The Walking Dead

[Rob]

I stopped watching TWD halfway through S6. Really doesn't interest me that much anymore. It's become a bit repetitive in that Rick and his gang are on the run, they find a safe haven and get captured again by the next group of bad guys. Yes, I know SW is a bit repetitive too, but SW is holy and untouchable 

Looks like you stopped an episode or two away from the most captivating and tense stuff that show has seen in maybe ever.

[McMetal]

Well, the spoilers are out there now, I pretty much read the full recap today on Facebook. Just FYI, if you want to know what's gonna go down, shouldn't be hard to find.


 

[McMetal]

**** is about to get real up in here. I'm just glad Chris Hardwicke will be there for me emotionally after the show is over. 

Regardless of whatever actually happens, I am not looking forward to this episode, or this whole season really, gonna be one long downer IMO. 

[GrandMoffNick]

As the one person on earth who didn't mind the cliffhanger and thus whose opinion doesn't matter in this thread. ...

I give it anyway. I hope the people who didn't watch tonight because they were so outraged enjoyed the tie football game.

I liked what we got tonight. The let down it was Abraham. The relief they didn't go soft by having it be Glenn. Because of that relief it took me to the dinner shot to take the kick to the nuts emotionally it was Glenn.

I'm disappointed the took Daryl. I assume we won't get the brilliant interaction between Negan and Carl from the comic now.

[McMetal]

Well, I had three days to prepare for it and it was still almost unbearable to watch. #$%^&* Dumbass Daryl. Way to control your emotions dude.

I truly enjoyed the first six seasons of this show. Great stuff. I think that show is over though. Dalrymple even said as much on TD. This is a different show now. A bleak, humorless, soul-crushing cavalcade of human misery. Glenn wasn't just the heart and soul of this show, as Hardwick pointed out afterwards, he singlehandedly represented HOPE above all else. He was the one dude who grew and changed for the better, never got warped or lost his way like the others. Hell, he had never even killed anyone until a few episodes ago.

Without Glenn, there is no semblance of family on this show anymore. They broke that down completely. Glenn and Maggie and baby represented something triumphant and beautiful and now that dream is shattered and everyone left is just a twisted, broken shell of a person. You cant help but walk away from that thinking they are all just going to be miserable until they eventually get murdered or eaten.

There is just no possible happy ending here anymore. Kirkman seems hell bent on just abusing these people over and over until he dies. (I say that because it seems clear he never had any clue how to end this story properly and was never even planning on making it this long) I get a real treading water feeling from the comic now, and am starting to wish they would go all Game of Thrones and just start charting their own new territory. Comics have a petty short shelf life creatively speaking anyway.

I'm not trying to bash the show, I think they did a terrific job with the premier, given the direction they had to go. Andy Lincoln was amazing. JDM was enthrallingly despicable. It's just the creative choices I take issue with. With so many other key divergences (Rick's hand, Michonne's rape) there is no reason they could not have changed this up and still had the same impact. But Glenn, there was nobody on the show like him. That's a loss you can't replace. TV Glenn wasn't like comic Glenn, he was a man who had so much more to offer. I understand the logic, the need to move the story forward. I just think it's a dark turn that you can't pivot away from. You can't make me laugh next week so matter what kind of goofy Kingdom crap you throw out there.

I know, it's not like the show was a laugh riot or anything before, But at least it had elements of warmth and humanity that you're not going to get from Rick/Michonne, Rosita/Alexandria guy, etc. The loss ultimately isn't just a character, for me, it is a loss of something they can't get back on this show. And that is a real bummer.

Oh yeah, Abraham. Sorry to see you go too Big Guy. They should have stopped there.

[Rob]

That, was ******* brutal.

[Diddly]

Man I'm really glad I avoided spoilers, but... yikes. What a beatdown, both to the group and the viewer emotionally. So many possibilities as to where they go now. But they made The Governor look like a Care Bear compared to Negan.

[GrandMoffNick]

I will miss Glenn dearly but still think it was the right move storyline wise.

Someone asked recently if there will be a satisfying way to end this. I think it will be Rick and his group's full death and then we will just wonder did mankind go extinct eventually (my guess) or was a cure/solution found by someone eventually.

It is a bleak future

[Scockery]

I'd end the comic with the zombies just dying. People don't come back after they die anymore, either. It just stops for no reason.

Or the aliens arrive. 

[Morgbug]

I'm frankly ok with them killing Glenn.  Hey, I thought it absolutely ridiculous he hid under a dumpster and lived so it's overdue. 

Thoroughly depressing episode, no question.  Having not read any of the comics and not being much into social media, I'm still largely in the dark.  So thank you all for keeping the thread relatively spoiler free, it is very much appreciated.

[Jesse James]

I'm with Rob, it was brutal...  and in general "fake" **** doesn't affect me but this did for some reason, including the grotesqueness of it.  It was anxiety-inducing in a way. 

If this was Fear, I'd have been cheering.

I FF'd Talking Dead to see the preview for next week...  I'd stop and Hardwick was talking about stupid ****.  At least he didn't throw in jokes about sports, not that I could tell anyway, so that's something for him.

[Dave]

Just watched this last night and managed to avoid spoilers.  Yowza.

I agree with everyone's statements.  Not sure if there is ever going to be a redemption or happy ending, but hope at some point the writers feel free to diverge from the comics if the comic story line has wallowed or is lame (I don't read the comics).  I don't just want to watch a brutal show if there isn't some element of hope, but I think they can resurrect that with new characters and growth from the existing ones.

One thing that I both liked and didn't like was the show's graphic nature last night.  In general the violence hasn't been too graphic in this show.  More cartoon violence (or off camera) than graphic.  The season premier was very graphic.  It certainly set the tone and made for a tense viewing.  While I personally don't mind violent TV shows, I'm worried it might turn off some viewers.  My wife has watched this show and enjoyed it with me from the very first episode, but if the violence shown in last night's show continues she will quickly drop off.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and the introduction of The Kingdom.

[JediJman]

I loved it.  It was brutal and gross, but a creative way to get the show back on track with a lot of the comic material again.  The Abraham kill had me thinking that was it too, so if they were bound and determined for it to be Glenn, that was a smart way to still make it something of a surprise.  The image of him with the eyeball popping out is 100% faithful to issue #100 of the comics.  There was a lot of love/hate following that turn in the comics, so I'm not surprised to see all the mixed reactions from the TV audience.  Love it or hate it, it was creative.

Kirkman has always maintained that no one (outside of maybe Rick) is safe on this show.  He wants you to care about characters deeply enough that you are outraged when they're taken away.  Its been a long time since a really meaningful character has died, and he upped that with two for the premiere.  I think most of us were hoping for Glenn to make it through, but it would have been cheap to get rid of any of the less important characters IMO.  Sad to see him go, but excited about where this takes the group next.

And yes, I think this is going to be a rough season.  Negan has more brutality up his sleeve, but there’s some pretty cool stuff coming our way.  Room for some pretty interesting new characters and concepts anyway.  Someone was complaining a while back about how the show is just them running from town to town trying to find resources and escape zombies.  Now they have a much bigger problem to deal with and it’s dark, but it’s also something new and unexpected.  I’m excited to see what they do next (and hopefully that involves less smashing heads). 

[Scockery]

Big end game spoiler tonite. We see the key to defeating the undead...pigs will eat them. That's it...zombies are done.

Disappointed King Ezekiel didn't say "BOO-YAH!"

Not sure if Carol's story line is interesting or just tiresome at this point. It says something when I'm more interested in what's going on with Morgan than her.

What house has a graveyard on the lawn? Nice choice, Carol.

[BrentS]

What house has a graveyard on the lawn? Nice choice, Carol.

Well, maybe it's just Halloween decorations