The Walking Dead: Season 7

Tools    





Well, not a single moment of let-up or respite this time. I needed the entire 90 minutes of Talking Dead to recuperate from the never-ending violence and gore of this episode. The second death was a bit unnecessarily graphic, IMHO.
When Ive seen an incredible episode from a series I love, this isnt the feeling I have afterwards.

Carol better snap out of reality and become a detached killing machine again, Daryl needs rescuing!!



Damn episode. I have a feeling its gonna be far from a boring season, but fear theres more bad news to come.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Well, not a single moment of let-up or respite this time. I needed the entire 90 minutes of Talking Dead to recuperate from the never-ending violence and gore of this episode. The second death was a bit unnecessarily graphic, IMHO.
If you're referring to the eye bulge, it was a shot for shot recreation of the comic.

Even knowing who was getting the bat, this episode was intense. Superb acting from Andrew Lincoln and Morgan is great as Neegan.

Episode has aired, so much like other threads, I feel that spoilers are to be bound, but in any case.

WARNING: "DEATH" spoilers below
I'm upset to see Abraham go, Glenn seemed obvious. But now I feel that Abraham's death is overshadowed by Glenn's. Too bad.
__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews



Well, I hope this is the last time someone dies where we have to think about it first. The random chaos and mortality of the show is compelling, but this came off like I was watching The Hitcher meets Saw. A sadomasochistic watch.
Yeah, I agree. I'm pretty close to checking out. I'd be willing to watch this kind of stuff as part of an otherwise highly compelling show, but, well, it isn't a highly compelling show. It has these little flashes of brilliance, but they're so short-lived.

WARNING: "The Walking Dead Premiere" spoilers below
After Abraham died, I thought "wow, that's way more restrained than I expected." I figured they'd wallow in it: someone gets clocked, becomes incoherent, everyone cries and moans, there's a big delay before they're properly killed, you see several hits in a row, etc. All that awful stuff. So yeah, of course they do all that the second time. It was disturbing for content reasons, but also because it can be weirdly predictable.

It feels like overcompensation for the show's weaknesses. It's almost like a threat: "Oh, you don't care about this character that much? Well what if they die? Haha, no, they didn't really die. Did you care? Okay, what if they really die this time, but slowly and painfully while their loved ones watch? NOW DO YOU CARE?"



The Adventure Starts Here!
It feels like overcompensation for the show's weaknesses. It's almost like a threat: "Oh, you don't care about this character that much? Well what if they die? Haha, no, they didn't really die. Did you care? Okay, what if they really die this time, but slowly and painfully while their loved ones watch? NOW DO YOU CARE?"
Yeah, that's really starting to hit me now. I feel as if they're playing off the fact that we care about these characters and are getting lazy about better plotlines. (This includes Kirkman.) I am now thinking quite often: "Okay, we get it. They go around and find pockets of people. Some are good. Some are bad. They either join with them or fight them. Is there a point to this going forward?"

Is there any sort of end-story in sight? In anybody's mind? Or will they continue this ebb and flow until the ratings numbers start to dip and only then decide to wrap things up? And, if this is how the world is now, HOW would they ever wrap things up? If this represents the state of the world, then there is no ending that will feel complete.

And if there is some very different ending (a cure, civilization coming back properly, whatever), then they could get to that point any time now because the cycle of good-group / bad-group-led-by-a-crazy-villain is getting old.



I will say that Negan is, at least in the comics, not just another Big Bad; he has a different philosophy and (I don't think this is a spoiler given how much he's said already) is simply pragmatic about it. That, and some of the even more recent stuff in the comics that the (remaining) characters are dealing with is definitely a major departure from that formula you're talking about.



That said, yeah, I've been assuming for awhile that the show would just stretch each conflict out as much as possible, and insert little mini-ones in-between.

Why not? If you had a money printing machine, why on earth would you turn it off?



The Adventure Starts Here!
Oh, I totally understand from a financial perspective why they would continue this series indefinitely... ESPECIALLY at this point. I'm betting last night's premiere was their highest ratings ever. So, bravo for them. I was talking from a strictly storyline perspective.

Glad to hear that perhaps the philosophy behind some of the thinking going forward might be different. The scenes from upcoming episodes did look vastly different, so I hope I am merely reacting to the gratuitous nature of this season opener. Even other premieres that opened with horrible scenes (the trough at Terminus) did not spend the entire episode flogging the viewers with carnage and instead showed us some bits of hope. I realize part of the point of the episode is that this is what it would take to break someone like Rick to the point he ended on. But it's also a STORY made up by people, so I sometimes have a hard time agreeing when writers say, "Well, that's what this character HAD to do" (or say or become). You created the characters. You created the story. You chose to show us that second death in all its disgusting detail. And yet you could have chosen other, slightly different paths.

I'm sure I'll feel differently once a second (less gory) episode hits.

Side note: It sure was surreal to have those intense scenes broken up by, for instance, Geico insurance commercials that were intended to be humorous.



As far as Negan just being a pragmatist (and I don't know the character from the comics) I'd have to disagree that he's just someone doing what is necessary for survival and assert that he's evil.
A pragmatist would kill enemies quickly and efficiently and only as a last resort if the opportunities for mutually beneficial alliances could not be attained. Negan is an obvious sadist who relishes in the pain and torture of others.

Even in such a fantastic scenario, civilization could easily rebuild itself. There would just be very different protocols for how the terminally ill are treated and how the dead are disposed of. Hospitals, morgues and funeral homes would be equipped with cages, restraints and those bolt guns that are used in slaughter houses to kill cows - to distribute a bolt to the brain of every newly deceased person before cremation. One thing about humanity is they have an uncanny ability to rebound from wars, devastation, disasters and disease.

I would think that there would be many places like Alexandria. And military bases (where they have the firepower) would be established as secure zones and begin establishing perimeters outward.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Well, Tongo, that last one IS depressing. Hadn't looked at it that way.

Add on season 2/farm characters, and it stays pretty depressing.



OTOH - this show always makes me think of hurricane Sandy from just a few years back. In a sense it was like the beginning of this series and the culprit was mostly due to the extended power outages - particularly the fact that gas pump could not longer distribute gas.
Things began to deteriorate quickly the day after. And I witnessed people begin to deteriorate in their behavior as well in the weeks that followed. Of course normalcy returned quickly once the power came back on in areas that weren't too badly hit.

But it did demonstrate, in an isolated area, how quickly things can break down in what would be a comparatively minor disaster compared to say a single nuclear attack, a large scale epidemic, an EMP attack, the grid going down from foreign interference, solar flares or a gamma pulse from distant stars, etc.

In a zombie apocalypse chaos would probably ensue early on, but I think order would quickly be restored because it's not like the power is actually out - it's just a matter of personnel to keep things up and running and a command structure to delegate manpower.



In a zombie apocalypse chaos would probably ensue early on, but I think order would quickly be restored because it's not like the power is actually out - it's just a matter of personnel to keep things up and running and a command structure to delegate manpower.
Slow moving zombies I completely agree. There would be horrible chaos at first, but the military, able citizens too, would get a handle on it. It may cause a world peace between countries even. Seriously, if its worldwide, nobody would want to war if you have to live in a world like that, where death is everpresent.

If they were fast moving zombies like Snyders DOTD, WW Z, or 28 Days/Weeks then we'd be completely screwed.



Slow moving zombies I completely agree. There would be horrible chaos at first, but the military, able citizens too, would get a handle on it. It may cause a world peace between countries even. Seriously, if its worldwide, nobody would want to war if you have to live in a world like that, where death is everpresent.

If they were fast moving zombies like Snyders DOTD, WW Z, or 28 Days/Weeks then we'd be completely screwed.
What's funny is I was thinking the exact same thing. Speed would definitely give the zombies an advantage especially if it was greater than average speed.

And good point about bringing countries together - something like that, which we assume would be a global phenomenon, would definitely do it to some extent.

The ending of Night of the Living Dead (as tragic as it was) showed how quickly restoring order by rounding up and eliminating the zombie hordes could be (by a well armed citizenry of course... which means if Hillary becomes President we don't stand a chance in a zombie apocalypse).



As far as Negan just being a pragmatist (and I don't know the character from the comics) I'd have to disagree that he's just someone doing what is necessary for survival and assert that he's evil.
A pragmatist would kill enemies quickly and efficiently and only as a last resort if the opportunities for mutually beneficial alliances could not be attained. Negan is an obvious sadist who relishes in the pain and torture of others.
Obviously I dunno what the next handful of episodes will be like, so it's entirely possible that they'll make him more of a sadist than he is in the comics. But I don't think they've closed this off yet, for a couple of reasons. First, because the horror of what he's done is obviously meant to destroy any inkling of rebellion they may have, so any messed up thing he does could be framed as just a means to that end. And second, because I think a lot of it is indifference more than revelry, though in the face of such violence, they start to look pretty similar.

Or, indeed, they'll mess it up horribly by just turning him into a slightly more jovial Big Bad than the last two or three. Wouldn't be the first time they did something wrong.

Even in such a fantastic scenario, civilization could easily rebuild itself. There would just be very different protocols for how the terminally ill are treated and how the dead are disposed of. Hospitals, morgues and funeral homes would be equipped with cages, restraints and those bolt guns that are used in slaughter houses to kill cows - to distribute a bolt to the brain of every newly deceased person before cremation. One thing about humanity is they have an uncanny ability to rebound from wars, devastation, disasters and disease.
Yeah, there should be a lot more of this. I'd be pretty interested in a version of this show that's much more political/philosophical, with survivors debating whether or not they should try to rebuild the world as it was, or start over completely, or something sort of in-between. You can see a lot of people saying "whatever we do, it shouldn't be the same." Political idealists of one stripe or another would see it as an opportunity to ("now we can abolish property!"/"now we can have our libertarian utopia!"). Even if they come down in the middle, you're right, they'd have to change the way they respond (both legally and emotionally) to death, murder, prison, etc. You wouldn't be able to waste resources on prisoners, so the death penalty would have to be much more common.

Battlestar Galactica did this in an interesting way: by banning abortion. Humanity's numbers were dwindling and the government (such as it was) decided they needed everyone they could get. It was an interesting spin because it came at the issue from a direction totally foreign to the ones people approach it from in real life. And that's what would happen is this were real: lots of present day political issues would be considered from totally new angles.

Why don't they do all this? I'm pretty sure it's because the overwhelming majority of viewers watch because they like to be grossed out by bodies getting ripped or smashed apart. Anecdotally, I saw lots of people, during the first couple of seasons, complain when there wasn't much gore. And when there was something particularly gross, that was the thing they singled out. They just want crazy, brutal sh*t to happen.



The Adventure Starts Here!
And, to piggyback off Yoda's last point... I think the special effects of just bashing in zombies and having burnt zombies and "old" decaying zombies is even getting old for viewers. So, what's left? What will give those viewers the thrill they once got from zombie special effects? Naturally, it'll be seeing living humans get smashed to bits. Last night's episode's worst moments were human-on-human violence and its graphic nature.

You know you're getting desensitized when a character is hanging off a hanging zombie ... and when its neck stretches and then gives out, you actually laugh because it's a break from the tension of the REST of the episode! Ha!



Good post, Yoda!

I've said this before, but one reason I think the zombie craze is so popular is that we all have an innate desire (left over from our primitive ancestry) to bash another person's head in. This is nothing to be ashamed of - it's this same drive that indirectly motivates competition, sports, capitalism and patriotism when channeled in rational directions.

Obviously we can't meet every frustration by bashing heads or shooting people through the brain - not without some severe consequences, not the least of which is condemnation by one's own conscience. So the zombie thing is an outlet that caters to mankind's most bestial, predatory instincts, a fantasy: inconsequential violence, in self defense, on people who are already dead, so there's no conflict of morality nor legality.

It's a similar outlet that's gained by punching a heavy bag or playing first-person-shooter video games.



You know you're getting desensitized when a character is hanging off a hanging zombie ... and when its neck stretches and then gives out, you actually laugh because it's a break from the tension of the REST of the episode! Ha!
I laughed at that too!
I laughed again at Talking Dead when they referred to it as the "Stretch Armstrong Walker"!



Good post, Yoda!

I've said this before, but one reason I think the zombie craze is so popular is that we all have an innate desire (left over from our primitive ancestry) to bash another person's head in. This is nothing to be ashamed of - it's this same drive that indirectly motivates competition, sports, capitalism and patriotism when channeled in rational directions.

Obviously we can't meet every frustration by bashing heads or shooting people through the brain - not without some severe consequences, not the least of which is condemnation by one's own conscience. So the zombie thing is an outlet that caters to mankind's most bestial, predatory instincts, a fantasy: inconsequential violence, in self defense, on people who are already dead, so there's no conflict of morality nor legality.

It's a similar outlet that's gained by punching a heavy bag or playing first-person-shooter video games.
Yeah, I think given enough wealth and technological progress, a desire for base outlets is inevitable. Not just in the ugly sense you mention, but in the slightly more understandable sense of desiring simplicity. As the world gets harder to navigate socially, culturally, whatever, I think dystopian fiction becomes more appealing less for the violence or suffering, and more for the "clean slate" feeling.

That, and the idea of building things anew and having to be self-sufficient is, of course, pretty deeply embedded in the DNA of most Americans; both culturally and, well, literally. We've pretty much all got revolutionaries and/or fiercely independent risk-takers as ancestors.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I laughed at that too!
I laughed again at Talking Dead when they referred to it as the "Stretch Armstrong Walker"!
Ha! I was going to call it that here, but I didn't want to steal that hilarious reference. (And I needed the therapy of that whole 90 minutes last night.)