by Thom Yee

All Walking Dead images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels

4×12:  “Still”

In television, when you bring in a big change of status quo, like destroying your heroes’s home base and refuge, it’s usually for the sake of new storytelling possibilities.  Sometimes situations can grow stale — be they environmental, psychological, or relational — and there’s often nothing more invigorating than a big, shattering change to shake things up and breathe new life into tired premises.  Well, nothing more invigorating other than quitting the show cold turkey and moving on to something better (for both the creators and viewers).

Based on last week’s preview, I was hoping for this week’s “Still” to be a fast-paced, hard-edged episode, the kind we rarely see, that would remind us of how dangerous the world of The Walking Dead is even without the horrific machinations of the evil that stirs within all of us (as seen through villains like the Governor).  Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels

4×11:  “Claimed”

So last time I neglected to mention the episode-closing debut of Abraham, Rosita and Eugene.  I guess it was because I was so down on “Inmates” overall, and the  misery of the episode so outweighed the trio’s arrival that I probably just forgot about them and the breath of fresh air that they were (and are this episode).  Regardless of how the newbies turn out over the course of their individual developments (and eventual demises), it’s nice to meet a new group of characters who don’t appear to duplicate any of our existing characters, who don’t care about what our heroes have been through, and who have their own sh*t to deal with.

Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of AMC, Fox International Channels, and Image Comics

4×09:  “Inmates”

While this week’s episode is entitled “Inmates”, because that sounds dour and downtrodden and reflective of the state of this world (and ours?), it may as well have been called “Meanwhile” because it’s nothing more than whatever else was happening while the things we actually cared about happened last week.

Whereas last week’s “After” allowed itself to breathe some actual, real life into its characters by not focusing on too many storylines at once, this week’s episode really just serves to catch us up with everyone else.  Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels

4×08:  “After”

For me, after a more-than-two-month absence and a status-quo-shattering midseason finale, the thought of more Walking Dead elicits almost equal parts desire and dread.  No matter how you feel about the show, no matter which of its strengths and flaws you acknowledge or deny, you have to admit that The Walking Dead is an exhausting show.  When Robert Kirkman initially set out to write a continuing story about what happens after the horror movie, as compelling a premise as that may have been, I don’t know if he knew that the results could sometimes be so awful.  What this shows us is that, at the end of the day, as much as people’s instincts may lead to jealousy, rage, hatred and murder under the right circumstances  (and that may make for some interesting stories), most people aren’t any of those things so much as they are… just fundamentally awful to be around (at least in the long term).

Continue reading →