S08.E13: Do Not Send Us Astray

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Aw man, I missed Jesus? Didn't even catch a glimpse of my eye candy this episode. Though he could have been onscreen for at least 15 minutes and I probably still wouldn't have been able to tell it was him. I swear I've watched other shows that take place at night and I can see what's happening on those shows. On the other hand, it's probably best that I don't see what's happening.

[seacliffsal]

I couldn't believe how many people went up to Maggie and told her what a great leader she was.  Really?  Why weren't hilltoppers hidden outside the fence so that when the saviors went into the enclosure they could slash their tires so they couldn't drive off?  Also, why weren't hilltoppers hidden outsdie the fence so that when the saviors tried to run away they could shoot them all?  Then Maggie was all sad that they didn't get them all because they ran away.  Really?  She didn't anticipate such a thing?  Oh, and one of the commenters told her that Gregory would never do such a thing that's why Maggie was such a great leader.  Yep, remind me how many hilltoppers died because Gregory was so self-focused as compared to Maggie?

I have read that AMC wants to continue to create spin-offs, so I figured that The Terror is really about the START of the zombie virus and serves as a prequel to The Walking Dead...

[EllipticalAddicted]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

can't tell which ones are the Saviors and which ones are the Hilltoppers

Even though you're saying that you can't identify who is who because it is too damn dark, I would say that the show is trying to get the audience to see that there's no difference between the good and bad guys.

 

I really despise this story they are trying to sell us.  All killing in the zombie apocalypse is bad, Rick is the same as Negan, Blah, blah, blah.    No sir.  Nope.   I want my vengeful tough guy Rick back, I want bad ass Michonne back, I want Carol back.    Not these mealy mouth do nothings.   

 

Why are they they trying to make Maggie the bestest leader ever?   On the show they're showing us, she's not.   

 

At this point, I'm rooting for Dwight.   Even Gregory.    No one else.

[ClareWalks]

All season I have plodded through by half-watching this shit as background noise while I do something else. About 5 minutes into this episode, it became too boring for me to do even that. This show has become legit PAINFUL to watch. It is glacially slow and very "full of itself."

[spiderpig]

4 minutes ago, sarthaz said:

I thought the same thing!  I was like, "Holy Easter, it's Jesus! I bet he's going to do something really interes--uh, he's gone already? Was he just in the background for that scene? Sigh ..."

Add me to the "huh?  Jesus - is that you?" crowd.  There was an offhand reference in a previous ep that Jesus was off looking for supplies, but I'm still not sure if that was him or a long-haired lookalike.  The whole episode was so dimly lit that you had to rely on the ridiculous dialogue to try to figure out what was going on.

[sarthaz]

32 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

I couldn't believe how many people went up to Maggie and told her what a great leader she was.  Really?

Just more high school writing. Maggie is wanting to be a cold killer, but they have everyone come up to her and praise her leadership so she questions her motivations.

[AngelaHunter]

3 hours ago, EllipticalAddicted said:

Last night I was laughing out loud at everything.    I'm sure the writers didn't set out to write the show as a comedy, but it has sadly turned into that.

I wish I could find it funny, the way I have other stupid pieces of shit I"ve watched, but all I feel is annoyance and irritation at being taken for a mouth-breathing idiot who finds this the least bit engaging. And for all this, Gimple gets promoted. The idiocy must go high up on the chain of command.

 

3 hours ago, Nashville said:

They had the doors open because it was hot

So hot that they needed to forego all security measures so they could catch a refreshing breeze, even at the risk of sick/injured people dying and mayhem ensuing, but not so hot that Negan isn't comfortable in his leather jacket.

3 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

The wire is so widely spaced, that the saviors only need to step on one row of wire, and they could all pass through easily. 

Seriously. I said that way back (years ago?) when they were herded in there on their chain gang lineup.  That prison couldn't contain a flock of chickens.

[AngelaHunter]

27 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

They have been together way too long.  They don't seem to be the least bit passionate now.

I never saw passion there. Their forced intimacy was always embarassing to me, as were Glenn and Maggie's big sexy scenes where Maggie always looked as though she were thinking, "GOD, are you done yet?" No chemistry at all in either case, IMO.

18 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I'm okay with that, I like horses.  I don't think I could watch a western with a bunch of horses going hooves up.

I love horses. I can't even watch an old movie with horses because I know they were being tripped in order to fall. Just thought it was dumb when stopping wagons/stagecoaches would be so easy.

[CrashTextDummie]

Best episode of the season.

Am I allowed to say that?

Not saying it was a good hour of television, but it had an unprecedented amount of plot development by season 8's standards. Someone even died who had a name, although I don't remember what his name was. So sweet of the show to remember Carol used to have a romantic subplot. I certainly didn't remember.

I was able to tolerate some of the, shall I say, questionable writing choices. Some of it I even found endearingly hackneyed. Like the never-before-seen nurse who suddenly got lines to speak and of course became walker food within half an hour. Second time this season the show made me laugh with a ridiculously transparent red shirt. I was even able to swallow the stupidity of the savior walking into an obvious trap, because at least it qualifies as someone having an actual plan and executing it.

Where I drew the line was everything involving Henry, the walking plot device of concentrated stupidity. It's like the writers wanted to honor the memory of Carl by revisiting his years of doing the dumbest things possible to create problems for the group.

I wrote significantly more than last week and my level of anger is only just now beginning to rise. Yep, best episode of the season, I'm sticking with it.

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

I think Carol needs to remind Henry of the shit that will happen to him, just like the other one that pissed Carol off, karma.....

 

[peach]

2 minutes ago, CrashTextDummie said:

Where I drew the line was everything involving Henry, the walking plot device of concentrated stupidity. It's like the writers wanted to honor the memory of Carl by revisiting his years of doing the dumbest things possible to create problems for the group.t.

Carl would have at least killed those assholes.

[Sparger Springs]

19 hours ago, TrininisaScorp said:

For fuck's sake!  So, NOT ONE PERSON was around keeping watch in both the infirmary and the house?!  These people don't need the Saviors to kill them, they are too fucking stupid to live!

Silver lining:  This means Tara is dead, dead, dead, right?!  Sweet. 

Also, I had season 2 flashbacks with this ridiculous kid:  "GET BACK IN THE HOUSE, YOU LITTLE SHIT".  "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"

**ahem**  Contrary to that outbursts, TrininisaScorp loves the children.  Except the idiot ones. 

Wasn't Tara struck by a Dwight arrow. She is fine.

[Colorado David]

Yeah, the Hilltop rules regarding firearm safety and key safety is reallly questionable. You're just leaving out an auto-rifle willy nilly, not locked up or even watched by someone? And yes, where did Henry get the keys, wouldn't some responsible adult or guard keep those on their person at all times??

Walking Dead is now like watching Dark City; perpetual night scene after night scene, with the occasional daytime looking somberly at the graves moment (and yeah I know they're buried, but isn't this part of Hilltop reallly gonna start smelling rank soon??)

[Smad]

1 hour ago, peach said:

Carl would have at least killed those assholes.

Not at that age. When Carl was that age we all wanted to kill the little asshole for being a little shit who never listens, mouths off, thinks he's a man and constantly messes up, getting people killed.

[EllenC]

1 hour ago, spiderpig said:

Add me to the "huh?  Jesus - is that you?" crowd.  There was an offhand reference in a previous ep that Jesus was off looking for supplies, but I'm still not sure if that was him or a long-haired lookalike.  The whole episode was so dimly lit that you had to rely on the ridiculous dialogue to try to figure out what was going on.

Yes, I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of Jesus' glorious silky hair and trench coat as he did 1 zombie killing (?? it really was dark  ??) ... uh, how hot was it supposed to be? Everyone was wearing long sleeves, leather vests, etc., right? I'm sorry -- that's stupid. Even if it's hot, OK, open the upstairs windows ... but the doors? In a zombie apocalypse, I am never ever sleeping with the front door wide open. And if you happen to be wearing long sleeves and pants etc. for bite protection, you're going to sleep with open doors? This far into the ZA after all you've seen? I can wave off lots of things, but our core group should be fairly hardened survivors at this point. Maybe the Saviors' endless prattling has turned their brains to mush.

But back to Jesus -- that character seemed so promising at first and now we barely see him (and when we do, it's the Morgan-Jesus-Carl pass the pacifist stick nonsense).

I feel sad. And I have a giant headache. There are still remnants of this show I really enjoy, but fewer and fewer. 

Edited March 26, 2018 by EllenC

[sarthaz]

They have to leave all the doors open, because the writers have shit everywhere, and it's stank.

[peach]

19 minutes ago, Smad said:

Not at that age. When Carl was that age we all wanted to kill the little asshole for being a little shit who never listens, mouths off, thinks he's a man and constantly messes up, getting people killed.

 

[Daltrey]

8 hours ago, sarthaz said:

I had to rewind the Tara scene 3 times to figure out wtf happened. The lighting and editing were horrible there. It's like everyone involved in this project made a pact to just suck.

So did I! Usually, lighting issues don't affect or bother me but, holy shit, that was brutal!!

[Daltrey]

6 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

Reminds me of old Westerns where Indians are chasing the stagecoach and are always portrayed as too stupid to just shoot the horses.

Well, to be fair, they probably wouldn't shoot the horses because that would be killing a sacred animal or just showing a blatant disregard for all innocent life in nature...... But that's probably giving old Hollywood too much credit, lol!

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, Colorado David said:

And yes, where did Henry get the keys, wouldn't some responsible adult

And the responsible adult would be... ? Don't get me started.

33 minutes ago, Daltrey said:

Well, to be fair, they probably wouldn't shoot the horses because that would be killing a sacred animal or just showing a blatant disregard for all innocent life in nature

No. The Indians had to be too dumb to think of that, just as the Saviors are too dumb to stop charging, en masse and in the open towards automatic weapons being fired because to do otherwise wouldn't further the ridiculous plot.

[Colorado David]

14 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

And the responsible adult would be... ? Don't get me started.

No. The Indians had to be too dumb to think of that, just as the Saviors are too dumb to stop charging, en masse and in the open towards automatic weapons being fired because to do otherwise wouldn't further the ridiculous plot.

well Carol or even Ezekial s/b keyholders, since they seem to be the ones interacting with Henry the most.

Yeah I wonder at the level of stupidity. Simon knows they are heading into a trap or at least a prepared fortification, so walk together in a large easy to target group. Don't send out a scout or two to sneak UP to the house to see what's up.  Remember how careful and paranoid everyone was in the early seasons? Or when they were sneaking around in the woods? NAH GONNA WALK RIGHT UP TO THE HOUSE ACROSS THIS OPEN AREA, BOLD AS BRASS. NO WORRIES.

[Daltrey]

1 hour ago, Daltrey said:

Well, to be fair, they probably wouldn't shoot the horses because that would be killing a sacred animal or just showing a blatant disregard for all innocent life in nature...... But that's probably giving old Hollywood too much credit, lol!

 

28 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

No. The Indians had to be too dumb to think of that, just as the Saviors are too dumb to stop charging, en masse and in the open towards automatic weapons being fired because to do otherwise wouldn't further the ridiculous plot.

I was talking more about real life vs scripted Hollywood nonsense. Believe me, I 100% completely agree. 

[Smad]

1 hour ago, peach said:

 

Eh. One kill, that's it. Pretty sure Henry's kill count (including friends and foes) will be much higher by the time the Season ends. And I'm pretty sure at that point we all wanted to kill Carl, or at least smack him. So my point stands...

Edited March 27, 2018 by Smad

[ParadoxLost]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Honestly, I could get past the whole "zombie guts now infect you" nonsense because, theoretically, the virus could have mutated for all we know.

To make this work, zombie virus needs to be transmitted in a variation to rabies which is transmitted via bite but not through blood.  Zombies have saliva and a bite kills and the dead turn.  But blood and gore entering an open wound don't kill.  Somehow the Saviors got a zombie to chew on weapons and got the saliva to remain active until the weapons are used. 

It still sounds stupid.  But now I'm picturing Eugene getting zombie to gargle with bullets and chew on arrows.  Spit collector.

The one thing that is going to be more annoying than "zombie guts infect you now" is when they realize how much of a pain in the ass its going to be to do special effects on zombie kills without zombies infecting them and revert to "zombie guts don't infect you".

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

With all the complaints about lighting, I would have thought production would have turned up the lights by now.  It seems like the complaints about lighting have been going on over multiple seasons.

 This will never change.  Bad lighting is a special effects cost saving measure.

[AngelaHunter]

30 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

But blood and gore entering an open wound don't kill. 

It didn't before, ever. Now it does. The Gimple says it does. He also decrees that Rick, who "doesn't know how many" people he's killed so far, now cannot hit Negan at a distance of a few feet while wielding a machine gun, a pistol, a hachet and a flaming baseball bat - all in 10 minutes. Continuity, canon, logic, consistent characterization and pacing - those are all for the nit-picky little people with no artistic vision. The Gimple has spoken so kwitcherbitchin'.

[Iguessnot]

For the second time this season, my Tivo went rogue and didn't record the episode. I started watching at the 30 minutes mark, and then recorded the second airing during which I nodded off a bit. Anyway...what was the purpose of all that horn blaring they were doing? It was loud enough to wake the dead and the Saviors, so I couldn't figure out the tactic.

[80sBaby]

Quote

2 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

This will never change.  Bad lighting is a special effects cost saving measure.

 

I agree with this and it's something that kinda pisses me off. This show, even now with lower ratings, is a cash machine for AMC. They have never and probably ever again have a show that gets ratings like this. Combine the ad revenue, merchandising & memorabilia, fan events, books, DVDs etc... that AMC and Kirkman get a piece of, it is SERIOUS CASH. For them at this stage of the game to be saving money by serving us black screens with red shirts running around like assholes is INSULTING! 

I watched S1/S2 on Netflix recently. It's like watching a completely different show now, it's sad.  TWD was must see TV every Sunday, now I can barely get through it without rolling my eyes to the back of my head, groaning or just going to sleep. I miss the good writing, the suspense, caring for the characters instead of hoping certain ones get bit. I think about "The Claimers" throat bite scene, Sophia coming out of the barn, Terminus, the CDC, covering your eyes when The Governor cut of Herschel's head, Shane killing Otis, the fall of the farm, the great shootout at Woodberry..that was at night but was lit so we could actually see what was happening!!! Sorry to ramble but I was just thinking of great scenes from a once great show!!

I've watched since the 1st episode premiered, I'm in for the long haul...but this show is disappointing on so many levels.

The issues with this episode have been broken down very well so I'll just say Ditto to most of it being ridiculous.

P.S. Maggie not showing at all grinds my gears every time she is on the screen. Impossible and just silly.

Edited March 27, 2018 by 80sBaby

[The Mighty Peanut]

Some thoughts:

If this was a better show I might invest in a night vision camera to watch it with.

I thought Tobin was killed by the unfair wolves. Didn’t someone Carol had a thing with get killed by the unfair wolves? Wait, I don’t care.

Tobin must have been infected with that one particularly virulent strain that causes one to die peacefully in their sleep with no fever.

It was the strain Michonne didn’t catch when she used her walker blood drenched hands to slow the bleeding from the gunshot wound to her leg, which was also soaked in walker blood.

Either the hallway doubles as a sleep number bed or they’re passing out Ambien like candy because WHO SLEEPS THROUGH THAT?

Siddiqe. Stop trying to make friends with the father of the child who died to save you. Let me read you an old prayer, it’s called “Too Soon”.

Henry: “I wouldn’t have been killed if I had been out there.” Carol, while walking away, “Yeah you would’ve.” Okay, that was funny.

Jesus! Nice to see you Other Leader of Hilltop. Surely you’ll be a large part of this because you’re such a popular character and there’s the whole Jesus/saviors irony thing and oh ok nvm bye. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by The Mighty Peanut

[MichaelaRae]

They call me Carl Poppa, yo.

[ParadoxLost]

9 minutes ago, 80sBaby said:

I agree with this and it's something that kinda pisses me off. This show, even now with lower ratings, is a cash machine for AMC. They have never and probably ever again have a show that gets ratings like this. Combine the ad revenue, merchandising & memorabilia, fan events etc... that AMC and Kirkman get a piece of, it is SERIOUS CASH. For them at this stage of the game to be saving money by serving us black screens with red shirts running around like assholes is INSULTING! 

AMC has been doing this from the beginning.  If I remember correctly, as early as S2 they did some creative accounting that removed the shows Georgia tax credits and then demanded they make up for it in the budget.

The network is now convinced that Walking Dead is a juggernaut that can survive anything.  Cost cutting.  Cast departures.  I wouldn't be surprised if Carl's death was more about money than anything given they decided during renegotiations. 

Just the simple act of airing another show and listing it as Walking Dead shows a high degree hubris.  Its insane to do something like that when the fanbase is already disgruntled.  I can't think of another network that has pulled that crap. 

[numbnut]

Wow. This season is the absolute worst. From the lame plot contrivances to the dialogue in which everyone repeatedly states the obvious. "I wanted to kill them all." "Me too." Good grief.

Edited March 27, 2018 by numbnut

[GreyBunny]

No, nameless extras, Maggie is not a good leader.  *sigh*

At this point I'm rooting for the zombie microbes because, except for maybe Jerry, there isn't a human to root for anymore.  

Edited March 27, 2018 by GreyBunny

[mrspidey]

4 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

It didn't before, ever. Now it does. The Gimple says it does. 

Again, Gimple doesn't say this. This was straight from the comics. 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

I know I'm beating a dead horse by continually bemoaning how stupid the new rules are, but the 'using walker guts as camo' thing just happened like only a couple days ago in TWD universe!!!, and we know FPP had a split lip from Negan punching him.  Thus, it seems to be that with FPP getting sick after that event, Negan believes he's contracted the virus doing that - leading to the Saviors contaminating their weapons with the walker gore.

I know Negan had some mighty strong Plot Armor protection going on, but he doesn't even get a sniffle out of it?! 

That's what makes these new rules such BS.  How does it affect one person (and most people), but not another one or certain ones???  They're unspoken, but you must follow some type of guideline for "universal TV rules" Show!  A zombie virus is not something that someone just miraculously naturally develops antibodies and self-innoculation against said infection!!

Edited March 27, 2018 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Nashville]

10 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

So hot that they needed to forego all security measures so they could catch a refreshing breeze, even at the risk of sick/injured people dying and mayhem ensuing,

Hey, I didn’t say the writers’ rationale was good - simply that it existed.  ;)

 

10 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

but not so hot that Negan isn't comfortable in his leather jacket.

Fortunately we were spared at least THAT this episode....

[BetyBee]

3 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I know I'm beating a dead horse by continually bemoaning how stupid the new rules are, but the 'using walker guts as camo' thing just happened like only a couple days ago in TWD universe!!!, and we know FPP had a split lip from Negan punching him.  Thus, it seems to be that with FPP getting sick after that event, Negan believes he's contracted the virus doing that - leading to the Saviors contaminating their weapons with the walker gore.

I know Negan had some mighty strong Plot Armor protection going on, but he doesn't even get a sniffle out of it?! 

That's what makes these new rules such BS.  How does it affect one person (and most people), but not another one or certain ones???  They're unspoken, but you must follow some type of guideline for "universal TV rules" Show!  A zombie virus is not something that someone just miraculously naturally develops antibodies and self-innoculation against said infection!!

Also, in that extreme close up of Negan's face just before he rolled his car with an open bucket of zombie guts....he clearly had a scratch on his nose.  Plot armor.  

[Haleth]

Really, show?  Really?

We've hit a new low, folks.  There was nothing new.  Nothing.  Oh, wait, one thing was new-- suddenly even contact with zombie blood makes you turn.  It's insulting to change the rules on us this many years in.  

The Stupid Virus will kill everyone before the zombie guts.

13 hours ago, CrashTextDummie said:

It's like the writers wanted to honor the memory of Carl by revisiting his years of doing the dumbest things possible to create problems for the group.

If Cousin Oliver Henry becomes the new Carl (since he's still young and cute) I will puke.

 

8 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

Anyway...what was the purpose of all that horn blaring they were doing? It was loud enough to wake the dead and the Saviors, so I couldn't figure out the tactic.

The horns were warning Hilltop that the Saviors were coming.  

[LadyArcadia]

A summary of my viewing:

• Who is this chick? Wow. She's a bitch.  Who the fuck is she? Am I supposed to know her? I thought they lost their doctor? Seriously, who is this bitch?
• A bunch of fighting. I have no idea what's going on. YES! I finally passed that hard stage in Candy Crush! That took me a while. woohoo!
• More fighting. Who got hit? Is that Tara?  Who hit her? (husband: "blondie dude").  Oh, OK. *shrug*
• Who's this big dude again?  I think I'm supposed to care about him. I don't know who he is.
• Why are people turning? Wait a minute. Did they just seriously change a major plot point of the show? (husband: "yeah, I guess you can now get infected just by their blood"  Me: "No, that's bullshit. Rick like got a whole pint in his mouth multiple times" husband: "oh yeah. I don't know.  I have no idea what's going on")
• Heh... zombie fall down the stairs. funny.  Hold up, an entire packed floor of sleeping people and none of them wake up to that?  Come on, now.
• I have no idea who these people are.
• I don't care who these people are.
• I have no clue what's going on.
• Back to Candy Crush.

Not even joking...

[AngelaHunter]

8 hours ago, mrspidey said:

Again, Gimple doesn't say this. This was straight from the comics. 

For those of us who never saw or read one word of the comic books, it causes confusion when something seemingly comes out of nowhere on this show. It's like Bill Maher's "New Rule."

3 hours ago, BetyBee said:

in that extreme close up of Negan's face just before he rolled his car with an open bucket of zombie guts....he clearly had a scratch on his nose.  Plot armor.  

He can survive a major car wreck unharmed, dodge a hundred bullets, get bashed with Lucille and fall off an upstairs landing without even spraining his ankle. The plot armor is so thick and heavy I'm surprised he can walk while wearing it. Meep meep.

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

The horns were warning Hilltop that the Saviors were coming.  

OH, I had forgotten that! I was abruptly awakened by Rick standing there blasting an air horn. Got me so confused. Dafuq? I thought. Where the hell did he get that thing and why is blaring it, attracting walkers probably all the way to Florida. Thanks for clearing that up. I guess.

[nodorothyparker]

This isn't the comics, which we don't discuss in episode threads anyway.  It's a show that has to stand on its own with logic that should make sense within the universe it presents.

[Colorado David]

yeah, this using guts as camo and now one open cut and you're infected change wears realllllly thin, acceptability wise. You know JDM has had blood accidently get in his mouth at least once, and Rick, and Norman.

[The Mighty Peanut]

10 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

yeah, this using guts as camo and now one open cut and you're infected change wears realllllly thin, acceptability wise. You know JDM has had blood accidently get in his mouth at least once, and Rick, and Norman.

It’s ridiculous. Also, and this will never, ever be brought up, but presumably this is an illness that everyone carries and is “activated” by walker bacteria from bites and scratches, and death. NOT blood. Stupid, yes, but the decision of making it transmmitable by blood makes even less medical sense as everyone would already be carrying a viral load. 

[mrspidey]

5 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

That's fine, but there is nothing that I am aware of that says that Gimple can't take the show down a different path then what is written in the comics.  In other words, if something seems ridiculously silly in the comics, then I would think that Gimple can make it right in the series. 

Can he, though? If he strays from the comics like with killing off Carl, people riot. If he slavishly sticks to Kirkman's writing like with the tainted weapons stuff, people riot. Seems to me, no matter what he does, people will hate it. 

[rab01]

11 minutes ago, mrspidey said:

Can he, though? If he strays from the comics like with killing off Carl, people riot. If he slavishly sticks to Kirkman's writing like with the tainted weapons stuff, people riot. Seems to me, no matter what he does, people will hate it. 

Whether something is "ridiculously silly" is doing the work in Icemiser's post.  The show generally did well when it took stuff from the comics and deleted the sillier bits.  Instead of deleting the sillier bits of Negan, they've increased the clownishness ruining a pretty good potential villain. 

As for the new zombie infection rules, I agree that it's REALLY JARRING for the show to seem to change like this, I know we blame the writers and the show runner a lot but I think here we also need to lay some blame on the directors of the individual episodes.  They all should have read the comics and these infections rules should also be incorporated into the show bible so every director should have avoided scenes that douse open wounds with zombie blood because this was always coming.   

[AngelaHunter]

25 minutes ago, mrspidey said:

If he slavishly sticks to Kirkman's writing like with the tainted weapons stuff, people riot.

Nobody would riot if that were something we were aware of all along. It's just when a shocking revelation that bears no relation to what has come before is shoved into the story that it's very annoying.

[sarthaz]

1 hour ago, mrspidey said:

Can he, though? If he strays from the comics like with killing off Carl, people riot. If he slavishly sticks to Kirkman's writing like with the tainted weapons stuff, people riot. Seems to me, no matter what he does, people will hate it. 

That seems likely, because he clearly sucks at this job. I actually don't have a problem killing Carl. Whatever. But retconning his personality to be fucking Jesus is ridiculous. Same with retconning the zombie infection. It's lazy and insulting.

At this point, you're correct -- I am indeed predisposed to hate any choice he makes, because he consistently shows a clear disregard for his own show and its characters.

[Raven1707]

The Sunday Cable Ratings are in for "Do Not Send Us Astray":

"The Walking Dead” improved week to week, rising 0.2 in adults 18-49 to 3.0 and to 6.77 million viewers (from 6.66 million).

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/sunday-cable-ratings-march-25-2018/

Here are the Live + Same Day ratings for Season 8, so far:

10-22-17 “Mercy” 11.439 million
10-29-17 “The Damned” 8.923 million
11-05-17 “Monsters” 8.519 million
11-12-17 “Some Guy” 8.688 million
11-19-17 “The Big Scary U” 7.845 million
11-26-17 “The King, The Widow, & Rick” 8.282 million
12-03-17 “Time For After” 7.468 million
12-10-17 “How It’s Gotta Be” 7.885 million

02-25-18 “Honor”  8.282 million
03-04-18 “The Lost or the Plunderers” 6.820 million
03-11-18 “Dead or Alive Or” 6.604 million
03-18-18 “The Key” 6.663 million
03-25-18 “Do Not Send Us Astray” 6.774 million

[Smad]

2 hours ago, mrspidey said:

Can he, though? If he strays from the comics like with killing off Carl, people riot. If he slavishly sticks to Kirkman's writing like with the tainted weapons stuff, people riot. Seems to me, no matter what he does, people will hate it. 

IMO he absolutely can, and should, deviate from the comics when possible or add/remove/change when needed. What works in comic format doesn't always translate into live action, including characters. In the case of this show characters like Ezekiel and Negan are too comic book-y. If you want them in live action you have to change them. Which IMO means no freaking tigers or medival speech. And the Negan in the comics is more believable because he is a giant. JDM's Negan is not even intimidating enough to scare a 5th grader out of his lunch money. The outfit and language are also stupid. The Garbage people...I still have no clue wtf that was.

There are things that were added or slightly changed that worked IMO. I know the show pretended like it never happened but I liked the CDC thing in S1 because the mystery of the virus stayed intact (something Kirkman insists on) but it gave us an insight into the larger world. The Claimers, who from what I know are not in the comics, were the best and most believable baddies they've had. The Terminus storyline also worked, despite the stupidity of cannibalism. The sickness storyline in early S4 was actually a neat idea but the execution of it sucked. And that's a general problem with Gimple. Not all the ideas are bad ones but the execution of them in terms of pacing, character development, canon, consistency etc. is what constantly works against them being successful.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Add me to the "huh?  Jesus - is that you?" crowd.  There was an offhand reference in a previous ep that Jesus was off looking for supplies, but I'm still not sure if that was him or a long-haired lookalike.  The whole episode was so dimly lit that you had to rely on the ridiculous dialogue to try to figure out what was going on.

Jesus was in the final scene in the daylight helping bury the dead bodies, so he wasn't just in the dark scenes. But he had no lines and nobody acknowledged his presence - he could have been any random extra this episode. It's like Tom Payne just showed up on set that day like "Am I ever going to work again?" and they threw him into a few scenes to give him a paycheck. 

[diebartdie]

I guess the show is trying to say when walker guts are injected deep in your body (Tobin was stabbed in the chest, rando stair falling dude caught an arrow in his leg) that is = a walker bite. It's bullshit of course but whatever. The thing is though, why did that cause everyone so afflicted to all turn at precisely the same time? That has NEVER happened before and oh dear god here comes that stroke again...