Here is Smurfs (Daniel Sharner) take on last nights #WalkingDead
“Stradivarius”
Only one episode left before the mid-season break but it feels like we just got started. It still feels like the start of the season and I’m waiting for something to happen or the story to develop. It reminds me of when Rick and the group first arrived at Alexandria. It was a bunch of new fresh faces that I didn’t know anything about and feared they would overrun the show and be left with characters I didn’t have a great deal of attachment to. I am facing that very same dilemma but not just with the new characters even the ones that got us here.
I understand that there has to be a departure from the comics for storytelling purposes and the fantastic opening we got this week was one of those great moments. Michael Cudlitz (Abraham) does an amazing job as director capturing a very confused and fearful moment for Rosita. Surrounded by tress, on the run, the sounds, and worst of all the whispers. The buildup of suspense and emotion is great as she staggers around and worse of all, where is Eugene. The one element that has been missing for some time now has been the horror. True it’s never been the key element to the show and has always been a drama focused on the living element with the zombies as background. What I saw tonight was the perfect blending of both drama and physiological thriller. If only the rest of the episode had carried that instead of just the cold open. What we get this week is semi flat story telling and development. Don’t get me wrong, this was one of the better episodes in my mind and if this was the second one of the season it would have been great. We get a little more on Daryl and his Dog living like a hermit and the same suspiciously placed scare as Michonne on the lower left side of his back. As we walked into his camp I got the feel of “All Clear”. Daryl just on the edge of his humanity one step away from being that crazy guy in the woods, still trying to find Rick even after all this time. The make him a mentor for Henry to get him out of the woods and rejoin the world is just lazy storytelling. Most of the episode is like that and has the feel of getting the band back together with the clouded history. The fact that the towns are not talking but they are is just silly as we get the big revelation of Maggie no longer being at Hilltop and hasn’t been there for some time. Jesus has been running it and for so long he’s been reelected with Tara as his aid. I would bet Maggie has the matching scare as Daryl and Michonne to help explain the fallout. What has been the most annoying about the season is we no longer know who these characters are. It’s great with the group that has just joined but the ones that we have been on this long road with shouldn’t be the case. Rick may have been the glue for the group but that wouldn’t change who they are. I find it difficult to believe that it would take the mention of Carl for Michonne to do what she would have done normally. I think the only character that I sort of recognize is Carol; operating behind the scene, blending and don’t see her coming till it’s too late. The same thing she did when they first arrived at Alexandria.
Maybe the days for hypothesizing and guessing the who’s and what’s are gone. Maybe its just telling a story and do it any way possible adjusting the characters to fill that need regardless of any established personality. I would like to think that’s not true. The new group shows promise and an established chemistry that shines in the quiet moments around the fire. Something that has been lacking from Ricks group for a few seasons. One thing for sure is they do know how to fight, that is some impressive skill with a slingshot. What do you use for ammo to cause that big of a hole? Marble? Ball bearing? Maybe it will be this group to help show you cant abandon your humanity no matter how bad it gets. #TWD #AMC #Stradivarius #SmurfsTake #5280Geek
