Tonight, I started to simply make this a two-word review: very good.
By WALKING DEAD standards, "The Grove" was outright excellent. I'm a bit
hesitant to use words like that when it comes to TWD, though--for too
long, it has set the bar far too low. Not the case this evening.
The
one criticism I'd offer is to note the specter that continues to haunt
TWD, the one that has haunted it since the middle of the season: the
characters aren't looking for one another. After the midseason break,
Michonne found Rick and Carl. Since then, only Glenn and Maggie have
actively searched for one another, and even then, it was only
temporarily. This week, Tyreese continues to fail to show any interest
at all in finding his sister. When he, Carol, and the children find an
isolated farmhouse, he even decides he wants to settle down there. They
have the infant Judith in tow; no one is concerned with trying to get
her back to her own family.
That aside--and logically,
that continues to loom large--showrunner Scott Gimple's reformed TWD
continues to impress. The Gimple
Gang has added all manner of depth, darkness and even--dare I say
it?--maturity to the proceedings. I hope to see this continue.
--j.
I have been a lot less impressed with the "Gimple Gang" than you have been this season. But I have to admit, this was a legitimately good episode. There are criticisms I could make. But most of them, as you point out, are problems with the season as a whole. I could pick nits. (That gas stove should not be working. Lizzie had shown a few too many signs of being dangerous to be trusted.) But at the end of the day, this episode exceeded my expectations for the show. So, well done Gimple Gang. If you can deliver two more episodes like this one to end the season on a high note, I may be as forgiving as Tyreese.
ReplyDeleteIf it were propane it would work just fine. I'll have to watch the opening scene again, but blue flame with yellow in the middle would be natural gas. Blue flame with yellow at the tip would be propane.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea was that it was propane, however, the actual fuel may have been natural gas. It doesn't really matter, as a propane stove would work still.
I agree that any of the problems The Grove had last night are season-wide problems. Though I don't understand why TWD insists that characters have to stop to speak to each other. A stylistic choice or simply lazy directing? But anyway, I liked that episode. And I was glad that Lizzie and Mika weren't just discarded, but had gotten some love this season. One thing I realized last night, S4 Carole has to be Gimple sticking it to Mazzara's S2 Shane.
ReplyDelete"One thing I realized last night, S4 Carole has to be Gimple sticking it to Mazzara's S2 Shane."
ReplyDeleteI like that idea. I hadn't really considered it but so much of what Gimple has done has been a blatant metatextual refutation of Mazzara's TWD I can certainly see that as an idea behind it. I'm still unhappy with having Carol commit two senseless murders.
As for the gas stove, I was sure it ignited at one point without being lit (I'd have to look again to confirm), and that would require either a pilot or electricity. They could have lit the pilot off camera, and if the gas in the tank hadn't been used, it would still be there. Not really a problem.
Thanks for posting thiis
ReplyDeleteGreat readingg your post
ReplyDelete