Monday, December 2, 2013

Is THE WALKING DEAD Too Far Gone?

TWD has been extremely uneven this season. Showrunner Scott Gimple and his team have crafted a significantly reformed version of the series that, as I've noted here, often seems intentionally aimed at rejecting, refuting and righting some of the worst rubbish of the Mazzara era. Glen Mazzara continues to cast a long shadow over the series though, and parallel to this effort, TWD has repeatedly backslidden into that same cretinous creative cul-de-sac of error, laziness and poor decision-making. These trends began to come together in last week's episode and spectacularly collided in tonight's.

It's easy to read a lot of metatextual commentary in this season's TWD and an angle about which I nearly wrote last week was whether the Gimple Gang was taking its big textual Theme for this season--can we come back from the bad things this world has made us do?--and applying it to their handling of the series. Can TWD really come back from the godawful Mazzara era? The last two episodes have featured a blatant rehash of the Woodbury storyline from season 3 and it's impossible to see this as anything other than Gimple trying to prove he can do it better than Mazzara.[1] No one could seriously argue that Mazzara's handling of what had been one of the absolute high points of the comic was anything short of godawful, the authorial equivalent of a pirate raid without any cool pirate stuff. He showed it no respect, pillaged and raped it and didn't come up with anything better, anything as good or anything that in any aspect would deserve to have the word "good" applied to it. That is, however, a crime that can't be uncommitted. Sure, it can be redone and handled better--tonight's ep proves that--but doing it far better is, forgive me, comically easy. It can effortlessly top the original without even being very good--something else tonight's ep proved. Spending a chunk of the season rehashing such a storyline may prove you're better than Mazzara but what it really means is that you didn't have anything else of your own to say. It's a sequel that's basically a remake; even if it works, why bother?

So what TWD delivered tonight was something closer to what it should have delivered in season 3. Taken in isolation, the episode itself was an a stupid but at-times-entertaining diversion. The more interesting "Brian Heriot" had, last week, been devolved back to GINO with the instantaneousness of a light-switch being flipped, to the point that even when his new "daughter" had been attacked by a zombie, he'd simply shot the creature and coldly stalked off without bothering to comfort the child or even inquire about her well-being. Tonight's ep backed away from that to an extent and he is given a few scenes that suggest he genuinely cares about his adopted "family." Whereas back in season 3 he'd had no motive (beyond being the series' designated villain) for wanting to attack the prison, the present rehash restores the motive of the parallel character from the comic--he wants the prison because it's a better and safer place to live. There is dark irony; while GINO is trying to take over the prison to secure his families' survival, his "daughter" is bitten by a zombie and dies; at the end, it's his lover who puts a bullet through his own brain. There are a few noteworthy moments of a visceral variety. Daryl using a dead zombie as a shield/disguise in order to take out a tank was a nice touch. I liked the fact that, when trouble turned up, the prison group had an escape strategy in place. That's such a minor detail that it would barely seem worthy of mention but it represents yet another major break with and repudiation of Mazzara's TWD, which, as I've so often noted, never spent a moment on such basic survival matters except to demonize them.[2] The concluding moments featured some nice, Romero-esque shots of roaming, rotting zombies inheriting the earth.

Any kind words directed at "Too Far Gone," though, come with some serious caveats.

Its first line, GINO addressing his Woodbury 2.0 group, is, "I have to talk all of you into doing something." That particular "something" being to attack the prison and drive out its occupants. Last week, the just-add-water ease with which GINO, an almost total stranger to these people, took over as their leader wasn't believable and it's even less believable that what mostly appear to be a group of ordinary people would not only readily acquiesce to participate in such a monstrous act but would follow GINO as he nearly decapitated a defenseless old man right before their eyes, destroyed the prison's defenses (the very reason they wanted the place) and provoked a heavily armed resistance from its defenders, who had done them no harm at all and had offered to let them live there. In spite of it all, most of them follow GINO right to their doom with the devotion of some fanatical cult. Or like a herd of zombies.

Prior to the debut of season 4, I offered an evaluation of Scott Gimple in which I noted his apparently extreme disdain for Rick. "His reign," I suggested, "could mean hard times for Rick fans." That was certainly the case tonight, when the creators subjected Rick to yet another full-blown character assassination. When GINO shows up with an army on his doorstep and demands a parlay, Rick rather jaw-droppingly demurs, limply asserting he doesn't run things anymore and that there's now a governing council. When he finally makes his way to the fence and talks, his voice cracks, he seems perpetually on the verge of tears, and with hilariously bad accent blinking in and out by the second, he virtually begs his enemy not to make a fuss. In the face of a massive existential threat, this is as pathetic and weak and stupid a Rick as TWD has ever presented. When, later, he and GINO get at one another hand-to-hand, I found myself wishing GINO would kill him, then almost immediately wishing they could both just kill one another.

There are other problems. At that fence parlay, GINO gives a little speech to Rick then repeats it 3 or 4 times. Apparently the ep needed a little extra running-time and no one could think of anything more for the unidimensional cartoon villain to say. Rick, for his part, ends up reciting the season's big Theme, telling Woodbury 2.0 "we can come back," though in context it doesn't make a lick of sense.[3] Characters on TWD often have magical, Wolverine-style healing powers and these were on overdrive tonight. GINO slices into Hershel's neck with Michonne's katana, cutting perhaps a third of the way through it, and Hershel is still alive and tries to crawl away! But he doesn't make it. Michonne later skewers GINO on the same blade but GINO proves a tough fucker, too--even long after having a sword shoved right through his heart, he's still alive for his girlfriend to come along and self-righteously put down--a fan-service double kill. The teleporting zombies the series has so often featured were back with a vengeance tonight--as soon as the fence around the prison comes down, they materialize well within the prison grounds, attacking the living on both sides. And so on.

I think it would have been interesting tonight to have on hand Karen, the sole survivor of GINO's massacre, last season, of Woodbury 1.0. TWD is, unfortunately, long in the habit of killing off people who would lend interesting dynamics to a given scenario. T-Dog was responsible for Merle's loss of his hand, and a confrontation between them, when Merle returned, would have been fodder for drama. At the very least, it would have given T-Dog something to do except be black. Instead, T-Dog was killed off before Merle had reunited with the group. Merle himself offered an invaluable dynamic to the group, both via his brother and through his rocky relations with everyone else. Lots of dramatic opportunity there and the excellent Michael Rooker essaying the part but was killed off before any of this could be explored. Karen's absolutely pointless murder by an entirely-out-of-character Carol earlier this season--a plot decision made with the knowledge GINO was going to be at the gates of the prison a few eps later--is just the latest example.

The series did break another related Mazzara-era habit tonight in killing off Hershel. As I've often noted, the series has handled the sticky, potentially audience-alienating matter of killing regulars by either relegating such fates to redshirted non-entities (like Karen) or, if the character is a major player, so demonizing them that by the time they die, the audience is glad to see them go. In the entire run of TWD, Hershel was the first unquestionably major player to be killed who wasn't subjected to this treatment. Unfortunately, he was subjected to another Mazzara-era abuse; it's the habit of TWD to telegraph character deaths by suddenly making those about to die the central focus of an episode. Hershel was the central focus of his last complete ep ("Internment"). Some bad habits, it seems, die hard. I don't approve of the habit of some fans of making the deaths of regulars a thing they anticipate or of TWD's habit of catering to this by using such deaths for shock effect but in this case I'll take half a loaf. It's more than we'd gotten before.

As things stand, our heroes are scattered and have fled the prison, though it's still standing, still usable and there really isn't any need to leave it other than the metatextual desire to have the group move on. At the midseason break, TWD still sways between the promising reformism of this season and that long shadow Glen Mazzara casts over the production. It's still written subservient to a predetermined Theme, rather than with an eye toward going with what works. Every two or three steps forward seems to be accompanied by a step backward. I'm not really sure what its future holds but the pointless rehash of season 3 is finally over and the Gimple Gang can get back to doing something else.

--j.

---

[1] This was so blatant that when GINO's Woodbury 2.0 marches on the prison, it announces its presence by blowing up one of the prison's guard-towers, just as the 1.0 version did last season.

[2] If someone on Mazzara's TWD had suggested taking a moment away from the relationship melodrama to create an escape plan in the event of trouble, he would have been presented as a war criminal or child rapist, his plan entirely self-serving in some terrible way.

[3] Rick could have made clear to the assembled who and what GINO was and he'd have the survivors of Woodbury (to whom he only made a passing reference) to back him. Since GINO was insisting there was nothing personal in his actions, he could have offered to take in everyone except GINO. Nothing personal (a few eps earlier, Rick had pitilessly exiled Carol; now, weepy Rick offers to take in GINO!). He could have flatly told the lot of them that if they cross that fence, his people would make it a point to kill as many of them as they could (it's horrible to think that Mazzara better understood the likely reaction of ordinary people to such a threat than the current Gimple regime). There are about 10,000 things a competently written Rick could have done and several he should have done. Instead of striding down to the fence and playing it smart, he's cowardly, weepy, dumb, and weak--disgusting to watch.

14 comments:

  1. I liked this review, but there's one thing I'd like to point out. The prison did not look at all usable anymore. The fences are down, zombies are all over the prison, and the buildings and farms have holes blown in them.

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  2. That's only one side of the prison, which has already been established as independent of the rest of it. Most of the compound was untouched. That rear yard would have to be repaired if it was to be used, but the rest of the facility, including its fences (which were presumably repaired between season) is still perfectly usable.

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  3. Gimple gave us the prison fight we wanted for a year. you said he didnt bring anything of his own; what about the flu that was gimple, sure it took up more episodes then it should have but he tried to do something different with the walking dead. Its obvious that AMC only wants a 'yes man' in the showrunner job but at least we have someone who cares for these characters and stories I feel like the next couple of episodes are going to be the defining episodes of Gimple's tenure he is not bound to anything in mazzara's era we will hopefully know by eps 11 or 12 if gimple brought the walking dead back from the terrible things it has done.
    . Also rick was pleading to save herschel amd michonne he couldnt just start shooting. I appreciate the effort you put into the reviews. No other sites do that.

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  4. Gimple gave us the prison fight we wanted for a year. you said he didnt bring anything of his own; what about the flu that was gimple, sure it took up more episodes then it should have but he tried to do something different with the walking dead. Its obvious that AMC only wants a 'yes man' in the showrunner job but at least we have someone who cares for these characters and stories I feel like the next couple of episodes are going to be the defining episodes of Gimple's tenure he is not bound to anything in mazzara's era we will hopefully know by eps 11 or 12 if gimple brought the walking dead back from the terrible things it has done.
    . Also rick was pleading to save herschel amd michonne he couldnt just start shooting. I appreciate the effort you put into the reviews. No other sites do that.

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  5. I've been following The Dig since your first essay on TWD, and I finally decided to write a comment just to say it's comforting to know that I'm not alone in my impressions of the show. I also find it really surprising that the writers, producers, director, creators, and all involved with the series can't see their glaring errors. This is their livelihood, they live it 40 hours a week, yet someone reflecting on the show for just an hour a week can deconstruct their errors in logic and creativity with reliable clarity. I really enjoy watching the show, then forming my opinion of the episode, and then reading your Blog. I just don't understand how viewers are capable of realizing the shows glaring follies, yet those who do it for a living seem oblivious to producing poor craftsmanship. They have a great foundation to work with already, they just need to adapt it to a new medium, yet every decision they make to deviate from the original work seems so illogical and poorly executed. I suppose I keep watching it just for its potential of what could be. Great premises, but poor execution seems to define TWD.

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  6. Thank you for writing an intelligent and well thought out critique. I too have unfortunately watched the show slip over the seasons, but you articulate points with good evidence - my concerns are given a voice!

    It really is a shame. So many of the flaws could be ironed out with a little more thought and consideration of the wider context. Rick's actions and the dynamics of the groups are contradicted so often it feels as though the writers assume we're incredibly slow.

    We know it can be done - other shows have proved time and time again that good writing is can create a logical, enjoyable and fufilling show without resorting to only the underwhelming or over-the-top.

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  7. So how did GINO's girlfriend manage to carry her dead/bitten daughter through zombie infested woods all the way from where GINO left them by the river to the prison grounds? They must have teleported too!

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  8. It was awesome/creepy watching the zombie trying to cross the river-it belonged in a different episode though.
    Cant you do an article on the special effects/makeup. Its really good dont you agree. One of the things this show does right.

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  9. Thanks for the kind words and comments.

    I don't know why TWD's writers are so entirely incapable of seeing the massive and painfully obvious problems with what they create. In the past, I've suggested this could be laziness, incompetence, and indifference (because the show gets huge ratings no matter what they do, so why bother putting any work into it?). Maybe some combination of all of those things.

    I could be wrong, but I believe GINO's girlfriend drove up in a vehicle. The girl died rather fast, too. Or maybe GINO just shot her before she was dead (though it's hard to believe the mother would have stood still for that).

    I would have liked the moment with the zombie in the river more if it had been a bit more random, and didn't feature so much tension. Like it was just something she was watching one day, and of which she didn't seem to have any particular opinion. A project like TWD can get a lot of value out of simple moments like that if they're just willing to let them happen. I really liked the forest girl adventure in the first ep of this season. Another example would be where Carl and Hershel go gathering herbs in the forest, a layer of mist in the trees in the background. It's a nice, peaceful moment, interrupted by the appearance of the ugly dead. Hershel's line--"It was so peaceful"--would have been a great, poetic one on which to end the scene, but they threw in some kind of follow-up line by Carl and stayed with it too long. Spoiled the effect. That's sort of a nerdy, inside-baseball kind of criticism.

    I have what I suppose could be called a bit of an ideological disagreement with the zombie effects on TWD. They're good for what they are--stylized ghouls--but I much prefer a simpler look that doesn't dehumanize the creatures. I may write about that at some point.

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    1. I agree the writers and showrunners/producers have been extraordinarily lazy. They have 10 years worth of stories in the comics so they know when they need to make up for lack luster planning and episodes they can just shove something big from the comics in as needed to get people watching. They depend too much on using those moments to bail themselves out. Such as the tank and prison assault. The mistake from the beginning was not having a "show bible" and planning seasons in advance. Dont most successful shows plan epic moments years in advance. This show just randomly uses comic book moments inbetween lazy writing. They probably havent even planned season 5. Why should they. They can just make up filler along the way interspersed with iconic moments from the comics. Maybe there will be hope for the spinoff show since it doesnt have the comic to fall back on they will actually need to do some quality writing.

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  10. I didn't notice the car with the open doors behind GINO's girlfriend at the prison in that scene on first viewing. The premise still bugs me though for multiple reasons: I noticed that GINO's crew are all parked off on the field away from the prison's main entry road, so that means during the firefight she just nonchalantly came down the road and pulled up behind GINO and crew. Never a shortage of working vehicles in this world of theirs, hell they all got spares. The whole scene was just too cliche with the "This is all your fault" face. I got that the writers were once again telling us that while GINO was following his "White Whale" he yet again failed as a father and protector, yet the way the mother and little girl were portrayed back at the river camp I can't help but say that they earned their Darwin awards all by themselves. You'd think after the close call at the other camp with the little girl, mom would have kept her within arms reach. The little girl playing in the mud like nothing traumatic had happened to her at the other camp was totally unrealistic. And yes, I despise the way the writers yet again portrayed Rick in this episode. Rick had no problem handling Tyrese earlier this season, but GINO get's the better of him (again). Rick had a leg wound, but GINO had an arm wound! GINO had no problems throwing punches with that arm. Bullets don't shatter bones in the Walking Dead Universe either I guess, always go clean through? Some speculation for the second half of the season. The Grimes Gang mentioned they had an emergency gathering place with supplies stashed... I would guess Carol would know of this location as well.

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  11. Some times in the future, when we look back, I believe we will find that AMC made a huge mistakes at season 3 to radically change storyline from the comic, in the season 1 and season 2, although the show did not strictly follow the comic which is actually a good thing, but it still follow the comic storyline, but this is no longer the case from the beginning of the season 3, it looks like Mazarra decided to create the walking dead stories of his own, the similarity between his work and the comic would be just the names of the characters, I guess he fancy himself such a big shot that he can do a better job than Kirkman, the result is of course a disaster, by putting everything in one pot and mixing thing up (prison, Michonne, Tyreese, governor etc.), yes he did won high TV rating, but at the same time, he completely ruined the best part of the comic: the prison/Woodbury story arc, and the damage he did is very hard to fix. In the first half of the season 4, we can see Gimple is trying to making amend of the mess left by Mazarre, but it is a challenge job, from start, Gimple does not have enough time, from the first 5 prison episodes, you can see clearly every plots are done in a rush, there are no real so called "character development", how could you have character development, if you suddenly have dealt with so many died-immediately after been introduced redshirts? Who care the death of Ryan and Zach? Who care the relationship between Karen and Tyreese? And then, the mid season finale is such a disappointment, the completely lack of the bloodshed makes the climax of the comic, the fall of the prison, utterly a joke, that shows the limitation of Gimple's ability, and it is a bad sign that now he is now developing some kind new stories of his own creation, that is not good, I do not have confidence for the second half of the show

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  12. The mid season finale is one of the worst episode, not much better than season 3 finale. In the comic, the legendary fall of the prison was simply devasting blow to Rick, all of hope for a normal life was gone, his wife and daughter were killed in front of his eyes, and almost all of his friends dead, his life falls apart and I can understand why he lost his will to live in the issue 49. None of this is in the season 4 mid season finale, yes, the prison is gone, but all of the major characters in Rick's group except Hershel live, and even most of the secondary red shirt also survive, and I can bet we will find Judith alive in the second half of the season. Yes, these people are separated now, but we all know they will find each in no time in the second half of the season. This is no way the same devastating blow Kirkman delivered so successfully in the comic. I guess when the Governor said "kill them all", he means killing all of his own people. I am beyond disappointing.

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