MovieChat Forums > The Walking Dead (2010) Discussion > At 100, THE WALKING DEAD Needs Mercy

At 100, THE WALKING DEAD Needs Mercy

posted 7 years ago by jriddle73 (363)
19 replies | jump to latest

Tonight's season 8 kick-off of THE WALKING DEAD also marked the series' 100th episode and the heavy promotion given that fact by AMC in the lead-up to it suggested the creators were planning something special. It was certainly the time for it. Last season, our heroes and the Saviors declared all-out war on one another. Unfortunately, TWD has been running on fumes for several seasons now and the only "something special" its creators could manage was to turn an all-out war into a moronic exercise in tedium.

As last season had ended, the combined forces of our heroes had decimated the Savior contingent Negan had brought to subjugate the Safe Zone. Negan used his plot immunity to escape. Though he made his exit in a lumbering military vehicle and was hours from his home base, Rick thought it was more important to have a weepy moment with Michonne than to send fighters in vehicles to run down and capture/kill the villain. It isn't clear how much time has passed between this and tonight's installment but it is clear the writers are showing their traditional disregard for this critical element. Maggie is pregnant. She first revealed she knew this at the time of Glenn's fake dumpster-dive "death," way back in the middle of season 6. Upon the introduction of the Hilltop community, the Hilltop doctor gave Maggie a transabdominal ultrasound, something that would only work if she was 8 weeks along or more. At the end of that season, she was far enough along to suffer a serious complication, and the effort to get her to the doctor at Hilltop led to our heroes' first encounter with Negan. That complication was later diagnosed by the Hilltop doctor as a placental abruption, a condition that can only occur after 20 weeks of pregnancy (and typically happens much later). At this same time, Carol, who had left the Safe Zone, was shot to pieces. She convalesced at the Kingdom and it would be a minimum of 5 or 6 weeks before she would recover from such injuries. She did and then spent x amount of time living alone outside the community, basically written out of the story. Then in the last few minutes of season 7, Rick was shot. But tonight, he's fully recovered--another 5 or 6 weeks. Maggie's pregnancy should have been quite visible since at least 12 weeks in and by tonight's ep, she should be ready to pop but instead, she still isn't even showing. And she even made a joke about her pregnancy--"They say you can wage war through the second trimester."

A 5-or-6-week gap between the seasons is problematic in other ways. In his previous appearance, Negan was shown to have assembled his forces and told them they were going to war. Now, we're to believe it's been that long and not only has he entirely failed to go to war, he was so unprepared that he was caught with his pant's down by even one of Rick's idiotic schemes...

Full review is here:
http://cinemarchaeologist.blogspot.com/2017/10/walking-dead-95.html

[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 7 years ago

I agree with everything you said!
I was also wondering how much time had elapsed between seasons. Why would Negan wait weeks before making a move? By all logic, thos season should have started immediately after the S7 finale, or at least the next day. But Rick and Michonne are both fully healed from their S7 injuries.
And how is Maggie STILL not even showing a bump? Total BS!

[–] jriddle73 (363) 7 years ago

Someone should perhaps explain to the writers that the first trimester doesn't encompass the first 8 months of pregnancy. I haven't run a comprehensive timeline on the series in a long time--I just don't have the interest to put in the work--but the events I covered should have gotten us to that point. Maggie should have been noticeably showing from 12 weeks forward--long before the end of season 6.

The passage of time between season is unclear but those injuries are healed, so it's that long, and during his awful re-re-retread speech, Rick does mention that they'd run through his plan over and over again, suggesting it had been a while.

---
"The Dig"
http://cinemarchaeologist.blogspot.com/

[–] winslow (1318) 7 years ago

Season 7 was supposedly only a few weeks. What we see in this episode probably happens later than where the next few episodes pick up.

[–] exatera (3953) 7 years ago

And don't forget Judith - she is now played by a much older girl. I also thought that tonight's events would take place literally the day after those of season 7 finale, it must have been only a week or two since Negan held her in his lap, but suddenly Judith has grown a couple of years.

[–] winslow (1318) 7 years ago

The scene where Judith is speaking is a couple years after the end of the war. The other Judith, I don't know, but is definitely played by a different girl (or twins) than the one in season 7.

[–] exatera (3953) 7 years ago

Could you please cut it out with the explanations? You are trying to justify the unjustifiable, belittling the viewers in the process.

No, I am not talking about the scene where Judith was talking, I am talking about the scene where Rick patted a blonde girl on the head. The girl looked to be around 4 or 5. THAT drastic change was inexplicable.

[–] winslow (1318) 7 years ago

the hair was different

[–] bohemianroxie (2478) 7 years ago

Not that it makes any sense...but I've read the timeline for Season 7 was only 19 days and Season 8 is not that long after..We're talking days here..
Yes, Maggie should be showing something ...but I doubt anyone did any real research into how far along one must be for that complication.
As far as Rick and Carol recovering so quickly (Michonne still isn't guest ready) and all the other ways it's illogical is typical of TWD .. I would say that its timeline has always been a problem for me since the beginning and has never made sense. If you go by their timeline it hasn't even been 2 years since Rick woke up and one can find a million loose threads along the way where that does not compute..

I have no idea why they insist on making each season a matter of days or weeks when it doesn't explain the usability of gas or the shortage of food and makes the events crammed into one another just one hellish existence. And so many details get left by the wayside..
Babies and kids grow up literally overnight and some people (Norman Reedus, in particular) have aged a decade. It also somehow makes the people that have been lost feel a little less meaningful.
I have long since learned to ignore their silly timeline.

[–] winslow (1318) 7 years ago

We'll probably never see Maggie go to full term. It looks like there will be a time jump and then she'll just be carrying a kid around.

[–] bohemianroxie (2478) 7 years ago

You're right..
It's also where they'll end up with the gray Rick with the cane. He must suffer some pretty bad injuries he doesn't fully recover from.

[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 7 years ago

I kind of thought those scenes with the aged rick and the 6 year old Judith were more like fantasies. ' Fear The Walking Dead' also had Madison's fantasy of a future with everyone gathering for Christmas Dinner. These scenes are not guarantees that everyone we see in them survives that long. They are like wistful dreams of a peaceful future where they don't have to fight and struggle. It's a dream, not reality. For one thing, that many years in the future , all the batteries made pre-apocalypse would be dead so how would they be playing music? All the gasoline would be used up or gone bad (gas does not last forever) so they wouldn't have generators either.
If those scenes were real, then they would remove all suspense about who lives and who dies. We would never have to worry about those people again. I expect a few people shown in those 'flash forwards' do not actually live that long.

[–] winslow (1318) 7 years ago

I agree it may not come true, it's just Rick envisioning the future they could have. There is some significance because for most of the show they are just trying to survive or protect the bit of territory they have, and never really thought about rebuilding the world. In one of the promos released this summer, the TWD logo is not decayed, and one bit of information that came from the showrunners is that we will see the end of the war in season 8. The fuel/electricity situation is dealt with in the comic, but it doesn't cover what happens in the 2 or so years after the war.

[–] jriddle73 (363) 7 years ago

"Yes, Maggie should be showing something ...but I doubt anyone did any real research into how far along one must be for that complication."

It a very obscure condition--someone had to look it up at some point. The doctor at Hilltop even gave the Latin name for it.

"As far as Rick and Carol recovering so quickly (Michonne still isn't guest ready) and all the other ways it's illogical is typical of TWD"

Her face would have healed a lot quicker than Rick's gunshot wound.

"I would say that its timeline has always been a problem for me since the beginning and has never made sense. If you go by their timeline it hasn't even been 2 years since Rick woke up and one can find a million loose threads along the way where that does not compute.."

Over the years, I've written a lot about its timeline problems, which do, in fact, stretch all the way back to practically the beginning of the show. I've come to regard them as an indication that the writers don't even care about what they're doing.

"Babies and kids grow up literally overnight and some people (Norman Reedus, in particular) have aged a decade."

Reedus really stands out in that regard because while he was already 40 when he was cast, Daryl was written as basically a teenager or guy in his early 20s right through the 4th season. When it was strongly suggested he and Carol were romantically involved, a lot of fans complained that he was too young/she was too old but Reedus and Melissa McBride are basically the same age--only a few year's difference (that angle was dropped on the show too).

And, of course, there's Coral. Chandler Riggs was only 9 when he was cast; he should be about 11. And, in fact, up to last season, he was still being written as if he was about 10 or 11.

---
"The Dig"
http://cinemarchaeologist.blogspot.com/

[–] Popcorn Kernel (2368) 7 years ago

That is a problem with child actors- they have this nasty habit of growing up in real time!

[–] lennonforever (2453) 7 years ago

Agree 100% JR!

SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON 8 OPENER :
Annoying me to end was last night's "BANTER" between The Rickster and Negan as Rick was eyeing his nemesis and said nemesis's lieutenants. WHY DIDN'T RICK JUST SHOOT NEGAN THEN AND THERE?!!!

Not sure why I even CARE.

[–] jriddle73 (363) 7 years ago

There's no way to justify that; as soon as Negan stuck his head out the door, it should have been blown off.

---
"The Dig"
http://cinemarchaeologist.blogspot.com/

[–] lennonforever (2453) 7 years ago

yep

[–] lennonforever (2453) 7 years ago

I just read a premise of TWD perhaps exploring different timelines, as the show "This Is Us". IDK , don't like that idea. I don't wish to know who lives or dies in the aftermath of the ZA.

[–] Galactus03 (4373) 7 years ago

Rick and Michonnes injuries were probably superficial. Rick shot in the side could have been a flesh wound. I would say it's just a week or so later. As for Maggie's pregnancy. She revealed it 26 episodes ago. The producers said she probably won't have the baby this season. So I say two months tops have passed since mid season 6. Judith is still about the same age as when Negan picked her up except her hair is longer. Different actress , correct? So I guess that doesn't matter.

There's gonna be some continuity issues at this Point...it's been running for 100 eps now. I have to see a long running TV show that doesn't have these issues...NOT ONE SHOW.....