Frank Darabont to write/direct Walking Dead series for AMC

[rittchard]

It's finally coming to an end... kind of... in 2 years... with more spinoffs...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/ ... b168fd4fde

[hepcat]

If they can get Charlie Sheen for the Two Men and a Walker sitcom spinoff, I'd be up for that.

Or even the Chuck Norris spinoff, "Walker, Texas Ranger"

[Lassr]

I was just coming in to post the same:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-walking-dea ... 1844998838

I think this is a good decision. We'll see about Daryl and Carol spinoff but I like the other ideas as long as they can get and keep good writers.

[rittchard]

OK here's the TWD thread bumped up for your pleasure. The Season 10 finale is coming soon, and has had pretty good buzz. I'm trying to avoid any articles so I don't see spoilers. I even subscribed to the stupid AMC+ or whatever so I can see it a few days early. Will post impressions after.

[hepcat]

I'm so confused by the way they split the seasons up.

Also, what happened to Fear the Walking Dead? Did they just decide to make it a comedy after all and set its release back a bit so they could retool it?

[rittchard]

I'm so confused by the way they split the seasons up.

Also, what happened to Fear the Walking Dead? Did they just decide to make it a comedy after all and set its release back a bit so they could retool it?

Yeah it's really weird. My only guess is it has something to do with timing of the movies and timelines in the show after schedules got messed up from Covid. Possibly the plotlines in Season 11 need to take place after the first movie airs or something like that, so they decided to push it into 2022. Just a wild guess.

Fear is coming back in a couple weeks, the last preview looked decent but we'll see.

[hepcat]

For a little while, it seemed like Fear the Walking Dead was trying to be a better version of TWD, but then it just fell apart again. At this point, in any of the Walking Dead franchises, you could just turn off the sound and play the Benny Hill chase song and the story would make more sense.

[Lassr]

Fear is coming back in a couple weeks, the last preview looked decent but we'll see.

I hope it's decent. FtWD has been more of a rollercoster ride than TWD as far as good and bad seasons. I've enjoyed TWD throughout even with weaker seasons but FtWD has been good then bad, good again, then atrocious, I almost quit it last season.

[Scraper]

Fear is coming back in a couple weeks, the last preview looked decent but we'll see.

I hope it's decent. FtWD has been more of a rollercoster ride than TWD as far as good and bad seasons. I've enjoyed TWD throughout even with weaker seasons but FtWD has been good then bad, good again, then atrocious, I almost quit it last season.

That beer bottle hot air balloon was the jump the shark moment for me with this series. It's going to take a lot to get me to watch all of the next season.

[Lassr]

Fear is coming back in a couple weeks, the last preview looked decent but we'll see.

I hope it's decent. FtWD has been more of a rollercoster ride than TWD as far as good and bad seasons. I've enjoyed TWD throughout even with weaker seasons but FtWD has been good then bad, good again, then atrocious, I almost quit it last season.

That beer bottle hot air balloon was the jump the shark moment for me with this series. It's going to take a lot to get me to watch all of the next season.

that was bad and the hurricane blowing the zombies with the trees barely moving in the background...

[disarm]

Well the long-delayed S10 finale was pretty underwhelming. We got all the major events that were expected and not much else...and most of that wasn't even presented in a very interesting or exciting way. The only surprising scene was at the very end with Eugene. That finale pretty much served to end the Whisperers storyline for good (with more of a whimper than a bang) and gives them a big reset for the final season. Hopefully, they can pull off something good to wrap it up...

[Lassr]

underwhelming I think is the proper word for it. I think the problem is the interruption of the flow of the show due to COVID, with such anticipation for the finale as a stand alone episode when it should of been just the next episode. The handling of Beta was too quick, but I understand when Norman said in Talking Dead they didn't want another prolonged knife fight, they had already done that. But still...too quick.

Now the wait for the final season.

And as for World Beyond, wait and see, hate I got interrupted and came back to the TV to see

Spoiler:

all the dead on campus and the Civic Republic putting down walkers...what happened?

[hepcat]

It wasn't great, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was fully intended to tug at heartstrings more than it was anything else. And I fell for it.

[rittchard]

underwhelming I think is the proper word for it. I think the problem is the interruption of the flow of the show due to COVID, with such anticipation for the finale as a stand alone episode when it should of been just the next episode. The handling of Beta was too quick, but I understand when Norman said in Talking Dead they didn't want another prolonged knife fight, they had already done that. But still...too quick.

Now the wait for the final season.

And as for World Beyond, wait and see, hate I got interrupted and came back to the TV to see

Spoiler:

all the dead on campus and the Civic Republic putting down walkers...what happened?

I enjoyed it quite a bit, kinda like Hepcat said. It pulled at some hearts strings, gave us a few big "moments" that we haven't had in a long time. OK OK I admit I was just so happy to see Maggie back. A lot of plot points made no sense, as usual, but I can forgive them for the most part.

Spoiler:

The biggest thing for me is the whole "dive off the cliff" thing - hasn't this been tried before and failed? And even if Carol jumped would that have made a difference? I might have bought the follow the music down the cliff thing, but the whole "skilled leading" was pretty whack. Basically arbitrary to however they want the plot to move, but whatever.

As for World Beyond:

Spoiler:

I don't think you missed anything; I guess we were to assume that was always the plan? But luckily the 6 cast members made it out before it happened thx to the warning from the dad?

[Lassr]

Spoiler:

I don't think you missed anything; I guess we were to assume that was always the plan? But luckily the 6 cast members made it out before it happened thx to the warning from the dad?

I enjoyed the TWD episode just felt rushed for a season finale.

Spoiler:

Ah, I didn't know if somehow walkers got in or if the Civics was killing the colony. I figured it wasn't walkers since we are supposed to be beyond the point of massive herds showing up unexpectedly.

[Lassr]

I watched both shows a 2nd time tonight since my wife missed them last night. I enjoyed them more the 2nd time around.

[rittchard]

I forked out $9 for AMC+ so I could see the episodes early again, I am so easily manipulated, I hate these people lol.

Anyway won't spoil anything but I will say it was a very good episode, I really enjoyed it. It felt like so much happened I thought it was an extended episode and I was surprised to see it was just standard length (or even shorter); without commercials only around 40ish minutes. Of course I may just be starved for any zombie content...

A few side notes. I thought I had read this year was going to be six separate side stories or something like that, but this first episode clearly that was not the case. It was a continuation of the main storyline so I was really happy with that, I think I just jumbled up a few of the press releases in my head. I also didn't realize they filmed this post-Covid; I have to say they did a fantastic job because if they hadn't said so in the after-content, I would have assumed this was filmed prior to Covid and then held back. Anyway, kudos to the team for doing a great job in less than ideal circumstances.

Spoiler:

I'm pretty picky with child actors, I don't know why. But TWD seems to do a great job of casting. Even though he hasn't done much of anything, the "look" for kid Herschel was spot on. Brought a huge smile to my face seeing him wearing the cap and all.

[hepcat]

Season 10, episode 21: 45 minutes of someone making soup and trying to catch a rat, 6 minutes of trying to make it painfully clear that the title refers to a Robert Frost poem.

Good lord, that was awful.

[Smoove_B]

I felt like this episode (and the one about Daryl living in the wild) were proof of concept bottle episodes to justify the alleged Daryl and Carol spinoff.

I can't believe this show has been airing since 2010. It's time.

[rittchard]

I felt like this episode (and the one about Daryl living in the wild) were proof of concept bottle episodes to justify the alleged Daryl and Carol spinoff.

I can't believe this show has been airing since 2010. It's time.

I heard from a friend this was the first of the episodes they filmed during the Covid shoots. And boy did it show. Alexandria seemed desolate even by their standards, and did you notice the zombies following Daryl literally followed each other six feet apart? I burst out laughing at that. I have to give them some credit because they definitely improved their skills over time, I don't know when the first of the six episodes was filmed but I thought that one was fantastic in comparison. If they hadn't mentioned the Covid limitations I wouldn't have even thought about it.

I don't mind the bottle episodes so much, it was kind of what I was expecting, but to have two Daryl/Carol ones out of six was a little ridiculous. I feel like they could have condensed both eps into a single one and it would have been much more palatable.

[Freyland]

Would you say the show is pretty much "walking dead", then?

[coopasonic]

I felt like this episode (and the one about Daryl living in the wild) were proof of concept bottle episodes to justify the alleged Daryl and Carol spinoff.

I can't believe this show has been airing since 2010. It's time.

The comic was pretty strong to the last. Pretty sad to see the show petering out (well I presume as I gave up a couple years back (not sure exactly when).

[hepcat]

The episode with Aaron and Gabriel was excellent, I thought. It played with our perceptions of what constitutes altruism and how far compassion should extend during an apocalypse in a great way.

[Kraken]

I'm one or two episodes behind. First, I had trouble remembering who any of these people are or what they were doing -- these long "mid-season" breaks are not good for the memory-impaired. Then I got the sense that I'm watching three or four different shows that only loosely intersect -- so many little groups of characters off on side quests. The one I saw last night, with Eugene & friends, felt like the most interesting of the lot. The Darryl-has-a-flashback-girlfriend story was the most WTF. I guess it was Dog's origin story?

[rittchard]

I think these 6 episodes were pretty much a Covid compromise to have something to show in 2021. I don't think they wanted to go over an entire year with no new content so they settled on these small scale episodes with limited personnel, probably hoping things would normalize enough so they can film more "normal" episodes without as many limitations.

[Kraken]

Oh yeah, the pandemic. I kind of forgot that zombies get covid, too. Actually, I subconsciously assumed that when they wrap a half-season, they have the other half in the can. It hadn't occurred to me that those episodes weren't sitting on the shelf. So I suppose I should be grateful that they showed something to keep the threads alive.

[Smoove_B]

Maybe I'm waaay off here, but the season finale (imho) was one of the best episodes of the entire series - maybe in the Top 10. Yeah, you needed to know everything that happened to that point to feel the weight of that episode, but I enjoyed every minute and found it to be absolutely gut-wrenching. I know we knew bits and pieces of his story, but to see it all played out like that was tough.

[Lassr]

Maybe I'm waaay off here, but the season finale (imho) was one of the best episodes of the entire series - maybe in the Top 10. Yeah, you needed to know everything that happened to that point to feel the weight of that episode, but I enjoyed every minute and found it to be absolutely gut-wrenching. I know we knew bits and pieces of his story, but to see it all played out like that was tough.

I agree. It was the best of all the flashback stories we've seen over the years and one of the best episodes period. Loved it.
The smile at the end though probably did not help matters with Maggie, not that anything would have helped anyhow...but I wonder what was going through his head at that point.

[rittchard]

Yeah I thought it was a fantastic episode finally getting to see many of the facets of Negan that have been hinted at over the years. The timing was great for something like this, as it didn't feel like it was interrupting or competing with the "main plotline" as other origin stories have in the past. I really enjoyed Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance here, he really got to play the character in so many different ways. Also I loved the chemistry with his wife, which apparently was his real wife.

A few minor nitpicks. I'm kind of getting sick of the flashback within a flashback within a flashback format. A lot of shows are doing it these days and it just seems like a lazy way of telling a story. Maybe not lazy but unnecessarily convoluted. I think the problem is they just did the same thing in another episode, I think it was the Daryl one. I felt like it could have been told almost linearly and still had the same impact.

The last smile was awesome. I interpreted it as he's kind of got a piece of the old him back, and he's not going to let himself just be a pushover and get walked all over anymore. He's finally coming to terms with some of the the things from his past, a lot of the guilt, etc. and maybe able to accept he's just a seriously flawed individual who is really trying to be better.

[Smoove_B]

I can excuse a lot of things about him. I can't justify his harem of women, but I can at least support how he had his crew organized. He can likely feel comfortable answering for any number of things, but killing a defenseless Glenn and Abraham in cold blood? I think that makes him irredeemable. Even at the height of the Ricktatorship where Rick was killing people in their sleep at least you could *kinda* argue they were soldiers and were out to kill Rick and his people. The Glenn and Abraham thing is a whole different level, imho. I get that he was staying true to his rules by killing them (which we saw the origins of last night), but there's no way he's going to last long now that Maggie is back.

[EvilHomer3k]

I can excuse a lot of things about him. I can't justify his harem of women, but I can at least support how he had his crew organized. He can likely feel comfortable answering for any number of things, but killing a defenseless Glenn and Abraham in cold blood? I think that makes him irredeemable. Even at the height of the Ricktatorship where Rick was killing people in their sleep at least you could *kinda* argue they were soldiers and were out to kill Rick and his people. The Glenn and Abraham thing is a whole different level, imho. I get that he was staying true to his rules by killing them (which we saw the origins of last night), but there's no way he's going to last long now that Maggie is back.

But he looks so damn cool in that jacket.

Absolutely, by far, the best flashback episode in the show. And, finally, someone figures out that it's helpful to let the audience in on the fact that it's a flashback and let them know when the flashback was. This episode is the best flashback based on that alone.

[hepcat]

Excellent episode. I have to say that I hadn’t heard 45 Grave’s Partytime in about 30 years and suddenly I hear it twice in 3 months. Here and on Sabrina on Netflix.

[Kraken]

I enjoyed the way the flashbacks were nested -- we step further and further back, and then reverse course back to the present. As the best TWD villain ever, Negan deserved a proper origin story, and they really humanized him.

It also reinforced my feeling that this show needs to get away from the "cast of thousands" and focus more...but I guess next season is going to be the last, right? If so, they have a lot of wrapping up to do.

[naednek]

Gotta say for the complaining we do about this series, you should watch Z nation. Wow it's a trainwreck

[Daehawk]

Nobody has died. They just logged out of the game. Last ep Rick takes off his VR glasses and goes to eat dinner with Carl and Lori.

[Isgrimnur]

Nobody has died. They just logged out of the game. Last ep Rick takes off his VR glasses and goes to eat dinner with Carl and Lori.

And the waitress is a CGI Suzanne Pleshette.

[rittchard]

We are back for the "Final" season!! I hesitate to comment too much because I paid the piper to get AMC+ access again, and this time they are showing episodes an entire week in advance. Suffice to say the first two episodes have been a blast. A lot of good action mixed with some great character moments as well. A few plot contrivances as usual, but all in all it feels like they are starting off strong and moving toward a good finale.

I did feel like the premiere which aired last night was a little short, but taken together, the first two episodes are a strong combo. I suspect they considered airing them as a 2-hour extravaganza, and I think that would have been the way to go, but either way, the content is good.

[Lassr]

We are back for the "Final" season!! I hesitate to comment too much because I paid the piper to get AMC+ access again, and this time they are showing episodes an entire week in advance. Suffice to say the first two episodes have been a blast. A lot of good action mixed with some great character moments as well. A few plot contrivances as usual, but all in all it feels like they are starting off strong and moving toward a good finale.

I did feel like the premiere which aired last night was a little short, but taken together, the first two episodes are a strong combo. I suspect they considered airing them as a 2-hour extravaganza, and I think that would have been the way to go, but either way, the content is good.

I really liked last night's episode, although

Spoiler:

I have a feeling we have another fake out death with Maggie, figured she probably scrambled around to where Daryl crawled under the train car. And so much for the likeable Negan.

[hepcat]

Nobody has died. They just logged out of the game. Last ep Rick takes off his VR glasses and goes to eat dinner with Carl and Lori.

And the waitress is a CGI Suzanne Pleshette.

I just want to say, that was hands down one of the greatest series finales of all time.

[rittchard]

Looking forward to seeing reactions to this Sunday's ep. I loved the opening action sequence, it was just fantastic. The Reapers are a really cool villain, they have a more threatening feel to them which I enjoy. I think it helps that they weren't in the comics as far as I remember. Maybe my memory is bad? Thus far I've really enjoyed this season's opening 3 episodes, hope it bodes well as they head toward the end of the show.