This episode only makes much more sense if you've read the manga. It cuts a lot of things and compressed a number of subplots into shallow scenes. You know this happened and that happened, but you can't really understand why it happened and what is its relevance.
Much improvement from previous episodes. The pacing gets better: the characters no longer feel like they have prepared a speech when they're having conversation; there were more moments of silence between scenes; and they apparently fixed the weird sound effect of the sword. The episode still tries too hard to portray Guts' action scene as "badass", but at least it's not as cringey as before (no more loud, irrelevant generic metal music).The CGIs, however, look worse than before. The difference between 2D and 3D animation is really jarring.
Still a bit too fast-paced here and there, but generally an improvement from the previous episode. Some dialogues seem to be hurried without enough break, but the CGI is overall well done (except a few parts) and there are a number of hand-drawn scenes. There is no awkward music playing in inappropriate moment, and the sound effects isn't jarring like before. Not bad!
The characters talk too much. This is very notable in the battle: instead of trying to kill each other, there were about a minute the episode trying to portray the antagonist's background by a lot of talking. And Guts there just stand still (while being wounded!) and listen to his mumbling.
The episode still has this terrible pacing where every characters machine gun every line without any pause. From one talking to another one talking. It makes some supposedly important scenes to be off and forgettable because the episode just glances it over with the pacing.
A lot of stuff is crammed in this episode, and instead focusing on the available scenes, it dedicates a lot of time with a build up for the next episode. Making this one feels like a filler episode.
Not bad but not good either.
The pacing seems to be off; every characters seem to talk a lot of things in a short amount of time, like they already prepared them as a speech. This especially look weird in the dialogue between Guts and Farnese. The scenes are jumping quickly between one person talking to another, without a moment of silence.
However the animation is slightly better than the first episode. CGI still can't handle expression well (look at some Farnese's expression and the soldier who Guts punched), but it's okay-ish. The adaptation from the manga is also good, unlike the abrupt lumping-it-all-together in episode one.
I don't really have problems with CGI, but it seems off here and there (especially when Guts throw the knife to kill a rabbit). The face also looks pretty jarring somehow.
As for the story itself, I think Isidro's presence is a bit distracting there, cutting off the interaction Guts should've had with Puck. Also why the heck they skip to the Iron Chain Knights right after this episode?
Okay so the episode was kind of dragging on with Rick's group being played around with Negan's group, but I guess it's purposeful to make the viewers the feeling of being toyed with and to give more screen time for the characters for the emotional build up.
However, the ending... with that kind of build up, the episode ends with a goddamn cliffhanger! What the hell is the purpose of 45 minutes long build up? The scene with Negan screams terror, the moment he started to swing his barbed wire lashes out fear, but the episode ends without revealing anyone. It's a shame. Should have shown the victim's face, or at least hair, or anything from his/her back, so at least the viewers can speculate.
The episode continues with the clumsiness of last week's episode. Now not only we get to see Carol's teenager mood-swing, we get to see Daryl's too. The usually calculating hunter now risk himself and his comrade's life a few days after Denise got murdered. Daryl wanting to finish Dwight once and for all, that is understandable. After all it's not only once Daryl seems to be reckless and going in his way. But him needing to wait a few days after Denise's demise just to fit in with Carol's disappearance seems kinda forced. Not to mention everyone seems to become so reckless by wanting to be involved in the search party. I mean they have a home to protect. Why every bits of them seems so motivated to get out of their home?
That said, this episode leaves us with an interesting cliff-hanger. We all know, especially comic book readers, that someone is going to die in the next episode. But who? Carol, Daryl, and Glenn are all out of there. There is also Michonne. The episode spent quite a time to give Maggie and Rick more screen time (which usually means someone close to them is going to die in the next eps), so it's kind of difficult to predict which of them is going to leave the show.
Everything just went so abrupt and rushed in this episode.
This episode shows up the determination of two most weak (combat abilities speaking) characters in Walking Dead, trying to prove themselves that they are able fighters like their comrades are. As the usual cliche, this went into disaster. I usually would "pardon" such attempt on cliche plot (weak people trying to prove themselves), but this episode is really difficult to find excuse for. Especially in the case with the person Daryl and Rosita is guarding: Denise. They know Denise is far from an able combatant--so why do they seem so reluctant to, in Rosita's words, "babysit" her? Not to mention how Denise is such an important asset to Alexandria for her actual skill: medic and surgery.
Another one, the very rushed and abrupt decision of Carol to leave Alexandria. We've seen her psychological dilemma of killing people in previous episode, questioning if her ruthlessness and pragmatism is right. We've seen the dilemma through her action, her emotion. It was one of a great episode. But in this episode? We see almost nothing of Carol and suddenly she left Alexandria! We only get to see her kissing Tobin for a few seconds, sitting on a bench lamenting of something, regretting something after Denise was killed, and then BAM! "Sorry guys I can't kill people anymore, I'm leaving Alexandria." This makes the usual calm, calculating Carol look like a teenager in emotional mood-swing. Even worse, we don't even get to see her mood-swing.
Credits where its due though: the part where Eugene bites the Survivor's dick is so unexpectedly hilarious. Eugene really got into the next level with that move. Still--that doesn't save this episode of its clumsiness.
After last week's great episode, this episode is really a disappointment.
It feels like it's been a long time since Walking Dead has a thoughtful, story-driven episode.
First of all I like how we are shown a glimpse of living a woman's life in a post-apocalyptic world here. Issues like motherhood, pregnancy, are handled very well through the talks of the all women characters in the episode. Second thing, is how the show gives an alternative perspective on the post-apocalyptic world seen through another survivor's eye. It's not just Rick and co here who are trying to survive--there's another group, as much as capable as Rick, with their own set of survival skills. As uttered by Michelle, from their PoV (whose group has just been robbed and murdered), Rick's group "are not the good guys."
Third, it actually makes all the pragmatic, ruthless murders we've all been seeing all this time from one episode to another, is not just about "another" murder. Killing people is actually a deed with terrible moral consequence, even when it's done for the means of survival. Interestingly, this theme is explored through the eyes of Carol--who has been known as pragmatic and ruthless.
Very well done episode.
It was intense, to say the least. This episode is good in that it can maintain the action while still doing several character developments: Fr. Gabriel, Heath (the eye-glasses Alexandrian supply-runner), and of course Carol. While everyone is focusing on Carol, I'm hoping Morgan to have more interesting development in the future, especially when his pacifism finally has to face The Survivors' brutality.
Pretty enjoyable, enough tense with this new Jesus character (though it's less the tense if you're familiar with the comics), introduction of new community, and the expected calm before the storm.
Not bad. A light-hearted drama episode with enough tense near the end. More character development of Carl, Rick, and Michonne. Deanna's son overcoming his ineptitude. And the unusually funny introduction of Jesus.
Terrible pacing. It starts really slow, boring the audience with too many character introduction and flimsy animation.
It's relieving to see the Alexandrians putting up a fight, hand-to-hand, against the zombie menace. But if all this is triggered by Rick's sudden madness, it begs the ultimate question: why the hell didn't he do it since the infestation begin?!
Rick just needs a few experienced fighters (Glenn, Michonne, Abraham, etc maybe Aaron too). Back in Season 6 episode 5, they should have stood in front of the gate and cut the walkers to bits one by one like they just did in this episode. It should have not cost anybody's life--not to mention the life of a woman dearest to Rick! No need to gather the zombies far away and causing unintended consequences. Maybe all this is a ruse by Rick, to teach the Alexandrians a will to fight. A will to power. But it doesn't make much sense considering the cost and risk he ultimately pays. Especially since Rick is ultra-protective and should be calculative enough to realize that.
Putting that aside, with the Wolves leader dead, and Jesse's two annoying kids also dead too, I think the show kinda putting off the tense too early and too easily. The annoying little kid poses a classic, albeit cliched, zombie movie annoyance (scared little kids who ruin everything) and his older brother (Ron) could've been some sort of a rival to Carl (or a potential enemy, I mean he already bears deep hatred to Carl and Rick). Ron could've helped Carl's interesting character development. Perhaps Ron can be a Shane to Carl, leaving the audience the feeling of, "this guy is gonna give trouble but we're not sure how and when." The same goes with the Wolves leader. The show spent quite a time to built their characters for the audience to expect more. They could've made an useful, interesting tension like we had with Shane.
But they're all dead now, so it's kinda a waste, I guess.
Dammit Morgan, why did you turn from everyone's favorite to peace-loving hippie who can't read situation?
This must be the most cliche moment in TWD this season: stupid teen getting too emotional and messing up (Ron), dumb kid being scared and making loud noise (Ron's brother), and some idealist (Morgan) insisting on his ideals--all of them risking the lives of other survivors.
This first half of season 6 seems to miss the opportunity to build upon the group dynamics to a more interesting twist. In the start of this season, on one hand we have the hot-blooded Rick, leader of the survivors who have went through hell and back, dare to risk anything for the safety of his group. On the another hand we have the de jure leader of peaceful community Deanna, who have never seen the horrors of TWD's world. And on the another additional hand we also have Morgan, the guy who have survived insanity, traveled alone with his newly-founded unorthodox ideal.
We have a hard-boiled survivor vis-a-vis naive unexperienced leader, with a fellow survivor--who has a very different outlook on life--in between. The season did a good job in the first four episodes portraying this.
But by the end of the mid-season, Deanna's leadership simply returns to Rick and Morgan has become nothing more than eccentric guy who seem to give more trouble than counter-balancing Rick's brash and heavy risk-taking leadership. And in the process a lot of people died... died too clichely to give way for Rick to his leadership. And as Rick take the leader role once again, we're presented with another opportunist hostile stranger groups (The Wolves) who always have no purpose than raiding the groups--just another trouble to make the groups life more difficult. Not much characterization, not much to have sympathy for.
And I like the throwback to Season 1's zombie disguise (and other throwback in previous episodes), but in this episode it just seems off. It seems to lack the tense, the breath-taking risk that it had back in Season 1. It feels like it's guaranteed the plan must fail to certain extent--and that failure is caused by none other than Alexandrians naivities.
Aside from the (expected?) surprise in the beginning, there is nothing much going on in this episode. Alexandrians still adapting to the new situation, zombies still wailing on the wall, Ron still hating on Carl, and Father Gabriel still showing up as additional filler. IMO there are too many characters depicted that it feels a bit disjointed and lacking further progress. Something happens in the end, but that's it--cliffhanger again. It's really unfortunate as I thought we've got past the filler episode last week.
I still wonder why the heck don't they stab the zombies on the gate one by one like they did in prison back then?
The Daryl subplot is interesting: it introduces new group which seems to lead to new antagonists. I wonder if they're hinting more Wolves involvement here since they went into that trailers that are overrun by zombies (the same trailers that Aaron and Daryl visited in previous episodes?).
The Abraham-Sasha subplot though, not so much. Not that it's bad but the show can flesh more on Abraham's character.
Nothing much is going on, as usual it's the "build-up episode" which gives clues and prepares build-up for future episodes. TWD always has episodes like this (Wolves, Terminus). So don't get so fed up, I guess.
The only thing that bothers me is: why the heck don't they kill those walkers one by one like they did back in Prison?
I wonder why they put Morgan's flashback in this episode. I was expecting his flashback to be told a bit later, or with more exposition. It's nice, but it feels a bit too hurried in the last half of the episode.
It's surprising, to say the least. There's been an obvious dead flag throughout the episode, but this person has escaped from such dead flag again and again. This time though - this person doesn't survive.
Lots of people die in this episode, so the death is a bit unexpected and and the same time... seems a bit less dramatical. We had a whole episode for Tyrone, a climactic end for Beth, even moments of atonement for Merle. But this person seems to be one of the crowds. Which, actually, makes sense in a post-apocalyptic world such as in Walking Dead's - it's unforgiving and death is just a statistic. But for a person who's been with the audience for a long time to be gone, just like that, seems a bit unsettling for me. I guess there's still more to come.
It started a bit slow but once it gets into the action it plays really nicely. Some people were seemingly presented to be cannon fodders, on the other hand some scenes make you wonder if one of the recurring cast is going to survive this season or not for their way of life in Walking Dead's post apocalyptic world. Especially with one Alexandrian holding the gun.
Carol once again takes the spotlight for being a badass. And the cold-blooded Carol is contrasted nicely with Morgan's peaceful approach. In the middle of conflict, there's also this little bit of drama of some Alexandrian still holding resentment to Rick's group. Good episode.
Not bad, but not great either. Especially for a premiere. The plot seems to reconnect the people after-Reg (and shows subtle, potential conflict), while in the same time it moves on with a new matter at hand. I don't really take issue with the plot but the editing could be better, I guess.
This episode plays the classic trope of a zombie film and it plays the trope well.
We get decent intense action, we get the character development, we get the plot build-up. Sending least competent fighters of Rick's group as scavengers (except Glenn) isn't the best choice I think, but contrasting them with Alexandrian scavengers make them seem to be more than capable. Even Eugene looks more competent than Aiden! Which is nice: a character development for Eugene.
This episode build-up continues from the last episode: Rick's group "slowly" overtaking the Alexandrians. It shows the contrast between the more experienced group and the naive population. The tense is present too. The stylist's husband does not seem to like it - even the construction leader, Tobin, seems uncomfortable giving his position to Abraham.
The disconcerting "revelation" from Father Gabriel puts the tense even bolder. Seems like the incident with Terminus people traumatized him that much - why Rick didn't even spend the time to explain the context to him?
Last, Carol's ending statement really puts me to ask the question: would Rick's group be the new antagonist in the next season?
Pretty decent episode. Emphasizes a lot on the drama so it may disappoint those who expect action, but still good nonetheless. We get the bonding between Daryl and Aaron, Sasha's stress, Rick and the barber Jesse, and that "W" letter hint again. And Carol! From an "invisible" lady to a threatening killer in an instant. That scene is priceless.
A number of things are still going on here. Still a decent episode.
