The Walking Dead - AMC

i think it's to show the large following that their leader is a coward.
killing negan isn't the answer to changing their mind...otherwise, it could have been done already. long before negan's group met rick's group.

remember how people starting doubting following the Gov'ner?
this is all mind games...LOL

I think it's because we're caught in an idiot plot: a plot that only works because all the characters are idiots.

I suspect that the rest of the season (or the next few episodes, anyway) will be showing how we got from the ending scene of last season to the opening scene of this one.

James D. Macdonald said:

I have a question...

Negan.

What's the point of talking to him? What does he have to say that Rick could possibly want to hear? Why doesn't Rick just shoot him the moment he's in range, and move on from there?

Rick has had no compunction about being judge/jury/executioner on any number of live humans so far in this series. Other than keeping a neat villain around for a bit longer what's the point of not dealing with him?

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About ten seconds after Negan appeared on the porch, I paused the video and took to the internet. Clearly I had missed something. Something big. Something that would explain why Rick hadn't shot him instantly. But the internet was full of WTF on this very issue. It is completely ununderstandable. ALL they had to do was have Negan hide behind someone, or the door. That's it. But no, they had to have him swagger around and chat.

heyjude said:

But no, they had to have him swagger around and chat.

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About his dick. Mustn't forget that. Edgy, and all.

I'm really tired of the reliance on flashbacks to build tension in this show. If we get several episodes working backward, as James predicts, I'm going to be one unhappy fan. If what happened is tense enough to show, give it to us in the natural timeline.

I got so annoyed with the Negan stuff I tuned out of most of last season, then caught up at some point later. Just kill him already. It hasn't seemed to occur to the writers that there are other possible plots than just having yet another psychopathic baddie to fight.

It annoyed me at first that Rick didn't just shoot him on sight.
But I guess that if he had, the war would have started right there and then. This way he got to make his offer that Negan's people could surrender, etc etc. And he did shoot Negan eventually, later in the scene, and on 7 of his countdown, the cheeky scamp.

But I think they could and should have shot the scene in a different way, which didn't make everyone watching shout JUST SHOOT HIM FOR FUCK'S SAKE at the screen.

Sasha and Rosita had the right idea, last season: go find an advantageous location and sit there with a scoped rifle until Negan shows himself.

They proceed to mess it up, rather than just sit there, taking watches, four on and four off during the hours of daylight, sitting in a chair well back from the window with the weapon resting on a sand bag for stability, waiting for the shot. Maybe the shot is blocked today. Tomorrow it won't be. Take what time it needs. Today, tomorrow, next week, but get the shot, take it, and scram out of there before the echo fades.

But no....

James D. Macdonald said:

But no....

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Too be fair, that would be damn boring TV.

At the end of the episode I seriously wondered if Negan had been shot, or if the person Rick thought was Negan was someone else. Because Negan was on his feet, walking and grinning when Gabriel scrambled inside, and not looking the least like he'd been shot. Not a grimace, a limp, or a bead of sweat.

When Gabriel found himself in a small space with Negan and zombies outside, anyone else think: Okay, Gabriel, just throw open the damn door and end it all...?

MORALES!

That was such a great ending! That actor must have been well happy to get the call after all this time.

And that was ... dare I say it? ... a dead waste of Morales.

WTF, writers? Hey, give me a call.

I don't feel like there are writers anymore, just Nicotero and Gimple and Kirkman shouting GO THERE! RUN HERE! SHOOT! DUCK! OOH, PRETTY 'SPLOSION!

Nothing about the *story* makes any sense to me anymore, maybe because there doesn't seem to BE one.

Lincoln is fascinating to watch but I have to say there are not many opportunities for other characters to shine or grow, several have just kinda stalled and are simply ''there'' y'know? The first three series had a lot of wonderful plot arcs and character conflicts smashing together all over the damn place. Sure the scope and brutality of their various journies have hardened the vast majority of the inhabitants of that twisted land at this point and much makes sense how it's panned out following rick's group and the meshing with various other factions but I do miss the group being a unit of interesting and complex humans interacting together, apart from Grimes there's not much to be bothered about beyond surface level. I love the tale of Morgan, wish they'd give us more than a damn single episode... Just recently that bloody Jesus being apprehensive about wasting that low life, made ZERO sense, he knew what the mission was when he set out, he's seen what these people are like, what they are part of and he stilln declines to blast him even after what he tried, I can do without that crap! Negan started out as a sublime presence but they've not really carried out what they started with, that first episode of the last season was absolutely beautiful, they are still capable of ten out of ten episodes here and there but consistency has been lacking for a while now.

I just re-watched Season One Episode One to remind myself why I like this series.

Fuck this show. I'm out.

Marlys said:

Fuck this show. I'm out.

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ditto. pile of poo.

Anybody still watch this show and have thoughts on the mid-season finale (S8E8)? I've found this season largely disappointing. The flashbacks have caused many episodes to be confusing and lack tension, and have left me wondering if there has been a change in writing staff.

But, I must say, I enjoyed the mid-season finale. It wasn't perfect, but the tension built nicely to the shocking conclusion (!).





Here there be spoilers...


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As much as I wanted Carl to die two seasons ago, I want him to live now. He's emerged as a strong leader in Rick's absence, and an empathetic human being who strives to do the right thing (just like his mama told him). I loved that he provided the distraction to the Saviors so the Alexandrians could escape out the back. And I really loved his prophetic walk through their destroyed streets, dropping smoke bombs to disorient his pursuers. I thought this whole plot sequence was really well handled.

Some of the other plots were trite and contrived but that's what we've come to expect from TWD. Overall, though, I'm still a fan and will watch out the season when it returns in February.

Any other thoughts?

CaroGirl said:

Anybody still watch this show and have thoughts on the mid-season finale (S8E8)? I've found this season largely disappointing. The flashbacks have caused many episodes to be confusing and lack tension, and have left me wondering if there has been a change in writing staff.

But, I must say, I enjoyed the mid-season finale. It wasn't perfect, but the tension built nicely to the shocking conclusion (!).





Here there be spoilers...


********************



As much as I wanted Carl to die two seasons ago, I want him to live now. He's emerged as a strong leader in Rick's absence, and an empathetic human being who strives to do the right thing (just like his mama told him). I loved that he provided the distraction to the Saviors so the Alexandrians could escape out the back. And I really loved his prophetic walk through their destroyed streets, dropping smoke bombs to disorient his pursuers. I thought this whole plot sequence was really well handled.

Some of the other plots were trite and contrived but that's what we've come to expect from TWD. Overall, though, I'm still a fan and will watch out the season when it returns in February.

Any other thoughts?

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RIP CarlPoppa!

Okay, here's what I think. i have always liked WD no matter what they did with the characters. However-----watching the mid-season finale pissed me off. Seeing the Saviors make a comeback, putting our characters in peril again, is too much for me. I was so happy when Rick and his gang finally fought back! In most shows, most books, most movies, what viewers/readers want the most is to have a peaceful or positive resolution to a problem. But this problem (Negan) just doesn't seem to end! Rick keeps saying he's going to kill Negan, but he doesn't!! How many times can we hear that before it finally happens? I know they are trying to follow the comics (at least that's what I think they're doing), but this is a TV show. We want there to be some justice. Let the good guys win for goodness sake.

I was very frustrated by the mid-season finale. They'd better wrap up the Negan story soon.

rhymegirl said:

Okay, here's what I think. i have always liked WD no matter what they did with the characters. However-----watching the mid-season finale pissed me off. Seeing the Saviors make a comeback, putting our characters in peril again, is too much for me. I was so happy when Rick and his gang finally fought back! In most shows, most books, most movies, what viewers/readers want the most is to have a peaceful or positive resolution to a problem. But this problem (Negan) just doesn't seem to end! Rick keeps saying he's going to kill Negan, but he doesn't!! How many times can we hear that before it finally happens? I know they are trying to follow the comics (at least that's what I think they're doing), but this is a TV show. We want there to be some justice. Let the good guys win for goodness sake.

I was very frustrated by the mid-season finale. They'd better wrap up the Negan story soon.

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Just started watching this season (ritual with a friend). That finale was pretty weak. Style over substance. The fight 'tween Negan and Rick was laughable. The whole thing felt like an 80's Pop Video.

The the full season, meh. Bits n pieces ok, but a serious amount of 'suspended disbelief' being asked of the viewer. I mean, c'mon, we all aint gone Zombified yet.

Davy The First said:

Just started watching this season (ritual with a friend). That finale was pretty weak. Style over substance.

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I think this whole season has been "style over substance". Waaay too indulgent, what with all the thousand-mile staring. I could really do without the endless flipping back and forth between every character staring into space in ever episode. This used to be one of my favorite shows, but I'm ready for the series to end.

Putputt said:

I think this whole season has been "style over substance". Waaay too indulgent, what with all the thousand-mile staring. I could really do without the endless flipping back and forth between every character staring into space in ever episode. This used to be one of my favorite shows, but I'm ready for the series to end.

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yeah.... those face close ups were just WTF! LOL

Frankie007 said:

yeah.... those face close ups were just WTF! LOL

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Especially Jesus, who I was hoping got the blast.

Maggie and Michone though...

Putputt said:

I think this whole season has been "style over substance". Waaay too indulgent, what with all the thousand-mile staring. I could really do without the endless flipping back and forth between every character staring into space in ever episode. This used to be one of my favorite shows, but I'm ready for the series to end.

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Exunctly. It's as if for the past few seasons the show's been trying to sell itself as some kind of serious, high brow and artsy drama. It's a zombie show FFS! Character development, fine. Stirring speeches (as long as they're well written - which they haven't been), fine. But stop with the thirty second pensive close ups and the endless "I can't do this anymore" plot device that it seems every character has to have at some point. The apocalypse has been going on for years at this point! Get used to it and nut up!

As an aside, just caught up with Fear the Walking Dead, which has been a whole lot better, though I've heard the Gimple guy is going to be taking over that show.