S03.E14: El Matadero

[raven]

Alicia encounters a potential ally; Ofelia fights for survival; Nick uses his skill set for profit.

[SimoneS]

One of the many things that I don't understand about this show is; why are there so few people and/or walkers ? It is only a couple months since the infection started. There are millions of people in the U.S. and Mexico. If they are not still human, they should be walkers so where the fuck are all or even some of them?

Poor badass black chick. You just know she is dead black woman walking. 

Edited October 9, 2017 by SimoneS

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Welp, bye Ofelia.

[mightysparrow]

1 minute ago, SimoneS said:

One of the many things that I don't understand about this show is; why are there so few people and/or walkers ? It is only a couple months since the infection started. There are millions of people in the U.S. and Mexico. If they are not still human, they should be walkers so where the fuck are all or even some of them?

Poor badass black chick. You just know she is dead black woman walking. 

Either that or Colman has a new gig.

[candall]

Quote

Ofelia fights for survival; Nick uses his skill set for profit.

Weird episode description--I didn't see either one of these things.

"Ofelia pleads to die before her father arrives; Nick gets way fucked up."

[MrsRafaelBarba]

30 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

One of the many things that I don't understand about this show is; why are there so few people and/or walkers ? It is only a couple months since the infection started. There are millions of people in the U.S. and Mexico. If they are not still human, they should be walkers so where the fuck are all or even some of them?

Poor badass black chick. You just know she is dead black woman walking. 

Alicia's new buddy is named Diana.

Portrayed by Edwina Finley.

 

Hope she survives and returns next season.

Edited October 9, 2017 by MrsRafaelBarba

[oakville]

I don't understand how Nick can get stoned, kill a walker, put blood on his face & Troy's face & wander through a horde of walkers without getting bitten.

Why did Madison not care about Alicia & Nick leaving her?

What is Strand trying to trade with the Proctor? Weapons from the Ranch?

I find Nick to be very annoying again.

I am sad that Ophelia couldn't say goodbye to Daniel.

I find it ludicrous that Alicia thinks she can survive on her own, when she could barely avoid getting killed in a box full of toy balls.

On the TWD, if you started talking while walking through a horde , the walkers would hear the sound and attack if even if you wearing a bloody shirt. This happened in Alexandria to Rick's girlfriend.

Yet, Nick is chatting with Troy while wandering through the horde. Do the Walkers not understand English?

[Iguessnot]

That drug scene just pissed me off. Why would he jump straight into the drug dens the hot second he got into the Thunderdome? They've been trying to put on Nick's big boy pants for the past few episodes and suddenly for no obvious reason, he's a full druggie again. Broke Jaw had morphine and other pharmaceuticals, but Nick never indulged his addiction. But now, without even getting a proper feel of the place, he's ready to party. Yeah, I heard that stupid line about not going back to her, but he was back and real chill in the morn. 

Now you can charge at, side-eye, bromance and chit chat among the dead as long as you swipe a little goo on your forehead. 

[SimoneS]

6 minutes ago, oakville said:

On the TWD, if you started talking while walking through a horde , the walkers would hear the sound and attack if even if you wearing a bloody shirt. This happened in Alexandria to Rick's girlfriend.

Yet, Nick is chatting with Troy while wandering through the horde. Do the Walkers not understand English?

Not only that, on TWD, they had to put walker intestines and tissue to mask the human smell. On this show, just smearing some blood on your face will do. If that is all it takes, why doesn't everyone do it? 

[Iguessnot]

14 minutes ago, MrsRafaelBarba said:

Alicia's new buddy is named Diana.

Portrayed by Edwina Finley.

 

Hope she survives and returns next season.

Nice character but I kept wondering how she was maintaining her relaxer in the ZA.

[For Cereals]

2 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

Nice character but I kept wondering how she was maintaining her relaxer in the ZA.

Even after years of weaves to go natural and gain length, I would totally shave my head and do the Amber Rose thing if it hit the fan. Peroxide has got to be easier to come by than Dark and Lovely.

Edited October 9, 2017 by For Cereals

[SimoneS]

3 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

Nice character but I kept wondering how she was maintaining her relaxer in the ZA.

Bwah. It never even occurred to me. You would think that she would have dreads or pull her hair like Sacha or a short fro.

[talktalk]

What is going on between Nick and Troy? Are they becoming a couple??? 

Did Stand betray his friends and sold out the dam? 

[william0102]

I can't figure out if Alicia's new "friend" is staying or not. I like the character Diana, mad we had to learn her name on Talking Dead, doesn't fare well for the character's survival. On the other hand, we've lost Ofelia :( so maybe we get Diana for a while? Is this Nick and Troy story so much more interesting than a reunion between Ofelia and Daniel (not to mention the tension they could have between Ofelia/Daniel/Taka- how could it be more interesting than exploring Daniel hating Taka for turning Ofelia into a murderer? Or Ofelia standing up for Taka, only to realize he's too much like her dad, so she gives him the heave ho and repairs her relationship with her dad?) I enjoyed the ballpit scene, and Alicia just getting to talk to people that weren't trying to overtake a ranch. I'm gonna be sad when Alicia loses her new "friend".

As mentioned above, I have no interest in Nick and Crazypants!Troy. I don't like Nick, really don't like a Nick who is on drugs, so wherever they are going with this whole thing is of no interest to me. They dropped whatever they had planned to be going on between Madison and Crazypants, which was at least somewhat interesting. I refuse to believe that these writers are planning anything more than to have CP using Nick to get to Madison, cuz I also refuse to believe that someone crazy like Troy would just move on to a new obsession when he has Madison right there. Get rid of CP, he's of no use. If they can't find an organic way of Nick chaffing around Madison (oh gee, who left her mother recently? And was the one who somewhat reigned in Madison when it comes to nick???) Then they need to leave his character to be redeemed, since that's what they seemed to be doing in their eyes.

I don't see (sorry can't remember her name) the lady in charge of the dam making it very long, so how is her death going to affect Daniel anymore than Ofelia's? We already got the line about the cost of him surviving is death, so will one more lady in his life make a difference than his wife and child? Especially when I think we all know the dam lady is fodder. That said, I did like the death scene, and Daniel coming back for Madison. It's so weird when you think about it, Madison does this stuff for Daniel and Strand, they both know she is honest with them, but she has such shitty relationships with her children.

Speaking of her other child, way to not give a shit that your daughter hasn't even made it to her destination before her brother left her, Madison. I just don't get it, cuz it's not like Madison is seeking validation from the people around her. She's not going out of her way to help people, so why is she just shit at her relationships with her kids? It's not interesting. Are we supposed to assume that because her father was abusive, that she can't form close personal relationships? That she could be a school counselor, and somewhat decent to people she likes, but just can't bond in a healthy way with her children/spouses ( no one can convince that their dad didn't commit suicide because of Madison lol)? Cuz if that's it, then they need to actually show that or, I don't know, have someone ask her why, because I just have had enough of her character. To have her feel like she let Daniel/Ofelia down, and just not say anything when she knew Nick was lying about why he wanted to stay, made no sense with her character, especially after Alicia left. Strand, who imo has more survival instincts than Nick, got screwed over in that market, but Nick and CP are gonna be okay? Stupid plot motivation to splitup so they can warn the dam people about Proctor.

I will miss Ofelia, I think they had more to do with her since there was already tension between her and Taka after the anthrax thing. Then there's the he saved her thing, and the her dad thing--- why? did they kill her again? Oh wait, I remember, it's season 3 and it's time to kill off a female cast member. *rolls eyes* Mercedes is hilarious, I will miss her on Talking Dead and her posts about the show. 

Oh, Strand, what did you do now buddy? What does Proctor have that you would give them the location of(?) the dam? Or does he still owe Proctor, and it was some other person that wanted Strand killed the last time they were there? Doesn't matter, I love Strand, and at least it won't be Madison destroying the dam.

Edited October 9, 2017 by william0102

[Muffyn]

So Madison was a school counselor meaning one of her primary job skills was communication, even in difficult circumstances.  But in her taciturn brilliance she lets Daniel hug his dead daughter who should be turning momentarily.  She sucks in so many ways.

Of course she's brilliant enough to leave junkie Nick with a bag full o' drugs.  We all knew that would end well.  Then Nick, showing he got his reasoning skills from her, chooses to get high with Mr. Everyone I Know Deserves to Die McShiny Teeth.  The stupidity knows no bounds. 

The biggest problem with the Nick and Troy spinning among the walkers scene isn't that they're talking, or spinning, or barely have any blood on them; it's that the show thinks we care if these two chucklefucks get taken out of the living population.  The pair of them deserve to die many times over. 

When Madison tells Daniel that Ofelia saved Alicia's life, I wish he had responded, "Big fucking deal.  Ooh, your daughter gets to live.  I just dug a grave for mine with my bare hands."  I expect that when he said "This is no place for you" he meant they can't afford to have her destroy this place too.     

[Nashville]

Swear to God, though; when they started going on about Proctologist John* I couldn't help but heave a sigh and say to myself, "Well, at least now we know who the NEXT Mister McBaddypants will be."  Because no ZA is complete without some megalomaniacal motorboating mofo playing Pinky And the Brain games, donchaknow.

 

 

* And yeah I know he actually goes by Proctor John,  I really just don't give a flying Fannie Mae fuck.  To me, entertainment-wise, he's just another finger up my ass.

[nodorothyparker]

Is that what Madison was doing?  I honestly can never tell what she's going for in pretty much any scene.  If that ending was supposed to be her realizing he either has to sink or swim and she can't save him, then yeah, that would actually be logical.  But for all I could tell, it might have been more of her giving the usual stinkface and saying sure, go off and have your little whatever this is with Crazy Ass Troy.  It's not like we haven't already been given ample evidence that he's completely batshit but I'm sure my drug-addled favorite kid will be fine with him.

You know, show, if you're going to tease me with a kiddie climbing gym and ball pit AND you have more walkers coming in, it's really not nice to only throw me one half-assed bone of Alicia flailing around with one walker for a few seconds.  Since this bunch can open doors there's really no reason at least one couldn't make it down the slide.  You still owe me bouncy house walkers from the first season, dammit.

I actually wasn't bored by Alicia's new friend, who you apparently had to watch TTD to even learn was named Diana.  Although she seems awfully hardened for a timeline that I think is still supposedly only a few months long at best, she also seems like she might have a clue or three.  The upkeep on her hair did briefly occur to me, but then I'm often bored enough I already spend an ordinate amount of time wondering how Alicia and Madison keep their hair so extra super shiny in a storyline where lack of water is such a huge plot point.

Can Strand stop screwing around with whatever next bad bad is coming next and just carve out time to yell at Madison for being stupid at least once every episode?  He was giving me serious shades of the "It's my boat, it's my boar, and number three, in case you've forgotten, it's my boat" speech.  

[oakville]

9 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

Is that what Madison was doing?  I honestly can never tell what she's going for in pretty much any scene.  If that ending was supposed to be her realizing he either has to sink or swim and she can't save him, then yeah, that would actually be logical.  But for all I could tell, it might have been more of her giving the usual stinkface and saying sure, go off and have your little whatever this is with Crazy Ass Troy.  It's not like we haven't already been given ample evidence that he's completely batshit but I'm sure my drug-addled favorite kid will be fine with him.

You know, show, if you're going to tease me with a kiddie climbing gym and ball pit AND you have more walkers coming in, it's really not nice to only throw me one half-assed bone of Alicia flailing around with one walker for a few seconds.  Since this bunch can open doors there's really no reason at least one couldn't make it down the slide.  You still owe me bouncy house walkers from the first season, dammit.

I actually wasn't bored by Alicia's new friend, who you apparently had to watch TTD to even learn was named Diana.  Although she seems awfully hardened for a timeline that I think is still supposedly only a few months long at best, she also seems like she might have a clue or three.  The upkeep on her hair did briefly occur to me, but then I'm often bored enough I already spend an ordinate amount of time wondering how Alicia and Madison keep their hair so extra super shiny in a storyline where lack of water is such a huge plot point.

Can Strand stop screwing around with whatever next bad bad is coming next and just carve out time to yell at Madison for being stupid at least once every episode.  He was giving me serious shades of the "It's my boat, it's my boar, and number three, in case you've forgotten, it's my boat" speech.  

I don't understand why Alicia didn't close the door to the restaurant before the Walkers came inside. Walkers can't open doors in the TWD.

[nodorothyparker]

My husband, when he wasn't making fun of me for trying to soldier through this although he was also half-assedly watching, thought it was one of those push to enter doors you see on a lot of businesses and basically stumbling against it was enough for them to let themselves inside.  But that doesn't answer why they suddenly had to be inside in the first place as Alicia wasn't being particularly noisy or drawing attention to herself in any of the ways we've be told usually lure them.

[mightysparrow]

When Nick and Troy were swooning through that herd of walkers, I was BEGGING Show to put the audience out of its misery.  I can sort of buy that a little blood on the face is enough to get through a herd.  I can sort of buy that walking through a herd of walkers with a little blood on the face and TALKING is enough to get through a herd.  What I can't buy is walking through a herd of walkers with a little blood on the face and talking while Troy is flashing his HUGE, glow-in-the-dark TEEFS!  Those choppers should have walkers from miles around running to the Thunderdome.

11 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

Nice character but I kept wondering how she was maintaining her relaxer in the ZA.

I thought I was the only one!  When she asked Alicia if she would sell her hair, I thought Diana might have been a hairdresser pre-ZA and had a crate of Dark & Lovely in the car.

[nodorothyparker]

I wonder how many credits they'll give you for a fistful of Alicia's shiny shiny hair at the Thunderdome & Exchange. 

You know there's a hairdresser of the apocalypse there.

[JackONeill]

13 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

I wonder how many credits they'll give you for a fistful of Alicia's shiny shiny hair at the Thunderdome & Exchange. 

You know there's a hairdresser of the apocalypse there.

You know a real hairdresser prizes their scissors. They cost gazillions of dollars, and have to be "maintained." You want to talk about a conundrum—show a hairdresser with only their scissors as a weapon and have Walker approach them. Will they be arable to use their priced scissors to save their life???? And since there's no power they wouldn't be able to use their hairdryer as a method to ward walkers...or split ends. Oh, what to do, what to do?

[oakville]

10 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Yeah, it was real subtle, but I do believe that she has reached her limit with Nick, that he was going to have to sink or swim on his own.

That said, they really do need to budget for though bubbles next season and place them above Madison's head every time she opens her pie hole.  She always seems to have that constipated look on her face.  I want her to hook up with Troy, just so that I can see if the expression on her face changes during a sex scene.

 

Several episodes ago when Madison promised to bring Daniel's daughter to him, it was pretty clear that Ofelia's days were numbered.

The one thing that is far too predictable with this show, is that if something can go wrong, it always will go wrong.

I am tired of watching Madison.

I can't understand why she could care less about Alicia being left alone to wander around deserted towns.

Why would she not be worried about leaving Nick in Thunderdome?

[mxc90]

The little girl walker in the ball pit should have jumped at Alicia screaming "Bazinga".

[ljenkins782]

10 hours ago, Muffyn said:

When Madison tells Daniel that Ofelia saved Alicia's life, I wish he had responded, "Big fucking deal.  Ooh, your daughter gets to live.  I just dug a grave for mine with my bare hands."  I expect that when he said "This is no place for you" he meant they can't afford to have her destroy this place too.     

Yeah, that seemed like the worst possible tack for her to take with Daniel. She saved US, who you don't really care for, and she died for it. How was that supposed to soften the blow? 

I find it so hard to care where this show is going, the cast seems so splintered and disparate and Madison & family are tough characters to root for. 

[lala2]

Why do you guys think Nick relapsed? I think he's been teetering on the edge ever since he killed that old guy.  Forgot his name.  Then with Jake dying, Alicia leaving, and Madison now counting on him, he seemed to just fall off.  What do y'all think? I see most here don't like Nick, but I'm interested in your thoughts! 

[Rock knocker]

21 minutes ago, lala2 said:

Why do you guys think Nick relapsed? I think he's been teetering on the edge ever since he killed that old guy.  Forgot his name.  Then with Jake dying, Alicia leaving, and Madison now counting on him, he seemed to just fall off.  What do y'all think? I see most here don't like Nick, but I'm interested in your thoughts! 

Well, since it's been about two months since he went off heroin and the zombie apocolypse started, I think his rehab has been too flawless so far.  In real life, he'd still be in Schick-Shadel, much less saving his family.

[SimoneS]

16 hours ago, Rock knocker said:

Well, since it's been about two months since he went off heroin and the zombie apocolypse started, I think his rehab has been too flawless so far.  In real life, he'd still be in Schick-Shadel, much less saving his family.

I agree. Under the best circumstances, it usually takes addicts several attempts to get clean. Given the stress of the Zombie Apocalypse, I would expect Nick to have multiple relapses if not stay high as long as he has access to drugs. I always thought that The Strain's portrayal of its lead character, a recovering alcoholic who fell off the wagon as his life disintegrated and never stopped drinking even to the end, was pretty realistic.

Edited October 10, 2017 by SimoneS

[lala2]

47 minutes ago, Rock knocker said:

Well, since it's been about two months since he went off heroin and the zombie apocolypse started, I think his rehab has been too flawless so far.  In real life, he'd still be in Schick-Shadel, much less saving his family.

So true. In S2, I expected to see him in a much worse state than he was. Heck, even towards the end of in S1, I kept waiting to see him looking for drugs, but that part was completely dropped. It seemed like he kicked the habit on his own. He has been in such a good place that I forgot about his drug addiction until last night. LOL! When he started eyeing the pills, my sister and I were like, "Don't do it, Nick." 

I don't mind that he relapsed, and I agree it's realistic for him to do so. I'm just wondering why now. I guess it's just a culmination of recent events for him. But he's been around drugs before and didn't give into temptation. 

[Jel]

1 hour ago, lala2 said:

Why do you guys think Nick relapsed? I think he's been teetering on the edge ever since he killed that old guy.  Forgot his name.  Then with Jake dying, Alicia leaving, and Madison now counting on him, he seemed to just fall off.  What do y'all think? I see most here don't like Nick, but I'm interested in your thoughts! 

As far as I know, addicts relapse under all sorts of circumstance, sometimes best, sometimes worst, sometimes just opportunity. I have a lot of problems with the logistics of this series, but Nick's relapse has been a long time coming I think, so I wasn't surprised by it at all.  He had a slight break in the action, was in a well contained area, the ranch has just gone, the whole world pretty much sucks and he had the opportunity.

[lala2]

I wonder why Troy just went along w/all of Nick's craziness.  It felt like an after-school special about drugs and peer pressure. LOL! I don't mean that in a bad way . . . . the whole thing was interesting to see play out.  Those two have a weird dynamic anyway. 

[thuganomics85]

So, Ofeila actually got bitten in the air ducts and dies before she is reunited with Daniel?  Sad, I guess.

Alicia meets a new friend, even though they claim they aren't actually the word.  But those who kill walkers together likely stick together!

Nick goes back to his junkie ways to the point he even freaks out Troy of all people, and decides to stay at the dome instead of go to the dam.  Madison's now had both of her children decided to go elsewhere.  Ouch.  Can't blame them though.

Seems like Strand might have made some kind of shady deal?

Dull episode.  Maybe the finale will shake things up, but I've learned not to expect too much from this show.

[JackONeill]

It's kind of weird, but the best thing about this show is waiting for it to come on. But then, it comes on, and you go, "Oh, shit, this is boring" and you can't wait for it to end. but then, when it's over, you start waiting for it to begin. 

you know, I knew I should haven't taken that white pill Nick gave me. he said it was an aspirin!

[SnarkyTart]

I'm mildly curious to know where the drug-dealing bartender got those human brain stems.  And how on earth anyone came to discover that they were potent hallucinogens.  I don't have any reason to think a normal human brain stem has hallucinogenic properties, so why do these?  Are they obtained from some time between a person being bit by a walker and before they turn?   Since I'm mildly curious about this, it cerainly means we will never hear of it again.

[FishyJoe]

There sure seems to be plenty of gas in the world. These people drive around like there is a full service gas station on every corner. Yet why is it whenever there is a disaster, the first thing to run out is gas?

[SimoneS]

35 minutes ago, FishyJoe said:

There sure seems to be plenty of gas in the world. These people drive around like there is a full service gas station on every corner. Yet why is it whenever there is a disaster, the first thing to run out is gas?

LOL! So true. There should be millions of people desperately scrounging gas, but there is gas everywhere in this world.

[Nashville]

9 hours ago, SnarkyTart said:

I'm mildly curious to know where the drug-dealing bartender got those human brain stems.  And how on earth anyone came to discover that they were potent hallucinogens.

Because we are humans, and humans will do some amazingly weird shit just to see how it turns out.  

Ever think about how the conversation must've went the first time somebody thought to eat an egg?

"Hey, Walt."

"What, Irv?"

"See that egg thing over there?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Reckon that would be good to eat?"

"Are you fucking crazy, Irv?  That just came out of a chicken's ass.  What on God's green earth makes you think it's going to taste like anything but shit?"

"I dunno - but I think I want to give it a try."

"How you gonna do it?  We've seen broken eggs before, and the insides are just runnier than shit.  Don't look like nothing I'd want to eat."

"Let me think on that a minute or two, Walt...."

..and after a few minutes - or hours...

"Hey, Walt - got a hot, flat rock handy?"

"WHAT!?!?"

...you get the idea.  Left to their own devices, people just naturally come up with screwier fucking shit than a sane person would ever imagine.

[DesertCyclist]

There was some serious Ho Yay going on in this episode, which I fully support.  Any developments on that front would have felt a lot more logical and organic than a lot of other things the writers have asked us to swallow.

[Gobi]

Is it just me, or was Ofelia's arc from the end of last season to this episode one long shaggy dog story?

[Alexhere]

low budget = only few walkers, bad make up etc

but nick didn't care about Luciana leaving, then Madison the same with Alicia ! I don't got it.

[AngelKitty]

So I finally watched this. And then Ophelia is bitten and dies before seeing Daniel. WTF! I was actually looking forward to their reunion. So unfair.

Not surprised Nick went back to his drug taking ways. I was, however, surprised the drug den wasn't watching the patrons a little more closely in case they die of an overdose.

[Jel]

That is an excellent point, Angel Kitty. And a potentially new way for Clark and Co to ruin everything at this new location!

[heisenberg]

So... 

For a moment Alicia had balls...

The new zombie warrior acts like she has been doing that for years, weird... 

Daniel is pissed that Ophelia is dead but he arrives late while they are waiting for him, I guess he had more important stuff to do than meeting is daughter, but it is always the others fault of course... 

Strand drops intellectualy to the level of Madison, can't wait for tonight's laugh... 

Dumb and Dumber turned in Beavis and Butthead, how low can you get...

I have been waiting a week before writing this for what it was worth and than I told myself "Hey the finale is tonight, It will be over soon, write something".

Edited October 15, 2017 by heisenberg

[Nashville]

On 10/15/2017 at 1:09 PM, heisenberg said:

The new zombie warrior acts like she has been doing that for years, weird... 

Maybe Diana has; for all we know, she could have been living in Oakland pre-ZA.  ;>

[ganesh]

On 10/8/2017 at 8:40 PM, oakville said:

I find it ludicrous that Alicia thinks she can survive on her own, when she could barely avoid getting killed in a box full of toy balls.

SO DUMB. Maybe there's a walker in there? Maybe check?

That pick the new woman was carrying seemed awfully heavy. I don't know why no one uses a shovel. It's multipurpose and lightweight, and you can take on multiple assailants because you can use the reach to keep them at bay.

Edited December 27, 2017 by ganesh