TWD 5x06 "Consumed" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN*

[MinionZombie]

I really liked the episode! Yes. Very daft scene... Why did they even pick that van out in the first place? What was so special about it? Why let themselves get caught in it? Amateurs! Well they investigated the van because it had the white crosses on the back - and they were looking for a vehicle with those same crosses - and they found the clue they needed (the name of the hospital, on the bottom of the gurney). I'd say that the folks running that facility just stole a normal van as it's big enough to get a gurney into (same with that estate car Carol got run over by). They absolutely needed to find some information, but unfortunately for them there were a bunch of walkers nearby on the bridge coming their way, so they got surrounded. It ain't easy surviving in the zombie apocalypse. Despite the screwy physics I really dug the scene. Oh - and another allusion to season one - the bisected walker dragging itself along without it's legs. Agreed with Facestabber as well - it was about saving Daryl's soul in that moment, but in-turn it might have been a test from Daryl to Carol ... they were both testing each other and trying to make each other see that it's not all over and that there is something more to become. Plus, Daryl wasn't convinced that Carol was just going to shoot Noah in the leg - Carol was quick to resort to that measure, but Daryl instinctively knew Noah wasn't a bad guy and didn't begrudge him stealing their weapons too much as he knew he was just a kid trying to survive - it wasn't done with malice.

[MoonSylver]

Yes. Very daft scene... Why did they even pick that van out in the first place? What was so special about it? Why let themselves get caught in it? Amateurs! The streak continues.

[Legion2213]

Only got to watch this tonight, what a cracking episode! PA cityscapes will always rock my world! Some really poignant stuff going on in this one, Carroll's past, the (zombie) woman and her kid who were probably living a life of terror before the walkers rose, refugees camping in buildings etc. This episode nailed a lot of the misery and sadness that exists in TWD universe Rating this one highly...Loved the zombie downpour as well!

[Moon Knight]

This episode refrenced both "Lost" and "The X-Files".

[AcesandEights]

This episode refrenced both "Lost" and "The X-Files". Intrigued to know, if you can spoiler tag it Been awhile since my X-files days and I bailed on Lost pretty early on when it became apparent it was going to be a circle jerk.

[Wyldwraith]

Liked the episode, But Carol getting hit bugged me. They knew a car was down there on that road...so it's not like her not looking is explained by it being a dead city. Like others I'm willing to let that slide, but it did make me grind my teeth. As for the weapon-stealing kid...sometimes TWD makes me feel like a bad person. When Daryl stopped Carol from shooting him I felt actual outrage. Kid or not, he stripped you of almost all weapons in the middle of a city crawling with the undead, and THEN unleashed the tent-Walkers on them as a means of covering his escape. After having been through the van fall essentially because they didn't have the weapons to credibly fight through the Walkers I was so on board with leaving him under the bookcase and letting the Walker have lunch. I would've been wrong, because it woulda cost them their lead on Beth...but that's pragmatism speaking. The shots of the city were great, and the feel of a major dead cityscape which we haven't had at ALL really since "Clear" (and that was a town mainly of 1-story buildings)..like others I really enjoyed seeing the characters employing the vertical in their search. I realize they had to explain how Carol ended up in whacko-Hospital, but the car hit still felt contrived to me. Maybe I would've felt differently about the scene if all three of them hadn't seen that car trolling down the exact same street would then try to cross, but as it is I was like "WTH?!?!" Still, the episode did a lot more right than it did wrong. Finally, I'm DEFINITELY in the camp that wants to see the three group-fragments rejoin into a single group, and SOON. Having them split up like this does exactly what I don't care for about portions of certain seasons. It creates a lot of ping-ponging...and tempts the writers to do too many flashbacks and such. Carol and Daryl are one thing, but it strains credence if Rick & Co, whose intent is to catch up with Glenn/Maggie and the rest don't manage to do so now that their group is on foot post-bus crash. Daryl is definitely getting to be a softie in some respects.

[MoonSylver]

As for the weapon-stealing kid...sometimes TWD makes me feel like a bad person. When Daryl stopped Carol from shooting him I felt actual outrage. Kid or not, he stripped you of almost all weapons in the middle of a city crawling with the undead, and THEN unleashed the tent-Walkers on them as a means of covering his escape. After having been through the van fall essentially because they didn't have the weapons to credibly fight through the Walkers I was so on board with leaving him under the bookcase and letting the Walker have lunch. I would've been wrong, because it woulda cost them their lead on Beth...but that's pragmatism speaking. That's an excellent point, & I felt the exact same way. Most shows show you "good guys" & "bad guys". This was an excellent example of "shades of gray morality". ie He took their weapons & left them to the zombies = "bad guy", except we already saw him & actually know he seems like a decent guy, just in a bad spot. If they had done the expedient thing & not allowed morality/their "better nature" to prevail, then they would have lost a valuable lead & potential ally in trying to get Beth back. O irony, you so cray cray! Finally, I'm DEFINITELY in the camp that wants to see the three group-fragments rejoin into a single group, and SOON. Having them split up like this does exactly what I don't care for about portions of certain seasons. It creates a lot of ping-ponging...and tempts the writers to do too many flashbacks and such. Carol and Daryl are one thing, but it strains credence if Rick & Co, whose intent is to catch up with Glenn/Maggie and the rest don't manage to do so now that their group is on foot post-bus crash. I think that's pretty much where we're at in the last 2ep's before the mid-season break. If so, then I'm happy with the pacing so far this season. Yeah, they all got split up, but if that does turn out to be the case, then they'll have moved everything along pretty briskly & wrapped up the story elements pretty quickly, rather than teasing them out & having them overstay their welcome (which the lead up to Terminus kinda almost did, & Where's Beth was starting to).

[Moon Knight]

Intrigued to know, if you can spoiler tag it Been awhile since my X-files days and I bailed on Lost pretty early on when it became apparent it was going to be a circle jerk.   The cigarettes that Daryl picked up were a carton of "Morleys", the brand's most recognizable appearance was on The X-Files, as the preferred brand of the series big bad The Cigarette-Smoking Man. Dale also picked up a box back in season 2. If you remember he put it inside of his breast pocket. The Lost reference was simply the statue of Mary that was placed on the dashboard of the white van. The same statue was used in a similar situation but with an airplane; which also took a header after being lodged up onto a tree.

[Neil]

Don't bother with handcuffs to subdue people... Just put them in a sleeping bag! No one can get out of those! Out of interested why all those "victims" in sleeping bags? What's the story there? Only scenario I can think of is they all committed suicide?

[RichW]

last 2ep's before the mid-season break. Crikey, is it that time already, before the old MSB swear-word rears it's ugly head?? Where has the time gone, this season seems to be flying by. That's good in some ways (indicative of well put together show) But not having some TWD to enjoy on chrimbo day seems, wrong

[Buzzbomb]

Out of interested why all those "victims" in sleeping bags? What's the story there? Only scenario I can think of is they all committed suicide? I thought they'd been shot whilst asleep, died & then turned - I think there looked like some blood spots on the sleeping bags & at some point there were some bullet holes shown in the wall (but I'm not 100% that was in the same location).

[Neil]

I thought they'd been shot whilst asleep, died & then turned - I think there looked like some blood spots on the sleeping bags & at some point there were some bullet holes shown in the wall (but I'm not 100% that was in the same location). That would be a nice touch!

[MinionZombie]

Don't bother with handcuffs to subdue people... Just put them in a sleeping bag! No one can get out of those! Out of interested why all those "victims" in sleeping bags? What's the story there? Only scenario I can think of is they all committed suicide? The walkers in the sleeping bags had been shot when they were (sleeping) humans - there were bloody bullet holes in the bags, and being that walkers don't know a lot of things, they couldn't figure out how to get out of the sleeping bags that were all zipped up. As was mentioned earlier, it did have a kind of Dawn of the Dead vibe to it with those zombies tied up in the basement of the tenement building ... just writhing around mindlessly, some of them with sheets over their heads and bound at the neck like hoods ... creepy stuff. Splitting the group up ... it's necessary to give other characters some room to breathe and get some good back story to catch us up with newer additions (e.g. Abraham) and get some other plot threads dealt with on their own, otherwise you'd have a lot of cast members doing nothing in the background (as well as limiting where/how the action takes place) or other characters off-camera in a room somewhere whilst these other threads are happening. On the other hand I do look forward to getting the group all together and heading in the same direction as a unit ... so it's a double-edged sword. It does mean we might go three episodes without Rick/Carl/Michonne/whoever, but it also means we get dedicated time to characters that would otherwise get sidelined, or get their important bit of back story fobbed off with a cheap couple of lines, or have their side stories limited by being restricted to the near vicinity of Rick. So yeah ... double-edged sword ... they were together for three, then apart for three, and now these last two will no doubt gradually bring them all together. Overall the pacing has been good ... but at the same time I do look forward to the entirety of Team Rick standing side-by-side once more. With Eugene's secret exposed, Team Mullet will be looking to head back to Gabriel's church pronto.

[Neil]

...team mullet... lol!

[MoonSylver]

Splitting the group up ... it's necessary to give other characters some room to breathe and get some good back story to catch us up with newer additions (e.g. Abraham) and get some other plot threads dealt with on their own, otherwise you'd have a lot of cast members doing nothing in the background (as well as limiting where/how the action takes place) or other characters off-camera in a room somewhere whilst these other threads are happening.