This was 15 minutes of story told over an hour. At best.
I’ve always hated Talking Dead, because I would rather punch myself in the face than watch Chris Hardwick do anything, but I think the fact that those fact that those raving, easily pleased fans still exist is the reason the writers don’t feel like they need to try particularly hard.
I thought this episode and the first one were awesome! I waited a week to watch the premiere because I heard it wasn’t that good, but I really enjoyed it. After an entire season of Neegan and his people just pointlessly being brutal, I was so glad to see Rick and crew kicking ass. I don’t really care how unrealistic some of the gun fights were because Rick and crew kicking ass!
I hated it too, and it’s making me wonder if I want to keep watching it or not.
At the end of the last episode, we saw that the locked door to an urgent care facility was shaking, implying that there were a bunch of walkers shut in and trying to get out. As one of the last saviors prepared to cut and run, he appeared to have set off a grenade or maybe booby-trap that knocked everyone down, blew the door open, and created a big cloud of smoke. At the end of the scene, everyone was on the ground, stunned, surrounded by smoke and the sound of walkers shuffling out of the urgent care facility.
I was really hoping Morgan was going to walk out there where Jesus had all the Saviors held prisoner and just start shooting them, then Tara and other’s sharing her mindset would have joined in. Then when they are all dead, Jesus just pouts.
I thought Jesus was supposed to weep. Maybe that’s just the baby Jesus…
The ‘crisis of conscience’ theme is valid in this type of literature. But given the circumstances of an ongoing battle that can easily still be lost, Jesus’ insistence on accepting surrender and keeping the enemy combatant alive just looks really, really stupid. Just as stupid as wasting hundreds of rounds on window glass. Or splitting up to explore the top floor. Or… Well, all kinds of stupid decisions the writers force us to swallow. Really, these people are the survivors for pity’s sake! You don’t survive the zombie apocalypse by making stupid decisions, especially repeating the same ones.
Oh, and does anybody else remember back when it took a genius (Eugene) and a full machine shop to make a single cartridge? And now they’re squirting them out on full auto! What happened?!? Writers forgot their own plot device? Or are we actually the stupid ones?
But…what about the baby Gracie??
That plot device was specifically because Negan took all the guns and ammo from Alexandria. The Kingdom still had all of their guns, and Rick’s crew later got a pile of guns from Oceanside.
I kind of feel like the Saviors remind me a bit of the Others from Lost. When we first meet them, there are a few odd skirmishes and infiltrations hinting at some much larger organized group, then the have an almost supernatural ability to stalk and outmaneuver our heroes, then they are portrayed in this sort of normalizing, almost sympathetic light. Presumably (since they aren’t going to massacre the survivors), they will be integrated into the group to fight some other foe later on.
Which is not a terrible way to portray them. I don’t think it would be interesting at all if the Saviors were all a bunch of one dimensional post-apocalyptic Mad Max lunatics. We have to assume they have children and non-combatants too and Rick’s going to have to figure out what to do with all them.
I still think she’s suspect.
Well, now I am worried!
I’ve had the same feeling many times.
Except Ben was one of the most interesting characters on TV while Negan is one of the least interesting.
TWD and Lost (which husband and I are watching on DVD, his first time with Lost) seem a LOT alike. Basically the same story (The Hero’s Journey), lots of shooting, a bad enemy, horrible injuries, dirty/tired/sweaty people giving speeches during the slow parts, the search for food/water/HOME. Husband is loving Lost, but won’t even be in the same room when TWD is on. (shrug)