Yeah they killed off me, a fan, this season. Won't be coming back for season 4. Andrea's death seemed very irrelevant. Mexican stand off with a friend who was going to turn. I think AMC listened too much to fans on Andrea being annoying and killed her off. Either that or she was the last of Darabont's friend group to leave the show. She was poorly written this season that's all. Blame the writers not the annoyed fans. Also the prison assault was meh. All season waiting for that? Governor shows up gung ho take out a few towers and as soon as they get inside they run like cowards? Then he's pissed so they use him killing the whole town as character development to show just how far off the deep end he was? Wasn't killing Milton and making him turn to kill a tied up Andrea in the beginning enough? A better way would have been to: Have him reveal in the beginning that Milton was his brother, kill him (making a bit more dramatic that the Governor would kill his own brother). Same plot (waiting for Milton to turn/talking with Andrea) but Tyrese saves Andrea (which I initially thought would happen when Tyrese tells Sasha he'll be back and was going to check something out). For the prison group they should have left that broken fence open, lured zombies in, and have the governor's group devoured suddenly. Somehow Governor can escape. Herd attacks survivors at Woodbury, killing everyone, including Sasha- Tyrese and Andrea escape. We're on the road next season with all these groups out there.
By just watching this show my standards are pretty low Rich I think it's as good as it started. That doesn't mean my standards got low, that means I thought the show wasn't that great from the get go. It was kind of interesting, stupid mostly, and had zombies. I literally never took it for more than that. BTW I'm too lazy to put spoilers because it aired last night and if someone's in this thread it's their own doom. That said, I love the Governer. He's awesome. I'm glad he lived. It's MORE honest he'd live. Andrea should have died fucking in season 1 she's so dumb. The Governor's admission that his daughter's death hardened him, if he was the monster he is today she'd be alive, good motivation. They finally reveal why he's such a massive asshole. We suspected but to hear him say it mattered. Made him a person vs. a cartoon. I didn't expect a war. I assumed they left, I didn't think they were gonna fight PERIOD. I thought they were hitting the road again, the Gov'd get there and be all pissed no one was there, he'd go back and some shitty way Andrea would have gotten free and killed him and took over Woodbury and then the others would show and join or some lame shit. I'm glad they kept the Governor alive. I'm not saying I'm satisfied with the finale as a finale, yeah we wanted something BIG to hit. What I'm saying is, considering who lived and died, meh, I'm not upset. Again I put 0 stock into this show. I watch it because Breaking Bad's not back, Game of Thrones wasn't back, Boardwalk Empire's not back and Doctor Who wasn't back. I thought it was way off since it started. The CDC episode ended me thinking it'd ever get REALLY good. That sucked. That was season 1. There was still enough entertainment value left for me, and still is, but I never counted it something I loved. So I guess I'm in a different place critically than a lot of fans and have no place saying your arguments are invalid, for real. I'm not saying that. I would have liked to have seen Rick and Carl get isolated, see how they survive and cope together with no one else. Maybe even with the threat of the Governor hunting them. I'd have liked to see the whole group split. But again, it's not so much the end of Season 3 to me as it is another long ass break to the next season with 0 closure. EDIT: Also noting that I'm not judging anyone for not thinking this show was ever dumb, just pointing out where my critique is coming from.
AMC is a network and a business I think that the Walking Dead has gotten too BIG and they are trying to appeal to to many people at the same time. Just stick with one direction and run with it!
I hate that this show now has a "villain". I hope it goes back to being a show about survival against a deteriorating world rather than just a show about the good guys vs bad guys with the occasional walker getting in the way. When it came down to it, Andrea was good to have when dealing with walkers but was a total shit head when it came to human interaction. I'm glad she's gone since that seems to be the direction season 4 is heading, taking care of kids and old people.
Better Merle had killed him in the next to the last episode for Season 3 than what happened last night. Really built up for a big finish but ended with a whimper. Pretty big disappointment.
Whoa, that's a solid point I never took into consideration. I never considered Shane one until they really forced it and made him "crazy" and crap. It would have worked better if Merle lived and was just this confrontational asshole. Ah well. I said enough.
I see what you're saying about the villain but I think they're doing it because there's only so much you can do with surviving zombie apocalypse and keep it entertaining. It works for a 90min movie but not a 3+ season show. I'd be happy if they killed the gov and moved on to the next "villain" .. So sick of the prison.. Let's get back to an urban setting Ha! Carl should split off and become the new villain! That kid is cold as ICE!
Andrea's death echoed Dale's from last season. He tells everyone that they can't cross a line by killing people and then gets eaten. Andrea just wants everyone to live, and she gets et too. Sadly, Carl is the only one who has the right idea for suriving in this world: get them before they get you. I was a little unsatisfied that the Governor wasn't killed but after going all Rhodes on his little army, he and his two buddies won't last long. He certainly does get punished: every last thing he cares about is taken away from him by the final scene, including the town he built. His plan was supremely stupid, though. So everybody just barrels through the front entrance in broad daylight? Nobody scouts? Nobody enters through the damaged back half of the prison? And nobody in the Ricktocracy (formerly the Ricktatorship) thinks to disable their cars while they're all in the prison? I also think it's worth saying it took guts for the producers and the network to tell a story about a child killing someone with a gun, something from the comic, and something I was wondering if we'd ever see on TV, given what's going on in our country these days. Overall I was satisfied with this season, much more so than the last. It could serve as a series ender. I hope we aren't left wishing that it was after Season 4 with the new show runner, and a premise that runs the risk of getting stale ("everyone will die by teeth or bullets").
What about the generic sllimy/crawling zombie sound effects? As soon as Milton turned, he started wiggling his fingers and they started using this sound they use for all the zombies. It was so silly, what was making that noise, his blood wet hand? It's so overused it's not menacing AT ALL.
Just read the essay and now my head is spinning. Thanks Roger. I had some resistance to some of what the author was saying at first, but appreciate that it was thought-provoking. I've never seen another analysis of "The Walking Dead" to that depth. I'd always thought that some of the racial aspects of the show were just endemic to its milieu ... basically working class Georgia folk and all that means. But the author has some good points about the relationships falling into old de facto tropes. Definitely a lefty academic sort of perspective (the white patriarchy of the zombie apocalypse!,) but a smart one as argued. I think better of Michonne's character than the author does. On the other hand at the beginning of the piece she hit the nail on the head about the stuff going on with Carl and Rick. I haven't really thought of this show as one you can analyze to the nth factor like Breaking Bad but it turns out you can if you want.
That was painful to read. Not even going to get into her claims of the show being racist and sexist. But I do however like how she says she'll keep watching because she loves the show. How can you even enjoy the show for what it is when you're looking so deep into it?
Exactly! Why watch, if you are going to pick every little thing apart and over analyze it? Does she not realize that it's a TV show? I don't see how she can enjoy it??
I never started really picking this show apart till what I started seeing on the screen evolved from piss poor writing. Stuck around to see if would improve. It did towards the end of season 2 beginning of season 3. Then it went total shit again. I mean when the larger picture doesn't add up you start noticing all the little things. Whoever edits this show is on autopilot and misses large details. I mean this meant to be funny meme's but look at some of this shit: http://thechive.com/2013/04/03/a-few-th ... 33-photos/ Anyhow the drug this show was in Season 1 to me has worn off, and I'm no longer addicted.
Nothing wrong with detailed analysis or interpretation if there's a reason to do it. I mean, you can read "Moby Dick" as nothing more than a whaling story if you want to, but there's a heck of a lot more going on there than just the narrative. Melville was concerned with much more than just the ostensible tale. However in the case of "The Walking Dead," I really think that Salon author went overboard. As I see it, it's just not a show that has a deeper resonance worthy of such dissection. It's really just about drama and zombies. At first I tried to grant that essay some fair consideration given that the author worked so hard at illustrating her thesis, but on further reflection it all seems forced and overly political. Maybe the "issues" are more with the author than the show? It makes more sense to bring that level of scrutiny to shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men or even Battlestar Galactica, because the writers for those shows really do reflect upon social issues that are greater than the ostensible story lines. I may be wrong but it's not my impression that TWD's writers are trying to do that. It's more of a "turn your brain off" show. Once I started watching it that way, I enjoyed it a heck of a lot more.
'Walking Dead' Adds 'Wire' Vet to Play Pivotal Comic Character for Season 4, I have been waiting to see a definate word on the casting of this character and am happy they went the way they did, if you saw the water boy I'm sure you will be envisioning klan hoods on every zombie he shoots too
While reading something on BB on seriable.com I noticed AMC officially has a Walking Dead spin off in the works for 2015. Christ on a bicycle, as if one WD isn't bad enough already?! Talk about cash-grab. Who knows maybe there is a remote possibility they won't screw it up as bad as the original WD.
Kudos to you, Dean, for somehow working the first great epic post-modern novel as an example into this thread! Reading too much into a show such as WD reminds me that I should just be reading.
You're kind as always, but at the risk of contradicting myself, some of us have been accused of reading too much into "Breaking Bad," (but I'd argue that all that stuff really is there.) And if "Walking Dead" is equally multi-layered for some people, well, I disagree, but have at it, why not? As for books, if you're in the mood for some poignant post-apocalyptic fiction, Peter Heller's "The Dog Stars" is outstanding, if a bit Hemingway-esque in the telling. Or for something less macho, Karen Thompson Walker's "The Age of Miracles" successfully combines the coming-of-age genre with the end of the world. I'm looking forward to Thomas Pynchon's new novel, being released this week. Pardon the thread drift.
I began playing the game on steam. It's so well written, much better than half of some seasons. Let's see what happens.
Meh.... I want to like this show, but every time I watch I remember why I dislike it. Predictable and annoying. There is nothing else on since I don't have HBO, so I'll continue to watch and be let down week after week.
I agree with Rich. Yes I know I said I wasn't coming back but there is absolutely nothing on at the moment. Also since Apple refunded me fully for Breaking Bad and I could only use that refund in the iTunes Store, I said fuck it- might as well torture myself. The only thing really interesting about this episode was the new viral threat. That and Bob Stookey's yet the be revealed backstory. Tyrese whining about killing walkers (even though his former group was in the thick of it for months), Rick finding that crazy survivor which you knew was a poor plot device for his own sanity (not again!), and this stupid fucking communal living crap.... All dull. I'm so sick of stationary with this show. Got way too communal quick. I want more on the road surviving, that and Daryl to die to piss off all the stupid teenagers that watch the show. Please riot and stop watching so the writers don't cater the dialogue to you.
Cheeful Michonne seems awfully abrupt. I guess a lot happens during the winters that the series doesn't depict.
