#TWD100 Thoughts on the first two episodes: S8 #TheWalkingDead #TWD

A friend of mine said she thought episode one was too cheesy, and whereas I can see what she means, I kind of didn't care.... I loved Rick's Braveheart-style, motivational speech!  

Also loved the reflection of the very first episode - after the titles, the silence when Carl drove up to the overturned vehicles and got out, petrol can in hand ... he even looked under the car, just like his dad did, all those years ago.  

Blast from the past - Rick in the first ever episode, Days Gone Bye

So... where will Gregory go?  Who will have him now?  Will he head back for his Hilltop mansion, and skulk under the faded space where his painting used to be?  Justice for leaving the born-again priest to face the dead all on his own ~ not to mention facing Negan, who also found 'sanctuary' (!) in the trailer.  But why didn't Gabriel just turn round and shoot him?  Okay, I know... we're saving Negan's death for later.  Not today, not tomorrow, but some time soon, and at Rick's hand.

Really sad to see Francine die - a minor character who I've liked since she slapped Tobin in the mush in Season 5, when he left her for dead on the construction site.  And Craig and Freddie, but I'm betting that newbie gunslinger Eric will be miraculously saved.  How could they make the lovely Aaron suffer?

Evil Benjamin-shooting Jared

Not sure why Morgan didn't just kill evil Benjamin-shooting Jared straight off, as he doesn't seem to have a problem unloading his piece into everyone else in his path, but Jesus seems to have taken on the philosophies of his namesake; has he become the new Glenn, giving it "It's still who we are" in every episode?  And another observation, about Jesus, and Daryl ~ how come the chicks (Tara and Diane, and that nasty piece of work who got her neck eaten) get to tie their hair back for battle, but the guys don't?  Doesn't Daryl ever wonder why all he can see in front of him is hair?

 
And then we come to the big one: Morales!  What a brilliant surprise - until Rick said his name I was thinking, dammit, I know that face, who is it?  And that's me, who has watched the whole show an embarrassing amount of times.  Yes, he was the guy on the rooftop, when Merle was handcuffed to a pipe, who said, "Okay, Rick from down the road a ways, welcome to the big city", or words to that effect.  And to think Rick gave him a gun as a going away present!  He's a long way from Alabama, though; weren't his family going to Birmingham?

As for the rest, I'm loving Carol being back to normal, wondering if Saviour Gavin may end up being a good guy (he always seemed almost okay when he was at the Kingdom), hoping Dwighty-Boy sticks to the plan and maybe even gets forgiven by Daryl and Tara, wondering why Judith looks nothing like Lori, Rick or Shane (though she is SO gorgeous!), and if Maggie is ever going to look pregnant ... and no, I didn't think Rick was in a coma and it had all been a dream, in Bobby Ewing*-stylee ~ the flowers were different, and it was a different clock!

*for the under 45s ~ Bobby Ewing was a character in 1980s super-soap Dallas, who famously woke up at the beginning of one season, revealing that the whole of the previous one had been his wife's dream.  Yep, and we lapped it up.  Our TV expectations were much less sophisticated thirty-odd years ago.

Yes, Pam, you just dreamt the whole of the last season...

The saddest episode ever... #TWD #TheWalkingDeadSeason7Premiere

I've just watched it..... The Walking Dead, Season 7, Episode 1.

If you haven't seen it yet and don't want to know who meets Lucille, don't read any further.

My original posts about it: HERE and HERE.

I don't think I've ever loathed a fictional character so much.  I hate Negan!   So I was wrong about who it would be, and I wish I wasn't ~ I loved Abraham, the funniest character in the whole show ... he 'took it like a champ' (even offered himself up, in the last ep of Season 6), and he'd made the most of every post apocalyptic moment, but it was still so shocking to see.  

Even more gut wrenching, somehow, was the second death.  Yeah, yeah, I know it's how it is in the comic books (I haven't read that far), but this is real life; how could the producers do it to us???!!!  Don't know about you, but when they were all sitting there in the clearing, after Negan and the Saviour demons had all gone, I blubbed.  I mean, my eyes didn't just water, I cried real tears.  That bit when Sasha approached Maggie... 

So the Atlanta 5 become the Atlanta 4.  I'm hoping Daryl doesn't get blamed for Glenn, because he pounced on Negan ('I told you, you get the first one free'), or because this all started when he wasted the Saviours....

...but then again, if he hadn't killed them, they would have killed him, Abraham and Sasha.   And, as Rick said, they would have come for them sometime, whoever killed who first.   Wonder what the hell is going to happen to Daryl - cross fingers he gets to make the revolting Dwight history pretty soon.

I've read that Maggie isn't going to spend the rest of the series in a sodden heap, but is going to become a fighting badass.  Good. 

It's the saddest episode ever.  Even more than when Carl & Daryl had to put Lori and Merle down, or when Rick and Carl thought Judith had been eaten by walkers when the prison blew up ... or even the death of Hershel/Beth/Tyreese/Bob/T-Dog (I can feel a saddest moments post coming on...).  Saddest of all, though, is what could have been....

“Bet you thought you were all going to grow old together, sitting around the table at Sunday dinner with a happily ever after.” 

~ RIP Abraham and Glenn ~

and perhaps there is hope of new allies.....

Who is #Negan's victim? Your opinions, and some 'inside' (?!) info....! #TWD

*See John Cleese's 4 minute recap of Season 1-6 HERE!*

Last week I published THIS POST giving my opinions on the big question of 2016 ~ forget Brexit, we want to know who Negan kills!

Now, I think it's going to be Eugene because of the following: 

• He gave Rick the recipe for the bullets
• He did the 'not a dry eye in the house' bonding thing with Abraham
• He's finally started to get his courage together, sadly too little too late?

I asked for comments and received them via the blog post and Twitter.... here's what others think:

Lydia thinks it's either Glenn or Maggie: 'it would also provide interesting character development for whoever is left behind.'
She agrees with me that 'the writers wouldn't dare get rid of Michonne, Rick, Daryl or Carl.  They'd lose way too many viewers and the ones that stayed would be furious!'

@SamTongeWriter, @TudorTweep and @ThatGirlGenius all think it's Glenn.
@DamianSomebody thinks it's a double - Glenn and Eugene.  Maybe a bit like Lord Shoog on The Apprentice, when he does a surprise second 'You're Fired', eh?

Soo thinks it's Glenn because 'it would bring the whole thing back into the comic book territory' ~ hmm! I haven't read that far in the comic books yet.

Anthony agrees with me that it's Eugene: "All that bonding with his AhBroham was a set-up for a fond farewell kiss from Lucille."

Shelley and her family think it's Abraham, because 'the whole him and Sacha bond is to make us feel all fuzzy and warm before they rip our hearts out!!'

Lynn hopes it's Carl because " 'cos if I have to look at his dodgy eye makeup again or that really infuriating haircut lurking beneath an even more infuriating hat...I shall personally take it upon myself to send one of my own undead around to sort him out!"  No!!!!  I love Carl! And speaking as someone who doesn't do teenagers, that's saying something!

Steffany hopes it's Sasha because she nicked Abraham off Rosita (I lay the blame more at Abraham's feet, but then if you fall out of love, you fall out of love....), but thinks it's either Abraham or Eugene; she thinks Glenn is too obvious.  As she says, though... 'Gosh it's all so confusing, it really could be (almost!)anyone! ;-0'

Karen and Julie from FB both think it's Glenn, and Julie thinks that 'the whole Eugene, Abraham, Sasha and Rosita stuff lately has been a total red herring.'

   
Now for some possible 'inside' info...!!

Machel says that based on a site called 'Spoiling Dead', it's two people: Glenn and Abraham. However, AMC knows about the site and have threatened them with a lawsuit, so if it's right maybe they will change it??? Hmmm!

Another person who has tried and failed to comment on my blog but happens to live very close to me (!) has told me that Ladbrookes won't take bets because the information is already out, and that according to his research the answer is that TWO people die in the first episode, the first being Eugene, and the second either Maggie or Michonne!

It had better not be the latter.... 

So, there you have it.  Any more comments welcome (I have fixed the reply problem and can now do so, and will update this post if there are some more opinions).... and roll on October!

No way am I doing a TWD post without a Daryl pic.... this one looks as if it was when he was looking at Buttons the horse (one of the saddest bits of Series 5).  Love the relationship between Aaron and Daryl, btw :)

 

My Top Ten Favourite Characters in The Walking Dead

.... I couldn't resist it, as the next half of the current series is imminent!  First I had fun going down the cast list on IMdb to choose my ten, then finding the pictures... so here they are - who were your favourites? 

10.  Sorry, T-Dog, you just missed out on a place in my top ten, as I gave that spot to Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan.  I liked her because she was super not-daft-girly, and dealt with the histrionics of irritating sister Beth, and the initial prejudices of father Hershel about her relationship with Glenn, pretty niftily.  And she could handle herself with a gun.  Love her and Glenn's relationship, too. 

 **

9.  Swaggering in along with the chip on his shoulder at number 9, I've chosen Shane Walsh, played by Jon Bernthal.  I felt kinda sorry for him when Rick turned up alive in series 1 and he had to pretend he wasn't in love with Lori, especially when she started being snitty with him to cover up the fact that she felt guilty.  I thought a lot of his more 'it's hard, but it's the only way' type decisions at the farm were right, too.  Oh, and of course he was the best totty for the first few episodes... 

 **

8.  I love this guy!  Sgt Abraham Ford, the man who really thought he was going to save the world!  Big nice teddy bear, often with his ideas a bit screwed up, but heart in the right place.  Some of the best comedic lines involved him.  Played by Michael Cudlitz.

 **

7.  Now, I'm known for not having a great deal of time for anyone much under the age of about 25, but I really got to thinking that Carl Grimes was more than okay as the story went on.  He soon sussed out about not being a child anymore, and learned to do and understand grown up stuff without making a big song and dance about it.  He also had that way about him that the coolest kids have: sometimes, he could make the adults look pretty stupid.  Played by Chandler Riggs.

**

6.  No, Glenn Rhee, I won't make the mistake of thinking you're Chinese....  loved this chap from the time he first saved Rick's life back at the beginning, when he was a jaunty boy racer type.  He grew up so much from the lad who couldn't believe his luck when Maggie propositioned him in the looted out pharmacy, to someone who could protect and survive with the best of 'em.  I thought his relationship with would-have-been father in law Hershel was kind of sweet, too.  Played by Steven Yuen.

**

5.  Bumbling his way into the Top 5, surely one of the most inspired characters in the whole show - I bet the writers were pleased when they thought up Eugene Porter (played by Josh McDermott)!  The probably borderline Aspergers syndrome computer nerd with the horrendous mullet who knew he would be dead meat if ever he came face to face with a zombie, so pretended he was a scientist carrying the formulae to end the disaster - all he needed was someone who'd give him a safe passage to Washington DC!  Actually, everything he said made good sense, if you listened to it.  Terrific dialogue!

 **

4.  At number 4, someone I couldn't stand at first but then came to be one of my favourites.  Who'd have thought that the end of the world could bring out the best in someone?  Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) went from pathetic victim to totally capable and switched on person, almost as soon as her 'orrible husband died and her daughter turned into a zombie.  Whatever it takes, right?  She took charge of big cry baby Tyreese, and I loved how she was strong enough to kill eleven year old psycho Lizzie.  I thought she made the right decision about the people she sacrificed back in the prison, too...

**

3.  There's always got to be a Hershel Greene type character in these sort of programmes/films, hasn't there?  Just in case you haven't got enough tears pricking at your eyelids.  Scott Wilson played the saint who brought Carl back to health, and truly believed that he and his family would be able to carry on living in his farm, safe from the Walkers; remember when they were finally driving away from it, and he said something like, but it's my farm, and Rick said, "Not any more, it's not".... not a dry eye in the house.

In the prison he became the wise father figure to everyone, a moving moment with one of his daughters, Glenn or Rick in almost every scene he was in.  But then came The Governor....

**

2.  If ever I find myself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, I want to be Michonne!  Isn't she just the best?  That cold silent attitude at the beginning hinted at great pain that we knew would come out eventually - and as for her two armless Walker safety shield...

The way she just slashes through whole groups of them with that sword is always great to watch; the sword itself one of the stars of the show.  Her relationship with Carl is dead touching, and she always looks so cool, too.  Love that leather waistcoat....  Danai Gurira, you totally rock!

**

 1.  And at number one.... no, not Rick, I'm afraid.  His ego got in the way too much for me, and he made some crap decisions, too (I'm thinking back to him trying to negotiate with The Governor at the prison) (Note: 2016 ~ I revised my opinion about him in the last series and now like him!)  Hey, but this isn't about Rick.  It's about the best character in the whole show: Daryl Dixon, of course.

Absolutely nothing to do with him being drop dead gorgeous, of course.  Even when he's all dirty - or especially when...  no, no, shut up, this is a family show!  But aside from his lushness, he's the bravest, the sharpest, he's loyal and deep and fearless, has really hunky broad shoulders, the way he cried when Merle died was such a memorable moment, ooh, and the way he handles that crossbow .... Norman Reedus, we love you.  Well, I do, anyway!

 

I can't wait to see them all again ~ do you agree with my ten?