Horror Aficionados discussion

Well, the brothers are pals, but Meryl will always be too creepy for me. Teresa, Rick gets shot? Killed? Hard to imagine the show without him, but, after all, he has lost his mind.

OMG don't tell me things like that. Rick is shot?

Spoiler alert please!!

Hi Lisa..oops..sorry i meant like his mind was gone.. he thought he saw his dead wife and started freaking out and waving around a gun.. oh and Glen is such a bad ass..they are saying things are going to get bad with him and his gf we will be shocked

11811 wrote: "They should let his son run out and play. Free-range children are delicious."

This made me LOL.
Good one! :)

Yeah, Teresa, I saw that thing with him imagining his dead wife standing there ... that guy has just gone through too much, I guess. re Glen and his girlfriend, he's really not comforting her as much as I'd like to see, like at all!

glenn isn't going to be good to maggie...they are saying thats part of the shocker

Ohhh, his mind is gone? OK. :)

Rick is losing his shit, that's for sure.

Sure is! Wondering what effect that will have on Carl, and who will be taking over leadership of the group. What's the name of the black guy who'd like their people to be able to join "our heroes"? He seems like he'd make a good leader.

Steven Yeun (who plays Glenn) was on Talking Dead last night after the show. He talked about how he has looked into studies about the spouses/partners of those who have survived abuse and many of those people become abusers in turn. Sometimes blaming the victim for what happened to them. It should be very interesting to see where the show goes with that. I don't think Glenn will be very comforting to Maggie, at least in the short term.

I believe you are thinking about Tyreese, Lisa. He was a major character in the comic and fans have been hoping he would eventually show up. In some ways, T-Dog filled his role, but things will be changing it seems.

The Ghost of lori was prominent for an arc in the comics, so we can expect her to be around for a few episodes. And Im sure that Daryl and Mearle will end up at odds with each other soon enough.

Steve wrote: "I believe you are thinking about Tyreese, Lisa. He was a major character in the comic and fans have been hoping he would eventually show up. In some ways, T-Dog filled his role, but things will be..."

I had actually assumed T-Dog was supposed to be the television equivalent to Tyreese, and I was glad to see they finally decided to bring in his character (and I'm assuming the girl is his daughter, the boy her boyfriend). I think it's going to be an exciting (and unpredictable) season.

Jeff wrote: "The Ghost of lori was prominent for an arc in the comics, so we can expect her to be around for a few episodes. And Im sure that Daryl and Mearle will end up at odds with each other soon enough."

Yeah I don't see the brothers ending well. We shall see. Season is still going strong

Meryle is poison to everyone around him. He will play everyone against each other and it will not end well.

I think Merle is going to have to work hard to gain trust, but its not in his nature to do that. If I had to predict anything, I think that if things get very very bad for Rick's group, then Merle will shift his colors to the winning side.

I also think that Andrea's going to try to make her way back to the group to try to straighten things out with them and the town of Woodbury.

And that small group that Rick made leave the prison, and one of them wanted to try to take it over, Im betting that they will encounter the Gov and he's going to convince them to side with Woodbury against Rick's group.

Thats my predictions that I have a gut feeling for. What does anyone else think?

I think Merle will be on the outs again very soon. He's just too much of a self-absorbed bigot to get along with the group long enough to develop any loyalties.

I agree that Andrea will be back with Rick's group soon, but I think she'll turn on the Governor after learning about the attack.

I also think Tyreese's group will find their way back to Rick's group, just based on their interactions in the graphic novel (but the TV series's writers have veered from the graphic novel in some unexpected ways, so you never know).

Yeah the writers have on purpose made changes to keep those that read the books, off balance and to make it more entertaining. Since I havent relaly followed that particular comic, its not as much of an issue for me, but also being a comic enthusist, I can also understand how people want to see the show go the way that they know.

Folks have to remember that Kirkman's favorite ( and it appears only) trick is to kill a character as soon as they become too popular. that's the reason I dropped the book after he killed.... It's only a matter of time before it happens in the show.

I think that's what makes both the graphic novel series and the television show so different from most other works of zombie fiction ... there's an intentional cycling of characters being introduced and unexpectedly dying, so that literally the entire cast is "the walking dead." It really drums in that whole concept of analyzing the monsters in humanity through monsters of fiction. No one is safe, and no one is immune to the effects of struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Pretty brilliant if you ask me.

I'm also glad the writers have veered from the original plot-line (just enough to keep those of us who have read the individual comics/graphic novels guessing). I think they've done an excellent job.

I'm a little more optimistic about Merle's ability to straighten up his actions. Not only will love for his brother influence him, after what the Governor pulled he neither wants to nor can return to life in Woodbury. Am hoping his racist affect is mostly habit, a persona he can outgrow. After all, he did go to the prison with Darryl.

Such a great episode tonight!

Agreed! One of the best this season.

Am terrible at remembering names, but the write who wrote last night's show will be next season's show runner so am thinking episodes of this quality will be seen more often. There's a nice article about the show's popularity in today's NY Times

I swear to god I'm gonna eat Carl as soon as I come up with an appropriate garnish.

Aww, why? Last night's episode made me begin to like Carl again.

Carl Parmesan? I'll share?

I don't like the way they're drawing things out (although it was a great episode last night) I think the poop is going to start hitting the fan and we'll have to wait until October to see what happens.

"Oh no, Margaret! Too young!" Morticia Addams

I really hope you're wrong, Ian. I've been pretty much counting on the governor to be dead by the end of the season. I haven't read the books, but for how low can they drag this out?

starting to maybe it has jumped the shark?

according to the message boards following it more closely, season 4 is supposed to start up something differnt since the new show runner Scott M Gimple is taking over the reigns. He's been writing the majority of the show's scripts recently and he will be the one that gives a new direction to the new season based on Kirkmans suggestions.

I dont think this show is destined for jumping the shark any time soon.
Remember how long Hershal's Farm story line was? And yet it kept us rivited. Becasue the people hate the Gov so much, its just them wanting His part in this thing to be over. When that happens, it always seems long.
Im positive that the new season is going to really give us something really differnt.

Speechless with the ending...again.

Cathie wrote: "Speechless with the ending...again."

Me too! Poor Daryl and Merle :(

Merle! I couldn't believe it last night!

I am kinda hoping that Rick and the folks will kill the Gov and then take their show on the road. I find it more interesting when they go to new places and see new people and new situations.

Maybe they will take over Woodbury?

Charlene wrote: "Maybe they will take over Woodbury?"

Possibly, but I would prefer that they go somewhere else like another city or state. I have only read the first 2 in the Graphic Novel but looking at the titles do they go to DC or something like that? That would be very cool.

I guess I am in a minority here but I am close to being done with it. The zombies are a non-entity hell half the time no one even pays any attention to them. Killing them has become so casual. another thing that bugs me is that no one has thought about making a flame thrower, turning on a siren and just have mass killing.

I can hear the writers hashing this and deciding that is too easy and we need our zombies for the storyline. well not from what I have seen of the last few episodes.

Well, they are short on ammo, so they can't really have a mass killing...at least not at the prison. I don't know what the ammo situation in Woodbury is.

To me, the zombies aren't the story. The survivors are.
I guess we all view things differently. :)

The zombies are like a supernatural hurricane. The people are much more dangerous.

If it really happened they would dangle a siren over a cliff, a containment unit, or a pit that they rigged up and let them all fall in/get trapped and it would be over in a week.

You also wonder why the walkers just don't fall apart and become unable to move after a certain amount of time.

There you go, Chris. Now THAT's an idea!!

Stephanie, thanks for agreeing. A good example for me was last night when Daryl saw Merle. It broke my heart.

Would you ever believe that you could feel sorry for Merle?

No!! First off, I was VERY surprised he let Michonne out of the car. But right then, I knew something was up.

I figured in my head that Merle wanted to die and didn't want to do it himself, so he did what he did, instead. Was that your take?

I thought a lot about it.

Merle is a follower. He ties himself to a strong character and does their dirty work. He feels that is his job. He is the perpetual outsider.

He also has over-riding loyalty to his brother, so he re-joined Rick's group. He respects his brother and believed that Rick was better than the Governor so he was very upset that Rick wanted to give up Machone, even after telling him what the Governor would do to her. He was even more upset that his brother was going to go along with it.

I think that he took Machone knowing that he would release her later after he told her what Rick had proposed. He and Machone are both outsiders. He must have had a plan other than simply turning her over. Why else would he take all of those guns, especially the high powered rifle with a scope, if he wasn't planning on trying to take out someone from a distance?

He took her far enough away so that she would take a while to get back to the camp if she chose to so he could do whatever he wanted to do before anyone could try to stop him. He used the Governor's Zombie Bomb trick against them and it almost worked. He figured that he was the only one with guts enough to try to take down the Governor (something he actually suggested that Rick do early on, as did Glen).

Did you see the preview of the last episode that they showed on The Talking Dead?

Okay if I weigh in with my 2 cents? I have always liked Merle. Not because I shared his racist attitude, but because, as upfront as he was about it, he did not actually act in harmful ways toward those he hated because of it.
And then, when Darryl decided to return to the prison, and Meryl said, "I can't go back there," I saw that as the beginning of a spiritual change in him.
Plus, he has always been honest (a quality that our hero Rick has sometimes lacked).
He let Michonne out of the car to free her before he "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," and he was going to do his best to even the odds for his brother's family.
I really thought he was going to survive. I am still disheartened by the fate that befell him. While watching it, I kept looking for signs that what I saw wasn't really happening.
R.I.P. Merle

Charlene wrote: "No!! First off, I was VERY surprised he let Michonne out of the car. But right then, I knew something was up.

I figured in my head that Merle wanted to die and didn't want to do it himself, so he..."

I don't think that Merle wanted to die. I think he didn't think Rick had the courage to lead any more and wouldn't do what had to be done. Rick has not been a good leader since his wife died. They need someone else and they don't really have anyone right now.

The elderly guy won't make hard decisions. Glen is too young. Daryl is a follower and needs a big brother figure to be loyal to. Rick is a mess without his wife, who was his moral compass. Diane could lead them but she is indisposed at the moment....

Lisa wrote: "Okay if I weigh in with my 2 cents? I have always liked Merle. Not because I shared his racist attitude, but because, as upfront as he was about it, he did not actually act in harmful ways toward t..."

I am like you. I have started to like him more as I have been liking Rick less.

His plan developed so quickly that I thought that he was going to get the Governor. It was a good plan and I thought it was going to work. He realized that he was the only one brave enough to try it and if he failed, he was expendable. He didn't want his brother or anyone there if it failed.

Wow, Chris. You really DID think about it a lot.
The way you have described things as you saw them is great. I think you're right. :)

Lisa, you too!

Merle was set up to be unlikable but with his brother you could see touches of something more. Funny how he took the phone Rick used to communicate with Laurie with him for the wire. I really had hoped Merle would make it.