The Walking Dead - S02-E02 - Bloodletting

 Everyday We Shufflin'

Welcome to week 2 of B-S Reviews; The Walking Dead.
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@BlairMFink
@the_lazy_gamer

Clearly, Otis is not familiar with rule #1

-To start, I’m not sure if I was sold on the cold open flashback actually being useful. Things I liked about the cold open flashback: It showed an effort to develop the character of Lori a little more (she is one of the most underdeveloped so far) which was nice, and it mirrored the conversation between Rick and Shane in the series premiere last year (“Days Gone Bye”) where Rick tells Shane about the same fight. Things I didn’t like about the flashback: Bland dialogue, didn’t really end up giving any more insight into Lori’s character, and it felt like the execution of the scene was how a network procedural show would do it. Fine but not exceptional. Maybe my standards are too high after seeing Breaking Bad hit cold open flashbacks out of the park. (More on my love of Breaking Bad later)

-I wasn't a fan of the flashback either, it was slow and the first few lines of dialogue from the friend made me think I was watching the wrong channel. It did attempt to show some insight to Lori but it was done poorly, and with weak dialogue. 

-Fairly convenient that the farmhouse was pretty much set up to take Carl as a patient (aside from eventually not having the right equipment).

-I would say that is under the assumption that they were the ones raiding the highway, hence why Dale and T-dog couldn't find anything useful in the vehicles. I was partially right on them introducing another group, although I called it as them having Sophia, not the ones that shot Carl.

-Nice to see Pruitt Taylor Vince as Otis, who is a nice addition to the show. He has a condition called pathologic nystagmus which causes his eyes to move involuntarily. Seen in the films Constantine and Identity, I remember him from a The X-Files season four episode (“Unruhe”) in which he gave a memorable performance.

-A lot of the dialogue is just kind of…boring. They need to hire Aaron Sorkin.

-For The Walking Dead it was a slower episode, something I'm not sure I appreciated. 

-Was that fresh blood in the back of that car T-Dog was looking in?

-I shuddered pretty hard when Rick got the blood transfusion needle jammed into his arm.

-The needle didn't seem to bother him in the least, you expect to see some kind of reaction to getting a needle jammed in your arm like that.

-Best characters on the show so far: Dale and Shane

-I have to say I enjoyed Daryl a lot this episode. What he said to Carol about finding Sophia was hash, but also heartfelt. He is turning into more of a team player ad starting to stand out in the group. Which I am happy about. In the same scene I expected Andrea to react a little more when Carol mentioned her zombie sister. Her character seems as if she is giving up, I don't expect her to be around by the end of the season.

-Worst characters on the show so far: Glenn (I like him but not much substance), Lori

-It almost seemed as if they were playing on his(Glenn) lack of...anything. When he had that little spat about being left out. But really, since the first season when he helped Rick he hasn't done much.

-Andrea being saved by Maggie “Zorro” Greene was pretty sweet.

-I see this as another sign that her character has given up. Yes she ran away and was truly scared but why was she so far away from the rest of the group? Usually in a group situation Daryl drops a walker with a crossbow bolt before the rest of the group even sees it.

-According to Dr. Dolittle: Zombie plague and AIDS = THE SAME THING

-T-Dog is saved once again by Daryl “The Pharmacist” Dixon

-Was it just me or did T-dog seem to get more black the worse he got? His dialogue and dialect seemed to turn more gangster as the episode went on. Daryl seems to be a big contract to his supremacist brother, but I don't see T-dog lasting long either. Need a deadpool for him and Andrea, I'm giving one of them 3 more episodes.

-Pretty uneven pacing by the show. Sit around and wait for a lot of it and then BAM, it’s The Adventures of Milo Shane and Otis!

-The episode did peak a little late in the game for my liking, however it sets up next weeks episode to start on a high note. How Otis managed to keep up with Shane is beyond me though. Apparently Otis is like a dwarf, more suited to sprints (away from zombies) than long distances (to farm houses).

-Thinking ahead: Is Maggie too old for Glenn?

-Well it might give him some action in the series....

-I feel like the show needs more of a core thread or goal to ground the plot in. Yeah, the zombie apocalypse is the premise but the plot is basically “Shit happens, everyone scrambles to react. Repeat.” Last year it was: Get to the CDC in Atlanta. Maybe it will come and I’m just being impatient.

-I will try to restrain myself from comparing this show to Breaking Bad too much because that could get fairly annoying (especially if you haven’t seen Breaking Bad) but I really do find myself thinking a lot while watching The Walking Dead: “How would Breaking Bad have handled this scene or storyline?” or “WWBBD?”

-When are we going to get a musical episode of this show? (Suggested songs: “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, “She’s Not There” by The Zombies, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M., “The Man Comes Around” By Johnny Cash, and “Hakuna Matata”)

-Uhg, the dreaded musical episode, ever since Glee came along everyone thinks a musical episode is the hot thing to do. Unless you have a girl like Brittany (Heather Morris) prancing around like Brittany Spears I am not interested in your musical number or your back to school sales.

Blair’s Episode MVP: Shane

Steve’s Episode MVP: Daryl

Blair’s Grade: B-

Steve’s Grade: B, too slow