I would never argue that the self-congratulations that must be going on behind the scenes at WDHQ must be ridiculous and epic, with condescension towards the audience being par for the course, but I do think that using visual language rather than heightened performance was a solid choice for presenting Morgan's episodes. As solid an actor as Lennie James is, adding a filmic cue rather than an extra twitch at the corner of his mouth (or whatever) gives the viewer a nicely direct view of his internal state, a process that we wouldn't necessarily be able to differentiate otherwise from the standard I'm-being-aggressive-in-the-face-of-peril "action" that we see dozens of times each week.

There are plenty of aspect to this latest story and how it was told that I'd be happy to pick apart, but I have to say that I tend to prefer these sideline short story-ish episodes to the overall arc-based melodrama we get from this show. The Governor at the camp episodes, or the one with Mr.Crossbow and what's her name in the cabin come to mind as standouts for me, regardless of their internal failings.

o

Yes, I'm tuning in every week again. What's wrong with me?

John Carroll Lynch is a national treasure. Pretty sure I first fell in love with him as Norm in Fargo.

I saw what's her name's boobs on another show the other week. Weird and unexpected.

Yep. I kept thinking . . . how cool that Morgan's stick-fighting Guru turned out to be Norm Son-of-a-Gunderson.
I was upset to hear about his wife Margie and kid being slaughtered, though.


That was pretty much the only thing about the episode that bugged me. Very lame.

Yeah I understood that he had to die but it should have been less out of pure stupidity then it was. He didn't need to grab Morgan like that at all. He could have pushed him down or I don't know, used his damn stick.

Other then that I enjoyed it quite a bit. Morgan is a character I don't mind having whole episodes about(unlike many other characters). Such a great actor and not just in this show but in other stuff too. The other guy was a nice change of pace as well. Not a total stereotype like so many others in the show. Just a guy who survived and the worst things that happened to him were long before zombies showed up so it made sense that the end of the world wasn't such a big deal to him.

My greatest fear is that Glenn is not dead but "hid under the dumpster" or something equally preposterous. He has a date w/ Negan and Lucille and I suspect he's not dead. More upsetting is the casting of Wesley Snipes (who I usually like) as Negan. I truly hope that is false.

this!
comic spoiler:

i'm hoping he's not dead, but then again i sort of am because of how lame it would be if he came out of that predicament! Ugh... glad this last episode kept my mind off of it... another episode away from the glenn/rick story line is probably needed for me to move on, haha

Glenn is wearing a light grey shirt, the other guy is wearing a dark grey shirt. The walkers rip into a light grey shirt. Even if they do a the walkers only ate the other guy and Glenn rolled under the dumpster deal, they still screwed that very simple thing up.

Let me go ahead and set this up for everyone (but I'm sure everyone figured it out already), because WD writing is see through:

That filler episode put me to sleep. They really need a whole hour long episode to empower some old politician lady into wanting to live? After a few fun episodes in a row I actually forgot that they always do this crap and make boring eps so the exciting ones seem even better.

I actually liked this episode too. Sometimes self reflection and realization is better than relationship dramas.

Maybe Glenn's date is no longer with Negan but instead it's now with Nergal. (Having an 80's Constantine flashback.)

I think what bores me is seeing a new group of people go through the same exact changes the core group went through over the last few years. I've seen that already with people I have more or less grown attached to. I don't need to see a bunch of new disposable people have the same change of heart moments and the I choose life scenes that everyone else had. Any transitions we see now feel hollow because some other characters literally took half a decade to do that. So seeing someone do it in a few episodes just feels eh. Plus the characters I like weren't even in that last episode.

Yep, me too.


Don't you mean the plastic-faced Grinch who's melted a bit?


The only one who has any personality is Merritt Wever who also played a medical person in Nurse Jackie.

I think one of my issues with the show is any group of people they meet fit one of two criteria: Cookie cutter villains who have nothing better to do then try an kill everyone in Rick's group somehow, yet are almost oblivious to the whole zombie apocalypse. OR they are dumb ass bumpkins with deer in the headlights mentality 24-7 and know nothing of the zombie apocalypse.

It just seems completely illogical that they never meet anyone not in one of these black or white categories. I guess this is how they make Rick the hero 24-7.

Well it appears Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Comedian in Watchmen movie) was cast as Negan today. So that's a bit of good news. The character Negan in the comic is not a favorite of mine at all, but JDM is a great actor so that might change my feelings about that.

That's what everyone is hoping. Well, maybe not everyone, but you know.

Didn't sound like him......

Anyhow wake me up for the mid season finale because the show is really making me zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

drifters stole my bike!

Derail, anyone?

Yup that's the one! Pretty annoying character overall.

This weeks episode didn't do much for me either. I don't get how Sasha goes from a whole season of almost killing her own team cause she's in a bad mood and laying in an open grave full of zombies for fun to this new self-aware constant deep reflection type character instantly. All these back and fourth personal journeys are predictable and boring. Years ago when Romero said the walking dead isn't a zombie show it's just a soap opera that happens to have some zombies in it he knew exactly what he was talking about. Which is frustrating cause some of the episodes are amazing and they keep me coming back for more.

Oh well, Ash vs Evil Dead has renewed my faith in the entertainment world so there is always that to enjoy!

Sorry, what was? I obviously missed something!

I dunno, i found the episode entertaining enough. It was certainly better than the episode before it.
I like the way they showed how cumbersome and awkward the crossbow can be sometimes, even
with an expert using it.

It was nice to see Daryl back in the thick of it where he belongs . . .

.....crackle, crackle...HELP!

Ah, oh yeah . . . i remember now. I did'nt make that connection.

I'll say it again, they really need to pare down this cast. Because they have such a large ensemble certain characters get like 15 seconds of screen time over 2-3 episodes. It's lame. And really certain people are useless and need to go!

Would be great if the help cry was from the two who stole Darryl's bike.