S01.E02: So Close, Yet So Far

[raven]

Hmm.well the things that are bugging a lot of you don't bug me, heh.  Regarding the principal, we see him with the walkie at the beginning of the episode, kind of looking over his shoulder.  Madison & Tobias don't run into him until hours later I assume (I think the sun was starting to go down) so I took it as he was making a last sweep (we hear someone talk through the walkie and then Artie says "all clear") & then whatever happened, happened, not that he was there all day as a living man.  He appears to have been attacked/bitten, so did Matt.  The principal didn't have any flu symptoms that I recall.  Cal wasn't attacked, he was shot and turned.  The characters (Madison/Travis) even mention this when Travis examines Matt, which I missed in first watch.  So that might become a point of confusion for the characters as well as the viewers.  Personally I'm OK with that.

 

I think Kirkman et al have said this show would be from the family's POV, so I look at it as I'm seeing things unfold the way do, with all the unanswered questions. That's working for me, storywise.  Some of you mentioned why they're not watching TV - the power is off when we seem Madison/Nick/Alicia later at the house, they have a bunch of candles lit.  Madison comments that the phones are going in and out, the power's out.  The neighborhood appears empty.  Whatever's going on, it's happening quick; the family is split.  I get Nick being casual when he gets the Oxy - he's an addict, just had seizures and puked, yeah, he's all about himself.  I like that he and Alicia seem to have a decent relationship depsite that.  I'm interested to see what happens.

 

Sure there are inconsistencies - cell service should probably be down, but then we wouldn't get calls between the characters, so show license is taken. 

 

I think Madison is barely holding it together and is on the verge of not being able to cope.  That's just a sense I get from the show.  These people are going to screw up.  I'm invested.

[Raven1707]

Hmm.well the things that are bugging a lot of you don't bug me, heh.

 

Doesn't bother me either. As a writer I know how difficult it is to create a fictional world, populate it with interesting characters, and then tell a story that keeps your readers turning the pages...

 

Ricky Nelson was right: you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself.

[maystone]

Hmm.well the things that are bugging a lot of you don't bug me, heh. 

 

…

 

I think Kirkman et al have said this show would be from the family's POV, so I look at it as I'm seeing things unfold the way do, with all the unanswered questions. That's working for me, storywise.  Some of you mentioned why they're not watching TV - the power is off when we seem Madison/Nick/Alicia later at the house, they have a bunch of candles lit.  Madison comments that the phones are going in and out, the power's out.  The neighborhood appears empty.  Whatever's going on, it's happening quick; the family is split.  I get Nick being casual when he gets the Oxy - he's an addict, just had seizures and puked, yeah, he's all about himself.  I like that he and Alicia seem to have a decent relationship depsite that.  I'm interested to see what happens.

 

Sure there are inconsistencies - cell service should probably be down, but then we wouldn't get calls between the characters, so show license is taken. 

 

I think Madison is barely holding it together and is on the verge of not being able to cope.  That's just a sense I get from the show.  These people are going to screw up.  I'm invested.

 

Completely agree with your whole post (snipped for space only). I don't need everything explained to me. I actually don't want everything explained to me. I want to experience the confusion and the growing panic that the main characters are dealing with. It's a big part of the reason that I was excited for this show, and why I still am.

 

I loved Nick scoping out the oxy with an expert eye; the kid's a long-time addict - that's what he would do. I also loved when he ratted out his sister: "She tried to leave! I stopped her." I deserve a cookie, mom :) His delivery of that line was perfect.

 

I've already posted of my admiration for Madison. I have to admit, though, that I'm still working on Alicia.

[lasandi]

What bothers me is this woman sees the principal is jacked up and she is still standing there saying "we will get you some help" and she doesn't have nary a weapon in her hand. Asshole almost got that kid killed. I really dislike when people do things unrealistic like walking toward someone who is clearly a danger to you instead of getting the hell out of the way.

[Nashville]

I loved Nick scoping out the oxy with an expert eye; the kid's a long-time addict - that's what he would do. I also loved when he ratted out his sister: "She tried to leave! I stopped her." I deserve a cookie, mom :) His delivery of that line was perfect.

 

The junkie son diverting his attention from the oxy Mom stole for him just long enough to tattle on Sis? Anybody else besides me hear in the back of your head the Ramones pounding out "We're A Happy Family "???

:D

[oakville]

I re watched the episode & enjoyed it. The tension is palpable. Throughout the episode, you can hear the sound of the helicopters overhead. I bet that police are busy responding to numerous calls of suspicious attacks on people. Nick did try & get information on the radio. There was a snippet of a broadcaster urging people to stay inside.

I think we have to cut the characters some slack. Thy don't believe that civilization is coming to an end. At worst, they believe they may have to go to the desert for a few weeks until order is restored.

[Dobian]

Well, first let me state that I am able to DISCUSS what I wish. And, will continue to do so whenever I wish.

I am not writing a persuasive argument paper. I do not care if you agree with me, nor am I attempting to alter your opinion. Once again, THIS is MY perspective and opinion.

Since, I am not COMPLAINING about ANYthing, I have no idea about what you are talking. If you don't care for MY OPINIONS then you may ignore them or disengage from any of my content.

I never indicated that other minority groups were not given short shrift. They were. However, I am not penning a treatise. *My discussion centered on ONE aspect of these specific episodes within this particular program.*

I do not believe that I or any one poster is required to discuss any and all sides to any and all topics under discussion regardless of its initiation. You appear to obsessed by my OPINION. It's not going to change-- about THESE TWO episodes. I have not seen any additional episodes, so I have not proffered statements on upcoming episodes. Therefore, I fail to grasp the relevance of you stating that I haven't viewed them--No, I have not nor have I opined,... about them. Are you saying that I must view all episodes before I am able to comment on what I have seen thus far. I cannot comment on CURRENT episodes but others can?

I most certainly do believe those characters were integral to each individual in the FAMILY.

* Personal (be it positive or negative) life and *Job life=THEIR LIFE.

1. (The Boyfriend--->Daughter)

2. (Cal---->Well-known to family and main drug dealer to Son)

3. (Principal---->of school wherein Mom worked as counselor and "Dad" worked as teacher)

This is My party and I can discuss whatever I want to...

If you don't like it, the door is but a keystroke away.

---------------------------------------------

 

I never said you couldn't give your opinion.  The writers obviously did not think these three characters were integral to the story, so that means they weren't integral to the story no matter what anyone thinks.  I don't think the race of the actors has anything to do at all with these characters being killed off.  That's my opinion.  The difference between your opinion and someone just critiquing the episodes on whether they were good or they sucked, is that your opinion is a sort of sweeping conclusion that the show runners are being racist in their casting and that African Americans will only be featured on the series in token, expendable roles.  I think that's really presumptive. That's all.

[kj4ever]

I re watched the episode & enjoyed it. The tension is palpable. Throughout the episode, you can hear the sound of the helicopters overhead. I bet that police are busy responding to numerous calls of suspicious attacks on people. Nick did try & get information on the radio. There was a snippet of a broadcaster urging people to stay inside.

I think we have to cut the characters some slack. Thy don't believe that civilization is coming to an end. At worst, they believe they may have to go to the desert for a few weeks until order is restored.

When Travis told Nick to cut it out I was like "DUDE don't know want to know if there are any reports of oh, I don't know dead people coming back to life???"

[Bongo Fury]

... a sort of sweeping conclusion that the show runners are being racist in their casting and that African Americans will only be featured on the series in token, expendable roles.  I think that's really presumptive. That's all.

 

Given that the exact same crap, Blacklander, occurs in the original, TWD, it is not presumptive at all. At this point it's a clearly established pattern.

[Yolapukka]

 

I wasn't saying Alicia was the burden, but is burdenED...with Nick and Madison's RELIANCE on her to AID in the care of Nick

 

 

That's Ok,  your point was clear and well-made. I was making my own point that the plot was artificially contriving to position her as a burden even though, as your post laid out so well, the situation with her mother and brother made them a burden for her. It's ridiculous to me that Alicia is being written as a problem when the actual problem is her brother's addiction and is her mother shielding her from knowledge about significant danger. Vital information is being withheld when the undead are literally outside their door and this will remain true no matter how long Madison refrains from explaining what she knows. What if Nick died while detoxing? I mean really, Alicia would be placed in dire peril if she stepped out to pick up the hose tomorrow morning, never mind interceding when others need help, the fault for that doesn't lay with her.

 

I hope we don't get scene after scene of Madison talking (probably not emoting) about the painful past, but all the same, I'd like at least one scene or some occasional references that that explain why she shuts down emotionally in traumatic situations, events that would make others at least, gasp. I don't entirely think it's just a poor acting choice (though It is) that she has such non-reactive reactions in the moment, I think this particular actress was cast because they wanted this kind of performance for the character. I want to know why that was desirable. 

Edited September 4, 2015 by yuggapukka

[HalcyonDays]

Enough with the attacks on each other. Everyone is allowed to express their opinion without slamming or disrespecting others who may have a different opinion then you do. We all see things differently, so therefore our opinions will also be different. No one needs to back out of anything. If you don't like someone's posts, use the IGNORE feature, instead of attacking. Please resume talking about the episode. Thank you.

[oakville]

When Travis told Nick to cut it out I was like "DUDE don't know want to know if there are any reports of oh, I don't know dead people coming back to life???"

I like Nick. He is my second favourite character after Tobias. If he didn't have a drug problem, people would take him seriously about having seen 2 people come back from the dead. The "no one believes a drug addict's hallucinations" was a clever move by the writer's. It delays the other characters from taking him at his word.

I also believe that it was very clever by the writer's to use the recent riots in St Louis & Baltimore as a plot device. Seeing police shoot apparently innocent civilians is a current topic. No one in the show would believe that the dead could reanimate, so having the police shoot people who appear to be alive would create chaos.

I hope the show gives us a few scenes in future episodes of police or medical personnel dealing with patients turning into walkers .

I think Madison has had a tough time figuring out what to do. It's not OK for her to break into the school contraband drug cabinet to help her son get drugs to help him with his withdrawal symptoms. It's not OK to give back the knife to Tobias. It's not OK to kill her "dead" friend, Artie the principal with a fire extinguisher.

It's not OK to watch her son run over his friend/dealer Cal in the previous episode.

She must be concerned about the consequence on her career .

[walnutqueen]

So far, I don't think the "rising from the dead" reality has hit home for the general populace.  People are still looking for rational explanations for multiple gunshot victims standing back up, wounded and vehicle-struck Cal surviving massive trauma, principal Artie's violent tendencies, etc.  They think there's a weird virus going around that makes people crazy violent and immune to pain, and possibly with super-human strength like a PCP maniac.  The slowly dawning horror of the truly undead is yet to come ...

[AnnaMayWong]

I like Nick. He is my second favourite character after Tobias. If he didn't have a drug problem, people would take him seriously about having seen 2 people come back from the dead. The "no one believes a drug addict's hallucinations" was a clever move by the writer's. It delays the other characters from taking him at his word.

I also believe that it was very clever by the writer's to use the recent riots in St Louis & Baltimore as a plot device. Seeing police shoot apparently innocent civilians is a current topic. No one in the show would believe that the dead could reanimate, so having the police shoot people who appear to be alive would create chaos.

I hope the show gives us a few scenes in future episodes of police or medical personnel dealing with patients turning into walkers .

I think Madison has had a tough time figuring out what to do. It's not OK for her to break into the school contraband drug cabinet to help her son get drugs to help him with his withdrawal symptoms. It's not OK to give back the knife to Tobias. It's not OK to kill her "dead" friend, Artie the principal with a fire extinguisher.

It's not OK to watch her son run over his friend/dealer Cal in the previous episode.

She must be concerned about the consequence on her career .

[AnnaMayWong]

I agree with the idea that the rioters en masse viewing numerous deaths, and, then viewing the arising of The Dead would lead to a horrific awareness of True Dead Man/Woman Walking.

Yes, some well crafted energetic scenes depicting the emotional, psychological, and physical impact of the impending chaos experienced by the police and those at the medical center(s) would be great.

------------

Edited September 5, 2015 by BookElitist

[Raven1707]

The Live + 3 Cable ratings are in for "So Close, Yet So Far":

 

Fear the Walking Dead was the week's top Live + 3 ratings gainer among adults 18-49 adding 1.9 adults 18-49 ratings points.

 

Fear the Walking Dead led total viewership increases, adding 3.517 million viewers to its Live + Same Day viewers. [Total: 11.701 million]

 

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/09/04/live-3-cable-ratings-fear-the-walking-dead-tops-adults-18-49-total-viewership-gainers-wags-leads-percentage-increases-for-the-week-ending-august-30-2015/457952/

[HalcyonDays]

Damn, you'd think with a lot of us not being happy with the pilot would have abandoned the show, but no. Damn, those are some strong numbers. Pilots always do amazing, and there is always a major drop after, so I guess AMC is "smarter than your average bear" because they are reaping the ratings rewards.

[English Teacher]

Unless the writers and directors decided to create this show as a series of news reports from around the world,I'm not sure how they would be expected to show what is happening on a grander scale. Just like TWD, we are seeing the events from the limited vantage point of one family...a much more realistic and manageable way to show the inception and effects of this emerging problem. They represent average people, not conspiracy theorists like Tobias. Their choices to react to a fear of what they are seeing but what they cannot really process is probably the way most of us would handle it. And no one is talking about zombies because they don't know what they are....people on PCP may seem to have superhuman strength. Seeing people who appear mortally wounded suddenly go mad and attack people violently doesn't automatically mean the dead are rising. The normal person would not allow himself to believe this. To them it seems more like a bizarre symptom of this new flu.

And Walnutqueen....I am sorry that I didn't read your most recent post before writing this... I seem to be saying the same thing as you, lol

Edited September 6, 2015 by English Teacher

[walnutqueen]

Damn, you'd think with a lot of us not being happy with the pilot would have abandoned the show, but no. Damn, those are some strong numbers. Pilots always do amazing, and there is always a major drop after, so I guess AMC is "smarter than your average bear" because they are reaping the ratings rewards.

 

OK, just when I thought I couldn't lurve you anymore, you do the Yogi quote!!!  Out-fucking-standing.

 

And HEY, English Teacher - great minds ...   :-)

[NurseGiGi]

I rewatched the episode and realized that the principal was actually talking to someone on the walkie in the school.  I at first thought he was just wandering around the school with a lone walkie, which confused the hell out of me.  I now know (or think I do) that he was probably talking to the custodian about something weird happening in the school and went to investigate.  I need to pay closer attention from now on!

[candall]

So far, I don't think the "rising from the dead" reality has hit home for the general populace.  People are still looking for rational explanations for multiple gunshot victims standing back up, wounded and vehicle-struck Cal surviving massive trauma, principal Artie's violent tendencies, etc.  They think there's a weird virus going around that makes people crazy violent and immune to pain, and possibly with super-human strength like a PCP maniac.  The slowly dawning horror of the truly undead is yet to come ...

<hand in air>   I remember the day all the network news channels were reporting: 

 ". . .the marijuana had been secretly laced with PCP." 

 

And now, no small thanks to that face-eating incident in Florida, the first 437 stories you heard would make you ask "What the hell are these people taking now?!"

 

I wonder if each individual wouldn't require firsthand interaction with some basic TWD mobile viscera to be convinced.  But it would take a long time before there were sufficient numbers of heads snapping their teeth at your ankles or lower torsos inchworming up your driveway.

 

Which is why, I suppose, the population of Georgia eventually leveled off at ~30.

Edited September 6, 2015 by candall

[walnutqueen]

<hand in air>   I remember the day all the network news channels were reporting: 

 ". . .the marijuana had been secretly laced with PCP." 

 

And now, no small thanks to that face-eating incident in Florida, the first 437 stories you heard would make you ask "What the hell are these people taking now?!"

 

I wonder if each individual wouldn't require firsthand interaction with some basic TWD mobile viscera to be convinced.  But it would take a long time before there were sufficient numbers of heads snapping their teeth at your ankles or lower torsos inchworming up your driveway.

 

Which is why, I suppose, the population of Georgia eventually leveled off at ~30.

 

YESSSS!!!!  Most of us saw something about face eating hobos in Florida, and many of us heard the dire warnings of PCP-laced anything - did anyone other than me think it was the dawning of the Zombie Apocalypse?  :-)

[Raven1707]

Damn, you'd think with a lot of us not being happy with the pilot would have abandoned the show, but no. Damn, those are some strong numbers. Pilots always do amazing, and there is always a major drop after, so I guess AMC is "smarter than your average bear" because they are reaping the ratings rewards.

 

Even before adding the Live + 3 Day viewers, this episode initially drew 8.184 million, which would have landed it in the Top 5 on network TV, so yeah, not bad at all for a summer show.

 

Primetime Total Viewers for the week ending August 30, 2015:

Rank  Shows  R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere   Net  Viewers (Live +SD) (000)

1  AMERICA'S GOT TALENT-TUE-08/25   NBC  10339

2  60 MINUTES-08/30  R     CBS  8534

3  AMERICA'S GOT TALENT-WED-08/26   NBC  8463

4  NCIS-08/25  R      CBS  8394

5  NBC NFL PRE-SEASON GM8/30-08/30  S  NBC  7508

6  BIG BANG THEORY, THE-08/27  R   CBS  7249

7  BIG BROTHER-SUN-08/30     CBS  6732

8  BIG BROTHER-WED-08/26     CBS  6457

9  BIG BROTHER-THU-08/27     CBS  6366

10  ZOO-08/25       CBS  6175

[English Teacher]

Just rewatched the episode ... I wasn't sure in the first viewing, but it is definitely Peter (Dawson?), the neighbor who is loading his car, that attacks Mrs. Cruz at the end of the episode.  Same shirt and his car was never finished packing.  

But does that mean he died REALLY fast? Did the cough get him, or could he have been attacked without anyone noticing?  I guess the latter is possible with Madison at the school, Nick relatively unconscious, and Alicia scrubbing floors and calling Matt.....

[walnutqueen]

Even before adding the Live + 3 Day viewers, this episode initially drew 8.184 million, which would have landed it in the Top 5 on network TV, so yeah, not bad at all for a summer show.

 

Primetime Total Viewers for the week ending August 30, 2015:

Rank  Shows  R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere   Net  Viewers (Live +SD) (000)

1  AMERICA'S GOT TALENT-TUE-08/25   NBC  10339

2  60 MINUTES-08/30  R     CBS  8534

3  AMERICA'S GOT TALENT-WED-08/26   NBC  8463

4  NCIS-08/25  R      CBS  8394

5  NBC NFL PRE-SEASON GM8/30-08/30  S  NBC  7508

6  BIG BANG THEORY, THE-08/27  R   CBS  7249

7  BIG BROTHER-SUN-08/30     CBS  6732

8  BIG BROTHER-WED-08/26     CBS  6457

9  BIG BROTHER-THU-08/27     CBS  6366

10  ZOO-08/25       CBS  6175

 

Oh dear Gawd, ZOO made the top 10 anything list ?!?  It is truly the dawning of an apocalypse of sorts ...

...

Edited September 7, 2015 by walnutqueen

[English Teacher]

Oh dear Gawd, ZOO made the top 10 anything list ?!?  It is truly the dawning of an apocalypse of sorts ...

...

Walnutqueen, you need to pay rent if you are going to live in my brain.  That was my FIRST thought when I saw those numbers!!!!

[walnutqueen]

Walnutqueen, you need to pay rent if you are going to live in my brain.  That was my FIRST thought when I saw those numbers!!!!

 

ET - may I call you that?  Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ, so choose your poison!

 

If you know ZOO for the total shitfest it is, we may just be sharing a TeeVee-addled brain.  :-)

[crowswork]

Walnutqueen, you need to pay rent if you are going to live in my brain.  That was my FIRST thought when I saw those numbers!!!!

 

ET - may I call you that?  Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ, so choose your poison!

 

If you know ZOO for the total shitfest it is, we may just be sharing a TeeVee-addled brain.  :-)

 

Hey BBrother had 3 spots, I was flipping channels and paused on the blond in the stinky looking green hat until I felt my IQ dropping.

[Nashville]

Oh dear Gawd, ZOO made the top 10 anything list ?!?  It is truly the dawning of an apocalypse of sorts ...

...

 

The only thing ZOO has going for it is Billy Burke.  The rest is silence - as in the silence of a piece of dogshit laying on the sidewalk.

[Gwen-Stacys]

Damn, you'd think with a lot of us not being happy with the pilot would have abandoned the show, but no. Damn, those are some strong numbers. Pilots always do amazing, and there is always a major drop after, so I guess AMC is "smarter than your average bear" because they are reaping the ratings rewards.

I've learned a long time ago that just because "the internet" seemingly doesn't like something, doesn't mean the rest of the viewing public doesn't (The Big Bang Theory is still the most watched non-reality show on tv in the important demographics, 18-49). Heck, if we went by the internet, shows on the CW would have much higher ratings than they do, as opposed to often being in last place ratings wise.

 

I'm actually really liking FTWD so far. It's creepier to me than TWD has been in seasons. In every shot, I'm looking at the people in the background and wondering if those shambling individuals are drug-addicts or actual zombies. That's actually really neat (and real-life terrifying) when you think about it. But that could just be me living by two cities; one of them well-known for it's drug problem.

[Slider]

 

Hey BBrother had 3 spots, I was flipping channels and paused on the blond in the stinky looking green hat until I felt my IQ dropping.

 

Run away - FAST! This season is a nightmare, and most of it has to do with the blonde in the stinky green hat!

 

Glad that the ratings were good.  Hopefully they maintain the viewership after being off a week.  Hey, people are easily distracted!

[rab01]

This. A 1000 times this. I posted about it before but she is acting out because no one, absolutely no one, is giving her a reasonable explanation as to why she can't be a good person and help her sick boyfriend or her neighbours who're being attacked. Instead she's being treated like she's the problem child who doesn't deserve answers while her mother does everything in her power to help and/or enable her drug-addict son. A little heads up to your daughter would probably save you a lot of grief Madison! I'm seriously hoping they say something to her in the next episode because their reticence is going to get her killed.

I so agree with this.  That girl is far and away my favorite character on this show. She's smart, sensible, and has proper priorities without giving off a Mary Sure vibe of having a permanent halo around her head. She has been given no reason on God's green Earth why she should abandon caring for her very feverish boyfriend to instead take care of her puking brother. The boyfriend's been nothing but good to her while the asshole brother has been nothing but a millstone - plus while they're both sick, one of them inflicted it on himself. Yeah, we all know that the boyfriend is going to try to chomp her face off but she doesn't know that and HE shouldn't know it yet either.

 

I was away on vacation so I only just watched the episode last night. I don't mind the lack of a broader view of the ZA. Kirkman has said that his comic and the show were supposed to be a soap opera that happened to be set in the ZA. If they tell that story well, I'm fine with it.  That said, for it to be character driven, you need good characters. I like the actor playing the drug-addict son (my comments about him above are from the sister's perspective) and some of the other actors but they aren't doing or saying anything specific enough to stand out as people. At the moment, it's just "dad", "other son", "ex-wife", "Latino paterfamilias", etc. The dead drug dealer and dying boyfriend felt more "alive" than everyone other than the daughter so it's a real waste that they were the first to die ...

 

That's my beef with this show so far, it's too generic. The pilot of TWD was intense, specific and amazing.  The pilot for this was paint by numbers and dull by comparison. That shoddiness even creeps into the visuals, which are normally one of the strengths of this franchise -- (1) this episode opened with a character walking down the middle of a street just so they could have the visual of skateboarders flanking her -- who in the hell avoids sidewalks pre-ZA?  (2) she also ostentatiously pulls off her blue gloves in the middles of telling her brother that she hates him after cleaning up his puke; she then starts pulling them off again after he responds "I know."  Continuity is sometimes hard -- BUT NOT THAT ONE.

 

One last note, I get that there's a lot of frustration with the Mom and the actress playing her.  I just hope it doesn't congeal into a "she's just like Lori" consensus before the character earns it.  Personally, I hope that she becomes the Rick Grimes of this show and we eventually find or develop one of the guys into her bad-ass Carol or Michonne second-in-command --- not because of anything the show has given me yet, but because that would be much more fun than another couple of years of hating one of the female leads.

[Giselle]

I'm ready for Nick to die. For me he is "Lori" in this series and I don't enjoy watching him. Unfortunately I don't think this will happen because as a junkie he is already a survivor and I think that where they are going with his character, "fuck up" then "hero", "fuck up" then "hero" and repeat every episode or two throughout the series. That will become tedious for me.

 

Couldn't stand the actress playing the ex-wife, not on "Orange is The New Black" nor in this one.

[that one guy]

Hey BBrother had 3 spots, I was flipping channels and paused on the blond in the stinky looking green hat until I felt my IQ dropping.

 

 

Just to show how out of touch "the Internet" can be with what mainstream audiences are watching, I didn't even know Big Brother was still on.

[peach]

 

One last note, I get that there's a lot of frustration with the Mom and the actress playing her.  I just hope it doesn't congeal into a "she's just like Lori" consensus before the character earns it.  Personally, I hope that she becomes the Rick Grimes of this show and we eventually find or develop one of the guys into her bad-ass Carol or Michonne second-in-command --- not because of anything the show has given me yet, but because that would be much more fun than another couple of years of hating one of the female leads.

 

She's as smug as Lori, but so far, she's proven to be much less useless.  She'll steal drugs and bash in the principal's head with a fire extinguisher from Day One, and she hasn't wrecked a car on the open road so far.  I don't really like her very much, but I think she'll be a tough survivalist.  At least I hope so.  I can see potential for her to be the female Rick Grimes. She'll do what she has to for her family, and she also doesn't explain shit when she should.  Ha.

 

Also agree with your comments on the daughter. 

[Hootis]

When Tobias broke into the school to get his knife back, I laughed like a braying donkey.

See, that's how you kill them! You run up and stab them with a knife! That is THE preferred method of dealing with zombies in TWD universe.

Spears? Axes? Armor? Fuck that - makes too much sense. Use a steak knife, so you get real close to their mouth!

This is where the Stupid begins - Tobias and his precious knife.

[jonesingjay]

I thought Tobias went to school for the canned goods? And, when he ran into Madison he figured might as well get that oh so precious pocket knife back. 

Edited September 11, 2015 by jonesingjay

[Captain Asshat]

IKNOWRITE!? "The desert is obviously the safest place being that it's a barren wasteland with little in the way of markers to alert dangerous people to our existence. Go there, family who is precious above all things! I'll follow and meet you at the 304th cactus on the left between a mirage and a tumbleweed. Don't bring a lot of food and water."

 

I am just assuming the family has a place in the desert, and that's how they refer to it. Example: We have friends with some property and a house outside a small town. When they go, they say they're "going to the country." With that in mind, I'm assuming this is family shorthand that uses a vague term to mean something specific.

[JasonCC]

The season's "flu" virus is definitely tied into it, wasn't there a scene in the first episode where the classrooms are half empty? I don't think we're meant to assume they are all walkers already but are home sick with "the flu". I think this is probably why it spread so fast: there were the biting infections happening but also people getting feverish and dying THEN reanimating and biting people. So even those who were following the authorities vague orders to stay home while the "riots & unrest" were happening probably had at least one flu-ridden family member who expired and turned. 

[Iguessnot]

Yes, it is, unfortunately, 100% true - Anna gave birth while on the toilet at home. It was Jana or Jill, I believe, that "caught" the baby before, uh...splashdown. 

 

It was all filmed, very poorly pixelated, and, to this day, makes me cringe to even think about it. 

 

So, yeah, for all the blah blah blah about being the Queens of Modesty Mountain, the TLC cameras captured her essentially naked from the waist down on a toilet. It's mind-numbingly incongruous that everyone gets the vapors if someone shows a freaking kneecap, but if you're having a baby we all get to discover firsthand whether or not Anna needs a bikini wax. 

 

I recall footage from her first birth when Josh was down in the trenches helping deliver the baby. It was horrifying to me that this modest girl was subjected to having TLC 's camera and audio crew filming such a private moment. And seeing as they had to blur out sections, 

[Nashville]

I recall footage from her first birth when Josh was down in the trenches helping deliver the baby. It was horrifying to me that this modest girl was subjected to having TLC 's camera and audio crew filming such a private moment. And seeing as they had to blur out sections, 

 

Did I miss somebody giving birth to a zombiechild?  ;>

[walnutqueen]

Did I miss somebody giving birth to a zombiechild?  ;>

 

I think you missed the Very Special FTWD / Duggars crossover episode.   :-)

[Nashville]

I think you missed the Very Special FTWD / Duggars crossover episode.   :-)

 

Oh.  So I wasn't really that far off, then.

[walnutqueen]

Oh.  So I wasn't really that far off, then.

 

Not nearly as far off as the person who I assume thought he/she was posting in that other horror show forum about those Duggars.  ;-)

[Iguessnot]

Aw guys, sorry for the glitch. Google froze on me while I was typing. I tried replying in several spots trying to bring up the auto save but it didn't seem to work. But it seems those errant bits & bytes landed here, so I'll be able to finish my sentence and post in the glorious disaster of Duggardome.

[SailorGirl]

On 8/31/2015 at 1:45 AM, Nashville said:

 

There's another alternative for those in the pointy little tinfoil hats: the CDC is monitoring outbreaks, but not interceding due to orders from on high.  Which makes for a good conspiracy theory story line angle.

Fast forward five years . . . . 

[Nashville]

10 hours ago, SailorGirl said:

Fast forward five years . . . . 

Sometimes I hate being right.

[SailorGirl]

I picked a hell of a time to start watching this show . . . viruses, police shootings, riots . . . not sure if I'm watching FTWD or CNN.