TWD 5x02 "Strangers" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN*

[MinionZombie]

Please keep all talk of episode 5x02 "Strangers" specifically inside this thread.

If you have a theory for a following episode, please use the "spoiler tags" (visit the HPOTD FAQ to find out how to use them if you don't already know).

Similarly, if you're going to discuss plot points from the comic book, please use "spoiler tags" - not everyone is up-to-date on them, and some people don't read them at all.

Enjoy!


Directed by David Boyd, Writtern by Robert Kirkman.

Get stuck in, folks! :)

Aces - told you I'd be on point this week. ;)

[MoonSylver]

Wow, I can't believe that theynah, I'm just messin' with ya! :nana: :moon: No one is safe now. I wonder who's next? :confused:

[Legion2213]

Wow, I can't believe that theynah, I'm just messin' with ya! :nana: :moon: No one is safe now. I wonder who's next? :confused:

F*ck you sir...f*ck you to death! :D

(so pumped for this season...each new episode can't come soon enough!) :)

[Moon Knight]

Wow, I can't believe that theynah, I'm just messin' with ya! :nana: :moon: No one is safe now. I wonder who's next? :confused:

I didn't want to click but dammit I had to! Lol

The group is massive right now. I sense a mass exodus incoming.

[MoonSylver]

Fuck you sir...fuck you to death! :D

Well, you knowIf ya gotta go...:lol:


I didn't want to click but dammit I had to! Lol

The group is massive right now. I sense a mass exodus incoming.

True, but theymade ya look! :lol:

[Moon Knight]

Well, you knowIf ya gotta go...:lol:



True, but theymade ya look! :lol:

Now I'm really excited!

[MoonSylver]

Now I'm really excited!

Way to get into the spirit. I don't think we've seen anything yet though. http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzrhobQO6M1qzi58t.gif

- - - Updated - - -

Well, that was tasty! :lol:

[facestabber]

Damnit I liked Bob. Anyone else think he was bit and hiding it? It almost seemed like he exited the church to possible "opt out". At times you have to wonder how our crew survives as they fear being watched, yet hang out in a candle lit church, and again split up.

Very disgusted in Gareth and his gang of shit. Add to that the writers are torturing us viewers as them sons a bitches consume Bob while he is still alive. I want a slow painful death for Gareth but I fear they may take out more. Ofcourse they have to contend with two of the baddest survivors to date in Michonne and Daryl.

[Wyldwraith]

Now as for this thread:

Pardon the following: I WAS RIGHT! I WAS RIGHT!

Team Rick didn't put NEARLY ENOUGH distance between themselves and Terminus before going back into Foraging Mode, and they holed up in the VERY FIRST obviously defensible structure they came across. Not only that, but by not going any farther than they did I'd wager Gareth and his henchmen were well aware of that church's location, and in all probability put it #1 on their list of Places to Look For a Fleeing Team Rick.

As for Bob, this may sound harsh...but given recent events he was all but begging to be the first to fall to the pursuing Terminians. Word had passed among the group that Daryl was convinced they were being watched the first night they camped...they've JUST escaped from a cabal of cannibalistic feral humans...and he goes outside ALONE, AT NIGHT NO LESS to have a good cry!?!? C'MON! If it wasn't Gareth and his cronies it could just as easily have been a Walker.

And as for the Terminians finding Rick & Co....you don't need to be a master tracker to locate people who beeline for the absolute nearest defensible structure that's near the closest small town to Terminus one could forage for supplies in. All Gareth had to do was LOOK AT A MAP, seeing as how they made it so damned easy for him and his.

Yet here's the snippet from the "Scenes from Next Week" that's completely exasperated me: One of Rick's group, I forget which, states and I quote "That now THREE OF US ARE MISSING!" I mean WTF, Bob's disappearance didn't put them on red-alert? Why NOT!?!? I mean, it's not as if there's the teensiest rational cause for Bob's COMPLETE disappearance OTHER THAN foul play. No one who has survived the wipeout of TWO groups would set off alone, in the middle of a dark night, with all that's happened, even IF Bob was intending to leave the group and go his own way. Which is without even getting into the emotional tie between Bob and Sasha.

As for what Team Rick should think of what's happened as soon as they realize Bob's gone: A Walker wouldn't spirit away Bob's body, and there certainly aren't any signs of say a Walker bringing Bob down, feeding off him awhile, and then Bob reanimating to shamble off for parts unknown. You've just given a band of cannibalistic inhuman "people" a REACH-AROUND! What do you THINK happened people!?!?!

All that said, it's eye-rollingly convenient Gareth found them already. On the level of the Governor knowing just where to lie in wait near the Prison Fence to ambush Andrea. Just because they're staying in a building at present doesn't mean there shouldn't have been guards posted. Given that you can't see out of the Church at all, that only INCREASES the likelihood Rick would've posted Sentries.

C'MON, since beginning of Season 3 they've had someone on Walker-watch within FIVE MINUTES of entering a building. That season's premier demonstrated as much, where Daryl immediately took the position at a window that allowed him to watch the outside while the others foraged...which allowed Daryl to sound the alarm when Walkers came shambling up, in turn allowing the group to pile in their vehicles and race away just as the Walkers got there. And that was BEFORE THE PRISON!

It doesn't seem like a writer's-fiat device that this group, given how wary they're being portrayed as currently, had no problems sitting in a boarded-up building where they couldn't see ANYTHING OUTSIDE, and yet failed to post at least one guard?

Just because I saw this coming doesn't mean I wanted the situation handed to Gareth and his henchmen on a silver platter. Which is exactly what the writers did to make Bob's capture with no one inside the wiser. That bugs me. Does it bug anyone else? Or does anyone see any faults with my reasoning? If so, what?

[AcesandEights]

Now as for this thread:

Pardon the following: I WAS RIGHT! I WAS RIGHT!

Nah, dude. As Shootem alluded, and as those of us who have read this story arc in the comics can tell you, it was all too likely Gareth and company would come back in the picture. But when I post about this stuff it's from the standpoint of what should be done using some real world logic, not TV plot-hammer logic.

[facestabber]

Now as for this thread:

Pardon the following: I WAS RIGHT! I WAS RIGHT!

Team Rick didn't put NEARLY ENOUGH distance between themselves and Terminus before going back into Foraging Mode, and they holed up in the VERY FIRST obviously defensible structure they came across. Not only that, but by not going any farther than they did I'd wager Gareth and his henchmen were well aware of that church's location, and in all probability put it #1 on their list of Places to Look For a Fleeing Team Rick.

As for Bob, this may sound harsh...but given recent events he was all but begging to be the first to fall to the pursuing Terminians. Word had passed among the group that Daryl was convinced they were being watched the first night they camped...they've JUST escaped from a cabal of cannibalistic feral humans...and he goes outside ALONE, AT NIGHT NO LESS to have a good cry!?!? C'MON! If it wasn't Gareth and his cronies it could just as easily have been a Walker.

And as for the Terminians finding Rick & Co....you don't need to be a master tracker to locate people who beeline for the absolute nearest defensible structure that's near the closest small town to Terminus one could forage for supplies in. All Gareth had to do was LOOK AT A MAP, seeing as how they made it so damned easy for him and his.

Yet here's the snippet from the "Scenes from Next Week" that's completely exasperated me: One of Rick's group, I forget which, states and I quote "That now THREE OF US ARE MISSING!" I mean WTF, Bob's disappearance didn't put them on red-alert? Why NOT!?!? I mean, it's not as if there's the teensiest rational cause for Bob's COMPLETE disappearance OTHER THAN foul play. No one who has survived the wipeout of TWO groups would set off alone, in the middle of a dark night, with all that's happened, even IF Bob was intending to leave the group and go his own way. Which is without even getting into the emotional tie between Bob and Sasha.

As for what Team Rick should think of what's happened as soon as they realize Bob's gone: A Walker wouldn't spirit away Bob's body, and there certainly aren't any signs of say a Walker bringing Bob down, feeding off him awhile, and then Bob reanimating to shamble off for parts unknown. You've just given a band of cannibalistic inhuman "people" a REACH-AROUND! What do you THINK happened people!?!?!

All that said, it's eye-rollingly convenient Gareth found them already. On the level of the Governor knowing just where to lie in wait near the Prison Fence to ambush Andrea. Just because they're staying in a building at present doesn't mean there shouldn't have been guards posted. Given that you can't see out of the Church at all, that only INCREASES the likelihood Rick would've posted Sentries.

C'MON, since beginning of Season 3 they've had someone on Walker-watch within FIVE MINUTES of entering a building. That season's premier demonstrated as much, where Daryl immediately took the position at a window that allowed him to watch the outside while the others foraged...which allowed Daryl to sound the alarm when Walkers came shambling up, in turn allowing the group to pile in their vehicles and race away just as the Walkers got there. And that was BEFORE THE PRISON!

It doesn't seem like a writer's-fiat device that this group, given how wary they're being portrayed as currently, had no problems sitting in a boarded-up building where they couldn't see ANYTHING OUTSIDE, and yet failed to post at least one guard?

Just because I saw this coming doesn't mean I wanted the situation handed to Gareth and his henchmen on a silver platter. Which is exactly what the writers did to make Bob's capture with no one inside the wiser. That bugs me. Does it bug anyone else? Or does anyone see any faults with my reasoning? If so, what?

You were right again. I wish I would have jumped in on last weeks discussion that you proposed. I am frustrated how quickly Gareth and crew could be on Ricks heals and you referenced an excellent pint we discussed before, which is the Gov's placement to grab Andrea. It was cheap.

Reference your concern about being 'down 3'. You seem confused that two more are going to get picked off? What they were speaking about was Carol and Daryl's exit. No worries about more wanderers....well only in this case:).

I am deeply bothered that our master tracker Daryl can't find a trace of evidence of the hunters. He has proven he is beyond an expert. I hope they don't make the termite hunters skill set beyond believable. Gareth may have evolved but at the end of the day he would be the stay-at-home dad of a soccer mom wife.

It's funny we now have Two churches discovered by our group that were both out in the middle of woods. Remote beyond remote.

[Moon Knight]

Nah, Wlyd it didn't bother me at all. I knew this was coming because of the source material and I loved it. What bothered me was some members still being a bit reckless out in the woods at night and just as I knew, Tyreese did NOT kill that termite. Not cool, bro.

Also, I'm pretty sure Bob was bit, that's why he left the group.

[zomtom]

I also think Bob may have been bitten. Just by the way he was acting after being attacked. If this is the case, those nasty-assed Termites are eating him. I just wonder if the walker virus can survive the cooking process. It would be great to see those asses get sick and turn. It serves them right.

[MinionZombie]

Comics Spoiler:
TAINTED MEAT! TAINTED MEAT! Bob's taken the place of Dale.

It'll be interesting to see how they use that element from "The Hunters" storyline - will Gareth and company start to feel the effects? Will one or more of them turn? Will that thread climax in episode eight for the mid-season finale?

He was totally bitten/scratched/something in the food bank - the look on his face could be read by Sasha as just a bit of fright, but he knew he'd been got. I think he was out there in the woods because he was going to kill himself, but got snatched first.

As for Carol - she saw the car earlier and knew it'd be an escape route for her. Despite being welcomed back into the group, I think she doesn't feel she deserves the acceptance and she was making a run for it - but Daryl followed her. Good thing too, because the kidnap mobile happened by and they both headed after it (good to know, I'd assume anyway, that Beth's part of the season won't be just her isolated from the entirety of the main cast) - and, as others have said, the "there's 3 of us missing" refers to Bob, Daryl, and Carol - the latter two of whom had to act in an instant, they couldn't tell anyone where they were headed.

Another good episode - the food bank scene was proper grim, it was nice to get a chance for our characters to kind of debrief with one another over certain things (e.g. Tara with Rick and Maggie). Having read the comics via the trade paperbacks I've got a pretty good idea of where we're going with some of this - but TWD does change things up from the source text, and their comic-con trailers are notoriously tricksy, so I'll wait and see.

As Aces said - there's assumed 'real world logic', and then there's 'scripted logic', when discussing the elements of the show. Gareth was obviously going to show up because you can't just leave a massive thread like that hanging and unresolved, it'd be piss poor writing if you did that and wouldn't make any sense to do that, so he was gonna come back. We didn't know too much about him, but clearly the Termites are better survivalists than they might have initially presented themselves as. There was always the possibility - but as with so many things TWD, I don't believe it until I see it.

For example - Tyreese didn't kill that guy in the shed - he was there chowing down on "Bob-B-Q" (so they called it on Talking Dead) with Gareth & Co. Unless we see a dead body, I always presume someone's still alive. :sneaky:

Here's a question - Gareth's little talk with Bob - do you think he really believes it, or was he deliberately messing with Bob for some kind of sick pleasure? The guy's clearly nuts in my view - he's relishing what he's doing.

Also, on a cuddlier note, I loved the bit where Judith was burbling baby talk in the church (I presume that was 'in the moment' and the actors just reacted to it and made it part of the scene).

[bassman]

Lots of direct comic references in this episode. Gimple seems to know how to work those in every few episodes while still keeping it fresh. Rick's "youre not safe" talk with Carl, Father Gabriel, the church looks EXACTLY like the comic(makes sense because they actually constructed it rather than using an existing church in the area), and of course Gareth's talk before they revealed Bob's missing leg. Nearly verbatim to the comic.

Good episode all around. Obviously it was less action packed than the previous, which should be expected, but still enough to keep viewers' blood pumping and wanting more.

[AcesandEights]

Lots of direct comic references in this episode. Gimple seems to know how to work those in every few episodes while still keeping it fresh. Rick's "youre not safe" talk with Carl, Father Gabriel, the church looks EXACTLY like the comic(makes sense because they actually constructed it rather than using an existing church in the area), and of course Gareth's talk before they revealed Bob's missing leg. Nearly verbatim to the comic.


Yeah, Gimple is doing well. I too was pleased to see some close cleaving to the source material, and was impressed later during the Talking Dead when I found that they had scratch built that church. Also, for a decent sized cast, there was nice passing around of dialog, with some folks getting more highlights for plot purpose, but no one getting truly T-dogged.

A fantastic 2nd episode with the slight drop-off in action we knew to expect, but with ample amounts of meaty goodness nonetheless.

- - - Updated - - -


Comics Spoiler:will Gareth and company start to feel the effects? Will one or more of them turn? Will that thread climax in episode eight for the mid-season finale?

Man, MZ...

If they were to pace the Termians' being effected by the bad meat out till the Mid-season finale, that is a WHOLE heap of slowdown to experience over the next 6 episodes!

[MinionZombie]

Gonna have to go back and re-read Volume 11 "The Hunters" again just to see the similarities to this episode. As others have said, Gimple really knows how to weave in and out of the comics and make plenty of references without ever feeling imprisoned by the material. He's doing an excellent job as showrunner! :cool:

Likewise pleased with the distribution of dialogue, which is still in a manner that makes sense (i.e. not arbitrarily giving lines to someone who doesn't really have a place in a scene, or not wedging someone in for the sake of a single line or anything).

Aces:

Theory on progression of Bob storyline:
Well, it'd depend on how they paced it - for example, Bob could do the "TAINTED MEAT!" bit and then the Termites would know they're screwed, so they go all hell for leather in hunting down Team Rick ... ... plus, we might get an episode that fills in what happened to Beth after getting snatched - so that could delay epic proceedings while not actually extending the narrative timescale in the 'present day'.

I'd have thought the mid-season finale would be around Gareth somehow ... or ... maybe that'd be resolved a little sooner than expected, or he gets away temporarily, and perhaps the mid-season finale is instead something relating to Beth's situation.

And as per the norm...

TWD 5x02 Memes (plus two 5x01 bonus ones via the link):
http://deadshed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/gags-grossness-edition-walking-dead.html


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fL2NGUHoKV0/VEUxHzYJqKI/AAAAAAAADRk/AJRDKJoXsDQ/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Meme_5x02_Gabriel_Lying_Steal_Squ irrels_Daryl_Don%27t_Joke_About_DeadShed.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-owtxcWRhZYg/VEUxJV1W-9I/AAAAAAAADRs/RX5882gxPd0/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Meme_5x02_Gabriel_Squirrel_Joke_B ombed_Play_Cool_Dang_It_Tree_Branch_DeadShed.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ByQND9zENTc/VEUxLGFHMYI/AAAAAAAADR0/hCo5Kz6ETUw/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Meme_5x02_Rick_Carl_Stay_In_The_C hurch_DeadShed.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bmmC9rs62hI/VEUxNvsawWI/AAAAAAAADR8/lIQgXoxzj2M/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Meme_5x02_Rick_Gabriel_Stuff_Than gs_Store_DeadShed.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O8pQnGUaOok/VEUxEdqlMqI/AAAAAAAADRc/11L0DBbFCAg/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Meme_5x02_Bob_Soggy_Water_Walker_ Gabriel_Vomit_Throw_Up_DeadShed.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sf0DR635Cxs/VEUxhpYAbJI/AAAAAAAADSM/GPKpPFTYH4g/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Meme_5x02_Gareth_Bob_Bob-B-Q_Pun_F_Give_DeadShed.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KNT-Kc7ZUY0/VEUxf5Uly3I/AAAAAAAADSE/gBcEoalwMCU/s1600/The_Walking_Dead_Meme_5x02_Rick_Slow_Motion_Eye_F_ DeadShed.jpg

[AcesandEights]

Aces:

Theory on progression of Bob storyline:
Well, it'd depend on how they paced it - for example, Bob could do the "TAINTED MEAT!" bit and then the Termites would know they're screwed, so they go all hell for leather in hunting down Team Rick ... ... plus, we might get an episode that fills in what happened to Beth after getting snatched - so that could delay epic proceedings while not actually extending the narrative timescale in the 'present day'.



Ah, good point, MZ. I had forgotten all the buzz about them...
playing with the timeline somewhat. So I gather that it could very well make sense that they veer off here and there for a glimpse back to where Beth got separated and who knows what else.

[MinionZombie]

I'd love it if we got an episode purely about Morgan and seeing what happened to him between now and when we last saw him. Kind of like the first of those two Governor episodes in the first half of season four.

[Wyldwraith]

I get what you're saying,
Yet it STILL seems implausibly rushed that the Terminians managed their escape from a fallen Terminus, reorganized into a band of cannibal hunters as their next move, tracked Rick & Co. down, AND THEN already grabbed Bob. Rushing it like they have makes the fall of Terminus seem little more than a minor nuisance for Gareth and his cronies. I mean, stop and compare it to the fall of the Prison.

Avoiding the HUGE swarm of Walkers converging on Terminus, having to worry that Carol might still be out there ready to pick off anyone who stepped into the open, reorganizing into a combat-effective band of "Hunters" complete with plentiful firearms and THEN successfully pursuing Rick & Co...All in LESS THAN 48 HOURS! To me at least, that seems highly implausible, AT BEST. Not to mention them touching on another of my cinema-based pet peeves. Ie: The single blow to the head that ALWAYS drops the victim like a sack of potatoes. That plot-trope has been beaten to DEATH by lazy writers. I mean, if the writers are 110% committed to crafting such a scene why couldn't one of the assailants have simply grabbed Bob from behind and placed him into one of the many REALISTIC holds that compress the Carotid Artery and results in unconsciousness far more reliably.

At first glance one might call this a nitpick, but one of the things TWD prides itself on being much more realistic than your conventional zombie movie. Hitting people in the rear of the skull hard enough to render them unconscious is, in reality, just as likely to kill them as render them unconscious.

It just seems like this was all very rushed. Not that I'm not enjoying it, but I'm still quite aware of that too-rushed feeling.

[RichW]

I'm enjoying the opening 2 of S5 immensely, two solid episodes so far.

Just like Wyld though, The lazy/rushed reformation and reintroduction of the Termites
does niggle me too, just seems slapped right in there without a whole lot of thought.
I hope I'm wrong and the writers have introduced more plot lines to make it seem more
credible / fleshed out in other ways, time will tell.

As for Bob, something in the way that Gareth spoke to him implied to me that he already
knew him?? Maybe Bob was sent out originally to lure people back to Terminus??
It's the way he said to him "It seems ironic that now you're here" as he was eating Bob-B-Q.
I have some theories as to Bob being bit .... maybe he was and they are genuinely going
to turn OR maybe he just tells them he has been bit, to take the food out of their mouths
and have the last laugh??? Shame really, I was just starting to warm to him too. d'oh.

Not the most auspicious introduction for Gabe was it? He's definately hiding something!
He definately knew that woman at the food bank, as was evidenced when he was looking
at the photo - also noticed, he was wearing his collar etc in that photo, so he seems to
be a real deal pastor ..... but they are portraying him in a very shady light. I wonder if he
has anything to do with the people who snatched Beth from the seemingly well stocked
house?
Also i wonder if the bible readings on the walls of the church carry any messages?? Not checked
yet ... it wouldn't be the first time TWD put in some cryptic message for fans!

As for the 3 people missing thing, I instantly thought that referred to Bob, Daryl and Carol.

Also noticed - didn't like the way Rick said that heavily accented "THANK-YOU" to carol,
everytime he's used that before, the people have a habit of doing something bad and
getting themselves killed sometime soonish!!!!

Just a few initial thoughts ... whaddaya think?

[Legion2213]

Bob. :(

Decent episode, was never going to be able to compare with opener though.

Gareth needs to be terminated with extreme prejudice...hopefully Rick will shank the bastard a few times before ripping his throat out with his bare hands.

Anybody notice that the walker chasing Gabe was the lady from the picture? I think he locked his congregation out of the church...or maybe the foodbank was safe until he somehow compromised it through some act of cowardice.

Oh and the Beth-knappers are screwed now that Daryl is on their trail. :)

- - - Updated - - -


Reference your concern about being 'down 3'. You seem confused that two more are going to get picked off? What they were speaking about was Carol and Daryl's exit. No worries about more wanderers....well only in this case:).

Good call.

[Moon Knight]

I'm enjoying the opening 2 of S5 immensely, two solid episodes so far.

Just like Wyld though, The lazy/rushed reformation and reintroduction of the Termites
does niggle me too, just seems slapped right in there without a whole lot of thought.
I hope I'm wrong and the writers have introduced more plot lines to make it seem more
credible / fleshed out in other ways, time will tell.

As for Bob, something in the way that Gareth spoke to him implied to me that he already
knew him?? Maybe Bob was sent out originally to lure people back to Terminus??
It's the way he said to him "It seems ironic that now you're here" as he was eating Bob-B-Q.
I have some theories as to Bob being bit .... maybe he was and they are genuinely going
to turn OR maybe he just tells them he has been bit, to take the food out of their mouths
and have the last laugh??? Shame really, I was just starting to warm to him too. d'oh.

Not the most auspicious introduction for Gabe was it? He's definately hiding something!
He definately knew that woman at the food bank, as was evidenced when he was looking
at the photo - also noticed, he was wearing his collar etc in that photo, so he seems to
be a real deal pastor ..... but they are portraying him in a very shady light. I wonder if he
has anything to do with the people who snatched Beth from the seemingly well stocked
house?
Also i wonder if the bible readings on the walls of the church carry any messages?? Not checked
yet ... it wouldn't be the first time TWD put in some cryptic message for fans!

As for the 3 people missing thing, I instantly thought that referred to Bob, Daryl and Carol.

Also noticed - didn't like the way Rick said that heavily accented "THANK-YOU" to carol,
everytime he's used that before, the people have a habit of doing something bad and
getting themselves killed sometime soonish!!!!

Just a few initial thoughts ... whaddaya think?

Actually, yes. There was a hidden message there in one of the bible readings.

“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,” which is from John 6:54.

There are more but this one really stood out as it foreshadowed what would happen to poor Bob.

[DayoftheZ]

Another solid episode, I am still pinching myself that we have literally hours of Living Dead drama to pick through and enjoy.

I think its fair to say that the Termites are hot on the heels of Team Rick because Tyreese didn't take out the scum bag at the hut. We know he had a Walkie, so its not much of a stretch that he came round from his Tyreese beat down as Team Rick departed and got straight on the walkie to Gareth or some other Termite to rally the troops. They could have tracked them on fresh trails in the day light and then hung back until the church.

My one problem at the moment is Tyreese himself, I mean he is a shadow of the man he was in the comics and I appreciate we have Daryl, Rick Michonne and Abe as the bad asses but he has ended up being Mary Poppins but with less of an edge!!

[Moon Knight]

Another solid episode, I am still pinching myself that we have literally hours of Living Dead drama to pick through and enjoy.

I think its fair to say that the Termites are hot on the heels of Team Rick because Tyreese didn't take out the scum bag at the hut. We know he had a Walkie, so its not much of a stretch that he came round from his Tyreese beat down as Team Rick departed and got straight on the walkie to Gareth or some other Termite to rally the troops. They could have tracked them on fresh trails in the day light and then hung back until the church.

My one problem at the moment is Tyreese himself, I mean he is a shadow of the man he was in the comics and I appreciate we have Daryl, Rick Michonne and Abe as the bad asses but he has ended up being Mary Poppins but with less of an edge!!

Super dissapointed in Tyreese, considering he's my favorite character from the comics.

[facestabber]

I'd love it if we got an episode purely about Morgan and seeing what happened to him between now and when we last saw him. Kind of like the first of those two Governor episodes in the first half of season four.

I agree completely. I would love to see what event/revelation allowed Morgan to finally "Clear"

I disagree with RichW about Bob being a Terminus recruiter/ prior member etc. Sure Bob could have known Gareth prior but Bob wouldnt deliver the group he cares about to those monsters.

Regarding the Beth abduction car

The religious markings sure make it interesting considering the proximity to Father Gabriels church. I doubt Gabe drove the short bus to and from church so I wonder if he doesnt have a connection to the abductors and/or possibly be the prior owner of the car

[Moon Knight]

I'm sure Gareth just knows Bob simply by having Bob introduce himself along with the others upon arrival at Terminus.

[Philly_SWAT]

C'MON, since beginning of Season 3 they've had someone on Walker-watch within FIVE MINUTES of entering a building.

I took it that Carol and Daryl were on walker watch. They abandoned their post when Daryl saw the car that kidnapped Beth.

[Wyldwraith]

Maybe,
Yet before the whole car-sighting Carol and Daryl were lugging water jugs from somewhere to somewhere. Certainly didn't seem like they were on guard duty, but that's just my take on matters.

As for Father Gabriel, I'm seriously wondering whether or not he is/was a Terminus collaborator. At least insofar as routing those who showed up at his church on to Terminus with promises of safety etc etc.
It would explain the "You'll Burn for This" if one of those he helped set up was say, straggling behind his/her main group, and then saw them taken by the Terminians. Nothing definite as yet, but the burning question in my mind concerning Gabriel is: "If he had sufficient canned goods to survive for YEARS/up until very recently, what kept people like the Claimers (for example) from coming along and just taking the food from the unarmed priest? Rick is dead on with his assessment that no one THIS HELPLESS survives THIS LONG without some funny business being in the works.

As for the theory that the guy Tyreese beat down came to and rallied Gareth & Co. onto Team Rick's trail: It doesn't address one basic issue. That propane tank explosion, coupled with the persistent pillar of smoke, was drawing in Walkers from all the way back where Maggie and Sasha rejoined Bob on the railroad tracks. There were hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of Walkers converging on Terminus from the same direction. Walkers in too great a density to bull one's way through without some sustained gunfire.

So my question: Why didn't Rick & Co HEAR that necessary gunfire of the Terminians? Yes, Gareth and his cronies COULD have circled around BEHIND the mega-herd...but that would have taken time, and it's not as if they could've made up ground on Rick & Co by traveling through that first night that Rick & Co camped. Blundering around in the woods at night without EXTENSIVE illumination would be suicidal.

I really don't consider asking how 7-9 people bypassed hundreds or thousands of Walkers coming from the very direction they want to travel in to be a nitpick. The world after civilization is a FAR QUIETER PLACE than our world. The reports from firearms carry a LONG way, and since Rick & Co DIDN'T hear anything like the amount of gunfire that would be required for the Terminians to fight their way out of Terminus, I believe it's safe to conclude that Gareth and his Hunters found another way past the Walkers.

Yes, one can just shrug and go with it...but I would've much preferred the writers allowing a realistic interval to pass before Gareth and the Hunters caught up to Team Rick. Having it happen the very next episode, which was only 24 hours of TWD-time makes it seem like mega-herds are little more than a nuisance.

Compare it to the beginning of Season 3, where Team Rick had spent the winter on the road after losing Herschel's farm. Breaking out a map and deciding where to go next, the statement that kept cropping up was "Nope, can't go that way, a herd's passing through there." Gareth and his band aren't any more numerous than Team Rick was, yet suddenly travel through an area literally swarming with Walkers is easy?

This goes back to a long-running difficulty with various aspects of TWD plot. Ie: The wildly varying difficulty of similar actions at differing times. Yes, circumstances can alter said difficulty level...but if what you show us viewers APPEARS to be all-but-identical situations, it's not surprising that some of us find it very jarring when it seems like the writers can't make up their minds how hard X, Y or Z tasks are in the zombie apocalypse.

Again, I'm not just picking to nitpick. I'm enjoying this season like everyone else. I just think that there was enough going on with the characters, and enough plot-indicated reasons for them to hold off on Gareth's Hunters catching up already. Especially when the plot is sending us contradictory signals. Daryl shares with Rick he "felt" their camp was being watched, and Rick was concerned enough to urge the group to "tighten it up" and avoid having stragglers. Then they meet Father Gabriel, and it's obvious Rick is taking NO chances. THEN he delivers the "You are not safe" speech to Carl.....Yet here's the sudden juxtaposition of everyone kicking back, drinking wine and deciding to go to Washington. EVEN THEN, Rick sidles up to Father Gabriel and warns him that if whatever he's hiding hurts Rick's family Rick will kill him. Yet on this second night Daryl's off lugging water rather than trying to follow up on that feeling of being watched.

Ok ok, Daryl MIGHT have "abandoned his post" to go after Carol...but if so it would've been the work of TWO SECONDS screen-time to show us some indication that was the case. Instead we're left asking if Daryl and Carol were on a water run when Carol got the urge to take off, or what?

I'm the sort that when nitpicks pile up on each other they eventually reach critical mass and suddenly they're no longer just nitpicky details but genuine questions I have with the plot. Like, why leave a water run to be done until well after dark? Just one more niggling little "huh?" of a detail. See what I mean? They could've tightened things up and given it a bit more polish is all I'm saying. Not that it was a bad episode (it wasn't)...just that attending to this collection of unanswered questions and conflicting signals would've made it BETTER.

Agree, disagree, don't care?

[ProfessorChaos]

is it bad that i kinda hope sasha hurries up and gets killed or something so tyreese can put his purse down and start kicking ass? dude comes off about as menacing as a teddy bear. i totally didn't buy it when he claimed he killed that one in the cabin. and as mz said, no corpse or onscreen death = he/she is alive. thus far, this is tyreese's resume: i can't go out on missions. i can't kill walkers at the fence. i can't kill a guy who was just about to snap a baby's neck a few minutes ago. i can't talk about how fucked this world we live in is and accept reality. i can, however, babysit like a motherfucker.

and although i like the fact that the group has some sort of a hope, a mission, and a possible light at the end of the tunnel with Washington,.....i'm sorry. abraham, rosita, and especially eugene (oh eugene you goofy and awkward bastard. i cringe everytime you're on screen and open your mouth) just don't translate well to tv in my book. like at all. abraham looks like he's stepped right out of an live-action 80's g.i. joe film...and i wonder how fans of the show unfamiliar with the comics will react when eugene runs out of bullshit to spew and has to confess he's a fraud and abraham realizes his "mission" was just protecting a goober who played him like a fiddle. i think many viewers will be mighty let-down...

other than that, the show is off to a rather rocking start this season. looking forward to seeing where the newly crowned queen badass carol and the remaining dixon badass (sorry, the rhyming names are almost to cutesy to even type) are off to in their high speed chase, and the termites becoming the hunters and chasing down slick rick and the gang (likely due to tyreese's inability to finish what he should have done at the cabin, giving the would-be-baby-killer a chance to help track them, as DayoftheZ said) was a satisfying, if not obvious plot-twist. i also really enjoy the on-the-road vibe, and look forward to the return of morgan. and surely rick will keep good on his word to kill garteth with that red-handled machete.

however, was anyone else thinking that there's literally a zero-percent chance they'd get down in that food bank cellar? for what? to muck around in chest-deep water with those absolutely putrid (props to knb for almost making me throw up in my mouth a little bit for the first time ever) walkers even for some likely expired canned food? i seriously would tell rick to eat a bag of dicks over that one. and i know he's seen his kid debating on eating dog-food, but seriously, if they were even slightly concerned about possibly getting sick or infected when dealing with the well-walker on the farm, this was like that to the times five hundred. any open cuts on wounds exposed to that water would be surely prone to some serious bacterial/viral infection.

and mz: bravo on those memes, brother. some real lols were had on a couple of those.

[MinionZombie]

The Termites don't seem that well put together. We don't get a really good look at them, but they're BBQ'ing Bob's leg on a bit of scrap metal they found in the woods propped up on some broken bits of wood. They don't seem particularly well put together - they're fairly cast out there, but they must have had a go bag or had the chance to gather a couple of supplies (like Glenn did in season four at the prison) as they were able to amputate Bob's leg and dress it, but beyond that they're probably a bit on the ropes.

Also, the guy that Tyreese didn't kill was in that cabin - there were probably supplies stashed in those cabins in case someone got surrounded/stranded whilst out on a run.

As for Tyreese - he struggled with his capacity of violence in the comics, so we're seeing that here. It was interesting to hear what Chad Coleman had to say about the issue on Talking Dead, saying that in a way Tyreese and Carol have swapped traditional gender roles, and that the most noble thing for a man to do is protect a child. In the comics he was capable of great feats of violence, but he was always pushed into it reluctantly, likewise in the show. The man's got some psychological scars from this world and he's dealing with them, trying to find a better way in this world than having to resort to murder - as unlikely/impossible as that may be.


I'm sure Gareth just knows Bob simply by having Bob introduce himself along with the others upon arrival at Terminus.

Aye, Bob and Gareth talked directly in the first episode in a manner that showed they'd only just met.

There's no way they know each other. Bob joined Team Prison ages ago and was clearly seen in his flashback intro that he'd just been bumming around on his own drinking cough syrup and generally being miserable.


mz: bravo on those memes, brother. some real lols were had on a couple of those.

Glad you dug 'em. :)

[shootemindehead]

Nah, dude. As Shootem alluded, and as those of us who have read this story arc in the comics can tell you, it was all too likely Gareth and company would come back in the picture. But when I post about this stuff it's from the standpoint of what should be done using some real world logic, not TV plot-hammer logic.

Yep.

When we're talking about episodes, I think we should put caveats in to say, "well, this is the LOGICAL thing to do"...

"...and this is what the bleedin writers are going to do."



Gareth is just too good a villain to waste from a writing perspective, so it was obvious that he wasn't just going to disappear. In reality though, attacking Terminus would have simply been idiotic in real life.

However, letting Bob-a-job go off on his own was also idiotic. Nobody should be going anywhere alone

Pity though, I liked Bob.

[DayoftheZ]

As for Tyreese - he struggled with his capacity of violence in the comics, so we're seeing that here. It was interesting to hear what Chad Coleman had to say about the issue on Talking Dead, saying that in a way Tyreese and Carol have swapped traditional gender roles, and that the most noble thing for a man to do is protect a child. In the comics he was capable of great feats of violence, but he was always pushed into it reluctantly, likewise in the show. The man's got some psychological scars from this world and he's dealing with them, trying to find a better way in this world than having to resort to murder - as unlikely/impossible as that may be.

I get that MZ. The problem is that the Termite even went as far as to say “if you don’t kill me I will kill you and the baby.” In the world where the living have proven to be worse than the dead I fail to see how you can choose any other action than killing him right there.

To me it’s even more alarming that he allowed he friends and sister to hang around outside for a chit chat while the termite was inside and then he give Carol the whole “He’s dead, I did, I could!!” speech.

I wonder if there will be any comeback later down the line on Tyresse for this either from Team Rick or the Fine Young Cannibals.

[Moon Knight]

I get that MZ. The problem is that the Termite even went as far as to say “if you don’t kill me I will kill you and the baby.” In the world where the living have proven to be worse than the dead I fail to see how you can choose any other action than killing him right there.

To me it’s even more alarming that he allowed he friends and sister to hang around outside for a chit chat while the termite was inside and then he give Carol the whole “He’s dead, I did, I could!!” speech.

I wonder if there will be any comeback later down the line on Tyresse for this either from Team Rick or the Fine Young Cannibals.

I think once Tyreese finds that guy he's finally gonna snap and lay the hammer down.

[sandrock74]

Obviously Tyreese thought he beat the guy to death in the cabin. He was mistaken about it; that's believable enough to me.

[MinionZombie]

I get that MZ. The problem is that the Termite even went as far as to say “if you don’t kill me I will kill you and the baby.” In the world where the living have proven to be worse than the dead I fail to see how you can choose any other action than killing him right there.

To me it’s even more alarming that he allowed he friends and sister to hang around outside for a chit chat while the termite was inside and then he give Carol the whole “He’s dead, I did, I could!!” speech.

I wonder if there will be any comeback later down the line on Tyresse for this either from Team Rick or the Fine Young Cannibals.


I think once Tyreese finds that guy he's finally gonna snap and lay the hammer down.


Obviously Tyreese thought he beat the guy to death in the cabin. He was mistaken about it; that's believable enough to me.

Aye, following up on the Tyreese angle, another thing that was interesting to hear Chad Coleman talk about in regards to Tyreese was actually quite a good idea to express - that taking a human life isn't easy, and it shouldn't always be a simple decision even in a deadly scenario such as TWD. Tyreese has killed many walkers, but a fellow human being - good or bad - is an entirely different issue, for him at least (and for others in that world, I'd imagine).

There'll be people in groups of survivors who have killed walkers, but managed to avoid killing fellow human beings, even at this point nearly two years in. Tyreese is also in shock after "The Grove" - the idea that Lizzie snapped and saw no problem with killing her own sister, and intended to kill Judith (and, presumably, Carol and Tyreese) ... that's a messed up sort of thing to witness and it's going to impact people hard and in different ways. It's clearly had a considerable affect on Carol as well - she was about to run away from the group when Daryl caught up with her and the chase began to find Beth.

I agree with Moon and Sandrock, Tyreese is going to be pushed into a position that he'll have to kill another human being. This world is going to have to force him, and really, it's impossible for anyone to make a clean run through this kind of scenario. It's impossible to make every right decision - we have the benefit of armchair hindsight - these characters are stuck in terrible conditions and having to make snap judgements much of the time and, yes, perhaps Tyreese believed that he'd killed the guy as he'd beaten him so ruthlessly. Hopefully when we get a good look at him with Gareth & Co he'll be appropriately mashed up.

Plus, from a writer's perspective, characters sometimes have to make mistakes to tell your story. They must be given secrets and regrets, fears and worries, failings and weaknesses to go along with their strengths. A shifting and unpredictable world like that of TWD is very much push and pull when it comes to the characters inside those confines.

[facestabber]

Considering past practice of desicions coming back to haunt/injure/kill the group, I'd say Tyrese will face a brutal reality due to his inability to finish that guy off. Tyrese is hurting and i can empathize with him to a point. To spare a man who threatened to snap a babies neck, is a giant failure. And I believe Tyrese was aware the guy wasnt dead. Dead is dead and rocket science isnt needed to evaluate that fact. Now i will say that if Tyrese was aware that jerk was a cannibal and would have enjoyed eating Judith, he probably would have killed him. The question will be whether or not Bob's probable death(resulting in Sasha's anguish) will be enough. Or will another member get killed. Maybe Tyrese will meet his own end.

[Wyldwraith]

We've discussed this particular bit before,
I'm still firmly in the camp that having otherwise intelligent, experienced protagonists suddenly and inexplicably do something extremely stupid...and then justifying that by saying "It was necessary to advance the story" constitutes lazy writing and little else.

Do/should characters make mistakes? Absolutely, but they should be mistakes that a) Take into account the skill-sets and experience of the characters involved, and b) The sort of mistake(s) the viewer finds reasonable/"realistic" within the context of the current plotline.

As I stated above, there were numerous far more believable ways to explain what's happened/is happening than the route the writers chose to take. Again, as I stated above, it would've taken TWO SECONDS to clear up the whole "Was anyone on guard duty?" issue.

Much more important, however, is how the very sudden return of Gareth and his Hunters is seemingly being accepted as quite plausible by the majority here. Sure, the guy Tyreese failed to kill could've helped Gareth and his people get on Team Rick's trail, yet without some sort of explanation...or at least a few bits of info from which one or more inferences as to how the Hunters managed the ever-so-quick catch up can be drawn from a viewer's perspective, the sudden reappearance of the Hunters feels more than a little contrived.

I wouldn't be so critical of this if TWD hadn't demonstrated a well-developed capacity for tying up loose ends in a believable way consistently, season in and season out. That said, I'll concede the possibility that I've rushed to judgment, and the writers full-well intend to show us how it all ties together up to now. Time will tell, so perhaps I simply need to reserve judgment a bit longer. As of now, however, I'm still bothered by the apparent ease with which the largest attraction of Walkers to date was bypassed.

On to other elements however. I agree Bob was bit...that's the only thing that really explains his asking Sasha for just one more kiss, before he suddenly gets up and goes outside to break down. So I'm definitely part of the school of thought that Bob's bite will have ongoing repercussions for the Hunters.

Here's a theory: Perhaps Bob was at one point a member of Terminus during its phase as a real sanctuary? Because there's that whole "There's some cosmic justice in it being you" comment of Gareth's. Bob didn't do anything to stand out when Team Rick was captured...so what is it Gareth believes Bob's "guilty" of, in order for it to be cosmically just that he's the one they grabbed?

What if Bob bugged out when the invaders took over Terminus? He was out on some kind of errand that had taken him outside Terminus, as he returns he sees the takeover in progress and takes off, telling himself they're all done for and there's nothing he could have done etc etc. We know that SOMETHING related to the fall of one or both of the groups he was part of previously left him saddled with enough issues to cause him to turn to the bottle. Don't have any facts to substantiate this theory, but I for one very much had the sense that Gareth was referencing something that goes back further than Team Rick's capture.

As for the cross-marked car Carol and Daryl are pursuing: It's admittedly circumstancial, but leads me to a deep-seated conviction that Father Gabriel is hiding more than a simple wrong he's done to people who are dead now. The theory that his cowardice got his congregation killed, or allowed the food bank to be overrun doesn't explain how an unarmed priest somehow held onto years of consumption worth of canned goods all this time. When people were more plentiful earlier on it just seems like it would have been inevitable some group would've taken what someone so helpless had...however remote his church is. There HAS to be some other factor that either had been at work, or still is at work, that explains how Gabriel has managed to avoid getting his hands at all dirty. That much seems certain.

As an aside, I was also like "WTF?!?!" when Team Rick climbed down into that putrid stew of decayed Walker-bits and rotted septic tank matter. One papercut and you're hosed. Then again, people will do some very extreme shit to fill their bellies when hungry enough....dunno about this one.

Lastly, and this is just a completely unsubstantiated hunch: The message "You'll Burn for This" seems to hold more venom directed at Gabriel than could be accounted for by knee-jerk acts of cowardice. Feels more like whoever carved it was blaming/cursing him for something he'd actively done/was doing. Some sort of betrayal that cut the one who carved it DEEPLY. People don't proclaim their certainty you're going to Hell for a mistake or a moment's weakness, however costly to others. Father Gabriel DID something, or was some part of some evil that was perpetrated. That's my sense of it anyways.

[facestabber]

The marks on the trees may be what ties this all together. By the railroad tracks in ep1 and near Gabe's church in ep2. At some point the show will drop a big "ah ha" moment on us. Maybe as a life sparing move for Gabe, he agreed to provide false sancuary to worshipers, who in turn would be turned over to Termites when they were low on 'walk-in' victims.

And another thought I had that is speculative. Could you imagine societies response if Bob's current fate was Carol or Maggie? Sexism will always exist, both good and bad. In this case the thought of Maggie or Carol as women would elicit a different reaction from myself and most viewers. Dont get me wrong I like Bob alot but what a whopper that would have been.

[RichW]

We've discussed this particular bit before,

Insert the whole rest of Wylds last comment here - (but I won't .. to keep the thread compact!! :)

That's my sense of it anyways.

Here, here pal, I finally think that someone has seen the same episode as me!!
(Or maybe interpreted it the same way around!

Even in the first episode 5-01, MZ, when Gareth first comes into the slaughter troughs,
he directly addresses Bob. Seems a bit too familiar even when i watched the 5-01 premier.
The 5-02 Bob-B-Q incident just kind of reaffirmed that ..... seems too sus.
Bear in mind that i don't read the comics and have no forewarning of impending doom!
I just purely rely on the 'Gut Instinct' that i see and feel as I watch the show,
that's also part of what keeps it interesting for me .... have to avoid spoilers like
a heard of god-mode ultraninja guv'nor phillips though! :skull:

Also, I may very well be completely wrong :o in which case i'll gladly get me coat
and eat me hat :dead: but if i'm right ... I'm gonna start up a TWD theories thread
in which everyone has to agree with Wyld & Me :nana: ... only j/k, no one would agree
with me apart from wyld anyway!!

And the Gabe stuff, he's got to be hiding something threatening, it's being set up
just surely as Gareth was too big to get rid of instantly (as someone said) Gabes
shocker is gonna get at least one of em - i'll wager a bit-coin on it.

Have a good one, Rich

[shootemindehead]

As an aside, I was also like "WTF?!?!" when Team Rick climbed down into that putrid stew of decayed Walker-bits and rotted septic tank matter. One papercut and you're hosed. Then again, people will do some very extreme shit to fill their bellies when hungry enough....dunno about this one.

Agree completely.

My exact reaction was "Mmmm...hey wait...what? WTF?"

Again, bad writing to engineer a dramatic scene, which 'The Walking Dead' has been guilty of since it's inception.

Another WTF was the fact that the could chop off Bobs leg while he was "knocked out". Now, I know this is TV land and all, but getting knocked out by the butt of a gun or whatever, is just not the same as getting an anesthetic to "knock you out" for an operation.

There is, I'm afraid, a lot of things one has to "Let go" when watching this show.



Disclaimer: I like the show (terms and conditions apply)

[Moon Knight]

If I was to sit and nitpick every little thing on the show I wouldn't enjoy it. Sit back and suspend belief for a moment. Enjoy yourselves. I sometimes think Wyld watches the show just so he can find faults and vent on them here. ;)

[sandrock74]

I've learned that if I over-nitpick stuff, I won't enjoy it.

[shootemindehead]

I haven't learned that yet.

:book:

[MinionZombie]

It seems that - with the vast majority of zombie media - that general infection isn't an issue. Now, we did have that case in Season 4A where there was a particular mutation (the bleeding red eyes on some walkers) that then lead to some people becoming infected ... whether it was linked to the walkers specifically, or was some other kind of virus that got out into the world somehow and affected walkers and humans alike we can't be sure of.

However, generally in zombie media, people don't have to worry about getting blood on them or generally getting mucky. I'd never get in that rank-arse water, but it's an established part of this world that that kind of infection isn't on the cards. Perhaps it's linked to the "everyone's infected" angle (what Jenner told Rick in 1x06), or perhaps it's just something to take out to free up the writers, actors, directors, stunt people, effects people, etc etc etc.

In one of my scripts - which reworks the zombie idea for more of a 'real world' effect - the issue of infection is the most important. However, it's the sort of thing that you have to stick to on one side or the other: it's either a part of your story's world, or it isn't. It's good that TWD has established it's ground on the matter and is sticking to it (aside from season 4A's specific threat which, I believe, was something ultimately disconnected from the zombie virus itself - even the animals were getting sick from it).

[Andy]

So who really kidnapped beth and is now being pursued by daryl and carol?? Well get ready for a surprise...

http://i.imgur.com/985hj47h.jpg

[Wyldwraith]

First off,
I *love* TWD as a show. If I didn't, I wouldn't CARE enough to give it sufficient thought to bring the show's occasional missteps into sharp relief. Also, if you notice the "nitpicks" I zero in on always have the same thing in common, however different the details are. To whit, they're things that are having, or will continue to have a major impact on the overall story, and things that create problematic "precedents" in the show.

A few posts back I mentioned how certain otherwise minor plot flaws can, IMHO, pile upon each other until collectively they become a significant flaw.

Example: Season after season the show has emphasized that travel over any significant distance is EXTREMELY hazardous and challenging. Everything from impassable roads due to densely packed abandoned vehicles, to wandering mega-herds are portrayed as potent reasons why the survivors can't just form up a vehicle convoy and say, head somewhere far away and vastly less populated. Yet now and then the writers seem to cast that aspect of the reality they've crafted completely aside just for the sake of making the newest plot developments expedient.

Or the whole zombie smell thing, which as a corollary includes the whole "Anti-Walker camo" effect of smearing Walker viscera all over a live human to render them "invisible" to Walkers. (Incidentally, here's a BEAUTIFUL compromise the writers could use that states: Yes, the whole Walker gut smearing camo works....but here's the good reason why people only consider it under the direst of circumstances. It's even elegant in its simplicity. Just have a character use the tactic, then somehow get a significant cut/abrasion...and have them turn as a result. In one fell swoop you've explained why this tactic has been considered a viable part of the canon precedents story-wise, while also demonstrating an EXTREMELY COMPELLING reason why survivors don't just use said tactic all the time.

As a rule I'm fine with all aspects of the lore TWD writers develop...I, (like many others I've seen post to this effect) simply don't consider it too much to ask from the show that it doesn't suddenly overturn its own "lore precedents" for no other reason than what is obviously simple expediency on the part of the writers. If zombies can "smell" humans, fine. If zombies CAN'T "smell" humans, also fine. Just don't have them able to sniff out survivors one moment, and then somehow shuffle past within inches of a hiding human without so much as a pause and sniffing of the air. PICK A PRECEDENT AND GO WITH IT!

Finally, Team Rick was already seriously distrustful of other people and very much on edge owing to their narrow escape from Terminus. Now Bob has vanished in a way any rational person in their circumstances would conclude was the work of humans, not Walkers....(Doesn't necessarily mean they should be certain Gareth and his Hunters are said humans, but human-perpetrated foul play is the only reasonable conclusion Team Rick can draw, I think we can all agree on that much.) I'm just hoping we see the stark and immediate increased defensiveness of Team Rick play out with a certain amount of intelligence.

The writers have (seemingly) contrived to rush the re-engagement of the Hunters and Team Rick. I feel the Hunters have had more than their fair share of good breaks. Now IMO it's time for the balance to start swinging the other way. Super villains with unerring good fortune have been one of TWD's few substantial flaws. They went too far with the Governor....I'm hoping that Gimple's influence prevented the Hunters from subsisting almost entirely on obviously contrived "good luck"....

After all, if you're one of the camp that believe protagonists have to make mistakes at times to advance the plot, then you should also believe the same to be true of major antagonists. In any case, nothing I've said should be taken as my beating up on TWD, or not liking it. I simply believe there are things they've done so far this Season that could've been handled a bit better is all.

Oh, and Rick...if you loved reaching out to Morgan by walkie-talkie, maybe you should consider keeping an eye out for some more Walkies to be used by your so-often-divided group, eh? Just a thought Mr. Lawman Who Relied on Real-Time Communications devices for all the years he served as a peace officer. ;)

[Neil]

I also think Bob may have been bitten. Just by the way he was acting after being attacked. If this is the case, those nasty-assed Termites are eating him. I just wonder if the walker virus can survive the cooking process. It would be great to see those asses get sick and turn. It serves them right.

Exactly what I was thinking... I suspect that will be the twist in the next episode? ie: They'll start getting ill!

It seems too obvious he's been bitten, so it also seems too convenient as he's the one they've caught and started eating, that it'll backfire on them and they will suffer a painful slow death due to eating infected meat!

[blind2d]

Yay, I finally saw it!
Brohoof at the beginning was cool. I thought all the make-up effects were really awesome throughout the episode: plenty of gore for all!
Gabriel's interesting... Seems like quite the pansy, though. Maybe a decent guy. Initially I trust him. But I have to wonder...
Oh yeah, Beth! I forgot about that kid! I hope she got a birthday. I hope they find her, too.
Yay, cabbinilism! Not enough of that, IMO, so glad that's going on. RIP, Bob's left leg. I gotta say I liked this one almost as much as the first ep of the season, especially where the walkers 'r concerned.

[Buzzbomb]

I get worried when any of the characters uncharacteristically get a large quota of lines. That always seems to spell band news...

I noticed Bob did seem to get progressively more sweaty in the closing scenes, so maybe he did get scratched & was starting to fever?

I wonder whether Gabriel was just guilty over surviving - perhaps not opening the church doors to his flock when the outbreak hit? I guess, he'll have more sinister reasons, but I hope they do a back-fill story of some sort...

+1 on the character inconsistencies issue. I love the show, but the writing is farcical at times.

[Rottedfreak]

Comics Related Spoiler RE: Bob/Cannibals:

Bob: "YOU'RE EATING TAINTED MEAT! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Everyone pukes, throws aside their food
Bob: "TAINTED MEAT!"
Gareth then kicks him unconscious. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!!"

[Moon Knight]

^ spoiler alert.

[RichW]

Dawwwwww ... thanks rotted ... all that time trying to avoid spoilers, now this! .. less than 24hrs away too! d'oh!!
:mad:

Is there any chance that a separate **SPOILER ALERT** thread could be started?

PS, to anyone who thinks that some of the previous responses have been 'nit picking'.
OK, I accept your point of view, but these are mine /yours/ our points of view,
I'm sure everyone here just shares them because we all love the show.....
sometimes we want it to go certain ways, which it doesn't, then sometimes
it completely surprises us and we're like WOW.

We only share these thoughts because it's something we all enjoy so much.
And I stand by my point, I still think Wyld is right ... it's not nit-picking, he just likes
to explain his reasoning ..... I would rather that than someone say -
" I'm right and you're wrong so nah nah nee nah nah "

Wouldn't you? < rhetorical question!

Anyway onto the next episode, lets hope tonight is as good as the last two....
we're in for a scoarcher!!

R

[sandrock74]

My prediction for the next episode: Bob comes back with a vengeance! He'll use all his skills to win as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest! You'll see.

[MoonSylver]

Dawwwwww ... thanks rotted ... all that time trying to avoid spoilers, now this! .. less than 24hrs away too! d'oh!!
:mad:

FWIW just because we know what we know doesn't mean we know what we know, y'know? ;)

Given twists, turns, & deviations from the comics, one can never say for sure. surprisingly, a lot of people seem to have guessed this in any case. If it turns out to be true remains to be seen. I wouldn't put it past them to set it up as such & pull a fake out, even though I don't expect this to be the case...

[Staredge]

I think that they played up Bob's emotions a little too much. If he's not bitten, I'll be surprised. IIRC, in the comics Dale being bitten was a shock. No real foreshadowing. (I could be wrong....been a while since I read them) His going outside to cry sets up the abduction, but also makes people jump to that conclusion.

[MoonSylver]

I think that they played up Bob's emotions a little too much. If he's not bitten, I'll be surprised. IIRC, in the comics Dale being bitten was a shock. No real foreshadowing. (I could be wrong....been a while since I read them) His going outside to cry sets up the abduction, but also makes people jump to that conclusion.

Exactly. Which is what made me suspicious that it COULD be a set-up, however unlikely. Since if you've read the comic you know what to expect, maybe that's NOT what they're going to do...;)

[Buzzbomb]

Just watched episode 1 & 2 again... looking forward to no. 3 tomorrow...

Something which just struck me is why did Carol decide to leave (other than a plot device so the Beth storyline could be continued)... Was it because the character could no longer fit in with the group, due to her actions at the prison? Perhaps she couldn't cope with the fate of Lizzie & Micah? I'm guessing perhaps she's thinking if the CDC was a dead-end (sic) & didn't know anything about Washington, then Eugene & Abraham are just bullshit.

Also I'm guesing that Tyresse did kill the guy in the shack. Daryl did seem to step off the porch in one shot, so I would have thought he looked inside. The guys face would have been a mess after all those blows & the blurry shot at the end of the guy around the campfire didn't look like he had any black eyes or anything.

What happened to the zombies Tyresse killed - the one on the stake is absent when the group arrive & only one Z is seen? Tidy chap that Tyresse.

Disclaimer - I haven't read any of the comics & probably never will, but I love the show - nitpicks & all.

[AcesandEights]

Is there any chance that a separate **SPOILER ALERT** thread could be started?

Unfortunately, it's a matter of common sense and common courtesy. We could take all the precautions possible (and we go out of our way more than most sites that regularly discuss TWD, as it is), but you'd still see people posting either callously or absentmindedly on occasion.

Trust me, I sympathize.

[MinionZombie]

Buzzbomb - you see the guy Tyreese beat up in the shed with Gareth & Co at the end of this episode.

As for the walkers - yes, Tyreese is a tidy chap. I bet he keeps a hell of a good home, too. :)