The Walking Dead - Season Two (1 Viewer)

[Michael Henry]

Anyone else have sound issues? The center channel was coming from the left front!!!
UGH...
The Breaking Bad finale had the center coming from the surrounds - that was at least bearable...

 

[Greg_S_H]

I didn't see the batteries. The good thing about this Fios DVR is I can restore a deleted program if I do it within a week or so, so maybe I better watch again. Or, I'm sure AMC plays it a lot.

 

[TravisR]

Anyone else have sound issues? The center channel was coming from the left front!!!
UGH...
The Breaking Bad finale had the center coming from the surrounds - that was at least bearable...

I saw someone in the Breaking Bad thread last week who had a similar problem. I didn't have it happen on this show but I've noticed it on AMC before (maybe Mad Men?).

 

[Quentin]

Actually, not to go all 'sciency' on zombies...but, considering what the CDC Dr. showed us, it's pretty much a miracle these zombies can smell OR see! Smell is mostly handled by the limbic system in the brain, and sight is in the occipital lobe. The brain stem was the only thing shown to work in the little TS-19 presentation. That explains how they walk, etc. So, I guess sight/smell are purely up to the writers in charge. Creative license!

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I think you guys are way over-thinking the smell issue. Zombies smell like rotting corpses and stink something wicked. Living people either don't smell or smell like sweat at close range. So if they come upon another "zombie" at close range but they don't smell like a zombie then they are a living being. Only zombie stink is strong enough for zombies to smell with their weakened sense of smell. Maybe thinking in reverse would help. If zombies looked and acted like real people but smelled of rotting flesh, you wouldn't think they were a zombie at a distance or notice them if they were hiding but if one was very near to you, you would flip out as soon as you smelled rotting flesh.

 

[Greg_S_H]

If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
And other science facts,
Just repeat to yourself, "It's just a show,
I should really just relax"

 

[MarkMel]

Wait, walkers don't really exist?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Congrats on the amazingly appropriate MST3K reference, Greg lol.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

According to a fan on another message board, Jenner stated in his CDC video log that it had been 194 days since the index case and 63 days since the disease abruptly went global. So the CDC was about two months out from the apocalypse, which means it's probably about two and a half months out from pandemic. The battery for the bells still working feels believable under that time table.

 

[mattCR]

The MST3k theme song was floating through my mind too. Either suspend disbelief or don't. The last thing I want is for the show to try and explain this too much, because no explanation will hold up.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I think it's fair to ask some questions. "Why did they have to cover up with guts before but could hide under cars later?" is reasonable (I say, because in the one instance, they were being observed and moving in close proximity to the herd; in the other, the dead didn't see them and don't have enough brain power left to wonder what that mild scent they may or may not have caught is or where it is coming from). How long will the dead last out in the elements is another good one. If the show starts violating its own rules in an egregious way, it'll be fair to call it out. But, I don't think that's happened yet.
I'm the only idiot who wondered about the bells because I missed the battery scene.

 

[Will_B]

I wonder if flies eating the zombies will eventually destroy them. It's a variation on "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a lollipop?" concept. How many nibbles from flies until the brainstem is eaten and the zombies fall to the ground? Or even without flies, they will fall apart. The bulk of the zombies should fall apart in a few months.
Though until they all fall apart, new outbreaks will continue to be a problem, 28 Months Later style.

 

[WaveCrest]

Replying to the starter post (don't want to be spoilt about forthcoming episodes. The listings info about episode 2 "Bloodletting" doesn't give anything away though). That explains it, the 90 minute running time, as the first (and only) ad break was after 35 minutes. The Walking Dead is being shown first in the UK on FX (don't know if Five will be premiering it on terrestrial afterwards).

A very good second season premiere. One stomach-churning moment, plenty of blood and gore, an involving story, some red herrings and lovely cinematography (especially at the church).

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

I think there is some middle ground. I'm not a fan of zombie material (I can't name a single zombie movie I've liked), but I don't hate this show either. I mostly watch it as a cultural event, though I am interested in the story aspect of it (how people deal with a type of apocalypse.. social structures, mating, etc.).

Obviously, I'm no authority on zombie rules, but I keep reading "they're dead" but they're not. They're specifically undead. In the episode of S1 at the CDC, we saw that where people would normally experience brain death, they had an infection that essentially acts as a parasite and keeps them... "kind of" alive. I would say they have live muscle and tissue that is decomposing. Their higher order brain function is gone, but basic motor skills and some autonomic functions are still there. We've seen them "eating" people way past the point of just trying to spread the infection (when the people are basically just a jumble of body parts). It looks to me like they're eating because they still need nourishment. That would also explain why the cut up zombie had a small animal in its stomach.

 

[Lucia Duran]

It's been a while since I have read the comics, but did anyone else think they casted Herschel perfectly?

 

[joshEH]

So is no one interested in speculating about what might have been contained in the thirty minutes' worth of footage that was lost in the process of turning two 45-minute episodes into one 60-minute installment during the season-premiere night? Note that that "extended" episode has two directors and writers, and Darabont uses a pseudonym for his writing credit ("Ardeth Bey").
I mean, I know people elsewhere on the Internet are using this rumor as vindication for their judgment of the premiere's "off" pacing or whatever, but it's not like there was any obvious narrative gap. What could possibly have been lifted? Did we actually lose a cumulative half-hour of quiet character moments?
I'm left to wonder if there was originally a whole segment before the survivors exit Atlanta. During Rick's opening monologue, we cut away to some footage of the team taking off from an unknown location where they were siphoning gas. I wonder if this was always shot as a montage, or if it's the residue of a cut segment?
If you look at 3:46 and 3:58 during the Comic-Con trailer, you'll see the characters fighting zombies (including Dale with a gun!) in what looks like the exterior of an old factory, or something. Compare that setting with the surroundings of the characters as they are shown loading up in the first two minutes of the final, aired premiere, and it seems to match up.
(...Or else I just ruined Episode 4.)
I have no idea where the mystery missing minutes supposedly went. We know that Glenn had almost no lines at all during the entire first episode, which might point to a key scene or two involving him being excised. Considering he's a big fan-favorite, you'd think both Darabont and Kirkman would enjoy adding plenty of Glenn in. There also might have been more in the opening RV/car scenes before approaching the jam, but that wouldn't account for 30 minutes of material.
Everything continues right from the zombie-swarm scene to the Sophia-chase, so it's hard to know where the cut between 2x01 and 2x02 actually is. We know for a fact (-ish) that Darabont spent a huge amount of time editing 2x01 to try and appease AMC after they weren't happy with the "dailies," so I can only assume there was a lot more buildup and fallout to the swarm-sequence that AMC didn't like.
But this is all just speculation. I hope the truth comes out somehow. I would LOVE to see a director's cut of 2x01, but that's never going to happen. Maybe Darabont will open up in ten years' time.

 

[joshEH]

Also, instead of a Magical Negro, with Daryl, we have a Magical Redneck.
"Need antibiotics? Dude. I got that."
(It's comforting to know that, even after the zombie apocalypse, Walt's blue meth will still be around.)
I'm almost kind of irrationally pulling for the show to really go off the rails, and have Daryl take the reins. He's so competent, it's scary. Someone on another forum mentioned how watching The Walking Dead is like backseat-driving -- "I'd so do 'X' instead of that." Why is it that Redneck Legolas seems to be the one who's always on top of all that stuff?
Nitpick of the day:
They shot the Andrea attack-scene really, really weirdly. I've seen someone else refer to it looking like a "Lifetime movie rape-scene." And the zombie, while a zombie, looked like he was black. Maybe my "WTF Women Portrayed in Genre Stuff??" radar is out and up, but that was a weirdly-shot scene. Weirdly suggestive. What the hell, show?

 

[Patrick Sun]

I mainly root for the zombies on this show now. I find that I don't really care for the human characters anymore.

 

[joshEH]

I certainly don't think the characters are a waste by any means, though it depends on the episode in question. I thought this was a stronger installment than the season opener, but I think some of that was because it was shorter. I also think the episode was helped tremendously by the guest stars.
The writing for the show is odd. They seem to cut away just when things get interesting, as if they have no idea how to finish or follow through. The conversation between T-Dog and DeMunn's character, for instance -- I liked that it was essentially a metawink at black characters being peripheral, but felt like it was cut short and left hanging.
That said, the interactions between Shane and Rick were tremendous. Excellent acting, solid writing. Shane, especially, managed to evoke his contradictory feelings and loyalties, with just body language and tone of voice. A lot to like, here. Overall, this episode just felt tighter. Rick and Shane were great this week, and I'm finally buying these two as best-buddies.
The rest of the character work has been fairly shaky (I realize it's trite to complain about something like Glenn's lack of character development and functionality at this point in the season; shows like LOST did this sort of thing on a regular basis), but if the Rick-and-Shane stuff stays strong, I'll be fine with it.
Also:

...Bullseye, bitches.
Merle's Bag O' Goodies -- some Pollos Hermanos crystal, some ecstasy, some killer pain-pills, and some antibiotics for the clap.

 

[Quentin]

"Redneck Legolas".
Damn, dude...that's a keeper.