Monday, November 29, 2010

Walking Dead Episode 5: "Wildfire"

Boy oh Boy.... it's feast or famine with the Zombies in the show eh? I mean until I caught a vague glimpse of one at the end of the episode, there really wasn't a Zombie in sight unless you claim Amy's re-animation (Christmas wish #3 CHECK!) or the clean-up shots from the previous night's ambush. This was actually a kind of touchy-feely episode. Lots of working through our issues and getting in touch with our inner feelings, and let's just HOPE that somewhere out there a psychiatrist made it through the epidemic because these folks are going to need some therapy.
We got Andrea who just has work do. Guilt, regret, missed birthdays, and now she has to suffer the pain of knowing that she allowed her sister to re-animate. If any of you have the choice between putting a pick-axe through my noggin and letting me turn into a Zombie and you choose the latter, I will Eat you AND Haunt you forever!! Friends don't let Friends turn into the undead am I right?
Then we have the battered wife. It's definitely too late for couples counseling but MAN does this chick have unresolved issues or what?
Merle is on his way back to camp probably right? Poor Merle....am I the only one who remembers his plight? He's being abandoned twice! When Daryl realizes this he's gonna need a soft couch and some tissues for sure.
Shane is going to the dark side. The CDC quest is a nice distraction for a while but he'll crack.
Everyone else just needs a beach vacation. Hammock, hot sand, Margarita.... you know just a little time off from the whole Zombie apocalypse.
So the group cleans up the mess from the ambush and Amy re-animates and then gets shot in the head and we find out that the sunstroked gravedigger got bit. Ruh-ro. Daryl wants to pick-axe him right then and there. I think I would have given him a moment to collect his thoughts and get his mind together and then I would have given the poor guy a choice: pick-axe, gun or cross bow? Daryl has a point and the more I get to know him the more I think I'd want him on my team during a Zombie outbreak (unless I was the one that got bit of course...). But they decide to go on a medic mission instead and try to make it to a CDC outpost about 100 miles away.
   First they have a funeral. Now technically Amy ought to be put in the Zombie fire but I guess there's exceptions for friends and family. I call it Zombie Outbreak Nepotism but whatever. They all cry a bit and fight and Shane almost shoots Rick in the woods (Lord of the Flies prediction? Damn I'm good!). Next the Hispanic family decides that although the main group has made smashingly good decisions from the get go, that they are going to try to forge ahead on their own and go visit their relatives in Alabama. Hello!! All your relatives are shuffling re-animated corpses! And now your kids are gonna need therapy along with the rest of them since you dragged them away from their last playmates on the planet. I do have to say however that this family has the best quest vehicle in the convoy. When they broke off from the main group in that thing I almost cried. The rest of the convoy has higher standards for their vehicles. To be part of the CDC convoy it would seem that the vehicle requirements are:
• pre-1980 manufacturing date
• something that's been hastily repaired with non-original parts and/or duct tape
• bondo
So there you have it. They hobble down back roads until a vehicle breaks down. They leave the sunstroked grave digger to die. What are these people thinking? What's HE thinking? I mean you're either going to be eaten alive or turn into a Zombie yourself dude. Have Daryl take you out the humane way - Lord he's itching to do it! Like my Mom always says "When you make bad choices, bad things happen to you."
So that just leaves us one thing to discuss. The CDC guy. With an epic bullet-proof outpost like he's got, HOW ON EARTH is he the only one left in it? There needs to be some backstory. Like season 2 could ALL be backstory and I'd be happy at this point. I don't really know what to make of this new twist. It would seem to be a secure location - a good place to hole up, stash the women and children and go out foraging for supplies in small fast-moving teams of 2 or 3. But you know it can't ever go that smoothly for our tragic little band of survivors. So what's going to happen? Did the CDC guy infected himself with burning Zombie acid? Did they make such a scene at the door that the place will be overridden with Zombies? Will ANYONE on the show actually ever USE the word "Zombie" instead of "walkers" or the super-annoying "geeks"? Does anyone else ever talk to their TV when the show is on?:

"I would just LOVE to help you with the pick-axing Daryl... it's just getting a little too splattery for me." 
"Ok Carl, Mommy and Daddy need to have a little talk so you just walk back to camp by yourself past all that tall grass there.."
"Hey as we convoy onward, let's all keep our eyes open for better vehicles. We can try to trade up one vehicle at a time.         Or not...."
"Andrea, she's gonna bite you! She's grabbing your hair! It's not LOVE!!"

Can't wait to see what happens next week.

3 comments:

  1. cute blog.
    i understood the Andrea/Amy scene a little differently. she mourned at her sister's side, waiting, determined to make sure she'd release her sister herself. after Amy reanimated, it did get a little hairy, but Andrea was ready for what she knew she had to do. and it was kinda fucked that Amy was reborn on her very birthday...
    i agree about the Jim thing. it seemed more cruel to leave him out there to suffer and die/reanimate, than it would have been to dispatch him humanely.
    i love Daryl.
    the CDC storyline will be interesting. be patient, the story will unfold itself. i'm sure it will serve to help answer some questions for the group. and for viewers.
    "Geeks" irritates me too, but my patience with the show has been pretty serene. as a fan of the comic book that has been prepared for the changes the show would have, it's been pretty sweet. i'm digging the suspense, and will suffer a whole year of waiting for season 2.
    can't wait for Michonne!

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  2. Completely agree with the "Geeks" term. It's an insult to both geeks and zombies. I think it's apparent that in all zombie movies and now shows, that the characters have never seen a zombie movie. They must have only seen,"The Shining" or maybe those "Saw" movies. Otherwise, we'd hear them saying,"Well the way they defeated the Zombies in Dawn of the Dead: Special Edition was to....." Clearly we are at an advantage if WE should encounter a Zombie Apocalypse.

    I also agree with Azuredivina. Andrea had to get some things off her chest while her sister was "alive".

    Daryl really should have hit Jim with the crossbow. Not the gun, you want to save your ammo. It shouldn't really even have been Jim's choice. When he turns into a geek (LOL) whoever he eats, is their responsibility.

    I nominate father figure Dale as group therapist. He does have those crazy eyes but I loved the long "therapeutic" look he gave Shane when he saw where he was pointing that rifle.

    Glad to see that you have more blog followers!

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