Make a Decision

Indecisiveness is a real killer. It’s good not to be overly headstrong and never consider your options but if you can’t make a clear decision, or if the leader of a group can’t make a choice you could end up with a bad situation on your hands.

On of the hallmarks of modern story telling in television seems to be the indecisive leader. Look at most shows from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and you’ve got strong leaders making clear decisions. Hannibal on the A-Team, Michael Knight, Captains of the Enterprise. It’s hard to imagine them hesitating in times of crisis. But modern audiences are more accepting of a more complicated dynamic and the idea of characters who hem and haw a bit before finding their way seems a bit more the norm. My classic examples, Jack from LOST and Rick from the Walking Dead. Two leaders who have hardly any consistency in their decision making.

Ah, but we love them all the same.

The Walking Dead: Season 4

For write-ups on previous seasons just click here:
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

The Poster:
Season four of a character-driven show and here we have all our key characters. It’s amazing to think how few of them have been around from the beginning. With regular shows like Star Trek TNG or Friends or other series, the same characters are around for the shows’ entire run. There may be the occasional loss like Tasha Yar on TNG or an addition to the cast like Ensign Ro. (Oh my god I’m a geek.) With the Walking Dead we have an amazing case of development where we continuously lose and gain main characters and where, apparently, no one is safe.

And here we have the cast of LOST. I’ve made allusions to the similarities between these two series sever times. They are both survival stories, people desperately trying to get by in a mysterious or hostile environment totally outside the norm. Though there are a few interesting similarities between the two shows and I keep finding more, like these two promotional images, or how in season four we get the hunky hick playing “Never Have I Ever” with the a cute girl in the woods, I think it’s more a result of the conventions of writing a show like this for television than anything else. The similarities pop up because there are certain conventions of story telling that repeat themselves and get used a lot because they work. But look at Beth in the top image and Clair in the bottom image. Kinda spooky similar right?

The Story: Just to be clear, this season is really two short seasons put together. Season 4A is the story of the fall of the prison, and 4B the story of the survivors on the road coming together and looking for sanctuary in a place called Terminus. I thought I’d break up my review into two parts but decided against it as the themes in each half of the season are consistent throughout the whole story.

The Good:
Redemption
Rick’s encounter with a crazed Irishwoman at the start of the season lead to some interesting questions. Like the questions Rick asks people to see if they are “our” kind of people or not:

– How many walkers have you killed? 
– How many people have you killed? 
– Why?

The conversation with this woman and the way the encounter end, set up the idea of redemption. For as bad as things get, through all the things that go wrong in all this hell, there is still hope,  we can still come back from it all. (You’ll hear those words said again and again throughout the season, from Rick, the Governor, Martinez.) The obvious irony is that we have a world of people who have “come back” and now it’s the survivors wondering just how they are ever going to “come back” to themselves. You know by now that the survivors are The Walking Dead, since they are all infected.  If they, the walking dead, ever get to return to their lives as normal people it’ll be a miracle.

Carol:  Carol’s journey this season was incredible. The problem I have is that she killed people in her own group. She killed Karen and David because they were sick. Yeah, in hindsight, I can totally let all of that go. But at the time it happened? It was bad enough for Rick to kick her out of the group. It was bad enough for him to do it even though he wasn’t in charge. It was bad enough to call down Tyrese’s wrath. What she did . . . it took a hell of a lot for everyone to come around to being ok with her and for her to fess up to what she did. She wasn’t comfortable with it. 

Episode 14 really nails home the message that this woman is on a difficult path and is being brilliantly portrayed by Melissa McBride. Tyrese and Carol have to deal with Lizzie and her sister and how crazy Lizzie has become. It’s a hell of a thing for a person like Carol, having lost her own daughter. What she has to do , what she has to put up with to take care of the girls and to finish their story is heart breaking.

Rick: Rick’s redemption comes in the last episode. We finally see him broken, defeated, even Carl turns against him for a short time. But finally, he steps up; in the most amazing way. In part it comes down to a father’s love for his son. When Carl is threatened, and nearly raped by another group of survivors, Rick shows he’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep Carl safe. He does the one thing we’ve never seen a human do in a  zombie world. He bites. He bites, just like a walker, he chews up and spits out the threat. It’s ugly as hell.  What they wanted to do to Carl certainly, what Rick does to them for it, absolutely. But it’s ugly in all the best ways.  A short time later when he gets to Terminus, we know just how deep that change goes. All doubt and second guessing is gone. He’s absolutely sure of his people. This is a Rick Grimes we can believe in.

The Governor: We got a little break in the story this season in that the action suddenly swung away from our survivors and gave us two full episode and then some about the Governor and what he’d been up to. This went a long way to further humanizing him and making him a much deeper more complicated character. He too was looking for redemption, having done every conceivable evil he could, we also see him doing a bit of good. It makes you wonder about him as a human being and about what salvation would actually be for him. Would it mean having a family again and settling down? Can he ever really find it? I’ll talk about that a bit further down though.

Tyrese: I saw comments and people complaining about him getting out of a very bad situation where he was surrounded by zombies and should have bit the big one but somehow bad assed his way out of there. This didn’t bother me so much when I watched it and after reading the comics I liked it all the more. Terese in the comics has a moment at the prison when he is surrounded by a massive group of walkers in the training yard. He gets locked in there when the others are overwhelmed. Everyone assumed he was dead, but the next day, there he was having bludgeoned his way out of the situation.

The Bad:
I don’t actually have much bad to say here so I’ll do what I can.

Abraham Ford, Rosita Espinoza, Eugene Porter: Despite the fact that they are fan favorites, and despite the fact that I love them in the comics. I don’t like any of these characters on the show. It’s like they took three characters that are completely two-dimensional and cartoony and dropped them into a show that is played extremely realistically. They don’t fit.

Abraham is a huge powerhouse in the comics and although I like the actor playing him on the show, he seems a little soft for the character. Rosita is incredibly hot, but she looks like she’s completely untouched or affected by the events going on in the story. She seems like a fanboys wet dream. And Eugene, BRILLIANTLY played exactly as he appears in the comics, is as obvious a fake as you could possibly come up with. The idea that anyone ever believed these people were gong to save the world is preposterous.

The Ugly:
It’s raining zeds: I guess the producers felt they needed to go all out with some truly nasty over the top craziness in the season opener, so having a group of zombies literally rain down from the ceiling of grocery store and start popping all over the place was a pretty amazing way of doing that. The production quality of the scene and the incredible gross out effects really were movie quality. The CG when the roof finally collapsed wasn’t all that great which put me off but still, WOW opening.

I’m not sure how believable the popping of heads is though. A number of walkers seem to get their heads popped very easily. A little too easily. I don’t really mind as it makes for good gore but it’s still a bit much.

Terminus: Those who arrive, survive. This was the big lead up to the season finale. A settlement where people were welcome and safe. Anyone who shows up would be welcome. Sounds too good to be true? You’re god damned right it is. But you knew that didn’t you? I mean, you suspected it? Because that’s the thing about the Walking Dead; it keeps you from trusting, it crushes your sense of hope. It doesn’t allow for the happy ending and when the happy ending comes you know it’s just one more stop on a long road towards a larger problem.

(And the ones we lost.)
The Irish Chick: A freaky moment ensues in the first episode when Rick comes across a walker in the woods who isn’t a walker at all, but a filthy diseased woman. Look for her again at the end of the season when the prison falls and you’ll find her stumbling through the prison yard.

Patrick: I didn’t like this character. The kid playing him would have been better suited to a sit-com. His acting is fake right from the get go and he just doesn’t cary the realism of the other child actors on the show.When his character was killed off pretty early I didn’t feel bad.  Just compare him to . . .

Lizzie: This girl is scary and the little girl playing her did a brilliant job of it. I was constantly and continuously freaked out watching her. From an acting standpoint she’s amazing. The character is a creepy little psychopath though. Lizzie Borden? So as creepy as she is, she’s in the right place and a great part of the show. Her death, and the death of her sister were well used to address the issue of dealing with mental illness in a world like this and in particular dealing with children who commit unspeakable crimes.

Zack: The season opens by letting us know some time has passed and relationships developed in the time we haven’t seen depicted on screen. Beth’s boyfriend buys it early in the first episode from a walker with incredibly sharp teeth. He’s not a character we really care about except for his effect on Beth. He’s really only there for her character to reflect off of.

Martinez: A major player he was the leader of the camp the Governor came upon when he was wandering. But there was no way The G would ever let one of his former subordinates lead him around.

Herschel: This HURT. I hated seeing father Christmas go. And the way he went, it just killed everyone watching the show. His death sparked a VERY strong fan reaction. “You step outside, you risk your life. You take a drink of water, you risk your life. And nowadays you breathe, and you risk your life. Every moment now…you don’t have a choice. The only thing you can choose is what you are risking it for. Now, I can make these people feel better and hang on a little bit longer. I can save lives. And that’s enough reason to risk mine.”

The Governor: The Governor supplied maybe my favorite visual this season, when he was thinking about what to do next, in episode 7. We only see it for a moment, but there he is, a tank on one  side and a camper on the other. Torn between war and home. What to do?

Well, we know how that choice went. He needed to die, his story had run its course and he’d had every chance he deserved. Even Rick offered him another chance in the end. (Whether Rick really meant it or was just buying time for his people is, of course up in the air but there it is.) We get to come back he said. But as we know, for the Governor, there was no coming back. A tiger don’t change its stripes, and some scars go too deep. It’s a shame to see him go because the character was masterfully played by David Morrissey. (By the way did you know he was on Doctor Who?! So cool.)

Judith: During the attack on the prison in the comics both Lori and Judith are gunned down. It was’t such a surprise to me as I’d already seen Lori die on the show but the way the two of them go together was disturbing. I hate seeing kids hurt and little Judith was really just a baby.

On the show we finally see her bloody car seat in the aftermath of the attack on the prison leaving the question painfully up in the air: Did she make it or was she devoured? Fortunately we get the answer pretty quickly in the second half of the season.  This was a good tease for the fans and left us wondering what it’s going to be like for her growing up.

One final note, on the final moment of the season. It was a hell of a good ending, the one we really wanted. Our groups came together, reached their goal and yeah, it’s the Walking Dead so of course things go from bad to worse, but damn it, it’ good to see Rick riling the troops. 

 

The Walking Dead: Season 3

I usually post write ups of sweet and often horrible zombie movies on Mondays. I’ve also taken a little time to go back over the Walking Dead. And although some episodes deserve their own review, I’m looking at the show season by season.

You can find my season one  and season two write ups by clicking the links to the left.

despite the awful photoshop prison in the background this is still a pretty bad ass shot of Rick.

There’s a lot going on in Season 3. Our survivors have made it to the prison so popular in the comics and we are introduced to some of the biggest conflicts we’ve seen to date. Every episode seems to drive the story further and further into dark territory. I’ve previously tried to stay away from making comparisons to the comics but there are times it seems to mean quite a lot in the writing process and the  development of the characters.

So let’s dive right in.

The Plot: 
This season opens with our survivors on the road, on the run from roaming herds, going hungry and getting more and more desperate. What they need is a place to settle in and it’s not long before they find it, the prison. (It’s actually about seven minutes in, so no big wait there.)

The prison is a major part of the storytelling in the comics. It’s where a LOT of the comics take place and where much of the early drama of the characters happens. It’s also exactly what the fans had been waiting for.  The prison doesn’t come cheap though. It takes a lot of work getting it up and running and then they face the problem of holding onto it.

Added to that is the developing threat posed by another group of survivors in the nearby town of Woodberry lead by the ruthless Governor.

The season goes back and forth between these two camps, as we see new characters’ reactions to the two groups, and series regulars attempt to struggle with the reality developing around them of growing threat from the thousands of walkers in the area as well as other survivors.

Upon first viewing I was a little frustrated by some wishy-washy back and forthiness in the season but from a writing standpoint it’s meant to give the audience a better perspective on the action that is engulfing our characters. It shows the struggle and the doubt about which camp or way of living is actually better. By all accounts Woodberry looks like the place you would want to stay, and the Prison looks like a hell hole run by a psycho. Yet appearances aren’t what they seem in either case.

The Good: 
Michonne – A fan favorite and one of the main characters from the book she is hands down one of the toughest most badass and beautiful female characters on Television. I just love everything about her. Despite how Kill Bill I find her samurai sword, I can’t help but love it.

Herschel – A horrible scare had him bit early in the season only to be saved by Rick cutting his leg off. In the comics this happened to Dale so for any of the hardcore comics fans seeing Herschel this way must have been a real surprise. It was a good indication to those fans that similar or familiar events could happen but to different characters, meaning anything could happen.

Tyrese – A classic character from the comics and one of Rick’s best friends. Tyrese showed up much earlier in those stories but he’s beautifully cast here and is going to develop quickly over the series run. He’s sort of a gentle giant in this incarnation and not the freaked-out father we meet in the comics.

Sasha – Another series regular joins the cast. I can’t say her character really compels me much but she’s a survivor nonetheless.

Judith – Rick and Lori’s little girl was killed in the comics shortly after being born but lives on, on the show in season 3. She terrifies me. Adding the pregnant lady story line is a sure way to create tension and fear among viewers. Adding a baby or a child just seems even scarier to me. Please! Let that baby make it.

Carl – This kid is fantastic. Not just the character. Chandler Riggs is phenomenal in this part. I totally believe him as he plays the character and there’s never a time when I don’t believe it’s not Carl. That’s tough for any actor, maybe more so for a child actor. He’s someone I really hope to see develop into a good actor as he grows up.

For his part, Carl, the character is also developing and in some pretty hard ways. He made a hard choice but did the right thing when he shot his mother after she died giving birth to Judith. But he also made the wrong choice when he decided to shoot a boy from Woodberry who was surrendering to him outside the prison. Growing up in the world he is, it’s hard to believe Carl wouldn’t make those kinds of choices, mistakes or otherwise. It raises questions about the right and wrong of our actions.

Imagine if Carl had done the same thing as a kid growing up in say, Baltimore or Atlanta or Tampa. He’d have been trucked off to jail in a heartbeat and would probably be lost for the rest of his life. In the world of the show we are divorced from those social consequences and left with purely moral ones.

The Bad:
LOST – This post is already so long that I’ll simply note that I’ve repeatedly pointed out writing similarities between LOST and The Walking Dead. For more on that check out my post on Rick from a  few weeks back. A quick example or two are in order though. Like Rick’s newfound fondness of seeing people who apparently aren’t really there. (On TV mental illness is a plot point, not a realistically portrayed phenomenon.) We also get the very “Others-like” Woodberry, a solitary town that seems peachy keen in the middle of a survivalist tale. As if to remind us of just how much we have . . . wait for it . . . lost. There’s also Claire’s baby. Sorry! Lori’s baby. Yeah, throwing a pregnant lady in the mix on a survival show is a sure ticket to freaking people out. More on that in my Rick post though. 

The Ugly:
The Governor – This character was fleshed out rather differently from the comics and in a more satisfying way I felt. As I mentioned above I had stayed away from comparing the comics and show for some time but as we get further into the series the differences start to matter a bit more.

The Governor in the comics was a monster who repeatedly abused and raped Michonne. This is deeply important to the way Danai Gurira portrays her character. She has said that the show is a reflection of what happens to women and women’s bodies when society breaks down. We only get a hint of what the Governor is really capable of along those lines on the show but it’s definitely there bubbling under the surface and hinted at.

On the show the Governor is a more sympathetic character. There are times you feel sorry for him, when we learn about his daughter in particular. In not sympathetic, at least you can see why he ended up where he did. We can never accept or forgive his actions but as his brutality is portrayed differently on the show, restricted to mostly martial violence and a greatly restrained sexual abuse scene, he is a very different animal here on television, more human, less of a straight monster.

Merle Dixon – Daryl’s racist brother is back and hard at work pissing everyone off. We finally get a deeper look at his character and again, a tribute to the good writing, despite being a person we hate, he is a character we are deeply interested in. He’s played superbly by Michael Rooker throughout the season and it was a real pleasure seeing him develop. Right up until the very end. Which brings me to . . .

UUUuuuuuurp!!

. . .the ones we lost this season.

Lori – died giving birth to Judith. And though she also dies in the prison in the comics it’s a bit different there. In fact she survives childbirth just fine in the comics. This was another break from that continuity as Lori and the Baby were both gunned down in that version. Here in the show we see something even more horrible. When Lori dies, it’s up to Carl to make sure she doesn’t come back. This changes Carl, deeply. For all the vitriol surrounding this character, when she finally goes, it’s hard. She loved her son deeply and despite being a flawed human being she was a compelling character.

She was also apparently COMPLETELY DEVOURED after being shot in the head and dyeing. Like seriously, where was her head? Where was her hipbone and the rest of her skeleton? We are sort of left thinking that the walkers just gulped her down whole.

T Dog – A series regular since the beginning it was tough seeing him go. Still, his character wasn’t being pushed that hard into new territory and it was a safe call on the writer’s part.

Andrea – This was a real shock for many people. Andrea has been at the heart of both the show and the comics. It was a major blow at the end of the season when she was bit by the zombified Milton. It made a lot of sense though as her character developed. Andrea was torn between the two groups, the prison and Woodbury and from her point of view she had been away from the group for about seven or eight months, longer than she had actually been with them it seems. She really couldn’t go back to either group and simply fit back in, nor was she able to just head out on her own. The very fact that she was even allowed to go back and forth between camps is sort of a testament to how torn most people felt. Seeing her fall has been described as the blood sacrifice that helped Rick open up and start letting people in again.

So what was your favorite part of season three? There was so much going on there’s no way I could write about all of it. Let us know in the comments! 

Rick Grimes

If you’re going to get your hands dirty, you might as well have a name like Rick GRIMEs.

Rick’s an interesting character I’ve compared him to Jack on LOST in other posts too. Jack was good looking and earnest, the suffering hero who never wanted to be a leader especially in a survival situation, but had it thrust upon him. He was surrounded by people who argued with him every step of the way but still said he was the leader. Oh, wait. Was that Rick? Sorry, They are so similar it’s hard to tell them apart sometimes.

The big difference to me is that Jack was so damned stubborn and seemed to have a change of heart or character only after great hardship. Oh, damn. There I go again. That was both of them too wasn’t it. And didn’t they both have hillbilly, heartthrob side kicks? Didn’t those sidekicks end up torturing people making the group question the right and wrong of what they are doing? And didn’t those hillbilly heartthrobs also end up in the woods with a stash of alcohol playing “Never Have I Ever” with attractive female members of their respective groups? Hmm, yeah they did.

Ok, well the real difference to me was that I liked Jack in the short run. He was a good guy. It wasn’t until later that I stepped back and looked at his actions in the long run and found that he was actually kind of an asshole. He shouted down everyone he ever met, he got the group in trouble and never really succeeded in bringing people together who weren’t going to work together anyway. With Rick I feel like I don’t like him in the short run but over time he keeps getting better. I actually feel sorry for Rick. He’s suffering, bad. He’s trying so hard to keep everyone safe and it just isn’t working. He’s getting stronger but it’s costing him.

And if you’ve read the comics . . . you know it’ going to keep on costing him.