Not a bad start to the season but I found the opener with the beach training to be quite ridiculous and it lasted far too long; the episode definitely got better as it went on. The highlights were the Daryl/Carol interactions (as usual) and the general intrigue when they found that skin at the campsite.
Not the best season premiere but I get what they were doing here. It's an obvious set up for the next episodes.
Carol and Daryl had a golden moment, I actually like seeing characters interact on a lighter level than usual. Also, the ending set a great tone, you could see both of those women brewing.
[7.0/10] The scene opens up. Our heroes are training on a beach. The episode shows them moving like a well oiled machine in a Spartan phalanx. Waterlogged zombies emerge one at a time, and we all the good guys skills. We them launch arrows. We see them sling steel. We see them move and react when things go pear-shaped and keep their cool. We see these different people, born in disparate places, forged by distinct challenges, coming together in the name of protection and unity. It is visually captivating, conveying so much coolness and character in a single, well-crafted sequence, and I wonder why I have such beef with this show.
And then the characters start talking.
Oh Walking Dead. Let’s be real, after ten seasons, it is what it is. I know there was some hope that the show might change with a new showrunner in tow, but this is another dose of the same sort of incredible visuals and action set pieces, paired with a heap of ponderous conversations that can’t muster the emotional resonance the show is going for. That’s certainly tougher when the show’s killed off a lot of the characters worth caring about, but even in an episode like this one, which mostly focuses on TWD’s best characters, the results are a real mixed bag.
That said, I like the structure of this one a lot! The notion of starting with a unifying event -- the discovery of one of The Whisperers’ skins -- and then following how this development ripples through different pockets of these communities, is a strong one. It allows us to catch up with everyone in a season premiere, and spend some focused time in each locale with each person instead of trying to pack it altogether in one big hodge podge.
By the same token, I like the device of the crashing satelite. It captures your attention in the opening moments of the episode. (We’re not used to seeing spacescapes on this show.) And it provides a nice way for the episode to bring everyone back together in the end to put out the fire, another stunning set of visuals for the TWD to show off its superb action chops with.
Hell, I even like the overarching premise here. There’s been relative peace with The Whisperers in the months since we last saw everybody, due to our heroes obeying the borders that Alpha laid down. But now, that peace is threatened when no one’s even sure if they’re still there, and this act of god-type event requires them to cross the titular lines of the episode.
But man, everything we get in between the first scene and the last is some kind of rough or on the nose. I used to rag on Andrew Lincoln a lot for his performances here, and I will continue to venerate Danai Gurira’s work here and elsewhere, but her efforts to give a Rick Grimes-esque leader speech didn’t fare much better than his did. And the whole bit with Judith and R.J. talking about the “brave man” was pretty cheesy and didactic.
The same goes for most of the standard colloquies we get on the show. Aaron talking about not being nice anymore and wondering if we’re the good guys, Negan talking about staying on the side of the semi-liked and lying for the greater good, Carol and Daryl talking about whether this is “all there is,” are all decent enough ideas, but the dialogue just hobbles it all out of the gate, to where even some of the show’s best actors can’t rescue it.
There’s things I really like here, like Siddiq having PTSD from the whisperer attack, or a deeper exploration of what it means to be hearing-impaired in these circumstances. But even there, the show just writes it all on the screen. And the Eugene/Rosita/Gabriel/Siddiq situation continues to be weird as hell, along with tons of other little teases that there’s not time to flesh out now, but which seem to be pointing in odd directions.
Overall, this is a pretty standard edition of The Walking Dead. The things that have been historically good on the show are still good. The things that have been historically bad are still bad. And little seems poised to change. Oh well. Here we go with another frustrating season.
Opening sequence was terrible and way overdone. Oh, so was the fire scene. What is going on with this show?
what the hell happened to TWD?!!
it's getting sillier by the episode.
they lost it.
There was definitely a horse taking a dump in the background while Michonne was talking and the VFX team CGI'ed the poop out. That's dedication and good use of money. Who needs to invest on deer CGI every time we're seeing a doe?
Other thoughts:
• I like the new water goggling walkers..
• Daryl for the position of King Leonidas.
• JDM is always wonderful as Negan when we see him. I like the fact that he assumed everyone has a pair of pants for special shitting occasions.
• Of course it's a russian satellite who crushes. American satellites never crushes. I bet all their nuclear plants boomed as well.
Wow, would you look at that! In characters interactions, human behaviour even some banter. Original start or callback to Fear the Walking Dead, some interesting editing choices that kept story from getting boring. I always loved when they attempted some worldbuilding and even politics (sorta more like diplomacy issue but that's a start).
Btw, what word were they going for on satellite? Was it "Родина"? Or even "Машина"? lol Either way it's a ridiculous name choice. Well, they tried, I guess.
Like everyone says, i have seen all season till now, i need this show to end so i can forget about it... having say that... since the changes the show got a bit better... more tolerable... i gave this an 8 because they are explore some new stuff plus Daryl and Carol which are the only good characters left (from a few seasons now) anyway lets hope this is the last season
I'm too invested to quit, but this show needs to end
Remember that episode a while back when Rick and the gang finally got their shit together and kicked ass in the prison?
Well this episode kinda redoes that but what was impressive then after all the seasons of idiocy falls flat for me.
And while Fear the Walking Dead seems to go the western route this seems to go from the Medieval Kingdom to a more Swashbuckling setting.
I don't really remember the Whisperers having a nuclear bomb but... why would anyone care? It's not like they could detonate it without destroying themselves.
Overall the episode seems to have been written by people just starting their writing career, it's full with awkward dialogues and talks about pretty mouths. Even Negan's dialogue seems nutered, stale and pretty much "try-hard".
Anyways... ready for another season hoping it'll be good.
PS One small deer can feed 200 people (sure I googled it too)? Gas isn't a problem unlike Fear the Walking Dead? What's with all the talk about pretty mouths and shit?
really liking the friendship between connie and daryl!! his attempts of sign language are very wholesome. nice to see carol back for a bit too.
small negan cameo of him out gardening was cool.
Bro Carol and Daryl are just amazing:sob:
Lol they took those reviews to heart about where tf Oceanside disappeared to… oh no another shity cgi deer lol
You’d think after 9 seasons they’d stop with some of these extremely overused tropes, but they’re still going at it. Some cringeworthy moments in the first half of this ep, especially in the dialogue. It makes these proven good actors at times look very poor. Second half did have some nice dialogue, fire sequence was well shot and choreographed. Imo Negan is keeping this show from being a complete disaster, but it will never ever return to the standards set by its golden era. Cliffhanger was also pretty stupid. 7/10
Not too bad. Those water zombies look nice and disgusting. I wish that Daryl and Carol would run off together.
I see the show is already back to its usual-of-late tactic of prolonging episodes by showing a single event from multiple perspectives.
"Jesus is dead" ; this sounded weird.
Those noob ass archers, shot so many arrows for just one zombie. They lived this long and they still don't know that body shots won't do any damage.
I still don’t understand how deaf people survived this long. Wouldn’t then have to be able to hear the zombies, especially if they are behind them.
Shout by CNCRDVIP 3BlockedParent2019-10-27T05:39:54Z
Oh boy. So slow, so frustrating, so boring. The only thing why I'm still here is because I'm gone this far and I don't want to quit.