardcore than that.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Timetoread

[Nashville]

So now I have to buy the entire series again on Blu-Ray???

Damn.

[mandolin]

So now I have to buy the entire series again on Blu-Ray???

Damn.

You hadn't already? 

 

(and The Grove is season 4, as I'm sure Timetoread meant to type ;))

Edited August 20, 2015 by mandolin

[truelovekiss]

This rewatch has made me realize how tired I got of "The Ongoing, Amazing, Everlasting Twu Wuv Story of Maggie and Glen." I'm sick of those two and if either one or both gets chomped next season, I won't mind.

I agree that their twu wuv is just a low point of the whole show. But I kind of want to keep them both around because I don't want the powers that be to muck up two more perfectly good characters (looking at you, Rick/Jessie and Coral/Enid and Daryl/whoever people want to pair him with today) with a shitty love story. TWD really kind of sucks at couples, and I don't have it in my to watch the show become a damn romance novel. I say we keep Maggie and Glenn, and watch them be speshul snowflakes for like 5 minutes per week instead of ruining someone else.

[AngelaHunter]

"The Ongoing, Amazing, Everlasting Twu Wuv Story of Maggie and Glen."

 

Yes. Gag-inducing, in my opinion and for all their great, undying and passionate love I have yet to see even the tiniest flicker of chemistry between them. I guess that's why TPTB chose to show only them engaging in any overly-long makeout session. They can rest assured no one got the slightest tittelation from it. The overpowering emotion between them is so forced and so fake I sometimes have to turn away in embarassment.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Yes. Gag-inducing, in my opinion and for all their great, undying and passionate love I have yet to see even the tiniest flicker of chemistry between them. I guess that's why TPTB chose to show only them engaging in any overly-long makeout session. They can rest assured no one got the slightest tittelation from it. The overpowering emotion between them is so forced and so fake I sometimes have to turn away in embarassment.

 

Are you kidding me?!  As soon as they dropped their drawers to bang in that derelict pharmacy, I knew these two kids were a OTP.  I mean, disregarding that anyone or anything could have turned that 'orgasmic' event into a potentially (personal) cataclysmic catastrophe just to bang like horny teenaged strangers??  True. Love.  [/sarcasm]

[SometimesBites]

Don't know if anyone else is still marathoning--coming in late is what I get for having my nose in the 19 Kids and Counting hilarity, trying to adopt The New Zombie Spinoff That Is Not Worthy, and waiting impatiently for TWD to return. I Netflixed seasons 1-4, and I still love it, although I barely paid attention to telephone-crazy Rick and most of the Woodbury stuff. Also completely skipped the episode "Still," except to watch Daryl and Beth burn down the shack to "Up the Wolves." I fell in love with that song the first second I heard it. In fact, I've compiled a little playlist of TWD music that I keep on in the background while I'm working (I'm a writer, working on a post-apocalyptic novel. No zombies, but TWD music evokes that sense for me.)

 

Guess I'll have to purchase season 5 to tide me over for the next five weeks.

Edited September 5, 2015 by SometimesBites

[walnutqueen]

SometimesBites - I never met a TeeVee marathon of my favorite shows I could resist!  So, YES, I watch.

 

I would be ever so interested in your post-apocalyptic novel AND your musical playlist.  If you happen to feel kindly towards old fsrts, I'm here and waiting!  :-)

[SometimesBites]

SometimesBites - I never met a TeeVee marathon of my favorite shows I could resist!  So, YES, I watch.

 

I would be ever so interested in your post-apocalyptic novel AND your musical playlist.  If you happen to feel kindly towards old fsrts, I'm here and waiting!  :-)

Hey, walnutqueen. I'll make a list of the songs when I have a minute. As for the novel, it'll be for sale before the end of the year. When the time comes, I'll be looking to give away some advance review copies for readers who like the genre. If it doesn't seem too spammy, I can post details in the small talk thread for any interested readers. :)

[Nashville]

Oh, for the love of...

 

So I get back home at the end of a very long day, I turn on the TV (which was already tuned to AMC), and with what am I greeted...?

 

Beth, caterwauling some song without the benefit of Autotune.

 

God doesn't love me any more.

[GreyBunny]

Watched the first season again and Days Gone Bye is a masterpiece, Andy and Lennie just kill it.  The only thing that marred it was having bug-eyed Lori appear.  She reminded me why I hated her so much.

[Ohwell]

I watched Season 4, episode 1 of the marathon on AMC and I do feel I owe Tyreese a little bit of an apology for his whining about Karen after her death.  Previously, I didn't think that Karen was all that into him, and I didn't think that they'd had much of a relationship.   However, in the rewatch when she's with others killing walkers at the fence, Tyreese walks up to her and they're talking and she kisses him and then she says something (which I've forgotten now) that makes me think they actually hooked up.  Now maybe it didn't mean as much to her as it did to him, but they were definitely an item, however brief it was.   

[CletusMusashi]

Also, on the rewatch, I find that the whole fight between Rick and Tyreese develops a lot more organically than I remembered it. Tyreese is flipping out over a violent murder, on top of all the other trauma he's been through lately. He responds so badly to Daryl trying to chill him out that Rick is obligated to try something, which of course doesn't go any better. The whole scene might actually age pretty well, if it weren't for the fact that ultimately it won't matter anyway, because soon Tyreese will be flanderized down so much that the idea that he ever voluntarily fought anyone becomes ludicrous.

Edited October 11, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[Watcher0363]

I think this show will age well, I never thought I would say that. But on this current rewatch I have started to notice a lot of little things. Such as how good these actors are. They sale every line and scene they are in. No matter how strange the scene may be. Also like an earlier poster I have noticed how much they are tying previous episodes in. Karen and Tyreese were definitely into each other. Also I caught Andrea telling Rick she knew how the safety work when she took the gun to kill herself. That went back to the second episode. Yes the Walking Dead is good. Probably better that I have given it credit for.

[RedheadZombie]

I guess AMC is not interested in drawing new viewers with this current marathon. I became a fan when I watched the first season and a half on a New Year's marathon. The episodes played in order, as any non-moron will do. My DVR automatically picks up every marathon, and I just flipped through the recorded episodes. There's little rhyme or reason. We meet Randall season two, then Judith is cut out of Lori season three, then Rick kills Shane and the farm falls from season two, then back to the prison and meet crazy Morgan. How would a new viewer even hope to figure out what's happening?

[suomi]

I think this show will age well, I never thought I would say that. But on this current rewatch I have started to notice a lot of little things. Such as how good these actors are.

 

[snipped]

 

Yes the Walking Dead is good. Probably better that I have given it credit for.

 

 

And the writing is sometimes nothing short of lovely. Like Carol's attempt at enlightening Lizzie in The Grove, the specifics of which are so very true - since Day One, in that episode, and in the future. "You just keep going, you push through. And one day, you're not who you used to be. You change." (As Carol and Tyreese head out - their relationship forever altered - with Judith, but without Mika and Lizzie.)

[suomi]

" ... and a machete with a red handle. That's what I'm gonna use to kill you."
 

[lulee]

Rewatched The Grove this morning on Netflix (Still was on AMC at the time, not going to rewatch that). So heartbreaking when Mika discovered the house and said to Carol, "My mom used to say that everything has a way of working out." Didn't work out so well for the mom and didn't work out so well for Mika.

Edited October 11, 2015 by lulee

[Watcher0363]

Okay watching Crossed on AMC. And noticed something rare in movies and television. When Maggie pointed her revolver at Abraham. There were actually bullets in chambers, hollow points at that. I ways hate it when guns are pointed and there are no bullets in the chamber.

[nodorothyparker]

I've been watching the marathon off and on since yesterday. Damn sick kids and my own insomnia. The thing I'm always struck by is how much better this show is in marathon form than as weekly viewing. You can see the arcs flow so much better and small seemingly throw-away things make more sense within the larger context because you're not waiting two or three weeks to when you may only barely remember it to see any kind of payoff.

I like the back half of season 4 after the fall of the prison a whole lot more in retrospect, even if I find the burning down of the moonshine shack painfully embarrassing to watch for both actors. It really set the stage for how emotionally spent everyone was after the escape from Terminus. I'm actually quite curious now to see how the introduction of the ASZ holds up or whether it still feels clunky and rushed.

[Ohwell]

Also upon rewatch I realize just how uninterested I was in Beth's story at the hospital--actually, the whole hospital story--and anything involving Father Pee Pants.

[Watcher0363]

I like the back half of season 4 after the fall of the prison a whole lot more in retrospect, even if I find the burning down of the moonshine shack painfully embarrassing to watch for both actors. It really set the stage for how emotionally spent everyone was after the escape from Terminus. I'm actually quite curious now to see how the introduction of the ASZ holds up or whether it still feels clunky and rushed.

It is funny you said that, over at the FTWD forum some said they did not watch TWD because no one was trying to rebuild society or make communities. After this rewatch I have noticed that from season three on the show has been about trying to find a stable place to rebuild a sense of community. And basically every community has been taking in strangers left and right. Not always for nice reasons, but non the less they were accepting new people. After the first defeat of the Governor, Carol and Daryl were talking about the people both him and Rick brought to the prison. The reason to take Noah home was to seek a safe community. The ASZ were looking for people to rebuild with. So basically society is going the feudal route before moving on to rebuild cities. In a world that they are living in now where any minute could be your last, you have to keep moving and fast or risk death.

[nodorothyparker]

The hospital story reads like one of those things that must have seemed like a good idea, and to be fair the raw premise of it is interesting, but the development and execution of it was terrible. And that's before you get to the issue of building a multi-episode story arc around the show's weakest actor.

[raven]

I watched the episode where the farm falls and Rick kills Shane and wow this show really did not know what to do with Andrea.  She could be irritating (who isn't) but she was brave and not afraid to get her hands dirty (not the way Lori wanted, heh) - she kills walkers, she went to check fences, she saved Carol, etc. I also got a bit better sense of her friendship with Michonne. Talk about character assassination afterwards and a pointless, useless death.  I don't rewatch the majority of the  Woodbury episodes because they are either boring or annoying or both. 

 

 

It really set the stage for how emotionally spent everyone was after the escape from Terminus.

I've been catching some off and on and for sure, in the show's timeline, these people have been through a lot of hell in a short time.  It is sort of amusing how destruction follows them everywhere (the farm, the prison, Woodbury, Terminus). 

[SoSueMe]

I've got the marathon on now. The "Beth" episodes. I'd forgotten how irritating she was for me.

[Watcher0363]

Rick is the Pale Rider. I keep half expecting Dean and Sam to show up and end his reign.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Watcher0363

[nodorothyparker]

Up to Coda now. Good God, Chad Coleman is too good an actor to have been relegated to doing nothing but babbling impotently about his and everyone else's feelings for this full half season. I get the idea that the 1-2 punch of Karen's death and then what happened in The Grove fundamentally broke something in him but it's like the writers forgot anything else.

I will give the rest of the cast credit for how well they sold their grief and horror over losing Beth, especially since it was done with almost no dialogue.

[raven]

 

The "Beth" episodes. I'd forgotten how irritating she was for me.

She never really bothered me.  The show has a lot of good things about it but is at its weakest when trying to portray people who don't have the killer gleam in their eye (Beth, Tyreese, Father Gabriel).  They really don't seem to know what to do with these characters, except maybe Hershel and even he ended up dead in the end.  ETA - and poor. optimistic Bob too.  At least he got a good sendoff and got to yell "tainted meat".

Edited October 11, 2015 by raven

[Ohwell]

In the scenes where Glen, Rosita and Tara are by the stream getting water, I'm getting some vibes between Glen and Rosita.

[SometimesBites]

The hospital story reads like one of those things that must have seemed like a good idea, and to be fair the raw premise of it is interesting, but the development and execution of it was terrible. And that's before you get to the issue of building a multi-episode story arc around the show's weakest actor.

Quoting this simply for how exactly you expressed my sense of the entire Grady storyline. The hospital situation, with its inherent dichotomy of safety and menace, wasn't exploited thoroughly because they were too busy leaning on silly irrelevancies, like Dawn's relationship with her mentor, etc. How Dawn was able to maintain a grip on leadership for so long when her staff distrusted and disrespected her was pretty silly, and there were just pacing problems throughout. And the potential for a character like Beth--whose depth of development could have been every bit as intense as that of Carol--was wasted on the paper-thin acting ability of EK. In re-watch, it's the stuff I race through (along with the Rick/Governor table talk episode, and the Daryl/Beth moonshine episode).

[nodorothyparker]

So far the ASZhats aren't coming off as any less clueless or woefully indefensible on rewatch.

[NorthstarATL]

Watching blood-stained maniacal Rick mansplaining how things 'r going to be in Alexandria and then getting whacked upside the head by Michonne is never not fun! The pull of civilization (or the memory/fantasy of it) being the doiwnfall of so many characters really hit home with the Alexandria setting. I could buy Andrea so desperately wanting to believe in Woodbury that she was blind to obvious stuff that might have threatened her decision, but that was very character-specific. This is the entire crew attempting, with various degrees of success, to assimilate, and I don't think it's really what all of them need/want any longer.

[Ohwell]

One of the most disturbing things (out of the gazillion disturbing things seen on this show) was watching Noah get eaten.  Gaaah. 

[ghoulina]

Gah, I wish I was watching with you guys! I got little kids around, so it just wouldn't be appropriate. They'll be put to bed right before the premiere!

 

I do agree that the show is often better when binge watching. My husband watched the first three seasons over the summer before season 4 aired, and I was SO into it. I really enjoyed season 4, for the most part, but waiting a week in between episodes just isn't the same. Season 5 almost lost my husband, he hated that Grady shit more than I did. I think it's easy to blow past a bad episode when you're sandwiching it between other, hopefully better, ones. 

 

It's funny how my opinions can change on some characters upon rewatch. I was a big Dale defender at first, but the more I watch, the more he just bugs, Yet I become more tolerant and sympathetic of Shane and Lori each time.

[NorthstarATL]

Gah, I wish I was watching with you guys! I got little kids around, so it just wouldn't be appropriate. They'll be put to bed right before the premiere!

 

I do agree that the show is often better when binge watching. My husband watched the first three seasons over the summer before season 4 aired, and I was SO into it. I really enjoyed season 4, for the most part, but waiting a week in between episodes just isn't the same. Season 5 almost lost my husband, he hated that Grady shit more than I did. I think it's easy to blow past a bad episode when you're sandwiching it between other, hopefully better, ones. 

 

It's funny how my opinions can change on some characters upon rewatch. I was a big Dale defender at first, but the more I watch, the more he just bugs, Yet I become more tolerant and sympathetic of Shane and Lori each time.

OMG YES! Dale is just SO in everyone's business! And Lori and Shane were tragically flawed, but they had layers.