TWD 5x08 "Coda" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN*

[MoonSylver]

Actually, we lose Beth but gain Morgan!! Good enough point I guess. I dunno; to me, Beth has been away from the group since last years mid-season finale, so she's been too isolated for me to really care what happens to her. Does it suck she's dead? Sure. Will I lose any sleep over it? Nah. It just seemed to lack the gut punch that everyone involved with the show has been going on about all week. Hurm. It was a shocker for me anyway. Plus she was super hot. That lends extra pathos. Any time a super hot chick dies in a movie or TV show God sheds a tear & a kitten dies. True story.

[sandrock74]

Plus she was super hot. That lends extra pathos. Any time a super hot chick dies in a movie or TV show God sheds a tear & a kitten dies. True story. Maggie is hotter. Just sayin'.

[MoonSylver]

Maggie is hotter. Just sayin'. Why choose? Take both. Problem solved. But seriously, (comic spoiler)   Should have known Beth was on the chopping block eventually, as she'd already outlived her counterpart.

[Staredge]

Maggie is hotter. Just sayin'. Ehh. Not so sure (and I usually prefer brunettes) Waiting for the social media guy at AMC to fall on his sword. Dumbass posted an RIP Beth picture of Daryl carrying her out, right after the episode aired!!!!!

[facestabber]

Beth has never been a favorite of mine but I still cared. Gotta admit seeing Emily Kinneys emotion on Talking dead elevated my respect for her and Beth tremendously. She cares about this show as much as we do as fans. Hats off to Kinney. And fellas, it's Maggie all the way. Also for those that don't watch TTD, Kirkman said Daryl Dixon is not gay. No judgment but I believe this was the right call.

[ProfessorChaos]

the boring meh. I really wish I could give up on this show, but they throw a damn good episode in once in a while and it really reminds me of how great this show is at times.....but then we get another line of so-so episodes that introduce more dull characters. not really blown away by this mid-season finale....in fact, I was more interested and intrigued by the 30 second better call saul preview than I was during the actual episode.

[Doc]

Yeah, let's have majors deaths and a nice swerve. Also, that's deaths plural. I think we can all assume who is going to die in this one but dammit I want to be shocked and surprised. They have been getting really soft with these characters. Aside from Bob, more ppl should have been dead by now. Sasha, Beth, ect. Cmon, TWD grow your balls back!! The only ballsy death in this show has been Herschel. Every other character who have perished have either been redshirted non-entities or are central characters that had been so demonized that the audience cheers when they're killed. Bob and Beth were a glorified redshirts at best. They did have potential though, which is why it's upsetting to see the writers treat them like fodder and waste them. Beth's death was telegraphed well in advance so her death was no 'shocker'. This arc started out strongly with 'Slabtown', but 'Consumed' and 'Crossed' unnecessarily padded it out with pointless filler and awful scenes. "Coda" had a promising opening, but unfortunately had no twist and turns and offered a lousy payoff. Also, nice to see that Maggie remembers she has a sister. I only recall her ever mentioning Beth once in the opening of 'No Sanctuary' and not again until this episode! It's a shame, because I think Lauren Cohan did a great job with the scene when she saw Daryl carrying Beth's body, but Maggie and Beth had no real bond between them. It was hard to believe she'd even be that upset!

[Moon Knight]

The only ballsy death in this show has been Herschel. Every other character who have perished have either been redshirted non-entities or are central characters that had been so demonized that the audience cheers when they're killed. Bob and Beth were a glorified redshirts at best. They did have potential though, which is why it's upsetting to see the writers treat them like fodder and waste them. Beth's death was telegraphed well in advance so her death was no 'shocker'. This arc started out strongly with 'Slabtown', but 'Consumed' and 'Crossed' unnecessarily padded it out with pointless filler and awful scenes. "Coda" had a promising opening, but unfortunately had no twist and turns and offered a lousy payoff. Also, nice to see that Maggie remembers she has a sister. I only recall her ever mentioning Beth once in the opening of 'No Sanctuary' and not again until this episode! It's a shame, because I think Lauren Cohan did a great job with the scene when she saw Daryl carrying Beth's body, but Maggie and Beth had no real bond between them. It was hard to believe she'd even be that upset! T-Dogg and Lori death's were sudden and weren't saved for a mid or season finale. I would like to see more of that. Good episode but could have been more. Emotional ending with good performances by all. Now, let's keep the group together and end the individual episodes for a while.

[MinionZombie]

Excellent episode. A heartbreaker at the end there ... I really liked the emotion they put into it. Rick, Daryl, Carol, Maggie - all absolutely devastated to lose Beth (and the others were gutted too) ... really well edited with some beautiful scoring. Interesting that none of the Grady gang went with Rick (except Noah staying with Team Rick, that is) ... there was a real sense of tragedy to this episode, a weary sense of inevitability in their lives that they keep getting knocked down, they keep getting their hearts torn out. Maggie's going to be feeling pretty damn bad after all of this. On a cheerier note - yay! Morgan! But - gasp - he's got the map to Washington. Will he find clues to turn him back? Where is this all going? Oooooooh the anticipation!!! Some awesome walker kills in there too - such as the one falling on Gabriel's machete. I also liked how the school walkers were set up in 5x03 and paid off here in 5x08. RIP to another Greene family member. Sad for Maggie and Daryl but goodness is Beth a dumbass. Stabbing Dawn with scissors?????? To prove what except probably causing a shoot out at the Grady memorial corral and most likely killing your family in a hail of gunfire. To be fair what weapons did she have at her disposal? She'd hidden the scissors under her own bed from earlier, and where is she going to hide a weapon on her person except for the cast - so it has to be something small - hence the scissors. Had Noah not been called back Beth would have left Dawn alone, but it was because of Dawn's actions that Beth flipped her shit ... although she should have gone for the neck ... goddamned Dawn. Fare-the-well, Beth ... fare thee well.

[facestabber]

how great was it to see Morgan's expression when he read "Rick Grimes" on that map? Let's hope he finally cleared

[MinionZombie]

Thinking more about this episode and the bit where Rick ran over Officer Bob and then just shot the dude ... that's some hardcore Rick Grimes right there. The man's not to be reckoned with, alright. Also the bit outside the church when Michonne, perhaps for the first time, really had no idea what to do - where do they go, what do they do? Everyone else is off somewhere etc ... good thing Abraham's Fire Brigade turned up in good time. Another thing: There was a bit of foreshadowing in 4x12 when Beth says to Daryl that she'll be gone some day and that he'll miss her so bad when it happens ... poor Daryl. how great was it to see Morgan's expression when he read "Rick Grimes" on that map? Let's hope he finally cleared Damn straight. Loved that moment. I can't wait to see more Morgan!!! TWD 5x08 Memes: http://deadshed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/...5x08.html#more

[kidgloves]

Meh mid season finale. Absolutely zero emotional impact for me as I suspect it was for most viewers who didn't really give a toss about Beth.

[Andy]

Meh mid season finale. Absolutely zero emotional impact for me as I suspect it was for most viewers who didn't really give a toss about Beth. Hey come on thats not fair.. when i realised this means no more crappy singing i got quite emotional

[Trencher]

How to say? I disliked the latest episodes. Sure there are a lot of good things but the same thing is happening to the walking dead that happened to the zombie genre in general. I thought the raping slavers could be a decent villain group but instead the latest episodes have been focusing on legitimizing the hospitals way of doing things. This is what happened to the zombie genre, it became about gore and zombie kills and making excuses for evil doings. Making deals with the raping slavers were an stupid and immoral idea. The whole set up was unrealistic and I actually felt like the sudden "reasonableness" of the raping slavers when the shooting started were an attempt of the writer to legitimize rape and slavery under the set circumstances. Beth could die anyway, no need to take the balls of Daryl and Rick too. The fact that not a single one of the wards went with Rick and the group is pure legitimization of the hospitals policies on behalf of the writers. Nothing less nothing more. Think about it. What possible reason is there for not having a cool action scene in the mid season finale? They have a message they want to spread. I worded this as well as I could but I still feel like I did not get across how hopeless I feel about this shows future. But it already have its audience from the well made Darabount episodes and also the great actors and characters from that era. The new cast are not very good. The stories and characterization takes backseat to how gory the zombies are and how they are killed. Gore gore gore. Now the show writers can just sit back and harvest in all the gore hounds audience and be a cult classic. Now I like action and I like it when the characters explore areas and buildings. But the zombs are getting more and more comical, weaker and weaker they snarl constantly like dogs, no creepy moaning, all the atmosphere is gone. Buried under tons of gore and "cool kills". I am one of those who stopped reading the wheel of time series because I got tired of its bullshit and I am getting the same feeling about the walking dead. This series has jumped the shark. But it is still enough good things in it to go for a while more.

[MinionZombie]

I don't see anything in this episode that "legitimises" the actions of the Grady Gang. Each group don't know each other, they're aware they're dangerous to each other, they all want to survive in the end of the day - so why get into a massive fight? The Grady Gang get their wish and Dawn is killed - they have the throne, and they still have their safe haven (some of them haven't been outside of it since the shit hit the fan, do you really think they'll want to risk being thrown out into the wilderness to immediately die?) Team Rick want to survive, so why get into a massive fight? They've got two of their people, so they take two of theirs - a simple trade off and nobody gets hurt, and it was working out until Dawn got boastful and demanded Noah back (I doubt anyone else would have cared if Noah and gone or stayed, quite frankly) ... for Dawn it was personal, still clinging to her crumbling authority ... that then pissed off Beth and she reacted emotionally, not thoughtfully, and sought revenge only to pay the price. It was a reaction by Dawn - one that she possibly didn't even want to do, but she was running on a hair trigger and shit went south awful quick. Leaving the Grady Gang be doesn't legitimise their actions. Also, think about it, Team Rick know very little about them - do they know about the specifics of what Grady get up to? Is there time for Noah to go into an in-depth debrief on the inner workings of the place - does he know all of the dirty secrets? The confrontation with Grady was put together very fast and they were reacting most of the time, rather than being able to do as they'd planned. Story taking a back seat to gore? Are we watching the same show? Characters and plot have always been first priority on TWD - indeed I've seen plenty of moaning about "slow" episodes (i.e. ones based more on character drama than action) - there's just as much gore as there's always been in some ways, or rather, the focus on gore has been the same as it always was.