The Walking Dead *TV Spoilers!*

[Brian861]

I think I'm starting to enjoy FTWD more. It seems more real if that makes sense.

Makes sense to me. I quit watching TWD just after Glen dived under the dumpster. We're still watching FTWD.

TWD seems to be a bit convoluted with all the communities and such. I'm still a fan of the show and will continue to watch it. I like the way FTWD has kinda scaled back as far as the size of the group. I like what they have going on there but they may change in regards to the season finale. I guess they have to settle down someplace at some point. I'm looking forward to the season opener tonight all the same.

[Mattrick]

Thanks for the read guys. I'll be posting reviews of each episode of TWD going forward.

But before the premiere, let's take a moment to appreciate the greatness of Negan.

[Brian861]

Ugh.

[Mattrick]

SPOILERS JUST IN CASE

That was an incredible premiere. I only have two real complaints, and they're more nitpicks. First is that we there was one fantastic shot from the comics that was missing and that was this closeup of his face as he dies, with everyone in the background watching. I thought this was one of the images that truly burned in my mind in the comics, so I was sad to not see it.






The only complain was there we didn't get a single second of Negan. I'm not impressed. The fans want at least 42 minutes of Negan an episode!




I'll post my review maybe late tomorrow night or Tuesday. Have Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow so that will eat up most of my day.

[Brian861]

The fans want at least 42 minutes of Negan an episode!

Not this fan. That'd be 41 minutes too long.

[Still Servant]

I thought the premiere was fine. What's still plaguing the show is the utter impractical moments that I find myself yelling the TV.

So, you're telling me they have to go all the way to the Museum of Natural History to rescue a 200 year old wagon? Come on. We already saw in that episode that they created a wagon using car tires. Why not just make another one? It would literally take a few hours and is far more safe than trying to drag that thing back. The same with the thousand year old canoe. You can't figure out how to make a boat? Same with the plow. It ain't rocket science.

Of course, the cherry on top of this silly sunday is the glass floor. Give me a break!

[Mattrick]

I think getting the wagon and stuff had more to do with ease of production...would be easier to create a fleet of wagons and canoes with a mould.

I think the glass floor could've been handled better, but I love the set piece. I think if the glass had already been broken in places by falling debris/walkers, it would've been worked better. I'm pretty lenient when it comes to that stuff though. I care far more that the characters are logical than the set pieces.

[Iwritecode]

Of course, the cherry on top of this silly sunday is the glass floor. Give me a break!

I said the same thing. That glass should have been a few inches thick instead of the single pane thickness they showed.

[Still Servant]

I'm pretty lenient when it comes to that stuff though. I care far more that the characters are logical than the set pieces.

I'm not. It pulls me right out off the realism of the show.

[Shannon]

Of course, the cherry on top of this silly sunday is the glass floor. Give me a break!

*rimshot*

[webstar1000]

I LOVED the premier. I felt the "old Walking Dead" vibe there. I thought the walkers were bar none the best I have seen. The make up work here was amazing. I wish they would do something though.... and maybe they have in the comics and if so someone tell me.. BUT why doesn't a group take off to explore further that that "days ride" they mentioned? I mean, you could do SO MUCH more. They have no idea whats out there past their walls. I think this was the best episode in a long time and ironically the lowest watched

[Still Servant]

I LOVED the premier. I felt the "old Walking Dead" vibe there. I thought the walkers were bar none the best I have seen. The make up work here was amazing. I wish they would do something though.... and maybe they have in the comics and if so someone tell me.. BUT why doesn't a group take off to explore further that that "days ride" they mentioned? I mean, you could do SO MUCH more. They have no idea whats out there past their walls. I think this was the best episode in a long time and ironically the lowest watched

Traditional ratings mean nothing to me anymore. People are literally not watching TV like they used to. There's no truly accurate way to calculate what people are watching.

The old Nielsen ratings need to be retired. It's antiquated and just plain obsolete. Also, I can honestly tell you that I have never met anyone who is a Nielsen family. If you are or if know someone who is, I'd love to hear about it.

[webstar1000]

I LOVED the premier. I felt the "old Walking Dead" vibe there. I thought the walkers were bar none the best I have seen. The make up work here was amazing. I wish they would do something though.... and maybe they have in the comics and if so someone tell me.. BUT why doesn't a group take off to explore further that that "days ride" they mentioned? I mean, you could do SO MUCH more. They have no idea whats out there past their walls. I think this was the best episode in a long time and ironically the lowest watched

Traditional ratings mean nothing to me anymore. People are literally not watching TV like they used to. There's no truly accurate way to calculate what people are watching.

The old Nielsen ratings need to be retired. It's antiquated and just plain obsolete. Also, I can honestly tell you that I have never met anyone who is a Nielsen family. If you are or if know someone who is, I'd love to hear about it.

Agreed they are not watching tv the same way any longer.... however it still is of note. The show is not being watched like it once was. Think of the people you know that have stopped... look at this thread even. From a plethora of posters until now... but a few. It’s a shame but the fact remains, not as many watch this show anymore.


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[Brian861]

I LOVED the premier. I felt the "old Walking Dead" vibe there. I thought the walkers were bar none the best I have seen. The make up work here was amazing. I wish they would do something though.... and maybe they have in the comics and if so someone tell me.. BUT why doesn't a group take off to explore further that that "days ride" they mentioned? I mean, you could do SO MUCH more. They have no idea whats out there past their walls. I think this was the best episode in a long time and ironically the lowest watched

Traditional ratings mean nothing to me anymore. People are literally not watching TV like they used to. There's no truly accurate way to calculate what people are watching.

The old Nielsen ratings need to be retired. It's antiquated and just plain obsolete. Also, I can honestly tell you that I have never met anyone who is a Nielsen family. If you are or if know someone who is, I'd love to hear about it.

Just to add to the derailment a bit more; I very rarely, if at all, watch any TV programs, including sports, when they air. I've gotten so spoiled with DVR and especially Tivo where you can skip commercials completely with most recordings. I guess maybe they know what you're recording as far as the ratings?

We did the Nielsen thing back in the 90s but didn't stick with it long. Felt too much like homework when we just wanted to watch TV.

I agree. Ratings have nothing to do with what I watch. I either like it or not. Pretty basic system

[Mattrick]

I LOVED the premier. I felt the "old Walking Dead" vibe there. I thought the walkers were bar none the best I have seen. The make up work here was amazing. I wish they would do something though.... and maybe they have in the comics and if so someone tell me.. BUT why doesn't a group take off to explore further that that "days ride" they mentioned? I mean, you could do SO MUCH more. They have no idea whats out there past their walls. I think this was the best episode in a long time and ironically the lowest watched

Traditional ratings mean nothing to me anymore. People are literally not watching TV like they used to. There's no truly accurate way to calculate what people are watching.

The old Nielsen ratings need to be retired. It's antiquated and just plain obsolete. Also, I can honestly tell you that I have never met anyone who is a Nielsen family. If you are or if know someone who is, I'd love to hear about it.

Just to add to the derailment a bit more; I very rarely, if at all, watch any TV programs, including sports, when they air. I've gotten so spoiled with DVR and especially Tivo where you can skip commercials completely with most recordings. I guess maybe they know what you're recording as far as the ratings?

We did the Nielsen thing back in the 90s but didn't stick with it long. Felt too much like homework when we just wanted to watch TV.

I agree. Ratings have nothing to do with what I watch. I either like it or not. Pretty basic system

Ratings have evolved when it comes to DVRs. The true ratings aren't reflected until 24 hours after air as it credits anyone who watches it on their DVR in the first 24 hours, but the ratings continue to accumulate over the next 7 days. One thing few articles about the ratings have taken into account is the new AMC streaming service, which had a crap load of buys before the premiere, meaning the number of viewers could be much higher than is stated. Not to mention all the people who torrent the show like I do, and overseas...The Walking Dead fanbase is still quite large and dedicated.


As a wrestling fan, I hear about ratings blah blah all the time around this year. Every October Monday Night Raw hits record low viewership and people start blaming this and that. Simple truth is less people watch live, and when you're up against Monday Night Football and a post-season game between the Red Sox and the Yankees...you're sacrificing a lot of viewership to live sports. Raw is a heavily DVRed show. Not to mention the views of their segment videos of what happened on Raw usually do a combined 8-10million youtube views a week, and that's not including engagement on other social media platforms or their website.

[Mattrick]

I LOVED the premier. I felt the "old Walking Dead" vibe there. I thought the walkers were bar none the best I have seen. The make up work here was amazing. I wish they would do something though.... and maybe they have in the comics and if so someone tell me.. BUT why doesn't a group take off to explore further that that "days ride" they mentioned? I mean, you could do SO MUCH more. They have no idea whats out there past their walls. I think this was the best episode in a long time and ironically the lowest watched

Two things without spoiling...in the current comic storyline, they have a group quite far away. And also exploring further than they have leads to some...unwanted things. But that's all part of the fun we should see in the next 10 episodes

[Still Servant]

I LOVED the premier. I felt the "old Walking Dead" vibe there. I thought the walkers were bar none the best I have seen. The make up work here was amazing. I wish they would do something though.... and maybe they have in the comics and if so someone tell me.. BUT why doesn't a group take off to explore further that that "days ride" they mentioned? I mean, you could do SO MUCH more. They have no idea whats out there past their walls. I think this was the best episode in a long time and ironically the lowest watched

Traditional ratings mean nothing to me anymore. People are literally not watching TV like they used to. There's no truly accurate way to calculate what people are watching.

The old Nielsen ratings need to be retired. It's antiquated and just plain obsolete. Also, I can honestly tell you that I have never met anyone who is a Nielsen family. If you are or if know someone who is, I'd love to hear about it.

Agreed they are not watching tv the same way any longer.... however it still is of note. The show is not being watched like it once was. Think of the people you know that have stopped... look at this thread even. From a plethora of posters until now... but a few. It’s a shame but the fact remains, not as many watch this show anymore.

But all shows have that natural fall off. The Walking Dead was a phenomenon. It was bound to fall off. When something gets big like that, you have the curiosity factor. People who would never be interested in a show like that tuned in. Eventually, they lost interest. It happens all the time with huge shows. It happened with Lost, it happened with American Idol. Shows like that are bound to lose the fringe audience.

Not to get even more off topic, but everyone is freaking out about the NFL ratings dipping in recent years. People want to equate it to concussions or kneeling for the National Anthem when it has more to do with what I mentioned above. The NFL peaked. Slowly, it started losing the casual fan. They found other interests.

It happens all the time.

[Mattrick]

The problem is when it comes to The Walking Dead is that it's constantly compared to Game of Thrones, and they're two totally different beasts. But you're right, most shows naturally fall off, and that usually happens around Season 4, and The Walking Dead took 6 seasons to start showing a dip. When you consider Breaking Bad only got over 2 million viewers once or twice until the final season aired, The Walking Dead pulling on 6-8M viewers is still pretty damn good.

[Mattrick]

Well, that was a damn good episode. Hoping to have my review for it and last weeks premiere out in the next two days. I've got a few other Walking Dead pieces I'm working on, like an In Memoriam to Simon and Gregory, and a deeper look into what made seasons 7 and 8 frustrating, and also what made them pretty good...they were a mixed bag.



Aaron is starting to look a lot like Comic Book Rick!





I hope they give him the same hook prosthetic that Aaron has. And it would be cool if Aaron took some of Rick's story moments from this next storyline too. Aaron in the comics don't have the best time in this next story...though not as bad as losing his arm like in this episode. That practical effect looked gnarly too. I could tell when was freed his arm was broken and bleeding, but once you saw back at the camp it was just crushed and shattered and there was no salvaging that without pins and screws and equipment they just don't have.



I like the bit of mystery added to the end of the episode. I don't think that was a helicopter Anne saw, I think it was a plane, but most people think it was the helicopter returning. And who was it that killed that Savior? Have people been killing other saviors too, or did those people just abscond with supplies and to start their own community? Did Saviors kill him to blame it on Rick's people and instigate something? Was it Henry? I've always been a fan of cliffhangers like this. Just that little bit to keep you wondering what's next for 7 days.



Also we got some of my man Negan! About damn time!

[Still Servant]

Very strong episode.

The mainstream fan base will hate it because it was a little slower for the most part, but I applaud the kind of storytelling they are going for so far this season.

I'm also willing to bet that whomever wrote this episode has played Horizon Zero Dawn. The bit where Rick shoots the rope, releasing the logs to flatten the walkers is exactly like one of the side missions from the game. Very cool.

Also, I think that was a plane. It seemed way too high in the sky to be a helicopter.

[webstar1000]

Loved last night. And I gotta say... the walkers are just beautifully done this season! I am very interested in how Rick leaves the show. I hope he doesn’t die but leaves to explore with the chance we get him back some day... if even for a minute. I sincerely think this may turn out to be my favourite season since way back. Almost a return to form. Looking forward to seeing more. How long you guys thjnk before we get a little Whisperer action?


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[Mattrick]

Very strong episode.

The mainstream fan base will hate it because it was a little slower for the most part, but I applaud the kind of storytelling they are going for so far this season.

I'm also willing to bet that whomever wrote this episode has played Horizon Zero Dawn. The bit where Rick shoots the rope, releasing the logs to flatten the walkers is exactly like one of the side missions from the game. Very cool.

Also, I think that was a plane. It seemed way too high in the sky to be a helicopter.

I can't speak for casual fans, but fan reception for these two episodes have been extremely high. While this material mostly all original (Gregory stuff aside), this is the kind of storytelling the next two seasons for sure will have. That's why I've been so excited for a couple years.

How long you guys thjnk before we get a little Whisperer action?

I'm going to guess we'll get a tease of them at the end of Episode 6 or 7.

[Still Servant]

Am I missing something? There was an exchange during last night's episode between Maggie and Daryl in the woods where Maggie refers to her dad as Hershel. She doesn't call him dad, which is odd to me. Whenever I refer to my dad, I call him dad. I don't use his first name.

Did the writers forget that Hershel is Maggie's dad?

[Mattrick]

Am I missing something? There was an exchange during last night's episode between Maggie and Daryl in the woods where Maggie refers to her dad as Hershel. She doesn't call him dad, which is odd to me. Whenever I refer to my dad, I call him dad. I don't use his first name.

Did the writers forget that Hershel is Maggie's dad?

Her son is named Hershel. Maybe you misheard the context. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

I thought last night's episode was great. I've really got to write my reviews...I've just been busy with other things. I just realized there was a south park last week. They changed their dark weeks on me! They've been after episodes 3/6/8 for the past five years.

[webstar1000]

The show is now better than Fear and the best in years! Thoughts on why they wanted to talk to Negan at the end???