The only thing I didn't like was that the flashbacks weren't in sequential order. First we see Carol being banished by Rick for burning the bodies at the prison.....two or three flashbacks later they show her burning the bodies. Didn't seem to have a good flow. There was smoke or fire in all of her flashbacks...I think they were trying to symbolize how Carol had changed from someone who was a scared battered housewife who would see smoke and run from it to a strong selfless woman who would run to smoke or fire (or cause it). From that standpoint, I think they did Carol justice in this episode.

 

The flashbacks in my opinion wasted time during the episode. Old hat.

 

I liked a few. The first one where Carol's in the car crying and the one when she sees the smoke from the burning prison.

The last one where you see her cleaning her face was a bit where I was like, "Do they (writers) mean to show that she wasn't going back to the group?" (but who would tell Rick where Judith would be?).

So in short, I did not dislike them, but I didn't really like like them.

 

I liked them. Enjoyed them in the moment and were somewhat relivatory for me. First time wife really sat and watched an episode with me. Confused the dickens out of her. She had no clue what or who was going on in the flashbacks.

Talking dead made me love the flashbacks even more after that lady started talking about the fire symbolism. Consumed.

But yeah best for me was what happened after her and Rick parted. Felt so bad for her.

What was up with the blue box with empty water bottles? Just full of old recycling that never got done or...?

 

The only flashback that was worthwhile was what Carol did immediately after she was banned in the beginning of the episode. We know she came to save Tyreese and the girls so why did we need to see her driving there?

 

I think the viewer needed to see that she made the decision to go back to the prison. The one that showed her wiping her face of was useless. While the others weren't necessary, I didn't have a problem with them

 

The wiping her face one made me laugh. Watching it I was thinking "They just stuck that in there because the fans were making fun of how clean she came out"

 

exactly. Lol

 

I think flashbacks are important for any storytelling in that probably our most challenging human endeavour is trying to make sense of the past.

 

That is funny. The writers did probably put that in there to shut us up, but I also think it symbolized Carol "trying to come clean" wiping her face of the dirt, blood, and muck that had become her life. From Karen&David to getting banned to Lizzie etc.

 

But we already knew she burned the bodies and we knew she looked clean after saving Rick and Co and unless that was a slip up we can all clearly work out she wiped her face.

There is no sense to be made from those clips, we know why she burned the bodies and that she wanted the walker stuff off her face evidently.

The one after Rick banished her was mildly interesting, but it wasn't really needed.

 

At its core, this is a show about humanity, survival, and just being with the characters. When I hear people say things like 'nothing happened this episode' it makes me think they don't quite get TWD. They may watch it, but they don't fully get it.

 

I liked how flashbacks were used, and they really added to this episode and the overall TWD Story / universe.

by the nature of a flashback, you seldom progress the story forward .. which i have to say something about TWD (not sure what) I always feel near desperate for the story to unfold, now now now!

 

i really like flashbacks that show us a part of the story that we have not yet seen, but ones that show something that we already know about is a bit redundant. it is true that there was some symbolism involved in them as pointed out on the talking dead, but i feel like the average viewer doesn't care about that kind of stuff and is not going to take the time to try to piece together why they showed things like that.

 

Every time I saw the flashbacks coming on I thought 'ugh, just get on with the episode'.

 

No. The flashbacks did nothing to enhance the episode..

 

Since they left holes in Carol's storylines in the past and how they played out, I think the flashbacks were much needed. Especially the one that explained where she went after Rick kicked her out

 

The flashbacks were there to show the audience that these are the memories Carol is consumed with. Her internal struggle within to accept the things she has done and be able to start over as Daryl says. They weren't there to enhance the episode, they were there to tell a story.

 

They told nothing that was worth showing.. Carol had said that she saw the smoke at the prison n came running....that was good enough...