The Walking Dead...a mini-review on the last episode

[shadowkat]

Just finished watching the Season finale of The Walking Dead, which amongst other things had an incredibly similar attempted rape scene to Buffy S6, Seeing Red, albeit far more realistic. I actually preferred this one to that one. And felt it made a lot more sense. The one in Seeing Red - is jarring, for several reasons - one it makes no logical sense whatsoever that he enters her bathroom. Her house yes, but her bathroom, while she's clearly about to take a bath?? Two she's almost too weak in the scene, considering she only fought a vamp in a graveyard, and fell into a gravestone - this is nothing. And third, it's filmed in stark blacks and whites, then cut in the middle for a commercial, if someone had been flipping channels they'd think they were watching a completely different show. The rest of the episode is photographed/filmed in campy low-production Buffy style, except for that scene. It's like reading a comic book and they switch artists for one panel, then flip back again. While in The Walking Dead - it makes sense that Shane is in the room with Lorie, that he would enter the rec room, and Lori is clearly weaker than he is, yet, still able to stop him - by scratching him and the fact that much like Spike, he doesn't really intend to rape her. That scene was filmed correctly and effectively. The other one - not so much.

Will give the Walking Dead points for being gripping tv. That hour flew by. I was riveted. Also, favorite characters are Andrea and the old man, Sal (?). Was quite worried about them in this episode. Also Lincoln is rather compelling as Rick Grimes, the lead protagonist. It's a good survivalist horror tale, even if it's a tad on the sexist end of the fence, but then so are the Buffy and Spike comics, so I barely noticed. Beginning to think Helen Mirren is right - the vast majority of entertainment, tv, film or comic book (okay less in the tv department perhaps) seems to be targeted to 18-25 year old boys and their penis. Which are oddly quite small at least according to Mirren, I wouldn't know haven't done any measuring. ( of the penis not the boys) .

Comments

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

Did you see my post from Friday? I found the scene in TWD very similar to Seeing Red and I wondered if anyone else saw it that way. The scene in TWD is much more logical, likely because it wasn't there to serve an out of story purpose - to garner sympathy for Buffy or to show that the soul is necessary in spite of all the good Spike could do without one - I like to call that the Make Sure Angel Stays A Special Snowflake excuse, because prior to the AR, there was still a possibility of soulless redemption which would have diminished Angel's specialness in the verse and brought into question every idea about the soul he perpetuated. With TWD, there is only character narrative at work - it was short, logical, and efficient to get the point across that all is not well with Shane.

Andrea's my favorite, too - I have a kink for big sister/little sister stories, probably because I'm so close with my little sister, and the death of the younger sister Amy really hit hard for me. It was tragic and beautifully shot. The old guy's name is Dale, BTW.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Did you see my post from Friday?

I did, but before I saw the episode...so I was waiting for it. ;-)
And you're right, it is more logical.

This actually underlines a weakness in Whedon's writing - he writes like many daytime soap opera and comic writers write - in that they will often force plot points on the story with little regard to what the characters would actually do. They are more concerned with either shocking the audience, building to a specific plot twist, or staying true to a theme or a romantic/emotional arc than what the characters would do. It's loose writing. (shrugs). Not that Spike wouldn't have forced himself on Buffy at some point - he would have. Definitely. They'd built that part well. But how they filmed and wrote the actual attack or scene does not quite work - it takes you out of the story. Took me years to figure out why I cringe during that sequence and did not over similar bits in other shows - used to think it was how I felt about Spike - but no, it's how it was written and filmed. They wrote and filmed it too fast and really badly. (OR in daytime soap opera fashion. I've seen that scene in many daytime soaps and filmed in similar fashion. We call it the "very special episode of the week" or "the episode everyone will be talking about tomorrow" episode. )

Whedon reminds me of soap opera writers - they have brilliant episodes here and there (I've seen daytime soaps try to do stuff like The Body and Restless as well - although they don't quite pull it off as well as Whedon did, Whedon is a better writer..in that regard), but their writing tends to be largely off the cuff or loosely written and motivated purely by emotion. Logic rarely enters into it.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

It was a pretty good season finale, though I'm still wondering what happened to the plot. Also... so two women decide to stay behind and burn. And they only even try to talk one of them (the white one, of course) out of it?

There's still a lot I like about the series, but I'd been hoping it would be more than just an action-focused survival show, and I'm not sure that's what they're going for.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I don't know, there's still a plot, it's just fairly simple. (Not sure I understand your criticism regarding the plot? Zombie movies don't tend to have much of a plot, which is one of the reasons I don't tend to like them - fighting zombies tends to get boring after a while, not to mention gross - not the most entertaining villains on the planet. At least this one is focused on survival more than just chopping up zombies.

Plot here? Get away from zombies, figure out what is going on, and survive. Oh and at least four subplots - a) Shane's jealousy of Rick and his guilt over leaving Rick and taking care of and well a bit more of Rick's family. b)Andrea trying to get past her sister's death and her back story and whatever her relationships is with Dale. c)Rick trying to figure out what the heck is going on and why. Granted the plot is fairly routine and what you find in most of these zombie flicks - Shaun of the Dead was more or less the same plot, as was Night of the Living Dead except even simpler.

According to the article I read - the comic book writer (it's based on a series of graphic novels) and Darabont - want to show what happens after the characters survive the zombies or how they manage to survive. (In short it's a survivor drama with zombies).

Also... so two women decide to stay behind and burn. And they only even try to talk one of them (the white one, of course) out of it?

Admittedly that was the sexism I saw in this episode. And it annoyed me - because we have what ten? male characters, and maybe four female, one of which is somewhat beaten down and not all that interesting (the woman who was abused by her redneck spouse with the daughter). But the character they decide to leave behind and get killed is well the black woman (whose name I don't remember hearing and basically has had a target on her back for five episodes now). I don't think they knew what to do with her.

Andrea's staying behind did make sense. The black gal's did not.
Actually I think it would have made more sense if Shane had insisted on staying behind - he had a reason to. Or for that matter the black guy who felt guilty about Merle. IF they had to leave someone behind and they did (to make it resonate) why didn't they pick one of the guys that we cared about?

At any rate, I'm glad Andrea was saved, considering she's the only female character that actually has a story that is not all about the guys.

Sexist? Yep. I keep wondering what's up with AMC, all it's dramas are incredibly sexist.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

What I found more troubling about the women who died vs those who did not was the fact that the two women in the group who chose to die were the ones who weren't mothers. The only women left are those who have kids to take care of.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Thought of that as I was responding to the last comment.
The guys who were single or didn't have kids- didn't need to be talked into living, but the women did. And while it made complete sense for Andrea to give up (she just had to shoot her sister in the head), it did not make any sense whatsoever for the other gal.
Why not Dale? Or any of the other men?

This show makes me want to write my own zombie horror flick. (also makes me appreciate Resident Evil...quite a bit.) I think it was overhyped.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Not sure I understand your criticism regarding the plot? Zombie movies don't tend to have much of a plot, which is one of the reasons I don't tend to like them - fighting zombies tends to get boring after a while, not to mention gross - not the most entertaining villains on the planet. At least this one is focused on survival more than just chopping up zombies.

True, but that's exactly it; a good zombie movie will make that work - for 90 minutes. (And many of them manage a lot more plot than TWD has had so far.) If you want to make a series of it, you need to come up with more of a story to tell than just "The zombies are still after us, run, shoot, scream!" If you compare this to, say, Stephen King's The Stand (which it's similar to in a lot of ways), there's an actual plot apart from the survival, we get to know what the characters want, their differing motivations matter, conflicts arise between them, etc. To me it feels like TWD just started, and it's already over (for the next 11 months, at least). Too much of what's happened is either standard romantic subplot that every single series does (often better), or standard zombie plot that in six hours hasn't been further developed than NOTLD managed in 90 minutes. The characters are underdeveloped, we have a hero who is (so far) almost never wrong and clearly is the one we're supposed to be cheering for simply because... That's not to say it's too late to make a great series of this, though Darabont's decision to fire his entire writing staff and have freelancers piece s2 together doesn't fill me with confidence. It's still a well-made series, and I applaud it for daring to be about guts and blood and despair and back-to-the-wall survival, but... it would be nice if that wasn't all it had going for it. Either give me a character drama or a tight plot.

I keep wondering what's up with AMC, all it's dramas are incredibly sexist.

I would say Mad Men isn't in itself sexist so much as a story about sexism (among other things). Whereas TWD just seems to pay lipservice to it for five minutes and then has the big strong men take over and protect the wimmens without seeing any inherent problems in that.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

If you want to make a series of it, you need to come up with more of a story to tell than just "The zombies are still after us, run, shoot, scream!" If you compare this to, say, Stephen King's The Stand (which it's similar to in a lot of ways), there's an actual plot apart from the survival, we get to know what the characters want, their differing motivations matter, conflicts arise between them, etc.

Ah. Thanks for clarifying. Yes, I agree. I think, of all things, Resident Evil is a good one to compare to. Resident Evil based on a video game - actually has more plot and characterization than the Walking Dead. (Not filmed as well, maybe.) And that's saying something. And you're right about The Stand - Stephen King oddly is the opposite of most tv writers, he overwrites. With King - you pretty much know everything you ever possibly wanted to know about every single character, leaves little to the imagination. While the Walking Dead...sort of underwriters, creating somewhat stock characters. Rick Grimes and Shane feel very much like stock characters to me at the moment, so agree - under-developed. Actually all the characters are - with the possible exception of Andrea but only because we got that nifty fishing tale.

though Darabont's decision to fire his entire writing staff and have freelancers piece s2 together doesn't fill me with confidence.

Darabont fired his entire writing staff?? He must have realized there was a problem? OR was it money related? And he's doing freelancers? Uhhh...okaaay. No, that does not bode well at all.

Either give me a character drama or a tight plot.

It will definitely lose me eventually if it doesn't have either.
Right now, I'm sort of interested in Andrea, Glenn, and Dale.
But you're correct they haven't been developed yet. And Grimes is pretty much boilerplate.

I would say Mad Men isn't in itself sexist so much as a story about sexism (among other things).

True. Should clarify - I was talking about Rubicon and Breaking Bad - which felt very male focused and sexist or gender imbalanced to me. Admittedly I've only watched 2-3 episodes of both, so should give Breaking Bad another chance before making a finale determination.

Mad Men to give it credit comments on sexism and at times feels like a feminist noir series - where the men are anti-heroes, and the women heroes. The true protagonist of that series - I think, may well be Peggy.

[fangfaceandrea.livejournal.com]

I thought this was very similar to SR too and as you said, I found it more believable mostly cause we knew a confrontation about Rick was about to happen between those two where Spike's "excuse" for being in the house always felt forced to me.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

They could have made it work in SR - the graveyard? In the living room? But in the bathroom???? Oookay.

meh

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

well I've now watched all of The Walking Dead, and on balance I don't think it was worth my time... even given that I haven't been doing much with my time. I have nothing against a depressing and violent story line (I loved 'Hunger Games') but I need wonderful layered interesting characters to be the pay off for all that darkness. BSG always delivered on those textured characters, but TWD? Not so much. At least for me. There are several characters I would have liked to gotten to know better, but not even one I felt that I knew well.
I imagine this is going to return at some point, but I'm not at all sure I care enough to watch any more of it.

Re: meh

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sorry for that last comment. Not in the best of moods at the moment.

Re: meh

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

lol
you're entitled....
I'm in a pretty good mood in spite of the big storm we've been having (way below freezing with high winds, but luckily only a few inches of snow) because I'm warm and safe and I don't have to go anywhere today.

And I agree that the filming of WD was beautifully done... I would give more credit to the directors than the writers in this particular show.

Re: meh

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Just got back from apt hunting in the damp, dreary day - although not raining. Also once again engaged in debate with agent who liked a place that I really didn't and struggling to explain why. Although didn't have bad lunch at Thai place...

I've been in a meh mood for a while now - due in part to work, and part to bitter disappointment with certain things.


WD was overhyped. I don't know why the critics are so in love with it. (Alright mostly male critics). I'm guessing the cinematography. The direction and cinematopgraphy are quite brilliant - but then Frank Darbaont won or was nominated for an OSCAR for direction. The writer - I think - is the guy who
did the graphic novels (and comic book writers basically write male romance novels). That scene where Lincoln rides into Atlanta on a horse is quite marvelous. But unfortunately, you are correct, the characters and their inter-relationships are bordering on cliche survival/disaster movie set-ups. Let's see - we have the love triangle, the people who lost siblings (and why did it have to be the woman's sister who died and not the guy's brother, if they'd switched the genders that would have been more interesting), and the stereotypical gender and occupational roles. It plays a bit too closely to the pre-established tropes.

Ugh. Entertainment is disappointing me right now. Off to watch Horton Hears a Who and Meet Me in St. Louis...and maybe Alice by Tim Burton or Nikita.

Re: meh

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

I'm debating if I should take my trash out now (the wind is still gusting at 35 mph so I don't want my trashing flying down the street, but there is no way I'm taking it out later tonight when the temperature reaches -2F), maybe I can wait another week and assume it won't be so windy NEXT Sunday....?

And yeah, it is important to find entertainment to uplift the spirit. I just watched a Warehouse13 that was really a joy (with that cute actor who had played Harry Dresden), and tonight we have a new episode of Leverage! I wasn't that crazy about Glee's Christmas episode, but Sue made an amazing grinch, and Brittany was a wonderful Cindy Lou Who.
(I love my DVR)

Re: meh

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agree on the Glee Xmas episode...it felt a bit, overdone. I did however like the Misfit Toys number they did, and the bit with Beist and Brittney. It's the Rachel/Finn scenes that I could live without.

Guess you can't take it out on Monday morning? Heard about the storm.
Hoping it doesn't come here. ;-)