"Peregrinations." Thank you, Mr. Egner. It's so wonderful to find pockets of entertaining use of vocabulary these days! My language-loving heart is doing the Snoopy dance of lingual happiness.
1
How long before Rick and his group destroy "the Kingdom"
Why should they? It's nice there.
1
Not to be too picky, or anything, but the fruit Ezekiel offered Carol at the end was a pomegranate, not an apple.
3
I appreciate the writers attempt to be close to the comics... but some things don't play well on the television screen (i.e. the tiger). I felt silly watching depiction of the kingdom. I'll stick around to see what the show does with the rest of the plot for this season. However, to be honest, I was let down because my primary reason to tune in was: WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO DARYL!?
2
I liked the episode, especially as we hang on last weeks horrors. We see another utopia amid chaos and await its end, just like all the others. The king is weird, but the tiger and back story goes some way to explaining the kingdom, and its hope and optimism.
The pigs are being fattened to please the other group, not infect them. I am waiting for the fight, I couldn't really see who had the upper hand during the pig exchange, apart from the punk making trouble.
Carol leaves, but doesn't leave. I await the next episode.
The pigs are being fattened to please the other group, not infect them. I am waiting for the fight, I couldn't really see who had the upper hand during the pig exchange, apart from the punk making trouble.
Carol leaves, but doesn't leave. I await the next episode.
3
"Oh! Carol" by Neil Sedaka
Oh! Carol
I am but a fool
Darling, I love you
Though you treat me cruel
You hurt me
And you make me cry
But if you leave me
I will surely die
And in the end she did not leave! You go girl!
Oh! Carol
I am but a fool
Darling, I love you
Though you treat me cruel
You hurt me
And you make me cry
But if you leave me
I will surely die
And in the end she did not leave! You go girl!
3
Remember when the cannibals were eating Bob's leg and the fact that he'd been bitten was supposed to make the leg tainted? So I think the pig meat should be zombie tainted. It seems like the only way zombies may be dangerous these days, as they have been getting easier and easier to push around. But wouldn't the Saviors figure that out pretty quickly?
Yeah, Ezekiel and the tiger seem pretty silly--getting pretty comic booky. But Khary Payton is very charming--kind of a relief to have a likable character.
Yeah, Ezekiel and the tiger seem pretty silly--getting pretty comic booky. But Khary Payton is very charming--kind of a relief to have a likable character.
2
I think those previous fellas were simply freaking out about eating possibly "contaminated" meat. I don't think they or we know if that would hurt them. But, most people probably would not want to take that chance, which is why they likely freaked out. I would.
2
King Ezekial may hold the trump card (no relation to the Donald) to entire series, if the story takes us to his namesake, the prophet.
3
Sure...anyone who knows the comic knows the tiger might show up, but I think actually seeing it was a real 'Jump The Shark' moment for a lotta Walking Dead fans. I like a good zombie apocalypse fable as much as the next guy, but even I hafta draw the line somewhere!!!
Well Brad it's not too unlikely. We know the plague doesn't affect animals, and we've seen plenty of horses throughout. There are more tigers in the USA than there are in the wild (between 5 and 10,000 in the U.S., about 3,200 left in the wild, soon to be none). Stands to reason that tigers would be fairly well equipped to survive a zombie apocalypse, and that zookeepers in the final hours would rather release them than let them starve in a cage.
4
The CGI tiger really didn't have much air time Brent. Why the kvetch?
3
OMG......you are REALLY taking this far too seriously!
1
I'm getting pretty close to being over this show. It's starting to feel like work or obligation rather than entertainment. Sometimes I skip an episode and just read your article.
14
Speedboat? Check! Water skis? Check! Shark? Check! Oops-- no shark; how about a tiger instead? Lights, camera, action, and TWD finally jumps the shark "in the most wonderful way," with Carol recapitulating Melissa McBride's probable initial reaction to the script. Where the longwinded, bat-swinging blowhard Negan is tiresome viewing, King Ezekiel is actually painful to watch. I nearly switched off, but force of habit again prevailed.
9
What do we actually know about zoonotic illnesses and zombies Rabies can still be contracted after the animal is dead if there is contact between an open wound and wet or dried rabies saliva; Do zombies transfer their zombieism after they have been killed a second time Or does this only work with suidae (pigs et al) animals?
4
If there's still bacon in the zombie apocalypse, then there's still hope. I know this is out of the context of this season, but my question does have to do with outliers (not under Neegan's control). Is Carl's girlfriend still locked up in the gun cabinet and was she at one point among the Wolves? She has a line about Alexandria being too hard to defend during the wonderful episode that focused on the Wolves invasion. I can't quote the line directly but Carl steps on it as they prepare to defend the house and Judith. I need Stackhousian guidance here. What ever happened to Jesus (the character not the messiah)?
8
Dear Crowdancer,
I do aim to please, so here's my thinking on these questions. Enid probably wasn't in the closet for long, most likely got let out by someone hearing her yelling, before Rick even ran into Negan. So far there's no evidence that she was with the Wolves, and it seems contraindicated as she would have a W carved into her forehead like the rest of them. But, it's still open that she may have spent some time with the Saviors and escaped them; she is not in the comics and thus there's no definite background or future for her.
Jesus the character is the most competent man at The Hilltop, and we last saw him during the raid on the Saviors, I believe. Most likely he is back at The Hilltop now, and we should see him again when Maggie gets there (I'm assuming she will manage to get to the doctor).
We'll also presumably see the miraculously unscathed Judith again when we see Alexandria next, as a symbol of hope, and once more she will appear to be a completely different infant from last time.
Hope all that helps, cheers!
I do aim to please, so here's my thinking on these questions. Enid probably wasn't in the closet for long, most likely got let out by someone hearing her yelling, before Rick even ran into Negan. So far there's no evidence that she was with the Wolves, and it seems contraindicated as she would have a W carved into her forehead like the rest of them. But, it's still open that she may have spent some time with the Saviors and escaped them; she is not in the comics and thus there's no definite background or future for her.
Jesus the character is the most competent man at The Hilltop, and we last saw him during the raid on the Saviors, I believe. Most likely he is back at The Hilltop now, and we should see him again when Maggie gets there (I'm assuming she will manage to get to the doctor).
We'll also presumably see the miraculously unscathed Judith again when we see Alexandria next, as a symbol of hope, and once more she will appear to be a completely different infant from last time.
Hope all that helps, cheers!
3
PS: just to be ultra-Stackhousian, that quote of Enid's, from season 6 ep 2, was "This place is too big to protect. There are too many blind spots. That's how we were able to...", and then gets cut off by Carl. So it's possible that she was working with some outside group, but again I'd think Saviors more than Wolves.
3
Just a thank-you and a shout-out to Dan for the guidance. The full quote from Enid much appreciated. Yeah, she might well be with the Saviors.
One question for the thread. Does TWD seem to be more successfully claustrophobic than FTWD? The Georgia locations (those empty, leaf strewn 2 two-lane blacktops flanked by what looks like first-growth forest) seem to be filmed with a special ability to convey constriction and dread. Even when Rick and company are homeless and on the move, there's this sense that things are always about to close in. The California locations (alta and baja) of FTWD just contain too much light and space, the sense that's there's always somewhere to run.
Or am I just over thinking things here?
Even (or perhaps especially) in the Apocalypse, redemption is always just out of reach, no?
One question for the thread. Does TWD seem to be more successfully claustrophobic than FTWD? The Georgia locations (those empty, leaf strewn 2 two-lane blacktops flanked by what looks like first-growth forest) seem to be filmed with a special ability to convey constriction and dread. Even when Rick and company are homeless and on the move, there's this sense that things are always about to close in. The California locations (alta and baja) of FTWD just contain too much light and space, the sense that's there's always somewhere to run.
Or am I just over thinking things here?
Even (or perhaps especially) in the Apocalypse, redemption is always just out of reach, no?
2
For those of you who feel "tritened" by Ezekiel & Shiva, I offer a few of Blake's lines for your consideration:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
While I doubt that Kirkman was thinking of the elusive Blake when he created Shiva, let's assume he did for the sake of argument. What is the origin of the zombie virus--divine judgment or man-made fluke? Could Shiva represent the apocalypse--savage one moment, tame the next? Can the lamb & tiger coexist? Is Ezekiel trying to create a community where they can do so? Is TWD world (or ours, for that matter) fated to become only lambs & tigers?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
While I doubt that Kirkman was thinking of the elusive Blake when he created Shiva, let's assume he did for the sake of argument. What is the origin of the zombie virus--divine judgment or man-made fluke? Could Shiva represent the apocalypse--savage one moment, tame the next? Can the lamb & tiger coexist? Is Ezekiel trying to create a community where they can do so? Is TWD world (or ours, for that matter) fated to become only lambs & tigers?
5
Reminds me of the line, "While the lamb may lie down with the lion, only one of them will get up".
2
More stomach-churning violence, I'm not sure if I can take it.
And of course, I'm referring to the treacly Dylan cover.
And of course, I'm referring to the treacly Dylan cover.
8
Oh, I just loved it! Being a comics fan, I thought the show did a better job of bringing across the Kingdom, Ezekiel, and Shiva. My former skepticism is blessedly gone, and I am happily anticipating seeing more. In fact, I feel the dark, lowering cloud that's been above me since the S6 finale has lifted. (Tho, I still hold full-throttle joy at bay due to having been twice gamed.)
Very intriguing what 2 others said below about Carol/Persephone and Kingdom/Hades. Since I expect TV Ezekiel to follow comic Ezekiel, I'll not comment on that. However, it does seem that Carol is in limbo between 2 worlds. I love that her & Morgan's story line continue to evolve. (There must be a separate writer-producer for them?) Too much has been said about Carol not being her former Pistol Annie self, and too little has been said about how that happened. She has reached a point where killing has broken off too many pieces of her heart & soul, yet she cannot join the "happy, shining people" crowd, either. We saw Glenn move courageously through his dark night of the soul. Perhaps Carol will forge her way through her own dark night and emerge as a different, but stronger person.
And, did anyone else notice Carol buried the previous occupant of her new home? That, is different! I predict she & Morgan, having been polar opposites, will bring their yin & yang into a spectacular balance.
Very intriguing what 2 others said below about Carol/Persephone and Kingdom/Hades. Since I expect TV Ezekiel to follow comic Ezekiel, I'll not comment on that. However, it does seem that Carol is in limbo between 2 worlds. I love that her & Morgan's story line continue to evolve. (There must be a separate writer-producer for them?) Too much has been said about Carol not being her former Pistol Annie self, and too little has been said about how that happened. She has reached a point where killing has broken off too many pieces of her heart & soul, yet she cannot join the "happy, shining people" crowd, either. We saw Glenn move courageously through his dark night of the soul. Perhaps Carol will forge her way through her own dark night and emerge as a different, but stronger person.
And, did anyone else notice Carol buried the previous occupant of her new home? That, is different! I predict she & Morgan, having been polar opposites, will bring their yin & yang into a spectacular balance.
10
Completely agree about Carol, Greene. I don't understand why people are having trouble believing she has changed, even if momentarily. Life is never a straight line. It much more resembles what it looks like if you drop loose yarn on the floor: there's a beginning and an end, but everything in between is all loops and swirls and backtracks and leaps forward.
4
An enjoyable, if unsurprising (in some ways) episode. "Boy, I never would have guessed the true story about Ezekiel." said nobody; but I enjoy the character's veritable Station Eleven sensibility. Also loved the deal with the pigs; remember the Terminus people who ate infected Dales' leg? Too bad (not in the least) that they departed before any effects could be determined. I agree that the writers need to get Carol's head back in the right place.
4
....infected Bob's leg; I can still hear Bob cackling, "Tained meat! Tainted meat!" as Gareth's cannibals ate his leg fresh from the spit-fire.
4
I went to moderate lengths to watch episode 1 (Sling TV free membership), and was happy I did. Despite all the hand-wringing about violence, I thought episode 1 was excellent; really rubbing Rick and Co.'s faces in their powerlessness. I'm team Negan all the way.
I was researching how to watch this one, but none of the available methods seemed worth it, so now I'm back to reading recaps and waiting for Season 7 on Netflix. Reading this recap, I'm glad - it sounds like a boring episode, and not worth the price of the available viewing options.
AMC really missed an opportunity, here - if there was something like HBO Now available, allowing immediate viewing and re-streaming of the episodes, at a reasonable price (and generating interest in other AMC shows), I would have bought in.
I was researching how to watch this one, but none of the available methods seemed worth it, so now I'm back to reading recaps and waiting for Season 7 on Netflix. Reading this recap, I'm glad - it sounds like a boring episode, and not worth the price of the available viewing options.
AMC really missed an opportunity, here - if there was something like HBO Now available, allowing immediate viewing and re-streaming of the episodes, at a reasonable price (and generating interest in other AMC shows), I would have bought in.
4
If you don't have cable, go to your public library (with ear buds) a day after the airs, and you can watch it for free on AMC.
7
You can watch it for free with no sign in necessary on the AMC website.
6
I think Ezekiel is trying to find allies, especially those who know how to handle themselves against the arrogant (and well equipped) and dangerous saviors. Most of the people in his kingdom aren't really fighters.
Judging from the exchange with the saviors and the pigs, it isn't going to be long before a scheduled pick comes up short and saviors begin making very unpleasant demands, probably resulting in someone dying.
I think Ezekiel is intrigued by Carol who may come off as wanting to be a loner, but isn't scared one bit about doing it. There's a confidence there that I think Ezekiel craves.
Judging from the exchange with the saviors and the pigs, it isn't going to be long before a scheduled pick comes up short and saviors begin making very unpleasant demands, probably resulting in someone dying.
I think Ezekiel is intrigued by Carol who may come off as wanting to be a loner, but isn't scared one bit about doing it. There's a confidence there that I think Ezekiel craves.
9
I'm waiting for the sight gag where one of those hogs feasts on a former decedent named Francis Bacon.
6
May I say that Comcast and other cable companies at some point may need to enforce some sense of civilized decency regarding what will be aired. Movie theaters have a rating system, and the amoral cable networks appears incapable of demonstrating any sense of basic human values. Airing the murders by club as portrayed in the 1st episode of the Walking Dead season reveals the social fabric I presumed still existed is no more, and sadly, my 16 year old watching with me, will never know what a social fabric was.
3
So, how does your argument work with the fact that before each and every episode of TWD (as well as similar TV fare) show the warning that includes words such as strong language and depictions of graphic violence, not suitable for children, etc? When my child was young, I was very careful what she was allowed to watch on TV (when she WAS allowed). It's up to you, as the parent, to research and make the correct decisions based on your household. Don't blame TV; they are not the babysitter.
11
There are plenty of shows on Sunday night produced by Disney for you and your 16 year old. Maybe you should consider watching one of them before you try to ruin everyone else's entertainment. The reason why these types of shows are so popular is because they portray the human condition as it truly is when faced with a crisis, not as some fairytale that is perpetuated by the ideology of a cult of hypocrites.
10
I really paid attention to the "Viewer discretion" notice last night recalling all the hue & cry about last week. Not sure it really helps, though. "May be too intense" is a bit euphemistic. At any rate, one person's discretion is another person's permission. The warning is still there, tho.
3
This episode was a nice respite from the hopeless misery that TWD trades in. My family thought the tiger was too weird, but honestly if you're a show about zombies I think it helps to occasionally lean into the insanity. Ultimately the Kingdom will go the way of the prison, Woodbury, Terminus, and Alexandria because this show only knows how to do one thing. But if this is our intro to the Kingdom, I'll enjoy the time we spend here with (dare I say) TWD's two best characters.
4
So last week TWD gives us a guy who swings a hotter bat than any Cub so far in the post-season, and this week we get former Times reviewer Elvis Mitchell grooving his way through the zombie apocalypse. No wonder he was so pumped for Movie Night!!!
3
That wasn't Elvis Mitchell.
I was just being waggish, Prairie.
Forgot to mention add another piece of the puzzle to Jeremy's question about eating walker-fed pigs. It made me think of Bob and the Terminus guys eating his leg after he had been bitten. Of course, we never got to know how that might have ended since our gang massacred them in the church.
9
I liked the episode overall, and looking back there have been many of this type, a respite from the violence that gives some hope of civilization returning. We've seen peaceful good times like this at the farm, the prison, and even the little RV camp (frog catching with Shane, for example).
In the background there's the dread of knowing what's going on with the Saviors, and interestingly the zombies are more of an occasional hassle than a real menace.
I liked Ezekiel a lot too, very true to the source material, and his conversation with Carol was very illuminating. People really do look for a leader and lionize them, in times of crisis.
Carol's chipper façade was funny too, I loved the bit where she goes by the knife, then predictably snatches it up, then after a beat takes the cigarettes too.
As for pigs eating zombies, there should be no problem with it. They eat all manner of garbage and stay edible and tasty (ahh bacon), and everyone is already infected with the zombie plague. All animals appear to be immune to this plague no matter what, so they wouldn't catch it and then go around biting people and turning them. What the Kingdom missed was using their manure as a power source (as in Mad Max 3).
I'm sure Gabriel and company are doing OK back in Alexandria, for them Rick & Co. will only have been gone for two days.
I know Ezekiel is pretty trustworthy, and I'm fine with the tiger, the CGI doesn't bug me. And I have no cobbler recipes, sorry.
In the background there's the dread of knowing what's going on with the Saviors, and interestingly the zombies are more of an occasional hassle than a real menace.
I liked Ezekiel a lot too, very true to the source material, and his conversation with Carol was very illuminating. People really do look for a leader and lionize them, in times of crisis.
Carol's chipper façade was funny too, I loved the bit where she goes by the knife, then predictably snatches it up, then after a beat takes the cigarettes too.
As for pigs eating zombies, there should be no problem with it. They eat all manner of garbage and stay edible and tasty (ahh bacon), and everyone is already infected with the zombie plague. All animals appear to be immune to this plague no matter what, so they wouldn't catch it and then go around biting people and turning them. What the Kingdom missed was using their manure as a power source (as in Mad Max 3).
I'm sure Gabriel and company are doing OK back in Alexandria, for them Rick & Co. will only have been gone for two days.
I know Ezekiel is pretty trustworthy, and I'm fine with the tiger, the CGI doesn't bug me. And I have no cobbler recipes, sorry.
17
Mr. Stackhouse, when I read Mr. Egner's question re tainted porcine meat, I immediately thought, "I'll bet Stackhouse will have an answer!" Am patting myself on the back right now! ;o)
2
I am happy with the CGI too, Dan. For me, it is because I hate captivity and do not believe animals should be used as circus acts. I hope those weren't real pigs that were killed.
2
Thanks Greene & PrairieFlax! I don't really have an answer to everything, and I'm wrong sometimes, but I do like to try. And not for nothing, this CGI is really good, on the level of "The Life of Pi" (that tiger was all CGI too), I haven't seen any tiger scenes that made me see it wasn't real.
Oh and maybe it would have been too silly but I thought it'd have been great if the choir had been singing "Down with the Sickness", by the Disturbed, in a nod to Dawn of the Dead.
6
Jeremy - Ezekiel offers Carol a pomegranate at the end (just as he tried to entice her with one when they first met). I see it as a shadowing of the tale of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds:
Hades fell in love with Persephone and kidnapped her to the Underworld. Persephone, not in love with Hades, refuses to eat or drink (to eat there meant you had to stay forever). Zeus commanded Hades release Persephone. Before she left, Hades tricked her into eating 6 pomegranate seeds while she was still in the Underworld and she was condemned to stay 6 months of every year in Hades.
Is Ezekiel Hades? Not sure, but surely the mention of eating the pomegranate was a nod to Ezekiel's attempt to keep Carol within the Kingdom.
Hades fell in love with Persephone and kidnapped her to the Underworld. Persephone, not in love with Hades, refuses to eat or drink (to eat there meant you had to stay forever). Zeus commanded Hades release Persephone. Before she left, Hades tricked her into eating 6 pomegranate seeds while she was still in the Underworld and she was condemned to stay 6 months of every year in Hades.
Is Ezekiel Hades? Not sure, but surely the mention of eating the pomegranate was a nod to Ezekiel's attempt to keep Carol within the Kingdom.
32
Good point Leslie, also the original apple in the garden of Eden myth was not an apple, it was also possibly a pomegranate. Apples weren't native to the Middle East, nobody there had seen one at the time. Some scholars also think it was a fig or citron though, so nobody really knows.
5
There seemed to be sexual tension between the two.
6
Could just be a fig leaf of your imagination...
1
There seems to be an interesting narrative strategy emerging of juxtaposing a brutalist notion of the real with a gentle notion of the imaginary. And along with that, there's two kings, Negan and Ekekial, two rods, "Lucille" and Morgan's staff, and two very different methods of ruling, one that negates choice, the other, honoring it. What does Carol, intent on leaving, mean when she disavows the Kingdom as "not real?" In a manner of speaking, Glenn's popped eye was that obscene speck of the traumatic "real" that left the audience so horrified last week. But surely this is not the "real" Carol means. What is she looking for? Last week we were reduced to feeling that brutality is the only "real" because it confers power on the one who yields it. But perhaps this is as much a myth as Ezekial and his Arthurian-styled romanticism. But Ezekial candidly acknowledges this. Negan, on the other hand, fervently believes in his power as a ruler so long as he can violently coerce those around him. Which is the more powerful?
14
Chris--you raise some points that cause me to think (always a treat these days).
I feel I have a handle now on the opposites Ezekiel talked about.
Re Carol, I believe someone could easily do a PhD dissertation on her character. To me, she believes there is no escape from the zombie apocalypse turning the living into either monsters, i.e., Wolves, or fools. The toll that killing has taken on her finally broke her, and she will never, ever suffer fools. She sees no other alternative. But we saw Glenn take the hard road and arrive at that alternative path--maintaining his humanity within a continual, brutal nightmare. Perhaps Carol is starting on her path & will arrive at the same place to take up where Glenn left off.
I feel I have a handle now on the opposites Ezekiel talked about.
Re Carol, I believe someone could easily do a PhD dissertation on her character. To me, she believes there is no escape from the zombie apocalypse turning the living into either monsters, i.e., Wolves, or fools. The toll that killing has taken on her finally broke her, and she will never, ever suffer fools. She sees no other alternative. But we saw Glenn take the hard road and arrive at that alternative path--maintaining his humanity within a continual, brutal nightmare. Perhaps Carol is starting on her path & will arrive at the same place to take up where Glenn left off.
6
Carol was re-born when the man who abused her for much of her life was killed, and then lost her daughter. I wonder which re-defined her the most; I almost think not being used as a punching bag. She was like a blank, fresh, numb slate and has shown such an incredible arc. I suppose you could say that about all those whose life was so drastically changed by the zombie apocolypse and loved ones lost, but the mindset of an abused woman adds a whole other layer. I agree about PhD dissertation of her character!
3
How'd Negan's ax ended atop the RV? He tossed it out of the door and flew up there so Rick can gain easy access to it in the next sequence or frames?
1
Dear Paskie,
Well, that was last episode, but if you look carefully you can see Rick get pushed outside, grab the ax off the ground, and scramble up onto the RV with it.
I think an interesting part of that scene too, was that Rick was trapped on the roof surrounded by noisy zombies, and the real threat was just the guy in the RV, the zombies weren't a big deal. Major change from early seasons.
Well, that was last episode, but if you look carefully you can see Rick get pushed outside, grab the ax off the ground, and scramble up onto the RV with it.
I think an interesting part of that scene too, was that Rick was trapped on the roof surrounded by noisy zombies, and the real threat was just the guy in the RV, the zombies weren't a big deal. Major change from early seasons.
8
I, too, wondered if it was an egregious gaffe, b/c it certainly looked like Negan threw it outside to land on the ground.
I watched a couple of YouTube videos on this very question. What I saw both times was Negan hooking his arm upward when he threw the axe. It happens pretty fast, so it's hard to see.
Looks like we have our first NYT TWD Comments WTH? ("hell") debate of S7!
I watched a couple of YouTube videos on this very question. What I saw both times was Negan hooking his arm upward when he threw the axe. It happens pretty fast, so it's hard to see.
Looks like we have our first NYT TWD Comments WTH? ("hell") debate of S7!
3
After being a devoted fan for several seasons, I became impatient and lost interest. Thinking of freeing up some space, erasing all of last season just sitting there, un-watched, in my recorder.
4
Sounds good, and in order to free up some space, I think your comment ought to be erased too, technically.
12
Dan, maybe you should comment once and then pipe down.
5
Hehe Dra, sure, but I gotta be me. Not like I went on at length here, and really I didn't mean to be mean either, just ironic. As for piping down though, they'll have to pull my keyboard from my cold, dead hands.
3
I think Benjamin's dad was the Kingdom's sacrifice to Neman. Now he's being trained to fight....
6
This episode was a nice relief, and Morgan is such a wonderful character, as is Carol. I do hope we see how the traumatized group is doing before too long - will we see them bury their dead and grieve or skip ahead? As much as the first episode was almost unbearable, I hope the show doesn't skip over the emotional aftermath to advance big chunks of story.
11
I was left wondering last night where my show had gone. A tiger? A King? I was like Carol throughout the first half - this place is a joke. Ezekiel's boring monologue where he reveals he's a former zookeeper with community theater creds and a rosy vision of Good left me shaking my head. Perhaps if he'd spoken his piece in less words so I didn't have to yell "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, SHUT UP ALREADY, WE GET IT!" three times, I might have nodded my head and given him a chance. But I cannot believe so many people would buy into living a Ren Fair existence with D&D overtones so meekly. And the tiger? Please. Oh, just please. When the show runners pulled that gimmick making us wait six months and two commercial breaks to find out who Negan killed, what really died was my love for this show. I continue to watch, continue to hope, but I feel cold and disconnected. I didn't even cry when my favorite character died last week. Everything is so over the top and exaggerated now. The violence, the escapes, the characters. The human drama is gone replaced by shock value gimmicks.
21
I totally agree about the gimmicks, the exaggerations! I have a hard time thinking of another regular poster here who has been more emphatic than I about that since the dumpster diving scene. But I totally bought the Kingdom last night. It did not come across as a gimmick.
There is a LOT of difference in the perception of TWD caused by those of us who read the comics and those who don't. I wonder what I would have thought of last night had I not been a comics reader. But, being one, I thought the show brought off the Kingdom better than the comic did.
There is a LOT of difference in the perception of TWD caused by those of us who read the comics and those who don't. I wonder what I would have thought of last night had I not been a comics reader. But, being one, I thought the show brought off the Kingdom better than the comic did.
3
My husband has abandoned the show after last week, but I'm back, and it's for Melissa McBride.
9
Love her hair!
2
I believe the continued emphasis on the pomegranate is a reference is to the story of the Rape of Persephone/Proserpine in Ovid.
Abducted by Hades/Pluto, Jove cannot demand her return to her mother unless she has eaten nothing from the kingdom of the dead. Unfortunately, she has eaten a number of pomegranate seeds and therefore will have to stay with her new husband for an equivalent part of the year. As a result, Demeter/Ceres, her mother, grows sad and the crops die for a season until they are reunited in the spring.
The story certainly resonates uncomfortably with the Garden of Eden though, and that resonance, combined with the "kingdom of the dead" element raises questions about the nature of the Kingdom and Ezekiel.
Abducted by Hades/Pluto, Jove cannot demand her return to her mother unless she has eaten nothing from the kingdom of the dead. Unfortunately, she has eaten a number of pomegranate seeds and therefore will have to stay with her new husband for an equivalent part of the year. As a result, Demeter/Ceres, her mother, grows sad and the crops die for a season until they are reunited in the spring.
The story certainly resonates uncomfortably with the Garden of Eden though, and that resonance, combined with the "kingdom of the dead" element raises questions about the nature of the Kingdom and Ezekiel.
20
I know one thing for sure, it ain't kosher.
9
Apple? I think you mean pomegranate. There was even a whole bit about how hard they are to eat.
8
I watched the first season of this show and was beginning the second when Occupy Wall Street got started. The choice seemed clear: to fill my head and heart with hope and life or with death and despair. I opted for the former and haven't looked back. The Walking Dead seems like porn for preppers to me. Perhaps stronger souls can watch this relentlessly grim portrayal of humanity without doing damage to themselves (I know, I know, it's "just" a TV show) , but I can't.
2
Sorry Chris, but if you haven't watched the show since season two, why are you here telling us about it? Please feel free to go to a different recap to discuss a show you are actually watching.
29
Seriously? Porn for Preppers? I'm no prepper, I just like a show that tears down societal constructs to see how the characters would survive. And I like to relate to it and think about how I'd survive and what I'd do. Don't overthink it.
8
Chris, you have just summed up the whole point of TWD: can one live through a relentless soul-raping world and maintain hope & humanity? If so, how does it happen? TWD keeps my hope alive b/c I have seen a couple of characters achieve that, and it looks like there may be more characters heading that way. I know, I know, it's "just" a TV show, but that's what works for me. And, I know, I know, Occupy is "real" life, but it has, IMO, gone the way of so many other youthful, idealistic movements. A lot of my hope for change ended when people folded up their tents.
8
Maybe just relief after last week, but I loved this episode. Although yes, the whole Carol personality change thing has gone on way too long. I loved her when she was the tough lady.
14
I was skeptical of a CGI tiger but they did a great job with it. I was also concerned with a King character as being too cheesy but I have to say it somehow works. Overall it was a great episode and I can’t wait to see how this and Rick’s group merge. Hopefully Rick doesn’t ruin this colony. But I predict the two groups will eventually go on the offensive against Negan. Glad there are new characters.
As for the constant complaints over the violence, this is a zombie show. There were gory moments throughout the history of this show so get over it already.
As for the constant complaints over the violence, this is a zombie show. There were gory moments throughout the history of this show so get over it already.
10
They have copied the Seinfeld Show formula - this has become the show about nothing. I am looking forward to season 21 though - Rick meets Mad Max.
5
"I've always preferred the Waylon Jennings' version." Never has a reviewer's credibility so spectacularly dissipated.
7
My thoughts exactly. Everyone knows the Johnny Cash version was the best.
1
When you besmirch me, you're besmirching Waylon. I hope you can live with that.
The Johnny Cash one is good, too, as someone else noted.
The Johnny Cash one is good, too, as someone else noted.
5
in Asia during ancient times, pigs were prized as a necessity of the home due to their ability to eat "toxic substances" (such as urine and feces, as well as other discarded items) and produce meat that was untainted.
17
So IOW, useless to poisoning Negan et. all.
3
I got the impression they didn't really think the pigs would poison the Saviors, just that it was a passive aggressive act, a bit of 'revenge' to have the pigs eat 'rot.'
On the other hand, it's not a bad plan. Could it be foreshadowing? Could Alexandrians find a way to poison their offerings so that it takes out or disables enough saviors that they can dismantle Negan's group?
On the other hand, it's not a bad plan. Could it be foreshadowing? Could Alexandrians find a way to poison their offerings so that it takes out or disables enough saviors that they can dismantle Negan's group?
8
Nice to see the show runners trying something new with an idyllic, pastoral society headed by a charismatic leader who keeps secrets. Does Ezekial keep a room full of walker heads in fish tanks, too?
5
"There’s a point in Ezekiel’s fairy tale trappings, I think, about how fear turns people into children. It deranges them and provokes regression, and makes them crave easily understood symbols, whether you’re talking about a man with a tiger or a man with a phallic baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire."
... or a man who claims he can make America great again.
... or a man who claims he can make America great again.
94
I heard the same thing. Ezekiel is the anti-Trump.
12
After last week's bacchanal of cruelty, I vowed never to watch again. This recap tempts me, but only a little. I am curious to read these comments as they develop (given that none have been posted yet).
Question: can we all just try to migrate to North Dakota? Surely all the walkers have been frozen and rotted by now...
Question: can we all just try to migrate to North Dakota? Surely all the walkers have been frozen and rotted by now...
14
I liked it, it was a very light and character driven episode. I really like King Ezekiel, a breath of fresh air to TWD. After all the places we seen in TWD, The Kingdom is like Paradise. The only complaints i see from people are saying "its boring, cause no one is dying or what ever" Its an introduction to a new colony and new characters that will be very important as the season goes on.
13
SVB - give this episode a go. It was the polar opposite of last week's show. It's all about hope and some truly funny moments (shout out to Jerry!).
10
Even if you decide to give up on TWD, you should treat yourself to this episode. It was a soothing balm, well-earned by those of us who suffered through the unrelenting horror of last week's episode. There were even some moments of humor. Not to mention, in general, any episode concentrating on Carol is worth it in itself.
4
Seriously, despite what others may say, I hope they keep Shiva and Ezekiel longer in the show than the comics, they both bring a unique vie and charm to a walking dead franchise :) Shiva lasts only 10 issues after her introduction, which is the season finale approximately, ugh!. Ezekiel is dead right before the Whisperer war right now in the comics, killed with many others ignominiously in a sneak attack.