The Walking Dead: Episode 2: "Guts" (SPOILERS!)

[JDFP]

Okay, let it begin...

I was highly disappointed that the department store they were in did not still have an operating Muzak system (I don't care how it was still working, generator, etc.) that was playing "The Gonk" on it. :D

j.p.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Okay, let it begin...

I was highly disappointed that the department store they were in did not still have an operating Muzak system (I don't care how it was still working, generator, etc.) that was playing "The Gonk" on it. :D

j.p.

Are you serious????

[JDFP]

Are you serious????

No. But it would have been funny as hell.

j.p.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I will admit there was a DAWN vibe...

[childofgilead]

Heh, yeah, when they were stumbling over the mannequins, I definitely got the vibe.

[Wyldwraith]

Yea,
I was surprised that the at-first-glance workable idea of taking a sewer/subterranean route out of town so definitively had the door slammed on it. The rat-eating zombie was a nice touch, to confirm that Walking Dead Walkers WILL IN FACT EAT ANIMALS if a) they can catch them, and b) There are no humans around to eat. The way the horse being devoured was used to facilitate Rick's escape at least partially was the 1 in that 1-2 confirmation punch to confirm that facet of Walker behavior.

And you know what? I'll just come out and say it: I had NO PROBLEM with the way this Episode handled the "Faking their way past zombies." It did NOT feel goofy or contrived like some crap from Shaun of the Dead. Far from it. It felt as tense and edge-of-the-seat inspiring as they no doubt intended it to be. At least for me it did. Then they capped it off nicely by having it come apart due to the rain.

What do the rest of you think? I raise the standard in defense of "The Escape Plan Method" IN THIS LIMITED CONTEXT. Hell, it was great to see still more confirmation that AMC is really willing to let them show A body being systemically dismembered and eviscerated with a fire axe..

[DjfunkmasterG]

Yea,
I was surprised that the at-first-glance workable idea of taking a sewer/subterranean route out of town so definitively had the door slammed on it. The rat-eating zombie was a nice touch, to confirm that Walking Dead Walkers WILL IN FACT EAT ANIMALS if a) they can catch them, and b) There are no humans around to eat. The way the horse being devoured was used to facilitate Rick's escape at least partially was the 1 in that 1-2 confirmation punch to confirm that facet of Walker behavior.

And you know what? I'll just come out and say it: I had NO PROBLEM with the way this Episode handled the "Faking their way past zombies." It did NOT feel goofy or contrived like some crap from Shaun of the Dead. Far from it. It felt as tense and edge-of-the-seat inspiring as they no doubt intended it to be. At least for me it did. Then they capped it off nicely by having it come apart due to the rain.

What do the rest of you think? I raise the standard in defense of "The Escape Plan Method" IN THIS LIMITED CONTEXT. Hell, it was great to see still more confirmation that AMC is really willing to let them show A body being systemically dismembered and eviscerated with a fire axe..


Yeah AMC definitely has big set of balls to include what they included in this show so far.

[Wyldwraith]

With over 11 million total viewers of Episode 1, and what they project to be numbers close to that for Episode 2, I don't see AMC crying foul so long as they can no doubt charge beyond-top-dollar for commercial air-time during the new Walking Dead episode.

After all, even if HALF of that 11 million total viewers vanish for episode 2 and beyond, TWD would still be in the record-breaking range viewers wise.

Long Walk The Walking Dead,

[MikePizzoff]

I had NO PROBLEM with the way this Episode handled the "Faking their way past zombies." It did NOT feel goofy or contrived like some crap from Shaun of the Dead. Far from it. It felt as tense and edge-of-the-seat inspiring as they no doubt intended it to be.

Are you being sarcastic? Did you miss the gag where Glenn is talking and Rick pretty much tells him to shut up before he blows their cover? A female zombie starts giving Glenn a suspicious look immediately, so he lets out a few intentionally comedic zombie "growls" to get her attention off himself.

[shootemindehead]

Overall, I feel it was a step down from the opener.

I didn't like the inclusion of "new" characters. The nigga gangsta (T Dog my arse) and the bog standard white trash Southern KKK lad were fucking stupid. REALLY bad move there by Darabont, as far as I'm concerned.

The zombie "stink up" method was stupid in the comic and it's equally stupid here. Rain WOULD NOT wash off such a stench, in fact it would probably make it smell worse. Would have been better to drop this particular schtick altogether.

...and zombies eating rats? No thanks. Such things would require a level of dexterity that would be way beyond the average corpse. Completely un-necessary in my opinion.

The good points continue to be the zombies, whose make up and meanace remain excellent and after all that's the main attraction of the show, despite all the pre-air bollocks talk about characters and that noise.

[DjfunkmasterG]

While I hear what your say shoot, I have to disagree. The world we live in have people like the racist bigot, and to think that wouldn't exist in the TV zombie infested world would be trying to look at the apocalypse with rose colored glasses. Remember, the strongest are the most likely to survive, and while Michael Rooker's character maybe dumber than a bag of bricks, he was strong, and not afraid to do what it takes to survive. So in essence his existence is both believable and inevitable in this scenario. yeah is may seem cliched because of how many other films have done this, but the fact is the world is what it is, and Darabont I am sure thought about this when writing the screenplay and probably used the same thought process I am using now.

[Mitchified]

I'm kind of torn on the episode.

I felt that it was weaker overall than the first one, but I can't exactly put my finger on why. It might be because it was more action-oriented (side note: for some reason, the way Rick shoots a gun bugs me; I feel like he should be saying "PEW PEW" when he does it), and I prefer focus on character development rather than action. Don't get me wrong, I love me some zombie casualties. I just really enjoy a character-driven story.

On the other hand, I really like how the show is deviating from the comics. I said on another post that I really hoped the show would be like Dexter, where the cast of characters were the same but the plots were independent of the books. It gives the comic readers the ability to watch the show and still be surprised by the twists and turns. I loved how Glenn was leading Rick through the city and all of a sudden, there's this group of survivors (which obviously didn't happen in the comics during the escape from the city).

All in all it was still a great episode. I'm not really disappointed because I knew going in that it would be hard for it to be as fantastic as the first episode. On its own merits it was still a great piece to the story, though.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I feel the Ep#2 isn't as strong as Ep#1, so i gave it a B+ to Epi#1 A+. I do think though the action oriented tone is why it is so different from Episode #1 which was basically Rick learning about his New World.


I will give Kudos to one moment though

is when Rick was going to chop up the zombie but stopped to learn who he was and what he had left when he died

[bassman]

Why are you guys using spoiler tags in a thread clearly labeled "(SPOILERS!)"? :lol:

It was a good episode. It didn't wow me as much as Darabonts, but that was expected.

As for the racist....it's Atlanta, dude. They're everywhere.:p

[shootemindehead]

While I hear what your say shoot, I have to disagree. The world we live in have people like the racist bigot, and to think that wouldn't exist in the TV zombie infested world would be trying to look at the apocalypse with rose colored glasses. Remember, the strongest are the most likely to survive, and while Michael Rooker's character maybe dumber than a bag of bricks, he was strong, and not afraid to do what it takes to survive. So in essence his existence is both believable and inevitable in this scenario. yeah is may seem cliched because of how many other films have done this, but the fact is the world is what it is, and Darabont I am sure thought about this when writing the screenplay and probably used the same thought process I am using now.

I agree, these people exist. But it's insertion into 'The Walking Dead' is hackneyed and cliched and completely un-necessary. Also, things just happened to kick off with Rooker's "nigger" comments etc at that moment. It's just a bit tiresome and from the very second Rooker appeared on screen I knew what was going to happen. Sure, I have no problem with Rooker's "Dixon" surviving and he's obviously been surviving with this group for a period of time. It's just a bad insertion into the script. If I was the leader of that particular group, there's no bloody way those two would be together in such a salvage and gather operation (or any other op) and neither would I put myself near them. For all the yap about "character" before the show started, this is a real letdown.

And as for this "T-dog" nonsense...sorry, but the shit's hit the fan. I don't care what nick-name you gave yourself buddy, but your Terrence to me, not some idiotic rappa tag. "T-Dog"...ha ha, feck off. Grab a gun and start shooting fat boy.

The flip side is Glen, who I felt was spot on.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Glen was great... I agree, but if you want to nitpick into annoying items... mine nitpick would be starting a 2010 Challenger with a screwdriver... not possible because that vehicle uses push button start. :lol:

You need the key Fob present to even activate the vehicle and the alarm on that car was incorrect as well. If you smash a window on a challenger, and try to start it without the fob it won't start. It is a safety feature built in by Chrysler for the vehicle. My Camaro has the same thing... KILL SWITCH.

[bassman]

that's another for the "blooper" thread. :lol:

[04]

awesome show but it had way to many commercals.

[LouCipherr]

that's another for the "blooper" thread. :lol:

Actually, that's another for the "over-analyization of a TV show thread" that hasn't been started yet. :lol:

[DjfunkmasterG]

Actually, that's another for the "over-analyization of a TV show thread" that hasn't been started yet. :lol:

Well start it then Lou.... POST IT!

[Wyldwraith]

I'm not bothered by any of the so-called inconsistencies of Ep #2,
Other than what I've already expressed, and the sum total of the negative in this episode did little if anything to detract from my enjoyment of this episode. I in no way felt it to be a letdown, and instead found it to be an enjoyable increase in the pacing, and found that the episode's action had really drawn me in. Everything from Rick's escape from the tank, to the group dynamics engaged once he met the rest of the survivors, to finally the mad romp to find a means OUT before the zombies busted through the second set of doors. The action had some tense moments, and I didn't feel zombie rat-eating, the zombies being distracted by eating the horse, or any of the rest took away from the episode. If I have any problems at all its with scenes from Episode #3 that seem to indicate the leaving-behind of Dixon is going to cause a clusterfuck with his heretofore unseen equally psycho brother. One racist psycho in a group of 10-12 I'll go for, and maybe one more toned down "follower/toady" to that one psycho, maybe. Two in one small group that are just as bad as each other...uh uh.

So far, NOTHING has happened to make me enjoy the show any less than I did as of the premier. I found Shane and Lori getting it on with their guard totally down in the woods/away from the group to be foolish/foolhardy, and it woulda served them right if Shane got a chunk taken out of him after getting surprised by a Walker while he's trying to bust a nut, due to the sounds of his screamer of an unfaithful source of poontang.

As I said before, other than the problems I see coming from the Ep #3 scenes that may dilute/interfere with the full impact of Rick coming face to face with his wife and son, and the revelation of what his "friend" Shane has been doing with his wife less than a month after he supposedly "died". To me, that's enough drama going on for Ep #3. Especially if some Walkers get lured back to the campsite by Glen in the sportscar with the alarm blaring. I feel no need for the B.S with Dixon's brother that's coming, which is leading to Rick resolving "I'm going back for him." That just wouldn't seem real to me. They KNOW the zombies have full-breached the building, and they escaped by the skin of their teeth with the doors to delay the zombies before. Rick's Bag O' Guns is gone, and as far as we know he's dry on ammo. I really, REALLY hope they don't contrive some reason to force/compel Rick to go back. Yea, it sucks the key got dropped down the pipe, but if anything that's on T-Dog. What happened to Rick's rock-solid resolve to find and protect his wife and son?

Is he really going to storm back into Zombie Horde Central with dick for weaponry, thousands of zombies between him and his objective, and the cluttered building he'd need to traverse to reach the roof is no doubt now home to Walkers lurking amongst the mannequins ala Dawn-style. Unless Dixon's brother maybe kidnaps his wife and/or son and lays down on ultimatum "Go bring my brother back alive, or your wife and kid die" kinda thing, I just can't see it. Plus, even if they DO go that route, I'll be very irked if that's what they make Episode 3 about.

The Walking Dead: Still moving from strength to strength IMO. I'm pumped to see what happens next.

BTW, is anyone else starting to feel that Shane is a REALLY selfish tool? Maybe some of his "command decisions" had some good sense behind them at least in part, but Shane's whole "We have no obligation to do anything to help anyone not here right now" really and completely undermines him as a good leader. His absolute conviction that they had no responsibility even to members of their own group who'd volunteered to risk their lives and go into Atlanta in search of desperately needed supplies pretty much cinched it and flagged Shane as a CJ-like (from Dawn '04) individual. "They're trapped, so they're gone." My ass. When the people he left for dead show up with Rick (who, while he unknowingly put the scavenging survivors in danger to begin with...still put his ass on the line and succeeded in getting almost all of them out of that mess) who is a far better potential leader, the group would be crazy to stick with Shane after his matter-of-fact cold-bloodedness proved to be so wrong.

Still, the fact that I care a LOT about what's happened and will happen is all I need to convince me The Walking Dead is kicking ass and taking names.

[LouCipherr]

Well start it then Lou.... POST IT!

It's already been done, but resides under a different title. :p

[thxleo]

I feel no need for the B.S with Dixon's brother that's coming, which is leading to Rick resolving "I'm going back for him." That just wouldn't seem real to me. They KNOW the zombies have full-breached the building, and they escaped by the skin of their teeth with the doors to delay the zombies before. Rick's Bag O' Guns is gone, and as far as we know he's dry on ammo. I really, REALLY hope they don't contrive some reason to force/compel Rick to go back. Yea, it sucks the key got dropped down the pipe, but if anything that's on T-Dog. What happened to Rick's rock-solid resolve to find and protect his wife and son?

Is he really going to storm back into Zombie Horde Central with dick for weaponry, thousands of zombies between him and his objective, and the cluttered building he'd need to traverse to reach the roof is no doubt now home to Walkers lurking amongst the mannequins ala Dawn-style. Unless Dixon's brother maybe kidnaps his wife and/or son and lays down on ultimatum "Go bring my brother back alive, or your wife and kid die" kinda thing, I just can't see it. Plus, even if they DO go that route, I'll be very irked if that's what they make Episode 3 about.



Prepare to be irked then.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Prepare to be irked then.

Seriously do you always have to be an asshole?

[AcesandEights]

He wrapped it in spoiler tags, man.

[thxleo]

Seriously do you always have to be an asshole?

It is amazing how the mods allow you to consistently attempt to bait me into some sort of flame war. It seems like you do it in nearly every thread. You want to start some sort of personal war with me every time.
Like Aces said, my comment was wrapped in a spoiler tag. Grow up.

[bassman]

http://www.moccasin.com.au/messandnoise/pot-kettle.jpg

[Wyldwraith]

To be fair,
My brain had already informed me that's what the scenes from the upcoming Ep #3 meant. After all, Rick's announcement "I'm going back for him", immediately after the shots of Dixon's brother going all psycho on them is pretty self-explanatory. Rick's overdeveloped sense of conscience/responsibility is at work again. Where a less conscientious man would say "I gave the key to T-Dog and sent him to get Dixon while I dunno, I WAS BUSY SAVING EVERYONE ELSE *At EXTREME risk of dying a horrible death to do so*", Rick is no doubt thinking "I'm the one who handcuffed the guy, it's my responsibility to go get his dumb White Trash Bigot ass."

Perhaps I might've liked a bit more positive framing of thxleo's sentiment, but I'm not a sensitive little princess who can't handle a touch of the Troll-blood in one of my fellow poster's genealogy. If such turns of phrase bring a little joy to Thxleo's heart, awesome. Cost me nothing, so hey great if he got something out of that.

No hard feelings Thxleo. Perhaps you're just someone who favors a blunt turn of phrase. If so, I can respect that as someone who often dispenses with tact whenever it damn well suits my mood.

But thanks DJ. Felt the love :)

Edit: Guys & Gals, this is a molehill in the process of swelling into a mountain. Let's just ease back, stand down the bombers and breathe. This = SO not worth a quarrel. Shots have been fired and fire has been returned. Let's call it a skirmish ending in a draw due to parity of forces and tactically unsound conditions under which to continue. Peace, brothers and sisters in Undead Love.

[JDFP]

As for the racist....it's Atlanta, dude. They're everywhere.:p

You think so? It certainly wasn't my experience when I lived in Gwinnett Co. (Duluth). Then again, DeKalb/Cobb might be different when it comes to that -- and I only lived there for a little over a year. But, it wasn't my experience while I was there at all. Duluth was one of the most culturally accepting places I've ever been.

I agree that the introduction of the "typical bigot" was completely cliched. The actor played it off well in one of those faux-Southern ways though that Hollywood is typical for (just like picturing everyone from Boston as speaking like "pahk the cah in the gahahge".)

j.p.

[bassman]

You think so? It certainly wasn't my experience when I lived in Gwinnett Co. (Duluth). Then again, DeKalb/Cobb might be different when it comes to that -- and I only lived there for a little over a year. But, it wasn't my experience while I was there at all. Duluth was one of the most culturally accepting places I've ever been.


Yeah. Lived here my entire life, so i've met quite a few Dixon type racists. It's pathetic, really. I learned a long time ago that it's best to just let them be that way. If you try to shut them down they''ll turn on you extremely fast. And there's nothing worse than being on the bad side of a 300 pound redneck named Bubba with a gun rack in his truck....

[thxleo]

No hard feelings Thxleo. Perhaps you're just someone who favors a blunt turn of phrase. If so, I can respect that as someone who often dispenses with tact whenever it damn well suits my mood.


Why would there be hard feelings to begin with?

---------- Post added at 11:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:43 AM ----------


Yeah. Lived here my entire life, so i've met quite a few Dixon type racists. It's pathetic, really. I learned a long time ago that it's best to just let them be that way. If you try to shut them down they''ll turn on you extremely fast. And there's nothing worse than being on the bad side of a 300 pound redneck named Bubba with a gun rack in his truck....

I was born and raised in Savannah, GA and I lived there until my early 30's. I never met anyone that was like the Dixon character at all.
It's funny how nobody noticed when the black lady said to Grimes to let the "cracker" whip T-Dog's ass next time, after T-Dog makes the dead puppies and kittens comment. Of course the only people on earth that could be racist are white people. The idea of a minority race being bigoted is just absurd. Right?

[AcesandEights]

I actually quite enjoyed the episode. It felt like the pacing was off somehow, but I definitely sat up for a number of scenes (escaping the tank, dismemberment, fleeing the store, walking amongst the dead). I also think the "let's add a white racist" tack was cliched, but it was handled alright.

And whoever said Glenn was played well was right, that was spot on and well done!


And there's nothing worse than being on the bad side of a 300 pound redneck named Bubba with a gun rack....

Oh, jeez, time to plumb the depths of Bassman's scarred psyche again. Tell us all about Bubba and the Bad Touch, Bass...
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_94wGm5Prdv0/SXFCDzEOfHI/AAAAAAAAAPo/SilFX6_lFXk/s400/Conrad+Veidt.jpg

:p

[shootemindehead]

It's funny how nobody noticed when the black lady said to Grimes to let the "cracker" whip T-Dog's ass next time, after T-Dog makes the dead puppies and kittens comment. Of course the only people on earth that could be racist are white people. The idea of a minority race being bigoted is just absurd. Right?

I actually did notice that and felt it was just a cliched as the other stupid characters.

My bigger problem with her, is that she's in the show at all. None of those "new" characters belong there. 'The Walking Dead' is getting too cluttered, too quickly with insignificant nobodies and we're only 2 shows in.

[LouCipherr]

There's a racist and a bigot living on every street, everywhere in the world. It's not surprising they ran into one on the show...

[ProfessorChaos]

so nobody else picked up on t-dog accidentally kicking over the tools when he was running back towards dixon? the hacksaw was in the shot, scattered amongst all the tools. i've got a pretty solid feeling that dixon's going to manage to reach it and free himself and cause problems in the future by returning to the camp or if, as some have suggested, rick and others return for the guns and maybe even dixon. neither of these characters were in the comics, so i'm clueless as to where this story arc is heading.

gotta say, i was shocked to see the degree to which the race dynamic played out and hear the n-bomb dropped like that. while i don't deny that racists are out there and many (but definitely not all, as is often suggested) are white trash asshats like dixon, it's almost a cliche. kinda why i was so let down by dead rising 2's story-mode, nearly every single psychopath you encountered was a redneck racist white guy. yeah, it happens, but other races have their dickheads, too. and who's gonna dwell on petty divisions like that in the middle of a zombie epidemic? an even better point was brought up (a page back, can't remember by who, but hat's off to the poster) about not sending a loose cannon like dixon on a scavenging trip anyway. maybe he didn't show his true colors till he was under great stress, but still it's not an aspect of the story i was surprised, or thrilled, for that matter, to see.

as for the rest of the episode, shane and lori's tryst in the woods does seem a bit careless and selfish, but who knows how any of us would behave/conduct ourselves in such a world and predicament. and it's not been revealed how well lori and shane knew one another prior to the outbreak, how much either of them is aware of rick's condition, etc. but damn, i can't believe how steamy their foreplay scene was, that shit was more intense than anything on mad men, a show about rich, successful businessmen in the sexist 60's banging their secretaries, call girls, stewardesses, daughter's teachers, etc... crazy how far AMC is pushing the envelope with this program.

and speaking of which, that scene with the axe was fucking graphic, also shocked to see that. thought it was well-handled, though. at least rick (and the show) took time to acknowledge it was a person with a real life once they were about to brutalize and mutilate. as for the zombie walk itself, i also thought they did this well. it wasn't corny or gimmicky like shaun of the dead (which is a comedy, so it's irrelevant how they handled it) but very tense and creepy. this is another iconic part of the comics, like the horse debate some were having last week. while it's debatable about rick's decision and whether it could/would be the best idea, it's something fans of the comics would be pissed if they left out.

i can look past little things like key fobs hot-wiring new cars, like aces said, it was simply product placement and a selling point for chargers gm could put out there: you can't really do that to one of our cars, hint, hint$$$! so no biggie in my book. i was mesmerized by that point and had lost track of time, but once i saw glen ( a great character, both in the comics and the actor portraying him on screen) tearing down the abandoned highway, whooping it up, i realized the show was gonna stop there. and that's the only part that really stood out to me as being a real let-down.

so far, i'm standing by what i've already said, this show is already heaps more entertaining and intriguing to me than any of romero's recent works. as a fan of the comics, i'm pleased by what they've done so far, even with a few new twists here and there. and we've got a great thing going here, a big-budget tv series with zombies on a network known for it's great original programs. very eager to see many more episodes of this.

EDIT: if you've made it this far, thanks for reading. i realize that was a doozy of a post, but i had a lot to say. looking forward to any (sensible) discussions/debates on the above observations.

[DrSiN]

While I liked the episode, but agree that it wasn't as good as the first. I think the problem was it felt really rushed. They had 1/3 less time and tried to introduce a lot of new characters. The changes they made to the story work well in my opinion even though the scene with Dixon was very stereotypical. It did however serve it's purpose in setting Rick up as a I won't stop at anything bad ass.

Rick and Glen's walk though the crowd was awesome. It didn't feel comical at all. In fact, it felt really good to me. In fact the action in general was great. I also liked the progression of the zombies. They aren't 28 days later or Dawn 2K4 but they are fearsome.

As for Shane, they are setting him up just like the book. In the Comic he was a weak, timid leader. I'm getting the same vibe from him here as well.

---------- Post added at 01:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:04 PM ----------

Oh and say for all of the new characters.. red shirts in a zombie movie are important.

[Mr_Shadow]

New characters to me = zombie food for later

[MikePizzoff]

I actually did notice that and felt it was just a cliched as the other stupid characters.

My bigger problem with her, is that she's in the show at all. None of those "new" characters belong there. 'The Walking Dead' is getting too cluttered, too quickly with insignificant nobodies and we're only 2 shows in.

I agree with everything you've been saying throughout this thread. However, I feel like [hoping] the sole reason for including the new characters is just to have a giant zombie feast sometime in the very near future.

EDIT: as Mr_Shadow beat me to it.

[darth los]

That's how heroes started to feel after a while. Way too many minor characters detracting from the main story.

:cool:

[Trencher]

I liked the episode. I don't see why not an zombie should be able to snatch a rat, after all the zombie is dead and if its lying still the rat will come to it. As for T-dog and racist douche both characters were stereotypes and rather unnecessary and the thing with the key was overly dramatic. However I thought the actors were good and maybe with a little time they can go beyond stereotype and be a little more interesting. Strangely almost every character we get introduced to except Glen is in your face aggressive gr-grrr at first. Also Lori of all people are ready to charge into the zombie horde all the time? Wtf?

[shootemindehead]

I agree with everything you've been saying throughout this thread. However, I feel like [hoping] the sole reason for including the new characters is just to have a giant zombie feast sometime in the very near future.

EDIT: as Mr_Shadow beat me to it.

Yeh, I'm with Shadow and yourself.

Can't wait to see those new "Red Shirts" become zombie food.




http://asset.soup.io/asset/0915/6643_a203.jpeg

[Gryphon]

Rick and Glen's walk though the crowd was awesome. It didn't feel comical at all. In fact, it felt really good to me. In fact the action in general was great. I also liked the progression of the zombies. They aren't 28 days later or Dawn 2K4 but they are fearsome. .

Agreed. The zombie-disguise part was one of my favorite parts of the show.. and when the thunder clapped, I was like 'oh shit...' Yeah, I never read the comic, so it's all new to me :D


As for Shane, they are setting him up just like the book. In the Comic he was a weak, timid leader. I'm getting the same vibe from him here as well.

He's a selfish, shortsighted prat and he needs to be Walker Chow. :elol:

[rongravy]

Not sure if it is mentioned but OK, how come they can't climb ladders, but can climb fences like they was running from the po-po?
Not a big deal, I let it go like them disguised as zombies.

It was funny when the redneck was holding an "election" after the smackdown and he was the only one that wasn't a minority. Cliched, indeed.

[sandrock74]

It was funny when the redneck was holding an "election" after the smackdown and he was the only one that wasn't a minority. Cliched, indeed.

Rick isn't a minority either.

[Mitchified]

The same goes for Andrea.

[Neil]

I enjoyed the episode, but the idea of them covering themselves in the gutts just felt wrong to me. I also didn't for one second believe the rain would wash that 'stink' off!

Good episode though. Still hoping for the bar to be raised up a bit though.

[bassman]

I also didn't for one second believe the rain would wash that 'stink' off!


Especially when you consider that they had feet and hands tied around their necks by intestines. The rain wasn't going to wash THOSE off...
I dunno. The zombies seemed like they knew something was up, anyway. Maybe the rain washed off just enough for that one to fully realize it was a trick.

And how did you already see it, Neil?:sneaky:

[Zombie Snack]

yea what TWD needs is a good old zombie pie fight..that would be sooo much more fathonable than the stank being washed away

[bassman]

What does the pie fight have to do with anything?

[Mitchified]

yea what TWD needs is a good old zombie pie fight..that would be sooo much more fathonable than the stank being washed away

Reusing an awful moment from the past? That's just being silly. Now, a cake fight, on the other hand...

[Trencher]

Not sure if it is mentioned but OK, how come they can't climb ladders, but can climb fences like they was running from the po-po?
Not a big deal, I let it go like them disguised as zombies.

It was funny when the redneck was holding an "election" after the smackdown and he was the only one that wasn't a minority. Cliched, indeed.
Did you see the woman giving him the finger? LoL that was funny.

[darth los]

What does the pie fight have to do with anything?

I believe it was an attempt to show that GAr has done even sillier, unfathomable things.

Now, while the piefight was obviously toungue in cheek, the "guts" were not.

That implies that the zombies senses are still functioning.

It seemed to me that they were a little too "alive".

:cool:

[bassman]

If I had to pick one as being mroe silly than the other....it's the zombies having a sense of smell. That's more outlandish than the bikers being overly confident...

[darth los]

If I had to pick one as being mroe silly than the other....it's the zombies having a sense of smell. That's more outlandish than the bikers being overly confident...

Exactly.

If they have a sense of smell then why not sense of touch? That would imply the feel things and by the way they can take punishment that doesn't seem likely.

:cool:

[BillyRay]

If they have a sense of smell then why not sense of touch? That would imply the feel things and by the way they can take punishment that doesn't seem likely.



Devil's Advocate here.

Why Not?

Kirkman hasn't gone very deep into zombie physiology in the Graphic Novels & it's only a couple eps in the series.

In most films, Zombies operate "like us, only less efficiently". I've never seen that really elaborated on. I suppose that if you get into scientific detail about How Zombies Work you'll hit the brick wall of "Zombies don't actually exist".

But it seems if the Living Dead are ambulatory, and have other residual sensory input (sight, smell, hearing) that the sense of touch (and poss. taste - yech) is also probable. Makes sense - if they couldn't "feel" anyhing they would stumble over more things, walk into walls and keep shuffling in place, etc.

I'm not saying they feel Pain, per se, although it would be an interesting development...

(Kind of why Return of the Living Dead bugs me the way it does. The only promise of Life After Death is feeling yourself slowly rot; the pain of which is only aleviated by eating the brains of the living. Theologically, it's the most horrifying idea to come out of any Zombie film I've ever seen. Kinda kills the comedy aspect for me.)

[darth los]

I get the devil's advocate angle but after pumping an enire clip of M-16 ammo into one of them and it having no effect I'd say they don't feel anything.

Pick any movie you wish and watch one of them taking handgun slugs to the body. The only observable effect is the bullet pressure driving them back.

Nothing that remotely looks painfull or causing them discomfort.

:cool:

[BillyRay]

Well, unlike the movies, a gunshot is generally not going to knock you off your feet. So I'm not seeing the problem.

Now I'm not arguing that these Zeds have a particularly good sense of touch, just enough (however "numb") to register the world around them. Being shot would probably not ellicit much reaction.

Not even an "Owwww...heeeeyyyyy...."

[Gryphon]

If I had to pick one as being mroe silly than the other....it's the zombies having a sense of smell. That's more outlandish than the bikers being overly confident...

Well, my turn to be Devil's Advocate... how else is a dead thing, which virtually no powers of cognitive thought, to tell 'food' from 'that other dead bloke walking next to me'? Smell seems to be the only logical way of doing that. Instinct and all. Though I will admit the one dead girl that heard them talking, and was put off by Glen's grunts was a bit more cognitive reaction than I would have expected. Sight and hearing require more thought to interpret than smell does. Smell is one of, if not THE, most basic and instinctual of senses.

[rongravy]

Rick isn't a minority either.
He was off to the side waiting to smash him down, I meant the ones he was yelling at. Sorry.

The same goes for Andrea.
She is a woman. I meant it that way. Sorry.

[darth los]

Smell is one of, if not THE, most basic and instinctual of senses.

Wait a minute... I just farted....Yep you're right.

:cool:

[Wyldwraith]

Maybe you're ALL on the right track,
What if Zombie "Prey Recognition" is based on multiple pieces of information, that when COMBINED trigger an attack? For example: Zombies tend to move very slowly, with many of their muscles slack and their balance seeming a bit off. This could be what we call "The Sight Factor". Ie: Zombie instinct tells them that two-legs who move like them aren't likely food. Zombies tend to reek of gore/blood and waste, with an element of rot. Again, pre-programmed instinct could flag this as "The Scent Factor", in which that which smells rotten and gore-covered like them is not food. Moving along, zombie instinct recognizes that other zombies make short, or at best long single-note/sound/pitch noises, such as groans/wheezes/growls. Making sounds imitative of these could fool the "Sound Factor" of their instinct.

Finally, like many predators, zombie instinct may have a trigger that says "If it runs/tries to avoid me/us, it's food." Much like turning your back and moving away from a big cat, or running from an aggressive dog can move the encounter from a tense expression of hostility to an outright attack.

Taking this theory to its logical conclusion, Individual(s) who a) Move like zombies, b) Reek like zombies, c) Sound like zombies, and, finally, Don't try to evade the zombies, and remain calm as they continue to mimic the Sight/Sound/Scent-based zombie behaviors Could very well avoid triggering an attack/predatory response from the zombies around them since at that moment nothing about them fits the profile in the Undead Instinct Template of what they (the zombies) identify as prey.

Non-sentient/unthinking or not, the zombies MUST BE able to discriminate between their own kind and live human prey. If they didn't have such a capacity then every zombie who died of a very minor bite (that they later sickened, died and reanimated due to) and ISN'T covered in gore because it hasn't succeeded in acquiring a Prey-item would get mobbed and chewed on by their own kind.

One way or another, understood or not, it's only common sense that such undead predators must have a prey-recognition capacity. If it's a basic multi-part mechanism like the theoretical one I explained, all well and good because it's simple enough. However, what if it's a less cut and dried or more complex mechanism that you either can't reason out and thus evade the basis of, or one which you can do nothing about?

For example, what if the zombies have become sensitive to the "aura"/electromagnetic field which can be visually captured by Kirlian Photography, or even (like sharks) are in possession of a sensitivity to the bio-electrical discharges and the resultant low-level corona of energy created by the actions/movement of living muscles? If that was the case, it would explain the infamous but inexplicable ability of zombies to somehow "sniff out" structures in which multiple human beings are trying to law low inside of, wouldn't it?

So there's plenty of potential ways a zombie could identify prey without having the reasoning power of a field mouse. Conversely, like everything else perception-related, the more complex the zombie's prey-recognition mechanism is, the more potential means of defeating/misleading it that exist.

So no, didn't have a prob with "fooling" the zombies during Rick and Glen's "zombie walk"....course that's just personal taste.

[darth los]

Yes but having the guts on them didn't make them look like zombies. It just made them look like, well, humans with guts on them.

That being the case it would imply that smell is the determining factor by which they distinguish their prey.

:cool:

[shootemindehead]

If I had to pick one as being mroe silly than the other....it's the zombies having a sense of smell. That's more outlandish than the bikers being overly confident...

It's not only a sense of smell.

It's a sense of smell so powerful that they can "smell" a living person from a dead person, even in a mass of dead people.

It's a bloody stupid idea.

In fact I rank it up there with the 100 yard dash zombies from Yawn 04.

[Trencher]

If I were blind and standing in a pack of zombies, I would not only be eaten but I would not be able to smell living people besides me. So if the smell is key then they have a better sense of smell than humans. However I think a combination of all the senses are necessary for a zombie to discern who is a zombie and who is dinner. Sight, smell and sound. They dont need to be stupid when it comes to noticing humans, they could be like autistics good at some thing but bad at other things.

[Gemini]

Who's to say that the plague does not cause some olfactory mutation by which they can detect living flesh from dead?

Is that so far fetched? I mean, we're already talking about the dead walking...

[Wyldwraith]

Umm,
Not to be confrontational, but didn't I just suggest a multi-faceted Prey Recognition mechanism as a possible explanation of how zombies determine who to chew and who to ignore/stagger alongside of in search of someone to chew?

That, and if a virus were going to mutate an undead's capabilities far beyond the human extreme in some respect, the mechanisms I mentioned would be far more efficient than simply an acute sense of smell that would be CONSTANTLY barraged/smothered by the smell of rot, gore and decay.

I still put forward that if it isn't a COMBINATION of Sight/Sound/Smell at work, then it's something even more precise and indisputable. I have difficulty blaming just scent though, else why as many have pointed out did a bit of rain make the critical difference? After all, we don't see zombies mass-attacking either other during every rainstorm. Something ELSE in whole or part must be the trigger identifying prey.

[shootemindehead]

Well, as somebody once said "Death is a disability, it's not a superpower".

It's a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly.

They're rotting re-animated corpses, not uber monsters. How they "sense" their prey should be simple. It's the guy whose running away from them. That's the only thing they need to spring them into a frenzy. They shouldn't be able to smell things that would be impossible for a fully functional human being and they shouldn't be able to run the 4 minute mile. They also shouldn't have x-ray vision, invisibility or be able to fly.

They're supposed to be dead flesh, that's still rotting away...

...and that should include their olfactory nerves.


The bottom line is, is that it was was just an ill-thought out concept from Kirkman.

[Gryphon]

There's also another possibility... that the characters and audience assumed that the Walkers were sensing pray based on a sense of smell, but they actually weren't. Would explain why the rain (or more likely, the running) did somehow cause the breathers to become detected, even though that wouldn't have really affected their scent. :) People make incorrect assumptions all the time that have a desired effect, but because of a different reason than the people think.

[AcesandEights]

Water + sonar-capable zombies = location of future victims ;)

[bassman]

gryphon's got a good point and I had considered that as well. Maybe rick was wrong and it wasn't smell at all. Hell....as someone else mentioned, maybe it was just because they were acting dead much like the characters in Shaun. I'm only up to about issue 25 in the comics, but I believe it's never really settled in there either(the part this scene is based on, anyway). Rick believes it's the smell, but maybe it's just because they were creeping along at a dead man's pace rather than running and screaming...

[ProfessorChaos]

well, didn't think this was worthy of starting another thread, but AMC has apparently decided to cancel their original series, rubicon. i never bothered watching a single episode and it didn't look at all interesting to me. so that's cool, now i won't have to ever sit down and watch all the first season to catch up on it.

and this means a bigger budget for AMC's other great original series', those being The Walking Dead, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad.

[bassman]

I've never heard of anyone really caring about Rubicon. It's always like "Breaking Bad and Mad Men are phenomenal! Never seen that Rubi-whatsit." :lol:


I don't even remember ever seeing it on the air. When did air? Three in the morning? Or maybe they just never advertised it...

[AcesandEights]

I've never heard of anyone really caring about Rubicon.

I remember hearing how thoroughly unimpressed a few of my friends were with Rubicon, too, and I just never gave it a chance.

[ProfessorChaos]

it aired during the normal timeslot for their originals shows, sundays at 10/9c. its first (and only) season aired this year between season 3 of breaking bad and season 4 of mad men.

[Gemini]

anyone know how the episode 2 ratings did?

[bassman]

anyone know how the episode 2 ratings did?

http://forum.homepageofthedead.com/showthread.php?17945-Ratings-hit!

Slight drop from the pilot, but not enough to really notice. Very impressive.

[Gemini]

http://forum.homepageofthedead.com/showthread.php?17945-Ratings-hit!

Slight drop from the pilot, but not enough to really notice. Very impressive.

Nice, thanks.

[Trencher]

Umm,
Not to be confrontational, but didn't I just suggest a multi-faceted Prey Recognition mechanism as a possible explanation of how zombies determine who to chew and who to ignore/stagger alongside of in search of someone to chew?


Yes it was a good post. I was also talking about the intelligence factor not just the senses.

[Trin]

I thought Ep 2 was full of warts. It's still entertaining but I found it wanting.

The bad...
1) Shane is a jerk. They're way overdoing his jerkyness. He's become an uninteresting character and he's draggin Lori down with him. I honestly do not care one iota about the camper people.
2) Dixon was ridiculous. I don't care if that guy exists in real life. It was an uninteresting angle and a predictable cliche character. Might as well hand Glen a camera and make him say harro.
3) Yes, leaving Dixon handcuffed with the hacksaw nearby is obvious foreshadowing. I hope it doesn't turn into anything. He just needs to die up there. Like the horse did.
4) Dousing yourself in zombie guts and walking past them. No. Please lord no. Is that where we are now? They looked ridiculous. The actors trying to act that way looked ridiculous. The characters looked ridiculous. The zombies trying to pretend they don't notice them but kinda do notice them looked... oh, I give up.

The neutral...
1) I was having a hard time buying that they were screwed. There didn't look like enough zombies to really be a total no-win. I kinda felt like the two guys with bats could beat a path through them. However, once Rick and Glen were running it became obvious that the zombies could run pretty fast too. I hadn't really realized that.
2) The N word. I feel it's AMC trying to shock us. "We showed you a kid getting headshot. We showed you a body getting axe'd to pieces. AND we're gonna use the N word. Oh, yeah, that's us, we're bad." Not a big deal, but it felt forced and unnecessary.

On the opposing...
1) I liked T-Dog. He was complex enough to rise above a racial stereotype.
2) Glen was pretty awesome.
3) The creepy trapped feeling was nice. That "how would I get out" feeling was pretty darned good. It's been a long time...

Oh, and I just have to say it... how amazing is it that they found the ONLY 2 VEHICLES in the WORLD that still had gas??? :p:D:sneaky:

[bassman]

The bad...
1) Shane is a jerk. They're way overdoing his jerkyness. He's become an uninteresting character and he's draggin Lori down with him. I honestly do not care one iota about the camper people.

They're kicking it in a bit early in the tv series, but I think it matches up great with the character from the comics. If you don't agree with the character now, you're in for a big let down later on.

As for the gas....who says those were the only two cars? I imagine a bunch of cars in the city still have gas. In the comics, they're constantly syphoning gas out of cars they come upon...

[Mitchified]

I was actually more shocked that the car batteries hadn't lost their charge.

T-Dog is only an acceptable character if he is NOT replacing Tyreese. If it is a replacement, I swear that I'll never watch the show again.

...Okay, I'll keep watching the show, but I'll shake my first at the screen a couple of times while saying, "You're not Tyreese!"

[Trencher]

Shane is much more of a jerk in the TV series than in the comic but he also get more Tv time. It will be interesting to see if the writers can save the dynamic between Shane and Rick if they can at all. Lori... My god what have they done to that woman. She went from having done some mistakes to becoming the sluttiest of sluts. She risks her own life to get some of Shane, in this TV series she should stay with Shane even if Rick makes it to her.

[ProfessorChaos]

yes, hopefully t-dog is NOT tyrese. in the comics, tyrese isn't met till later on, but i realize they are deviating from main storyline a bit.

it can't be tyrese....there's no way tyrese would've got his ass kicked by dixon. no way.

[AcesandEights]

I thought Ep 2 was full of warts. It's still entertaining but I found it wanting.

The bad...
1) Shane is a jerk. They're way overdoing his jerkyness. He's become an uninteresting character and he's draggin Lori down with him. I honestly do not care one iota about the camper people.
I agree they may be overplaying that hand a bit, but I hope they will bring things back around to paint a fuller picture of his character in time. We'll see how it plays out compared to the comic.


2) Dixon was ridiculous. I don't care if that guy exists in real life. It was an uninteresting angle and a predictable cliche character. Might as well hand Glen a camera and make him say harro.
It was a bit cliche, eh? Still, doesn't bother me per se.


3) Yes, leaving Dixon handcuffed with the hacksaw nearby is obvious foreshadowing. I hope it doesn't turn into anything. He just needs to die up there. Like the horse did.
Well, he's in the series now, so I hope he's used well as things progress, regardless of what happens with him.


4) Dousing yourself in zombie guts and walking past them. No. Please lord no. Is that where we are now? They looked ridiculous. The actors trying to act that way looked ridiculous. The characters looked ridiculous. The zombies trying to pretend they don't notice them but kinda do notice them looked... oh, I give up.
This clearly did not bother me the way it did a few people here. It opens up some serious questions about how TWD zeds work, but not a big deal for me.


The neutral...
Ok.

1) I was having a hard time buying that they were screwed. There didn't look like enough zombies to really be a total no-win. I kinda felt like the two guys with bats could beat a path through them. However, once Rick and Glen were running it became obvious that the zombies could run pretty fast too. I hadn't really realized that. I think being in the city and having seen the way zeds can swarm pretty quickly in the tank scenario and how dangerous the zombies can be riled up, the still somewhat soft humans were right to feel a bit of the 'oh shit!' given their situation.



2) The N word. I feel it's AMC trying to shock us. "We showed you a kid getting headshot. We showed you a body getting axe'd to pieces. AND we're gonna use the N word. Oh, yeah, that's us, we're bad." Not a big deal, but it felt forced and unnecessary.
I agree this may very well be the intent for going the racial angle so early on. It was pretty cliche and ham handed and would have been much better for something like this to crop up later amongst established characters, which would add to an actual sense of drama were they going to go this route at all.


On the opposing...


1) I liked T-Dog. He was complex enough to rise above a racial stereotype.
The character is okay, but not if he is supposed to be the early introduction of a different character from the comic, which would piss me off--as they will have drastically changed the persona.

2) Glen was pretty awesome.
Completely agree.

3) The creepy trapped feeling was nice. That "how would I get out" feeling was pretty darned good. It's been a long time...
Yeah, I liked it, and especially liked the evac out of the building into the truck, I was on the edge of my seat for that.


Oh, and I just have to say it... how amazing is it that they found the ONLY 2 VEHICLES in the WORLD that still had gas??? :p:D:sneaky:
Oh, there was some gas out there, even though the pumps ran dry in certain areas (as we had seen), a lot of cars would just have been left or never returned to by their former owners (abandoned by choice or by way of the former owner having died).

"Do I take my work truck, or the sportscar? Truck, okay. Do I siphon off the 1/4 tank of gas from the sportscar? No, don't have the time, gotta get out of here."

[Neil]

I was actually more shocked that the car batteries hadn't lost their charge.
Car batteries should last months!!?

[bassman]

Car batteries should last months!!?

Yeah. And it's only been roughly a month since it all started. Batteries should be just fine...

[Mitchified]

See, I was under the impression that it had been longer than a month since it all started. Now, this assumption was going off of the comics, not the show, since the show was fairly vague about it.

In the comics, Morgan makes the comment that all media shut down after a few weeks, and that he hasn't heard any word from anyone since. That combined with how much some of the zombies have decayed always gave me the impression that we're talking three or four months since everything started. Plus there was Lori's, erm, "mistake" with Shane, and given her personality in the comics I can't imagine that happened almost immediately after the zombie outbreak began.

Hence the comment about the car batteries. I was surprised that the cars just started right up after being hotwired. If I missed something in the show that changed the timeline, then whoops.

[BillyRay]

Hence the comment about the car batteries. I was surprised that the cars just started right up after being hotwired. If I missed something in the show that changed the timeline, then whoops.

http://images.nearbynow.com/productimages/sears/7d/003c427d_360x360.jpg

[darth los]

Yeah, I liked it, and especially liked the evac out of the building into the truck, I was on the edge of my seat for that.[/I]


And for all the disagreements we have on the series even at this early stage, this is the prize.

Seriously, when was the last time a zombie movie made you do that?

Me and my kids were actually sitting there like "Oh god, oh god. They're not gonna make it!?!"

And that my friends is priceless. That's what we watch the 100 crappy zombie films for. If it's just to get a sliver of this stuff. With the hope that if only one out of the hundred can elicit feelings like that.

:cool:

[Trin]

As for the gas....who says those were the only two cars? I imagine a bunch of cars in the city still have gas. In the comics, they're constantly syphoning gas out of cars they come upon...That was tongue in cheek since I got shouted down over saying that he shoulda been able to find gas when he took the horse. Everyone said all the cars would be outta gas.

After seeing the "wearing zombie guts" angle I'm getting better with the horse all the time. :p

[Gryphon]

See, I was under the impression that it had been longer than a month since it all started. Now, this assumption was going off of the comics, not the show, since the show was fairly vague about it.

In the comics, Morgan makes the comment that all media shut down after a few weeks, and that he hasn't heard any word from anyone since. That combined with how much some of the zombies have decayed always gave me the impression that we're talking three or four months since everything started. Plus there was Lori's, erm, "mistake" with Shane, and given her personality in the comics I can't imagine that happened almost immediately after the zombie outbreak began.

Hence the comment about the car batteries. I was surprised that the cars just started right up after being hotwired. If I missed something in the show that changed the timeline, then whoops.

Good points, but then again, how long does a bullet-wound take to heal so that it no longer needs fresh bandages? I would think month-->6 weeks tops. Course, I've never had a bullet wound :)


And for all the disagreements we have on the series even at this early stage, this is the prize.

Seriously, when was the last time a zombie movie made you do that?

Me and my kids were actually sitting there like "Oh god, oh god. They're not gonna make it!?!"

And that my friends is priceless. That's what we watch the 100 crappy zombie films for. If it's just to get a sliver of this stuff. With the hope that if only one out of the hundred can elicit feelings like that.

:cool:

Exactly! 100% Agree. Molto bene! :D

[Mitchified]

The problem with coming up with a firm timeline is that we don't know so many of the details. How bad was the extent of the damage to Rick? Most bullet wounds wouldn't cause a coma if it was a clean shot, so if there was a bunch of internal damage (enough to cause a coma) the bandages might have been from whatever surgeries had to be performed. We can't even go off of how long he was attended to by the hospital staff because there's no indication given for how long the hospital has been abandoned. In fact, if we're going off of the fact that Rick's wound was no longer severe enough to stop him from walking, riding a bike, or shooting a gun one-handed without causing extreme pain to himself, I'd wager that it was at least a couple of months after he had been shot, probably more. The problem is we don't know when the zombie apocalypse itself started.

The only clues are the ones that I mentioned before, and it's really the quote from Morgan that made me think that it's been a substantial amount of time since the zombie outbreak began. Here's the exact quote:

"All media shut down after a few weeks. I haven't heard much of anything after that."

If it had been someone recent of an occurrence, Morgan would have more than likely said something like, "All media shut down a few weeks ago." It's a small difference, but it completely changes the implication of the sentence. I might be looking far too much into it, but that's where I got my assumptions about the timeline.

[Tricky]

Just finished watching this episode, great as far as I'm concerned, still setting the scene & bringing in characters! The Zombie getting its head split by Ricks axe was pretty grim, as well as the dismembering scene! One thing though, if zombies are dead and therefore not breathing, how do they smell? But I guess when living people sniff something, they physically suck air in through the nose rather than the automatic action of regular breathing, so they could still do it, thats how I rationalised that part in my mind anyway :)

Oh, and good to hear the Black Strobe track from "Rocknrolla" getting an outing in TWD! :cool:
7hdL65J8m9A

[Andy]

Just finished watching this episode, great as far as I'm concerned, still setting the scene & bringing in characters! The Zombie getting its head split by Ricks axe was pretty grim, as well as the dismembering scene! One thing though, if zombies are dead and therefore not breathing, how do they smell? But I guess when living people sniff something, they physically suck air in through the nose rather than the automatic action of regular breathing, so they could still do it, thats how I rationalised that part in my mind anyway :)

Yeah i beleive the zombie survival guide says that the lungs of a zombie function so far as they are capable of drawing air in and out, allowing zombies to smell things and make their signiture groans, but provide no further function, they dont take anything anything from the air they 'breath' in, allowing them to function just as well underwater or even without the lungs altogether. Sounds like a reasonable enough explaination to me.

Anyway, i loved part 2, it was brilliant and consistant with part 1, it kept the mood, the zombies were fantastic, i loved the 'covering each other in guts to mask the smell' taken straight from the comics and i loved seeing grant grant from slither on the roof.
Its just what i needed to see to restore some faith in modern media and without starting a debate up here, i really think somebody needs to sit romero in from of this series and say to him, this is what your fans want you to make for fucks sake.

[bassman]

Its just what i needed to see to restore some faith in modern media and without starting a debate up here, i really think somebody needs to sit romero in from of this series and say to him, this is what your fans want you to make for fucks sake.

We may have had our differences in the past, Andy....but fuck yeah. Fuck. Yeah.:thumbsup:

[ProfessorChaos]

goddamn, that's almost signature worthy, andy.....fuck it, it is signature-worthy. hope you don't mind.

for all this series' "flaws", i've seen nothing as ridiculous or unbelievable as half the silly shit in romero's last few films.

[Andy]

goddamn, that's almost signature worthy, andy.....fuck it, it is signature-worthy. hope you don't mind.

for all this series' "flaws", i've seen nothing as ridiculous or unbelievable as half the silly shit in romero's last few films.

Not at all, but i really do mean it.

If romero had been directing TWD, the first part would of had rick walk into town with a giant crossbow, then some zombies ride horses at him, he takes refuge in the tank while the zombies surround him throwing stones at the tank but then he would of figured out how to use it and driven away from them, met up with glenn and the other survivors on the other side of town, left the tank for absolutly no reason and got trapped in the store where they go up to roof and find the sniper dead becuase the zombies have sniper rifles too and they shoot back, so they all run back inside where a zombie janitor is trying various keys to open the glass doors at the front so they dont have much time, they run down to the basement to the sewer but there's a metal door stopping them going in the sewer so rick has a great idea, he drives the tank down there and through the metal gate, and they all escape in the tank with the zombies on horses chasing them, shooting at them.

That coule be the plot of the next romero movie actually...

[MinionZombie]

My thoughts on episode two - http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2010/11/walking-dead-episode-two-guts-thoughts.html


Week two of the rather spiffing television adaptation of The Walking Dead comic books delivers on the gore and the action in spades. Picking up where the first episode left off, with Rick trapped in a tank surrounded by walkers, we're immediately off to a thunderous start.

Within minutes we've seen the 'Hinzman hobbler' zombies pose a real, armchair-gripping threat, and been introduced properly to Glenn (played pitch-perfectly by Steven Yeun) - who goes on to provide the best lines and the most fun throughout this episode, which boasts an impressive mixture of serious issues, horror, humour and moments of gruesome gore (such as the titular scene, re-worked somewhat from the source material).

Similar to the first episode, some of the zombies - at times - can seem a bit too spry, but I guess these are the vagaries of wrangling a whole cast of zombie extras on a production. I'm sure over time they will really find their footing to create a consistent shambler for the series.

Branching out in a slightly different direction, character wise, from the source material, episode two introduces us to some new faces - such as Michael Rooker's racist redneck Dixon, who gets into a bit of a fuss with African American T-Dog, which establishes a story arc that we'll see play out in future episodes.

Speaking of these newly introduced characters, some of them feel a bit useless - only there to provide a piece of information and then just to become bystanders (I'm thinking along the lines of Jacqui and Morales, who don't do an awful lot here). Then again the comic books (in particular Volume 2 of the trade paperbacks) had their fair share of bystander characters who weren't of much use - perhaps we'll see these characters expand in future episodes, but with so many other characters at the camp site that we've not been introduced to yet, I do wonder if we really need this many side characters. It would be nice if some of these side characters actually had names, or had their names said more than once, so we could at least identify with, and refer to, them by more than just what they look like.

More impressive though is the sense of scale, as our protagonists desperately try to figure a way out of the zombie infested city, and the aforementioned titular scene in which Rick and Glenn have to make themselves smell like the zombies to avoid detection as they go in search of means of escape.

This is the sort of thing that The Walking Dead handles really well - the sort of situations and ideas that we zombie fans (or "zed heads") like to discuss on internet forums and chatrooms to the nth degree. To see these 'what if' and 'how would you' scenarios play out on screen is a real joy - speaking of which, Glenn zooming around in a brand new Dodge Challenger? So much fun!

So with a considerable amount of action, and future plotline establishing, handled in this episode, I'm looking forward to the next one, which will no doubt really get into the meat of the character interplay as we finally get to see everyone come together and really get to explore the camp site set-up and characters. Although that said, the main scene between Shane and Lori was impressively worked with a deft hand and sense of subtlety.

This is shaping up to be an excellent series.

Thoughts on Episode One here - http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2010/11/walking-dead-episode-one-days-gone-bye.html

[shootemindehead]

Yep, agree with a lot of that.

I watched ep 2 again and I'm still REALLY uncomfortable about this T-Dog rubbish and the bog-standard racist redneck. It's just WAY too forced and totally not needed...at this point anyway.

"Hi I'm T-Dog"
"What?"
"T-Dog...but I insist it's spelt T-Dawg"
"WHAT?"
"T-Dawg"
"Fuck off"

Glenn still stikes the right chord and like the comic comes across as a genuine character, unlike "gangsta rappa guy" and "dozy KKK goon" and I want to see more of Dale too.

Yep, some of the zombies ARE a little too nimble for my tastes, but again, I'd put it down to directorial shortcomings. There's no fence jumpng or ladder climbing in the comics. The superfluious people are also an indication of bad scripting and director choices too and again, at the end of the show I was left saying "why?" Why mess with the comics (especially so early on). There's your script AND your storyboard. There's no need to dick about. Doubly so, when the changes are bad.

Either way, I am also left wanting more (much more) and after all that's the indication that something is going right...isn't it?

Also...

I'm I the only one on here that has a suspicious feeling that this "Dixon" guy will come back later in the show as "The Governor"? The guy that fucks up Michone?

[Andy]

Also...

I'm I the only one on here that has a suspicious feeling that this "Dixon" guy will come back later in the show as "The Governor"? The guy that fucks up Michone?

I Think he's pretty much fucked, we saw at the end of the episode the zombies forcing the door open and the chain holding it closed creaking and grant grant still handcuffed.

[ProfessorChaos]

as for dixon

i highly doubt he's gonna be the governor. that story arc won't even come into play till season 3, i'd imagine, as darabont has said that it'd be the end of season 2 before they reach the prison if he had his way about it...although that does seem like it's a lot of episodes (15 or 16) till then...

and MZ, about all the extra characters, like somebody else has already said, they're just more "shock-and-awe-violent-death-at-the-hands-of-zombies" for one of those future action-packed episodes.....like the bit where the camp is overrun and amy is killed, jim is bitten, and i imagine they'll have at least a handful of those nameless folks killed as well

[shootemindehead]

To Andy and the Prof...

I just can;t imagine that they'd go through the trouble of hiring Michael Rooker though, just to have him on screen for 10 minutes. That doesn't make sense to me. He's in this for a reason.

[ProfessorChaos]

i dunno, man. the governor's appearance is iconic....that fucking hair....and rooker looks nothing like the governor except for his style of clothing.

plus, the governor is friendly and welcoming at first and is introduced as a good guy of sorts...of course, then you find out about him and his ways.

between the appearance and the revelation of just how cruel the guy is after he welcomes rick, glenn, and michonne, i can't see them using merle dixon. plus, we never hear the governor's name (wait, maybe it was phillip or something, now that i think about it..). but i just cannot see them using dixon as the governor. if they do, it'd be a huge disappointment. almost as bad as if t-dog is actually tyrese

[childofgilead]

Be awesome if they could get Ian Mcshane in for the Gov.

[MoonSylver]

I just got to see Ep 2 last night & tonight, but really enjoyed it. Interesting (in a good way) how far (to an extent) they're going off script from the comic. Liked the "new" characters, even if they ARE a bit cliched. Loved the scene right before the dismemberment. It sold the rest of the Ep for me. The whole scene from where they get "camoflaged" on was quite tense, even though I KNEW they were gonna make it, just because they do such a great job of shooting it in a way that I can put myself IN the scene, & it gives me the heebie-jeebies. :)

Overall :thumbsup:

[integra28]

Some of you guys take this waaaaay too serious, why pick holes in probably the best Zombie stories about brought to the small screen?!! I'm just glad they made it and its now being screened, never have I thought about looking for bloopers but then again the UK doesn't have many Camaro's or Glock guns kicking about so I'm none the wiser.

As for the governor...
will they show him getting hacked up Hostel 2 style when they get round to those episodes??!!

Spoiler tags added by moderator, as they pertain to a probable future episode and not the current episode being discussed.

[ProfessorChaos]

as for the governor:

that's the one part i'm really scratching me head on...between what he does to michonne and how she pays him back, we're talking some stuff that is seriously going to push it to the limits....i mean, we're talking rape, torture, genital mutilation, blowtorches, pulling off fingernails, etc...that's gonna a tough rabbit for AMC to pull out of a hat, for sure.

[Thorn]

The governor is the part that worries me the most, not because of my fear they will dumb down the intensity, but because I am afraid the character and actions will not translate well into a tv series. We expect the "fantastic" and over the top things in comic books and dismiss them. I can't do that as well with TV.

Yes I know we accept walking zombies, that does not mean I accept flying ponies with nukes coming out their arses too.

[bassman]

Yes I know we accept walking zombies, that does not mean I accept flying ponies with nukes coming out their arses too.

Is this one of AMC's new shows for next year?

[darth los]

Is this one of AMC's new shows for next year?

Zack snyder and Michael Bay are at the helm, or didn't you get the memo? :p

:cool:

[Gryphon]

Zack snyder and Michael Bay are at the helm, or didn't you get the memo? :p

:cool:

Well, they are the logical choices.