Review: ‘The Walking Dead’ — The Suicide Kings
I don’t know why they didn’t call this episode “Broken”, because both sides of the divide are clearly in a state of disarray following the first real dance of combat and bloodshed between Woodbury and Team Rick.
For the Governor, he’s merely mopey and withdrawn thanks to the death of his zom-daughter, his missing eye, and the invasion by the Rickers, an attack that has spooked Woodbury’s supply of sheeple into trying to jump out of the frying pan and into the zombie filled oven.
For Rick, it’s much worse. He’s seeing ghosts, Oscar is dead, Michonne has splintered off from the group to destroy the Governor’s aquarium, and Daryl ran off and got caught, forcing Rick and Maggie to rescue him and his brother. Something that might have been a bit more exciting had the promos not completely blown that for us.
Of course, the central conflicts this episode aren’t between Rick and the Governor. They’ve backed off that a bit to show the repercussions from “Made to Suffer” and to show the similarities between these two leaders who have been made anew by the awful transformation of the world. Two leaders who have put too much on their shoulders.
This time around, the big conflict is between Rick and himself as he struggles to keep it together while seeing more ghosts, driving away Daryl (who chooses Merle), and keeping his distance from Michonne and Tyrese — warriors who could be vital for the coming firefight with the Woodbury folk that is likely brewing.
Now, I can’t speak to how far down the rabbit hole the show plans to take Rick before his inevitable resurrection, but I welcome the change, provided that the show can deliver some consistency — something they have struggled with before. Rick has endured too much to not experience a break like this, and if Rick is down, they need to let him stay down for awhile while Glenn and Hershel take the reigns in the name of showing us something different.
Best:
- As always, Melissa McBride steals every scene that she is in. Her bond with Daryl has always been sweet and obvious since last season, but after she processes Daryl’s departure, her remarks about the similarities between her and Daryl as abused people and her fears about what she would do if she saw her husband again hit the right note. Carol is quickly becoming my favorite character on the show, which means she’ll be dead by next week.
- Darryl grabbing the crossbow. Nuff said.
- Rick silencing Merle. It bordered on slapstick humor, but it was a nice throwback to season 1.
Worst:
- Andrea’s speech to the Woodburyians. These people barely know her and she’s supposed to quell an uprising based on fear and the sudden disappearance of their leader with 30 seconds of oratorical empty calories? More than a bit ridiculous. “When they write about this…” good lord…
- Ghost Lori/Wolverine Shane/The telephone. I love the phone device in the comic and I was thrilled when they brought it into the show, but the further they take this, I almost wish that Rick’s insanity were allowed to manifest itself with only his actions, rather than these big, “Now Entering Crazyburgh” signs. Lori was just another example of that, though I’m glad they did it right and brought back Sarah Wayne Callies — even if we couldn’t really see her.
- This isn’t about the show so much as it’s about the promos. I know AMC has to try and get eyes on the show, but they’ve got to strike a balance and preserve some of the shock factor for viewers by not blowing big reveals in their previews.
- Though I should expect nothing less, I really thought there might be some humanity from Merle upon being rescued. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I’m also surprised that there wasn’t more of a conflict between Merle and Rick. Producers went down the middle instead of delivering either of these extremes, and the end result was a profane jackass that foolishly left behind an offer of shelter to go it alone with Daryl.
Overall, I give “The Suicide Kings” a 3 out of 5. Coulda done it better, but at least it wasn’t just a bunch of mindless violence and worthless character culling.
Robert Kirkman Explains Why [REDACTED] & [REDACTED] Had to Die in ‘The Walking Dead’
On this past Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead, “Killer Within,” fans were shocked at the death of two major characters in the series. Many people on social media poured out their sympathies for these characters, with their names trending throughout the evening. Even AMC’s Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick was shocked by the turn of events and he’s known about it for months!
According to series creator and writer Robert Kirkman, it was all part of the grand scheme of the series.
Spoiler Alert: The following contains spoilers for episode four of the third season-
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As many will now know, it looks like even containing yourself inside a prison does not guarantee safety in the zombie apocalypse as last night fans saw the departure of both IronE Singleton and Sarah Wayne Callies, better known as T-Dog and Lori Grimes. Thanks to the sabotaging of the prison by released and thought to be dead inmate Andrew regular viewers witnessed the selfless sacrifice of T-Dog, hopefully saving the life of Carol (Melissa McBride), who’s currently MIA.
And in what many would call a heartless act by the writers young Carl was forced to shoot his own mother after the emergency c-section performed while the prison was under siege. As if seeing his mother get split open wasn’t brain-rattling enough, the poor kid had to blow her brains out! If anything Carl is now on equal ground with his father Rick when it comes to mental instability.
In a discussion with Entertainment Weekly Kirkman said, like with every death, it’s all planned out,
Well, like with any death on Walking Dead, it’s all about sitting down and figuring out what gives us the best story and what realistically portrays that world. I’ve always said that people are going to die — that’s just how we’re telling the story — and to not have people dying left and right would just be fake to me. We didn’t think we could get through that prison riot-with-zombies kind of thing without losing a few characters. So, when we sat down to figure out who was going to go [we thought about] the things that Lori’s death does to Carl and Rick but also to Maggie and other characters. It’s really important that we focus on that kind of stuff and I think that death gives us the most story coming out of it. So, that’s what we did!
…The Walking Dead really is us in the writers room sitting around trying to make Rick Grimes’ life as unbearable as possible.
And yes, Lori’s death was tragic, resulting in the apparent snapping of Rick’s mind, but what really got people freaking out was the heroic death of T-Dog after being bitten trying to secure the prison gate. Many were outraged at the decision to kill of one of the shows fan favourite characters, but by the time he held back the contingent of walkers for Carol’s escape we were cheering his decision.
For Kirkman, T-Dog’s death was something to provide the show with a semblance of humanity and sacrifice, that even in a world filled with scoundrels there are still people willing to give their life to save another. And in his eyes it was the right way to go,
Well, again, we’re just trying to portray this world realistically. I think T-Dog really stepped up this season and was extremely heroic and we really wanted him to go out with a hero’s death. The fact that he knew that he was dead but still tried to do whatever he could to hopefully save Carol – although it is pretty ambiguous as to what exactly happened to her. But, yeah, we wanted to show someone really just making a sacrifice and doing whatever he could to protect someone.
Death isn’t something that is taken lightly in television, it’s that catalyst to a single or a group of individuals development in dire situations. Without it you’ve got people standing there with their thumbs up their butts.
The deaths of T-Dog and Lori will have a lasting effect on everyone in the remaining group, including Lori’s newborn child, but this shows that even series favourites like Daryl, Glenn and Maggie are fair game. Nobody is truly safe.
Check out our full Nerd Bastards’ review of The Walking Dead, “Killer Within.”
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Forget Brotherly Love, Run for Your Life in The Walking Dead Escape!
At this year’s San Diego Comic-con, fans of Robert Kirkman‘s The Walking Dead were part of an experience like no other. In celebration of the comic’s 100th issue of blood splattering gore, San Diego’s Petco Park – or at least a portion of it – was transformed into a full out zombie obstacle course.
This experience, the Walking Dead Experience, gave everyone a chance to be a survivor, a walker, or if you knew you’d be zombie chow, you could be a spectator. Nerd Bastards’ own Dev Richards was heroic, testing her skills (which you can read about here) on the course dodging walkers and fellow contestants. Thankfully, nobody was shot in the leg and left for bait (though Dev did shave her head in the days following) and the event was a success, but after SDCC it disappeared.
Now, on Saturday October 27th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Wells Fargo Center Complex will be host to The Walking Dead: Escape. Here’s the first look at all the details:
The virus has spread. We urge you to warn your East Coast friends of the uncertainty, chaos and terror that lies ahead. The quickest will offer their training tips. The brightest will share their strategy plans. The boldest will journey back to the undead-zone and fight as a team in the SURVIVOR SHOWDOWN for the chance to win $2,500. How will you leave your mark on the Philly Apocalypse? THE CHOICE IS YOURS
Do you think you have what it takes to outlast your fellow survivors? Then register now, because on the 26th from 6pm to 12am it’s your chance to win some cold hard cash – or register to be a cold heartless walker instead if your willing. Best of luck to everyone though, your going to need it.
Source: The Walking Dead Escape
