Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'The Walking Dead' - 'Chupacabra': Roll in the hay?

Daryl goes solo, and Glen makes a discovery

By Alan Sepinwall Sunday, Nov 13, 2011 10:00 PM

Steven Yeun in "The Walking Dead."

Credit: AMC

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A review of tonight's "The Walking Dead" coming up just as soon as I'm wearing ears...

Some or all of Rick's weary band of travelers have been staying at Hershel's farm for four episodes now, and these installments have been a marked contrast to what came before. The farm is relatively isolated/protected, it has a generator and fresh water and apparently abundant food supplies. Outside of the too-brief respite at the CDC, this is the first time since Rick got out of the hospital that he hasn't had to live in constant fear of zombie attack, nor concern about adequate food and shelter.

This almost idyllic respite has definitely sucked some of the tension out of the show (though two of the Hershel episodes involved Shane and Otis being chased through the high school by dozens of walkers). But it's also given Rick and company some hope for the first time since Jenner told them the CDC was going to self-destruct, and when characters on a show like this get hope, it's only so it can be taken away later. And we begin to see the seeds of that in what Glen discovers in the barn.

I'm not going to speculate on why Hershel's keeping the walkers in there, given that this is presumably the show returning to the source material in the comics - and I'm going to remind everybody (as is spelled out more thoroughly down below) that it is not acceptable to discuss material from the comics that hasn't been presented on the TV show yet. But it does give me an opportunity to talk about the show's storytelling philosophy in general.

This period of relative peace has allowed the show to spend some more time letting us get to know the characters. The problem is, for the most part, we haven't learned anything new about any of them. The characters aren't getting deeper; they're just more familiar. Rick feels burdened by leadership and the difficulty of doing the right thing in this strange new world. Lori is torn between two men. Andrea resents Dale for making her stay alive. Carol is a pushover, Dale wise but also a busybody, etc. Later, rinse, repeat.

The major exception has been Daryl, one of the few characters not from the comics and, perhaps not surprisingly, the character the writers seem to take the most pleasure in crafting and growing. Daryl's solo odyssey didn't amount to a ton story-wise (other than providing another small scrap of evidence that Sophia's still alive and lost in these woods), but his hallucinatory chat with Merle added to our understanding of how Daryl became the man he is (and why he's not exactly the man Merle is). And just as Daryl got softened a bit between seasons, this version of Merle (even if he wasn't the real one) was toned down from season one to someone who wasn't particularly likable but seemed more complex than the over-the-top redneck caricature yelling at Rick from the roof of the department store.

That the show has been able to make Daryl so compelling is a good sign. That the show has struggled to do the same with most of the regular cast - even factoring in how much you want to credit/blame the source material for that - is troubling.

Before we go to the comments, let me remind you once again about the no spoilers rules for this blog, and specifically how it relates to a show like this adapted from a popular source material:

1)No Spoilers.

2)This includes any discussion of the previews for the next episode.

3)This includes any discussion of storylines from the comic that haven't happened yet in the timeline of the TV show. (And, yes, the show has and will continue to deviate from the comic in some ways, but for the sake of those instances where they're going to be the same, I don't want people talking about something from issue 50 when we're watching episode 11.)

4)This includes anything you've seen or read elsewhere about anything that has not happened within the context of the episodes that have already aired.

Got that? Good. So what did everybody else think?

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: The Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laure Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Alan Sepinwall

Next 173 Comments

eric_balsam

I'm starting to get annoyed by characters getting hurt in accidents that are completely unrelated to zombie attacks.
November 13, 2011 at 11:06PM EST Reply to Comment
- OutWest Me too!
  November 14, 2011 at 12:20PM EST
- Darkdoug I think that's part of the issue. The Walking Dead refers to the characters as well as the zombies, because even if the zombies don't get them, something else could or should, in a world where all the stuff we depend upon for daily survival is gone. Simple things like going up the hill to get a better look are not so simple without motor vehicles.
  Really, the show seems to be trying to be the anti-action movie, like with Andrea taking it upon herself to play sniper. Dale's "compassion" to her BTW, is exactly the kind of thing that could turn Daryl against the rest of them, despite Sophia's mother being right in her assessment of them, and after her pissy mood of the last few episodes combined with her presumption that she's just as qualified to be one of the troops instead of one of the cooks or laundry people, she kind of needed to be taken down a peg. That should have been the kind of teachable moment where we reinforce the lesson that when the two cops who have saved your life repeatedly and taught you everything you know about guns say "Don't shoot" then dumb blondes who had never fired a gun a year ago SHOULD NOT SHOOT.
  A recurring theme of the show is "this is not an action movie" and you can't just hop on a horse and go riding out to find the girl, or pick up a gun and nail the zombie with a head shot into the sun on your first try, like action movie heroes do with no trouble.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:35PM EST
- I'm personally more annoyed by post-apocalyptic movies where everyone magically becomes omni-competent Rambo survivalists. Ever seens a 70's British show called 'Survivors' -- created by Terry Nation (who also created Doctor Who's Daleks). The premise is basically most of the world's population is killed by a plague; the few survivors have to leave the cities rendered by incapable. The power grid rapidly fails. And the survivors, without all the conveniences of urban civilization, are up the proverbial creek and desperately trying to figure out how to make paddles before they starve to death or freeze as soon as winter hits.
  November 15, 2011 at 5:54AM EST
Fuzzbrain

This episode rolled down a hill & fell into the mud for me. I think I'm done with The Walking Dead. It's pretty obvious now that whatever happened to Sophia isn't going to be discovered until the season finale. Hopefully the rest of you are still enjoying the show. I can't wait for "Justified" to start up.
November 13, 2011 at 11:08PM EST Reply to Comment
- Alex T. I'll still watch Walking Dead but yeah I'm extremely excited for Justified.
  November 13, 2011 at 11:26PM EST
- seriously... They broadcast the walkers as soon as hs said they couldn't use the barn.
  
  I like daryl, in part bc he's Norman Reedus, but the Merle bit was such a complete and total waste. It would have been more compelling to drop a hint that it might just have been Merle alive and messing with him.
  
  The writing this season has just been focused solely on foreshadowing one act of stupidity after another. The stay hasn't established any of the characters they way it might have been intended to do. Neither has an impact been made greater by making the barn "mysterious".
  November 13, 2011 at 11:35PM EST
- gotcha I completely agree. This show was far better last year. No way do I intend to watch these Zombie walkers to the end of the season. No thanks to AMC to have them march on next season.
  The only reason they renewed it so quickly, was the large viewer audience it had the first episode. I hope those walkers walk to another channel. CBS can use a little help.
  November 15, 2011 at 4:54PM EST
kesplis

I liked this episode, and I've warmed somewhat to most of the characters but definitely not Andrea. Yes, she has ample cause to complain all the time, but so do the other characters and they don't. It gets old. Add in her stupidly shooting the most improved character of this season, and I'm not loving her.
November 13, 2011 at 11:09PM EST Reply to Comment
- Kate I completely agree. I think Andrea's character is a waste of time. I'm not familiar with the comic but I'm not convinced that her character is essential to the whole storyline, especially with her complaining every so often. Thoughts?
  November 14, 2011 at 2:21AM EST
- Col Bat Guano I don't know how many women are on the writing staff, but they could use some more so we could get some female characters we actually like rather than this collection of nitwits.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:48AM EST
- PotatoSolution I really like Laurie Holden, and she's doing what she can with what she's being given, but it's difficult because her character is such a dimwit (not that being an idiot is anything rare on this show, mind you).
  November 14, 2011 at 6:05PM EST
- darthzombie Reply to comment...
  November 15, 2011 at 3:40AM EST
- darthzombie I know Andrea on the show bugs me so much, and I want to like her as she's a favorite in the comics for me but the whole thing from the CDC which was not in the comics has made her into such whiny and annoying character...
  November 15, 2011 at 3:42AM EST
- Froide Apparently, (for whatever reason) the Andrea character is SUPPOSED to be viewed as willful, self-involved, whiny, annoying, obnoxious, burdensome, unreliable, yada, yada. Hats off to Laurie Holden for nailing it!
  March 27, 2013 at 3:25AM EST
Jeff

Boardwalk Empire writers need to school Walking Dead's on how to create compelling female characters. Or just characters, in general.
November 13, 2011 at 11:12PM EST Reply to Comment
- Ian God, do I hate the characters on this show. Darryl I like, but something's gone terribly wrong when Shane is my second favorite character.
  
  I hate rooting for the zombies.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:57AM EST
- Rolf Any show that has a character as horribly annoying as Paz de la Huerta's character is, should not be schooling anybody.*
  
  *Post clearly is avoiding how good Kelly McDonald's character is, in order to prove a point...
  November 14, 2011 at 3:54AM EST
- nycflo89 Both shows are boring! I don't care for any of the characters. The presentation and story-telling is trite. Although, Boardwalk has spend a lot of money on interior sets that are not truly showcased. I DVR these shows, but believe me when I tell you, I fast forward a lot of scenes from both shows, especially TWD.
  November 14, 2011 at 4:46AM EST
- Tim This isn't a dig at you or anything NYCFLO, but if you're fast forwarding Boardwalk then there's really no point in watching it.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:50PM EST
michael_jones

The reveal at the end of the episode got me thinking ... is Hershel much darker than he seems? My wife and I both wondered aloud if Rick's crew are about to unearth some nasty stuff at the farm. Either way, this is one of the first episodes that actually made me want to keep watching - great ending reveal.
November 13, 2011 at 11:13PM EST Reply to Comment
- Joe Isn't it obvious that they are some of the family members that were 'lost' and Hershel is keeping them there until they find a cure? Thats what makes the most sense to me at least.
  November 13, 2011 at 11:23PM EST
- AJ Wouldn't finding a cure for a disease that reanimates corpses just turn 'cure' them into being normal corpses? The CDC guy seemed to make it clear that the disease kills you, then turns you into a zombie so a cure wouldn't only help someone before they got turned.
  
  Yeah... I should probably not logically think about this show. Sorry.
  November 13, 2011 at 11:29PM EST
- Chris J That seems to make sense but there sure seemed to be a lot of walkers down there. I didn't like they way Hershel had been protrayed earlier but I felt a noticeable darkness coming on even before the reveal.
  November 13, 2011 at 11:32PM EST
- Ambrose I can buy Herschel keeping friends and family alive(ish) in the hopes of one day receiving a cure. He wasn't at the CDC. He doesn't know how bad things are. In his conversation with Rick a couple episodes back he held onto the belief that this was just another disease that could be bested like any other.
  November 13, 2011 at 11:42PM EST
- Joe @AJ - Well, Hershel never heard what the CDC guy had to say, definitely not when he locked them up. I just think back to when Hershel was saying that there was going to be a cure in the first episode we met him. That would make the most sense from what we know about his character
  November 13, 2011 at 11:47PM EST
- Dezbot If that's the reason he's keeping them (which is what I suspect, too), he's going to be pretty upset when Rick shares the CDC info with him.
  November 13, 2011 at 11:56PM EST
- It was pretty obvious. After all, he was gassing up a generator for the barn, didn't seem to have power lines running the football field distance to the house. Plus the fact that he took all their guns, was adamant about them not staying in the barn, the zombie in the well which couldn't have gotten through the fences w.o noticeable damage due to its bulk, and didn't want his daughter being with anyone (well that one was just odd, but telling. There arent a lot of eligible bachelors)
  
  I don't think they're all relatives, I think he's trying something. Maybe he wasn't a vet, just a researcher. That or he did tests on lab animals lol
  November 14, 2011 at 12:23AM EST
- JamesG I doubt they're his family members. Remember Rick's line about how Herschel wants to deal with the all walkers himself? This is clearly tied to the ones in the barn. Somewhat fishy is going on there. Wouldn't be surprised if he was doing some kind of tests or experiments given his medical background.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:55AM EST
- finsbury They have to be family and neighbors.
  How did they herd them all into the barn?
  
  Perhaps Hershel, the vet, is hoping to clone them as opposed to making them live again.
  
  Perhaps Hershel tried to cure them, give a zombie a blood transfusion with a healthy relative, and it back fired, losing more friends and neighbors.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:56PM EST
- finsbury Why doesn't the generator attract zombies from as far as they can hear it?
  
  Why don't the farmhouse lights attract zombies?
  
  RULES
  
  November 14, 2011 at 3:06PM EST
- JB I agree with Ambrose. Despite the conversation he had with Rick (who told him that the CDC scientist told them there was "no cure") Hershel is holding out the hope that there WILL be a cure, eventually. Maybe he cares about those particular zombies and wants to "cure" them, or perhaps they are just "test subjects" and he's experimenting on them. Either way, it's a dangerous endeavor. Shouldn't that floater in the well have been a wake up call to Hershel and Maggie that perhaps hoarding zombies in a barn isn't the best idea?
  November 14, 2011 at 4:59PM EST
Booker J

Stick a machete in this show's skull: it's done. The plodding pace of the plot this season is bad enough, but the writers' ham-handed attempts to develop "character" through endless expository dialog is hack TV writing at its worst. The season 1 pilot episode was promising (cinematic, epic in scope, with minimal dialog), but the remainder of the season 1 episodes were pretty much standard-grade middling television. But season 2 is a complete loss. Both AMC and the new show runner are likely to blame for the sorry state of the show now. AMC's attempt to curb the budget has clearly led to the glacial pace of the story, as well as some of the more ludicrous plot developments (the hunting accident shooting of Carl and the dull mystery of Sophie's disappearance), both plot points clearly implemented to keep the story stage-bound to a single farmhouse set for multiple episodes. The new show runner (the hack who drove Starz's abysmal Crash melodrama into the wrecking yard) is likely to blame for the overwrought speechifying of the characters this season (note to hack show runner: overacted soliloquies in which characters whine about their feelings is NOT character development--it's "on-the-nose" exposition.
November 13, 2011 at 11:35PM EST Reply to Comment
- Dano +1
  This episode tonight has left me with almost no hope of the show getting any better. I still have a slight suspicion they might have something up their sleeve for the end of the season, but I don't think I'm going to be watching to find out anymore. Had they killed off Daryl, I *definitely* would have given up on it... but even with him still alive, it's not looking promising.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:08AM EST
- Exactly how I felt Dano. They were smart enough not to make that the cliffhanger bc I would have been done. Shooting him was so dang stupid, they had already ruined what could have been an incredible dialogue free scene of darryl fighting to save himself. At the same time, taking away any hope of a dramatic return for merle.
  
  Not to mention how completely grating andrea has come off so far. Let's have her shoot someone, just to make sure there's no goodwill left for her. When she shot him,I turned to my brother and said, "seriously? Of all the unimportant second tier characters they want to kill the one who is by far the most interesting person of them all this season?"
  
  George RR Martin can get away with it bc his ensembles include more than one person worth watching/reading. Not to mention it advances the narrative and tends to have far reaching implications.
  
  How do you turn a show with a concept like this into such a boring waste? Oh yeah, by firing the person who had the vision to make the transition from page to screen
  November 14, 2011 at 12:34AM EST
- VisionOn Extending this season has been the show's downfall. Now they have to stretch a smaller budget over more episodes and the only way they can do that it seems is to have every episode spent in one location or wandering around in the forest, literally in circles, looking for a girl the audience have no reason to care about.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:39AM EST
- Remy Yes, this season is clearly the product of a much smaller budget and it shows. My husband watched tonight for the first time this season (all he saw of last season was the last episode) and his response was: "that's it??" The first season had some pretty big set pieces that I thought were excellent--Rick's trip on the horse into Atlanta, wearing zombie guts to escape the city, the struggle to get to the CDC and what happened with the explosion. Now we just get an occasional stray zombie with the exception of Otis' and Shane's expedition trip but even that was just a crowd of zombies trying to get through a fence. B-O-R-I-N-G.
  
  Speaking of Shane, have they dumbed that character down so much that he has become functionally illiterate? Or is this supposed to be a reflection of his decline in mental status due to killing Otis?
  
  I think they could have brought us to the zombies in the barn more quickly--trimmed down all that endless searching in the woods. Daryl is great but this episode felt like filler.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:02AM EST
- The Science Guy I share a lot of your issues but perhaps not to the same degree. Just curious, though, how many of you think the show's problems started with this season? Because I was getting that impression from some of your postings, and I don't really agree with that sentiment. With the exception of the pilot episode and some of the stuff at the CDC, much of last season was kind of boring. I view this season as an improvement over those middle episodes. Character development still leaves much to be desired, but I feel like there has been at least some progress (I actually cared that Darryl was in danger this episode). So while I sympathize with many of your concerns, I don't think they're really a product of the show's recent behind-the-scenes drama. Thoughts?
  November 14, 2011 at 8:05AM EST
- Rely (and Mr Nye),
  
  My thoughts on Shane is that they've decided his trust and subsequent possible baby is not enough to create tension. Bc that wouldn't cause two life long friends to fight. It's also over used as hell, hai soap operas!
  
  So on that note, they seem to have decided that in the middle of a zombie apocalypse they need not one but two villains. Hershels craziness, whatever it is, is not enough. They need a caricature villain in shane, he has to have enough conflict to want to kill Rick apparently. It's stupid, not compelling.
  
  The more I think about this episode, the less sure I am about watching next weeks. It was an excercise in idiocy. Maybe season one was so good bc Darabont knew what compelling tv needed to be and guided his writers there. I don't think the new showrunner is doing/capable of it
  November 14, 2011 at 11:51AM EST
- James Can we stop with using "ham-handed" in every comment? I find nothing more ham-handed than using the word ham-handed over and over again.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:02PM EST
- Matt Wait a sec...before he was fired, Frank Darabont had significat input into the first 6 episodes. Everyone is giving him a pass, but he has some responsibility as well. The true mark of where the show is going will be starting from episode 7 and beyond which will be free from Darabont's input.
  November 14, 2011 at 11:56PM EST
ron mexico

I get the complaints. I really do. I didn't start reading the comics until about 80 of them were out, and what's amazing about them is 1) they have a remarkable ability to make you wonder what's going to happen next - the cliffhangers from issue to issue were remarkably effective and 2) a lot happens very quickly - the storyline seems to advance at a breakneck pace in the comics. The show is nowhere near as effective at either of these things.

That said, it's still watchable for me. I am glad that they decided to deviate from the source material to keep me guessing, but i wish they'd either do a better job, as Alan speaks to, fleshing out the characters or moving the story along...ideally both, but I'd take only one at this point.

Hopefully we can all agree that Talking Dead kind of sucks though, right? Whenever they have anyone interesting linked to the show on, they seem to have a bad habit of asking questions that would spoil future episodes so they just dance around the question. Blech.
November 13, 2011 at 11:40PM EST Reply to Comment
- Sareeta I don't watch Talking Dead because the host is awful. He seems nervous in front of the camera, which is not fun to watch, yet at the same time cuts off his guests.
  November 14, 2011 at 10:53PM EST
Gob

It's unbelievable that the writers of this show really seem to be building the entire second season story arc on looking for a minor character no viewer cares about wandering off in the opening episode. Daryl is the only slightly interesting character on this show, partly because he's played by the only actor on the show that isn't terrible. Hell on Wheels isn't all that great of a show so far, but it was so much better than Walking Dead tonight, not even close levels of quality between the two.
November 14, 2011 at 12:02AM EST Reply to Comment
I. B.

did the walker in the well do anything to the water in the other wells? thank you
November 14, 2011 at 12:19AM EST Reply to Comment
- It depends on a few factors that I'm not entirely qualified to respond about.
  
  1) were they all connected?
  
  2) did he slot through them all to end up there?
  
  3) if not, was the opening vast enouh to let a large amount of contaminated water flow through?
  
  Speculation time!
  4) did hershek know it was there? Maybe it got out of the barn and they had to trick it into falling in the well so they wouldn't have to kill it?
  5)how effective is the blood as a contaminant? How many parts per million make it transmitable? What kind of contaminant? A dead raccoon in a pond can make you sick, but I don't think you can get rabies from it.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:43AM EST
- OutWest What I thought was dumb about the well scene is that they had other wells on the property- I think 5?
  
  Why would they be concerned about contamination in the first place? Kill him and get water elsewhere. So, then they go and try to pull him out? Really? Would they actually drink that water with no real knowledge of how the virus might spread? Saliva? Do Walkers defecate or urinate? How long do they live without a meal? What the heck is this guy doing out here?
  
  That's just stupid. They even continued to try and pull him out after they banged him all up and he was "bleeding". If they were working with the idea that as long as his blood wasn't in the water it was safe, they should have killed his blubbery butt on the spot after that one. They also had discussion about not knowing if it was contaminated. How in the world would they find out? Does Hershel have a special kit to test for walker germs? No way!
  
  Finding a random walker in the well, out in the middle of nowhere, would have been enough for me to question the safety of the farm. Like, it's your farm, your well, and you have no idea that there's a zombie in it? At that point, I would be suspicious of Hershel and his family in a big way and I'd be on the road.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:46PM EST
- OutWest I just thought about one more thing...if they did only have that one water source and weren't sure it was contaminated, they would have used a "sentinel" member to find out.
  
  For example, they used to use birds during times of chemical warfare before technology was so advanced- if it died, it wasn't safe. If it lived, you take the least valuable human asset and expose them. If they live, you make a choice, etc..
  
  What I wonder about is- which member of the group would be the sentinel? Who would be forced to drink the water to see if they turned? I think they would choose Carol. She seems to have very little to offer, other than a uterus- which will be necessary if they find the need to keep the human species alive later on. Hmmm.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:57PM EST
srpad

I really liked the brief Flashback to the post Zombie but pre Rick time frame. I wouldn't mind to see more of that.
November 14, 2011 at 12:49AM EST Reply to Comment
- JamesG Agreed, although I wish there was more relevance when they used that plot device to the actual episodes. So far is just feels like unrelated exposition that's somewhat sloppily tacked on.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:52AM EST
- Remy Yes, the flashback was possibly the most promising part of the episode but it was cut short because it was an opener. It really didn't tell us much and it didn't aid us in understanding the larger context of the episode. Totally random almost.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:12AM EST
- BillBillBillBill I felt like it may have been showing the origins of Shane and Lori's affair, which would be relevant given her pregnancy and uncertainty over the father. After all, didn't the next scene feature Lori talking to Glenn about the pregnancy?
  November 14, 2011 at 8:18AM EST
- OutWest I agree as well, I would love to see lots of flashbacks instead of watching a bunch of people hanging out, doing nothing. They're mostly unbelievable characters doing things that people in crisis don't do. I don't think there's uncertainty about the father of Lori's baby. It's doubtful that Lori and Rick would have had time to conceive for her to be able to have a positive test at this point. He was wounded, they were running, etc...I want more flashbacks!!
  November 14, 2011 at 1:23PM EST
JamesG

I don't get all the hate for this episode, or the show in general for that matter. I personally have really enjoyed this season. I like the setting of the farm as their "home base" a lot more than I liked the quarry in season 1. The basic premise thus far -- going on missions, learning new things, returning to the sanctuary -- sort of reminds me of the first season of LOST. I much prefer this type of slow burn pacing to constant action and zombie fighting. To me, there is always a real sense of suspense. An attack could be coming at any moment, and any character is fair game to be killed.

I thought most of this episode was quite strong. I loved the reveal with the barn at the end and thoroughly enjoyed the entire Darly subplot. I don't disagree with the lack of character development for the other characters, but I can somewhat forgive that in a show like this. The draw, for me, is more about the dystopic setting than any of the characters. They're all fairly interchangeable in my minds, and I wouldn't mind if half the cast was ditched/killed and replaced with new people by the end of the season. So long as we can continue to explore this world and get the occasional zombie fights, the cast is secondary.
November 14, 2011 at 12:51AM EST Reply to Comment
- Thom I get what you're saying. The problem is that none of it IS compelling. It should be, but the characters are so unlikeable and so poorly drawn that it just makes all the drama feel like an empty exorcise.
  
  For many of us, it's just dull characters on top of dull plotting instead of the compelling character study it should (and could) be.
  
  See Justified as an example for an excellent use of characters and slow burn-storytelling.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:02AM EST
- KellyK So then why watch the show? I honestly am wondering, and not just being a jerk. I see person after person come in here each Sunday night to do nothing but complain about how terrible the show is. How dull it is, how slow, how boring the characters are. So why keep watching it then? Is it hope that it will get better in your eyes? I really am trying to understand why all of you who so obviously HATE the show keep watching it...
  November 14, 2011 at 2:18AM EST
- Remy Well watching the show is certainly more interesting than doing my laundry, or cleaning my kitchen, or preparing for work on Monday. I'm not sure I will make it to the end if it keeps up tbe glacial pace. Perhaps we are hoping for a big pay-off with fantastic special effects, a clever scene, and hordes of zombies. In tbe meantime, there is solace in collective complaining.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:19AM EST
- Ron Donald I have to agree with KellyK. I don't love this show, but I can't for the life of me understand why people watch a show they don't like, then immediately go and complain about it before the night is over. If you hate it, shouldn't you stop watching?
  I know that paragraph above is basically a cliche, and I hate to use it, but it clearly applies here.
  At this point I think the fans of Alan's blog have made their opinion known. Maybe its time to recap another show?
  November 14, 2011 at 3:47AM EST
- natx People continue to watch because the premise has so much potential that you want to see it work. And there have been enought flashes of goodness that you just want it to be better, but then realizing that it may never turn that corner.
  
  November 14, 2011 at 4:25AM EST
- Reply to comment...Kelly, how often does a show as risky and with as big of a pay as WD come along?
  
  If season 2 of GoT goes in the toilet, of course people will complain.
  
  With walking dead ssn 2 that has happened for anyone who actually pays attention. Every move is broadcast 2-3 episodes back. If they want to learn how to cleverly drop hints they need to talk to Stephen Moffat.
  
  This ssn has been a dissapointment for people who really loved the show, and probably the comics too. Valid criticism is not the sane as hate. Wanna see hate? Go read an aicn talkback lmao
  November 14, 2011 at 12:02PM EST
- KellyK I think Ron hit the nail on the head - the fans of Alan's blog have made it clear how they feel about the show so why keep beating a dead horse about it? Remy - fair enough, but I guess for someone like me who enjoys the show despite it's flaws, all the complainging can be a bit of a downer. I go to Alan's blog to read his review and discuss with other people their thoughts about the show, what they liked best etc. But week after week 95% of the comments are just about how bad the show is. That being said, I can always just read the review and skip the comments right?
  November 14, 2011 at 2:04PM EST
- JamesG I think there is a difference between criticizing this show and simply hating on it. There are certainly valid weaknesses, some of which Alan pointed out, and there is nothing wrong with discussing those.
  
  However, some people can't seem to accept this show for it is and keeping complaining that it isn't what they want it to be. This show is NOT the comics, and I can't stand hearing how "character A is not as good" or "subplot B was a lot deeper." It's time to get over that. This is a different medium and it should not be compared that way. This show has clearly indicated that they intend to deviate from the books and develop the characters differently. Time to accept that one and move on.
  
  I'm equally annoyed when I see people compare this show to ones like Breaking Bad, which someone here seems to do every week. Yes, the acting is not as good as BB, but the comparison is ridiculous. BB is a character-driven drama, WD is at the other end of the spectrum. Expecting the acting or character development to be ont he same level is absurd. Again, it's time to get over that.
  
  IMO, I get the impression that openly bashing this show is the "in" thing to do at this point. For other unpopular shows that Alan reviews, people who don't like it just don't comment (and, as such, they don't get many replies). With WD, people comment, but they're usually negative. Again, criticizing specific points is fine, but if you just hate this show and want to rip on it, save yourself the time and stop watching.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:10PM EST
- Joseph Agree with Kelly. At some point you have to realize you are wasting your time watching a show you don't enjoy, yes? I mean it may be better than folding laundry or thinking about work on Monday, but there is really no shortage of entertainment options out there if this show isn't working for you. There are some really thoughtful commenters on this blog (positive and negative) but also far too many of the "this show sucks and I am going to tell you why each and every week" variety.
  The show is what it is. It certainly has its flaws, but there really isn't anything else like it on TV (as far as the subject matter), and for me it's good enough to be worth watching.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:31PM EST
- Scott Maybe slightly off-topic, Alan, but just curious what decides which shows you actually DO recap?
  Is it your personal affection, popularity of the show, or something altogether different?
  November 14, 2011 at 3:58PM EST
- MARK_MC Gotta disagree with you there JamesG. At this point Walking Dead IS a character-driven drama. Sure the pilot was a tension-filled zombie action-horrow show, but since then the show has become a character-driven drama with a 5-10 minute zombie sequence each episode, especially in this second season. Now it seems as though this is because they just don't have the budget to keep doing the zombie set pieces and its much cheaper to have the characters sitting/walking around talking.
  
  There seems to be a lot of people criticizing the show because people see the potential there for a great show but are just frustrated by the execution. I'm assuming that there are two types of fans that would like this show, and in its current state it is probably antagonizing both groups.
  
  1) People that want an action-filled zombie-killing apocalypse show:
  With the budget constraints the show seems to have, there just won't be enough action within each episode for them to be satisfied. (e.g. in the last 2 episodes we've had "zombie in a well" and Daryl killing two random zombies)
  
  2) People that want a character-driven drama dealing with how people survive in a zombie infested post-apocalyptic world:
  Honestly it seems at this stage that they just lack the talent both in front of and behind the camera to be able to pull this off in a satisfactory way.
  November 15, 2011 at 12:52AM EST
- bbq_hax0r I agree with JamesSG.
  
  I too am more interesting in the world than the characters. However, I find that we are stuck with these characters and there is no hope that they will die-off or be replaced. Rick, Shane, and Sarah Tancretti aren't going anywere. Nor is Andrea or Karl. Shane is the only one out of them whom I would want to go, and b/c the main characters are the ones I dislike (find annoying?) I know its likely to never get better. I hear people say that this show "isn't afraid to kill off characters", like when? Andrea's sister? Who have they killed that the audience would have any reason to be upset. I need a "where's Wallace" before I believe most of these unlikeable characters will die off/be replaced. Until then I just hope the characters get better.
  November 15, 2011 at 9:09PM EST
- bbq_hax0r Also were the two zombies who attacked Daryl the same ones who drove off the little girl in the first place? I can't remember, but that could be symbolism, no?
  November 15, 2011 at 9:11PM EST
asarael

I thought this episode was a step up from last week, where the walker-in-the-well situation led to every cast member there to become complete idiots, as if ANYONE would chance to drink water from that well after there had been a zombie sitting in it for days. Not only that, but hey -- let's send ONE OF OUR PEOPLE DOWN THERE ON A ROPE. What.

Okay, on to this week. I agree completely with Alan in that Daryl is the most compelling auxiliary character. Whereas if someone was aiming a rifle at Andrea, T-Dawg, or the widow lady, I'd probably think "PULL THE TRIGGER!". Needless to say I was hoping the opposite for Daryl, and I'm glad they didn't kill him off, as that would have been a huge mistake.

I'm not sure why the barn of zombies is such a big deal though -- why would that piss off anyone? I don't know, I just didn't get why that was such a big reveal (but you know that the show's characters are going to make a HUGE deal out of keeping it secret).
November 14, 2011 at 12:51AM EST Reply to Comment
- Dezbot If I found out I'd been camping near a barn full of walkers for days, I'd make a huge deal out of it, too. One apparently got out and fell in the well, so others coud get out, too. EEEP!
  November 14, 2011 at 1:16AM EST
GarySF

Get them out of the farm already. Let's move on!
November 14, 2011 at 1:13AM EST Reply to Comment
- OutWest Heck yeah!
  November 14, 2011 at 3:58PM EST
GarySF

I know it's not likely, given the production lead time, but this is the 2nd week in a row I got the impression that the producers are reading these online comments. Last week we got explanation of the generator and wells on the farm. This week Herschel said the season's best line, "It's a wonder you've all survived this far."
November 14, 2011 at 1:15AM EST Reply to Comment
- Mark in Omaha I thought the same thing. I also liked the random farm kid who agreed to join in the hunt, but said he wasn't going out into the woods without a gun.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:18PM EST
- hank_chinaski This show was produced months ago. So its not like the producers read comments (they don't) then go to fix things in the show. The generator is a perfect example of people's automatic hate clouding their judgement before anything else. I read comments of people freaking out about the power situation, which I thought was ridiculous. There wasn't a moment in my mind that thought they wouldn't show a generator in a later episode. Some people honestly have a big 'Jump to conclusions/hatred mat' for this show. I think some people honestly just want to hate it more than like it now, just because it has disappointed them. And this is the 'fuck it, not worth it' generation.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:07PM EST
- Mark in Omaha I was one wondering where in the heck the electricity was coming from. They couldn't have shown that little scene with him filling up the generator two weeks ago? There were a bunch of gaps left in previous episodes and they do seem to be backtracking to "fix" them. The only generation I'm part of is wanting some decent television to watch on Sunday night.
  November 14, 2011 at 7:25PM EST
GarySF

After Rick agreed to no guns, there sure were a lot of guns showing up on the farm in this episode.
November 14, 2011 at 1:19AM EST Reply to Comment
Drew Melbourne

The pacing absolutely works for me. If anything, I'd like to see them layer in more complex flashbacks, Lost-style, which would crank the pace down even slower. Given the growing waves of displeasure I'm seeing on boards like this, I'd be curious to know how the show is playing with the masses. Is it just diehards who are upsets because there aren't enough zombies and there aren't enough kills, or are the 5 million other people watching getting turned off?
November 14, 2011 at 1:36AM EST Reply to Comment
- Ben I really have no problem with the pacing either. And I don't really have that big of an issue with us not diving into the each character's background. Ultimately this show is about a group surviving. Like Shane said... their past is pretty much irrelevant now. We get to see Zombies die and follow a fairly interesting group in their quest to live. I'm cool with that for an hour each week.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:14AM EST
- Elevation You want the pace to be slower? If it was any slower, it would be the Weather Channel.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:54AM EST
- Col Bat Guano I just wish I cared about whether any of them survive. Right now only Darryl fits into that category. Although I was wondering why he thought a zombie ear necklace was a good idea.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:59AM EST
- Mark in Omaha Ear necklace, bad asses during the Vietnam war (probably dates back even further) would collect ears of dead VC as proof of a kill. Assuming it was to show Merle's influence.
  November 14, 2011 at 12:26PM EST
- Col Bat Guano Zombie ears aren't something I'd be carrying around near my mouth though.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:09PM EST
- finsbury Pacing - OK
  Focus - OFF. The problem is not all of the characters are interesting. I would have liked the writers to spend more time on Rick and Shane's debate over whether they should even be looking for Sophia at all. And, have other characters involved in that diologue. Instead, we see Dales reaction to Glen getting laid.
  The show just needs to be tightened up and focused.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:53PM EST
Chris

This is just me speculating because I too am frustrated with the show and want something exciting to happen. While this is entirely baseless, allow me to ask anyway: Is Sophia in the barn? Wouldn't that finally be a twist worth getting excited about? It would at least explain why they haven't found her yet despite surveying seemingly all of Atlanta by this point (Seriously, how much of the woods can you possibly survey in one-day trips. By now, shouldn't they be going deeper into the woods on week-long trips? I digress.)

I'm sticking around until I find out what's up with the barn, but unless Sophia is in there, I give up. Because I feel the same way about the rest of the crappy character development, etc.
November 14, 2011 at 2:18AM EST Reply to Comment
- OutWest Chris- I keep thinking about that too. How much "woods" are there that close to Atlanta? And if they're that remote, why are there walkers hanging out there? What do thy feed on? I don't know much about zombie theory, but I would assume that rural areas would be much less of a problem. They would eventually gravitate toward a food source or die off, right? Maybe they don't ever die? Even so, I would expect a lot less walker encounters out there and I haven't been to many metropolitan areas that aren't littered with suburbs for 20-30 miles instead of cute, quiet towns.
  November 14, 2011 at 4:11PM EST
Elevation

My God I am sick of looking for Sophia. It would be like if they spent 6 straight episodes of Lost looking for Frogurt's cousin.
November 14, 2011 at 2:42AM EST Reply to Comment
- leahblizz We never even met Frogurt's cousin, but I can say with complete certainty that I care about him more than Sophia.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:47AM EST
- Guest Don't worry, Lost already gave us a pointless search for a terrible character when it spent 10+ episodes with an AWOL Michael.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:39AM EST
- Elevation Michael was infinitely more interesting than any of these characters. Plus there were only like 2 episodes centered around Michael in the woods looking for Walt.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:33PM EST
- 30Teambaseballkid It's like Ryan Howard looking for his achilles, or Phillies fans looking for the bright side of signing Papelbon to an NHL length contract.
  November 14, 2011 at 3:59PM EST
- Guest Maybe it just felt like 10, so I could be wrong about the time frame. But in no way was Michael infinitely more interesting than anything. God that character was terrible.
  
  Where is my son? WAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLTTTTTTT...my boy...WALLLLLLLT!
  *scene*
  November 14, 2011 at 8:07PM EST
leahblizz

I'm glad everyone on here can see the glaring flaws in this show--if you read the Twitter feed, you'd think this is the greatest show in the history of television. Basically, I'm only watching the show for Darryl at this point. He's the only three-dimensional non-idiot of the show. Even though I didn't want him to die, though, I wonder what would've happened if Andrea did kill him. Oh wait...probably just another season of "ughhh I wish I were dead..."

As for the zombies in the barn subplot, maybe Hershel keeps them in there for some weird sex thing. Or, as my dad suggested, maybe he needs a group of people to practice his stand-up act in front of.
November 14, 2011 at 2:46AM EST Reply to Comment
Prunella

Thought the tagline tonight would be "... as soon as I bring better books."
November 14, 2011 at 3:37AM EST Reply to Comment
Fronk

How the hell did nobody hear those walkers going crazy in the barn before? They seemed to be banging on that barn door pretty hard. Combine that with all of the idiocy that took place at the well last week, and this is back to back logic stretches involving Herschel's farm.
I can easily overlook these kind of this, and mediocre characterizations if they would just get back to cheap scares and zombie bloodshed. Up the zombie action already! Thats what we all signed up for.
November 14, 2011 at 3:53AM EST Reply to Comment
- Ray I assumed the zombies were quiet and placid until they saw Glen. The potential of food got them riled up.
  November 14, 2011 at 10:36AM EST
- MDK The walkers didn't get riled up until they saw fresh meat, so most likely they were just very docile and wandering around peacefully.
  November 14, 2011 at 10:47AM EST
- mardiretro I wondered the same thing. While I can understand the pounding on the barn doors was because they saw food (aka Glen), didn't Hershel and Rick have a whole conversation about two feet away from the barn earlier in the episode? Wouldn't the sound of their voices have stirred up a similar zombie frenzy?
  November 14, 2011 at 7:16PM EST
- Matt Not to mention a loud generator running 27/7 right next to the barn.
  November 15, 2011 at 12:33AM EST
Connor

I don't entirely get ALL of the complaints when it comes to characterization. What you call familiarity, i call consistency. I personally don't care to have my characters be schizophrenic and change their personalities on a weekly basis. In that regard I think that Rick, Shane, Daryl and (to a lesser extent) Dale are all solid enough established characters.

Obviously that still leaves a large chunk of uninteresting or even detrimental characters. They wouldn't be so damn glaring, however, if the show would just pick up a faster pace and a more interesting driving point for the narrative.

Character is not the real problem (many horror stories work with characters even more thin than this) its the lack of any excitement or scares.
November 14, 2011 at 4:12AM EST Reply to Comment
- ChampSkins This is a show about Zombies... why people obsess over character development so much is my biggest question. This isn't Breaking Bad or Mad Men, it is a show about zombies. Character inconsistencies shouldn't mean anything.
  November 14, 2011 at 11:09AM EST
- The Living Dead Do you really think 'The Walking Dead' of the title refer to the zombies exclusively? Or, possibly, it might refer to the survivors and their previous lives? Hell, maybe the title has more than one meaning?
  
  Anyway, how can you possibly have a quality show with characters nobody cares about, which in this case means you don't care if main characters get eaten? This isn't some 90 minute B movie, it's a thus far open ended TV series.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:01PM EST
- Elevation We obsess over character development because the writers insist on shoving character development down our throats.If the ratio was 90% zombie action and 10% characterization, instead of the current reverse ratio it wouldn't get as much play.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:35PM EST
- bbq_hax0r Wait, so loving a guy one day, telling him to stay away from your son the next, then he tries to rape you, and the very next day you yell at him for being too distant is consistency for you?
  November 15, 2011 at 9:18PM EST
natx

Not caring about the characters is one thing, but another problem with the show is you never truly fear for the lives of the main characters. The zombies seem to have lost all power of scariness and tension...
November 14, 2011 at 4:33AM EST Reply to Comment
natx

I know thisnis amc and we expect great characters and everything but lets be real this show only works when they are trying to escape zombies and killing zombies.

If i were writers i would take complete opposite tack of slowing it down and just make it an unrelenting, unforgiving week after week of having to face zombies. Where survival truly becomes a test of endurance and will. A test of endurance for viewer as well.

The character stuff would not arise from these utterly lame conversations on walks through the forest but how each person responds to desperate circumstances.

This show works best when you feel totally overwhelmed by zombies. When the situation feels hopeless. That even when you manage to enjoy a brief escape ..it is shortlived because there are yet more zombies.

If the writers are successful, you should feel drained at the end of every episode...and as the season wears on, it should be more and more taxing.

November 14, 2011 at 4:54AM EST Reply to Comment
- natx If you want to slow it down...imagine instead of hangin out on some comfortable farm, how about spend an entire episode with some characters hidden in some cramped uncomfortable space...like underneath some floorboards or something.
  November 14, 2011 at 4:57AM EST
- natx Its wierd but in a sense, battlestar galactica was sort of able to capture this feeling of always being on the run. But instead of zombies it was cylons.
  
  At least in bsg you always had that hope of finding earth, but what made the premise of this show was not having any hope at all.
  November 14, 2011 at 5:06AM EST
- Totally agree with BSG. That show was genius at stretching out their journey to Earth.
  November 14, 2011 at 6:25AM EST
JT

Ok, I'm not going to comment about the pace the show is going right now or the characters, because although I agree that those things could be better since I don't really care for the lives of most of the characters, it's really nothing to complain about. What I will ask you guys however is that Am I the ONLY one here who thought that Sophia might be in the barn as soon as I saw the look of dread on the girls' face when she realized that Glenn was going in there? As soon as I saw the panic and the suspense of Glenn going further into the barn I paused the show and thought a little bit..."What if Sophia was in the barn the entire time, made her way to the farm somehow, and the Hershel's kept her there captive because Dr. Hershel thought that she would be better off staying with them permanently since she's just a child and he secretly believes that rick's group will all die eventually, maybe he thought he was doing the girl a greater good by kidnapping and keeping her quite somehow in the barn. It would've explained why he wanted for them to leave asap and would've explained why they hadn't found Sophia during all of that time." Anyways those were my thoughts before I saw the real reason for secrecy concerning the barn. I guess when I think about it a little more in depth, it was an inaccurate last second guess considering all of the clues that Sophia left in the woods/in that house suggests that she was dead or still in the woods. I've never read the comics (gonna wait till the entire series is over to do that) so I don't know what will happen but I sincerely hope they find Sophia. I also hope the girl Glenn shacked up with grows a pair and leaves with Rick and his crew when they leave since she seems to be under strict rules under the power of her father on the farm even if it's more comfortable and safe than moving around. Andrea is really getting annoying, I'm wondering when Rick will finally find out about Lorie and Rick. Also wondering who the walkers in the barn are and/or why Hershel found the urge to keep them there not to mention hide it from the others. It couldn't be to not scare them since he doesn't really want them to stay anyways. Post your thoughts on mine please.
November 14, 2011 at 5:19AM EST Reply to Comment
- Ray I had the same thought about Sophia being in the barn last week. I also thought maybe Hershel had sent his daughter to seduce Glenn and get pregnant. That would explain why she was so mean about it. In any case, that theory was pretty well stomped out last night.
  November 14, 2011 at 10:43AM EST
- OutWest I thought she might be in the barn too, but that the good doc was experimenting on a cure. The only thing that didn't work for that thought of mine was that he was letting them stay. I figured that if he was keeping her there, he would have sent them on their way by now. I like the idea of having the daughter seduce Glenn...didn't think of that one.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:41PM EST
Tooke

3 things I know for sure:

1) I'm sick of the search for Sophia and her mom who never helps find her own kid.

2) I knew zombies were in the barn as soon as that chick read the note.

3) Rick, Shane, and Lori will never be killed because they are the only ones with pics on the opening credits. Anyone else could go at any time.
November 14, 2011 at 5:53AM EST Reply to Comment
- rcade Carol's refusal to search for her daughter or wait for her at the highway -- the last place she was seen -- is inexplicable. Every day that passes makes it more likely Sophia won't survive, but Carol's done almost nothing to find her. No one has even questioned her decision not to look.
  November 14, 2011 at 8:54AM EST
- OutWest RCADE- RIGHT! What mother would even be able to function with her kid missing? Not just missing as in walking home from school, but missing amidst zombies? I don't care how bad your life was or how docile and passive you are, it's a natural instinct. Unless there's something fundamentally wrong, and in that case she's not worth keeping around. I agree that I am annoyed that no one has said "hey Carol, what the hell? How about you stop planning dinner parties and go look for your kid, you know, use your 'Mommy Sense'". She hasn't even been a part of the planning. These people don't know what kind of kid Sophia is- the people closest to her would be better able to anticipate what she might do. And people keep referring to the farm house that she may have been sleeping in. Why is Carol not tearing that house apart and/or staying there to see if she shows up? There was a comment somewhere that Daryl only found one set of tracks at the farmhouse. It's in a field dude, you're not tracking an elk in the snow. Geez. SICK of Sophia and Carol. The group would never survive, Hershel or not, if they put so much effort into a search for a kid who has shown that she's not capable of living with pressure and following directions (crucial for survival in a crisis) and a mother who does nothing but float about, just another mouth to feed.
  November 14, 2011 at 4:31PM EST
stinkweed

My first thought was "Ohmygodaretheyusingthemforfood???"

Probably not, lol, but it's where my mind went.
November 14, 2011 at 8:33AM EST Reply to Comment
- Danny Well, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one thinking this. To paraphrase Charlton Heston's famous line, "Soylent Green is zombies!" Hey, if Herschel is talented enough to make zombies taste like potato chips, I'm on board.
  November 14, 2011 at 9:43AM EST
- Danny For a region of the country that considers chitlins and pickled pigs feet a tasty hors d'oeuvre, can fricasseed zombie ears not be out of the question?
  November 14, 2011 at 9:49AM EST
- OutWest We thought that too! But that he was feeding zombie parts to non zombies in an attempt to build immunity or whatever. Interesting thoughts, I can see it, zombie parts can't be much different than chitlins.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:44PM EST
chip_christian

It's the usual horror film morality play! Premarital sex brings on the zombies/slasher...
November 14, 2011 at 9:22AM EST Reply to Comment
- Ray Is it really motivated by a moral objection to premarital sex? Or it is a realistic way to get two characters in a vulnerable position with their guard let down and show some skin at the same time? Then you sell it to the censors/moral majority as a morality play.
  November 14, 2011 at 10:46AM EST
- Oh, yeah Ray. It's totally that. Just noting a twist on a familiar genre trope.
  November 14, 2011 at 11:40AM EST
RU Serious

The only reason I'm watching this show at this point, and this is just a theory, I don't know for sure why, is that it's better than Dexter and Boardwalk Empire, both of which I've cast into the vast sea of boring television. There's nothing to laugh at in BW, and I'm tired of making fun of the moronic Miami Metro PD.

Problems this week for me (besides the usual "Why aren't they trying to replenish supplies and using cars and generally just getting smarter at surviving?" ones):

--The minute Rick said "we can stay in the barn" and Herschel said "no you can't" but didn't explain, wouldn't you, Rick, be intrigued enough to try to figure out why? I asked this question at least a week ago (whenever it was first mentioned) and arrived at the conclusion that of COURSE there are zombies in the barn. What other explanation makes sense? The only way Sophia being in the barn would have made any sense is IF SHE WAS ALSO A ZOMBIE.

--"Hey, we've been staying in this guy's yard for two days maybe. I have a great idea. Why don't the eight of us interlopers take over their kitchen and make a meal that shows our blatant disregard for the level of supplies they have here? I mean I want it to include salad, protein, vegetables, really do it up. I'm sure they'll like that we've decided to consume their valuable resources! It'll be fun!"

"Do you mean as a sign that we can do whatever the hell we want, like a nice way to tell that creep doctor to stop thinking he's holding any cards in this situation, a precursor to us just moving into the house? Good idea!"

"No, more like 'won't it be nice to sit together' sort of thing."

"Oh. Any thought given to MY idea?"

--How is her doll being washed down a river "HARD EVIDENCE" of anything besides she made it to the river AND she dropped her doll (which was a clumsily placed plot device in the first episode)? "Hard evidence" that she's alive? Wasn't the Crossbow Guy attacked by a zombie within a few yards of that doll's resting place?

--"She looked in my eyes! I told her I'd help!" Rick, that's on you. I'm out of here. Signed, everyone else.
November 14, 2011 at 10:55AM EST Reply to Comment
- OutWest Yep, to me the signifies that she's toast. That something happened that made her drop the doll. Not exactly a good sign. For a kid her age to carry around a doll in the first place is ridiculous, and since she did have such an attachment to it, she wouldn't have left it. Unless she was eaten. By Zombies in the woods, why are there zombies in the woods? I can't imagine that there would be so many popping up. They can't really be that successful with hunting game, right? Rick would have been demoted on the spot with that comment.
  November 14, 2011 at 1:56PM EST
- JamesG With the way it's been built up, it seems likely that the reveal will be she's dead or a zombie, and that this is likely what we'll discover in the last pre-break episode. Finding her alive at this point would seem to be the most disappointing outcome. Her character was fairly useless anyway, so I strongly doubt it she will simply return and they will be on their merry way next half-season.
  November 14, 2011 at 2:24PM EST
- Suzombie I patiently read thru the comments to find this one - I also think Sophia is in the barn and a zombie.
  November 14, 2011 at 10:52PM EST
- Lifer Knifer So they've established that the virus deteriorates your body from a visable standpoint (grey skin, disfigured faces etc). My beef is that shouldn't that then affect their motor skills, their sight, their hearing? They have the coordination to climb hills, not roll ankles or break bones, walk into trees, understand depth perception etc?
  November 16, 2011 at 3:33PM EST
AnnaN

The overall sense for me (having never read the graphic novels) is that the writers are not really sure in which direction to point their characters.

There is only one thing which would keep any person alive and functioning in this situation and that's a sense of purpose. There is NO such purpose in evidence here. What do they want? Answers for what caused the zombies? Proof that there are enclaves of survivors elsewhere? An attempt to start a new life? There are no goals to pursue and that seems odd.

My husband and I have had numerous "what would we do in the zombie apocalypse?" discussions. That seems to be a conversation the writers haven't had.
November 14, 2011 at 11:09AM EST Reply to Comment
- RU Serious This is a TREMENDOUS point, well put. They should be beyond the "let's escape this mess" and now into "Where's the nearest sporting goods store? Where can we get ammo? Where can we get supplies? What's the most effective way to SURVIVE this?" phase.
  
  We're humans. We dominate the planet because THIS IS HOW WE THINK. We're good at killing stuff and we're smarter than everything else. That should start to show through somewhere.
  
  I think the best ending of this show is they finally drive to the border of Georgia and find out that everyplace else is fine, because they built a massive sandbag wall and patrol the border, and the rest of the survivors are like "Wow, what the hell took you all so long to get here?"
  November 14, 2011 at 11:23AM EST

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Option 3

eric_balsam I'm starting to get annoyed by characters getting hurt in accidents that are completely unrelated to zombie attacks.

OutWest Me too!

Alex T. I'll still watch Walking Dead but yeah I'm extremely excited for Justified.

Kate I completely agree. I think Andrea's character is a waste of time. I'm not familiar with the comic but I'm not convinced that her character is essential to the whole storyline, especially with her complaining every so often. Thoughts?

Col Bat Guano I don't know how many women are on the writing staff, but they could use some more so we could get some female characters we actually like rather than this collection of nitwits.

PotatoSolution I really like Laurie Holden, and she's doing what she can with what she's being given, but it's difficult because her character is such a dimwit (not that being an idiot is anything rare on this show, mind you).

darthzombie Reply to comment...

darthzombie I know Andrea on the show bugs me so much, and I want to like her as she's a favorite in the comics for me but the whole thing from the CDC which was not in the comics has made her into such whiny and annoying character...

Froide Apparently, (for whatever reason) the Andrea character is SUPPOSED to be viewed as willful, self-involved, whiny, annoying, obnoxious, burdensome, unreliable, yada, yada. Hats off to Laurie Holden for nailing it!

Jeff Boardwalk Empire writers need to school Walking Dead's on how to create compelling female characters. Or just characters, in general.

Ian God, do I hate the characters on this show. Darryl I like, but something's gone terribly wrong when Shane is my second favorite character.I hate rooting for the zombies.

Rolf Any show that has a character as horribly annoying as Paz de la Huerta's character is, should not be schooling anybody.**Post clearly is avoiding how good Kelly McDonald's character is, in order to prove a point...

Tim This isn't a dig at you or anything NYCFLO, but if you're fast forwarding Boardwalk then there's really no point in watching it.

Joe Isn't it obvious that they are some of the family members that were 'lost' and Hershel is keeping them there until they find a cure? Thats what makes the most sense to me at least.

Chris J That seems to make sense but there sure seemed to be a lot of walkers down there. I didn't like they way Hershel had been protrayed earlier but I felt a noticeable darkness coming on even before the reveal.

Joe @AJ - Well, Hershel never heard what the CDC guy had to say, definitely not when he locked them up. I just think back to when Hershel was saying that there was going to be a cure in the first episode we met him. That would make the most sense from what we know about his character

Dezbot If that's the reason he's keeping them (which is what I suspect, too), he's going to be pretty upset when Rick shares the CDC info with him.

finsbury Why doesn't the generator attract zombies from as far as they can hear it? Why don't the farmhouse lights attract zombies? RULES

James Can we stop with using "ham-handed" in every comment? I find nothing more ham-handed than using the word ham-handed over and over again.

Matt Wait a sec...before he was fired, Frank Darabont had significat input into the first 6 episodes. Everyone is giving him a pass, but he has some responsibility as well. The true mark of where the show is going will be starting from episode 7 and beyond which will be free from Darabont's input.

Sareeta I don't watch Talking Dead because the host is awful. He seems nervous in front of the camera, which is not fun to watch, yet at the same time cuts off his guests.

I. B. did the walker in the well do anything to the water in the other wells? thank you

srpad I really liked the brief Flashback to the post Zombie but pre Rick time frame. I wouldn't mind to see more of that.

JamesG Agreed, although I wish there was more relevance when they used that plot device to the actual episodes. So far is just feels like unrelated exposition that's somewhat sloppily tacked on.

Remy Yes, the flashback was possibly the most promising part of the episode but it was cut short because it was an opener. It really didn't tell us much and it didn't aid us in understanding the larger context of the episode. Totally random almost.

BillBillBillBill I felt like it may have been showing the origins of Shane and Lori's affair, which would be relevant given her pregnancy and uncertainty over the father. After all, didn't the next scene feature Lori talking to Glenn about the pregnancy?

natx People continue to watch because the premise has so much potential that you want to see it work. And there have been enought flashes of goodness that you just want it to be better, but then realizing that it may never turn that corner.

Scott Maybe slightly off-topic, Alan, but just curious what decides which shows you actually DO recap?Is it your personal affection, popularity of the show, or something altogether different?

bbq_hax0r Also were the two zombies who attacked Daryl the same ones who drove off the little girl in the first place? I can't remember, but that could be symbolism, no?

Dezbot If I found out I'd been camping near a barn full of walkers for days, I'd make a huge deal out of it, too. One apparently got out and fell in the well, so others coud get out, too. EEEP!

GarySF Get them out of the farm already. Let's move on!

OutWest Heck yeah!

Mark in Omaha I thought the same thing. I also liked the random farm kid who agreed to join in the hunt, but said he wasn't going out into the woods without a gun.

GarySF After Rick agreed to no guns, there sure were a lot of guns showing up on the farm in this episode.

Elevation You want the pace to be slower? If it was any slower, it would be the Weather Channel.

Col Bat Guano I just wish I cared about whether any of them survive. Right now only Darryl fits into that category. Although I was wondering why he thought a zombie ear necklace was a good idea.

Mark in Omaha Ear necklace, bad asses during the Vietnam war (probably dates back even further) would collect ears of dead VC as proof of a kill. Assuming it was to show Merle's influence.

Col Bat Guano Zombie ears aren't something I'd be carrying around near my mouth though.

Elevation My God I am sick of looking for Sophia. It would be like if they spent 6 straight episodes of Lost looking for Frogurt's cousin.

leahblizz We never even met Frogurt's cousin, but I can say with complete certainty that I care about him more than Sophia.

Guest Don't worry, Lost already gave us a pointless search for a terrible character when it spent 10+ episodes with an AWOL Michael.

Elevation Michael was infinitely more interesting than any of these characters. Plus there were only like 2 episodes centered around Michael in the woods looking for Walt.

30Teambaseballkid It's like Ryan Howard looking for his achilles, or Phillies fans looking for the bright side of signing Papelbon to an NHL length contract.

Guest Maybe it just felt like 10, so I could be wrong about the time frame. But in no way was Michael infinitely more interesting than anything. God that character was terrible.Where is my son? WAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLTTTTTTT...my boy...WALLLLLLLT!*scene*

Prunella Thought the tagline tonight would be "... as soon as I bring better books."

Ray I assumed the zombies were quiet and placid until they saw Glen. The potential of food got them riled up.

MDK The walkers didn't get riled up until they saw fresh meat, so most likely they were just very docile and wandering around peacefully.

Matt Not to mention a loud generator running 27/7 right next to the barn.

ChampSkins This is a show about Zombies... why people obsess over character development so much is my biggest question. This isn't Breaking Bad or Mad Men, it is a show about zombies. Character inconsistencies shouldn't mean anything.

Elevation We obsess over character development because the writers insist on shoving character development down our throats.If the ratio was 90% zombie action and 10% characterization, instead of the current reverse ratio it wouldn't get as much play.

bbq_hax0r Wait, so loving a guy one day, telling him to stay away from your son the next, then he tries to rape you, and the very next day you yell at him for being too distant is consistency for you?

natx Not caring about the characters is one thing, but another problem with the show is you never truly fear for the lives of the main characters. The zombies seem to have lost all power of scariness and tension...

natx If you want to slow it down...imagine instead of hangin out on some comfortable farm, how about spend an entire episode with some characters hidden in some cramped uncomfortable space...like underneath some floorboards or something.

natx Its wierd but in a sense, battlestar galactica was sort of able to capture this feeling of always being on the run. But instead of zombies it was cylons. At least in bsg you always had that hope of finding earth, but what made the premise of this show was not having any hope at all.

Totally agree with BSG. That show was genius at stretching out their journey to Earth.

Ray I had the same thought about Sophia being in the barn last week. I also thought maybe Hershel had sent his daughter to seduce Glenn and get pregnant. That would explain why she was so mean about it. In any case, that theory was pretty well stomped out last night.

rcade Carol's refusal to search for her daughter or wait for her at the highway -- the last place she was seen -- is inexplicable. Every day that passes makes it more likely Sophia won't survive, but Carol's done almost nothing to find her. No one has even questioned her decision not to look.

stinkweed My first thought was "Ohmygodaretheyusingthemforfood???"Probably not, lol, but it's where my mind went.

Danny Well, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one thinking this. To paraphrase Charlton Heston's famous line, "Soylent Green is zombies!" Hey, if Herschel is talented enough to make zombies taste like potato chips, I'm on board.

Danny For a region of the country that considers chitlins and pickled pigs feet a tasty hors d'oeuvre, can fricasseed zombie ears not be out of the question?

OutWest We thought that too! But that he was feeding zombie parts to non zombies in an attempt to build immunity or whatever. Interesting thoughts, I can see it, zombie parts can't be much different than chitlins.

chip_christian It's the usual horror film morality play! Premarital sex brings on the zombies/slasher...

Ray Is it really motivated by a moral objection to premarital sex? Or it is a realistic way to get two characters in a vulnerable position with their guard let down and show some skin at the same time? Then you sell it to the censors/moral majority as a morality play.

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The Walking Dead is updated

eric_balsam

I'm starting to get annoyed by characters getting hurt in accidents that are completely unrelated to zombie attacks.

Jeff

Boardwalk Empire writers need to school Walking Dead's on how to create compelling female characters. Or just characters, in general.

Ian God, do I hate the characters on this show. Darryl I like, but something's gone terribly wrong when Shane is my second favorite character.

I hate rooting for the zombies.

Rolf Any show that has a character as horribly annoying as Paz de la Huerta's character is, should not be schooling anybody.*

*Post clearly is avoiding how good Kelly McDonald's character is, in order to prove a point...

finsbury Why doesn't the generator attract zombies from as far as they can hear it?

Why don't the farmhouse lights attract zombies?

RULES

I. B.

did the walker in the well do anything to the water in the other wells? thank you

srpad

I really liked the brief Flashback to the post Zombie but pre Rick time frame. I wouldn't mind to see more of that.

Scott Maybe slightly off-topic, Alan, but just curious what decides which shows you actually DO recap?
Is it your personal affection, popularity of the show, or something altogether different?

GarySF

Get them out of the farm already. Let's move on!

GarySF

After Rick agreed to no guns, there sure were a lot of guns showing up on the farm in this episode.

Elevation

My God I am sick of looking for Sophia. It would be like if they spent 6 straight episodes of Lost looking for Frogurt's cousin.

Guest Maybe it just felt like 10, so I could be wrong about the time frame. But in no way was Michael infinitely more interesting than anything. God that character was terrible.

Where is my son? WAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLTTTTTTT...my boy...WALLLLLLLT!
scene

Prunella

Thought the tagline tonight would be "... as soon as I bring better books."

natx

Not caring about the characters is one thing, but another problem with the show is you never truly fear for the lives of the main characters. The zombies seem to have lost all power of scariness and tension...

natx Its wierd but in a sense, battlestar galactica was sort of able to capture this feeling of always being on the run. But instead of zombies it was cylons.

At least in bsg you always had that hope of finding earth, but what made the premise of this show was not having any hope at all.

stinkweed

My first thought was "Ohmygodaretheyusingthemforfood???"

Probably not, lol, but it's where my mind went.

chip_christian

It's the usual horror film morality play! Premarital sex brings on the zombies/slasher...