It seems to me that the writers are sheet scared of trying to put depth into a black character because they're afraid they'll stuff it up. T-Dawg was a complete non-entity, Oscar has no back story nor any particularly significant interactions with anyone else so we won't care when he buys it, Michonne is a glowering bad ass who has the sort of communication skills that would suggest a diagnosis of autism. There is not one well-developed black character - even though they've had opportunities. Seriously the writing staff needs to be broadened out with guest writers - bring in Tina Fey for the female characters, bring in Key and Peele for the black characters. The writers are turning into the whitest guys stuck in their mom's basement on the planet. And I haven't read the comics but I understand that the comics aren't like that so they've got source material to pull from and they're still making the blacks into cyphers and the women into Madonna/whores.

 

Give Michonne time. It's just her character.
She's reserved and calculates every thought and action... the writing for her in the show is subtle and excellent. You're analysing her and thinking, "well, this chick hardly ever does anything apart from scowl and keep quiet". In my opinion, the show have shown Michonne accurately so far. The way the camera pans to her face in situations, to me, it shows she's being reflective and thinking through her next actions very carefully.

Just give season 3 a shot, by the end of it I'm sure you won't feel the same.

 

1. They don't have much choice. They need intel on Woodbury and she is the only one with it. The group probably doesn't trust her, but they do need her right now.

2. What Bassman said.

 

I tought this episode slowed things down a bit. The last few episodes were hectic.
With T-dog dying, Lori dying, Rick losing his mind, Glenn and Maggie getting captured.
This was the first time since then that nothing really bad happend to the group.

I dont speak for 308 yet. Since then the sh*t will propably hit the fan ;-)

 

The pace is great and is 1000x better than season 2.
As for Michonne, it has nothing to do with writing. This IS how she is supposed to be. Once this is over and she's in the prison with the others, she will open up, specially with Tyresee...

 

I honestly didn't think too deep into Oscar's decision.

I assumed a man who has been living in a prison for some time, then getting locked in the cafeteria of that prison for like 10 months, finally being let out only to have your mind blown about the way the world has changed, then to have your only friends killed around you, then being banished to a small cell block with dead people you knew all around you, then having to kill one of your friends who tries to kill everyone else, then joining the group only to still be locked in a GD prison!!!

If I were him, the first opportunity I get to get out and go for a walk... I TAKE IT!!!



Plus, we saw when he and Axel begged to join the group and when Oscar shot Andrew, he wants to prove himself to be a reliable member of the group.

Sooooo

THIS IS HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!! We seem to forget about the stories and feelings and emotions that the writers don't spoon feed us with a well written philosophical discussions or long close up shot capturing a reaction. Think about it, EVERYONE, regardless of screen time, has a 24 hour emotional response to everything going on and we--- as the smart audience members we want to be treated like--- need to make some connections ourselves!

Love this thread though! This is really the first time I gave much "deep" thought about what Oscar and Axel are going through.... Thanks for starting the dialogue Hawaiian Shirt Zombie !

 

I think Oscar, and Axel too, are both trying to prove their worth to group so they dont catch a machete with their face. I think they are moving a little fast for my tastes as well though. I think a huge reason is that they introduced Michonne to the group differently than they did in the comics. There was no way Team Prison was gonna wait any longer than they needed to to try and save glenn and maggie. So I think the way they wrote it forced the show to move a little faster than we would like. Also, they obviously need a big climax for the mid-season finale. And what better climax than a huge fire fight and probably some kind of hoard showing up (which is obviously a nice tie back to the last season finale).

So while I see where it could be moving a little fast, I think thats just what happens when something goes on TV. They can only put so much on TV, and if they had an episode devoted just to character development, while some would like it, Im guessing most people would find that pretty boring. So in the end I think thats just the beast that is TV.

 

Totally agree with this!

 

I agree that it feels forced, but as Chokehold said we kind of need to fill in the blanks for ourselves. I could go for an episode of character development, but I understand that they feel action is what will keep their ratings going. I just try to remember that this is the TV medium and the pace of things will be different. Time is money and it is, after all, a different audience.

 

Good point. They are probably testing the waters a bit with new characters like Oscar to see if they can evolve his character or not. They wouldnt want to take too much time away from the main story to develop a character that might not be around for much longer anyway. Some might call it lazy writing, but it's also smart IMO.

We wouldn't want another Nikki and Paulo situation from LOST, would we? : )


(I did not put spoiler tags around that because this makes no difference to the LOST story at all.)

 

Ah yes, Nikki and Paulo! I doubt that they would do anything like that in TWD, but who knows. I would actually get a chuckle out of that for sure.

OT... I know the chances of flashbacks are slim to none, but I seriously would like to see something of Glenn. While I know he says he was a pizza delivery guy, I just like to think there is more to it. Like a past he doesn't want others to know about. I thought about it again after his beast moment with the walker and again when they had the gun to Maggie's head.

 

I loved season one. I loved season two. And so far I've loved season three. I see nothing to complain about except for how badly the show has ****ed Andrea's character. There's my half a cent.

 

Agreed...

 

I know. But I've come to dislike Andrea so strongly that her killing the Gov would be the only thing that could redeem her in my eyes, and doubt that happens.

 

Yeah I know the feeling... me and my mates watched Season 1 and 2 the other day and played a little game called "Take a drink when Andrea makes a bad decsion..."

I'm not going to say she's a horrible person but we got pretty drunk.

 

And she would do that on accident. Mistaking him for somebody else. :Grin:

 

I thought exactly the same thing. You're not alone in thinking that. But I just dismissed it from my mind because I thought I was nitpicking again. I would have liked to seen more of a "build up" to both those points. More development in those plots. More dialogue between Michionne and Rick. Remember when Rick was suspicious of those guys in that town during their stay at the farm? There were many instances where Rick was suspicious of non-walkers - but suddenly he seems to trust Michionne. An inconsistancy there. Also, like you said - Oscar suddenly becomes part of the group. Why? What motivates Oscar? What motivates Rick to ask Oscar? What has their interaction been thus far? Zero. More development was needed to see how Oscar got from point A to point B.