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

[MinionZombie]

Please keep all talk of episode 5x08 "Coda" 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! Episode 5.08: “Coda” – “New enemies disregard rules and morals; although Rick wants to find a peaceful agreement, the enemies seem to prefer a more violent resolution.” Directed by Ernest Dickerson, Written by Angela Kang.

[bassman]

Dickerson has directed some of the best episodes of the series, but after the last few episodes I just don't seem to care too much about this mid season finale..... Hopefully it'll feature something memorable like Sofia walking out of the barn.

[RichW]

I know what you mean Bass, Sofia coming out of that barn was one of the very few episodes I almost found myself welling up. I don't find myself chomping at the bit to see this one. This season has been well enough acted and written out etc (apart from a few recurring flaws) But, they seem to be stuck in some kind of 'ZA groundhog day', which goes something like.. 1- Group get X miles towards final goal. (Can anyone remember what the final goal is now?) 2- Group member X gets kidnapped by baddies. 3- Trust issues arise. 4- Negotiations fail. 5- Mid/End season battle ensues, group members X and Y die in process. 7- Baddies ultimately defeated ... baddie leader dies horrible death. 8- Rick/Group go all self analytical over whether they did the right thing and remember old friends. 9- Someone gets up the balls to say 'Lets move on'. Repeat from step 1. Now, you pad that out with the odd eps of gruesome walker deaths, back stories/flashbacks, someone taking things into their own hands or betraying the group,bumping into the occasional good guy and you've got an entire season of TWD. Indeed you've got pretty much all the eps (very loosely and more or less) since Sofia went missing! Now, don't get me wrong, a lot of them have been told REALLY well and have been very engaging. But its time for them to break that mold as its wearing very thin. (Part of this I blame on the governor storyline, he was a good baddie , sure. But the whole him & Woodbury thing was just overplayed for waay too long IMHO) I thought that they had done just that this season, when Gareth was dispatched with. But no sooner than he was gone, the hospital mob pops up and groundhog day starts again. D'oh. With things the way they are at the moment, the most enjoyable episodes (for me anyway) are when they are out on the road - scavenging, surviving, moving towards a goal (especially through the urban environment). Hopefully when TWD returns, we will get to see more of that. Saying that though, I find I'm asking myself "Take away that 'drama' and what else can they do a story about?" Answer to that ... I don't know. (Indeed, take those elements out of any of the Romero films and the whole thing collapses). There have to be some ingenious alternatives or at least don't rely on it SOO much. Maybe the TWD steamroller is running out of oomph? Thoughts anyone?

[MinionZombie]

To be fair we're also in a transitionary period ... you can't just jump from one major location (the prison) and baddie (The Governor) to another. I'm wondering if we'll get another morsel relating to Morgan after that little post-credits tease in 5x01 ... who knows, a little teaser to tide us over until Season 5B.

[RichW]

To be fair we're also in a transitionary period ... you can't just jump from one major location (the prison) and baddie (The Governor) to another. I'm wondering if we'll get another morsel relating to Morgan after that little post-credits tease in 5x01 ... who knows, a little teaser to tide us over until Season 5B. I agree with you 100% MZ. That's what I'm trying (maybe poorly) to say - The whole 'Fixed Location with Fixed baddie' and an inevitable outcome theme is wearing thin. The episodes out on the road, surviving are a lot less predictable and thus more enjoyable. For a while I thought that with Abrahams group heading to Washington and Ricks at the church, the writers were going to try run both the fixed and mobile themes in parallel, that may have helped. But that (and Eugene) fell flat on its face! (Not that we couldn't see it coming!!) This mid season seems like we are just waiting for the same old thing to happen to this group of baddies - hence, it's less exciting and more 'expected' maybe there's a trick up their sleeve somewhere, have to wait and see. Also looking forward to seeing Morgan again after the Ep1 teaser.

[Moon Knight]

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!! Anyway, excited about tonight.

[facestabber]

I'm really happy with S5. There is so much right compared to miniscule wrongs. The opener was an amazing episode, balls to the wall. But I also enjoy the slower paced developing stories that don't require the violence/action. I actually would love to see an episode where the group finds a safe/ temporary location and laughs, jokes and play a pick up game of back yard football. Throw in some reminiscing about where there journeys came from and homage to knowing people from there past such as Hershel, Dale, Shane etc. But I don't think most viewers would like this and tune in. I have some friends that don't watch the show for any depth other than seeing 'cool' walker kills. The revolving bad guys are needed as the antagonist past the Walkers. Walkers are relatively easy to deal with compared to humans. Walkers are motorized mouths and aren't evil. Creepy, deadly but not evil. The bad humans give us much more range and dynamics to survival. I understand your concern about the pattern and constant bad guys being replaced by the next. But season 5 dealt with Gareth and co really well. Quickly and matter of factly they didn't hang around like invincible boogeymen. The Gov was over the top. He was too magical at times. Season 2 mid season break was phenominal. Completely gut wrenching and acted so damn well. I still love Season 2. Tonight has been promised to be shocking. Remains to be seen but it seems clear that some of the main group will be thinned.

[MoonSylver]

If it feels like they're in a holding pattern right now, well, they kinda are: they escaped Terminus, found the church, the group got divided up, as far as 3/4's of them know the plan is still to head to Washington, but first they've got this rescue mission to deal with, meanwhile, the other 1/4 is headed back since there now IS no mission to Washington... So like MZ said, a group in transition, in the post Prison, post Terminus phase. Washington WAS the next objective, but (presumably after the break), they'll have to figure out where they're going & what they're doing.

[Moon Knight]

"Pretty Much Dead Already" is still my favorite episode of TWD to date.

[MoonSylver]

[AcesandEights]

The day the music died, am I right?

[MoonSylver]

The day the music died, am I right? Noah you asshole. We lose Beth & get him?!? Not a fair trade at all. But no one can accuse them of not having surprise or impactful deaths. Everyone was calling Carol. No one called Beth recently, if at all. Here's another level of suck: now Maggie is going to think if she hadn't went on Eugene's bullshit mission, she might have been there to save Beth.

[facestabber]

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.

[MoonSylver]

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. I guess she figured that unless Dawn was taken out, the situation at the hospital would continue? It wasn't exactly a well thought out action. More of a reaction to her forcing Noah to go back. It'll be interesting to hear Emily Kinney's take on things coming up here in a few minutes on Talking Dead. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's going on in some of the characters heads, especially when everything happened so fast.

[sandrock74]

Actually, we lose Beth but gain Morgan!! 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.