AMC's The Walking Dead

Glenn is one of five survivors left from the first season in Atlanta. It's just him, Rick, Carl, Daryl and Carol.

Maggie and Beth are the only ones left who made their first appearance in Season 2, though Michonne was in the very last scene of the season.

Including Michonne, there are more cast members who receive star billing ( 8 ) who debuted in Season 3 or later than those who were in the first two seasons. It's a testament to the concept of the show and the writing that it's been able to do that.

 

Maybe and the fact that the Carol actress always insisted she was a regular when she was always listed in the guest starring roles instead of in the credits like every other regular (including the Lori actress's name running in the opening credits even after she was thankfully killed off.)

 

Dug the water cannon deaths. So despite having an HD TV, was that a herd of walkers heading the group's way at the end? Were they just on the road or elsewhere? Wish they made it more clear, but I understand the extras budget might be pretty tight.

 

It was indeed. The whole town was crawling from field to field

 

They weren't really heading anywhere, just sort of grazing in the fields on either side of the road.

I couldn't make it out at first, either, but I once they mentioned a stench, I figured it out.

 

She and Norman Reedus (Daryl) were recurring guest stars in Season 1, but they were full bore cast members beginning in Season 2. Because it's such a large cast, not every actor credited as a main cast member is in the opening credits. Anyone given an "also starring" credit after the opening sequence is considered a full cast member. That group currently includes the likes of Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha), Alanna Masterson (Tara), Josh McDermitt (Eugene), and a few others.

 

Doubt they used extras. Probably used CGI to create a horde, and useful though it is to shows like this, it has limitations. Walking Dead is shot so oddly anyway. As others have mentioned, filters used are so dark as to be indecipherable at times.

Decent episode. I still think this show loses urgency when it splits the subplots up into separate episodes.

 

So let's talk for a second about those walkers on the road. Am I the only one that thinks it was dumb for them to see the walkers in broad daylight and go "Well, let's not go that way then."
Gotta figure that while it would suck to have to kill that many walkers, it's got to be easier to do that than it would be to chance them coming your way anyway. They seemed spread out enough and the group is talented enough that little pockets here and there would be easy to take out. At least make an effort, right?
I wonder if that will play a role later on.
But I've always thought the group should kill as many walkers as possible just as a precautionary measure anyway so maybe I'm just being unrealistic?

 

Spot on. I've been waiting for that revelation from Eugene. I just knew something about his story wasn't true.

The last two episode were 'interesting' because they're resolving some key story points, but these episodes have been slow and meandering.

It is falling back into the old TWD problems of pacing and lack of forward momentum.

 

Agreed that it wasn't hard to see Eugene's revelation coming. The unfortunate part about it is that he at least gave them a mission, purpose, something to do, instead of meandering, as Buck put it.

I normally agree that it sucks when they split off the story and completely focus on one group for an entire episode. Frankly, I dislike episodes that don't involve Rick Grimes. That said, it would have been hard to fit all of that story into one episode while devoting equal time to the other group.

I also think it helped accentuate the feelings of Glenn and Maggie as they wonder what's going on with Rick and Co. In this world, with no forms of long-distance communication, it's kind of the only way to properly portray how isolated they are from the rest of the group.

So, while I don't necessarily like it, I get why they told the story that way.

 

A normal show would bounce back and forth between stories rather than stretch a 20-minute story into 40 minutes filled with extra commercials.

But this is a cheapass show. It doesn't want to feature its most popular actors a lot so it can pay them lower salaries.

Since people love it and won't stop watching, why would they change?

 

Walking Dead is on in re-runs on one of our local channels and it's currently on Season 2.

That season gets criticized because of the supposed torpor of being at Herschel's farm, but I realized something. There may not have been much movement, per se, but there was tension between the characters, and they were all essentially tied into the same fate. A subplot usually meant taking you to another part of the farm ... not God knows where. The story was tighter, the protagonists were forced to deal with each other's problems. Now it's all over the place.

Another thing ... this show is, and always has been, about Rick. It started with him and its best moments continue with him. There's nothing wrong with deviating from that once in a while, but not as often as this show does. It's "nice" to know what happened to Beth, Eugene, etc., but none are essential characters, none have had their characters developed nearly as much, I mean, one flashback episode does not a multi-nuanced character make.

In the end, the audience doesn't care as much about them as the core original group of Rick, Maggie, Glen, Daryl and Carol, but especially, Rick.