The last season and half has taken the meaning of the walking dead literally. The story plots are nothing interesting, and when they are its short lived. This has been the case for awhile. Though. The second half of season 10 has seemed to change it up in a way where I'm starting to get interested again. That whole ebb and flow of TWD .. where you hate it, but then come to love it for a bit before the wave of hate takes over once more.
So,. lets see where this wave takes us.
[7.5/10] This was The Walking Dead’s usual mix of some very good stuff and some very meh stuff. But there was also a distinct lack of very bad stuff, which is a win for this show in my book!
My favorite part of the episode was the storyline involving Princess, the pink-haired motormouth who Eugene, Ezekiel, and Yumiko run into on Eugene’s romantic quest. For one thing, I just really enjoyed Princess even before we got her backstory. So many characters on this show end up feeling kind of grim and drab, so having someone with so much personality, in her look and her attitude and demeanor, felt like a breath of fresh air, so I hope she becomes a regular part of the show.
That said, I envision her being a little polarizing. Her “Luis from Ant-Man” meets Lilo and Stitch vibe is right up my alley, but it’s also distinctive and different, which can be a lot for some people. Still, I love the way that works with the plot and with the character’s emotional backstory. From a sheer narrative standpoint, our heroes having to make through an unfamiliar place with the help of a potentially unreliable guide is a good story engine. The mix of Yumiko’s mistrust, Ezekiel wanting to believe her, and Eugene as the pragmatist in the middle makes for a good dynamic, and the prospect of getting some “wheels” and having to go through a minefield motivates and dramatizes the conflict well.
I especially like where they end up. Princess is not perfect, but she’s sympathetic, and her story of loneliness before and after the fall of civilization, replete with the “hard to love” label hits hard. The character writing here is really strong, with the show finding good connections out of that story. Eugene is, by his own admission, someone who knows what it’s like to lie and have a different speech pattern and worry about being alone, so he’s the first to forgive and extend the hand of friendship. The episode also suggests that Yumiko is maybe projecting some of her frustrations with Magna onto Princess in subtle ways. Plus, the actress who plays princess does a great job of selling both Princess’s outsized qualities and her moments of realness in a convincing way.
I also enjoyed the Daryl/Judith story a lot. At some point, Norman Reedus deserves real recognition (along with Melissa McBride), for being the foundation of this series and elevating its material above anywhere it has any right to be for ten years. I appreciate the show continuing to deal with Judith processing the notions of real death in a way that hadn’t left a mark on her despite growing up in a world full of it. The way that melds with her fears of losing her family is outstanding, and Daryl is incredible as her rock and protector through all this. His simple speech about people who’d do anything to take care of her, and how one day she’ll want to do the same, hits just as hard and stands out as one of the most heartening moments in the show. The pairing really works.
The rest of the episode is mostly a big meh. Beta’s “I hear voices” routine isn’t especially interesting, and while the march of “guardians” toward are heroes makes for some good visuals, the “he’s losing it” angle has been done many times before on this show, and a lot of the tactics and motivations and even the actual words are hard to comprehend.
I also find it hard to care about Aaron and Alden getting captured. Why the Whisperers didn’t find them in the windmill of Hilltop, god only knows, but whatever. They just feel like pawns in the larger game being played by the episode that I can’t really bother to gin up any interest in.
The same goes for Negan and Lydia. There’s a good tack there, with Negan continuing his sympathy for kids, feeling responsible for separating a mother and child. But the execution of it just doesn't move me. I don’t know why. Both actors do a good enough job. I just haven’t really been that invested in Lydia’s storyline from the jump, and Negan’s whole secret agent routine still feels kind of strained, so while the emotions are good, the root cause they’re reacting to just can’t sustain it for me.
The same goes for Carol and Kelly. I’m frankly glad that the episode takes some time out to have them hash it out over Connie; both actors do well, and there’s an optimism to the ideas at play which is refreshing. But the whole cave situation just felt so oddly contrived in the first place that it’s hard to take the outgrowths off it seriously.
Overall though, this is still a nice meat and potatoes Walking Dead episode. Who knows when we’ll get the finale, but this is a nice note to go out on during the unexpected break.
Princess is so awesome! Finally an interesting character.
Good buildup for the season finale later this year. Still sucks we have to wait that long for the finale.
I like Princess, very nice to have a lighter character added to the show again. She's wacky, I like it. Most of the times when characters are added they're either traumatized to the point of always being angry, murderous or the opposite; sad/weak-ish. Princess is bold, fun and with a nice sense of humor.
Ryan Hurst has once again captured my heart, I mean... after last week; when we saw Beta from an almost softer more humane side to this week when he's really lost it. I kind of don't want him to die anymore. I know Beta has his end coming and unlike Negan, there is no way the group will take him in or he will let himself be taken in; he'll die for sure... but I love to see this character unfold. I wouldn't mind a Beta centered episode. I want to know more about him.
Filler episode..... I wanted more as I binge, but these are required to build the world!
Another 10 min episode. You can skip the rest. It’s time to end this show for good.
The Boring Dead
Nobody needed a new character with wanna be a crazy attitude. Typical Boring Dead episode where nothing happens.
So now this is what we have to stew on while AMC pretends someone can't edit the last episode from home and give us the finale we should be watching? What trash. I'm so tired of this show I wish I hadn't invested 10 years so I could just turn it off already.
The two positives is this episode, it did a good job of getting me hyped for that finale, and the moment between Daryl and Judith at the end was really well done.
Other than that there wasn't much to love here, this new character seems suuuuper annoying and trying to make the audience care about a character like that this late into a show is difficult. Excited for the finale but this episode was fairly weak by itself.
i’m really loving this new princess character! idk how the gang didn’t assume they were walking around a trap mine when she was walking around slowly & counting. her monologue about loneliness was a bit cheesy but it was ok.
another great judith & daryl scene. she really is the best child actress that’s ever been in the show, or maybe of all time. good job.
Daryl and Judith cannot keep doing this to me:sob:
I think Princess might be one of my favorite characters in this show.
Lol on talking dead or a interview after twd said they didn’t think about how the hospital location they filmed at was the same as the one when Beth died but in the show it’s different cities
so I'm back to trying to finish season 10. So season 10 can be special for me because this is where i ended my journey from walking dead via live cable. It was the beginning of covid and I remember I'm like yeah they are going to take a break and come back in October and I haven't came back since now. This was ep was alright 7.6/10. Slow set up but the message was loud and clear. Princess is pretty cool let's see how they kill her off haha jk but seriously I'm excited to rewatch the Walking Dead
I love this show and I hate to see it go but if it dose then it need to end like this someone asleep and they dream all of it and none of them are dead on the show
Not bad hope last one knocks the teeth out :D
like the new Princess :)
I withdraw my earlier comment on the episode where we saw the big migration of a yet unknown tribe at the end:
The Boring Dead completely dropped the ball yet again. I'm aware that the planned last episode of the season is delayed but I can't honestly think about any way they can redeem this bullcrap other than ending in a cliffhanger showing what Rick is up to.
Nothing happens. A new forcibly nerve-racking and all around unrealistic, even for TWD standards, character is introduced. Haha, bicycles.
What in the earliest season name are the producers thinking? They've got so many great possible setups and yet here they are, wasting them all. This once great show was demoted to my workout white-noise.
A new character fleshed out (I like Princess so far, I actually didn't mind her in the comics either), some heartfelt moments, but mostly filler. Last year's episode 15 was the fair at the kingdom, and we all remember what took place there... Hopefully the upcoming finale is a banger. I'm excited for Maggie's return.
Who'd have thought the crazy purple chick wouldn't be the most annoying character this episode.
That's a bummer ... looks like we will be waiting for the last episode until further notice.
Shout by ElliotVIP 6BlockedParent2020-04-05T08:56:59Z
A typical wheel-spinning pre-finale episode that was pretty enjoyable. I'm sure many will hate her but I kinda enjoyed the new character Princess; she has a chaotic comic relief feel to her that I think is kinda needed amongst all the weekly moping and brooding.