S04.E03: Good Out Here

[magdalene]

I was surprised by Nick's death.  Quite frankly I would have preferred for Madison to be killed off instead.  But the actor wanted out so there's that.

[Gobi]

So, I just watched the whole episode. Yeah, I'm thinking Madison is dead.

[FishyJoe]

What's with all the old technology? People collecting records for music and recording video using tapes. I thought they established that this everything happened near present day? Even without cell service, phones can record video and play music. And a single sd card can carry more music and video than several boxes of tapes and records. Not to mention a phone can be recharged by a small solar panel. There should be billions of old phones all over the place.

[dnagirl]

Please writers, don't pull a fast one on me.  Please let Nick really be gone.

Madison next.

Actually the whole family gone would be ok.  I've been asking for it since season 1.

This show has needed a serious refresh for a long time.  Make it happen.

[Daltrey]

20 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Now she is at the ballpark and she is all sunshine and rainbows.  The strained look on her face is gone.  That is one heck of a personality change, granted over a year's time.

It's only a year at the ball park though; more time has to have passed than that, I think. I mean, for them to catch up with TWD enough for Morgan to leave the mothership after the events of "all out war" and meet up with Madison's merry band of morons, there should be at least a year or two between the dam explosion and day one at the ball park, shouldn't there? I'm not exactly sure how long it's been since Rick woke up, because Gimple gimpled it, but I figure bare minimum TWD was a couple years ahead of FTWD by the time of Fear's debut.

 

There is a significant amount of back story mystery to reveal, obviously, and the pre season announcement of the time jump made the likelihood of a flashback format almost inevitable. I'm ok with that as long as it's done well and doesn't become tedious. So far it's working for me and my hope is that it only lasts till the mid season break, maybe one episode into the second half at most, and then we will be all caught up. The new show runner team of Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg seem to have a decent handle on things so far and I haven't really had much to complain about other than episode two struggled to hold my interest, most likely to being Nick and Madison heavy. Chambliss, in particular, has a pretty solid track record IMO, based on his resume and being involved with some of my favorite shows. I haven't watched many of the shows Goldberg has worked on, and many of them seem to have been short lived, but I'll give him the benefit of doubt and hopefully assume he was thre strongest link in those chains and that is why he continues to work and earned his spot as co-runner.

[raven]

4 hours ago, CloudySky said:

They will probably explain how she found everyone. Strand seems to have gone through something as well. He has the hand injury and the rock from the previous episode. His character change is even more dramatic than Madison's.

Yes, he is more connected than ever to the people left.

I agree with those who think Madison is dead; Nick's reactions to Ennis can't mean anything else (or at least, Nick believes Ennis/Vultures are responsible for Madison's death).  Plus if Nick thought the Vultures had kidnapped her, he wouldn't have gone right for the kill.  The interesting thing to me is that Ennis didn't seem worried at all about Nick; if his group had killed Madison, either deliberately or inadvertently, I would think he would be.  Sure, Nick screws up everything he touches but the guy should have been a little concerned.   He just seemed surprised.  Maybe it was over confidence and sarcasm. 

I think that Alicia/Strand/Luciana have moved past grieving and into rage and acceptance, with maybe some revenge thrown in.  Maybe the Naomi character is with the Vultures?

I'm curious and Nick's death shook up the status quo.  I don't mind the two time limes because so far the character interactions have worked.  

[Charlie727]

Here's my two cents: although they lead you to believe it was Madison I think this is a fake out. I think the Vultures pretended to kill Charlie just to screw with Nicks head because they knew he liked her. That's why the the leader was saying "wait wait" before Nick finished him off. Also why Nick was surprised to see her. Not that she shot him but that she was alive. 

[DesertCyclist]

4 hours ago, kdm07 said:

Her portrayal of Commander Lexa on The 100 was one of the best things about that show

I agree, and she's horribly underutilized here.

Also, I loathed Maggie Grace's character Shannon on Lost, but I like her as Althea here, so I'm not if Grace has grown as an actress or if she's been that good all along.

[Daltrey]

3 hours ago, Charlie727 said:

Here's my two cents: although they lead you to believe it was Madison I think this is a fake out. I think the Vultures pretended to kill Charlie just to screw with Nicks head because they knew he liked her. That's why the the leader was saying "wait wait" before Nick finished him off. Also why Nick was surprised to see her. Not that she shot him but that she was alive. 

Sound theory, to be honest. I hadn't thought of that.

3 hours ago, DesertCyclist said:

8 hours ago, kdm07 said:

Her portrayal of Commander Lexa on The 100 was one of the best things about that show

 

I agree, and she's horribly underutilized here.

Also, I loathed Maggie Grace's character Shannon on Lost, but I like her as Althea here, so I'm not if Grace has grown as an actress or if she's been that good all along.

I agree as well. I think Shannon was supposed to be loathed, so I think maybe she has been that good all along, lol!

[TVFan17]

5 hours ago, Charlie727 said:

Here's my two cents: although they lead you to believe it was Madison I think this is a fake out. I think the Vultures pretended to kill Charlie just to screw with Nicks head because they knew he liked her. That's why the the leader was saying "wait wait" before Nick finished him off. Also why Nick was surprised to see her. Not that she shot him but that she was alive. 

That's an intriguing theory,   However, to be fair, I  think that getting shot is a pretty valid reason to look surprised to see someone.    True, maybe Nick thought Charlie was dead, but I think he was probably more surprised by the fact that he was dying right at that moment!

I think that Kim Dickens said on Talking Dead that this season had more mystery to it, or that there would be mystery, or something like that.  She specifically used the word "mystery".   So it would seem that everything is being set up in such a way to keep us wondering and guessing.

Unfortunately, we will probably have to wait at least until the mid-season finale, if not until the end of the whole season, to find out what happened in the flashbacks. They will probably drag out the suspense as long as they can.

[nodorothyparker]

12 hours ago, raven said:

I agree with those who think Madison is dead; Nick's reactions to Ennis can't mean anything else (or at least, Nick believes Ennis/Vultures are responsible for Madison's death).  Plus if Nick thought the Vultures had kidnapped her, he wouldn't have gone right for the kill.

This is what pushes me over into thinking Madison is dead too.  Nick wasn't asking "where is she?" or "where have you taken her?"  He wasn't interested in talking it out at all.  He was just hellbent on killing Ennis and making damn sure he was dead, which sure could have been an issue of finally snapping after all the fuckery that led to whatever happened that forced them out of the stadium, but the entire theme of his interactions with Morgan about how killing what had killed something of yours doesn't fix it or bring what was lost back says otherwise.

[valandsend]

Everything's deader with bluebonnets on it.

Sorry.

[valandsend]

Was Luciana at the dam during the last season finale? I remember her leaving but not her return.

[JackONeill]

4 minutes ago, valandsend said:

Was Luciana at the dam during the last season finale? I remember her leaving but not her return.

She had left when they were still on the ranch.

Why's she back now, I'll never figure out.

[DesertCyclist]

5 minutes ago, valandsend said:

Was Luciana at the dam during the last season finale? I remember her leaving but not her return.

I actually thought she was dead, then I realized I must've confused her with another character that also lacks development.

[JackONeill]

In all fairness to the writers, there's probably no way to keep track of an accurate timeline.

Part of the problem is it's TV. It always amazes me that on police procedurals—NCIS, CSI, CRIMINAL MINDS, etc—everything gets wrapped up in a couple of days, no matter how obtuse and complicated the case is. I guess my point, if I have one, is that time is fluid. Like water—or people—under a dam!!!!!

But, yeah, I know we should have a better sense of when things are happening on this show, especially since they're doing the whole "altering time" in order to bring in Morgan.

Edited May 1, 2018 by JackONeill

[loki567]

I don't know. So much of this board seems to be hate-watching but I'll say again, I really enjoyed FtWD and what it was turning into. And part of that was a smaller and more developed cast. Now Nick, who's been arguably the most developed character from the beginning, is dead. Madison might be dead. And by the end of these eight episodes, the newbies might effectively be the main characters. I don't like it. I don't like that the show I've been watching for three years seems like it's being tossed in the trash so it can become a TWD-clone. 

And I'm not sure if it's just the lighting or if the budget got cut, but did this episode look really cheap to anyone else? Especially when they're in the present. 

[GustavMahler]

I am sorry if I missed someone already mentioning this but didnt Morgan see a body in the bluebonnets as he walked by? I was thinking that was Madison.

Edited May 1, 2018 by GustavMahler

[Miles]

I seem to be the only one, but I liked Nick. Yes he screwed up, but really not any more than all the other dumbasses on this show, did he? I would have liked to see a lot of other characters go before him... basically everybody but Strand. But oh well, it's not like I'm majorly invested in anybody on this show or the mothership.

I'm wondering if Maddison being dead isn't a bit too on the nose. I mean they basically screamed it in our faces this episode. But I'm also not sure if these writers are smart enough for a fakeout like this. Though there are new showrunner and maybe they have more intelligence than your average monkey.

 

On 30.4.2018 at 2:36 PM, JackONeill said:

It’s funny, but I saw a few seconds of the new show runners being interview on TTD, and they were talking about Nick, and how they had to give him a good send-off. I’m sorry, but blowing yourself up on a dam to save your family — well, that’s pretty heroic ANDdramatic. But getting shot by girl —-.

Thought the same thing. Seems weird that they brought him back just to kill him, when they had a great ending for him last season.

 

On 30.4.2018 at 4:31 AM, Shriekingeel said:

I really hate Idiot Plots, but the episode would have been about 15 minutes long without them.

What was an idiot plot here?

 

On 30.4.2018 at 4:35 AM, Lamima said:

How can the journalist, what's her name- Alice?, use a video camera this far into the ZA? Like how does she charge the battery?

She could have a car charger. That SWAT car should have a big battery and as long as she has gas, she has power... Of course all gasoline would have gone bad years ago, but neither show seems to be concerned about that fact.

 

On 1.5.2018 at 2:07 AM, FishyJoe said:

What's with all the old technology? People collecting records for music and recording video using tapes. I thought they established that this everything happened near present day? Even without cell service, phones can record video and play music. And a single sd card can carry more music and video than several boxes of tapes and records. Not to mention a phone can be recharged by a small solar panel. There should be billions of old phones all over the place.

The main show started in 2010, which means the ZA happened in 2010. So you have smartphones around, but not with a lot of storage space. Plus it would be pretty shitty quality. Those DV cameras actually had really good quality and they recorded digitally on tapes. Cameras with SD cards have only become a real alternative in the past few years.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Miles

[TVFan17]

Maybe they'll pull some crazy "I see dead people" stuff on us, and we'll find out that everyone we've seen Morgan talking to or interacting with on FTWD is actually already dead and Morgan has "lost himself" again...  and Madison will be the one who is alive and well!  

I'm just kidding about that kind of twist, of course, but I keep thinking they are going to spring some sort of twist on us -- just not to that extreme degree. 

There was just something weird about this past Sunday's episode, with Madison seeming relatively chipper and practically romping through the flowers, Strand acting cuddly and caring, and Luciana suddenly being there (even though she had presumably left).  I know we will get all of the important questions answered as the season plays out,  when they keep showing flashbacks,  but it almost seemed like we had stepped into an alternate universe version of FTWD.  It was odd.  

[Haleth]

13 hours ago, loki567 said:

And I'm not sure if it's just the lighting or if the budget got cut, but did this episode look really cheap to anyone else? Especially when they're in the present. 

They were being all artsy by washing out most of the color (in the present) except for the bluebells.

[copshop]

I'm loving this season--it is vastly superior to TWD, though I know that's not saying much. Morgan was just the injection the cast needed. I loved to hate Nick, but Nick and Morgan was gold. I love the cowboy (that actor seems to be everywhere and nowhere), and SWAT team girl is serving her purpose.

Nick was utterly compelling when the series began, he just suffered from terrible writing like all of the others. I'm glad I got a genuine surprise for once!

[Gobi]

23 hours ago, GustavMahler said:

I am sorry if I missed someone already mentioning this but didnt Morgan see a body in the bluebonnets as he walked by? I was thinking that was Madison.

There was a body, I couldn't identify it. I can't see Nick leaving Madison there to rot, though, even if she had turned.

[hurrrz]

I thought the body was of the walkers that he killed when he helped Nick?

He helped Nick, they went to the Silo thingy, he leaves Nick and goes back to the location, sees the body/s and realizes "the kid needs help" and returns to the silos. That's how I understood the scene.

[spritz]

On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 1:17 PM, copshop said:

I'm loving this season--it is vastly superior to TWD, though I know that's not saying much. Morgan was just the injection the cast needed. I loved to hate Nick, but Nick and Morgan was gold. I love the cowboy (that actor seems to be everywhere and nowhere), and SWAT team girl is serving her purpose.

Nick was utterly compelling when the series began, he just suffered from terrible writing like all of the others. I'm glad I got a genuine surprise for once!

Nick and Morgan had good chemistry. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the scenes of those two interacting with one another. I thought the show had a good thing going with those two. It's too bad Nick never got to finish reading the book that Morgan gave him.  

 

I remember when Nick was first introduced to the audience. I couldn't tell if the character was a guy or a girl. 

 

I think the show needs at least one of the original characters, one of the remaining Clarks, to see it through to the finale whenever that is. Someone to remind us of the journey from the beginning to whenever it ends. I wish it would have been Nick. I am not enamored with the character, but I thought he was interesting enough that he should be a foundation character for the rest of the series. If all of the originals are eliminated, what are we left with? TWD lite?

[spritz]

On ‎5‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 9:22 PM, Miles said:

 

She could have a car charger. That SWAT car should have a big battery and as long as she has gas, she has power... Of course all gasoline would have gone bad years ago, but neither show seems to be concerned about that fact.

 

 

I don't know what the SWAT van runs on, gas or whatever. But the SWAT van reminded me of the armored personnel carriers in the movie Damnation Alley. Anybody remember that movie? It was a movie about a bunch of people travelling cross country in a post apocalyptic world -- not a zombie apocalypse but a post nuclear war world.

[Earlwoode]

On 4/30/2018 at 3:11 AM, Straycat80 said:

Could Madison be gone too? If she is I would not be upset at all. 

Yup, I think she’s totally dead.  It would explain Nick’s rage against what’s-his-name Vulture.  I also think we will only find that out at the end of this season’s last episode.  Typical The Walking Dead writer’s crap.

That just leaves Alicia and Strand from the original group.  I like Strand a lot but hope they don’t bring back the Mexican grandad.  I find him supremely irritating and annoying.  I like the new crew but am getting really  tired of Morgan’s existencial crisis.  Either snap him out of it or kill him off. It’s getting really boring.

[Token]

Of all the annoying characters played by shitty actors, why did they have to kill off Nick?  (Okay, I know, the actor wanted off the show.)  He was one of the better people, who made the show interesting.  I hope they take out mom and sister ASAP, because they're just terrible - characters and actors.

[Earlwoode]

15 hours ago, Token said:

 

Of all the annoying characters played by shitty actors, why did they have to kill off Nick?

 

Yeah, he said he really missed Europe in the interview.  Surprising an actor would leave a show where he’s basically the main character and which is being renewed.  You could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out FD was a Brit.  I thought he was a Mexican American or something (I’ve never seen Talking Dead). The Walking Dead people really love British actors considering the number of them they hire.

Edited May 4, 2018 by Earlwoode

[Iguessnot]

I really enjoyed this episode. What I really appreciated, was having Nick fall full force into the Luciana, making the truck crash believable. Showed respect for the audience.

[Iguessnot]

Now I remember something that bugged me a little. With Morgan back on the Cheesemaker's train, I started thinking this stuff was occuring after the cheese arc, but then remembered that Morgan travelled to Texas after the Junkyard. In any case, I can't really understand his psychosis. If Morgan was a sadistic killer at his core, I could understand the "all life is precious" mantra helping keep his demons at bay. But he wasn't a bad guy, so I don't know why having to be the jury and executioner in desperate times causes him to be full on Captain Whack a Mole. He keeps explaining himself. It's not even about agreeing or disagreeing with him. But even after all this time, it makes no sense.  

[JackONeill]

17 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

Now I remember something that bugged me a little. With Morgan back on the Cheesemaker's train, I started thinking this stuff was occuring after the cheese arc, but then remembered that Morgan travelled to Texas after the Junkyard. In any case, I can't really understand his psychosis. If Morgan was a sadistic killer at his core, I could understand the "all life is precious" mantra helping keep his demons at bay. But he wasn't a bad guy, so I don't know why having to be the jury and executioner in desperate times causes him to be full on Captain Whack a Mole. He keeps explaining himself. It's not even about agreeing or disagreeing with him. But even after all this time, it makes no sense.  

“It makes no sense.” That pretty much sums up this show and the other show that is not to be spoken of (Shhhh).

Nothing, really, makes sense. But we the viewers are NOT to ask questions. We are to sit and be awed—awed I tell you—by the one thousand two hundred and fourteenth way to stab a Walker in the head with a sharp instrument. Because, you know, that’s cool.

[Miles]

On 4.5.2018 at 12:07 AM, spritz said:

I don't know what the SWAT van runs on, gas or whatever.

It probably runs on Diesel, but Diesel goes bad even faster than Gasoline. You could run Diesel vehicles for a while with heating oil, but even that goes bad after a while.

[Bongo Fury]

1 hour ago, JackONeill said:

Nothing, really, makes sense. But we the viewers are NOT to ask questions. We are to sit and be awed—awed I tell you—by the one thousand two hundred and fourteenth way to stab a Walker in the head with a sharp instrument. Because, you know, that’s cool.

And this is not just some schlocky zombie show, this is High Art. Witness all the close ups of people staring off in the distance, and the montages over a musical soundtrack, not just anyone can do that, it takes a Real Artist. But then, we all are just commoners and can't appreciate the true genius of the Gimpster. Make sense? Pfft, you probably would bitch that Salvador Dali didn't make sense either. A genius should be held to a different standard. Make sense ... right. 

[seacliffsal]

I watched the first season and started watching again this season and Nick was my favorite character from the first season so I was shocked that they killed him off in this episode.  Like others, I really enjoyed the scenes that featured Morgan and Nick together.  Even with Nick's death though I am surprised that I'm actually enjoying this season.  Who knew?

[thuganomics85]

Finally got around to this and it certainly was something!  I'm admittedly a bit shock that they finally killed a Clark (Travis was part of the family, but always felt expendable), and that it was Nick.  But it sounds like Frank Dillane wanted out, so I guess it was the only way.  Surprised that they didn't just let him die at the dam then, but I guess they're going somewhere with this Charlie character and how she killed him.  I'm guessing Alicia and Luciana will want revenge.

I definitely suspect the reason Nick was that gung-ho over killing that guy involves Madison.  Won't go as far as to say that she's dead (maybe, but you never know), but I'm guessing something happened to her that made him that violent and psychotic.  I'm sure it will all be revealed in the flashbacks.

Morgan's presence continues to be welcomed.  Kind of warming up to the new characters, even though I still don't know their actual names, and just refer to them as "Reporter Maggie Grace" and "Cowboy Garrett Dillahunt." 

[Butless]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:18 PM, walnutqueen said:

I'm sorry they didn't kill off the journalist.  She is even more annoying than Tobias.

Bit not as annoying as Dee-ANN-aband her stupid camcorder.

[Giselle]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 2:52 PM, spritz said:

Nick and Morgan had good chemistry. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the scenes of those two interacting with one another. I thought the show had a good thing going with those two. It's too bad Nick never got to finish reading the book that Morgan gave him.  

 

I remember when Nick was first introduced to the audience. I couldn't tell if the character was a guy or a girl. 

 

I think the show needs at least one of the original characters, one of the remaining Clarks, to see it through to the finale whenever that is. Someone to remind us of the journey from the beginning to whenever it ends. I wish it would have been Nick. I am not enamored with the character, but I thought he was interesting enough that he should be a foundation character for the rest of the series. If all of the originals are eliminated, what are we left with? TWD lite?

 

I'm ok with Ruben Blades coming back. The rest can die except Strand.

I will forever love Charlie for killing Nick. I never could stand him .

Edited May 8, 2018 by Giselle

[oakville]

2 hours ago, Giselle said:

 

I'm ok with Ruben Blades coming back. The rest can die except Strand.

I will forever love Charlie for killing Nick. I never could stand him .

I acted Nick from the series premiere. I am happy he is gone.

2 hours ago, Giselle said:

 

I'm ok with Ruben Blades coming back. The rest can die except Strand.

I will forever love Charlie for killing Nick. I never could stand him .

I like Daniel!