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[915] Be calm, ZEN Post Your Praises

Discussion in 'Episode 915 - The Calm Before' started by Dnae, Mar 22, 2019.

  1. Dnae

    Dnae Well-Known Member

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    Keep calm because pain makes you stronger, fear makes you braver and heartbreak makes you wiser.

    Let us hope that posting what we loved about the episode will CALM the sadness we will surely have heaped upon us
     
    #1 Dnae, Mar 22, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2019
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  2. Lindigo

    Lindigo Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
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  3. Sharpie61

    Sharpie61 Well-Known Member

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    Let’s get zen today. It’s time for the Fair.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  4. Tony Davis

    Tony Davis Administrator
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    "Going to the fair" might become the new "look at the flowers" after tonight
     
  5. Dnae

    Dnae Well-Known Member

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    Stop tempting me @Tony Davis that spoiler tag is calling my name

    Must be strong, must be strong. I have avoided reading about any spoilers for this episode. The episode is so close. I must resist
     
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  6. VenomGA

    VenomGA Well-Known Member

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    I wonder if and when the heads on the pikes occurs, if any major characters will be on them?
     
  7. Gaycandybacon

    Gaycandybacon Well-Known Member

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    Lovvvvvvvvvvved this episode. From beginning to end. The fair was fun, the emotion was neva dull. The deaths weren't like a giant colossal oh shit they really killed them? Well except for Henry. But it was effective. I'm actually fine with his death now. The storyline with him and Lydia just wasn't as great as her and Carl. He was a ok actor, but he wasn't that interesting of a character. I liked that they were trying to get us to think Zeke and Henry was both gonna get it. Enid and Tara were kind of a surprise, but I thought it was a fitting end for them to leave the show. Alpha using that girls hair as a wig was amazing, like they couldn't do what they did in the comic because everyone knows her bald head looking ass. And that other whisperer using that guys face as a mask was awesome, like Horror movie esk to the max like leatherface or if anyone has seen the house of a thousand corpses or devils rejects Otis uses 2 guys faces over his head. Reminded me of that. The visual where Alpha shows Derle the ****ing herd, that made me so happy I wanted to see that from the comics, and it was so cool. Alpha is probably my second fave villian now to Negan. It was so badass when the whisperer caught a tear coming down her face and she wags her finger to come over, and just stabs that ****ers neck. Oh I love what they've done with her so far. And then the ending with Daryl and Lydia leaving the hilltop necklace by where Henry was piked and then the snow coming down for the first time in the show was an excellent way to end it. I actually might like a Daryl and Lydia father daughter relationship a bit more than Henry and her, we shall see. These episodes are still why even without Rick/Carl/Maggie, TWD can still be good.
     
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  8. NakedCity

    NakedCity Well-Known Member

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    I love that we went full circle and that they had Darryl consoling Carole again for the loss of another child.

     
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  9. Dnae

    Dnae Well-Known Member

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    The morning after and I am still at a loss for words.

    Well sort of.

    I LOVE to hate Alpha. Never has TWD had a more frightening adversary. Chilling is the word that comes to mind. And that is illustrated in that scene when she offs the whisperer who catches her in a moment of weakness. It sent chills down my spine when, after she plunges the knife into his head, she bends her neck back and looks to the sky. That moment, her looking to the sky, for some reason will just not leave me.
     
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  10. Lindigo

    Lindigo Well-Known Member

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    This is one of those moments when you can be a little scary, too. lol
     
  11. Chr1s

    Chr1s Well-Known Member

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    I was unsure how the show would move forward after losing both Carl and Rick, I was hoping that a story not centered around Rick could be interesting. They have pulled it off, this is easily my favorite season of the entire series. I think this is where I always hoped the show would go. I enjoyed 1-6, I watched 7 and 8 and it had moments, but I always wanted the show to go in this direction.

    Such a dark episode, all the fun and excitement from the first half of the episode was completely washed away by the second half. We thought they sort of figured out how to deal with the Whisperers. Watch their hands, treat every walker as a potential Whisperer. Daryl using various tactics like shooting them in the leg and using their advantage against them. But this showed the Whisperers still have the upper hand. They can basically send in walkers for the group to fight while they surround them. The fact that they control a large horde and can use them as weapons, holy shit that is dangerous. They can drive them from their homes, while not having a home of their own and being safe around walkers....they clearly have the advantage.

    Key points, showing ups and downs the way they did. Lydia being accepted only to have the shit kids try to sabotage her and Henry. That went from happy to "oh shit" to happy again when Lydia and Henry kissed. All the ups and downs throughout the episode were done so well. We kept getting these "oh no" moments only to have them quickly turned around.

    Even Alpha letting the group go, only threatening them and showing that they just want to be left alone. It went from "How do they get out of this" to "Oh, maybe they aren't so bad". Only to be given the worst possible outcome. Those pikes, holy shit. They do not care who they kill. Kids, women, they just don't care.

    That final reveal was done so well, knowing that the faces might be hard to recognize and giving us those reveals before we see the faces. Alden looking around for Enid, Gabe looking for Tara, and finally Lydia telling Zeke that she can't find Henry.

    Daryl's "No!" and running to Carol. My god what a great scene. Not only was it a call back to him protecting Carol when Sophia came out of the barn, it was such a deep moment for these characters. Daryl went from shock of seeing these faces to instantly protecting Carol.

    I kept thinking how this would have made a great season finale, especially with Sidiq's speech at the end, it ended a tragic episode on a high note. But we still have one more episode coming and I keep thinking "What is going to happen next, to top that?".

    Such an amazing episode, what an amazing season...and it's not over yet.
     
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  12. Toothpick

    Toothpick Well-Known Member

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    well.....i couldnt speak for an hour after the show. then i panicked when this forum didnt show up on my google search. but alright now
    what a fantastic episode.i must give thanks for none of the following being piked:
    zeke, ,michonne, connie,kelly, magna, luke,yumiko,jerry. the loss of any of them would've made me rage quit the show. mustn't forget "dog" either that pooch is now family.

    best ep in years better than the death of abraham and dear lovely glenn because the writers etc didnt go for cheap plot devices to drag things out and annoy the viewers.
    and well done for the not crappy cgi walker mega herd.
     
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  13. Chr1s

    Chr1s Well-Known Member

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    Great point about dragging it out. The pike scene is something even non-comic readers knew was coming and they could have easily left that for the season finale. This episode felt like a season finale, so Angela did the exact opposite as Gimple would have done. Gimple milked big deaths, Angela went the other direction and gave us the deaths an episode before the finale.
     
  14. Lindigo

    Lindigo Well-Known Member

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    wHY? Why would non-comic-book-readers know in advance? For me, only because I read these forums. Otherwise it would have been a slap out of the blue.
     
  15. Chr1s

    Chr1s Well-Known Member

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    For the reason you just said, many fans frequent forums like this and follow their social media outlets where people have discussed "the pike scene".
     
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  16. Dnae

    Dnae Well-Known Member

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    *whew* the characters I was most concerned about......
    Connie - alive
    Zeke - alive
    Magna - alive
    Dog - alive

    For now. Still have to make it through The Storm
    On first watch I liked this episode quite a lot.

    On second watch I loved this episode.

    I will not go into great detail about all that I loved otherwise I will have written a novel.

    I will start with the music. It seems like such a long time since the music of this series has been a stand out. It is always good music, probably great music. But I think in the last few seasons the story did not support the music. Here we are at season 9 and suddenly Bear's score is front and center at times. The dialogue, the cinematography all benefit from his talent. The music is part of the storytelling, it is relevant and it is gorgeous with all its layers and emotion.

    Samantha Morton. Damn. Her Alpha is chilling. Ruthless. Savage. Controlled. And downright terrifying. When she is speaking with Ezekiel I am internally screaming "run Zeke, get the hell away from her". The scene with Daryl as she is showing him her secret weapon is masterful. Her delivery and cadence is perfection. In the clearing when she brutally kills one of her own simply because he sees her weeping. The kill itself was shocking but it is the way in which she dislodges the knife from his head and then with great ferocity cleans the blade against her pants. That is what struck me, this woman has no qualms about killing. It does not matter who, there is no second guessing and she does not suffer fools. And just when I thought she could not blow me away any further she does the simple act of breathing out a sigh of relief (of having rid herself of her intruder) she bends her neck back and looks to the sky - it was damn near spiritual for her. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought of Samantha Morton to play Alpha. And now all these episodes later I cannot imagine anyone other than Samantha Morton portraying Alpha. She brought life to a comic character I just knew was going to fall flat and come across as ridiculous.

    Which brings me to Lydia/Cassidy. I have gone on and on about how great an actress Cailey is but I need to take a moment to sing the praises of Cassidy/Lydia. She is heartbreaking as she stands alone upon entering the Kingdom. She watches the reunions and you can see the sadness and longing in every part of her being. But it is that scene with Samantha Morton at the bus where we once again get to bear witness to her flexing her acting muscles. It takes a damn secure actor to go toe to toe with the likes of Samantha Morton and here you have this very young and fairly inexperienced actor taking on the challenge and meeting it beat for beat. When Alpha walks away leaving Lydia at the bus and then Lydia releases her breath, lets out that sudden and strong exhale. That is beyond direction, that is knowing your character, knowing your scene and understanding that it is oftentimes the things that are not said that are the most powerful.

    Connie taking care of Dog. Daryl giving that small wave to her and the look on his face. He respects her. Some might say admires her. These two end up in a relationship? Will not hear any complaints from me. It works. It would make sense. But I do hope if this is where the story goes that it is a slow build. Enough about that.

    I enjoyed all the lighter bits of the fair although in the back of mind I kept picking apart every piece of dialogue trying to determine who might end up in that field. And now to the field. @mistertrouble189 and I kept going back and forth with out picks. Gotta say - I was off the mark and thank goodness for small favors! I loved the reveal. The walk up the hill and cresting it to see the line up was impeccably shot. The effect of the wind was not lost on me, it added another layer to feeling of the cold, desolation, anguish. Yumiko's reaction to the line up had me holding my breath. I just knew one of them was going to be Magna. Granted I kept telling myself "no she is back at hilltop, she made it to hilltop" but I still, for those few seconds, could not shake the feeling that it was her. Daryl rushing to Carol telling her "just look at me. look at me" theirs is a friendship for the ages

    Siddiq's impassioned eulogy was beautifully executed. Ladies and Gents we have our Rick Grimes Rally the Troops Orator 2.0. In all seriousness Avi Nash did a wonderful job and I loved that we were given the opportunity to see the fallen fighting the good fight. We needed to see that our heroes were heroes to the bitter end, that they were family until the last moment of their lives.

    My post ended up being novel-esque.....sorry!
     
    #16 Dnae, Mar 26, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2019
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  17. mistertrouble189

    mistertrouble189 Well-Known Member

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    Yassss @Dnae, very well said. You’re spot on about what I thought upon seeing Yumiko’s reaction on the hill, and how Daryl rushed over to Carol to shield his best friend. It was a nice call back to Season 2 after Sophia emerged from the barn. And I was so so soooo happy to see that barn fight scene flashback with our heroes. Everyone went down with a fight. Seeing Tammy Rose with the shovel and Enid with the knife... these ladies made me proud. Everyone did. Addy and Frankie, the arrival of DJ sand the Highwaymen. Ugh. Amazing scene and so glad they added that in during Siddiq’s speech. Dang I got goosebumps typing this and thinking back on that scene lol.

    Constantly revising my list of piked victims was fun itself and the reveal was very well done. I was shocked at who I saw. What a tragedy. But our communities will rise and unite as one and defeat the Whisperers. I just know it.

    *Raises a glass to Tara, Enid, Tammy Rose, Henry, Frankie, Addy, DJ, Ozzy, Alek, and Rodney*
     
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