Fear the Walking Dead Friday

A couple things about this show, first is that I DVR it because it is on at the same time as Game of Thrones and I have more time invested in that show.  Second is that I am disappointed that we are already coming up to the halfway point in the 8 show season.  It's hard for me to remember the characters names because we only see them for 8 shows a year. That being said, this show deserves a try. 

The show starts out in LA at the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse.  The first season took some adjustment because the audience knew more than the characters.   They are catching up quickly however.  LA burned after a military strike in a failed attempt to contain the outbreak at the end of last season and our little group set off on a boat toward San Diego, or did they?

The show follows Madison and her boyfriend Travis and their combined kids Nick, a addict, his sister Alicia and Travis' son Chris.   Along the way we picked up Daniel and his daughter Ofelia and the boat owner Victor Strand.   Strand is an elusive character who is hard and worn and refuses to let anyone on his boat except the band of brothers he has chosen.   Last week we leaned he is trying to return to his lover in Mexico and an apparent safe place behind walls and set far away from civilization.  Somehow, I doubt the place is as he remembers but again, we know more than the little group, still. 

So far the group has figured out that you have to cause a head injury to stop the walkers who they don't call walkers, by the way.  Also, Nick figured out that if you cover yourself in the blood of the dead you can move freely among them.    

The group is going back and forth from west coast town to west coast town on the high seas and they are experiencing a level of danger that is new and different from anything Rick and the Scooby gang experienced on the original show.  

What I like about this show:

The zombies are still new and not so slow although they are a lot slower than people and it seems to me like a slow jog would still get you well away from them quickly. 

The characters are experiencing things and learning and we are learning about what happened while Rick was sleeping beauty. 

The characters are all adult aged.  The youngest main character are Chris and Alicia and they are in high school.  Where Carl aged dramatically compared to Judith who remains, much to my annoyance, still a toddler, in the 2-3 years that have passed on The Walking Dead, the age progression of these kids won't be noticed as the show progresses.   

Things I still want to know or that drive me crazy:

Where is Tobias?  He was my favorite character from season one and much like Morgan, he has just disappeared.  He was a high school student in the school Maddie worked in and he was the only character completely aware and prepared for what was about to happen.  

The characters seem completely oblivious to the danger around them.  In week two they were on the beach collecting medicine and clothing from a plane crash. Instead of just taking a small bag that contained various medicine, Nick started shifting through it.  Really?  It was a very small carry on bag.   Just grab it and go.   Also, they sent a small dingy to shore with something like 4 people to collect supplies.   How many supplies can you fit on a small dingy when you have it full of people?  This became especially annoying when Chris spent the entire time on land in a portion of the wrecked plane killing walkers and a live man who begged him to put him out of his misery then dealing with the guilt.  Deal with the guilt later, get a move on.   Of course, walkers show up and they all make a mad dash for the dingy.  

The latest turn of events is that the ship has been taken over by a band of, well, basically pirates.  Alicia made the mistake of befriending one of the pirates on the ship radio and now we are experiencing our first bad guys of the show.   So far I am not totally impressed but remember, these bad guys haven't had 2-3 years to learn how to be psycho yet.  

Overall, I am hoping for a few things from this show, first that they don't follow a comic book script so closely like they do on the original show.  Second, that these characters grow and develop at a natural rate, based on their experience, and finally, that Tobias shows back up soon and we don't have to wait 3-5 seasons to see what happened to him,  because that kid is just awesome.  

The Walking Dead recap Episode 15: What the heck?

The forbidden fruit....apples anyone?

So many emotions were involved in Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead.  Once again, the show made me scream by the end of the episode.  This is getting way too familiar and with the coming of Negan next week, it isn't going to get any easier.

We started out with a flash forward scene and then it gets a lot a little slow and involves mostly moments where everyone is hitting the sheets which is never a good sign.  It is always the calm before the storm.   Rick and Michonne and Maggie and Glenn were doing all the nasty deeds but you got a little bit of the after glow of Abraham and Sasha too.

Carol has nice handwritting 

Next up there was a ton going on and it all got a little confusing.   Daryl is angry....again.  When is he not angry?   So being the genius that he is, he takes off alone to go after Dwight and the Saviors.  Glenn, Rosita, and Michonne, who is now done sharing the forbidden fruit with Rick, take off after him.  Of course, I am talking about the apple they shared in bed.  An aside here, I have never eaten an apple with my husband.  If I did, I would probably cute it in two and not pass it back and forth with him.  

Glenn should have stayed in the shower with Maggie

Going out on your own is not smart! 

Rick finds out that Carol has run away when Tobias takes a mid morning walk over to Rick's place to show him the letter.   Seriously, it took him forever to get to Rick's place. How big is Alexandria, exactly?  Rick and Morgan go after her.

Meanwhile she has run into a group of Saviors on the highway to hell who promptly shoot out her tires.  Carol gets out of the car and starts begging them not to make her do this.  We have a 'Can't we all just get along moment' that quickly turns to a 'Hell no, we can't get along cause we are going to kill you' moment.  Carol, of course, blows everyone away....well almost everyone.  There is one Savior left.

He Morgan, you remember that protein bar?

Rick and Morgan come across what is left of Carol's shoot out and start to track her via piles of blood.  They don't know that they are being followed by the surviving Savior, or are they? He seems to follow them but that part is kind of left hanging.   Morgan takes this opportunity to come clean with Rick about the jail cell, the Wolf that he let live who later saved Denise who then saves Carl.   Did anyone else think to themselves, 'Denise wouldn't have almost gotten mauled by that pack of walkers if the Wolf hadn't kidnapped her and taken her out into that mess in the first place, Morgan.  Your reasoning here is a little light on facts.'   Morgan comes back to his point which is all lives are precious.   I feel like Morgan is the chairman of the "All Lives Matter" movement and while I agree with him in principal, this is a show, about the zombie apocalypse.  If I start seeing "Walker Lives Matter" T-shirts next season on the walking dead, I may have to switch channels.  Unrelated but valid, what I wouldn't give for a Walker Donald Trump to show up. I bet his hair is still the same.  It is alive! It is ALIVE!

Wait until he finds out Carol is missing too 

Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita catch up with Daryl who is mad as hell, still. Mad Daryl is never a good thing.  He loses all sense of reality. Tunnel vision anyone?  He is going to kill Dwight and he refuses to listen to reason.  By now I am thinking; Just what we need. Daryl going off half cocked to get a revenge kill for Denise and Glenn and Michonne out there tracking him.  Don't these people know that Negan carries that damn bat he named Lucille and you do not want to meet either of them, anywhere.  By the way, anytime people start yelling at each other in the woods, or stop to chit chat, I just want to smack them.   The walkers can hear you and we have no evidence the Saviors are deaf.  Why can't Daryl, for once, think about the fact he is putting himself plus 3 other people at risk to carry out his revenge.  Why didn't Glenn find out Carol was missing first before they went after Daryl.   Carol in jeopardy would have snapped Daryl out of it but no, we have Tobias taking his own sweet time going to Rick.   I guess he was worried about waking Rick up before he got to eat his apple.

Let's have a party in the woods and invite the saviors. 

So while Glenn is wasting his time trying to get Daryl to come home, back in Terminus  Alexandria, Maggie decides now is a good time to get a "Mom-Do".   I thought most people waited until the baby was born before they get a Mom-Do.   I am saying this, tweeting it actually, when Maggie goes into what appears to be a miscarriage.  I am so sorry, Maggie.  Wear your hair however you want just don't lose the baby.

Glenn, please find a dumpster quick!

Once again our band of out of their senses misfits in the woods split up.   Morgan and Rick split up but not before Rick confesses to Morgan that Michonne did take his last protein bar.  Thank GOD Rick got that off his chest.  It must have been eating him alive!

So if you are keeping score at home, We have Carol running around alone.  Rick running around alone after throwing his girl under the bus. Morgan running around alone, and Daryl and Rosita splitting up form Michonne and Glen.

Rick makes it back to Alexandria to warn them that the Saviors may be on the way and they need to prepare.  At this point I think there are like 5 people left to guard Alexandria, including one eyed Carl and can't walk Judith,  because everyone else is running around the countryside like lunatics.

Yet again, people stop to talk, in the woods, totally oblivious to their surroundings.  Glenn and Michonne can't seem to find a better place to have a heart to heart so they clearly stop in the middle of the woods to Yell talk to each other.  You guessed it, the Saviors find them complete with Hunger Games whistling, just to confuse things.  I just want to know WHY Glen?  WHY Michonne?   You all can beat the living pulp out of walkers but you can't make it back home before you have a conversation?  WHY?

Never fear however because out there somewhere is Daryl and Rosita, not to mention Carol and Morgan.

But wait, there is more.   Daryl and Rosita sneak up on the Saviors who have Glenn and Michonne tied up.  By sneak, I mean they probably come in like a heard of wild buffalo because from the look on Glenn's face and the rapid shake of his head, you know this is a trap.  I know this is a trap.  Everyone but Daryl and Rosita know it is a trap.....right up until the moment they get captured and Daryl seems to get shot.  Insert my scream here.

Now, seriously people, I screamed and yet my husband managed to sleep straight through.  How does he do that?  If someone breaks into my house, is he going to sleep through my screaming?  These things worry me.  If he can sleep through my The Walking Dead screams not to mention the night I woke up with Charlie horse pain and screamed for like 55  5 minutes,  there is little hope for me if the Saviors come to take me away.

Roll previews:
The previews end with a close up of Lucille.  Negan and Lucille will be key to next weeks season finale and to be honest, I am scared to watch.  I know Negan is going to beat the life out of someone with Lucille.  I have seen rumors ranging from Rick or Daryl to Glenn will die. I know what happens in the comic book and I don't want to see anyone get their head bashed in much less any of these idiot much beloved characters who all have something major to lose.

More thoughts on the show:

It was Easter and there was no Jesus in this episode.  Somehow, that just seems wrong.

Glenn really needs to be in time out.  He left his pregnant wife to go chase after Daryl, who was determined to get himself killed tracking Dwight plus Glen has almost died so many times this season, I can't even count that high.   There are no dumpsters to hide under in the woods.

Does anyone else get the distinct feeling that that jail cell that Morgan built will eventually play a big role in this show?  I mean, they have brought that thing up in nearly every episode for the last half of the season.

Morgan and Carol out there wandering around half cocked not to mention, apparently injured, leave me feeling very uneasy.   I am not ready to lose Morgan and Carol is obviously having a nervous breakdown.

I love Morgan but I can't help thinking his "All life is precious" theme is just a little out of place given the apocalyptic times they live in.  I am not saying random killing is right for the people left, I am just saying if the other people left are trying to actually kill you, putting them all in one small holding cell to rehabilitate may not be the direction to go.  Especially when they want to bash your head in.

I want to hate the Saviors but I can't help but think back to the episode 2 weeks ago where we see that in reality, they are not that different from Rick and the Scooby gang.   They are just trying to survive in this crazy world where there are no rules except 'look out for number one'.   With that in mind, I know already that Negan and Rick are not that much alike.  Rick doesn't kill for the sake of a lesson or to send a message and he certainly doesn't carry a barbed wire covered pistol.  Does anyone else ask themselves how Negan manages to not hit himself in the leg repeatedly with Lucille?  I mean, maybe I am just too clumsy but a barbed wire covered anything is not going to work for me. I even run over the stuff with a riding lawn mower and let me tell you, that is a real B to get untangled.    I think the Saviors are what our band of brothers and sisters would be if they were just a little more crazy. Their brand of punishment, losing a finger for stealing, certainly sends a message.

I start my A-Z challenge on Friday but I will figure out how to get a season wrap up blog in next week after I have a moment to mourn the imminent deaths.  Also, I plan on continuing this series with Fear the Walking Dead and possibly The Game of Thrones.  Keep in mind that I also scream a lot during the Game of Thrones and if Jon Snow isn't alive and well by 15 minutes into the season opener, I might be in cardiac arrest.