The Walking Dead - S02-E13 - "Beside the Dying Fire"

Everyday We Shufflin'

Well the time has come for another season over and done with. Questions were answered, new questions arose, and plenty of zombies were lost
B-S Reviews; The Walking Dead.
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@BlairMFink
@the_lazy_gamer

Now that’s what I call a barnburner.

-Well, it’s been a hit and miss season (with more misses than hits) but the show has been on the right track recently.

-I really enjoyed he last few episodes of the season. This one included.

-Is that helicopter from the series premiere? Rick saw that helicopter when he first got to Atlanta, right? Interesting how that noise could send them off in one direction for so long.

-unless something else distracted them they would just keep going. 

-The first half of this episode was frantic. It was hard to tell what was going on, who was with who, who was where. It was great, though.

-That was a massive amount of walkers! I think that aspect worked well. Even the most organized group would panic and be frantic with that many walkers on them! And to be able to bring in the viewer with that sense of panic worked great.

-Zombies are swarming the farm. It suddenly dawns on Lori to check on Carl. Oh look, he’s nowhere to be found. Mother of the Year.

-I don't know how she does it. New lines for Lori next season, "Has anyone seen my baby?!"

-Man, they were getting rid of uninteresting tertiary farm characters right and left! I’m surprised Beth survived.

-Well Jimmy fucked EVERYTHING up! 

What he should have done;

Drive by slow, let Rick and Carl jump on, keep driving while they climb in from the roof. Swing around to the house to pick up the useless women, Herschel can hang off the ladder and still shoot since he has 100% head shot accuracy and no need to reload. Honk to signal the the others that they are leaving. Everyone drives off in to the sunset sunrise.

What he did;

Stop, get up and watch the door, get eaten. Good riddance n00b!

-Herschel has unlocked unlimited ammo!

-Along with unlimited clip, pretty sure, with all my shooter gaming experience, a shotgun usually has 8 shells

-Everyone has unlocked maximum accuracy!

-That annoyed me, hitting a moving target, in the head, from a moving vehicle, that is bouncing over rough terrain. Right...At least Daryl was stopping, aiming, shoot, then move on.

-Does Herschel have a sniper shotgun?

-Nah, he's country, he picked up a thing or 2

-EAT IT, YOU STUPID FARM! Best death of the season.

-After they leave the farm, the episode loses all its momentum and kind of comes off the rails a little bit. Characters try to talk to each other. The dialogue is terrible. They all randomly find each other off-screen? What?

-It did annoy me when they all rolled up together, they all left the farm in different directions at different times, how are they all coming from the same way together? T-dog gets lines, and he is a douch bag. Also I'm ok with Carol dying too, Andrea saves her, then she runs off and leaves Andrea for death.

-For the record, I was totally fine with Rick, Carl and Hershel not waiting around for Lori.

-For a kid who is constantly eluding his mother's "watchful" eye he sure wasn't up for that idea.

-Rick: “By the way…we’re all carriers.” The group: “Sweeeeeet.”

-I would have done the same thing. Totally agree with his decision, half the group would have given up had they known...maybe that would have been better.

An interesting thought I saw online, If Lori has a miscarriage, will the baby eat her from the inside out? Someone go punch that lady in the stomach, hard! 

-So, Lori implies that Rick needed to take out Shane previously and now that he has she is all “I didn’t actually mean it. Jeez, Rick, you monster.”

-I think people are misinterpreting this scene. Yes she seems a bit distraught about the fact that Rick actually manned up and did what had to be done. But the moment when she really lost it was when he told her that Carl took him down the second time. I think that the thought of Carl shooting someone who was so close to the whole family is what pushed her to be so mad. She doesn't want Carl to be exposed to any of this and she is trying to protect him so the thought of him being able to do that scares her.

-And Rick comes undone. Rick, your inner Shane is showing. Needless to say, the rest of the group is a little freaked out when he announces his new role as the Fuhrer of the group. It will be interesting to see what Rick’s character arc is next season. Does he become more unlikable or is it more of a redemptive arc?

-This group shall be, from this point on, a Ricktatorship, you all listen to me or I will stab you in the middle of the night. Again I am on Rick's side with this decision too.

-AWESOME ALERT: Hooded figure with two armless zombie pets and a katana. I hope we see a lot more of this character.

-Having not read the comics this character looks amazing! And will be the main pull for me, among others, for next season. My understanding is they are her boyfriend and best friend, or his best friend. Either way, they have their arms and lower jaws ripped off, so essentially harmless. This bitch knows what she is doing in this post apocalyptic world.

-So, it appears as though the next season will take place at a prison. Hopefully it will be more interesting than the farm. Maybe season four can take place on the Lost island.

-The prison should be interesting, a lot of stuff in a prison, also a lot of people, and hiding places for walkers...

-Looking forward to the introduction of the hooded figure with the katana and The Governor next season. I don’t know anything about either except that The Governor is a big villain and I’m totally on board with this show having a main villain aside from the zombies.

-I know nothing of the Governor, but I am incredibly interested in this hooded figure. These new, characters who are clearly more adapted to the new world will shed some light into the main characters dynamics.

-I realized the reason a lot of the dialogue-driven scenes between characters fall flat this episode (and all season) are because I don’t care about most of the characters. I don’t know who they are as people. I’ve decided to make a Character Development Power Rankings:

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT POWER RANKINGS

How well do we know you?

1. Rick

2. Shane (deceased)

3. Dale (deceased)

4. Andrea

5. Daryl

6. Morgan (unknown)

Seriously, the guy with the son in the series premiere who Rick holes up with for a while is better developed than most of the regular cast. Bring this guy back.

7. Glenn

How much do we know about who he is and where he came from?
8. Hershel

9. Carl

10. Lori

Flip-flops as a character constantly.

11. Jenner (deceased)

12. Randall (deceased)

We even get a better sense of who Randall is than we do of who Carol and T-Dog are.

13. Carol

All we know about her is her relationship with her family. She was abused by her husband. He died. She had a daughter. She died. She’s upset. That’s about it.

14. Maggie

15. Beth

16. Otis (deceased)

17. Jimmy (deceased)

18. Patricia (deceased)

19. Sofia (deceased)

20. Shane’s Hyundai Tucson

21. Rick’s Hat

22. Dale’s RV (deceased)

23. Dale’s Hat (deceased)

24. Every zombie on the show (walking deceased)

25. T-Dog

He’s not even getting lines anymore.

Rick, Hershel, Daryl, Andrea and Shane are(were) the only one's I really care about at this point. The rest are  there as walker fodder as far as I'm concerned.

Blair’s Episode MVP: Rick

Steve’s Episode MVP: I agree with Rick, but for the sake of discussion I'm going with Andrea, during the last half of the episode. She saved Carol, was left for dead, fled on foot, out ran a hoard of walkers and found a new bad ass character.

Blair’s Grade: A-

Steve’s Grade: 90

Blair’s Deadpool Pick (next to die): Hershel (I was sure he was going to die)

Steve’s Deadpool Pick: Carol (I was not impressed with her at all this episode)

BLAIR’S SEASON REVIEW:

-First half of the season was mostly a huge waste of time with lots of hacky dialogue and running in circles. The fall finale with the discovery of Sophia really pulled the show back out of the toilet. The second half of the season was slow and nothing special for a few episodes (but still better overall) until the last three really came through with some great zombie action, major character deaths and movement in the plot.
Blair’s Season Grade: B
STEVE’S SEASON REVIEW: 

-The fall finale was the redeeming episode for the season, I was starting to lose hope in the series but that final scene made the grueling episodes before it worth it and they definitely achieved a great build up to the climactic barn scene. The second half was better as a whole. The Rick and Shane arc and the Randall arc were the best of the back half of the season. The finale really set the stage for next season, new characters, new setting, new revelations, and a new Rick.
Steve's Season Grade: 85