The Walking Dead

Griffith

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Blues said:
Wow, such hate against the TV show. I know there has to be an opposing wave to every popular thing, but...
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I like how reasoned criticism is synonymous with "hate" nowadays, though I do hate being repeatedly disappointed. Also, I don't think one can portray it as a backlash against the show's popularity either since these critiques were being raised as it went, before we even knew it was a success. I don't think anybody here was rooting against the show anyway, to the contrary, people wanted it to be better. On that note, it's unfair to question our motives rather than our judgment, especially since it seems you're basically in agreement.

NightCrawler said:
I think you just shot yourself in the foot with this one. You could fit TGTBATU in every setting, context, background, etc, and you'd still get an amazing movie. Because it is a great story exceptionally directed. Which isn't the case with TWD. I definitely watched the entire season only because of the zombie scenario. The pilot promised a solid show but all the other episodes were poorly written and directed. If it wasn't for the zombie scenes, i wouldn't come back every week.
If they don't improve in the next season, the z-novelty will wear off.
Btw, i don't think there's "hate" against this show, just bitter indifference.
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Exactly, and it should also be noted that the other examples were similarly specious.
 
IncantatioN

IncantatioN

First image from Season 2

http://collider.com/walking-dead-season-2-image/95325/

EDIT: I posted the picture but it came out too big! So Click the link for it.
 
Kompozinaut

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
Figured this was worth posting:

You have a non-traditional writing staff this season – how does that affect the ability to create a season-long arc?

Hurd: “How is it non-traditional? We have a writers’ room.”

Well, online…

Hurd: [Laughs.] “Don’t believe everything you read”

Can you explain where that came from then, and what it meant?

Darabont: “Yeah, the big sensational headline last year was ‘Darabont Fires Entire Writing Staff!’ It sounded like I went in and slaughtered 12 people and threw their bodies in the dumpster. It’s not the case at all. There were two writers I didn’t invite back from last year, for reasons that I needn’t go into. No, we put together a really good, solid regular staff this year, and they’re doing inspired work. The only sense that it’s nontraditional is in the sense that I’m encouraging these folks – guys and gal – to really colour outside the lines and swing for the fences. And not just sort of hit the marks of television writing, but to try and do something really unique and different. They’re really rising to that challenge.”
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http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/07/01/the-walking-dead-season-two-the-producers-speak/

I remember there being some conversation on here about how all the writers had been fired.
 
Griffith

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
And not just sort of hit the marks of television writing
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It might be nice for them to actually hit that mark first before supposedly transcending it. The only thing Darabont's brought with him back to television is a big screen ego.
 
Walter

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
NightCrawler said:
Frank Darabont is stepping down as mastermind of AMC’s zombie series “The Walking Dead,” according to Deadline Hollywood.
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*shrug* As long as they get someone else who's creative and dependable in there soon, I'm not too worried. I don't think he brought anything special to the series. His presence was only felt during the pilot. The other episodes could have been done by anyone.
 
Griffith

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
The story behind Darabont getting canned and more:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/walking-dead-what-happened-fired-221449

Looks like bad times over at AMC, and not just for The Walking Dead...
 
Kompozinaut

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
Anyone else catch the season premiere tonight? I can't help but feel like I'm watching a strange parallel universe. I've been reading the comics lately and have been definitely getting into it. Just finished Chapter 8, which kind of made me sick to my stomach. I enjoy the show, without a doubt, but it definitely pales in comparison to the comics. I'd think with Robert Kirkman's involvement it would be different, but I guess he's ok with the direction things are going.
 
Oburi

Oburi

All praise Grail
Yea I watched it. It was ok at best. I think it started off decent but then descended into a plot-less run around with more soapy drama than it needed. Had more talking and walking and less "dead" than anything.

Oh and for an hour and a half episode it was really about 45 minutes with the commercials every 6 minutes. Seriously, I've never seen more interruptions and awkward commercial cuts in the middle of scenes.

Luckily Boardwalk Empire came on right after and saved the day :guts: Made Talking Dead look terrible. This is my Sundays though, except from now on I won't dare watch Boardwalk second.
 
Walter

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I'm skipping out on this season until someone tells me it's worth watching. Last season was pretty disappointing to me.
 
Griffith

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I didn't even know it was coming on already, figured they'd wait until Halloween again. Oh well, now that I've already missed it, no point in going back.
 
Handmade_lion

Handmade_lion

I'm with Bob on that one. Watched it with my neighbor over at his place. There was some talking, then there was some more talking, then there were zombies, and then there was some more talking. Not to mention
a character who almost nearly kills himself accidentally on a car door only to have a band-aid on it right after.
And
parading through a zombie's stomach looking for the remains of a little girl which would have been identifiable somehow.

I thought T-Dog was a danger to himself for most of that episode. What happens to him simply did not need to happen only to be fixed so simply. It was bad enough at the beginning of the episode that, despite rewinding it to see how it happened, I couldn't find out how he managed to do what he did. Thus, I concluded he is incredibly susceptible to bodily injury. When Main Guy's son came and brought over a sleeve of different knives, I instantly feared for T-Dog's life. He is going to ask to see one and accidentally cut himself horrifically. When he was walking through the forest, I knew somehow he was in danger of bumping into a tree the wrong way and cutting into an artery and bleeding out.

Everything else, soap dialog with zombies.

Also, the final scene with the deer was one of the funniest thing's I've ever seen in my life. That deer stared so hard at the boy he shot him with his mind.
 
Walter

Walter

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Handmade_lion said:
There was some talking, then there was some more talking, then there were zombies, and then there was some more talking.

Everything else, soap dialog with zombies.
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You must not be familiar with the series. Walking Dead is not an action romp with zombies. Even in the comic, it's a drama set in a world where civilization has ended as a result of a zombie outbreak. The zombies are merely the scenery. I mean, I don't like what they've done to the TV adaptation of the series, but you can't knock it for having too much dialogue. It's a drama. What's been missing from the adaptation thus far are the hard swings in character development that are a signature piece to the comic. The show hasn't had many episodes, granted, but all I see them doing is spinning their wheels.
 
Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
You must not be familiar with the series. Walking Dead is not an action romp with zombies. Even in the comic, it's a drama set in a world where civilization has ended as a result of a zombie outbreak. The zombies are merely the scenery. I mean, I don't like what they've done to the TV adaptation of the series, but you can't knock it for having too much dialogue. It's a drama. What's been missing from the adaptation thus far are the hard swings in character development that are a signature piece to the comic. The show hasn't had many episodes, granted, but all I see them doing is spinning their wheels.
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Walter I'm starting to think you're the odd man out for most people that follow the comic series. I was watching it over a friend's place and she kept going on and on about zombie "mash ups" and how faithful it is to the comic series. I have never read The Walking Dead, but I'm assuming the tv series is just trying to mimic a far better show and is constantly falling short of it.
 
Walter

Walter

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
Walter I'm starting to think you're the odd man out for most people that follow the comic series. I was watching it over a friend's place and she kept going on and on about zombie "mash ups" and how faithful it is to the comic series. I have never read The Walking Dead, but I'm assuming the tv series is just trying to mimic a far better show and is constantly falling short of it.
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What's a zombie "mash-up"? Anyway I'd say show is faithful to the comic in that it is about a group of survivors. But that's about it. Just reading the first six issues would show you how unfaithful it is in every other regard.
 
Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
What's a zombie "mash-up"? Anyway I'd say show is faithful to the comic in that it is about a group of survivors. But that's about it. Just reading the first six issues would show you how unfaithful it is in every other regard.
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I have no idea what a mash-up is, but I'm guessing it is zombie violence. Edit: I saw it also said in other reviews (A.V Club), but I don't see how it is a mash-up.
 
Walter

Walter

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Staff member
Yes, zombies are killed in both the TV series and the comic book (is that really what we're talking about?). But it's not the focus of the story, and when it happens its usually an aside to whatever else is going on in the main story arc. I think people focus too much on that aspect of the series, honestly. It's not a slasher movie. It's not Return of the Living Dead. I'm trying to not spoil anything, but I can think of maybe 2-3 times across the past 89 issues when zombie extermination actually becomes the core of the story, and it's for very specific reasons. For the most part, Walking Dead is about "how do we survive in this world now?" Honestly after reading the series for so long, the way Kirkman eventually implements zombies in the story begins to feel like he's stenciled them in just to meet a quota from a particularly vocal set of fans, while he's spending most of his time on dialogue and characters. Personally I don't think that's a bad thing.

As I've said over and over in this thread, the character that Rick eventually becomes is one of my favorite in all modern fiction. I think as a character, he's an amazing accomplishment, and for that I'm willing to forgive many of the other tropes of the series. But from what I've seen of the performance of TV series' Rick, it's going to fall far short of the comic. He simply doesn't have the range to fulfill the kind of guy Rick eventually becomes, though he sure does have naive, early days Rick down to a T. Let's see how long that lasts him.
 
m

m

I started reading the hardcovers a couple of weeks ago. I just finished book number 6, which means I've read up to issue 72 and I can't wait to get my hands on book number 7.

It was good seeing Rick and company get a nice place to sleep and get cleaned up but just like them I'm wondering what the catch is. As Rick said, if it looks to good to be true, it usually is. On the other hand I'm wondering if perhaps they'll ruin it by trying to get their weapons back. I'm very interested in finding out the story behind the place and this Davidson character they have mentioned.
 
Handmade_lion

Handmade_lion

Well I've seen the mid-season finale and caught up on its prior episode before it premiered to be fully caught up. First off, let me say:

Thank god "the Saint" (Boondock Saints character) and Dale are still alive. The Saint who wasn't even in the comics, and the old man from all those Stephen King movies (i.e. Storm of the Century, The Mist, Green Mile), are my two favorite characters right there!

My overall opinion? I've not really dug this season. Though I will say the mid-season finale was the best episode this season. I suppose that's to be expected with finales, but it was a pretty interesting,
especially with Shane getting crazier and crazier. But some might argue he's just taking control. I'll concede, I wouldn't have lived on that farm with all those zombies, either!
:guts:

The final note the finale leaves off on was a shocker.
The little girl we've been pursuing this whole season ended up being inside of that shed on the farm all along. She was the last one to come out after Shane opened the gates and initiated the zombie slaughter that followed. I enjoyed and approved of Rick's stepping up to deliver the killing blow to little zombie Sophia, since he had been the one that believed the most that she was still alive. Looking down Rick's gun barrel was a particularly impacting scene for me. I loved it.

Rick's wife continues to be a plague upon my eyesight. I do not enjoy her at all. And her constant bitchiness is a further deterrent from trying to give these new writers any sort of chance. Her and Rick's son, whom I go out of my way not to know his name, very laughably attempted at some character developments of his own this episode. But like any Doctor Who child actor, they are directed and presented poorly, and are usually just god-awful. You will hear the young boy's lines in the background, and/or very briefly while the big boys are talking. At least this was how I interpreted his new phase of acting tougher toward the end of this episode.

Rick himself is a fun character (though I enjoy Shane a whole lot more. Go figure, with his supposed to have died a long time ago according to the comics). I do a pretty good Rick impersonation with his emotional gaze and comforting words of surviving, getting everybody out okay, and trying to lift morale. I foresee more of this in the future. Other than that, everything was as it has been this season. Sexy farmer's daughter is sexy.
 
Walter

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Issue 100 hit the stands today... It's fucking brutal. Day-ruining. My mind kept drifting to it throughout the day and it's ... man.

Thing is, there's just one horrifying moment, but the rest of the issue is a real let down. We finally get to meet the guy behind this new opposition, and he's certainly not anyone as memorable as The Governor. It's sad. But I have a feeling that the function of this new villain will serve as yet another way to shape Rick's character.
 
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