Beside the Dying Fire (213)

[cosmichobo]

Woot! Nah, I am not someone who says woot...

Um... Wowwee!

What a great season finale...

Action packed shoot out at the farm, burning down the barn, killing off some farm-folk, scattering everyone to the winds...

(Would have been much better if they'd used more time during the season to better introduce all the farm occupants, then kill some of them off, so we could have a chance to give a darn when they are eaten... instead of so much time on Lori's 3way... and ultimately all that time on Sophia...)

Really was expecting Hershel to die saving his farm, especially after it was foreshadowed by his "I'll die here" comment. I do hope they develop his "other" daughter further next season, as so far all I feel she's done is faint and spend an episode or 2 in bed.

It would have been better if they could have spent some more time on the fleeing/being apart thread, as it felt very rushed, and way too contrived when they all just rolled back in together just as Rick was considering leaving the highway.

Andrea's plight was awful... left for dead, no one looking for her (understandably, but still)... Not being a reader of the comic, I had no idea what to expect, so thought she was finally going to get the bite... But no! A fascinating new character! Loved the 2 zombies in tow... though whilst I did notice the lack of arms, I couldn't make out that the jaws were missing... and am assuming they undergo some training before being lead around like that - or else they would surely still attempt to fang their leader...

(Expecting this is not the case, but at first thought it may have been someone from Randall's group... Was actually a bit irked that no one ran into them when they were all fleeing, even if it was just seeing them also being caught up in the swarm)

The news that they are all carriers of the virus is just so chilling... After the questions being raised in the previous few episodes (ie Randall, then Shane both resurrecting without bites), I was really wondering what was going on; a case of bad continuity, that the non-bit would now resurrect... or (as it panned out) was there some explanation...

Which brings us to Rick... Poor old Rick... and character motives...

Actually - before I watched this episode tonight, I watched The Evil Dead. Now there's a movie with really bad writing for character believability. And not just a matter of "Oh no don't go in there" etc... Just pure crap writing in terms of what characters are doing, how they respond to a situation... IE After watching his sister turned into a zombie, Ash sits on the sofa while Scott goes to investigate a scream...

But back to TWD...

Rick reveals to Lori that he killed Shane... and yes, her reaction is just wrong. I can only guess that the script editor changed... several times... during the first 2 seasons of the show... She is all over the place, and it's getting to be a real killer for the show. It could have easily been fixed up with just a few little scenes here or there, giving us some genuine insight into Lori's head... Maybe it's baby-brain...

To The Comic Readers

How much more after the [next major set location] is there to tell? Is the comic still in progress?

Given that AMC pushed the producers/writers to keep this season on the farm, I could imagine the [next location] being used for at LEAST 1 season... But unless there is enough diversity, I think they'd worry that keeping it there for a 2nd season may turn viewers off. That said of course, money talks, and if they spend a lot of money on [the next location], then maybe they will go for 2 seasons... Certainly couldn't imagine them doing 3...

It will be very interesting to see how the ratings go next season - whether they start to wane or not... Hopefully the change of scenery will help maintain interest, and some new characters too, but something like this more than other tv shows will really have to push itself to avoid cancellation...

And who are flying those darn helicopters! (No, I don't want to be told here )

---
660 words... gee, if I fleshed this out a bit more, I could hand it in (if I was still studying film/tv at uni)

[squirrely1]

I blame the walkers It cost too much money to recreate an actual walker...now if they were to just hire real zombies well then problem solved And since they are actually really dead....and they don't need house, food, healthcare etc to live well then their contract would be next to nothing ...hence more money all around

[The Flyattractor]

I blame the Killing and Rubicon.

[DigiFluid]

Apparently...but one doesn't have to watch AMC to know about Mad Men and Breaking Bad

Still though, I think M6P has hit on the heart of it. MM and BB not being owned by AMC, but being so successful they had the leverage over the network. Matthew Weiner (the guy running MM) managed to get a big raise for everyone as well as a season 5 and 6 renewal with strong possibility of an additional one after that. And when it was Breaking Bad's time for renewal talks, they threatened to walk away from AMC and go to another network if their demands weren't met.

The trickle-down effect has really negatively impacted TWD. I've heard that the budget cut for Season 2 was in the neighbourhood of 75%--which is all the more, considering S2 was twice as long as Season 1!

I don't really think it's MM/BB's fault directly. Their responsibility (and rightly so) is to their own shows and their own crews; and these days, managing to finagle a multiple-season renewal with a large raise for everyone is something that should be applauded rather than condemned.

But I'm quite content with pointing the blame at AMC for not having more capable contract negotiators.

[squirrely1]

Erm...Mad Men started on AMC in 2007 and Breaking Bad in 2008, and both of them have been phenomenal critical and commercial successes. TWD didn't start until late 2010.

oh *hee* Well as you can tell obviously other than TWD I really don't watch AMC much

[DigiFluid]

thanks for elaborating. That really does suck too cuz it's like they are messing with a known good show with excellent ratings all for the sake of some new stuff that may flop.

Erm...Mad Men started on AMC in 2007 and Breaking Bad in 2008, and both of them have been phenomenal critical and commercial successes. TWD didn't start until late 2010.

[squirrely1]

It's a little more complex than that. AMC don't own a lot of their shows, and the show runners of stuff like Mad Men and Breaking Bad pushed for their shows to receive large budgets, and expensive deals, especially for Mad Men, which imo AMC got ripped off over. They had the leverage though that if they didn't get want they want, they'd go to another channel.

This trickled down to the Walking Dead, which is an AMC owned show, so they cut its budget to pay for the other shows.

thanks for elaborating. That really does suck too cuz it's like they are messing with a known good show with excellent ratings all for the sake of some new stuff that may flop.

[Ukko]

Lack of swords in a zombie apocalypse always bothered me. Its nice to finally see someone has the good sense to use one. Seriously, a sword should be a priority item in any zombie apocalypse survival pack.

[the fifth man]

Particularly since AMC hacked their budget down to nothing this year.

I sure hope they don't mess with it too much for Season 3.

[Linda06]

It's a little more complex than that. AMC don't own a lot of their shows, and the show runners of stuff like Mad Men and Breaking Bad pushed for their shows to receive large budgets, and expensive deals, especially for Mad Men, which imo AMC got ripped off over. They had the leverage though that if they didn't get want they want, they'd go to another channel.

This trickled down to the Walking Dead, which is an AMC owned show, so they cut its budget to pay for the other shows.

That sucks

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

So I guess good ratings has nothing to do with budget then? hmmmm yeah ....where is that love?

It's a little more complex than that. AMC don't own a lot of their shows, and the show runners of stuff like Mad Men and Breaking Bad pushed for their shows to receive large budgets, and expensive deals, especially for Mad Men, which imo AMC got ripped off over. They had the leverage though that if they didn't get want they want, they'd go to another channel.

This trickled down to the Walking Dead, which is an AMC owned show, so they cut its budget to pay for the other shows.

[squirrely1]

So I guess good ratings has nothing to do with budget then? hmmmm yeah ....where is that love?

[The Flyattractor]

Yeah I liked that part on Talking Dead where they creator/writer guys say how they wanted to go REAL BIG this season and AMC said "no".

...mmmmyeah feel the love

[DigiFluid]

Particularly since AMC hacked their budget down to nothing this year.

[The Flyattractor]

A nice chunk of it, yes. But definitely not all. I don't see them stretching it out for more than next season though.

I would think that the next arc would be enough for probably 2 seasons at least even with 16 episodes next series.
And the producers would probably like to be able to use it for longer to save on costs.