i think Darryl's accusation/anger wasn't so much about Negan.... it was really about Carol going after Alpha half cocked that one time, somehow not realizing that Alpha let Carol chase her ... to trap her(in the cave). That is so unlike Carol, at least the best of her. It is in sharp contrast to her strategic action, such as freeing the group from the cannibalistic Sanctuary. Negan was more like that strategizing...but in that had the choice to inform the group of her plan, but chose not to (The Sanctuary was Carol on her own, but she had no choice then). But the chase -- this hurt Darryl because it resulted in Connie being separated from the group, potentially dead. ANd it is assuming that Darryl told her a lot about Leah, then the Connie situation ripped out his heart all over again. And it hurt more because Carol did cause it. And my wife and i were caught off guard...we thought Darryl was purposely lying aout Merle....but then realized it was Rick (but it still felt a little off in his description) She had some fun moments with Daryl -- we can definitely see how Melissa and Norman have grown to really work well together... but it also seems like it would be hard to make them into a series. It would be hard to see how they would grow and develop more than they have (like they are almost at the end of their story arcs) The way they set it up....it seemed like there will be some reunion potential in the future... but if so, it seems like either she or Connie will die soon after, probably sacrifice themself for Darryl to be happy (kinda reminds me of 10K and Red and Sarge in Z Nation). Or i guess maybe one of the stories of Ride with Darryl and Carol. This felt more like filler for me... I think Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride usually can be very powerful together (and usually are), but usually as part of a greater ensemble. It seems like they made the case against a Carol / Darryl series here, with a seeming self-joke about what the show will be about. Also, the pacing.... i had a hard time keeping track of the time changes...but seemed like a whoooooole light of time Darryl was away. It just seems weird, especially the way Judith seems to be close to him. And if he was looking for Rick that whole time, wouldn't it have made more sense that he was riding/walking/camping around? For me, this was at best a B...
2.26 million for the walking dead, new series low by a wide margin. Oh well. 1 more season anyway. Might not bode too well fruit carol and daryl show.
Just saw the latest episode early on AMC. It is one of the best episodes in years. I think everyone is going to love it. Really dark. Funny though because you will see social distancing zombies though they try to hide it. Jason
I watched the last episode yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. I never expected to get a real backstory for Dog, so it was fun getting one here. Lots of great stuff in it with Carol and Daryl, and I think Daryl wasn't really mad about Negan, so much as her overall behavior with regards to Alpha. I liked the way they developed the Leah/Daryl relationship, and I really hope this isn't the last we've seen of her. The way her part of the episode ended definitely felt like it could be a set up for more appearances at some point.
The Walking Dead Season 10 - Episode 19 - "One More" Father Gabriel and Aaron: Gabriel and Aaron out in the wild for two weeks...while Aaron's frustration is understandable, the showrunners have really played up just how difficult life would be at this point in the ZA. The fact that they have not turned into a full on agrarian society does raise eyebrows. We learn more about Gabriel's past--his training in the seminary, and his liquor-gulping Reverend. Gabriel has lost some of his motivation for preaching, thinking evil people are not the exception to the rule--but they are the rule. Needless to say, he was hovering over a very dark place, but Aaron wisely asked him to preach again. Mays: Disgusting character; in his lack of wisdom, he used the Bible as toilet paper as a result of his ever-so-deep "understanding" of it and its application in life. Playing Russian Roulette with the heroes was sick enough, but learning that he forced his captive brother to play--and by association--kill his own family made him one of the more bottom-scraping characters seen in some time--and that's in a season where The Whisperers were on the loose. NOTES: Its been quite some time when TWD has benefited from so many strong character developing episodes. This season's format has served as a reminder of just how great it can be, when the plots are not all about the next megalomaniacal enemy/leader. Father Gabriel and Aaron made an interesting duo--both subverting expectations of the kind of conversations they might have. Moreover, as parents, one could feel just how Hellish their torture session was, as you knew their children were at the center of their minds--before Mays referred to them. Hopefully, they have more episodes interacting. Next week, the Eugene side of the season continues. GRADE: A.
Really good episode. Gabriel and Aaron hanging out for a day, goofing around after an encounter with a boar, eating said boar, gambling, getting drunk and then just chilling reminiscing about the past. Then psychopath Mays enters the picture and torments them for a bit.. Robert Patrick was definitely captivating as Mays, and though I was certain neither Gabriel nor Aaron were going to die in this episode, the Russian Roulette scenes were still tense all the same. The ending with Mays's brother committing suicide and falling dead next to the rotting corpses of his family and then the camera focusing on the old photo of Mays and his brother from pre-apocalyptic times was a truly chilling and haunting moment. I see we seem to have Gabriel turning progressively darker though Aaron still seems to be retaining some since of optimism. Presumably Gabriel's pessimism is connected to Dante betraying and murdering Siddiq and the toll that's taking on him. Though I kind of wonder if maybe things are deteriorating in his relationship with Rosita? Maybe I'm reading too much into nothing, but when Aaron mentions he wants to get back to his family and says to Gabriel "I know you do too" Gabriel's expression seemed sort of "not really, but I don't want to admit to it either." Be interesting to see the story threads in this episode revisited. And I just want to take a moment to say, even though it was obviously done because of pandemic precautions and a desire to get some social distancing done, the opening fight scene with Gabriel and Aaron fighting the walkers, cutting away from the actual attacks on the walkers and showing the blood splash on the flowers created a really interesting and unique artistic effect.
Yes, it's yet another series low for the Walking Dead, with 2.17 million tuning in to the last episode, down from 2.26 last week which itself was down from 2.89 the week before. This show is going down with a whimper, decreasing our chances of ever seeing an ending for Fear and of ever seeing those mythical Rick movies.
I am pretty sure they WILL give a reasonable ending for Fear. These bonus episodes aren't an official season...we at least have season 11, as well as season of WOrld... so depending on those first few episodes of Fear coming up, Fear will have at least 1 more season, possibly ending it at that point.
Fear's already been renewed for a seventh season, so even in a doomsday scenario where the end is nigh for the franchise (we aren't there yet) they have plenty of time to craft an ending to that.
Still the second most watched cable show of the night when almost all of it's audience has cut the cord by now.
Has AMC ever released the numbers for AMC+? The only other way to watch WD is after the season is over on Netflix...
I don't think so, but they said they have 6 million subscribers between AMC+, Acorn, and Shudder. Easy money.
Wow, Acorn has some originals that look pretty high budget, such as the last few Poirot seasons. How do they make money with so few subscribers...
Robert Patrick hit it out of the park in "One More," which was overall a strong episode that conclusively demonstrates that a small cast in an episode is not a liability. I really enjoyed this week's Talking Dead, also.
Indeed. Robert Patrick injected some life into Talking Dead which I find has been missing ever since they switched to the zoom chat version of the show. Having him scream at Seth Gilliam (Gabriel) "WHAT KIND OF PRIEST ARE YOU?!" alone was I think the first time I laughed at the zoom chat version of Talking Dead as hard as I regularly did at the studio version. Don't get me wrong, I understand and agree with the reasons why they can't be in studio these days, nor do I really blame the others who like the rest of us are just trying to navigate a new normal. But the fact that Robert Patrick can deliver even through a zoom chat should still be recognized.
The Walking Dead Season 10 - Episode 20 - "Splinter" The Commonwealth: At long last, the Commonwealth is formally introduced, and they are quite brutal--hitting Yumiko and Juanita while answering no direct questions. Perhaps this unit must go the hard interrogation route to insure they do not expose the larger community to a threat / Trojan Horse. Or..they are just conducting business as usual, which appears to be the case, as Juanita sees her friends with heads covered, as if they were going to be executed... Ezekiel: "They tell you they love you, but they don't"--he's still smarting over Carol. It can be assumed that this revelation was part of Juanita's hallucination, but it mirrors emotions expressed by Ezekiel earlier this season. Juanita 'Princess' Sanchez: As expected, Juanita unloaded her backstory, from her childhood with an abusive stepfather (and uncaring mother who sided with him), to her admitting she enjoyed going to school. She's one of the few believers on TWD ("crossing" herself, which she--as a Latina means she's likely a Catholic, despite the fact Anglicans and Lutherans also do this). She was introduced as a woman not playing with a full deck, and now she subject to hallucinations, and trying to shift responsibility for beating the guard to Ezekiel. Eugene: He's so desperate to meet Stephanie, but for all he knows, she was setting him--and others--up to be captured. Similar to the "All who arrive will survive" radio message from Terminus. NOTES: Heroes locked in train cars...well, Eugene must be having horrible flashbacks about that. Juanita is so fractured--and once again--has her trust thrown back into his face. Next week, Daryl continues his search, and remains cold to Carol, while Dog goes back to the ASZ. GRADE: A.
Interesting episode, especially when you take into account this episode is basically entirely Princess's perspective and 90% of it is her hallucinating, since according to Talking Dead the only real parts were the opening and ending scenes, the interrogation and the young soldier. Granted, I had a suspicion when Ezekiel showed up that he might have been a hallucination since his personality seemed a bit off, but then I remembered comments the actor's been making about Ezekiel would be acting more bolder since he doesn't feel anyone else can hurt him now that he has cancer, so I quickly wrote off the personality change as being related to that. Interesting there also seems to have been some fakery on the Commonwealth's part, with the young soldier claiming to be worried because he was on probation and was guaranteed to be discharged for screwing up, but the way things play out in the end would imply this whole thing with him being captured by Princess was a setup. Ultimately we don't really learn too much about the Commonwealth, but since these bonus episodes were written after writing began on the eleventh season, making these basically prequels to the eleventh season. Also, can we take a moment to mention the weird and random commercials AMC has had these past few weeks that seem to be for the eleventh season. Starting with the first of these bonus episodes, we've had a unique commercial on every week that just shows a single random image before cutting to a title card saying "TWD The Final Season Summer 2021." The first week it was what looks like a police interrogation room, the next week ice cream cones, last week a cake and this week graffiti scrawled on a wall.
The Walking Dead Season 10 - Episode 21 - "Diverged" Carol and Daryl: Carol's "...an apology is just a truce. It doesn't fix anything." That's it--the rift with Daryl was quite deep, leading her to suffer from a sort of psychological break, but her destructive outburst appeared to set her straight. She was asking Jerry if she can help, and he warns her about Maggie & her people. Yes, Maggie and others are angry about the Negan issue, but as I've said time after time, the heroes had no answer for Alpha and the Whisperers. Carol should call them out on that, placing them in her position. If they answer with anything in the neighborhood of "I don't know," her reply would be a truthful, "Then, you would've died, too." L Daryl was not too pleased with Dog leaving with Carol. I guess this moved him to looking within--being on his own and the futility of being alone, and he finally grew up a little in returning to the ASZ. Jerry: Poor Jerry. He really misses Ezekiel, and despite Carol's reassurances, he doubts he will see his friend again. NOTES: Next week, the Negan origin episode--and the season finale. GRADE: A.
IMDB is now in full revolt against the new episodes. 5.2 for last week's and 4.5 for this week's. Both series lows. Yikes.