by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels.

5×10: “Them”

The very first point I ever made in assessing The Walking Dead on a weekly basis (and by extension heavily serialized fiction in general) concerned whether or not you can skip an episode and not miss anything. Especially with a show where the season’s aren’t stretched to fill out more than twenty weeks of television, it’s important (and should be a given) that every episode is vital in achieving the season’s goals. The first half of season five, which has been widely praised as a fairly drastic improvement over previous seasons, is a strong example of this as each episode had an important role in moving the needle forward in our hero’s quest for post-zombie apocalypse existence, and I’ll admit that even episodes that I didn’t like at least informed us on what’s going on or what we’re supposed to be feeling.

I’m going to say upfront that you may as well have skipped “Them”. Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels.

5×09: “What Happened and What’s Going On”

Under normal circumstances during a zombie apocalypse, you’d be pretty happy if not thrilled to run across a guy like Tyreese in the midst of your struggles. He’s big, he’s strong, doesn’t seem particularly opinionated; he’ll be good in a fight, he’ll be useful. If there’s one thing your group probably doesn’t need through said apocalypse though, it’s another moral centre, whether it’s the quiet religious guy who slowly goes crazy or the seemingly strong character who basically acts like a freshly neutered Rottweiler until his untimely demise. For a little while, this show actually had both.

So welcome back to our Walking Dead season five coverage, and doesn’t it feel like a lifetime ago that we last met here? Continue reading →

review by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels.

5×08: “Coda”

I don’t think what I’m feeling about last night’s midseason-ending episode is schaudenfreude, a sense of pleasure from the suffering of others, because it’s not the suffering that I’m enjoying, and I don’t think it’s survivor’s guilt, because it’s not my survival that superseded other real people. But I am very glad about who died in “Coda”, and I do feel a little bit guilty about how hard I’ve come down on that person in the very recent past.

So the big news this week in the land of the walking, roaming, lurking, biting geeks is that Beth is dead, killed almost by an accident largely of her own doing as our heroes went through with their plan to trade the two cops they were holding hostage for Beth and Carol instead of just killing everyone like they should’ve. Continue reading →

review by Thom Yee

Images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels.

5×07: “Crossed”

Possibly for the first time ever, we begin the latest episode of The Walking Dead with three separate storylines, each of which are stories that most viewers would actually wanted to follow. We’ve got our group’s hospital infiltration, Beth and Carol’s continuing adventures in the hospital, and Abraham’s road trip (plus the usual “Carl isn’t old enough to come along” sidestory). Of the three, Abraham’s group draws the short straw, where the only even mildly notable things that happen are some minor character development for Rosita, some fishing, the discovery of a yo-yo, and Tara further exposing her terrible sense of humour (more from her apparent lack of wit than the Gallows direction she’s trying to take). I’m starting to feel a little guilty for how hard I’ve come down on Beth, mostly because Tara also deserves a fair amount of that animosity if not the majority. What a horrible, useless addition to the group. Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

All images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels.

5×06: “Consumed”

As much as I’ve disliked Beth in the past, as much as I’ve thought that her strongest contributions to the show have been somewhere between peripheral and outright unnecessary, and as much as I’d hoped her kidnapping (and the ensuing apathy of the characters affected by it) would prove to be permanent, at least she’s given our heroes something to do.

In “Consumed”, we catch up with Carol and Daryl, who were previously in hot pursuit of the same car that Daryl saw after Beth’s kidnapping. At the same time, we’re filled in on some of what Carol’s been doing away from Rick and company ever since she was kicked out of the prison, including… I guess all we really see is her holing up in a building for a while. Carol’s flashbacks, though relevant to the story at hand, don’t fill in much of her missing time (which, who knows, might only be like two weeks in story time), and I actually would’ve liked to see more. Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

All images courtesy of AMC, Fox International Channels, and Image Comics.

5×05: “Self Help”

For a variety of reasons, including the Governor’s story being overly drawn out — which I maintain ruined the pacing and development of a lot of different parts of the show last season — Abraham’s group has been pretty underserved so far.  Beyond the mission, we don’t really know what’s going on with them, what’s motivating them, or who they are under the surface. Abraham’s incredibly militaristic; Eugene’s improbably anti-social; Rosita’s impossibly hot. That’s been about all there was to them up until this episode.

“Self Help” represents a fairly important turning point in the whole cure storyline that’s been percolating (and going nowhere) ever since we were introduced to the Abraham trio.

Continue reading →

by Thom Yee

All images courtesy of AMC and Fox International Channels.

5×04: “Slabtown”

Remember that time we went back to the future to rescue Peter Petrelli’s time-displaced girlfriend, Caitlin? Or when those giant praying mantis eggs finally hatched and took over Sunnydale? Or when we finally found out what was going on with Walt’s psychic powers? Like it or not, there are just some plot points that prove to be such dead weight or way too difficult to solve or so disruptive to the rhythm of a TV series that they’re completely dropped lest they bring all the positive momentum the show has since gained to a screeching narrative halt.

Also known as this week’s “Slabtown.”

A Beth-centric episode.

A whole hour of Beth.

Continue reading →