S05.E03: Humbug's Gulch

[nodorothyparker]

Airdate 2019.06.16

Quote

June and John Dorie take shelter to hide from a threat, but a misunderstanding with a desperate survivor leads to trouble.   Alicia and Morgan face a dangerous obstacle.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

How many more episodes, until They figure out it's those ZA Street Urchins?

[Iguessnot]

Why did Dwight leave the axe? Production stop having people leave their weapons just because they are getting up. 

[wait.what]

Just finished the episode: more in love with John Dorie than ever!! Lol

[SamBeckett]

Overall impression: however smart, or lucky, I once thought our group, I no longer. They got set-up by KIDS. 

And I was once bored by Morgan’s lute-playing and tea-leaf drinking ... now I am totally sick of it. 

As far as John and June — I like them. They’re nice. They smile (mostly). They are both adept. But now what?  Where does their plot line go from here? If TPTB splits them up (in whatever way) it will be seen as sooooo predictable. 

[nodorothyparker]

I got a tremendous kick out of the story at the Wild West tourist trap.  This show does small humor bits, like the tumbleweeds, the decoy player piano, or the walker getting shot in the head as it stumbled into the tourist photo cutout, much better than the mother show ever consistently has.  Garret Dillahunt continues to do good work finding unexpected humor and pathos even in scenes that desperately need an editor and in selling me John and June's chemistry.  I'm accepting the goofiness of the trick shot only because he did it.

This Decider review (contains a bit of fan theory) made a point that I hadn't really thought about: that after season after season of unrelenting assholery and dick waving from the mother show and even some on this one too, how refreshing was it to see John Dorie remember that he's a good guy and take the time to talk to Dwight like someone in his situation needed to be talked to?

But good gods, just how inexhaustible are the walkie talkie batteries that all of these people can have long woe is me let's talk about our feelings talks on them?  I'm generally not a stickler for things like batteries or everlasting gas supplies because I accept a certain amount of suspension of disbelief once your story has, you know, zombies, so I know it's bad if that's what I'm focusing on in multiple scenes.  Nice to see Dwight make the move over here, but it's kind of shitty that he's spent the entire time since he left the mother show chasing a woman apparently playing a long drawn out game of scavenger hunt with him from Virginia to Texas.

Of course it's the dirty teenagers doing zombie arts and crafts to fuck with everybody because of course it is.

[notcreative enough]

If Dwight drove into town and Sherry drove into town why exactly do they need a plane to leave. Cant they just drive out of town with the endless supply of cars they find. They spent 2 days pretending to search for Al. Is there is some rush to get back to there not home a soon as possible? They would work harder trying to find her. 

More stupid kids. This show needs Carol kids dont last long with her.

[OoohMaggie]

It’s nice to see Scooby Doo in reverse, those ‘pesky kids’ are the villains of the piece, with the adults coming in and spoiling the Dastardly plan.

As ‘Strand’ directed this episode, I’ll be interested to hear his views on the trick shot scene, instead of Dorie just walking up to the two ‘passed’ and shooting them in the head. Are they trying a tad too hard to make things exciting? 

[SamBeckett]

1 minute ago, OoohMaggie said:

It’s nice to see Scooby Doo in reverse, those ‘pesky kids’ are the villains of the piece, with the adults coming in and spoiling the Dastardly plan.

As ‘Strand’ directed this episode, I’ll be interested to hear his views on the trick shot scene, instead of Dorie just walking up to the two ‘passed’ and shooting them in the head. Are they trying a tad too hard to make things exciting? 

I can't believe I'm saying this but I've been to those "cowboy" towns. We probably all have, so knowing people can do trick shots is not surprising. But I guess your real point is that would you, if you were John, take the time (and it did some time) and the RISK to do that if someone's life is ACTUALLY at risk??!!?? (as opposed to be being on TV.) Would John have done that if it were June who was in Dwight's shoes (or boots)?

Speaking of which, I was a little disappointed to see John wearing work boots and not cowboy boots. I wonder if there's an imperial edict that no character on this show can wear cowboy boots since . . . on, you know his name.

I do like the slight playfulness that has crept into this show. It's something we didn't see under Madison's reign. I attribute it to John, and not Morgan. Although Morgan wants to bring people to zen, it seems like John has a more overall positive personality. But if he was a policeman (do we know where and in what capacity?) shouldn't be be a little more jaded and suspicious?  I mean he took to Dwight like he was cuddly little duck. Shouldn't he have smelled trouble? Yeah, they talked about the ironed face, which is sort of hard to ignore. I guess it was that John knows everyone's done bad things, so everyone needs to be a cut a break. Problem with that is that there are just some people who cannot be redeemed. And no one knows that better than a policeman.

[nodorothyparker]

John's mentioned a couple of times now being from Nacogdoches, a smaller size city in east Texas.  He said this episode that the Humbug's Gulch he moonlighted at was there.  I don't think he's ever specified much about his time as a cop beyond telling the story in one of his first episodes about how he went into a tailspin after accidentally killing a suspect, which I think we're supposed to think led him to withdraw and isolate himself roughly around the same time the ZA began. 

He does read as sometimes a little too open for someone who probably should know better, but maybe that's a deliberate choice after having been alone for so long.  I would think once you get this far into the ZA where everyone who's survived this long has done bad things just to live it might really screw with your people sense.   I loved how when relating how bad things got for him when he was still looking for June he said he even shot a guy's finger off but it wasn't the worst thing "because he was a real asshole."  The character's just so endearing like that.

[OoohMaggie]

5 hours ago, SamBeckett said:

I can't believe I'm saying this but I've been to those "cowboy" towns. We probably all have, so knowing people can do trick shots is not surprising. But I guess your real point is that would you, if you were John, take the time (and it did some time) and the RISK to do that if someone's life is ACTUALLY at risk??!!?? (as opposed to be being on TV.) Would John have done that if it were June who was in Dwight's shoes (or boots)?

Firstly, as a kid growing up in England, Westerns were my life, Audie Murphy my idol, visiting a place like ‘The Gulch’ would have been a dream come true, even now ‘Westworld’ is my ultimate fantasy, so no need for any embarrassment over having been to one!

As for the trick-shot, we all want danger and excitement in the show, it’s just that there are ways and means to make danger and excitement believable to the viewer, nonsense as just seen  leaves me in despair about a show I really want to do well, it’s a case of the old one step forward and three steps back routine.

Dont get me wrong, Dorie is the best thing about the show at the moment, maybe a John - June spin-off is in order.

Edited June 17, 2019 by OoohMaggie

[OoohMaggie]

Well it seems the trick-shot wasn’t down to Colman Domingo,  I’ll let him off this time! from ComicBook,

CB: Who's idea was it to have the bullet split the axe and do that stunt with John taking out two walkers in one shot?

CD: That was the writer. That was the writer Ashley Cardiff. That was her idea, and she is very much a western aficionado. Apparently that's her strong suit. She came up with that shot. That was the coolest thing. Then, how to shoot it was we had to really figure that out, and how it could be something that's dynamic and fun. I wanted it to be fun. I think a lot of our kills and things like that are very serious, and we're fighting for survival. In this one I thought, 'We got to go straight up John Ford, Sergio Leone.' I wanted to have some fun with it.

CB: Yeah, well you did it, man. I was watching, I was like 'There's no way they're going to do this!' It worked, and it was cool.

CD: Well, cool!

https://comicbook.com/thewalkingdead/2019/06/17/fear-the-walking-dead-dwight-crossover-colman-domingo-interview/

Edited June 17, 2019 by OoohMaggie

[Haleth]

The San Antonio split.  I burst out laughing because it was so ridiculous.  I guess in a show about zombies walkers you just have to go with it.

I was hoping for a Westworld crossover.  Or even better, Deadwood.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Haleth

[DrNowsWeightScale]

I really like the John Dorie character -  considering both shows, he's probably my number one favorite - and I like that he's in a relationship with June.

However, I am not feeling it. I wish that I were.

I'm not sure how long John and June have been together on this show by this stage - I think this show has jumped forward several times once or twice?

Regardless of how much time has elapsed, most of John and June's relationship has been off-screen.

When they are together, they stand apart and just chat (usually). Up until the last two, three episodes, we've not seen them engage in any (or not very much) P.D.A., hand holding, kissing, etc. They have acted more like platonic friends than anything.

I'm still not seeing June's attraction to John - if she likes him, it doesn't come across that much. The first episode they met, you could see him falling for her, but she acted as though he was annoying the entire time and couldn't wait to run away from him. I never have gotten a sense she is really into him.

I guess I'm the type of person who has to see the two love interests share significant screen time with the occasional PDA tossed in to fully buy into their romance feeling real.

The setting for this episode was interesting - it was fun seeing John and June in an Old Western type town.

Unless June gets killed or kidnapped in a future show, I'm not seeing what kind of story arc they have in store for John.

If I continue to post here, I will be a broken record about this, but: one reason I like John Dorie is precisely because he is a good guy.
So help me, if they turn him into an anti-hero who gets all bitter or angry (like what happened to Rick on the original show), and we have to watch him turn somewhat bad for a while, I will be turned off.

I'm fine with him staying a decent guy.

What happened to that kid, Charlie? I don't recall seeing her at all in the episode.

Edited June 20, 2019 by DrNowsWeightScale

[DrNowsWeightScale]

On 6/17/2019 at 9:21 AM, SamBeckett said:

I do like the slight playfulness that has crept into this show. It's something we didn't see under Madison's reign. I attribute it to John, and not Morgan. Although Morgan wants to bring people to zen, it seems like John has a more overall positive personality.

I do like the fact that FTWD interjects more humor. While I still remain a fan and watch the original, the unrelenting grimness of it is depressing and dreary.

The John character is usually so very earnest that he doesn't joke around much, but he does sometimes say or do things that are light-hearted. 

I was surprised to see in this episode things were a little reversed between John and June. The first episode they met, he was the one being friendly, smiley, jokey, while she remained stand off-ish, but in this episode at Humbug Gulch, while she sat there joking around with him (as she was reading over a Humbug Gulch pamphlet), he remained pretty stone-faced, while she was grinning at him.

I like the fact she sort of gave John a hard time about the "BROTH-el" place. She was like, "They have a brothel here?," and he was all, "It's a soup place."

[DrNowsWeightScale]

On 6/17/2019 at 10:24 AM, nodorothyparker said:

John's mentioned a couple of times now being from Nacogdoches, a smaller size city in east Texas.  He said this episode that the Humbug's Gulch he moonlighted at was there.  I don't think he's ever specified much about his time as a cop beyond telling the story in one of his first episodes about how he went into a tailspin after accidentally killing a suspect, which I think we're supposed to think led him to withdraw and isolate himself roughly around the same time the ZA began. 

He did tell the story on a previous episode about working with another cop who was also an alcoholic, and the cop friend of his got drunk and ran over a cop car with a tractor (or something. I don't recall the specifics).

I don't know how realistic it is for John to be this optimistic in the zombie apocalypse, but I like it. I'm so tired of the non-stop mopey, depressed people on the other show. I still enjoy and watch the original show, but it's nice to see people on a ZA show who sometimes laugh or act goofy.

[DrNowsWeightScale]

On 6/17/2019 at 12:49 PM, OoohMaggie said:

Dont get me wrong, Dorie is the best thing about the show at the moment, maybe a John - June spin-off is in order.

I would be happy if they made John Dorie the lead character. Bringing Morgan on was not necessary, IMO. I mean, I like the character of Morgan (though I know others find him annoying), but I'd rather see more of John. Also, more screen time between him (John) and June may make them feel more like a couple to me. 

Edited June 20, 2019 by DrNowsWeightScale

[OoohMaggie]

9 hours ago, DrNowsWeightScale said:

I'm not sure how long John and June have been together on this show by this stage - I think this show has jumped forward several times once or twice?

They were together at the cabin for about a week, I’m not sure  how long he told Morgan he’d been looking for her, but from the day he found her again, when he got shot by Alicia, has been just over five months

Edited June 20, 2019 by OoohMaggie

[OoohMaggie]

9 hours ago, DrNowsWeightScale said:

If I continue to post here, I will be a broken record about this, but: one reason I like John Dorie is precisely because he is a good guy.
So help me, if they turn him into an anti-hero who gets all bitter or angry (like what happened to Rick on the original show), and we have to watch him turn somewhat bad for a while, I will be turned off.

I think ‘who he is’ is too deeply engrained for him to be anything else, he feels guilty for shooting the guys little finger off! It just wouldn’t wash if they try squeezing a bad guy out of him. Dorie is definitely a character that should be left well alone. I do fear for June’s health in the near future though.

[DrNowsWeightScale]

8 hours ago, OoohMaggie said:

I think ‘who he is’ is too deeply engrained for him to be anything else, he feels guilty for shooting the guys little finger off! It just wouldn’t wash if they try squeezing a bad guy out of him. Dorie is definitely a character that should be left well alone. I do fear for June’s health in the near future though.

I can see the show writers evolving, that, though. I hope they don't.

One of the reasons Rick Grimes was one of my favorites on the original show for a good long time is because he was a good guy, a Boy Scout, up until around season 4 or 5, when he became ruthless.

Rick was so focused on protecting his son, that in his mind, other people became absolutely expendable.

I just hope we don't get that with Dorie.

I don't need or want to see a situation, where, for instance, some bad guy is holding June hostage, and the show gives us this deal where Dorie is like, how far will I go to save her? Should I spare the guy or kill him if it's to save June?

I can see them going there. I hope they don't, though.

Edit. I mean, I am totally fine with Dorie or Mogan or whomever using letal force if it's to defend someone else.
My problem is when the show makes THAT a huge story line that drags on for a billion years, and we have to watch the good guy have a huge guilt trip over it for 20 episodes.

I don't need to watch Dorie shoot a bad guy who is threatening June only to spend the next two to three seasons of the show watching him wrestle with guilt about it.

Oh, I liked when John thanked June for helping him out, and he said something like, "Thank you, June Bug."

I guess "June Bug" is her pet name.

Edited June 20, 2019 by DrNowsWeightScale

[DrNowsWeightScale]

8 hours ago, OoohMaggie said:

They were together at the cabin for about a week, I’m not sure  how long he told Morgan he’d been looking for her, but from the day he found her again, when he got shot by Alicia, has been just over five months

Okay, thank you.

To me, it doesn't feel as though they've been together all that long.

I think at one point, they were sharing an empty school bus shortly around the time that hurricane hit their area.

I'm just having a hard time fully buying into their relationship.

Edited June 20, 2019 by DrNowsWeightScale

[Gobi]

20 hours ago, DrNowsWeightScale said:

What happened to that kid, Charlie? I don't recall seeing her at all in the episode.

We haven't seen her yet, or those other two (woman and wheelchair guy) and maybe someone else I've forgotten. They were in the previews for this week's episode, though.

[heisenberg]

On 6/17/2019 at 1:49 PM, OoohMaggie said:

As for the trick-shot, we all want danger and excitement in the show, it’s just that there are ways and means to make danger and excitement believable to the viewer, nonsense as just seen  leaves me in despair about a show I really want to do well, it’s a case of the old one step forward and three steps back routine.

I am at the opposite. 

The first seasons they were trying to be too serious,  but when you see a ship upside down in the water with the hull full of bullets holes and it is not sinking I am not buying it, as serious as it could be.  

Since last season they are more funny, so I don't mind the weird stuff like the storm with zombies flying by.  I quite enjoyed it even if it is surreal.

A good example is the James Bond's movies.  I prefer Roger Moore who was funny and could do everything he wanted because he is James Bond.  I don't like Daniel Craig who passes most of is time crying and being vulnerable, it makes the stunts less enjoyable.

[seacliffsal]

I would be so on board with a spin-off of John, June, and Dwight and their wacky adventures looking for Sherry.  But, no, instead we have teenage hijinks as the kids set up zombie barricades and lure the group into an ambush.  Anyway, I was happy to see Dwight-he definitely brings a different perspective and background to the show.