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How do you feel about season 5 now?

Discussion in 'Episode 516 - Conquer' started by BatmansHooker, Jun 9, 2015.

  1. BatmansHooker

    BatmansHooker Well-Known Member

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    It's been a little over two months since the season 5 finale aired, so I was curious as to whether fans opinions on the season now that it's had some time to ripen and we've had time to let it all sink in, or even re-watch.

    So how do you feel about season 5 now? Has it grown on you at all?

    Has your opinion changed?

    Which half did you like more? Are you finding that you enjoyed it more or less in hindsight than you did first watching it?

    Just curious. Sometimes our perspectives change on things after we have time to review it as a whole and … mullet over.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. HondaS2kXD

    HondaS2kXD Well-Known Member

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    0:30
    [video=youtube;qRuNxHqwazs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs[/video]
     
  3. LadyGrimes

    LadyGrimes Well-Known Member

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    Season 5 is my current favorite season so far. It just had a great start and a good ending too. Didn't care for Beth's hospital storyline though. but other than that, it was a solid season for me.
     
  4. Benrai2k

    Benrai2k Active Member

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    I enjoy it more now that I can watch it as a whole. I still think episode 5 and 6 made the hospital storyline itself feel as if it was longer than it really was. In reality the hospital/Dawn was only 3 episodes. I actually liked the hospital even if it could have been done better. I just like how surreal and clinical and unusual it feels, and it makes the group's situation in Alexandria feel a million miles away from how the show was earlier in the season with the hunters and hospital. Now at Alexandria you kind of think "did Terminus and the hospital really happen?!". I can see why Sasha had her flashbacks which haunted her.

    It is weird - even though I am happy with where the show is now - I feel nostalgic for the prison. The earlier episodes of season 3. Which I thought I'd never say.

    But to sum my answer up, for the most part I am happy with season 5 and can accept it. I like how varied the plots were.
     
  5. TGO

    TGO Well-Known Member

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    I'd rate it as 'okay'. While we got some damn fine episodes out of it like 501-503 and 513-516, that's 7/16 episodes. The rest of which ranged from godawful to 'meh'. The deaths? Predictable as hell and done in poor fashion with the exception of Bob and his was taken directly from the comics.

    The season started out strong (although a bit too heavy on the action) with some pretty nice direction particularly in 502-503 and then we went full bottle-episode soap apera mode again. Gimple claims he is trying to fix some of the problems the show had and yet he's shoving thm down our throats even more.

    In short, within the space of 504-508, we got the worst arc this show has ever had followed closely by Woodbury and then we got 3 episodes of filler where we basically just watched characters roam the ccountryside getting moody and killing a walker occasionally.
     
  6. JPG119

    JPG119 Member

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    For me the Terminus Arc was the best episodes of the entire show. The middle of the series was incredibly boring, nobody cares about Beth so was just waiting for that arc to end. Fortunately she was killed.

    The filler episodes were also a bit dull, the one in the barn where Rick does he 'We are the walking dead' speech sucked.

    Apart from that, the last few episodes were good, and have set up a good S6.
     
  7. BatmansHooker

    BatmansHooker Well-Known Member

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    It surprises me to think that the whole hospital saga was only 3 episodes. I remember people at the time were quoting Gimple, saying he planned on "playing with time" in season 5. You can definitely see what he meant by that. The first 3 episodes were in chronological order, they were very straightforward. Slabtown was probably set before Terminus, and we find Carol being wheeled into the hospital at the end of the episode. I find myself wondering, if Gimple hadn't tried to be too artsy by disjointing time, would the arc have been more enjoyable?

    The hospital was a weak set up to begin with, and I have no idea why they were so set on having Emily Kinney carry it, but if the whole arc were shown without the fancy time jumps it might have gone over slightly better. All in all, I still think it was among the weakest storylines to date, and Emily Kinney was simply not a strong enough actress to carry the story, which made a weak story even weaker.

    Alexandria was probably the highlight of the season, for me. Terminus was probably my favourite change from the comics because it gave the survivors hope of a safe haven, only to learn that the people living in this haven were bad people. Unlike The Hunters, who simply stalked them from the woods. It made for some nice contrast when they finally arrived at Alexandria. As you said, it felt very different to the storylines we saw earlier in the season. Almost like a totally different world. I liked that, it worked well.

    It seems like he's fixing some problems, but replacing them with new ones. He's given some characters very strong characterisation, he's made some good changes from the comics (things that Mazzara lacked in), but his pacing and consistency needs a lot of tinkering.

    I agree with most of your post. 501-503 and Remember - Conquer were all pretty strong. At least on par with season 4. Everything between those episodes was a big letdown. I enjoyed the episodes 'in the wilderness' when they aired, but I've found them difficult to watch again.

    Season 5, to me, was decent. The hospital arc was a mess, and there were episodes (particularly leading up to Alexandria) that felt like they were simply stalling to hold Alexandria off for a bit longer, but the strong points of the season were very strong. In particular: Terminus, Bob, Carol, Sasha, Abraham, Eugene, Michonne and Glenn.
     
  8. Wombat

    Wombat Member

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    I've actually have some brief spare time coming up and was considering re-watching season 5. It's a good question you ask about if our feelings have changed towards the episodes since they originally aired.

    Artsy is exactly how I felt the hospital arc went. With all the focus and introduction of new characters (including old man Percy the strawberry thief) ... I was waiting (& hoping) for a really big payoff. Really big payoff. First time watching it I secretly hoped it was going to happen. Now that I know the fizzle... Well I feel like I might just skip those eps. Excepts for the Daryl & Carol ep in Atlanta. Carol as a character just added extra layers and just added fuel to her later mock housewife routine in Alexandria.

    Agree on the road wandering after the mid season. Did seem to drag on. Helped you feel the group's utter hopelessness but now knowing how things kick into gear at the arrival of Aaron and the Alexandria.... You could be guilty of skipping these eps. And particularly Tyresse's death. That was a whole episode and I don't know why.

    Overall, the star for me this season was Carol. Explosive warrior during Terminus to undercover (and even more dangerous) revolutionary out to protect the family at all costs. Even if she "looks ridiculous".

    Take out about 6 episodes in the middle... Otherwise a good season. Season 4 is still ranking highest for me so far.
     
  9. TGO

    TGO Well-Known Member

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    Carol was definitely the star of S5 and MMB / Andy Lincoln work so well together. I'm hoping to see her and Lennie James get something going between their two characters.

    For me S1 is still the best, it was a near-perfect opening season and the only real flaws i could see was that TS19 could have been trimmed up a bit and the Vatos were pure filler. However, in comparison to S2, S3 and entire arcs of S4-S5; it's still very minor in that regard. The show is built on filler and uses it for character building even if it throws that development away in a split second.
     
  10. Wombat

    Wombat Member

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    The interaction between Morgan & Carol would be very interesting to see. Parents who lost their only child while surviving.

    True. With all that's happened in the show. You can sort of forget the starting point. S1 was a standout. Keep thinking of it as an extra extra long movie that started the show. That Darabont touch made it feel so cinematic. Not a season of eps. :D
     
  11. Benrai2k

    Benrai2k Active Member

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    I think Gimple's problem is trying to be artsy and symbolic. Even to the point character's don't talk properly. Carol and Daryl never discussed Lizzie/Mika/Karen/David in depth. We got some "consumed/burning away" symbolism no one would especially say in reality and that was it. I just can't imagine conversations like that back in season 1.

    I wasn't a big fan of Ty's death episode either. I think when deaths go on for a whole episode it takes the impact away tbh.

    I just hope bottle episodes are kept minimal next season.

    I still wonder if the hospital (even with flaws)would have been a lot more interesting with a character like Amy from season 1, I've said it before, and i will again I still feel as if I knew more about her than Beth.
     
  12. Stealth

    Stealth Well-Known Member

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    I think the show would be stronger overall if it was cut down to the basic cable formula which is about a 12-13 episode season.
     
  13. Dnae

    Dnae Well-Known Member

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    Enjoying season 5 was never a question for me - I think it was, overall, a strong season. Like with any show (at least in my universe) there are episodes that I do not enjoy as much as others. Like many, the hospital arc was shmeh the first go round and are not episodes that I have taken the time to re-watch in their entirety. I have not watched Slabtown again at all, Consumed have watched once or twice since original airing. And have watched bits and pieces of Crossed and Coda (just cannot get enough of Rick's opening sequence in Coda).

    While I enjoyed Season 5 as a whole, I will say that the back 8 of season 5 are some of my favorite episodes to date. Strangely enough episode 10 (Them) upon first viewing I was like 'ehhhh' but I have watched it several times over and with each viewing I find that I like it more and more. I especially like the exchange between Daryl and Maggie after the storm. For me, that just felt like a quiet, simple way to illustrate that these two characters were ready to begin healing and forgiving themselves in regard to Beth's fate.

    I liked every episode of the back half of season 5. Of course some more than others, but overall thought those episodes were quite strong.

    Out of 16 episodes, there was only one that I just thought was a compete misfire. The remaining 15, I enjoyed them all to varying degrees.
     
  14. BatmansHooker

    BatmansHooker Well-Known Member

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    With these 16 episode seasons, it does feel like there's always at least a couple of episodes that are drawn out to fill in space. I agree with you here, a shorter season, giving us less episodes, could help the quality of the show.
     
  15. TheWalkingHorn

    TheWalkingHorn Well-Known Member

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    I think the most shocking thing about all of season 5 was that I cried when Beth died. [MENTION=39001]HondaS2kXD[/MENTION] Well, in Whoville they say - that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!
     
  16. HondaS2kXD

    HondaS2kXD Well-Known Member

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    Lol. Wouldn't'a never thunked that.
     
  17. TheWalkingHorn

    TheWalkingHorn Well-Known Member

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    Umm... I have no idea how or why some of those words are bold. Didn't mean to do that.
     
  18. HondaS2kXD

    HondaS2kXD Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, sometimes the forums are drunk. Especially if you're on a phone.
     
  19. Jama

    Jama Well-Known Member

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    I loved the crap out of season 5... Beth died, Bob died, Tyreese turned into a big wienie, so it was good to see him die. Beth died, Dawn died, Lizzie died, Beth died, a bunch of bad people died, and Beth died. Did I mention that Beth died? That was really the highlight of season 5.














































































    Beth died...... lol
     
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  20. TheTunnelRunner

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    I agree about the symbolism. Those episodes are good examples of attempts at symbolism forcing random/out of character moments or just plain stupid character behaviors. - Daryl and Carol are so careful to not be seen by the Grady cops... that Daryl builds a smokey bonfire out of corpses a block away. Still, "Beautiful smoke and fire symbolism!" say some fans. "Make Tyreese forget everything he has learned in the Zombie Apocalypse (and about Noah) for some deep symbolism!" squeal the writers and directors. That writing/directing also has the effect of creating more, dare I say "plot holes" than anything else. - Things just not adding up to, or contradicting the story they are trying to toss the viewers. Then, the characters put as much thought into events as the zombies do. So the symbolism only confirms the "it's all just a dream" theory, for me.

    On a side note; I doubt if Mr. "stuff...things" Rick is contemplating various meanings of red balloons while thinking about who he has to kill to get into Jessie's pants.
     

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