Glad to see that some people can see how woke society really is.
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@nicol1212 Only really in the USA, Canada and some parts of Europe. The rest of the World is pretty much the same. Too many people think what is on a screen is a window on the World.
Such a breath of fresh air to watch a comedy unconstrained from tick box 'don't offended anyone' camp. Absolutely love it and hope they keep this one going for a good few seasons.
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@thenightwolf I took that to be more of a statement that is didn't matter that she would be a woman and only cared about being the first person on Mars. Which I took as a dig at the first person of [insert gender, colour, race, ability, hair colour, quantity of fingers] etc to do anything of any significance. If we add enough descriptive elements to anything then we will all be the first at whatever we do. In fact I am the first human on earth that is me that commented on Trakt today ... so I must be special :rofl::rofl::rofl: .. give me an award!
You must really hate humanity in order to make this series. Woke sh:asterisk_symbol:t
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@the_argentinian Eh, the whole of AHS from the start has had brilliant powerful female characters. Every season has been led by the female cast. I have no interest in judging a show by the gender, race or sexuality of the cast or characters. What I do have a problem with is lazy writing, picking a social issue ... identify villain and making them look stupid. Very poor.
I can see that you are the kind of person to start throwing insults and I'd prefer not to lower myself to that level. And your assumptions of gender and race are surely very anti-woke of you. Anyway, bye bye.
You must really hate humanity in order to make this series. Woke sh:asterisk_symbol:t
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@the_argentinian Couple of definitions of 'woke':
Definition in oxford dictionary says ‘Alert to injustice in society, especially racism.’, to ‘The act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue’ as defined in the urban dictionary.
The OP is referring to the second half of the season pushing social issues, this is the 'woke' culture. Mainly liberal individuals that don't understand the problem, but like to tell everyone that they care about it and if you don't you are a horrible person who supports whatever the 'woke' person is on about. i.e. Your not racist, but don't actively shout from the roof tops about it ... therefore your a racist.
You must really hate humanity in order to make this series. Woke sh:asterisk_symbol:t
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@the_argentinian Multiple references to minority groups, environment, men giving birth, ageism ... surprised you missed it.
Shout by zombiebxxk
VIPI have only watched the first episode yet (still plan to finish the rest because I don't have anything better to do anyway haha) but you're better off just watching the british original. This is just a dumb-downed americanised bad cosplay fan-fiction.
I feel like if the original didn't exist this would be solid binge watch for a weekend. Nothing more but a decent show. But the original does exist. And it's IMO a fucking masterpiece. So just watch that.
EDIT: After E2 - what the fuck have they done with Jessica? It's so fucking stupid. They are obviously trying to be different to the original to stand out. But it just doesn't work. Fuck that. Arby and Lee are just hollowed out shadows of themselves. Nothing stands out as being good. I'm giving up on this. WATCH THE ORIGINAL!!!
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@jshwlr I gave up after 20 minutes. Usual social statement nonsense hidden with a loose story. Utter Bollocks
Shout by Robert Leponge
What a shitty season. They might as well cancel it now. The show has nothing more to say and it's circling itself to fill the time.
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@leponge-robert Have to agree, the last two season have been tripe. Amazon not wanting to take risks and offend anyone.
Literally worst season of the show. Space movie with 5% of space adventure and 95% emotional games between already linked characters
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@fungus1487 For me they have been building up to the end from season 4 ... and I've lost interest.
Please no more scenes with Naomi. You have an entire universe so why do you have to focus so much on the most boring character of the show.
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@whos_ur_buddha I rallied to the call to get The Expanse renewed after S3, and I know that it is following the books closely, but I find it really tedious and dull now. I even forget to watch episodes and watch when nothing better to see. If the final episode is as meh as the last two seasons I probably won't bother with the next one.
Loved this. Totally out of left field. It took me a day or two before I finally realised that, random extras and gun fodder aside, there isn't one white character of note in the entire episode. What made this so cool for me was, firstly, that I DIDN'T notice until well afterward and, secondly that nobody made a thing about it at all. I have no idea whether it was intentional at all, but it was pretty immense really and, given its history for celebrating diversity, perfectly Star Trek. If it was intentional, it was genius. If not that's even better! I don't think I have EVER seen a Sci-Fi TV show episode with a purely non-white active primary cast before. Ajala and Martin-Green are both exquisite actors and just made this wonderful for me in so many ways. This is what diversity and equality should look and feel like - no noise, just something that simply IS without debate and brooks no argument. Perfect.
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@tiefling Better watch out ... in 20 years this comment could be seen as racist. So don't get famous or it could haunt you forever!
If only it were not about a real accident, real radiation, I would have rated it much higher.
Here's the problem: Chernobyl is visually as close to a perfect representation of late 1980s USSR and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident as anything.
Except it blows the scale of the accident itself out of proportion, presents urban legends and the unfounded fear of irradiated people being radioactive as fact and even outright lies about the number of victims in the epilogue. And the vodka? In the middle of "sukhoy zakon", the Soviet version of prohibition?
It feels like it tries to respect the victims and heroes of the tragedy, but then, it sacrifices a lot of its credibility.
Don't get me wrong, if we take out its claim to be a docudrama, Chernobyl is a good, even if scientifically inaccurate, work of fiction.
But as docudramas go, it's 5 out of 10.
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@songoffall The problem with deviating from the facts of a historical event is that the film / series has a tendency to become the fact for some people. My case in point would be the film Braveheart. 90% total bollocks that many people believe to be facts ... and there you have history changed by TV.
Normally, I like Charlie Kaufman, but this is him at his most pretentious.
Not that it’s all bad, I actually liked most of the first long scene in the car.
It’s the kind of scene that will make many casual viewers dismiss the film right away (due to its length), but I thought it set up both of our leads very well.
Then they arrive at the parents’ house, and my opinion on the film did a 180.
It does what every annoying art movie does (not saying all art movies are like that, I like a lot of them): everything starts to get weird for the sake of trying to be interesting, but without any artistic reasoning.
For example, the acting becomes a nonsensical mix of very grounded performances (our leads) on one side, and extremely heightened, cartoony perfomances on the other side (the parents).
Also, the cinematography is pedestrian at best, and I fail to see the reasoning behind the chosen aspect ratio (unlike films like The Lifghthouse or Mommy).
Just stick to writing, Charlie.4/10
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@jordyep Remember that having a different opinion now is equivalent to being a Nazi! I agree with your sentiment and the pretentious arty crowd who look down on those that do not like a film and therefore 'are stupid' wears thin here. Unfortunately, Kaufman has a cult of believers and can do no wrong in their eyes. I enjoyed the film for about 90 minutes and then grew bored of the continuous attempts to announce 'do you see how clever I am? .. do you understand?' Yes, it was fairly obvious after 60 minutes it was all in Jakes head, now get over it.
I feel like this season was completely unnecessary. It just wasn't on par with S1 and felt repetitive a lot.
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@jshwlr I have to agree. I noticed after episode 3 that it consisted of another character having a problem ... Tony sympathises for a second and then starts yet another monologue about Lisa ... teary eyes ... then onto next person. It all became a bit repetitive.
First few episodes were OK, then it went into feminism, racism, etc etc. When will they stop trying to educate and just entertain. Pure shite from then on.
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@jaw72 Why does everything need a message? Just tell a damn story. Anyway it's shite.
First few episodes were OK, then it went into feminism, racism, etc etc. When will they stop trying to educate and just entertain. Pure shite from then on.
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@jaw72 I take it you love it when writers include in their stories social comment? 'Hey viewers, remember not to hate people of different race'. If you continually need reminded then I would seek psychological help.
And why is this a show about morality ... this is my exact problem. Leave the life lessons out of entertainment, there is no need for it. Or maybe it is because the critics are so far gone that they will downgrade anything that does not tick all the gender, race and sexuality boxes. Not everything has to be inclusive, or are people so stupid now that they don't know being a good person is the default?
What I notice about you is that you are desperate to get abusive towards me, it appears that you are triggered by someone with a different opinion to your 'sensitive sensibilities'.
First few episodes were OK, then it went into feminism, racism, etc etc. When will they stop trying to educate and just entertain. Pure shite from then on.
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@jaw72 Nope it was roll eyes, hear comes the moral story ... how would I be triggered? Being triggered is offended by something, I'm not offended by it, just fed up of being spoon fed moral stories.
The beginning of the episode left me wishing we could've seen more of this side of Star Wars: regular stormtroopers doing their job, getting into action, and all the unseen dynamics rarely mentioned in the mainstream film trilogies. We did have something in that vein: Republic Commando explored the lives of elite Republic clone troopers; Jedi Academy had us follow the lives of youngling under tutelage of Luke's academy; the original Battlefront showed us the transitioning of a republic to an empire through the eyes of the soldiers.
It's the lives of the mundane, the less than extraordinary, yet still gripping and intriguing. They let us dive deeper to the world of Star Wars beyond the flashy buzzing of lightsabers and spectacles of the magical force.
The Mandalorian wished it could be one of those. Unfortunately, it failed terribly.
In episode 5, @ShrimpBoatSteve has said that the series has became too predictable, and I agree - the finale shows how predictable the whole season is. https://trakt.tv/comments/264475
After the long flashback which most parts we've already seen in previous episodes - seemingly making the scenes feels almost like a filler - The Mandalorian episode 8 seems reluctant to set their foot to the ground with its notable world-building as previously seen in Eps 7 and Eps 1 to 3. As I have previously said, after everyone gangs on The Mando (Eps 7), Baby Yoda/Little One's background (who Baby Yoda is, why is he wanted, what the Imperial remnants wanted to do with him, etc) remains unresolved. As the episode shows us Moff Gideon rising with a darksaber in hand, yet another reference moment: every substance the show can possibly offer will be dealt only in Season 2 (or, worse, more).
Stormtroopers in Star Wars have been infamous for their terribly inaccurate shots, but in this episode it feels like their incompetency is amplified to the point of parody and, of course, plot armors. Scout troopers - which is supposed to be snipers - can't shoot droid right in front of their eyes. Instead of coming in squads, troopers only come individually (incinerators burning the building, a few troopers slaughtered by the blacksmith, a few others guarding the tunnel, and the most stupid of all, Moff Gideon waiting for nightfall just for no reason) which makes for a convenient plot armors for our heroes to trek on their way.
Of course, there are casualties - what is a story without something seemingly at a stake? - but it is nothing more than devices to delay the heroes from their trek. Taking cues from Eowyn's "I am no man" of Lord of the Rings fame, in less than moment-defining fashion IG-11, which himself came as a sort of droid ex machina, said that it is no "living being" while resurrecting The Mando from fatal injuries, remedied every possible threat with its healing devices.
Antagonists can be dumb, but there is a limit to dumbness that can suspend audience's disbelief. This episode has antagonist almost feels like they are intentionally dumb and there is nothing really at a stake when everything can be easily remedied.
This episode is not the worst, certainly, as the action sequence is flashy and satisfying. The one near ending where The Mando utilizes a neat jet jump is clever and actually can show the extent Star Wars can be when the director wanted to think creatively beyond the force. Knights of the Old Republic and the aptly named Star Wars Bounty Hunter played with clever tricks similar to this once a while, and the trick doesn't feel cheap as they stand on a very good storytelling.
The Mandalorian's flashy action, regardless, seems to serve only as explicit fanservice - a style over substance.
There are plenty of action, which, by itself, is quite well-done. The consistently hardly imposing threats, unfortunately, dull down the possible thrill those scenes can offer - in a typical corny action heroes such as Gerard Butler's character in Has Fallen trilogy. The scene, for example, with The Blacksmith let us peek into the martial arts capability a Mandalorian can exhibit. But the rather plot armor of incompetent stormtroopers leave no stake at hand; the martial arts dexterity looks more like a cheap imitation of main trilogies of Jedi's acrobatic feats.
Redemption ultimately ends with nothing to be redeemed about, as the people in this show seems to be forever clumsy. From start to finish, everyone made questionable decisions. Nobody blasted the Mando's group with that large amount of stormtroopers. Nobody checked whether Moff Gideon is dead when the fighter was down (Gideon also miraculously survive the crash), with Carga, a supposedly veteran bounty hunter, lightheartedly saying they are already free of the Empire's grasp.
Everything people said in this episode, just like many episodes prior, are not crafted as if the actors were having human conversation. They were rushed by time - they seemingly appear to be set in motion by the plot's demands, to say X so Y happens; to say A when B moment happened.
This episode almost feels like a filler to conclude the dragging episodes this season has been. Screenwriting-wise, this whole season is nothing but bait-and-switch to justify next season(s).
There is much to be said about this kind of terrible business model, where series is written with nothing exactly in mind but to find reasons to continue producing the franchise - the same business model Disney has been using on their MCU franchise and Star Wars films/spinoffs - but the crowds of gladly willing moms awing for Baby Yoda and nerd dads geeking over Star Wars reference doesn't leave enough rooms for those commentaries.
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@xaliber That part with 'you have until night fall' ... yeah I know it is supposed to be kinda wild west style, but honestly I would have just thrown a grenade in the window and be done with it. And when they know the only escape route is into the sewers ... and they find the entrance ... well what we will do is have a half hearted attempt at escape and then wait hours ... until we are nearly at the point of being killed to try again. Why would you have a sewer vent behind a chair? Surley you would hear everything going on down there? How is it fixed to the wall ... did the robot forget it had built in metal cutting equipment?
This show makes no sense at all.
The sad thing is I will probably watch season 2 in a new hope that this gets better ... I doubt it, but now Mr Robot has finished there is very little good TV out there.
This season is strange, if you take a step back from being a fan of the show then you see that almost nothing has happened.
From the start where the crew find a landing spot with a gangway exactly the correct height for the terrain! And it happens to be close to the settlement, but far enough away to be a pain to get to in an emergency.
Why don't one of the factions on New Terra bugger off a few miles away to stop the arguing? It's a big place after all. And why are they stopping people from exploring anyway? No real explanation why the loss of a few miners is such a big deal in the scheme of things. Surely the population of the Solar system is in the tens of billions?
The Earth election is just a hard nosed politician against an SJW. Nothing to see there.
The story on Mars is just a morality fairy tale put in there to give Bobby something to do in the show.
Don't get me wrong I still love the show and have rated most episodes 7+, but this isn't the Expanse I was looking forward too. Maybe I will just read the books instead.
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@marilouparu Thanks for that. I'm going to finish it tonight and can only hope season 5 is better. I wonder if the show writers are so scared of the fans that they just made a like for like version of the book ... not always a great idea. Everything just seems a bit too easy ... Tsunami ... no problem ... going blind ... no problem ... killer slugs ... no problem ... no fussion ... no problem. Just let some people die horribly like seasons 1-3 :)
Shout by Dan
The premier was everything I'd hoped for in what is finally a live-action Star Wars series. A bit of humor, without overdoing it. The anti-hero was a bit more human and fallible than expected - but then again, no one comes close to Boba Fett. However, that does make for a more realistic story, and leaves it with someplace to go. The chance to learn more about the Mandalorian armor is a nice touch. I'm happy to see this is in a post-imperial setting, vs. yet another prequel. I just wish the premiere was longer. I can't wait for the next episode!
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@guyon-thecouch Maybe some people are watching it as a show and not part of some super nerd fest. Get of yer pedestal and stop being such a prat.
Is this episode written by 16 years old?
This episode wanted to be Seven Samurai but ended up as that terrible The Walking Dead episode where everyone gets slaughtered (they're not though in Mandalorian, since this is a Disney series).
There is no development and no build up at all in this episode. Like the previous episode, everything is self-contained. All are introduced and resolved in this same episode. A lot of things happened in this episode but nothing actually contributes to the plot - except for exposition dump.
The bandit raid is a terribly weak, villain of the week setup. They just show up as some evil nuisances - no motives, no goals at all. The Mando teams up with an ex-rebel, which debunks a tired cliche, but at this point this feels like a try-hard attempt to make The Mando as a morally righteous hero. There is a half-assed attempts at romance here, but it feels forced as it happens so sudden. Despite being self-contained (or maybe because it is) the episode lacks closure by the end, and the nifty little scene regarding one stray bounty hunter seems like something that appears just because they still have several episodes to go.
The dialogues are terrible: it's a tonne of exposition dumps. I don't have any idea why the writers think it makes sense for the characters to suddenly ask a stranger, "when was your last time you open your helmet?" and, in return, open up a heart-to-heart "hey I got a tragic story" past to a stranger. The banters with Gina Carano's character is okay, but it feels like they have to slip backstory every now and then. As if they're not having a real, human conversation. Every dialogue feels so forced and hurried as if they have to make it fit into this episode.
Also, it seems like they have no idea what an AT-ST is. It's a vehicle, not a droid.
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@xaliber There are a lot of fan-boys defending the progression of the show. It's almost like your not allowed to have an opinion these days ...
I'm beginning to think the writing team only had three good episodes in them. Getting predictable and drawn out.
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@xaliber I bet they had the merchandise designed before they wrote the first episode. I used to work at Disney UK Hammersmith and got fed up of plastic faced idiots bouncing around the offices proclaiming how great a day it was like fucking Mary Poppins! Freaky places where people weren't allowed beards, coffee was good though.
Baby Yoda is fun and all, but this episode's premise is so overused it's painful to watch. Plus all the other plotholes:
- why does the Mandalorian seem to forget that the kid is being tracked (clearly there's no way for him to remove whatever they're using to track him or he would have done it already…) so why does he think he can find sanctuary by being in the middle of nowhere? (one reasonable theory is that the fobs are short range, so you would need to know what planet the target is on in order to track it with the fob)
- why does he leave his ship unattended again, given that in a previous episode it was ripped apart by scavengers? His plan was to go to this farm for a few months and just leave his ship alone in the middle of a forest that whole time? (maybe he got some upgrades? Or Jawas are more resourceful than the locals on this new planet?)
- I want to lay low so I'll just keep wearing my highly conspicuous armor, and engage in combat with some raiders that clearly have connections without making sure to wipe them out completely?
- (and what's stopping the raiders from returning?)
- "I can never remove my helmet in front of people and haven't shown my face since I was a little kid." then immediately removes his helmet while standing in front of an open window while facing a crowd of people (also I really want to see him eat in public — is there a flap that can flip up? Does he use a straw? The world needs to know.)
- Instead of doing a bad job of sneaking into the raiders' camp, almost getting yourself blown up by your explosive, and running back to get the farmers' village destroyed, why not just look around a bit and find the AT-ST and destroy it first, or better yet commandeer it and use it to kill all the raiders? Oh right, Disney. Slaughtering raiders is a no go? (or maybe the writers were ignorant and thought the AT-ST was a droid instead of a transport?)
- Their plan centers around the AT-ST walking in the mud, which is clearly a bad plan because of the range of its guns. Oh but now someone is shooting at them from the pond so of course it's time to go walking into the trap. Oh but she managed to get a shot through the eye hole so the plan wasn't really necessary after all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- The Mandalorian's initial refusal to help, followed by his acquiescence was way too easy, and then they say they can't do it because they have a tank, but are again easily convinced to help. Quick montage showing almost nothing, and bam next day they're ready to take on an army.This is some extremely lazy writing.
Plus the first female character who shows her face in the show turns out to be pretty much a nothing character with zero personality and is probably not going to show up again.
All of the acting was terrible.
I've enjoyed most of the show so far, but this one was a real dip for me.
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@slimyboi I agree with everything said. I hope this isn't a steady decline into a spoon fed comic book style story. I've rated the episodes 9, 8, 7 and 6 so far...
This is just an incredible season. When I start watching the whole World disappears and I'm drawn into the story. Brilliant! It better not be two years until season 5.
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@syymza Damn I forgot about that ... this season is going far too quickly.
Another stupid bloody deal made. It's doing my fucking head in!
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@aid45 I can't believe any Supernatural fan finding this season anything other than a fawning at Jack love fest. It's terrible, no story, nothing. Huge Supernatural fan, but I cant let them away with this lazy politically correct drivel. A tease with Lucifer coming back... probably just in case the ratings hit the floor. If you don't think this is rubbish, go back and watch season 6 then come back and tell me this is better!
Shout by sp1ti
VIPOG13I think Mike Flanagan is quite competent in most of what he does, but nothing of his ever blew me away. This show is no different as he certainly is aware of today's tropes and crafts an unusually slow paced horror story more focused on the psychological impact of the haunting than scares, but after so many scene transitions between the story's timelines it gets quite tedious. It is really the later half of the series that tainted my enjoyment with more focus on melodramatic elements, monologues and a conclusion that had me feeling like I just wasted quite a lot of time...
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@sp1ti I struggled with the last episode too. I got to eight and was raving about the show ... then 10 got all moralistic on me and I just facepalmed. I don't understand why American TV shows see the need to have some moral to every story and a huge love in at the end?
I hope Stephen King never watches this or he would pluck out his eyes with spoons.
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@jim222001 I liked Under the Dome, one more season would have topped it off.
[6.6/10] The Walking Dead is a frustrating show for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that even in an episode like this -- one filled to the brim with dull speechifying, blatant wheel-spinning, and lame parables -- there’s one or two moments of brilliance that make it hard to just give up on this mercurial series. Even when the show is stalling for time, serving up weak dialogue, and leaning into its weakest tendencies, it sprinkles in a couple of great bits that rise above the rest of the flotsam.
This week, it’s the zombie cheese slicer and Rick’s smile, two dissimilar but connected moments that demonstrate what the show is capable of when it’s not tripping over its own bad lines and plot contrivances. Those faults are out in full force in “Rock in the Road,” an episode that sees Rick and the gang at The Hilltop and The Kingdom in an effort to rally forces sufficient to take on The Saviors. That coalition is inevitable; the arguments over whether to unite and fight or cling to the status quo have already been turned over dozens of times, which leaves “Rock” with only a thrilling walker-killing sequence and a clever way to convey Rick’s state of mind to recommend it.
But hey, many shows don’t even have that much, so let’s focus on the good stuff to start out. If there is one thing The Walking Dead does well consistently, it’s those big zombie set pieces. While the show often struggles to come up with new directions to take the characters, or move the plot, it Greg Nicotero and his team never fail to come up with some new, outside the box walker scenario to breathe some life into action-y side of the series. If that’s all the show were, it would get tiresome (and I imagine some people watch solely for such thrills), but as a periodic, imaginative treat, these scenes never fail to prop up sagging episode like “Rock” and boost the better ones.
The setup is, admittedly, contrived. The line of cars blocking the road, and a set of tripwires and explosives does match up with The Saviors’ ability to set traps we witnessed in last season’s finale. It’s a questionable use of resources, and feels tailor-made to allow the slice-and-dice that follows, but the coolness of that scene makes up for some of the implausibility of what allows it.
It’s also preceded by a pretty uninspired ticking clock scenario. There’s a definite sense that after a dialogue- and exposition-heavy opening half, the folks behind The Walking Dead felt the need to include some death-defying scenario to keep the action quota up. For that reason, there’s little tension, despite the fact that our heroes are frantically defusing bombs and untying bundles of dynamite. Apart from the plausibility issues, the sequence feels like a throw-in, where there’s little actual risk but the gods of empty action must be feted nonetheless.
“Rock” at least has the good sense to come up with a plot-relevant reason, however thin, to put our heroes through these paces. The theme of the episode, to the extent there is one, is that Rick & Co. are outmanned and outgunned, so every bit of odds-evening artillery they can amass is important to the upcoming fight. Still, the sequence of explosives recovery can’t help but seem unnecessary, where the seams of The Walking Dead’s need to fulfill its weekly action requirement start to show.
And then, Rick and Michonne use a pair of cars strapped with trip wire to bisect an entire horde of walkers in about fifteen seconds. It’s just as dumb and gratuitous as the prior bomb-defusing sequence, but it has the advantage of being a cool visual and a novel concept, which allows it some grace the plot obstacle of the week does not possess. Sure, it leads to another scenario in which our heroes are surrounded by zombies and somehow miraculously don’t get bitten or scratched, but in set pieces like these, the show runs on excitement, not logic. I’ve made my peace with that, and learned to enjoy such shallow thrills.
The problem is that The Walking Dead can’t sustain that sort of energy or novelty for an entire episode. “Rock in the Road” is incredibly lumpy in terms of how it’s structured. There’s a rushed recruitment drive at The Hilltop, an extended visit to The Kingdom, the aforementioned walker madness on the highway, and a quick coda of an encounter with The Saviors back in Alexandria.
Despite a general sense, which has permeated the whole season, of the protagonists struggling to survive in Negan-dominated lands, there’s not much of a connection or flow between these settings or beats. “Rock in the Road” simply limps from one to the other, content to offer a collection of barely related chapters in this larger story rather anything with a more holistic feel. Polemics about the “death of the episode” as a standalone unit are premature, but “Rock” conforms to the “here’s a bunch of stuff that happened” approach that old school critics complain about with the rise of serialization.
It also conforms to The Walking Dead’s worst and seemingly most inescapable bugaboos, namely ponderous debates back and forth about whether to act or to kill or whether there’s a fight worth having. Don’t get me wrong, Morgan and Carol’s struggles with their morality in the new order have been one of the strongest elements of the series in the last couple of seasons, and the notion of whether a leader should sign up to fight in a war in the hopes of a better tomorrow or hold onto a fraught, if unpalatable peace is an interesting one. But TWD does nothing but offer trite aphorisms and repeat itself when delving into these topics here.
As with the explosives, there’s a sense of inevitability here that makes the hand-wringing over whether The Hilltop or The Kingdom will join the fight less compelling out of the gate. The other side of the coin though is that great shows often find their best material not from unveiling surprise after surprise, but in making the expected engaging.
Rick’s fable about the titular rock in the road is not the persuasive argument and moving lesson on the rewards for those who fight to save others from continuing ills even when it seems all hope is lost it’s meant to be. Instead, it’s a generic monologue, couched in rhetorical flourishes and a cheesy parable form that robs it of what little impact it might otherwise have. We can only surmise that narrative necessity will lead to the various enclaves we’ve met this season will be united to take on Negan eventually, but “Rock” can’t make the pitch for this inevitability interesting on its own terms.
The closest “Rock” comes is in Benjamin’s argument to Ezekiel for The Kingdom joining the fight. His point that Rick & Co. are going to take on Negan no matter what, and that if The Kingdom doesn’t aid them, they’ll either die anyway, something Ezekiel’s men might have been able to prevent, or they’ll succeed, and free The Kingdom from The Saviors, without Ezekiel’s group pulling its own weight. Ezekiel makes a suitably reciprocal point about the lives lost in fighting the walkers, and Morgan’s gradual acclimation to the idea of taking lives in the name of a greater good has some weight, but on the whole, the various arguments back and forth turn ponderous quickly. “Rock” lingers on these debates, ensuring every character gets their two cents in, to its detriment. The show’s writing just isn’t good enough to sustain that sort of ethical weighing for that long.
Thankfully, TWD is not without some remaining creative flourishes. After their daring, cheese slicer-esque escape from the walkers, Michonne implores her beau to smile, telling him that they’ll win, that they’re the ones who’ll live. Rick puts on a brave face, but can’t quite manage it. The implication is clear -- as much as Rick must pitch this hope for resistance to Gregory and Ezekiel and others, he cannot yet buy it himself.
But in the episode’s final scene, Rick and his band of not-so merry men go looking for Father Gabriel, who has seemingly, once again, gotten scared and run away. (As with Rick himself, the battle for Gabriel’s soul is too well-trodden territory for me to really care about the swerve there.) When following Gabriel’s clues, which call back to the supplies Rick and Aaron found in the previous episode, our heroes are surrounded by a crowd of people who seem organized and well-armed. Rick smiles, and the contrast is just as clear -- with these people, with these supplies, they may actually be able to stand a chance.
It’s the kind of canny narrative device, the kind of subtlety, that’s almost wholly lacking in the rest of “Rock in the Road.” But it’s the sort of thing that keeps me coming back week after week, hoping that such successes will become the norm rather than exception. It is, like Rick’s initial response to Michonne, perhaps more of an aspiration than a reasonable expectation, but hopefully The Walking Dead gives Rick, and the audience, more reasons to smile.
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@witter56 I made it through two paragraphs then died a little inside.
