The Walking Dead Season 5 (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Emily Kinney gave a tour de force performance in tonight's episode. Probably the most one actor on this show has been asked to carry since Andrew Lincoln's nearly one man show in the series premiere.Beth has changed a lot since we met her on Hershel's farm, and this episode captured those changes in ways big and small. I loved how she held her tongue, waited for her moments and then took advantage of opportunities. I loved her little smile as they pinned her to the pavement, knowing that Noah had made it out. I also loved her nailing the doctor dead to rights about the "mixup" with the pills. There wasn't a ton of judgment from her; she understands now only too well that you do what you have to do to survive.I was surprised to see Tyler James Williams and Keisha Castle-Hughes in the credits. Given Noah's escape, my guess is that he's the one that's waiting in the trees with Daryl back at the church.Since Keisha Castle-Hughes was recently cast in a major role on Game of Thrones, I knew her character wouldn't be sticking around long. Still, I was surprised that they were able to get an Academy Award nominee to play a supporting role with only a handful of scenes. She did make the most of her limited screen time, though, conveying the entire tragic arc of her character over a handful of interactions with Beth. And she certainly got the most satisfying zombie kill in a long time.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I think Adam covered a lot of the points that I would post concerning tonight's episode.

- Pretty great performance from Emily Kinney this evening.

- Officer Gorman being taken down by zombie Amber was a certifiable 'Oh Hell Yeah!' moment for the episode.

- I had previously assumed that Morgan was with Daryl, and that may still be the case; but I think the odds are better that Noah is with Daryl given the whole Daryl / Beth storyline during the closing episodes of season four.

Really enjoyed tonight's episode and the followup discussion on Talking Dead.

- Walter.

 

[TravisR]

So I'm guessing that they're back to episodes focusing on a group. I liked that last year but I hope there's time for stuff to happen with the new bad guys before the midseason break.

I assume the name Gorman was a nod to Aliens since Gale Anne Hurd is a producer on that and TWD.

 

[ScottH]

I enjoyed the episode, but I admit I did find myself wanting to see what was up with the rest of the group throughout. Not sure Beth is a strong enough character to carry an entire episode.

I think you guys might be right about Noah being the one in the trees. But I wonder, wouldn't it have been more effective to reveal him at the end of last week's episode? We would see this guy with Daryl and have no clue who he was. And then as soon as we see him in this episode, "Oh, so that's who he is."

 

[TravisR]

I think you guys might be right about Noah being the one in the trees. But I wonder, wouldn't it have been more effective to reveal him at the end of last week's episode? We would see this guy with Daryl and have no clue who he was. And then as soon as we see him in this episode, "Oh, so that's who he is."

Yeah, if it's him, I'd have liked that kind of 'backwards introduction'. Although that would have removed all suspense around Beth and Noah's escape attempt.

 

[Ockeghem]

Travis,

I hope it's okay to post this in the season five thread. My daughter and I watched episode number three from season one last night ("Tell It to the Frogs"). I don't know the cast all that well yet, but as much as Merle was quite abrasive when we first met him, I grow to like his character more and more. And I like Glenn quite a lot. I'm told that there are some fun characters coming up in the series.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

I was surprised to see Tyler James Williams and Keisha Castle-Hughes in the credits. Given Noah's escape, my guess is that he's the one that's waiting in the trees with Daryl back at the church.

That was Keisha Castle-Hughes? Haven't seen her since Whale Rider..

 

[joshEH]

I'm stunned. A completely Beth-centric episode...and I enjoyed it?? How?

My guess is Noah ran into Daryl and Carol -- Carol's a Trojan Horse, posing as a weak woman to get inside to help with the escape, and I hope he's the guy with Daryl when he says "Come on out."

Kinda interested to see the misadventures of Abraham and Yokel Einstein's party next week, too.

As fucked up as the cannibal stuff was in previous weeks, they really outdid themselves with the creep-factor of Rape-Cop and his green apple sucker-scene. Yeesh.

That was Keisha Castle-Hughes? Haven't seen her since Whale Rider..

Also, Revenge of the Sith (very briefly).

 

[doug zdanivsky]

I'm stunned. A completely Beth-centric episode...and I enjoyed it?? How?

Also, Revenge of the Sith (very briefly).

Word, I thought it was going to be pretty filler-ific (don't really care for her character, or where she ended up, Hell, even her sister doesn't seem to give 2 craps.. Thank the Maker she didn't break into song! But I digress).. But it was really good.

And like I said, haven't seen her since Whale Rider..

 

[Quentin]

Yeah...surprisingly solid for a solo-character episode.

I agree with everyone that Daryl likely has Noah with him and Carol is "on the inside" ready for executing their plan.

But, looks like we won't get into it next week because we have to go back to Abraham.

I'm enjoying the patience the show is taking with character building now. I'm actually caring about some of these people.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Dawn had serious anger management issues...

 

[joshEH]

Rape Liotta:

Word, I thought it was going to be pretty filler-ific (don't really care for her character, or where she ended up, Hell, even her sister doesn't seem to give 2 craps.. Thank the Maker she didn't break into song! But I digress)..

This was kinda missable, but Maggie actually did ask about her fate in the boxcar at Terminus way back in the season premiere. She probably left because she assumes Beth is dead, and from her perspective she could very well be, given everything that's happened recently.

 

[Patrick Sun]

As I live in Atlanta, it's funny to see Grady Hospital being portrayed as such in last night's episode because the joke going around is that not much changed for it after the Zombie Apocalypse...

 

[Sam Posten]

I assume the name Gorman was a nod to Aliens since Gale Anne Hurd is a producer on that and TWD.

GAH will be on Talking Dead next week!Emily Kinney was absolutely luminescent on TD last night. In the show she is almost completely forgettable to me. The one episode with Darryl was ok but every other episode I'm waiting for her to get eaten cause she hasn't done anything much except take up space. EK tho was charming, witty and expressive beyond belief, that's some serious acting to turn that much energy OFF. I get that this is her turning point and that we really don't know what to expect from her next, and if I had not seen TD I would not be expecting much, but having seen it now I have big expectations.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Curious to see if Abraham's group still goes to Washington in light of Eugene's big reveal in tonight's episode - basically that he can't save the world. (Not having read the graphic novels, I sort of thought that Eugene might be lying but not with any certainty.) That sort of lie, to make yourself vital, makes sense as a short term survival strategy but it eventually will fall apart and that happened tonight.

As was pointed out on Talking Dead, Eugene's sabotage to slow down the journey was on display last season when he shot up the truck after Abraham's group met Glen and Tara.

Eugene, despite his cowardice is pretty smart though and hopefully he can find ways to contribute to the group using his intelligence.


Spoilers for the sneak preview of next week's episode as seen on Talking Dead...

Spoiler

I really hope that the 'Beth-sized' body that Daryl put on the fire was not Beth. Hopefully that trailer was supplied to just mess with viewers and does not give us a glimpse of Beth's fate.

- Walter.

 

[Walter Kittel]

More thoughts...

I thought some of the editing in tonight's episode was off. There were some jumps in the scenes that were really abrupt. (Maybe they had to cut some scenes for run time?) I honestly don't know how they shoot the show to account for editing and eventual run time but there were some jumps that felt wrong. In particular - how did we get to the fire engine broken down on the road after leaving town?

I don't know if they have a new director of photography or are using new cameras but the dark scenes are practically unwatchable this season. I get that there isn't electricity but when you can not distinguish absolutely anything on the screen that might be taking things too far. I had that problem at the church ("Four Walls and a Roof") and again this evening in the book store where the group camped. Really takes me out of the show. Sort of feel like I have to put my display in 'torch' mode to watch those scenes.

- Walter.

 

[TravisR]

Curious to see if Abraham's group still goes to Washington in light of Eugene's big reveal in tonight's episode - basically that he can't save the world. (Not having read the graphic novels, I sort of thought that Eugene might be lying but not with any certainty.)

I'm just glad that I no longer have to worry about spilling the secret for people (online and off) that didn't read the comic books. And since the story is about surviving an apocalypse, I'm happy that the TV show stuck to Eugene being a liar rather than making a massive change like they're going to be able to solve the problem.

The group separating to go to Washington isn't really in the comic book but I assume that they'll now rejoin Rick and company. If only so they can get in on the action that will probably go down at the hospital.

 

[ScottH]

I thought it was pretty obvious to the viewer all along that Eugene was full of crap? That's part of what has been frustrating for me this season, the fact that none of the others seemed to question him on it. I guess I could see Abraham wanting to believe it, but I don't get why the others never questioned him. I thought it was obvious at least since the season premiere when he recited all that nonsense to Sasha. I think it was even pointed out on this thread.

 

[TravisR]

I thought it was pretty obvious to the viewer all along that Eugene was full of crap? That's part of what has been frustrating for me this season, the fact that none of the others seemed to question him on it. I guess I could see Abraham wanting to believe it, but I don't get why the others never questioned him.

I can buy that they all want to believe that there's something that could fix things. Glenn and his group were with Abraham's for a little while but between hope, seeing that Abraham completely believes him and Eugene talking about genomes or how things are top secret, I think they'd accept Eugene's story at face value. Rick, Daryl and Carol are probably the shrewdest of the survivors and they were only with the others for a short amount of time and most of that was escaping Terminus, being suspicious of Father Gabriel and dealing with the cannibals so I can see them not having caught on to Eugene.

 

[ScottH]

I don't know...Eugene seemed like such a knucklehead to me from the second we first saw him. I bet he was living in his parents' basement pre-zombie apocalypse.