Walking Dead, Season 2, midseason finale (spoilers)

[Deset Gled]

...they would have no way to know that Z.Soph was in the barn. ... I'd have to watch the early episodes again to be sure, but that was the explanation given by the writer last night.

This is a pretty crappy justification to me. If Hershel's people don't notice when the number of zombies in their corral changes... well, I guess that justifies all of Shane's fears about how dangerous it was to keep them locked up in the first place.

 

[Remus Lupin]

Or Rick not able but Shane remorseless...


He is also wearing the hat in the comics.

Exactly!

 

[Krug]

Well it was a long buildup to a great conclusion, though I thought the confrontation between the farm folks and the group could have more conflict.

 

[Kzach]

Well it was a long buildup to a great conclusion, though I thought the confrontation between the farm folks and the group could have more conflict.

I felt there was just the right amount; any more and it would've seemed overdone or forced.

Also, as for Hershel not 'raging' at them... seriously, what would you do in that situation? Don't be telling me you'd grab a gun and start shooting people. He's an old man who was clinging to false hope. Even his step-daughter had confronted him on it. Him being on his knees after Shane shot the women half a dozen times in the chest was the final nail in the coffin of his delusion. He was, at that point, broken and defeated and finally accepting the loss of his wife and daughter (or was it son?).

I think there's a strong, "careful what you wish for" situation going on in this thread. People are saying that they want more conflict, more drama, more resolution, more payoff, and that previous episodes were slow, etc. The thing is that what these wishes result in is that the shows end up being too shallow, unrealistic, episodic, melodramatic, etc. like your Star Trek's, Terra Nova's, Grimm's. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, necessarily, it has it's place, but that's not the style of the Walking Dead. Those types of shows force conclusions within 45 minutes because that's what the audience asked for, and then the audience says, "We want more story!" Can't really have both in a TV format and personally I'd prefer the way Walking Dead is doing it to the way they do it in, say Terra Nova.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I thought the ending was tonally appropriate.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I think there's a strong, "careful what you wish for" situation going on in this thread. People are saying that they want more conflict, more drama, more resolution, more payoff, and that previous episodes were slow, etc. The thing is that what these wishes result in is that the shows end up being too shallow, unrealistic, episodic, melodramatic, etc. like your Star Trek's, Terra Nova's, Grimm's. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, necessarily, it has it's place, but that's not the style of the Walking Dead. Those types of shows force conclusions within 45 minutes because that's what the audience asked for, and then the audience says, "We want more story!" Can't really have both in a TV format and personally I'd prefer the way Walking Dead is doing it to the way they do it in, say Terra Nova.

The thing is, season 1 seemed to be more intense and had more going on than season 2. So far, at least.

Also, going by what happened in the comics/graphic novels, there was also more action and more going on once the group left Atlanta. While I didn't expect them to adhere 100% to the comic storyline, I did expect season 2 to be even more intense than season 1 if it was somewhat close to the comics. We got a generally lower level of tension this season, though.

However, the comics did not have Daryl & Merle, nor T-Dogg. Plus, Shane got offed early on in the comics. So, the group make-up was a bit different (The group in the comics had added Tyreese, his daughter and her boyfriend before getting to the farm.) So, the size of the group was generally the same.

 

[coyote6]

Didn't the show have budget cutbacks? I figured the budget was behind the less action so far. Action is expensive - look how little of it there is on TV these days.

During Hell On Wheels, they showed a snippet from the next WD episode, and ut featured them asking "why didn't you tell us". I believe the answer was that they didn't know, Otis did the zombie wrangling, and he hadn't mentioned a little girl.

I'd guess Otis brought her in just before he went out hunting. Then he shoots Carl, making other things more important, and soon enough, Shane murders him before he can give a zombie population update.

Taking a head count from the loft would be hard (plenty of places for 'em to shamble out of sight), and going in for a census would be folly on a suicidal level. Plus Hershel's folks were trying to keep the barn of the dead a secret, so they couldn't spend too much time out there.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[Kzach]

How much is perception bias, though, I wonder?

Looking back on season 2 so far, think on all the action, suspense, drama & tension that has occurred. Every single episode has had all three in spades.

I remember the same things being said about Battlestar Galactica. I remember distinctly discussing an episode where the entire board was all in agreeance that it was a slow episode with little plot progression, action or drama. And yet, in that one episode alone they had several deaths, several major reveals, several significant plot twists, and several new plot threads. I was like... "Are we watching the same show?"

 

[RangerWickett]

And as always, when your friend gets the DVD set and watches all 6 episodes in one go, he'll think it's paced just fine.

 

[NewJeffCT]

This article somewhat summarizes how I feel about Season 2:


The show has not benefited from its move to the farm. At least when our survivors were in Atlanta, they were constantly on the move, a zombie around every corner, behind every car. On Hershel’s farm, there’s a lot of peeling carrots and potatoes, and idle time for Glenn to make out with Maggie.


'The Walking Dead' midseason finale review: Who gets shot? | Ken Tucker's TV | EW.com