The Walking Dead

[Misanthrope]

That was my first thought. I've enjoyed the journey Carol's character has been taken on.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

They've been building up to Carol heading in this direction since the start of the season with all her Morgan interactions, so it's not like it's a sudden hard turn.

There's so many more ways they could go with it too. The closer Carol and Morgan align in their thinking (non-kill) the more I think one of them is going to die to propel the other one in a different direction.

 

[umina panther]

Going from weak to being hard as f**k and then back to weak again isn't interesting imo but each to their own.

 

[Misanthrope]

She's certainly not weak. She straight up executed Hispanic lady and impaled Alicia Witt when push came to shove (pun intended). She's just developed a moral compass after losing a kid who tried to push away and having been exposed to an alternate viewpoint.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Going from weak to being hard as f**k and then back to weak again isn't interesting imo but each to their own.

Weak because she has second thougths about being a cold blooded killer? A very narrow generic view on character if it''s only a choice between weak and hard despite her obvious development and differences since first appearing.

Characters change over time, especially as their environment and circumstances change. To not allow characters to be changed by this would make it unnatural and then we'd have people complaining about that.

In a show that has had its fair share of inconsistent and questionable plot/character moments, Carol's development from season 1 to 6 is not only justified, but it makes sense probably more than any other character.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

Everything had been pretty full on for her up until the swarm was dealt with. With everything being peaceful for a while she had the chance to contemplate what she's done to survive. Coming to the realisation that you've ended 18 human lives (including burning sick friends and executing a little girl) might come as a bit of a shock.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Exactly. Her mind has been purely on survival from the start and they've never really had a chance to breathe. Losing her husband and daughter would have steeled her for what she had to do to survive and she did so without regret.

Once they reached Alexandria they suddenly were confronted with something that went close to normal life. Let's not forget that Carol was essentially leading a double life for awhile in Alexandria where she played house mother and ruthless assassin, and that house mother side was a glimpse into who she really was before the outbreak. It's no surprise that the two sides of her start to bleed together, especially once Morgan arrived to yank at her moral compass.

Carol probably hoped that the human killing was over (it was a survival thing, not an enjoyment thing) and the prospect of going to war has got her reasonably unsettled, especially doing so in a way that is really no less ruthless than what others have attempted to do to them.

That final shot of Rick killing Primo and Carol reacting is probably a sign of what's to come as I can see Carol really starting to question whether or not Rick has gone too far the other way.

 

[Misanthrope]

I like the way they're handling this "You're not the good guys" thing.

Not sure how that'll play with how Negan generally operates, but I guess they can go off script a little.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Spoiler: Comic Spoiler

Daryl doesn't exist in the comics, but one of the Saviours does show up with a crossbow and kills someone important. The fact that the Saviours now have Darryl's crossbow doesn't bode well.

Spoiler: Comic Spoiler

Abraham is the one who cops the crossbow bolt to the head

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Spoiler: Comic Spoiler

Abraham is the one who cops the crossbow bolt to the head

Spoiler: Spoilaaaaaaaah

Straight through the eye. Would look brutal on TV, but not sure they'd go that way with Abraham. Very few have had the exact death in the TV series that they got in the comic

 

[butchmcdick]

Carol and Maggie seemed pretty bad ass to me this episode

The second half of this series has been epic

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Spoiler: Comic and unconfirmed TV spoiler for next ep

Looks like someone is copping the arrow to the head this week, but it's not Abraham.

 

[DiegoNT]

Wasted a cool death on an important character, and wasted it on a character nobody cares about. Writers of the show have lost their spine

 

[Generalzod]

Wasted a cool death on an important character, and wasted it on a character nobody cares about. Writers of the show have lost their spine

At least it was one hell of a bulls eye shot...

 

[PJ]

90% filler.

They seriously need to work on pacing and cut the BS in this show. half the people in our house have given up already.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

I'm OK with it. Sure Denise wasn't much of a character other than being wedged into story lines because of some other event that was coming up later (the whole nervous doctor thing when Carl's eye issue was on the horizon for example) but at the same time, Abraham didn't deserve to go out like that so I'm fine with him being spared.

This also leads me to believe that Daryl will survive the season finale. I think the Dwight/Daryl thing is set to continue into the new season. So if for no other reason I don't mind Denise's death because it gives both Daryl/Tara something to do and focus on other than drift along.

 

[T.S Quint]

90% filler.

They seriously need to work on pacing and cut the BS in this show. half the people in our house have given up already.

I think that this episode was deliberately set up like that.
Have a very slow, meandering episode, and then hit them hard with a surprise at the end. It's more of a shock to the system then.

Having said that, I was just waiting for something to happen to Denise while she was just standing there talking. I actually thought it was going to be one of those ninja zombies that seem to pop up out of nowhere every now and again, so I guess an arrow to the eye was a bit of a surprise.

 

[T.S Quint]

I'm not usually one to complain about the stupidity of characters in this show (no need when there are so many other people already doing that), but why would anyone allow Denise outside of the walls when she is their only resident with medical training?
I don't care if she says she will just go by herself anyway, you don't let her leave.

 

[PJ]

I think that this episode was deliberately set up like that.

Maybe, but every episode feels like that lately.

They could easily have made this an 8 episode season, and for me it is really starting to drag.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

I imagine a lot of it has to do with budget. All the epic large scale stuff needs to be balanced out by these sort of episodes that are more centrally/character focused.

Having said that most episodes that feel like filler usually serve some larger purpose further down the road, which is why I don't have an issue with it the majority of the time.