TWD 7x15 "Something They Need" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN*

[MinionZombie]

/\ To me, this is the problem with writing this type of "soap opera" storyline. The writers wanted some "ooooohhh" in their plot having Abe do an about face and ditch Rositia for Sasha, something that really came out of nowhere and I'll be honest, that never sat right with me for a second - rather like Rick's hookup with Michone (that's just bullshit) - and it just makes Abe look like a dick. My wife got really pissed off with him . Now, we have a pretty unrealistic reaction to Abe's murder, from Sasha, who's going on like (as said earlier) she just lost the love of her life. None of it rings true and it feels completely hollow. Far too often, writers stick in a love story, because they've either run out of road with a character or they just don't have enough story to fill the running time (a lot of war movies suffer from this issue). Problem is, you need to build a love story gradually so it means something, or have it already established when you introduce your character, otherwise it doesn't feel organic. I reject this "soap opera" criticism that gets slammed on TWD from time to time. Not once have I seen someone's evil twin half-sibling that they never knew about come back from the dead via a brain transplant ... or an alcoholic gold digger with fading beauty marry a dying oil barron to screw said barron's kids out of their vast inheritence so she can pay off her massive debts to her loan shark/former husband/current bit on the side. That sort of shit is "soap opera" storytelling. Stories are stories. Love and relationships are a huge part of the human experience (if they weren't, our population would have dwindled long ago). "Richonne" makes sense - they hooked up in Season 6 having known each other since Season 3, going from quite suspect - even antagonistic towards each other - to friends, and then to room-mates, and then to lovers. It was a gradual thing and it worked beautifully, I feel. They know what each other is about, they understand each other, and they had an inherent comfort with each other. Likewise, Michonne had a long-established good relationship and mutual respect with Carl (again, dating back to it's origins in Season 3 - 3x12 "Clear" in particular), and she was able to process the loss of her own child and accept Judith into her life (IIRC we saw this unfold in late Season 3/early Season 4). So "Richonne" makes total sense - two warriors who deeply understand each other - just like in the comics (although there was no such thing as "Richonne" in the comics, because Rick got together with someone else in the comics). I do agree, though, that we got nowhere near enough Abraham/Sasha storyline to make her loss resonate enough. We needed to see them in a more intimate context - I don't necessarily mean bunking up, but a more domestic "we could have a normal life together" context. We clearly got the reason for Abraham breaking up with Rosita. He didn't handle it particularly well, but we did get his reasoning laid out quite clearly, and obviously Rosita thought they had something different. Perhaps some flashbacks for Sasha and Abraham in Season 7A - to show their blooming relationship - would have helped? Or, better yet, deeper exploration of their burgeoning relationship throughout Season 6.

[shootemindehead]

I use the term because the "love triangle/who's screwing who" is a basic element of that type of show and it's perfectly applicable to this cheap writing angle that 'The Walking Dead' has exhibited from time to time. Of course "stories are stories", but there are tropes from various genres that are, far too often and unfortunately, bolted on and used to up the game without requiring too much effort. Also, "Richonne" doesn't make a lick of sense. They never even gave each other a look in such a manner up until the moment we saw them in the sack and a couple of episodes ago we have Michonne going all gooey eyed at the prospect of Rick being scoffed and her not being able to cope without him etc. That's just bad writing right there. Completely unconvincing for me. There was no build up to such a move and it came off as, oh this is happening now? Abe/Rosey/Sash is even worse. There's nothing there except for a desire to give those characters something to do before they're written off.

[MinionZombie]

Also, "Richonne" doesn't make a lick of sense. They never even gave each other a look in such a manner up until the moment we saw them in the sack and a couple of episodes ago we have Michonne going all gooey eyed at the prospect of Rick being scoffed and her not being able to cope without him etc. That's just bad writing right there. Completely unconvincing for me. There was no build up to such a move and it came off as, oh this is happening now? Erm, totally disagree with you on Richonne. In Season 5 we clearly saw Michonne come over all tingly when Rick emerged from the shower - shirtless and freshly shaved - and there was another episode (I can't recall which) where, kind of subtly, Rick was checking out Michonne as she walked away. Plus all the stuff I said in my previous post on the matter: they'd been moving closer and closer together as a unit over a considerable amount of time (there were a few time jumps during the growth of their relationship and we saw them get closer and more comfortable with each other with each time jump). Abe & Sasha? Yep, we needed to see far more of it during Season 6. But Richonne? You're way off base.

[shootemindehead]

Nah, I'm not really buying it. To me there was no real indication to lead where we have it now. The Lovey dovey wovey thing doesn't fly here. I don't really recall any glad eyes to lead me to believe that there was anything going to happen and Rick certainly didn't seem to give a tinkers cuss when he was looking to get into the blonde girls knickers either (whatever her name was). It needed more building. Much more. Christ, if anybody should be getting together it's Carol'n'Daryl. In any case, it all just feels a bit too shippy. Besides, even Andrew Lincoln didn't know it was going to happen, as far as I recall. In addition, how is this now going to play out, "going forward" as it were? Happy clappy families? Michonne brown bread? After all, the women that get involved with Rick don't tend to hang around too long.