A Man. And His Blog.

Season 2, Episode 7 (13)
Date of airing: Nov 27, 2011 (AMC)
Nielsen ratings information: 6.623 million viewers, 3.5 rating with A18-49

A good midseason finale. As usual, something is happening, when a show is going into a hiatus, and conflicts are cooking, and even in THE WALKING DEAD, something was cooking up to be great. I loved the conflict within Herschel’s (Scott Wilson) mind and how he was never able to see less in those “sick humans”. I loved how Rick (Andrew Lincoln) (and Shane [Jon Bernthal] in the background) tried everything to let him see that those people are dead, gone, never to return. I loved that Shane’s rationality completely went AWOL, shortly before he opened the barn. I loved that Herschel had to see it all happening – as if his whole family was just slaughtered by the guys he gave shelter to these past couple of days. That must hurt. And I’m expecting some emotional drama from Herschel’s point of view in the next episode. Because it seems logical, when Herschel loses all his faith in the next episode. Or finally shows the group the door. And his kids too. Suicide watch? Oh definitely.

The first half of the episode was a bit slow though. Again, the characters were dancing around the secrets revealed last episode, and again nothing was done to develop the story. What could Rick have done to Shane after he learned he fucked Lori? How could Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) have seen the dynamic of and the danger within the group, after they learned there are zombies in the barn? Why did it take so long for Shane to get his grip together and collect his balls and decide to kill the zombies? And why were Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa Suzanne McBride) back out there, looking for Sophia, even though it should have been clear by now they would never find her? Even she should have realized by now that there’s no hope for Sophia still being alive. And I’m glad the writers chose the way they wrote off Sophia here. Emotional, I was actually about to lose a tear, and it finally established Rick as the leader he should have been from the beginning – without the “take zombies prisoner” detour. Loved the final scene. That’s how you write drama. Loved how the scene was taking its time. About two minutes or so for everybody to realize Sophia’s fate, and to realize she won’t make it past the episode. Sometimes it helps, when a TV show has a slow way of storytelling…

Other than that, the second half had much groove. The quiet conflict between Rick and Shane; Dale confronting Shane, knowing he has killed Otis; Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Glenn loving each other for real (though the happy-ending-ish scene kinda sucked. He gives a sucky reason for his actions, and she just smiles and kisses him? That looked way too artificial); the intention to bring Carl (Chandler Riggs) a bit more into the story, now that be delivered the S word and was also almost given a gun by Shane. Interesting how the story of Carl could lead to after a while. Considering THE WALKING DEAD is gonna see a fifth season, who knows where Carl will be. (And who knows if I know by then after having read the comics, which are on my to-do list [superheroes come first though]) Not all of the storylines weren’t much exiting, but they were all good enough to actually be not so boring this time around. Which brings me to the question why (mid-)season finales are always like that, and why writers decide to pack out the big guns at the end of a circle. Are writers not able to risk something in the middle of a season anymore?

It seems like the farm story is over with the little zombie massacre now. I know there will be a prison setting in the comics (I’m spoiled that much), which also means the TV show has to move on now. It can’t be that the whole 13-part season will be set on a farm, and especially now after there is only one more story to be done, before Herschel and (most of) his kids are gone and done (Maggie can stay though). Time for the group to move on, and for some to lose their lives. It’s really time for somebody to die again. 7.5/10

Dale is curious

Breaking down is easy in a world full of darkness

Season 2, Episode 6 (12)
Date of airing: Nov 20, 2011 (AMC)
Nielsen ratings information: 6.077 million viewers, 3.1 rating with A18-49

After six episodes I can tell that the second season is better than the first one. Despite the fact I still don’t like the show very much, and only succeeds because it has zombies in it, the episodes at least don’t lose steam and stay steady, compared to the declining first season. So, I’m pretty much glad that the second season, so far, stays on its level, though the level itself is pretty low.

Meaning, the episode was alright again. Nothing special, nothing much thrilling. Instead the writers try for character drama again, which worked this time. The revelation of Herschel’s (Scott Wilson) secret to Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) was soft and explanatory, as I have expected it; and even the whole pregnancy thing was done well, including Rick (Andrew Lincoln) learning about Lori and Shane. And it’s good that the secrets are out now, making it easier for the characters to act on them in the midseason finale. Despite all the shit which will probably happen to break up the group (or maybe not). For that, the “penultimate” episode was alright enough to not suck and lead to a finale I actually care about. Now it’s the question whether the finale can hold the barrel, exceeds the level of this season and can make me hungry for the second batch of the season.

So, let’s begin with the pregnancy. Not much really useful drama in it, and as I have already stated, I don’t like when Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) sees it so in the dark and needs to start seeing the bigger picture of life. Yes, I understand her reasons and her fear, and no, I can never fully get her current feelings (because it’s a TV show and all, and I will never get into a similar situation), but it’s getting annoying. Seeing her cry all the time, worrying about her family, worrying whether her secrets will hold, worrying about death behind a corner… Eleven episodes of it, and it’s time to see her smile for once. At least I liked the final scene, when Rick learned about the pregnancy and Shane (Jon Bernthal). I just hope the BFF story between Shane and Rick doesn’t become a villain-ish storyline, as it was teased in the first season. And especially after Shane’s words to Dale.

Shane’s trip with Andrea (Laurie Holden) was also okay, but I always thought she knew how to handle a gun. And now she needs gun practice all of a sudden? Okay, gun practice is always good (though I doubt that they would lightly use the ammunition in a world, where ammunition is pretty much short-handed), but it comes to me as a surprise that Andrea doesn’t know how to handle a gun, after she pretty much wanted to kill Rick in 1×02, and also killed her zombie-sister with a gun. The writers could have said something about her not being able to use a gun earlier. But hey, it brought her some sex with Shane – which was also just a ‘WTF’ scene right there. That they wouldn’t find Sophia in the house was pretty much predictable. And I was thinking they would search all the houses and take something with them. Like food or diesel or something…

The love story of Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) gets its continuation, and now I don’t know what to think about it anymore. Is it a true love story from the writers of a zombie show, or is there more behind it? She obviously sees a hero in him, he has a crush on her, but she doesn’t want a relationship. Somehow I’m confused. It should be time to clear things up. Or let Maggie die, so that Glenn starts to cry (it rhymes). The scene in the pharmacy was okay. Predictable (again – I have the feeling all those scenes will/have include/d a zombie), but okay. Maggie’s emotional outburst made it notable, as well as her rant in front of Lori. 6.5/10

Glenn does all the manly work

Meanwhile, Andrea becomes an action heroine

Season 2, Episode 5 (11)
Date of airing: Nov 13, 2011 (AMC)
Nielsen ratings information: 6.124 million viewers, 3.2 rating with A18-49

Well well well, the Greenes have secrets. I wondered in the last episode what was up with the barn, since Herschel (Scott Wilson) looked at it and said “No” to Rick, when it comes to using the barn for protection. At least the mystery was solved in this episode, though I’m interested to know what’s up with the zombie collection in the barn. Maybe Herschel’s rest of the family who have died, and he doesn’t wanna lose them, in case a cure is found. Which is understandable, considering the faith he has, and how little he knows about what happened and is still happening in the world. So, the zombies in the barn are kind of logical in the storytelling. Which makes me happy, because it’s not inconsistent.

Other than that I wonder what was up with the teaser/cold open. It was useless. Seeing how Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Shane (Jon Bernthal) were evacuated, another highway scene, and napalming the city – what did it have to do with the rest of the episode? Was it a teaser to say that Lori really is pregnant with Shane’s baby, and this was the way of showing how they got acquainted? Even if, I didn’t even need the information and scenes, when and where the two got together and had sex. We have established that piece of character story in the second episode of the first season, and it doesn’t need a reminder. Or additional scenes. In addition, the producers could have easily cut the costs of special effects with this one, keeping the budget even more down. I really don’t understand what the meaning of the beginning was.

The rest of the episode was okay though. Daryl (Norman Reedus) becomes the hero of the show (he doesn’t want to be), and gets more screentime, which is positive, and the search for Sophia slowly finds an ending, which is also good. Four episodes of nothingness in that story – it definitely needs an ending to move forward, to tell a different story. I have the feeling the writers stay with the Greenes, because the whole story around Sophia isn’t finished yet. And as soon as Sophia’s fate is resolved, the group is moving on. Which is why I hope the group is moving on a bit faster, now that the zombies in the barn have been woken up. To come back to Daryl, I didn’t like the Merle (Michael Rooker) hallucinations though. It feels like a way to bring Rooker back, to remind the audience Merle is still out there, and he could be as mean as he was in said second episode. I didn’t need that, despite it giving more screentime to Daryl. I liked his survival action scenes more – starting with how he fell down with his arrow still stuck in him (now I will totally remember to let the piece of junk remain in my body and suck up the pain), fighting against the two zombies. And ending with getting a kiss from Carol (Melissa Suzanne McBride). Sweet scene, and it shows that Daryl, in comparison to his brother, is welcomed in the group.

Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) were annoying this time, because it led to nowhere except the zombie revelation. I wanted to like the discussion between Glenn and Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), but it wasn’t even funny, even though the writers pushed for some humor here. Even more, I don’t get through the Greenes here. Big secrets in the barn, Maggie wants some sex, the little ones want to be independent in his world, and Herschel just wants his peace. And lies to make his peace, not making any new friends, and basically hating his guests. I’ll accept that, but I hope he has a damn good reason to behave like he does. Not that he carries his kids into certain death. I wanna keep Maggie. But since it’s Maggie, who gets screentime, I believe she is the one dying at the end of this (or the next) miniseason. 6.5/10

Flashback with fire

Present time with arrows

Season 2, Episode 4 (10)
Date of airing: Nov 6, 2011 (AMC)
Nielsen ratings information: 6.294 million viewers, 3.4 rating with A18-49

The episode seemed alright. Nothing special or thrilling, or very much dramatic. A typical piece of TV in the middle of a season, to prepare or tease something, and to get some character relationships going. Sometimes I’d wish for the story to be told a bit faster, because once again, nothing happened. And I wish for something to happen. But then again, THE WALKING DEAD is not a mystery show, where questions need to be answered. Even though it could be a bit lighter at some point.

Which is why I had a problem with Lori’s (Sarah Wayne Callies) storyline. So, she is pregnant. So far so good, but I was annoyed that she almost broke together because of that fact. She was talking about killing Carl, so that he doesn’t have to live through it anymore; she wants to spare the little children, because the world is fucked up. Why does Lori don’t see the leftover good side of this world? I know that the show is supposed to be dark and gritty, and that there is no reason to be happy. But when she doesn’t even realize that death isn’t everything, and wishes her unborn baby dead already, then I can’t help her. I don’t want to see all characters mad, sad, depressed and down all the time. Let them have some happy moments, let them shine for once. Let them celebrate new life. And not break down in tears, just because you’re pregnant. Or maybe Lori broke down, because it’s Shane’s kid. For that to happen, I want to have a tiny little revelation twist here. I don’t want to see the mad drama between Rick and Lori, when he learns about the docking of Shane’s dick with Lori’s mumu.

At least Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) were cool together. Good that it doesn’t become the next best relationship with lots of love and stuff. Just affection. Just sex. Just forgetting the world for a couple of seconds. Nice little move there, Glenn. I just hope Maggie will survive this season, because I like her. I’m falling in love with her myself, and I’m getting jealous of Glenn. I wouldn’t mind when the show has a romance story going on here (like I said, let the characters live through something happy for once), but I don’t need a real-life love story here. What a shame that Maggie said it was just a one-time thing. I was hurting with Glenn here.

The well zombie was ridiculous. I don’t like this show becoming a crazed-zombie-of-the-week thing with a new zombie troubling the group. Sure, it was disgusting and sometimes thrilling again, when Glenn was about to fall into the well (though very predictable scene), but what do the characters take with them after the situation? Great, Maggie saw a zombie being ripped apart, and Glenn almost made himself the star of RING – other than that the story was wasteful, useless, and all kinds of non-saying.

Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) emotional problems were okay. I don’t get much from his anti-“man of faith” talks, and Herschel (Scott Wilson) being the guy who could impersonate Locke. I also couldn’t think of a reason why he suddenly “believed” in finding Sophia, when he just told Herschel he doesn’t part ways with God anymore any time soon. Sure, it could have been a result of his talk with Herschel, but I don’t buy Rick believing in all the crap Herschel was telling him after less than half a day. Something else should have happened for Rick to believe in something.

And Shane’s (Jon Bernthal) lies? I don’t care much. Seems like he is distressing himself with his thoughts. Like Lori, he can’t think of anything positive right now, which can be annoying after a short while. Which is why I hope somebody in the group finds a DVD, gets some power, and plays a comedy movie or something. 6.5/10

First thing on the to-do list: giving this zombie a hot bath

Last thing on Glenn's mind: 'Do I need a condom?'

Season 2, Episode 3 (9)
Date of airing: Oct 30, 2011 (AMC)
Nielsen ratings information: 6.095 million viewers, 3.1 rating with A18-49 (Live+SD)

I don’t really know about this episode. Somehow the drama parts were more interesting than the survival thriller, because they were working better this time. And somehow the whole conflict in Shane’s (Jon Bernthal) head is too much for me. Starting with how he looked at himself in the mirror, and how the camera catches his body (I have the feeling the show of his muscles was done, because he had muscles to show), ending with the revelation of leading Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) behind and teasing that he might be the baddest motherfucker among the living. They teased that already a couple of times in the first season, and it should be time to really show what’s all about Shane, and what’s going on in his head. The conflict between him and the group is just waiting to explode, and the writers are probably just waiting for the characters to finally crash together and then apart. I don’t really wanna wait that long though.

But I still liked to see what was happening with him and Otis in the school, and how they were about to escape the zombies. Thankfully it wasn’t much of a story here and the episode instead focused on some character work. I loved the talk between Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) about how it’s better to just end a life, before the zombies end your life and make it more miserable. There was some drama right there, and considering that Lori just thought about killing Carl (Chandler Riggs), letting him die, it gave a pretty deep understanding of her as a character. That could almost mean she won’t be risking her own life, when her loved ones are about to die. Or she would be the emotional, feeling and loving version of Shane in the body of a woman. Or something like that. But I kinda hated here that Rick told the story with the deer, which brought back all hope in Lori. I kinda liked her completely down and fucked-up. That deer thing was just the way to get a happy ending back into the story, making it more light for once.

Nice that Glenn (Steven Yeun) can also talk to somebody. Though I still don’t know his ladyfriend Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and though there could have been more screentime for him. Since his adventures in the city back in the first season, he hasn’t gotten much attention. And I’d be glad when the writers give him more time again. Back in season one, I was actually expecting for him to be close friends with Rick and all, after what he did for Rick. But it never happened. Rick is the hero, while the secondary characters don’t get storylines. This one is a start though – despite the fact that it looks like he’s getting a romance out of the story.

Also okay was the walk-out for Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Andrea (Laurie Holden). Seems like the two are bonding, which looks good on both of them. Daryl rises more to a hero-kinda type, which could be interesting to watch, when Merle returns (if he ever returns), and Angela gets more complicated as a character with her “death wish”, when I can call it like that. The “answer for an arrow” scene was great. And not just because of that effect of the zombie legs, which looked disgusting on an awesome level (yet I believe the producers do it on purpose to take away from the storytelling – graphics over story!). But it’s great to see that the writers are putting more effort in bringing the characters into relationships with each other. When they don’t interact all with each other, there could at least be friends among a few of them. Only Dale’s (Jeffrey DeMunn) decision to give Andrea back the gun was a bit of a fake-out. It could have been a great conflict between the two (about nothing after all), yet he chickens out. Or better: The writers chicken out.

Well, at least the episodes get better as the season progresses. 7.5/10

Ready to kill, Shane?

A little bit of family history feat. tears

Season 2, Episode 2 (8)
Date of airing: Oct 23, 2011 (AMC)
Nielsen ratings information: 6.703 million viewers, 3.6 rating with A18-49 (Live+SD)

Well, after the mess that as bringing down two episodes into 66 minutes, this episode worked already better, maybe because it wasn’t cut together from two different episodes. The drama was working better, the thrill was working better (because there was almost none, and what was here, worked), and the characters were more likable this time, even though I still care shit about them.

I really have a problem with the major characters now. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is so not the typical Jack-leader for me, and it’s getting tiring when he always runs around with a mad face, looking like it cried during the past couple of hours. I know that the zombie apocalypse needs the characters to be completely different from before the apocalypse, but I do not like how the writers are doing it, and how the actors play their characters. They should be more bad-ass like Daryl, they should start caring less about people and kill more zombies. They should stop crying around all the time and start to suck it up. Because most of the time, the whole crying does not work on a dramatic and storytelling level. And the narrative is just fucked up, when I see Rick, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Shane (Jon Bernthal) discuss something about I don’t care half of the episode. But then again: There are moments, which work. Like the “my baby boy” scene with Lori at Carl’s (Chandler Riggs) bed. I was surprised that this episode had such strong acting here, and I was also surprised that I almost lost a tear during this scene.

Other than that, the episode couldn’t have been more slow. One episode wasted to save Carl’s life, one act wasted for Shane and Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) to go to the city and get medical supplies (and they weren’t really thinking at all about the situation, when they wasted all the flares for getting into the trailer, but didn’t save any for getting out). Almost two acts wasted in letting Rick say all the time that Lori doesn’t know and that Lori has to be brought to the farm. Another act wasted in the argument between Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) and T-Dog (IronE Singleton) about how latter can’t get the situation straight and doesn’t care about his coming death. Though I kinda liked that there is some messy stuff here, which only seems logical in a situation like this, it doesn’t work for me on a narrative level.

Another thing is the group being separated in three small groups now – interesting thing. That’s what I liked about LOST by the way, and I really would have wished to see more of the separation. Maybe the writers would have gotten into some more character work with other characters besides Rick, Lori and Shane (Glenn could use some screentime right about now), telling the stories from another group and not the “leadership” of the characters. But now it seems the group is back together on the farm, which seems interesting, because everybody is not only shut out from the world, but literally shut out from everything outside the farm, but on the other hand it seems boring, because it’s just an adapted storyline from the comics, pressed into half a season.

The Greenes were partly interesting. Unfortunately, with relying on the Carl drama, and Rick worrying all the time, there wasn’t much time in introducing the recurring guest characters. Otis can be lucky to have had the most amount of screentime, since he was in movement, had action and stuff, while the rest of the family was just sitting there, talking, wondering, doing nothing. One thing you have to do as a writer is keeping your characters in movement within the story, especially when you introduce them to the audience – that didn’t work here, therefore it was boring most of the time. Another family I cannot care about, because they weren’t properly introduced to me.

All in all, the episode was still slightly better than the stuffed two episodes serving as the season premiere. But seriously, the writers should start letting me care about the characters. Or I’m praying for a zombie attack, where everyone dies, just so the new season can premiere with a bunch of new characters. 7/10

Carl's development starts here

A death scene starts here

Season 2, Episode 1 (7)
Date of airing: Oct 16, 2011 (AMC)
Nielsen ratings information: 7.257 million viewers total (4.8 HH rating), 4.8 million viewers with A18-49 (3.8 rating), 4.2 million viewers with A25-54

Nope, there is not much hype surrounding this show. At least not with me. I basically didn’t care about this episode, I didn’t care who was missing or about to die, I didn’t care who was about to leave the group, I didn’t care about the character’s choices. Something happened between the time I’ve watched the first season and this episode, which wasn’t such a long time-span– I completely lost interest in THE WALKING DEAD. And not even the solid season premiere could save it.

The episode had only two interesting moments: The herd of zombie walkers, which took about ten minutes of the show, and Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) opening up one of the walkers to check if there’s a little girl inside. The first one was about to be the most suspenseful scene I have seen recently (which did not work at the end), the second one showed that the producers are out to be in a conflict with the audience, to shock them, to show that everything is possible in today’s television. The only thing is: The slaughter scene felt so forced, I didn’t know if I was supposed to applaud the writers for doing that, or if I should ‘nay’ this scene, because it was just included for the edginess of the show. To show that AMC actually wants the audience to go berserk. I hate, when scenes look like they were thrown in to spark some controversy, even though it was not necessary to have such an expanded scene. I didn’t need Daryl and Rick taking the walker apart for like five minutes, even though it was somewhat necessary to the plot.

The herd scene on the highway… Something wasn’t right with the pace here. I wanted it to be a suspenseful scene, but when the camera was hopping from one character to another, and kept it up for a whole act, I knew this scene was expanded to bring the episode to 63 minutes running time. At least five minutes could have been cut, and T-Dog’s (IronE Singleton) injury (which looked pretty idiotic) was not even used as a potential story arc of the group believing that he might have been bitten or is infected. I was literally expecting this story, when he cut his arm, but nothing happened. So, this part could have been cut as well. That nothing happened was a big reason why the scene wasn’t suspenseful enough. The group hid under cars, Andrea (Laurie Holden) killed a zombie without her gun, Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) made himself an enemy with Andrea because of it, and there was too much time wasted in showing how the kids and adults freak out under the cars. A couple of minutes were really boring, and it didn’t help the suspense of the moment. It was simply too much.

The rest of the episode was okay. I liked the search for Sophia (Madison Lintz) and how Carol (Melissa Suzanne McBride) became desperate over the next couple of hours. It was predictable she would blame Rick near the end, and it was predictable that Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) would try to convince Carol to stay calm and rather blame the zombies, before Rick gets killed by a raging mother. But like the herd scene, the search took too much time, and sequences of it were just boring. Why did it take so long for the group to find the church, and why did it take so long for them to realize that Sophia isn’t there? I for once would hurry up to find her, and not sit in a church and ask God why life is so fucked up at the moment. And there really wasn’t a reason for Rick to “pray” to JC – all of a sudden, he is a non-believer believer, and asks for reason from the Almighty? Where did that characteristic come from? Same goes with Carl: Where does his interest of saving lives and hunting down zombies come from? You could have prepared that in the first season, to make his cliffhanger look more natural to the show. But nooo, to have Carl (Chandler Riggs) shot at the end (a cliffhanger, which was so damn predictable, since the last scene was one of those, which took way too much time) you decide to have him develop interest in weapons and killing zombies, and to bring him to the “hunt” – sorry, but I don’t understand why Rick would risk bringing his son in danger, when the whole first season consisted of protecting him. Another inconsistency I don’t like.

I think the episode is not that solid anymore like I mentioned above. Not that I hated the episode and all, but for this genre drama show to actually succeed on a creative level, the writers have to come up with more than just taking apart zombies, zombie herds, a missing daughter and a shot son. That’s just not good enough for me. 6.5/10

A pretty good view from up here

Another pretty good, albeit cheap, view

An underwhelming season finale. Not much was happening, the new story with the CDC and potential hope of hope was blown up together with the building, and the characters are back to square one. As if nothing has happened in the last four episodes. At least no cliffhanger, which could have given the episode a sour note at the end.

I didn’t like the CDC setting. It rather looked like a cheaper version of mission control for space travel than a high-tech science station sponsored and led by the army. Sorry, but the big room was something between a cliché and setting created for a fictional show, without anybody knowing what the CDC might look like from the inside. It couldn’t get me to believe that this building could have been the savior of all mankind. Sorry, but that was nothing.

And then there was Jenner (Noah Emmerich), which the writers have given some great material to work with, but what happened at the end? He blew up, and everything we learned with this episode… wait, we didn’t learn anything, because it just explained what we already know. So, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) didn’t get answers at the end, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) didn’t get some hope for Carl, Shane (Jon Bernthal) didn’t get a reason to live a bit easier, and Andrea (Laurie Holden) didn’t get a reason for continuing her life. The whole damn episode was set in the CDC, with hope for some answers, but we did get nothing. What a blow, what a disappointment. The only good thing coming out of it was that with Jenner and the group, there were two worlds clashing together. One didn’t know what was happening on the outside, the other didn’t know that there’s no hope left. But unfortunately, the episode didn’t play and experimented with this story, and there was no time to get deeper into that inner conflict between Jenner and the group, especially Rick. Instead, Jenner saw himself as the savior of those people, chosen them for death during the decontamination process, burning to heaven. Jenner was kinda the guy, who lost not just his wife and hope for the world, but literally everything, even his mind, or his understanding for the world and the people. That’s how great Jenner was as a character, but the episode rarely worked on that point.

Then there was the clock ticking down. Nobody was noticing it, until Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) one hour before decontamination? And I am supposed to believe that? Even I saw the clock, when it was about 21 hours or so and I was already wondering why it was counting down. Sorry, but that was illogical.

Then there was Jacqui (Jeryl Prescott) and Andrea’s choice to stay in the building, while it blows up. Umm, why? I kinda understood Andrea, who has lost her sister and wasn’t ready to move on, but why Jacqui? Just because there was nothing outside to live for and that this “thing” could kill them any second? Sorry, but I don’t buy that. There was no reason, why Jacqui considered to die, or even to kill herself, and there was no reason to believe she might have been affected after Jim’s “death” in the last episode. Naah, something was missing there, but the time was rather spent with Rick and Glenn (Steven Yeun) getting drunk.

Then there were the explosions. First the grenade, which only blew off the window? Seriously? But I can’t say much about the big explosion, because it can’t get any better with the tiny budget of a TV series. But I’m always thinking why the producers risk it anyway. They know that those scenes always look ugly and fake, and they should know to stay away from it. Otherwise some viewers might be offended by those crappy special effects, especially after seeing some Autobots and Decepticons battle it out with their fists. And this scene looked fugly. If I would be a producer of a TV series of that kind of genre, I would clearly stay awake from big, big explosions.

At the end, I wasn’t satisfied with THE WALKING DEAD. The series often did not know which way to go and which stories to focus on. But the actors were pulling most of the good stuff, which is why I’m still interested in the show. But I really hope Darabont and the new writers have learned something from the first season. And now I know why it was only six episodes short… Maybe Darabont wasn’t able to work on more ideas, which were not included in the comic. That’s why the CDC story was probably created and that’s why we spent an episode down there… 5.5/10

Shane gets crazy again

Campfire is over

I really don’t know what to think of THE WALKING DEAD at this moment. There are ideas behind it, without copying the stories from the comic books, but the ideas executed look so damn cheesy. I don’t know what the problem is with this show, but why is it that part of it is interesting and strong as hell, while other parts of the episode couldn’t be more ridiculous. And why is it that the cast is always rescuing the show from falling over the cliff story-wise?

The first third of the episode was good. I loved the Andrea/Amy moments, and I loved that the first part took a lot of time with Andrea (Laurie Holden) saying goodbye to Amy (Emma Bell) and eventually killing her. It was an emotional moment, and it showed that I’m starting to care about the characters (at least Andrea). I’m like a broken record when I’m saying that I didn’t want Amy to die, so why is she the first “real” character to be turned into a zombie in this show, why expendable characters like Dale or Daryl are still alive? Well, maybe the writers were focusing on making Amy and Andrea a lot likable, so that Amy’s death totally hits the viewers and Angela.

But then the episode went from great to blah. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) mentions the CDC, there’s a conflict about going there, almost everybody is following Rick’s guts at the end, and then they are at the CDC, just to be in the grace of one lonely guy, who could call himself the Omega Man. Here I saw that THE WALKING DEAD would be a nice proceduralized show, similar to SUPERNATURAL, when the gang is travelling through the States, eventually killing zombies every now and then and rescuing survivors from their certain deaths. This is why I wanted to see more of the trip from camp to CDC, but instead it was just all about Jim (Andrew Rothenberg) and how he was left behind to die. Not really an emotional and touching story like Amy’s, but at least better than what came after that. And what I learned during the road trip: Even Bear McCreary “steals” a great score from a great composer, who wrote it for a great movie, and picks it for a scene in this episode (here: the Sunshine Adagio from John Murphy). First I was happy that the Adagio came during the first road trip scenes, and I noticed you really could use that for any kind of dramatic/emotional scenes. But then I was reminded that Bear obviously wanted to pay tribute. But for what and for whom? I have the feeling somebody saw a lot of things in the first road trip scene than I did, which makes it heavy with meanings. And no, it wasn’t.

Okay, now to the CDC. It would have been better to use the scenes with Noah Emmerich as the opener for the next episode to make it more fitting. Because ending with the CDC in this episode showed one thing: It completely destroyed the pace of the episode. First we were still on a road trip with the gang, and all of a sudden, we have a video transmission and a scientist working on a cure? Naah, that didn’t work pace-wise, and it ruined the episode at the end. But then again, Rick was it who saved the episode, when he was about to have a breakdown in front of the gate, after he saw the camera moving. Great acting here. And then: The light came and I was suddenly thinking that the gates to heaven have opened. That moment, that closing scene was really too much. Why the light? It was like that scene in DEFYING GRAVITY, when pod 4 was opened and the astronauts were shining yellow – just to inform the viewers in the next episode that the yellow light was just that: light. 6/10

The last goodbye between sisters

Are you ready to step foot in Heaven?

I’d wish that Darabont and his writers would have gotten the tone of the series already, because I still don’t like how it’s changing back-and-forth between a pure character drama with emotions, and then changes to a hostage-ish thriller with zombies in it. Somehow the mix won’t really fit, and somehow it looks awkward, when one of the guys has a nervous breakdown, considered to be a character arc, when the other story is a useless hunt for Merle.

Like I mentioned in last episode’s review, it looks awkward when Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the gang go back to find Merle. The only good thing about the story was hat Daryl (Norman Reedus) was in fact an interesting character this time, because he is not such an idiot anymore. Instead he is actually fighting and just wants to find his brother, while he is accepting the choices of the others. Should Daryl survive this season and stay with the group, I hope he develops further and becomes a guy I could actually care about. Other than that, the whole Atlanta story was crap. A renegade group hitting Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Daryl, a potential shootout between G.’s (Neil Brown Jr.) group and Rick’s group, but at the end they are just caretakers for old people. When the grandma came to talk to Rick, I was laughing as fuck, because I couldn’t believe which twist the writers chose to get Rick out of this situation: a grandma. An old-folks-home, the “cool killer gang” around G. are actually caring people. Seriously? That was one of the stupidest twists I have seen in a long time. That was a big fail in this episode. Then, when the group wanted to get out of Atlanta, but the truck was gone, I wondered why they weren’t stealing another truck or car. I mean, it would have saved them some time to look for another car and drive back to camp with it, instead of walking. Another ridiculous thing in this episode…

The camp story was kinda crappy too. I didn’t care about Jim’s (Andrew Rothenberg) breakdown, because I didn’t know the character before. I was only interested in how Shane (Jon Bernthal) was dealing with Jim, and how the others were affected by his breakdown. There could have been better drama in this situation, when the writers could have shown more of the angst of the camp habitants, even though just one guy had an emotional breakdown after a crappy nightmare. But maybe this story was necessary to wait for the zombie attack at the end, because this was a cool (and emotional) moment.

So, probably half of the camp habitans were killed, and Amy (Emma Bell) as well. Assholes. I really did not want her to die, because she grew closer to be during the opening scene with Andrea (Laurie Holden), but somehow I was expecting for something to happen after that opening scene, the mention of her birthday again, and after the pretty useless campfire scene, before Amy went for a piss. At least the attack worked as a thrilling scene, because I liked all of it. Beginning with how Ed (Adam Minarovich) was killed (yeah, there you go, wifebeater!), continuing with how Amy was bitten in the arm (oh shit!), continuing with a little gun battle against the zombies and more people dying. And I really have to say that the cast is great. As long as they are getting great material. The scene where Amy died and Andrea is breaking down: great scene, wonderfully acted and crafted, and really emotional. And not just because the camera was holding a bit longer on Andrea’s face. Is there a way of having more of those scenes, without looking fake in the whole zombie genre? 6.5/10

Daryl is pissed again

Amy's demise: FUCK YOU, WRITERS!