Post by Ceb18 on Oct 31, 2011 15:40:44 GMT -5
Following in the footsteps of Blake and his television review bonanza he's got going on, I shall begin reviewing The Walking Dead, possibly one of my favorite shows on TV, every week after the episodes air. Feel free to go ahead and discuss the show on here, as well.
So, with that, first up on the choo-choo review train is episode three of season 2, "Save the Last One."
Please realize these reviews SHALL be chock-full of spoiler-y goodness.
So, to preface this review, let's set up what's happened. The main characters of the show have been through A LOT. Enough to send some of the characters on the verge of suicide, and to make things worse, the group's been split up. Rick and his wife, Lori, are currently at a farmhouse off in the boonies owned by Hershel, a nice old man who's currently keeping the aforementioned couple's son, Carl, alive. The end of the first episode of the show saw Carl getting shot by one of Hershel's neighbors/friends/whatever Otis.
Now, Hershel knows that he can't operate on Carl without some medical supplies, so Otis and Shane, Rick's best friend and former partner in the Sheriff's Department, have gone on a supply run to get said supplies. There progress was hindered, however, when they were trapped in a high school by ravenous zombies at the end of the last episode.
While all of this is going on, we have the other half of the group still on the highway, or traveling to the farm. Glenn and T-Dog are headed to the farm to get some antibiotics for T-Dog, who messed his arm up in the first episode. Meanwhile, we've still got Dale, Andrea, Daryl, and Carol at the RV searching for Carol's daughter, Sophia, who is STILL lost.
So, now we're done with that whole preface thing. Let's get on to last night's episode.
The beginning of the episode sees Shane (in what could only be assumed to be a flashforward) shaving his head whilst staring in the mirror all Jack Torrence-y. Obviously, something went wrong. But what? We shall see.
Basically, the episode can be broken down into three main parts. Shane and Otis' escape from the hospital, the discussions between Rick and Lori, as well as Maggie (Hershel's daughter) and Glenn at the farm, and the back and forth between Daryl and Andrea in the woods. We'll leave Shane's thing for last.
My favorite non-ending part of the episode was the stuff between Daryl and Andrea. It's no surprise for many that Daryl is my favorite character. He's that grizzled survivalist with the heart of gold. Andrea, while often considered annoying by others, is a favorite of mine. She shows how the average, yet strong-willed woman would survive in a world. She starts of strong, but the weight of her sister's death midway through last season has weighted heavily on her, and at this point, suicide is obviously a very pleasing way out for her. What I liked about this episode, is that they've started to curve those suicidal feelings. I was worried that subplot would be out there all season, so the tension would mount as to whether she'd do herself in, but Daryl, like the sweetheart he is, managed to bring some mild hope back to Andrea. It's never said, but it's obvious (at least to me) that we'll see Daryl provide a strong support for Andrea in the future.
Oh... and they didn't find Sophia. Goddammit.
Now, the farm stuff. There's not TOO much to talk about, but I did find the back and forth between Rick and Lori about whether or not they should even HOPE Carl survives rather poignant. I'm sure there would be many people in Lori's shoes in a zombie apocalypse. It's that slow, crawling loss of hope in characters that will no doubt provide the drama for the rest of the season. Much of this was lost on Lori by the end of the episode, however, as Carl ended up just fine (we'll get to that).
I also liked the stuff between Maggie and Glenn. Not too much, but entertaining, relationship-building dialogue.
NOW. On to the important stuff. I can keep this short and sweet.
GODDAMIT SHANE. WHY COULDN'T YOU LET THE FAT GUY LIVE!?
Yes, Shane let Otis die. Not only did he LET him die, he was the catalyst for it. Halfway through the episode Shane makes it back to the farmhouse, medical supplies in the truck, but rather Otis-less. We assume Otis just got eaten, nothing out of the ordinary.
Then the revelation comes at the end of the episode. And it hits hard... like an iceball to the face in the middle of winter. We see Shane and Otis, crippled, slowed, tired, running away from zombies. After realizing they're almost out of ammo, Shane does the unspeakable.
HE SHOOTS OTIS IN THE FUCKING LEG AND ALLOWS FOR THE ZOMBIES TO EAT HIM, BUFFET STYLE. All the while, Shane is strolling briskly away to the truck.
Now, to be fair, we can see a great amount of anguish in Shane's tone post-Otis killing (credit to Jon Bernthal for some wonderful acting), and I would argue he wasn't completely out of line in doing what he did. If he wouldn't have shot Otis, he would've died, Otis still would've died, and Carl PROBABLY would've died. But goddamn, he could've at least shot Otis in the face.
Overall, still a very dialogue-heavy episode, but the end and intermittent action between the farm and RV stuff is by far enough.
9.0 All You can eat Buffets out of 10
So, with that, first up on the choo-choo review train is episode three of season 2, "Save the Last One."
Please realize these reviews SHALL be chock-full of spoiler-y goodness.
So, to preface this review, let's set up what's happened. The main characters of the show have been through A LOT. Enough to send some of the characters on the verge of suicide, and to make things worse, the group's been split up. Rick and his wife, Lori, are currently at a farmhouse off in the boonies owned by Hershel, a nice old man who's currently keeping the aforementioned couple's son, Carl, alive. The end of the first episode of the show saw Carl getting shot by one of Hershel's neighbors/friends/whatever Otis.
Now, Hershel knows that he can't operate on Carl without some medical supplies, so Otis and Shane, Rick's best friend and former partner in the Sheriff's Department, have gone on a supply run to get said supplies. There progress was hindered, however, when they were trapped in a high school by ravenous zombies at the end of the last episode.
While all of this is going on, we have the other half of the group still on the highway, or traveling to the farm. Glenn and T-Dog are headed to the farm to get some antibiotics for T-Dog, who messed his arm up in the first episode. Meanwhile, we've still got Dale, Andrea, Daryl, and Carol at the RV searching for Carol's daughter, Sophia, who is STILL lost.
So, now we're done with that whole preface thing. Let's get on to last night's episode.
The beginning of the episode sees Shane (in what could only be assumed to be a flashforward) shaving his head whilst staring in the mirror all Jack Torrence-y. Obviously, something went wrong. But what? We shall see.
Basically, the episode can be broken down into three main parts. Shane and Otis' escape from the hospital, the discussions between Rick and Lori, as well as Maggie (Hershel's daughter) and Glenn at the farm, and the back and forth between Daryl and Andrea in the woods. We'll leave Shane's thing for last.
My favorite non-ending part of the episode was the stuff between Daryl and Andrea. It's no surprise for many that Daryl is my favorite character. He's that grizzled survivalist with the heart of gold. Andrea, while often considered annoying by others, is a favorite of mine. She shows how the average, yet strong-willed woman would survive in a world. She starts of strong, but the weight of her sister's death midway through last season has weighted heavily on her, and at this point, suicide is obviously a very pleasing way out for her. What I liked about this episode, is that they've started to curve those suicidal feelings. I was worried that subplot would be out there all season, so the tension would mount as to whether she'd do herself in, but Daryl, like the sweetheart he is, managed to bring some mild hope back to Andrea. It's never said, but it's obvious (at least to me) that we'll see Daryl provide a strong support for Andrea in the future.
Oh... and they didn't find Sophia. Goddammit.
Now, the farm stuff. There's not TOO much to talk about, but I did find the back and forth between Rick and Lori about whether or not they should even HOPE Carl survives rather poignant. I'm sure there would be many people in Lori's shoes in a zombie apocalypse. It's that slow, crawling loss of hope in characters that will no doubt provide the drama for the rest of the season. Much of this was lost on Lori by the end of the episode, however, as Carl ended up just fine (we'll get to that).
I also liked the stuff between Maggie and Glenn. Not too much, but entertaining, relationship-building dialogue.
NOW. On to the important stuff. I can keep this short and sweet.
GODDAMIT SHANE. WHY COULDN'T YOU LET THE FAT GUY LIVE!?
Yes, Shane let Otis die. Not only did he LET him die, he was the catalyst for it. Halfway through the episode Shane makes it back to the farmhouse, medical supplies in the truck, but rather Otis-less. We assume Otis just got eaten, nothing out of the ordinary.
Then the revelation comes at the end of the episode. And it hits hard... like an iceball to the face in the middle of winter. We see Shane and Otis, crippled, slowed, tired, running away from zombies. After realizing they're almost out of ammo, Shane does the unspeakable.
HE SHOOTS OTIS IN THE FUCKING LEG AND ALLOWS FOR THE ZOMBIES TO EAT HIM, BUFFET STYLE. All the while, Shane is strolling briskly away to the truck.
Now, to be fair, we can see a great amount of anguish in Shane's tone post-Otis killing (credit to Jon Bernthal for some wonderful acting), and I would argue he wasn't completely out of line in doing what he did. If he wouldn't have shot Otis, he would've died, Otis still would've died, and Carl PROBABLY would've died. But goddamn, he could've at least shot Otis in the face.
Overall, still a very dialogue-heavy episode, but the end and intermittent action between the farm and RV stuff is by far enough.
9.0 All You can eat Buffets out of 10
