S02.E05: Captive

[Brooke0707]

Re the intro scene with Alicia and Connor...so the bad guys knew to bring their very own creepy horror movie soundtrack along with them to the zombie apocalypse? It is one thing for the show to play music to set the mood, but it is another one the characters are the ones playing the music.

[mightysparrow]

I'm betting the next time we see Connor (if we're unfortunate enough for that to happen) he's going to be missing part of an arm.  

I'm praying that if we ever see Jack again it's because he's planning a murder/suicide with Alicia.  Now that Chaka's arrived, we don't need TWO girls with nice hair.  

Whatever war crimes Salazar committed, he's paying for every time he has to interact with his bore-a-minute daughter.  There's no way he ever did anything as bad as the agony she causes every time she enters a scene.  Speaking of murder/suicide, Ofelia and Chris please!

[thuganomics85]

Well, Connor and his gang ended up being pretty underwhelming.  At least Connor was a decent cook, because that steak did look good.  I was so hoping Alicia was going to use that her motivation to get revenge on Evil Pregnant Lady for stealing it.  Alas, that would have been too much fun.

Not surprised Alex is still alive and understandably pissed, but she is madder at Travis instead of Strand?  I didn't understand her logic.  It sounded like it was kind of variation of that she felt he was better then that and mad that he suspected it was going to happen, and didn't stop it.  I guess one of those "At least Strand admits he's a bastard!" kind of thing, but it didn't fly for me.  I still think Strand would be her main person.  And where was she for the grand finale?  I'm guessing this isn't the last of her since Michelle Ang is now a regular.

I am so not looking forward to this ongoing "Madison won't let Nick to do anything, even though he seems to be the one best suited to handle this shit" spat that is going on.  Just accept it, Maddie.  Your former druggie son can better adapt to a zombie apocalypse then you can.

Not sure why it was suppose to be suspenseful over Alicia choosing Jeff or her family.  She might not be the brightest bulb out there, but I think even she knows better then that.

Of course, Chris fucks things up.  I so don't think the Reed guy was turning, but Chris either panicked or worse, just flat-out killed him.  Have a feeling Chris will be a major issue going forward.

With Strand out of commission, Daniel easily was the MVP to me for this episode, with him using Zombie Reed to their advantage.  Much better option then the Weekend at Bernies method, which is what I suspect everyone else would have tried to do.

Ofelia continues to just be there, not really serving any purpose.

[Muffyn]

I have watched too many zombie shows.  I assumed the steak was people.  It's people!!!!! 

At this rate, Chris is going to end up looking at the flowers. 

Edited May 9, 2016 by Muffyn

[Kenz]

The dialog and plot were so SLOW moving, and the acting seemed particularly bad, but maybe that's because the writing is so terrible for this show. I still can't root for any of these people except Daniel and Strand. Kim Dickens (Madison) is still barely moving her face, even when she should be terrified, angry, sad, or whatever and that bugs me no end.

[Nashville]

1. Glad to see BASICK again - she was sporting some damn fine crazy bedhead hair in her intro.  Got half an idea how Connor was "using" Alex.
2. Was anybody else besides me half-expecting Alicia to shank Jack with his own knife before doing the slip-n-slide off the boat?
3. What the heck good is an ocean-going vessel if you're just going to hug the coastline?
4. ... particularly if you're too dumb to think about going around the border on open sea - and instead go back ON land and try to get your dumb ass smuggled across?

Edited May 9, 2016 by Nashville

[JackONeill]

I still don't get the whole "having paid to get ONLY two people across the border." That implies that some people (Strand, Abigal and the Mexicans) knew that shit was about to or was hitting the fan.

but there is no border in open water. They are in a really big boat. And Mexico doesn't have much of a Navy and a large coastline, unless they've forgotten or given up on the Gulf/Atlantic side.

but I guess we'll find out more next week.

[JackONeill]

Yes, it was perhaps not wise to leave Chris on watch duty given his obvious, and understandable, feelings. But I don't remember anyone telling Chris, "Hey, we can USE this guy."

 unless I missed something, the whole exchange of family members only came about a little later when Chris wasn't around. Now, if they (strand and useless family) had ALL (inc. Chris) sat down and formulated a plan that included trying to make an exchange, then okay, Chris would have known. But the way it played out, he didn't know. Should he have deduced it -- maybe. But frankly, in the real world, who would have thought of that. I think most people would have been totally lost (except for those on Lost, and even they were lost for a couple of seasons). 

 

One of of my biggest complaints about shows like this is they never show the leads planning things, discussing things, or if they do, it's only a couple of people, so all the others are, apparantly, in the dark. That's no way to run an airline (or escape yacht).

Edited May 9, 2016 by JackONeill

[kj4ever]

If Madison wants to be the "Rick" or the "bad ass" as the actress is always saying then she needs to do more than stand there looking like she smelled a ghost fart when someone is getting the hell beat out of them.

It was totally out of character for Daniel to leave Chris's unbalanced ass keeping a look out.  Stupid writing.

Alicia ....I too was hoping she would hit a propeller when she jumped/slid.

So I already like Louis more then 95% of the characters who have been on this show for over a season.  What does that tell you?

They got one more and I'm out.  The drivel they are serving us isn't even worthy of hate watching.

[HighMaintenance]

Next week... um...I dunno.  This show moves at a glacial pace.  

Because I spend way too much time trying to find a grain of logic on this show, I find is difficult to tell when or if the Abigail has moved, how far, which direction, etc. Are they near LA or are they near San Diego?  Or Tijuana?  For me, it's like a space-time continuum gone wacko.  When they go from LA to "pretend Catalina".  That's like a distance of 30-ish miles or so.  Seemed like it took them days to get there.  And San Diego?  120-ish miles.  And the plane carrying Alex and cinnamon toast crunch boy?  Wasn't that attempting to land in LAX and noticeably preparing to crash (per Nick's perspective) in LA?  Then how the hell did they find Alex in some proximity to San Diego in order to drag her there in the raft?  Then Nick swims ashore at night with choppers and boats aplenty.  Was that Mexico? BFE California?  Then they headed "north" to go to the dry dock marina to rescue Travis and Breck girl.  Where was that?  San Diego? 

Apparently, I'm thinking too much about this.

[Jel]

9 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

This show is so disappointing. Whenever these people bear their feelings, I don't buy it. When Alicia was talking to Jack about the change in the world, it just sounded like an afterschool special. Travis comes off as so weak, that everytime he waxes poetically about times gone by, I only get annoyed. Flight 462 "Chaka Khan" came off as a judgemental prick and I really don't know what she thought anyone was going to be able to do for a severe burn victim. I didn't understand what I was supposed to think of the victim asking not to let him drown. If the showrunners wanted to imply that he wanted a quicker death, they should have made that clear. But when you're stranded in the ocean while your lungs are filling with your own fluid, the request just seems confounding.

Alicia is brought aboard, fed a steak and then left to wander and plot as she pleases. It was incredulous that she uttered the words that they wouldn't get caught if they commandeered a boat. And how is a person brought on board under protest put at the helm and given all the company secrets? 

Given that Chris continually acts like a baby, is emotional, doesn't do what he's told and is seemingly highly suggestible, why would Daniel leave him in charge of a prisoner who is actively trying to manipulate those he comes in contact with? I know he wanted to keep Chris busy, but that was not the job.

The exchange of prisoners and a tied up walker chomping through two grown men was silly. Some stuff is so amateurish it's like watching Jill Duggar's husband doing those plays down in Central America.

I think I am one of the few here who really likes this show, but I have to say that confounded me, too.  I took it to mean it forced her to break her own moral code, killing an actual alive person, but, in that context, it was a moral act because it  was actually merciful, preventing him from a death by drowning, (that he specifically asked her not to let happen.)  So, she's a very moral person, who now, having violated her morals, becomes excessively vengeful and instantly immoral by endangering the lives of everyone on the Abigail, even Madison and Chris, and Alisha, who begged for help for her and the kid. Doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

Maybe we'll see her join up with a, as someone else said, one-armed Connor and spurned Jack and they'll become serious baddies together.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Jel

[JackONeill]

There are two versions of this show, the East Coast version and the West Coast version. We either aimlessly walk in circles in pine trees, or we aimlessly boat in circles in blue water.

[Lamima]

28 minutes ago, HighMaintenance said:

Next week... um...I dunno.  This show moves at a glacial pace.  

Because I spend way too much time trying to find a grain of logic on this show, I find is difficult to tell when or if the Abigail has moved, how far, which direction, etc. Are they near LA or are they near San Diego?  Or Tijuana?  For me, it's like a space-time continuum gone wacko.  When they go from LA to "pretend Catalina".  That's like a distance of 30-ish miles or so.  Seemed like it took them days to get there.  And San Diego?  120-ish miles.  And the plane carrying Alex and cinnamon toast crunch boy?  Wasn't that attempting to land in LAX and noticeably preparing to crash (per Nick's perspective) in LA?  Then how the hell did they find Alex in some proximity to San Diego in order to drag her there in the raft?  Then Nick swims ashore at night with choppers and boats aplenty.  Was that Mexico? BFE California?  Then they headed "north" to go to the dry dock marina to rescue Travis and Breck girl.  Where was that?  San Diego? 

Apparently, I'm thinking too much about this.

Don't you know...you need to watch Talking Dead to find all this out [eye roll emoji]. Yeah, I am lost a lot with this show. It is so poorly written/directed. I even have to record GoT to watch at 10pm (after Fear) since DDs watch Fear too. Not doing it anymore. I will watch GoT on time on another TV and DDs can have this show to themselves. And, by the way, they say they LOVE it and so do all their schoolmates so it seems to be a hit with the HS crowd [another eye roll emoji].

Edited May 9, 2016 by Lamima

[TattleTeeny]

11 hours ago, mightysparrow said:

Jack is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better looking in real-life.

Ha! I actually said the opposite! Maybe I like disheveled?

Not that it was without problems, but this episode was good, IMO. I was definitely more interested than I've been in past weeks. However, I would have liked to see more of this Conor. And I totally predicted to my BF that there would be some Weekend at Bernie's-style plan!

Edited May 9, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[Primetimer]

If you were waiting for her to do something interesting, it's been a looooong season.

View the full article

[diebartdie]

12 hours ago, xaxat said:

Too much "This is the way we are now!" exposition! 

They only succeeded because they were facing a crew so incompetent that they were defeated by a single walker and a guy who literally had both hands tied behind his back!

And kicking! Maddie was kicking the roughneck guys who were so bad ass they didnt even carry any sort of weapon with them. KICKING!!!! Few things to add....ok, I can understand characters in the show being gullible enough to believe "he was gonna turn" was the truth but we, audience members most of whom have been watching this version of the zombie apocalypse for years so we knew when we saw Reed had just got a face shot, one that clearly angled away from his brain area, one that roughly followed along his jaw line that if Reed HAD been GOING to turn, he would be turned NOW, that head shot wasnt brain penetrating (and old timers know, you only have to penetrate the skull 1/2 inch or so to kill a walker. Beebee gun at point blank range would do the trick tbh).

I reckon Conner (I wondered at the time if that steak was cow or longpig) will show back up with one arm, Jack on one side, Chaka on the other, chasing and menacing the castaways forever. As another poster already pointed out, SOMEBODY out there has some mighty heavy firepower and they will be gunning for our plucky band of survivors. I pretty much thought this episode was funny. Like comedic funny. Parts of it had a real "comedy of errors" vibe, I thought Alicia's great boat escape was slapstick-esque, and Maddie with her damn kicking just had me hooting with laughter. She should kick forever.

Edited May 9, 2016 by diebartdie

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, HighMaintenance said:

Next week... um...I dunno.  This show moves at a glacial pace.  

Because I spend way too much time trying to find a grain of logic on this show, I find is difficult to tell when or if the Abigail has moved, how far, which direction, etc. Are they near LA or are they near San Diego?  Or Tijuana?  For me, it's like a space-time continuum gone wacko.  When they go from LA to "pretend Catalina".  That's like a distance of 30-ish miles or so.  Seemed like it took them days to get there.  And San Diego?  120-ish miles.  And the plane carrying Alex and cinnamon toast crunch boy?  Wasn't that attempting to land in LAX and noticeably preparing to crash (per Nick's perspective) in LA?  Then how the hell did they find Alex in some proximity to San Diego in order to drag her there in the raft?  Then Nick swims ashore at night with choppers and boats aplenty.  Was that Mexico? BFE California?  Then they headed "north" to go to the dry dock marina to rescue Travis and Breck girl.  Where was that?  San Diego? 

Apparently, I'm thinking too much about this.

Catalina Island is about 22 or 23 miles from Los Angeles (despite the song that claims it is "26 miles across the sea"), with the closest mainland point being in Long Beach.  From LB you can get to Avalon (main town of Catalina) in about one hour, give or take 10 minutes, if you're on a catamaran/ferry sort of deal and depending on the wind conditions and all of that.  From San Pedro you could probably get there in about 90 minutes, traveling at a decent pace.  If you decide to stop at Two Harbors, which is on the other side of the Island and was shown on FTWD, you'd actually hit that first, before Avalon.

But even on the slowest yacht or boat out there (not a catamaran/ferry sort of deal), and in the strongest wind, they should be able to get to the island in a day, or maybe overnight.  And clearly they have not been battling storms and high winds, so that shouldn't have slowed them down.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Sherry67

[RustbeltWriter]

The more I saw of Connor, the more I'm convinced he thought the ZA was his opportunity to stop being a cook on a fishing boat and instead become the Richard Branson of Southern California piracy. Maybe he thought he could start his own fleet and call it Virgin Plunderers.

Oh, and I am completely over villains having one-sided conversations with their prisoners on these shows. Alicia asks a question and Connor ruminates about cooking for fishermen. Alicia asks about her family and Connor talks about how much Jack likes her. It's annoying.

The cast is fine but the writing and directing all suck. Why did Chris shoot that guy? Who knows. What we do know is it served the plot so motivation is unimportant. Thank goodness Connor put a hood on Travis or that exchange would have been weird, huh?

Edited May 9, 2016 by RustbeltWriter

[kdm07]

2 hours ago, Jel said:

I think I am one of the few here who really likes this show, but I have to say that confounded me, too.

I like it too! We can form a little group in the corner somewhere :) I do however, get incredibly frustrated with Madison's fervent need to keep her kids out of the loop. Daniel is right, they're not kids any more so let them get involved Maddie! Otherwise they make dumb mistakes like Alicia has continued to do.

[Rock knocker]

4 hours ago, JackONeill said:

I still don't get the whole "having paid to get ONLY two people across the border." That implies that some people (Strand, Abigal and the Mexicans) knew that shit was about to or was hitting the fan.

but there is no border in open water. They are in a really big boat. And Mexico doesn't have much of a Navy and a large coastline, unless they've forgotten or given up on the Gulf/Atlantic side.

but I guess we'll find out more next week.

I just don't think that during a ZA where the US military is effectively defeated and all the infra structure has been destroyed, that national borders are going to remain any sort of deterrent.

 

Except the US/Mexican border near San Diego.

[kj4ever]

So Connor never feeds people steak but was feeding it to Alicia....Prego girl takes it from her rather snottily once Connor is out of sight.  Are we supposed to make the leap that the "nice" one Connor was going to "claim" Alicia?

Does anyone know how old Ofelia is supposed to be?  Her Nick scenes seem weird because she looks like she could be his Mother or Aunt or something.

[txhorns79]

Quote

But even on the slowest yacht or boat out there (not a catamaran/ferry sort of deal), and in the strongest wind, they should be able to get to the island in a day, or maybe overnight.  And clearly they have not been battling storms and high winds, so that shouldn't have slowed them down.

The only thing I could think of is maybe they are taking non-traditional routes there so as to try to avoid other boats.

[ghoulina]

10 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

 

Well, Connor and his gang ended up being pretty underwhelming.  At least Connor was a decent cook, because that steak did look good

 

Carl is going to so wish he'd hooked up with this group. No pudding or dog food on THEIR menu!

 

10 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Not surprised Alex is still alive and understandably pissed, but she is madder at Travis instead of Strand?  I didn't understand her logic.  It sounded like it was kind of variation of that she felt he was better then that and mad that he suspected it was going to happen, and didn't stop it.  I guess one of those "At least Strand admits he's a bastard!" kind of thing, but it didn't fly for me.  I still think Strand would be her main person.

That entire scene fell flat for me as well. The only person I blamed for what happened to them was Strand. 

 

10 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

am so not looking forward to this ongoing "Madison won't let Nick to do anything, even though he seems to be the one best suited to handle this shit" spat that is going on.  Just accept it, Maddie.  Your former druggie son can better adapt to a zombie apocalypse then you can.

Right?! I'd follow Daniel and Nick, but the rest can get lost. Also, she kept saying "the kids" shouldn't be involved. I could see her saying that about Chris or Alicia, but Nick is surely over 18. So he literally isn't a kid anymore - this isn't just the figurative, "they're not kids anymore", growing up fast like Carl Grimes kind of thing. He's a grown man, let him make his own choices!

 

10 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

With Strand out of commission, Daniel easily was the MVP to me for this episode, with him using Zombie Reed to their advantage

That was definitely the smartest thing this group has done so far. It allowed them to get close enough for Travis to be exchanged, and the fact that Reed was Connor's brother caused an extra moment of panic/confusion that really worked to their advantage. 

[misstwpherecool]

Some revenge for Alex! - YES, still need more.

My guess is the captain or strand was on her list as well. A few epi's back when she questioned them debating to let them board you knew she would be back. That was a set up for future epis.

That's actually a good idea to set up shop on that dry docked ship. Walkers can't do ladders.

I'm still wondering about money and Mexico? I guess it's too early in the apocalypse.

[Sentient Meat]

So if I am to understand this correctly, the decimated post apocalypse Mexican authorities have found a way to do something the pre apocalypse American government has unsuccessfully tried for decades... secure the US-Mexican border.

[izabella]

1 hour ago, kdm07 said:

Daniel is right, they're not kids any more so let them get involved Maddie! Otherwise they make dumb mistakes like Alicia has continued to do.

Letting Chris guard Reed was dumb.  He is so unstable and emo that he shouldn't be involved in anything.  Neither should Alicia - she's already proven herself to be a liability. 

I'm not clear why Alex had such a hate on for Travis.  It's not Travis' boat, and he wasn't the one who cut the tow rope, so her anger seems misplaced.  I don't really care about her, though, so I'm hoping that's the last we see of her and that merry band of incompetent pirates.  I'm not even sure what the point was of them taking Alicia and Travis.  Did they ever explain that?  It doesn't really seem like they had any plan for them.  Their plan was to steal the boat, right?  And if they had succeeded in killing everyone and doing so, did they capture Travis because he showed such promise at being a boat mechanic?

I've liked all the episodes up until this one - it dragged for me.  Too much time spent with people talking across chain link fence and steaks.

[Rock knocker]

6 minutes ago, Sentient Meat said:

So if I am to understand this correctly, the decimated post apocalypse Mexican authorities have found a way to do something the pre apocalypse American government has unsuccessfully tried for decades... secure the US-Mexican border.

You're questioning the plausibility of that?

[kj4ever]

15 minutes ago, izabella said:

Letting Chris guard Reed was dumb.  He is so unstable and emo that he shouldn't be involved in anything.  Neither should Alicia - she's already proven herself to be a liability. 

I'm not clear why Alex had such a hate on for Travis.  It's not Travis' boat, and he wasn't the one who cut the tow rope, so her anger seems misplaced.  I don't really care about her, though, so I'm hoping that's the last we see of her and that merry band of incompetent pirates.  I'm not even sure what the point was of them taking Alicia and Travis.  Did they ever explain that?  It doesn't really seem like they had any plan for them.  Their plan was to steal the boat, right?  And if they had succeeded in killing everyone and doing so, did they capture Travis because he showed such promise at being a boat mechanic?

I've liked all the episodes up until this one - it dragged for me.  Too much time spent with people talking across chain link fence and steaks.

I was bewildered by that too.  I mean Strain just wanted to dump them over and be done with it.  Travis stuck up and said they would tow them.  Gave them supplies....If she were to ask for someone it makes no sense for her to pick Travis instead of Strain except for Strain needed to be in the water and owing good old stone face a favor in the coming scenes.

[tiredofwork]

Quote

If Madison wants to be the "Rick" or the "bad ass" as the actress is always saying then she needs to do more than stand there looking like she smelled a ghost fart when someone is getting the hell beat out of them.

A thousand times THIS!!!!

I get nothing out of this actress playing that role, I have no idea what she has been in before, but she in my opinion gives us nothing chilling or a suppressed anger like persona that impresses me.  If you want to be a badass Rick, Michonne,, Carol et al.., you need to sell it much, much better. 

Edited May 9, 2016 by tiredofwork

[meep.meep]

If Travis hadn't suggested towing Alex and the boy in the raft, then what did she think was going to happen?  Strand wasn't letting her on board, and the shore was covered with zombies.  They could have died right there, died in the water, or died on shore.  Travis did her a favor.

Who thought that Maddie was going to wreck the Abigail by turning too fast and sharply?

[Yolapukka]

Quote

Yeah, but none of his people died, so in walking dead terms, that was a success.

*cough* Liza *cough*

 

 I was pleased to find myself genuinely appreciating Daniel this episode instead of resenting being presented with an example of grandiose stupidity, like his walker mob,  and being expected to see it as masterful.

Edited May 9, 2016 by yuggapukka

[piequinn35]

When I saw Alex again, I asked my hubby, "what happened to her hair?" :))

[Muffyn]

I think I've figured it out.  Alex was angry that she didn't get to stay on the yacht because they have all of the hair care products needed to maintain her normal style.  She has clearly run out of Frizz Ease.  With Travis' hair texture she thought he should be the most understanding of her plight. 

[callmebetty]

27 minutes ago, Muffyn said:

I think I've figured it out.  Alex was angry that she didn't get to stay on the yacht because they have all of the hair care products needed to maintain her normal style.  She has clearly run out of Frizz Ease.  With Travis' hair texture she thought he should be the most understanding of her plight. 

All I know is if there ever is any kind of apocalypse, zombie or otherwise, my hair is going to look more Nick like than Alicia like. I can't even go camping without my favorite accessory: a hat.

[ghoulina]

2 hours ago, izabella said:

I'm not even sure what the point was of them taking Alicia and Travis.  Did they ever explain that?  It doesn't really seem like they had any plan for them.  Their plan was to steal the boat, right?  And if they had succeeded in killing everyone and doing so, did they capture Travis because he showed such promise at being a boat mechanic?

I have been so confused by Connor's group since day one. They seemed to badly want the yacht running, so don't they want the actual yacht? Apparently not, if newly minted yacht captain, Madison has been able to just sail around with it willy nilly. So....they want people? To join their crew? And the best they could do was the braindead girl with good hair and the reluctant fighter, Travis? 

[TVFan17]

16 minutes ago, callmebetty said:

All I know is if there ever is any kind of apocalypse, zombie or otherwise, my hair is going to look more Nick like than Alicia like. I can't even go camping without my favorite accessory: a hat.

When I'm a boat or anywhere near the ocean, just caught in a sea breeze, my hair turns into a knotted mess.  If a boat is moving on the water, there will be wind.   My hair is long and unless I pull a hood over my head and hold the hair in, it will fly all around and be a rat's nest if I am standing outside on the boat.  So the fact that all of the women on this show have such great hairstyles -- hairstyles that are apparently not falling victim to sea air and strong wind -- is admirable.

[LocimusPrime]

First of all, hello everyone I've been reading this forum as well as the walking dead forum for a long time now, but I was always too lazy to set up an acct lol. 

I have a couple of issues with this episode 

1.  Why not have Strands Mexican gunman buddy and Salazar on the top outside deck with the two scoped AR-15s/ M4s during the hostage exchange.  The Hispanic guy could easily snipe them from 250-300 yds away since he did great from the moving raft in the previous episode.

2. Why all the confusion in regards to if Chris shot the prisoner after he turned? When they came into the room, the corpse was limp and quiet, after a few minutes he began to turn- a zombie can't turn twice.

3. If they need some more money to pay the Mexican Flotilla, why not port at the next city and head to the first bank they see;  I'm sure security officers aren't working and they could get access to the vaults using all sorts of unused equipment still available or head to a bunch of jewelry stores and pay for passage in gold/ diamonds. I'm sure they could just kill and loot a bunch of walkers as well. 

4.  Why does Maddison think she's such a badazz? Did being a guidance counselor provide her with the skills to command and execute hostage exchanges.  Seriously, Strand, Mexican Bourne, and Salizar are all better choices.  No offense to any females, but the female characters on this show are driving me crazy. 

[JackONeill]

I don't think the character of Maddie is weak. In fact, she seems kind of tough. Part of the problem I think stems from the actress (and I don't like to criticize the actors). She seems . . . lost. But I'm willing to blame most of that on the writers and directors. I don't think they know which way they're heading, so it's got to be tough for the actors. The old cliche "What's my motivation" is a cliche for a reason.

I do agree that everyone needs to get beyond thinking the kids are, well, kids. This is a different world we're in nowadays. There are no kids and adults, just dead and undead.

[BananaRama]

I really like Fear the Walking Dead so I try to make excuses or think of reasons for the characters' stupid behavior.  Stupid behavior such as; why didn't Maddie bring a gun with her to the prisoner exchange, and why is Maddie standing around while Travis headbutts the bad guy, and so on.  The only explanation I have is that these folks were just regular people a few months ago and they haven't learned the rules of survival in the ZA yet.  That could be said for both Maddie's group and Connor's group.  I'm guessing that the pregnant girl and Jack weren't gun-toting pirates before the zombie apocalypse.  I can't find an excuse for Alex wanting revenge on Travis instead of Strand - maybe she's just a jerk.

[JLG]

3 hours ago, tiredofwork said:

A thousand times THIS!!!!

I get nothing out of this actress playing that role, I have no idea what she has been in before, but she in my opinion gives us nothing chilling or a suppressed anger like persona that impresses me.  If you want to be a badass Rick, Michonne,, Carol et al.., you need to sell it much, much better. 

The last time I saw her, she was ruining Jax Teller's life on SOA.  Season 6, I think?

I actually like this show and I do think she is improving, just rather slowly.  She should definitely leave things up to Daniel and Straind.

[tvsoothesthespirit]

I liked the previous two episodes but with this I was back to wandering off and doing other things. From the comments I read, I don't think I missed anything important. This is a fine filler show -- it's great as background -- something you can half watch in case it might improve.
 

I agree with the comments on the kids -- Nick, at least, is not a kid. He's been fending for himself in junkie world for awhile now, right? Is Madison afraid he's going to use again? I'd say that probability lessens if she lets him do something he feels good at.

I, too, found the idea that the Dr. would be angrier at Travis than Strand hard to believe -- like I started questioning whether or not she actually remembered what happened.

I also don't understand "paying" to get into Mexico. They're making such a big deal out of it -- even if they paid in something other than money, why can't they just pay more and get more people in? If they paid in money (the most idiotic story line) can't they just stop and rifle through some more wreckage and get the money together? Are they paying to get into the country or paying to get into some sort of fenced off enclave?  The whole payment thing is badly explained and unbelievable. I wish they'd just drop it until the boat party gets where they're going and then deal with it then.

This episode makes me fear the rest of the season.

[piequinn35]

19 hours ago, mightysparrow said:

Am I the only one too old not to know (or care) who this Jesse McArtney person is?

Don't know who is he too, I googled him and found out he played Reed in FTWD and found this too on wiki:

In June 2011, McCartney introduced a new women's fragrance called Wanted By Jesse. lol

[phoenix780]

6 hours ago, Sentient Meat said:

So if I am to understand this correctly, the decimated post apocalypse Mexican authorities have found a way to do something the pre apocalypse American government has unsuccessfully tried for decades... secure the US-Mexican border.

I'm assuming we're in some alternate universe here.  An Earth-2 situation.  Or...if Nick is adapted to this reality because he's a recovered drug addict and being an addict gave him helpful skills for this new world, or whatever...maybe we should watch this show high and it would all fall into place.

I liked Alex from the plane episodes, I hope they don't think I'm going to see her as a villain anytime soon.  She could torture and kill all of our heroes slowly, I'd still be pissed if she gets injured/killed in the process.  And yet, I hope she doesn't join them because they suck.  

As far as why she'd be madder at Travis- maybe she wanted Strand but he wasn't available for capture?  I'll go with that, they'll probably explain it on the talking aftershow at some point. 

Now Madison...seemed for a second like she was concerned Nick was getting addicted to the danger, or something, 'cause she mentioned he had the same look in his eye as when he was high.  I don't think she's a badass yet but I'm starting to think she could be if the actress focuses more on the dead-eye look than her who-farted face (I swear she needs glasses or something).  I'm not buying the protective mother thing, though.  Maybe it's just about controlling them?  

[Peanut]

I'm sorry I missed the live chat with you guys last night.  It probably would've made the show more interesting.  As it was, I was just bored, and once again, people act like idiots.  

 

I'm not saying I'd be all cool and calm in the zombie apocalypse (lol no I'd be a hysterical mess), but I feelthey are still acting like this is all just a temporary disruption and things will go back to normal and so HEY DON'T COME BETWEEN ME AND MY SON.   Sometimes the psychologist's kid is the most messed up.  I think that's the case here, though he has definitely proven himself capable.  More than the rest of these morons. 

 

I also don't understand the whole bad guy situation.  You want the Abigail? Okay, shoot everyone and take it.  Don't leave three dingbats on the boat and head back to land with your two captives.  I don't understand the wait to bring it in, except for plot reasons.

Quote

 

Edited May 10, 2016 by Peanut
clarity. And apparently I can't take out the phantom quote. All righty then

[Helena Dax]

Wow, who knew a zombie apocalypse could be so damn boring!! I'm really, really disappointed with this show right now. If it doesn't get better soon, I'm out. 

And Madison? You're not the new Rick. You're the new Lori.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Helena Dax

[Iguessnot]

2 hours ago, Helena Dax said:

Wow, who knew a zombie apocalypse could be so damn boring!! I'm really, really disappointed with this show right now. If it doesn't get better soon, I'm out. 

And Madison? You're not the new Rick. You're the new Lori.

Madison can't hold a candle to Lori. However annoying or bitchy Lori was, the actress nailed the character. If she was passionate about something you felt it. Madison? Humph. That interaction she had with Travis in their bedroom an episode or two ago was so bad, most people can't even speak of it.

[For Cereals]

I'm a little concerned about Daniel seeing and hearing things.  Does this mean he will turn soon, or is his PTSD kicking in from all the torture of other Stuff?

[Iguessnot]

1 hour ago, Forcereals said:

I'm a little concerned about Daniel seeing and hearing things.  Does this mean he will turn soon, or is his PTSD kicking in from all the torture of other Stuff?

Even given his background, it seems to have come out of nowhere. Not even whispers. Loud ass voices demanding guns. Sheesh.

[RedheadZombie]

15 hours ago, kdm07 said:

I like it too! We can form a little group in the corner somewhere :) I do however, get incredibly frustrated with Madison's fervent need to keep her kids out of the loop. Daniel is right, they're not kids any more so let them get involved Maddie! Otherwise they make dumb mistakes like Alicia has continued to do.

I really like Daniel, but I'll respect his advice when I see how close he lets his precious Ofelia get to danger.

I don't have a problem with Madison trying to protect her kids.  It's early in the ZA.  Also, it's not like she's coddling Nick and Alicia and making others do the dangerous deeds.  She seems to also be protecting Chris and Ofelia - who I bet she includes in the "kid" category.  When she protects her kids, she takes on the dangerous tasks herself.  Seems to me, Madison and Alicia did pretty good jobs with the rescue.  I kind of like that Travis was the helpless damsel, and Madison was the one zooming up in the boat.  Also love that when they jumped back in the boat, Travis didn't pull the macho bullshit of taking over the boat - you know, because he's a man.

[qtpye]

On 5/9/2016 at 10:18 PM, SoSueMe said:

On 5/9/2016 at 10:16 PM, econ07 said:

So will the plane woman and pregnant lady steal a boat and ram the Abigail, Thelma and Louise style? 

Don't you sometimes wonder if the writers read these  boards to get ideas, lol?

Hey writers, all these people need to get eaten by zombies...they suck.