The Walking Dead Season 5

[Turd Ferguson]

I don't understand why this show can't juggle multiple storylines better. Game of Thrones has half a dozen, if not more, storylines running at the same time, seamlessly joining one group and seeing what they're up to, leaving and looking at another group, and you feel like something is actually going on.

Walking Dead has one/two storylines going at once, they focus on one group wandering in the woods for four episodes, then cut to the second group and focus on them wandering in the woods for two to three episodes. Isn't it possible to show both groups of people wandering in the woods in the same episode? Or do the producers think we're too stupid to keep track of two different stories at once?

I'm in no way comparing the writing or Game of Thrones to The Walking Dead, I just don't understand why these stories have to be dragged out so frigging long. I also don't have ADHD, I'm capable of watching heavily serialized shows, I just prefer them to be where it feels like something is actually happening, instead of doing circles in the woods.

 

[DarthTom]

I don't understand why this show can't juggle multiple storylines better. Game of Thrones has half a dozen, if not more, storylines running at the same time, seamlessly joining one group and seeing what they're up to, leaving and looking at another group, and you feel like something is actually going on.

Walking Dead has one/two storylines going at once, they focus on one group wandering in the woods for four episodes, then cut to the second group and focus on them wandering in the woods for two to three episodes. Isn't it possible to show both groups of people wandering in the woods in the same episode? Or do the producers think we're too stupid to keep track of two different stories at once?

I'm in no way comparing the writing or Game of Thrones to The Walking Dead, I just don't understand why these stories have to be dragged out so frigging long. I also don't have ADHD, I'm capable of watching heavily serialized shows, I just prefer them to be where it feels like something is actually happening, instead of doing circles in the woods.

They've likely dragged out the stories to add episodes hence advertising revenue. But I agree, that they have to focus on a character of a couple of characters in some of the episodes makes some of them a little slow. Last nights is a good example of this IMO.

 

[Silvercrest]

And... Atlanta?! Did Beth just get drug two steps back or have our characters really been hanging out in the woods just outside of Atlanta for the last 18 months-2 years?

Even without looking at a map, I've had the impression the characters have never been more than fifty miles from Atlanta since the beginning of the show. Generally less.

I must have totally spaced, and I did watch it. When did Carol show up???

She's on a gurney in the final scene as Beth is about ready to what appears to try to kill the Dr.

Regarding this episode. Meh, it was OK. Couple of nitpicks - how could car batteries power an AC powered ventilator? Also, what's powering the lights in the building? And if they had power, why wouldn't Beth and other guy take an elevator down to the 1st floor? Presumably that's how she and the Dr. went to the basement.

Do you know what an inverter is? It's a device that takes battery power and converts it to AC. You can power AC devices to some degree as long as you have some way to recharge the batteries. PV panels, a diesel generator connected to a charger, stationary bicycle chargers....

I've been in the residential inverter industry for the last fifteen years and could talk your ear off about them.

Inverters can be powerful enough to run an elevator, but with limited charging resources it would be a terrible waste of battery power. I think in reality it would be hard to muster the energy resources needed for even a small hospital facility. Ventilators and monitors that run night and day, refrigeration for sensitive materials, etc. PV panels and bicycles really don't put out that much power, at least singly. The batteries would drain faster than you could charge them. But that falls under suspension of disbelief, just as I'm prepared to believe the car batteries are connected to an inverter hidden just offscreen.

Suffice it to say that I've never had any problem with the presence of electric power on this show as long as they handwave it by occasionally showing charging sources, and by not making the AC devices too large.

I don't understand why this show can't juggle multiple storylines better. Game of Thrones has half a dozen, if not more, storylines running at the same time

So did Caprica and it just felt unfocused. While I know it's possible to manage multiple stories, I have no problem if this show wants to put more focus on one story at a time.

By the way, anyone know how Joan ended up dead under Dawn's desk? That appeared to come out of nowhere, esp. since Dawn didn't seem to know about it.

There were a lot of things that seemed disconnected on first viewing, although they made sense when I went back and watched again carefully.

Unfortunately I guess Carol should have been one of them.

 

[Ethros]

I'd probably rank that as one of the worst episodes for me. I was just bored from start to finish, I couldn't care less about any of those dull characters.

 

[Corran Horn]

By the way, anyone know how Joan ended up dead under Dawn's desk? That appeared to come out of nowhere, esp. since Dawn didn't seem to know about it.

I assumed she committed suicide there.

 

[Ryan8bit]

I think what happened is that with the scissors, she cut open her stitches on the amputated arm, and then bled out. She probably did it there in the office so that she would reanimate and kill Dawn.

 

[Shanndee]

I'd probably rank that as one of the worst episodes for me. I was just bored from start to finish, I couldn't care less about any of those dull characters.

You and me both. This is the first episode in the entire series that I was watching the clock, just hoping it would be over soon.

Showrunners, the next time you introduce an entire new set of characters please make sure that the actors have the ability to sell the plot you are trying to convey. These people were so dull and lackluster I didn't feel a sense of threat or urgency at any time.

I was interested in Joan (the only person to show any fire or personality), so of course she died. I do like Noah, and I'm glad he lived to see another day. The rest? I did not care one little bit. Unfortunately that includes Beth. The actress just does not have the skill set to carry an entire episode. The episode was so off putting that I was hoping that the Couch of Death on the Talking Dead was going to claim its next victim. Alas, it was not to be

I really hope Abraham and Co. fare better nest week.

 

[Jax]

Kind of a very random episode and I don't see point of having Beth all the way back in Atlanta and now Carol (Where's Darryl I wonder?) I wish the group was just together so we could focus on them as a whole again. One thing the episode did show well was the reason we have a Civilian government cause left up to law enforcement/Military types everyone is too busy trying to survive no matter the cost to their humanity.

I wonder if next week "Maggie" will remember she has a MISSING SISTER! seriously what's up with that one, shown no signs of grief.

 

[Trekker4747]

And Morgan seeing the aftermath.

Well, so far we're not following Morgan, and I doubt we will, and the show-runners have said he encountered "No Sanctuary" sign months after our cast was there. So he'll likely catch up with everyone else after the group is back together and likely enroute to Atlanta if not already there. I suspect for the mid-season finale is when we'll see Morgan, the group will be united again, there'll be some-kind-of cliffhanger or another.

Even without looking at a map, I've had the impression the characters have never been more than fifty miles from Atlanta since the beginning of the show. Generally less.

I'm not familiar with the Atlanta area but how far away from the downtown area do we get to the very rural, sparse area we've seen over the course of the show? And fifty miles out is quite the distance for the Hospital Group to be grabbing "hostages" or whatever, especially considering the dangers with the walkers, the sparseness of gasoline and deteriorating road conditions.

Within a fifty mile radius I could see there being a remote farm, a prison, an isolated church and all of that, but the "Terminus" train-station would imply it was on the outskirts of Atlanta (why would the end of the line be in the boonies instead of somewhere people travel to?

I dunno, I guess all of this time I sort of figured or group was naturally getting further and further out and were in pretty rural areas. But that Atlanta is "so close" means our gang has been more or less meandering around the same area making it that much less likely they're only just now encountering Terminus, Gabriel's church and are still able to find places where supplies and survival gear are available.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I'm not familiar with the Atlanta area but how far away from the downtown area do we get to the very rural, sparse area we've seen over the course of the show? And fifty miles out is quite the distance for the Hospital Group to be grabbing "hostages" or whatever, especially considering the dangers with the walkers, the sparseness of gasoline and deteriorating road conditions.

Within a fifty mile radius I could see there being a remote farm, a prison, an isolated church and all of that, but the "Terminus" train-station would imply it was on the outskirts of Atlanta (why would the end of the line be in the boonies instead of somewhere people travel to?

I dunno, I guess all of this time I sort of figured or group was naturally getting further and further out and were in pretty rural areas. But that Atlanta is "so close" means our gang has been more or less meandering around the same area making it that much less likely they're only just now encountering Terminus, Gabriel's church and are still able to find places where supplies and survival gear are available.

I had a friend that lived in Marietta, around twenty miles from Atlanta, and you could see the city from their backyard. Fifty miles away might be about right, because I seem to remember a lot of countryside between Tennessee and Marietta.

Rick and co. ARE meandering in the same area because they left from the prison last season to get supplies from the sheriff's office where Rick worked. I understand that between Hershel's farm and the prison they've not been able to travel too far from Atlanta, but I'm just REALLY getting tired of hanging out in the woods and want to follow Abraham and co. to Alexandria.

 

[Mojochi]

I've been following this map,

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=....201965&spn=1.200565,1.175537&z=10&dg=feature

which seems pretty accurate, & I figure the show hasn't ventured more than 70-80 miles from Atlanta this whole time. Hell, Marietta is the closest they've even come to another city

 

[publiusr]

I like this method of storytelling. GoT is supposed to be epic.

Here, the heroes are vulnerable--as much as I would like the group to stick together.

I like Dawn. She is trying to keep things together.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I wonder if next week "Maggie" will remember she has a MISSING SISTER! seriously what's up with that one, shown no signs of grief.

In the season premiere, we heard the voice-over of Maggie asking what happened to Beth, with Daryl's reply (that she's alive). It might be a stretch, but just knowing Beth is alive (trusting Daryl) is enough to take away any fears of death.

Being a plant is an interesting idea, and it's totally plausible, but I just don't see it. They don't know anything about Beth other than that she was with Daryl. If they did know about a larger group, I doubt they would want to lure them toward the hospital. These people selectively choose who they want. That's why they have Carol and Beth, and not Daryl. They don't want a larger conflict, which is what I'm sure they'll get. I'm not sure a plant could really infiltrate such a group and take only the weak ones with.

Noah being a plant--either for the hospital group--or another would add something else to his character. I would not want to see him just be a sort of interesting character only to end up being an easily bumped off B player (sort of like Bob).

 

[Zaminhon]

I just don't like the idea of them going back to Atlanta. I mean they left Atlanta 4 seasons ago so it feels like the story is going backwards instead of forward. I would have preferred the Hospital to be north, toward DC. Actually, I really don't know where anything is geographically, so it's possible that Atlanta is between them and DC but it feels like they're backtracking.

 

[Trekker4747]

I've been following this map,

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=....201965&spn=1.200565,1.175537&z=10&dg=feature

which seems pretty accurate, & I figure the show hasn't ventured more than 70-80 miles from Atlanta this whole time. Hell, Marietta is the closest they've even come to another city

That's a map of the physical, real-world, filming locations the show has used. As for an "in universe" map it's all over the place as-to where everything is. For example, it has Rick, Michonne and Carl passing the hitchhiker on a stretch of road that isn't coming from where the prison is, and in the group where they deal with Morgan in Season 3 it's nowhere near where Rick's and "Morgan's" house were in the first episode. Click around on the call-outs on the map enough and recall the events of the series and the map makes no sense whatsoever in regards to where things are.

 

[Velocity]

They really didn't have a special place they were working towards before Abraham. They were just looking for safety and that didn't necessarily mean a far away location. Besides, staying in the South means easier winter living. Forest living means food (forest creatures, nuts, berries, etc) and fewer walkers. The larger cities like Atlanta seem to be full of walkers, more so than the countryside.
To be fair, Beth doesn't seem to be moaning about missing Maggie, either.

 

[Trekker4747]

They really didn't have a special place they were working towards before Abraham. They were just looking for safety and that didn't necessarily mean a far away location. Besides, staying in the South means easier winter living. Forest living means food (forest creatures, nuts, berries, etc) and fewer walkers. The larger cities like Atlanta seem to be full of walkers, more so than the countryside.
To be fair, Beth doesn't seem to be moaning about missing Maggie, either.

True. Am I mis-remembering things or were they actually only half-siblings?

 

[Velocity]

Yes, I think they had different mothers.

 

[Shanndee]

"Only" half siblings?

Half siblings can be as close or closer than full siblings. Especially if they grew up in the same house (as it appears that Maggie and Beth did). Their interaction at the farm indicates that they were close.

And yes, I think they were "only" half siblings. (Full disclosure, I had a half sibling and I object to the term "only").

 

[Trekker4747]

I didn't mean "only" in a negative way but in an "extent to their genetic similarity"/shared parentage.

Of course half-siblings can love one another and be close to one another as much as full-siblings. But we may not entirely know the extent of their childhood together, how much time they spent living with one another or even how much Maggie may resent her (if even sub-consciously) for being the product of her father being unfaithful to her mother. I don't fully recall the circumstances of Hershel's having children with two different women but even if it was legit (he separated from Maggie's mother for one reason or another (death, divorce) and then married Beth's mother) Maggie could see that as her father being unfaithful to her mother even if only in spirit. I guess depending on how strictly religious she was raised to be.

I seem to also think it was more-or-less implied that Beth and Maggie may not have been all that close.

I could just be spit-balling here but there has to be some reason why Maggie and Beth don't seem to concerned with losing the other. Beth, with Daryl, may have been (at the time) naively hopeful they'd meet back-up with the others and now, well, has other issues to deal with.

But Maggie's entire focus seemed to be on getting back to Glenn and the most concern over Beth we hear from her is in a sort-of after-thought background bit of soft exposition.