The Walking Dead: The Damned
October 31, 2017 12:46 PM - Season 8, Episode 2 - Subscribe

The plan involving Alexandrians, Kingdommers and Hilltoppers unfolds. As Rick continues to fight, he encounters a familiar face.
posted by LizBoBiz (16 comments total)
 
I'm a bit confused as to the timeline between the attack we saw last week (Rick v. Negan v. a million walkers) and this week (Rick v. Morales, Morgan and Tara going psycho, and the attack on the weapons repair facility by the Alexandrians). That being said, this episode was 100% Negan-free, which already makes it one of the best episodes in living memory.

ANYWAY, I'd like to bring up a new topic for discussion: that is, the relative skill levels of Rick's crew vs Negan's crew. In encounter after encounter after encounter, we see Rick's crew winning pretty well any stand-up fight that they have with Neganites - the few exceptions seem to be (correct me if I'm wrong) where the Neganites have massive advantage and Rick chooses not to fight. Hell, *Carl* walked into the Sanctuary and took out a bunch of armed Neganites all by his lonesome. It's a bit hard to see, what with the odd fight choreography that others have commented on ("whoever directed this knows nothing about guns!") but the results are right there throughout season 7 and now 8. I can see why there would be a difference in skill level - Negan always uses overwhelming force, which means that his soldiers actually don't have that much combat experience, and their discipline is laughable (yes, they are terrorized, but that does not mean they are disciplined): even simple food pickups seem to have a 50-50 chance of going sideways, and never mind any kind of complex plan.

I was reminded of this as we watched Morgan's group waltz into the satellite facility and get set up in utter silence to attack everyone at once, and I thought "there's no way Negan's crew could have done a similar op."

Anyway, discussion question: why does Negan think he can win a halfway-balanced fight with Rick? He's seen the evidence. Why didn't he just take Carl's advice and kill them all before they had a chance to regroup?
posted by Mogur at 5:52 PM on October 31, 2017 [1 favorite]


These threads used to have 80-90 comments. I held out. I’m still holding out. I’ll watch to the end. My wife looked at me at the end of this episode and said “these are just getting worse and worse.”

Anyway, random thoughts:

What was up with those close-up face shots? It’s just filler now, right? The writers are bankrupt.

It’s hard to care when no one seems to onscreen.

There’s Daryl. There’s Carol. USE THEM.

And to address Mogur’s question, I don’t think they really know what to do with Negan, except make him Trump made flesh. So I guess we’ll see.
posted by valkane at 9:40 PM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]


I agree on the timeline confusion. And also that Negan's crew is pretty useless. I'm still pretty pissed that the snipers from Rick's crew didn't take out Negan in the last episode, but I guess he's wearing some pretty heavy plot armor.


I'm sticking it out too, valkane. I have a hard time not finishing things so I'll be here until the end. Although I will say that probably 75% of the 80-90 comments in the previous threads were complaints about the show. Those people I guess just gave up.
posted by LizBoBiz at 7:03 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I’m so glad I’m not the only one who was confused.

I’ve been watching, but just haven’t had much to add. But yeah, I’ve come this far and I’m going to finish it.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:16 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


So, there's
-the ready reaction force - they get sucked out of the weapons maintenance area by a false alarm and blown up with IED's
-the main sanctuary base - Negan's there, it got hit first with zombies to lock down a lot of his forces and contain him. a lot of the A-listers (Daryl, Carol, Tara, Morgan) were involved in herding the zombies while Rick led the distraction force to hold Negan until the zombies arrived
- the satellite facility - it got hit a close second, so they could capture the armory and a chunk of Negan's forces. several A-listers were there, so we know it's an important target
- the weapons maintenance area. I'm not sure where this is in relation to the other locations. I get the sense it's some distance away. It also got hit second, by some Alexandrians
- the office building with the baby. Daryl and Rick hit this second after they were done with the big herd, and are looking for machine guns. it overlooks the sanctuary or possibly the weapons maintenance area


Yes, I said zombies.
posted by Mogur at 8:58 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


I have an old friend from college who is currently filming as a walker. Therefore, I have to continue to watch this damn show until her episodes show up. That said, I am finding it harder and harder to care about these people. I mean, the whole damn country is huge. Move. Neegan killed your friends and wants you to be his worker bees? Fine, move. Pack up your shit and find a new place. Letting shit continually come down to "We must kill those people because they killed our people." is stupid and pointless. You're eventually gonna run out of people. And bullets. And gasoline.

Take your resources and go.
posted by teleri025 at 9:31 AM on November 1, 2017 [3 favorites]


probably 75% of the 80-90 comments in the previous threads were complaints about the show. Those people I guess just gave up.

There's nothing new to complain about, it has the same fundamental problems that have remained unaddressed.
posted by FallowKing at 11:01 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I mean, the whole damn country is huge. Move.

I've been saying this since the second or third season, but to be fair that was more about the humidity.

Team Zombie.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:12 AM on November 1, 2017


I mean, the whole damn country is huge. Move. Neegan killed your friends and wants you to be his worker bees? Fine, move. Pack up your shit and find a new place.

Look, I get it, I've had the same thought, but the show has thoroughly debunked this line of thinking with how. much. time. they spent trying to find any place they could even live without being chased by walkers. They found a place worth defending. They have electricity, farming, doctors and medical supplies, and toilets, for crying out loud. No one wants to leave, and they've said there's no where else to go, really. Saying "just go" is silly - the show has told us over and over again that they can't.

I am SO GLAD all the haters and complainers have left. I know there's not many of us in here, but I still care about the show and I can't stand it when people do FanFare with only negative comments. It's a television show - there are criticisms of it, sure. But I'm also still enjoying it.
posted by agregoli at 8:25 AM on November 2, 2017


(You can't take your farming resources with you on the road, for one)
posted by agregoli at 8:38 AM on November 2, 2017


Digging:

Carol's grim resolve. I love her story arch, she's a great character that knows her mind. Rare for female characters written by men.

Tara's swagger - pretty much a slight swipe at comic relief (this show has lost a ton of that over the years), so I like it.

New Diane Lady Archer character (although not digging her name - Diana like the archer? Please. And we already had a Diana - she was head of Alexandria - kind of annoying). She seems cool though, I hope she sticks around.

Not digging:

Ezekiel - to use his phrasing, I grow weary of his oration. I do like how the other characters are always exchanging glances when he speaks. I do feel like most of our central characters wouldn't actually deal with his bizarre King fetish thing and tell him to STFU.

Them potentially killing yet another gay character in a relationship - it really seems like Aaron's boyfriend Eric is donezo, right? I guess that's this show's version of playing fair?

This episode was exciting, but I grew more and more uneasy with what I saw on screen. The straight-up assassination stuff makes me really uncomfortable in this age of the American Mass Shooter. With this show's level of fandom of people of all ages, I would hate if the show spawned it's own tragedy. It made me feel gross and the AMOUNT lately of people straight up killing other people who haven't directly threatened them is bending the show in a bad direction. Walkers now appear to be tools only to use against others, and I really do miss the loss of them as horror vehicle. I'm also unsure where the show can go after all out war.

I don't want this, but I sincerely feel they may be killing off Rick Grimes soon. The call back to the first episode in the season premiere really chimed with me that they are drawing near to the end for Rick Grimes. I know that will happen eventually anyway, and Chandler Riggs is reaching an older teenage look, so the torch will be passed soon, I'm sure. Whether he makes it through the whole season or not, who knows. Or I'm way off base - but I don't see Andrew Lincoln doing much more, and on top of that, it would be an excellent way to reshape the show for the next 10 seasons. The only real question for me is whether I will care after our hero is gone.
posted by agregoli at 8:49 AM on November 2, 2017


This show is frustrating. I enjoyed the stealthy takedown of whatever place it was that Morgen et al were in, but I had no idea where the fuck Rick and Darryl were or what they were trying to do, and the interminable attack on the weapons lab or whatever was just really poorly directed, like I think I've seen better shootouts on The A-Team. And who was that Morales guy? Am I supposed to care? Was he one of the dudes in the latinx retirement community or something? I guess I'm supposed to be worried about the one dude's boyfriend getting shot, but honestly it just makes me dread yet another "you can make it after I'm gone" speech followed by half an episode of that one dude being all bummed out and angry.
posted by whir at 7:36 PM on November 2, 2017


Morales was with Rick and the others in the camp in the woods in the beginning, right before they lost Sophia. He left with his family instead of going with the group to the CDC.

It's surprising to me people don't remember him since he was prominent in the group that included Andrea, who escaped from Atlanta, leaving Merle on the roof.
posted by agregoli at 5:48 AM on November 3, 2017


Morales in Atlanta He watched Rick and Glen with binoculars, as they walked covered in guts thru the walkers on the street to get to a truck to save the others.
posted by agregoli at 5:51 AM on November 3, 2017


(The point being, he didn't even originally agree with Rick's decision making, and now definitely thinks he's a psycho)
posted by agregoli at 9:49 AM on November 3, 2017


I have wondered over the years what ever happened to Morales and his family and whether they would ever reappear.
posted by larrybob at 1:25 PM on November 3, 2017


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