Walking Dead Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[joshEH]

I think the pared-down drama actually heightens the show somehow. In terms of drama, I tend to find that less is frequently more. T-Dawg rambling about shit is boring, talking about his feelings and shit. But having him hack up zombies for an entire episode and then offer a single line of advice to burn the bodies makes him badass, and I like him the more for it.
Having Carol competently patch up Hershel did more for her character than an entire season of her crying and emoting and Capital-"A" Acting™ while looking for her daughter. I'm OK if not every episode is chock full o' zombie skewering, as long as something actually happens. And as long as the characters are written consistently and interestingly.
Mazzara has given me a lot of reasons to be hopeful. The show has been on a strong, steady increase in quality since he took over, and Darabont's direct guidance was left behind. Looking forward to Episode 3 (and that spoiler-bit Walter mentions above).

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I think the pared-down drama actually heightens the show somehow. In terms of drama, I tend to find that less is frequently more.

Definitely agree. Less of the characters bleating is definitely making the pace of the show much better.

 

[joshEH]

Yeah, it's true that these episodes have taken the "show, don't tell" approach to character development, to pretty effective results. The Carol-thing is a good example. Suddenly, she feels like a presence on the show, which is weird, after two seasons of her being utterly extraneous.
But this season is different, because it's focused on the characters. The first time we see them, there's a new desperation to them, a drive to them, that finally allowed me to see them as survivors, not a pack of wandering idiots who were stumbling around waiting to become zombie-chow.
It's ironic, I guess, but now that the dread has filled their eyes, I see them as more human. They're survivors, and they're finally starting to act as such. The fact that Rick is so cold-blooded and methodical is far more interesting to me this episode than any of the zombie attacks.
Speaking of which, I still think the violence is really kind of over-the-top this season. It's almost shocking to me what they're getting away with. As a lifelong horror fan, now in his mid-thirties, and one who is probably not as easily shocked by graphic violence in general...I still can't believe what they get away with on basic cable. The first two episodes of TWD this season would be hard "R"s theatrically, and probably would've been given an "X"-rating by the MPAA of the '80s.

 

[JonZ]

^ Ive said that I dont know how many times the past 2 years. It suprises me that you can see on basic cable what would have been R rated in films in years gone by.

 

[TravisR]

A cable channel can theoretically run anything it wants in terms of violence or sex or language because they don't fall under the FCC like broadcast networks do. The only thing that keeps them in line is fear of audience backlash or advertisers pulling their commercials.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's like we've got two different shows going on. The episode synopsis on the DVR described a prison storyline as well as the Andrea/Michonne/Governor storyline, so my guess is that the decision to have this episode solely focus on Woodbury was made fairly late in the game.
What was the deal with all of the fish tanks?

 

[ScottH]

I enjoyed this episode. Less zombie killing and more story development. Strange not seeing ANY of the regulars for the entire episode, but I guess that goes with having such an ensemble cast.

This governor cat is pretty mysterious...glad I haven't read the comics.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Ok episode - obviously a placement one. The fish tanks at the end was creepy. Micchone may look cool but she needs to start talking more.
Guess the Gov wants women only.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Lou Sytsma /t/324448/walking-dead-season-3/30#post_3994694
Ok episode - obviously a placement one. The fish tanks at the end was creepy. Micchone may look cool but she needs to start talking more.
Guess the Gov wants women only.

I haven't read the comics, but I'm waiting for someone to figure out the babies are like immune or something. Thus, desire for women for the procreation purpose.

(the comics could totally not go that way, etc. don'twant to know where they went)

 

[Greg_S_H]

I don't know that it's ever been brought up, if that's not saying too much. As for the fish tanks, I think in the comics it's like his form of TV. There seems to be a scientific purpose going on with that little skittish guy, though. There were a couple more important puzzle pieces that have yet to make the TV show, though.
I kind of thought when I was watching this that they should have gone radical and made Merle the Governor. Oh well.
Actually, big comic spoiler for what the scientific angle is (and one of the missing pieces):

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Though we haven't seen her, Gov's got his pet dead daughter, and he wants to figure out how to make her as normal as he can. Also, the fish tanks may be her food, can't recall).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There were a couple more important puzzle pieces that have yet to make the TV show, though.
I kind of thought when I was watching this that they should have gone radical and made Merle the Governor. Oh well.

I didn't read the spoiler, but I noticed there was a picture of his family with his wife and a young daughter on the mantle, but we only saw the wife asleep in the bed. Where's the kid?

 

[JonZ]

You will find out what happened to the kid.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Was that his wife or just who he's sleeping with? I don't know if we could tell, as I didn't rewind. I should throw in the word "though," but I think I used my allotment in my last post.

 

[ScottH]

I thought the woman in the bed was the same one that was talking to Andrea earlier.

 

[joshEH]

I tell you, someone needs to shake the hand of the new showrunner. I never thought I'd say that, as I'm a big Darabont fan, and predicted bad things for this show when he departed. The last two episodes have ranked, for me, as two of the best of this entire series. The stakes seem higher, the characters are more interesting, and the action has been better in almost every way.
If they can continue like this for the entire season, then I'll be glad I stuck around. Merle's return was great, and yeah, I was pretty impressed/loved that they focused exclusively on Andrea and Michonne, and introduced us to Woodbury. That final shot was creepy, and next week's episode seems likely to continue pumping up the action.
They often fumbled it with Rick, but The Governor seemed so badass, that I wish he was someone I could continually root for. Now I have to ''hate'' him, as he will probably kill people I'm supposed to like. David Morrissey looks to be an excellent addition to the cast.
Very interestingly, they've toned down how racist we all know Merle can get. In the scene where he questions the gals in their room, I kept thinking, "But Merle, there's TWO BLACK PEOPLE in this room. How are you keeping your shit together?!" Maybe it was just his right hand that was racist.
(Wasn't it stated that Merle was basically jacked up on coke during his entire rooftop appearance in Season 1? He's probably clean now. I guess between that, and eight months with The Governor's crew, the writers can justify pretty much rebooting the character.)
Absolutely fantastic episode. The pieces are falling into place, and I honestly don't know how Rick and Co. can handle the firepower coming their way. If Sunday's episode was an example of a "slow" episode this season, then we've got nothing to worry about.

 

[EricSchulz]

joshEH, I absolutely agree! The posts on the Walking Dead thread at EW.com were split almost 50/50 as to how this episode played...I was surprised at the number of posters that said negative things because "Rick and Co." weren't the focus. I thought the show just FLEW by and was intrigued to FINALLY see this Governor character that all the fans have been raving about. He did NOT disappoint!

 

[Joe_H]

Yeah, I know some people have complained about not seeing Rick's group, but honestly, splitting episodes like this is a perfect solution to the monotony of the group being in one place for extended periods of time, since it's broken up with an entirely different location.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Yeah, it's 16 episode season not 6 like season one. Plenty of time to focus on other another group, especially if it is going to clash with Rick's group down the road.
So do you think that the guys Rick shot up in the bar (and the prisoner they took back to the farm) were from Woodburry?
This episode made me feel that there really is little hope for the future of Humanity. The best chance for the future is for survivors to band together and slowly over time clear areas, add more survivors to their numbers, clear more areas, and repeat...for a long, long time. But that's the best chance for long term. With everyone being in "survival of my group" mode worrying about resources and power struggles, that's just not happening. I can't really blame them, considering the situation. That mentality is present with Rick and his group too, to be fair. But with the Govenor wiping out that bunch of trained soldiers who could be assets really drives home the idea that the survivors of Humanity aren't banding together to take back the world any time in the forseeable future. Groups of survivors witll probably fight it out amoung themselves until there's no chance of massing numbers large enough to take the word back.

 

[ScottH]

Originally Posted by Sean Bryan /t/324448/walking-dead-season-3/30#post_3995395
Yeah, it's 16 episode season not 6 like season one. Plenty of time to focus on other another group, especially if it is going to clash with Rick's group down the road.
So do you think that the guys Rick shot up in the bar (and the prisoner they took back to the farm) were from Woodburry?
This episode made me feel that there really is little hope for the future of Humanity. The best chance for the future is for survivors to band together and slowly over time clear areas, add more survivors to their numbers, clear more areas, and repeat...for a long, long time. But that's the best chance for long term. With everyone being in "survival of my group" mode worrying about resources and power struggles, that's just not happening. I can't really blame them, considering the situation. That mentality is present with Rick and his group too, to be fair. But with the Govenor wiping out that bunch of trained soldiers who could be assets really drives home the idea that the survivors of Humanity aren't banding together to take back the world any time in the forseeable future. Groups of survivors witll probably fight it out amoung themselves until there's no chance of massing numbers large enough to take the word back.

I could be wrong, and I don't read the comics, but my impressions of the governor killing those soldiers was that he saw them as a threat to his perfect little community, and right or wrong, in his mind he was doing "his people" a favor.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Yes, I also think that's where is he basically coming from. But I think that still feeds into my point. Being in "survival of our group" mode means that it's unlikely for large groups to come together over time. No one in an established group is going to trust outsiders to join them.