BYOAC's talking dead: The Walking Dead Season 4 (Second half)

[boomerbrian]

I liked the twist of not letting Carol come back. Didn't see it coming and could make for an interesting story line.

I am getting a bit tired of the bird flu prison episodes so it was a nice change of pace.

I like the Governor plot line but I don't like the actor they casted. I just have a hard time buying into him and I thought the writing last year with the town and nobody able to kill the Governor a bit poor.

[DaOld Man]

Ok, last nights episode was different. Could the governor be painted as a nice guy? I doubt it but it looks like it is turning that way.
I am guessing here, but looks like the governor might be around for a while longer.
Im beginning to wonder why the big story about the super flu breakout in the prison? Unless it was to cull the cast members back down to a more manageable amount?
I would like to see the group (the good guys), take back on the road again.
The prison setting is starting to get stagnant (even though there were no shots of the prison group on last nights episode.)
This may be the reason the walkers are tearing down the fences, maybe forcing the story line to go back on the road.

[DaOld Man]

Just thought of something. What if Carol hooks up with the governors new group?

[ark_ader]

Well what come around goes around.

Nice to see the Gov have new purpose, replacing his little girl.

Seemed a nice retirement home.  Lots of medical supplies....

Nice idea to solve the herds, dig a ditch or how about a quarry with fresh meat in the middle?

The possibilities....

[Mikezilla]

Last weeks episode was so BORRRRRINNGGG....

[Vigo]

It takes talent to make an episode strictly about the governor boring.

The governor hobbles around the street.
Now the governor sits on a couch.
Ooh, the governor looks around a mostly uninfested building for a backgammon board. Exciting!

[ark_ader]

So those hordes we see earlier in the series will eventually rot away and we will see a new world order in Series 10?

I'm sure a body will decompose faster in warm weather and it is Georgia, so why all the walking biters so late in the series?

[jdbailey1206]

It takes talent to make an episode strictly about the governor boring.

The governor hobbles around the street.
Now the governor sits on a couch.
Ooh, the governor looks around a mostly uninfested building for a backgammon board. Exciting!

 

It definitely was a drawn out episode but I think if it was intertwined with a regular episode it would really get annoying.  By making an episode exclusively for the governor it showed how fast he had fallen from his perch at Woodbury.  If you will it was his final desent into madness where he essentially has nothing left.  And if everyone remembers from the comics Lilly is one who shoots him in the head.  So this can go one of two ways.  Either Meghan is the saving grace for the Governor or he ends up getting shot in the head.  I believe the latter is going to happen.  And I think this is why we are getting these episodes.  To show that the Governor wasn't  always a bad guy but he will get what he deserves in the end.  His saving grace if you will.

Ark they have so many walkiing biters this late to show that there is no real redemption for the humans and now it is just survival.  Because like you alluded to if no one was getting bit then there would be more people than zombies.  But that isn't the case.  You also have to take in the fact that there is that super flu going around also.  Which in the end may be the cause of it all. 

[Ginsu Victim]

^I always wanted Michonne to get ahold of him the way she did in the comics. Maybe she still will get a chance (since one story thread is about her looking for him).

[Vigo]

Yeah, I know it was a necessary episode. I just wished they would have spent a little more time on his downfall. I don't doubt this will be turning into a showdown between Michonne and the Governor.

[jdbailey1206]

Huh.  I came here expecting jokes like 'Golf Tips from the Governor' and there was none.  Oh well.  But seriously.  Why do they find it necessary to have a mid season finale? 

[Ginsu Victim]

Why do they find it necessary to have a mid season finale?

They have to leave us hanging while we wait for February. The wait from season one to season two was WAY too long, so they introduced the split season to help with that wait.

[ark_ader]

He (you know who) is going to join everyone up.  Have a nasty accident along the way and then everyone is going to have another flu epidemic and thin the numbers down.

Sounds familiar....

[DaOld Man]

I sure hope they do the next season (mid season, whatever) different from this one.
The flu breakout got boring pretty quick, then they wandered off to do a governor rebirth then revival.
I say kill the governor, he is getting stale, then the group take back on the road, maybe go into Atlanta.
I'd like to see Carol re join the group too.

[jdbailey1206]

Have you dabbled in the comics Old Man?

[DaOld Man]

I have not. Would like to though.

[jdbailey1206]

I have not. Would like to though.

Stayed tuned.  It's about to ramp up.  Hopefully they stick to the comics. 

[DaOld Man]

Wow. Best episode yet.
I guess the group or what is left of it, is back on the road now. Didn't think they would be forced back on the road like that though.
At the end, was one of the zombies the crazy lady in the woods that killed herself?

[CCM]

Wow. Best episode yet.
I guess the group or what is left of it, is back on the road now. Didn't think they would be forced back on the road like that though.
At the end, was one of the zombies the crazy lady in the woods that killed herself?

Definitely a great episode, but I will miss Hershel.   That was the crazy lady from the woods, they mentioned it on Talking Dead.

[Howard_Casto]

Yes it was, it was a little easter egg. 

You need to read the comics man.  All of the major plot arcs are very predictable because they are lifted straight from the comics.  I thought last years attack on the prison was a bit lame... they altered a lot of the plot and there wasn't any tank.  So apparently they "diverged from the plot" only to just re-do the whole attack scene closer to the way it was in the comics this season. 

I think they are burning through the comics waaaay too fast so what we are to expect from now on is a half season of filler with their made-up nonsense followed by a half season of the actual Kirkman plot. 

I liked the mid-season finale, BUT again I have logic issues with Hershel's death just like I did with Dale's.  Ok so how many people had a gun trained on the Governor?  When he starts pulling that sword back nobody shot?  Ok maybe they couldn't save him in time, but you can't tell me that immediately after that they all miss.  Yeah that's some over-dramatic b.s. right there.  Immediately after the swing he should have been full of holes one way or another.

Btw I was absent for it, but the whole "redemption of the governor" arc was lame.  The guy is almost cartoon-like in his evilness... if you fell for it then you must have had someone turn the show on for you, because you aren't clever enough to work the remote. 

The show frustrates me because they take really good actors and give them one-dimensional parts to play.  The actors think that they are giving depth to the roles, but it's a superficial depth due to a poorly fleshed-out character.  The very first episode featuring the Governor shoe-horned him into the villain category.  He goes and slaughters a bunch of army guys, steals their gear, and then goes back to his town and lies his butt off about it.  The was the end right there... he was a mustache-twirling bad guy from that point on and no amount of emotional speeches, flashbacks, or side arcs was going to change that. 

If you want him to have a moral journey then you have to leave that stuff a little vague. 

Am I being negative?  Probably, but that's my job and we've all got jobs to do.  (Because apparently that is a thing now as well?)

[ark_ader]

No you are not being negative Howard. 

If that was today in the same situation, it would go down the same path.  We kill.  That is in our genetic make up.

After so much horror, one can either be strong or weak.  Let's hope we never find out.... well until next episode. 

[ChadTower]

Yeah I have to agree Howard. You would think keeping doors shut would be a very basic routine.
I was wondering why they didn't keep the doors shut before harry potter turned. I would think a nightly lockdown would be what everyone would want.
I mean, the doors are bars so ventilation is not going to be blocked. And anyone can have a heart attack in their sleep then you have a walking dead among us.
After the harry potter rampage, a sane person would make sure the door was shut and probably locked before going to sleep. The point should have been driven home.
I really hope they either wise up or go back to the raw action to deflect the attention away from the stupid things these supposedly smart people keep doing.

Prison cells lock from the outside and they do so with giant electrical mechanisms.  Unlocking them individually requires keys, again only from the outside, and they probably don't have those keys.  Besides, if you were fighting for your life every day, would you submit to being locked in a jail cell under someone else's control?  On the surface the idea of locking the cells might make sense but the actual doors don't work that way.

[DaOld Man]

Prison cells lock from the outside and they do so with giant electrical mechanisms.  Unlocking them individually requires keys, again only from the outside, and they probably don't have those keys.  Besides, if you were fighting for your life every day, would you submit to being locked in a jail cell under someone else's control?  On the surface the idea of locking the cells might make sense but the actual doors don't work that way.

Very good point, however I think I would put a brick down so the door could not be completely shut (if I couldn't somehow break the locking mechanism), then at least tie the door shut with some rope or a belt. Zombies don't appear to be smart enough to even un buckle a belt, and if enough were at the door to break it, you are screwed anyway.
Also they do have keys to some of the doors. Carl was seen locking doors after a group left to explore the prison.

[shponglefan]

One thing I keep wondering is why they didn't dig trenches around the prison (either inside or outside the walls).  Seems like something that could decently slow down a zombie horde.

Moot by this point though...

[Howard_Casto]

Prison cells lock from the outside and they do so with giant electrical mechanisms.  Unlocking them individually requires keys, again only from the outside, and they probably don't have those keys.  Besides, if you were fighting for your life every day, would you submit to being locked in a jail cell under someone else's control?  On the surface the idea of locking the cells might make sense but the actual doors don't work that way.

Very good point, however I think I would put a brick down so the door could not be completely shut (if I couldn't somehow break the locking mechanism), then at least tie the door shut with some rope or a belt. Zombies don't appear to be smart enough to even un buckle a belt, and if enough were at the door to break it, you are screwed anyway.
Also they do have keys to some of the doors. Carl was seen locking doors after a group left to explore the prison.

Yup you can OPTIONALLY lock/unlock all cells at once via a em locking system, but they don't have power so....  These cell doors have keys, as you said, they were shown, and you sure can lock/unlock them from the inside... ever watched Andy Griffith?  You just reach around the bars.  Hershel (rip) actually does lock a few people in After they've turned.

Besides, I mentioned like you did that a "lock" for a zombie is subjective.  You just need a bit of wire or as you said a sturdy belt, or anything really as zombies can't open doors (yet). 

First off the population almost completely trusted the group... these are the Woodberry sheep after all and secondly you wouldn't be subjected to someone else controlling the locks.... you lock it yourself. 

As for trenches.... it's not a bad idea.... Adam Savage suggested it early on and then just by sheer "coincidence" they did that at the motor home camp several episodes later.  As good of an idea as they are, remember that digging huge ditches like that is hard work and you've got zombies wandering around while you are doing it.  You could use heavy machinery, but the noise would be so loud that your pit would be full by the time you dug it. 

That's another logic flaw....  did you see all those deep.... nice and square holes at the camp?  Did you see anything capable of digging those holes?  Keep in mind that to dig a 6 foot deep hole you have to have a machine with at least a 12 foot arm, probably closer to 20. 

[ChadTower]

You can dig holes like that with water.  People were doing that for hundreds of years before heavy machinery.  I've seen people use high pressure hoses and sumps to dig nice square deep holes.  Granted, if they hit a hgue rock, or shallow bedrock, it's game over that way.

Of course, I think it's very unlikely that they did it that way too.

[jdbailey1206]

I know we are splitting hairs here with the conversation about trenches but they found a tank and brought it to the camp.  That in itself would draw the walkers in.  I'm amazed how perfectly square they made the holes without wales, uprights and braces and an excavator.  Not even a transit.  Next thing you know The Governor will be able to cut off someones head in a hail of bullets and not get hit...Oh.  Wait.   

In all seriousness though did anyone else find it strange that The Governor used Michonnes katana to cut off Hershels head?  To me it wouldn't make sense for him to use the one thing that severed him from his daughter....

-Bailey

[ChadTower]

In all seriousness though did anyone else find it strange that The Governor used Michonnes katana to cut off Hershels head?  To me it wouldn't make sense for him to use the one thing that severed him from his daughter....

Made sense to me.  He was being as dramatic as possible.

[Howard_Casto]

Made sense to me, he's a mass-murderer and his pattern is to cut off the head of his victims. 

[Drnick]

Seemed in character to me,  First thing I would have done is take her sword for my own.  That's a nice looking sword    The tank Driver/Gunner looked like they needed a few hours on battlezone though,  They drove straight over all the fences that were going to be used for protection, then just started blowing bloody big holes outta the place they were planning on calling home.  Talk about dumb.  Go through the gates, people.  Its not like light firearms were going to dent the tank is it. I didn't see no RPG's.   Everyone behind the Tank walk the hell in there slowly.  Oh well, I suppose they needed to make sure that there was no way anyone was gonna be staying there for a while.  Now they have no Doctor they can bring a new character from the comics in I suppose.  Just gotta hold out till Feb.  Oh well I always got the Governors books to read.

[jdbailey1206]

I guess if I was the Governor I would kill Michonne with her own sword.  That would really strike it home.  I agree with you Dr. Nick.  Blowing everything up in sight was a bit of over kill.  But from a military stand point it makes sense to destroy the highest point in the prison.  That way you have taken away the high point advantage.  Snipers like their roosts for some reason.     In war it doesn't matter in what shape your enemy territory is in as long as it's taken.  Also knocking over the fence wasn't the brightest idea but if you start pouring people in to the gate ( a bottleneck ) it's easier for those in the actual prison to start picking people off at that bottleneck.  By knocking over the fence and hiding behind the tank you are essentially protecting your people until they are close enough to do sufficient and precise damage.  I really need to stop watching the History Channel.     And always remember...

During battle a sergeant yells at his men, "Fire at will!"  One of his men yells back,  "Which one is Will?"

[jdbailey1206]

 

[Ginsu Victim]

Glad to see Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita. I knew they were coming this season, just didn't expect them so soon.

I knew Carol was coming back, so no big shock there.

I had no idea Glenn was still at the prison! That was the big shock for me. Oh, and seeing Tyreese has Judith. Didn't see that coming.

[Howard_Casto]

I had mixed feelings about the season thus far.  The first episode was really good if not a little bit predictable.  Then it became apparent that they are going to spend half of what's left of this season gathering everyone back together.... ugh.  The Judith thing was a total cop-out.  Personally I wish they would have left her dead.  I mean it was tastefully done at mid-season's end and you know the poor tike is going to be zombie chow eventually.  And if she doesn't become zombie chow, man she's really going to slow the pace down.  It was one thing when they were staying in the prison, but running around with a baby in tow.... ugh.

I had the opposite reaction to the new trio appearing.  The fact that they are here is good, but the fact that they look like fans doing bad cosplay isn't.  I mean the first thing I thought when I saw them was that I was glad one of the Teutels survived the apocalypse... too bad it was senior.    I mean there is looking like the character and trying too hard to look like the character.  That red hair dye they've got him using looks like the wash in stuff you use for Halloween.  It's distracting to me, and I've only seen that one scene and a few previews of next week.  And dat mullet!  I know he wore one in the comics, but even Billy Ray Cyrus stopped wearing one at this point.  It's time to let it go. 

So I guess the little girl was the psychopath..... we pretty much knew that with the scenes of her feeding the zombies, but you know, nice to confirm. 

[lordnacho]

Hah totally agree.

I'm having trouble enjoying though while watching these supposed zombie apocalypse veterans do some of the dumbest things.  They should just make a character that's deaf, so they can always have one zombie sneak up on him.  Would be an interesting stat to see how many times each character had a single zombie sneak up on them.

[Rick]

I love watching a well-done show, but I really hate catching continuity errors. Watch when Glenn is first shown, and check out the chair propping up the door to the prison behind him. When he finally decides to walk inside, it's gone. An obvious mistake too. Someone should have caught that. Damn it.

[DaOld Man]

Glad to see this thread was picked back up, I didn't want to restart for fear of it becoming boring.

I thought first episode was a little slow, and I think too much attention was spent on Carl.
Good to see Michones story is starting to open up.
Who, besides me thought that Rick was turning into a zombie?

Second episode was better.
Glad to see Carol back, and it surprised me that the baby survived, I wonder whose blood was in the baby carrier?

I didn't catch the part about the chair Rick, I will be watching for that if they rerun it before the new episode Sunday night.

[Ginsu Victim]

Who, besides me thought that Rick was turning into a zombie?

No offense, but when watching that scene, I said to my wife, "I wonder how many idiots are actually mad right now because they think Rick is a zombie."

[Howard_Casto]

Who, besides me thought that Rick was turning into a zombie?

No offense, but when watching that scene, I said to my wife, "I wonder how many idiots are actually mad right now because they think Rick is a zombie."

Ditto.  Also with respect, the first episode was the good one.  It was slow and predictable, but at least it wasn't poorly written and riddled with continuity errors. 

[DaOld Man]

Who, besides me thought that Rick was turning into a zombie?

No offense, but when watching that scene, I said to my wife, "I wonder how many idiots are actually mad right now because they think Rick is a zombie."

None taken.