I personally find it bullcrap the notion that in order to have successful character development, you need to devote an entire episode to that person or two people. The show was doing fine in the first two seasons without all that- I think it's just a petty excuse to justify not wanting to use everyone every episode. They started this with Andrea last year- and then the Governor- and they are almost always the weakest episodes in the season. I will admit, the Michonne/Carl/Rick episode last season worked well enough, but that is not a good enough ratio to continue doing it when the majority are awful.

 

I loved this episode personally. Everyone is acting like the other characters won't show up at all. I wouldn't be shocked if Rick, Carl and Michonne didn't appear in the next episode and they focused on some of the others entirely. I actually look forward to seeing more backstories, I think we will all appreciate it when Season 5 rolls around and we understand these people's motives.

 

I feel like this episode could have been done in 15 minutes.

What it did well: Michonnes backstory has been long awaited and getting a bit of it was pretty nice. Also seeing how they cope after the prison being gone was interesting and new as this is the 2nd episode so far where the characters have been on the road for all of it (wildfire was like 5/8 so im not including it).

What it did badly: It introduced a problem with the characters and resolved it in the same episode. Thats what most sitcoms do which is not something to aspire to. Also the "development" felt like it dragged on and was filled with a bunch of unnecessary scenes. Did we need to see Carl spend a minute grabbing pudding from the top shelf? Did we need to see Carl screw up with walkers twice? Or would once have given us the exact same message? Hell did we really need to see Carl do half the stuff he did? It could have cut that down a whole heap and maybe showed us something more interesting like the reunion rather than just blacking out. Carls reaction to that would have had more point than him chalking a pointless message on a wall.

I agree with an earlier post that we don't need a whole episode focused on one or two characters to develop them, they consistently leave a bad taste in the mouth. If we have multiple people then we can enjoy it a bit more due to diversity. Also if the next episode is Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Daryl, Tyreese, Sasha, Lizzie, Mika, Bob and whoever was on the bus then it seems like all these other characters get an unfair share of screen time. Throwing in say the Bob and Sasha pairing (or any other pairing) could have improved this episode a lot and probably improve the next one.

 

This is exactly what I think will happen, which is why I will record next week and watch it later. I love Maggie but no Rick or Michonne? No thanks. Yes I know, I'm not a real fan blah, blah, blah. I'm actually surprised that I'm not excited for next week.

 

I will greatly miss those both as they are my favorite characters, but we do get: Daryl, Beth, Glenn, Maggie, Bob, Sasha, Tyreese, Lizzie and Mika, and Abraham and the crew.

 

Well The governor made a guest appearance and so did Hershel, what more do you want? Hershel even tried to speak but without vocal cords that proved difficult, it made Michone angry and she stabbed him. Girl always stabbing or cutting people up, must have a lot of pent up rage, which makes a good character.

I did like the episode, despite it being slow. Next one might not be so slow and have more people in it (though I suspect not Rick, Carl and Michone). The preview looked promising.

 

This episode was perfect. The walkers are becoming scary again, I was on the edge of my seat. I love character focus just as much as action

 

Couldn't agree more! I love Andy, I think he does an amazing job. I know a few people didn't like his voice, but I thought it was a great portrayal of having damage from being strangled.

I definitely agree with this. I don't mind waiting at all to see everyone else. Build up is a great term for it. Not only did we get great character development and a great story with a few characters, but it also makes me want more from the bigger picture, leaving me unsatisfied so to speak... in a good way. At least that's me.

 

Then why not just show us this episode one week later? Then you would get your extra build up and if they changed it around a little we could have seen what another character or two did as well as Carls angst.

How did the walkers become more scary? We had Michonne slaughter about 30 which were all surrounding her with nothing but a sword, (which we saw took the Gov about 5 hacks to decapitate Herschel with) in an endless display a slicing heads in half where it is probably toughest. We also had Carl in the same scene as Ricks in 18 miles out where he takes out three walkers while trapped on the ground as well as somehow being able to kick one over beforehand. Add to that the only other scene where he physically outmatches an adult walker by constantly slipping out of its grip and it leaves you wondering how the hell anyone ever died by being bitten or grabbed.

I agree that character focus is just as important as action and I don't have any problems with the lack of action in this episode, but when the character development is all you see and it is mainly of a character (Carl) who then ends up at exactly the same spot they were in at the end of episode 8 it seems pretty poor. Ricks development was good. Michonnes was ok, but Carl got most of the attention and it was squandered.

Looking back I now kinda think I'm ranting a little... Sorry about that everyone.

 

According to an interview I read, the walkers are becoming scary again. I'm sure Robert Kirkman and company aren't lying lol. I compare this season to season 1's. They are scary. You can't compare Rick's situation with Carl's. Rick was a police officer. He was trained. Carl is a kid. Yes he was semi trained but still, he's a teenager. There's no comparing the two of them. When he was opening that door, even Scott Gimple jumped like 5 feet off his chair. Lol sorry, but I read tons of article and I pay close attention to the scenes.

 

Haha, I am right there with you. I'll be glad to see Glenn again, but I'll definitely feel something's missing without Michonne or Rick.

 

Who is Glenn?

 

You don't have to but character development takes time so the more time you can spend on a character the more that character can be developed, so it sure helps.

And I thought it was great story telling. I suppose we could both be right.

Let's see, my favourite few episodes are:
- Days Gone Bye
- Vatos
- Chupacabra
- Pretty Much Dead Already
- 18 Miles out
- Killer Within
- When the Dead Come Knocking
- Clear
- This Sorrowful Life
- Live Bait
- After
So that's more than half of my favourite episodes are episodes that mostly center on a single or a small number of characters. More telling it includes almost all of the episodes that center on a single or small number of characters.

So please tell, what qualities make for a non-awful episode?

I'll be astounded if you can actually make a coherent list. Please astound me.

 

Funny I would like to see a lot less of Micchone. Worst character ever

 

Katana warrior princess will have her revenge for this comment.

 

Come on, they were split up. Would you rather have it just jump from person to person, spending barely any time on character development?

 

I thought, they were going to show more people. This a good episode.