The Walking Dead - season 6 discussion thread

[Fanatical Meat]

While I haven't watched the most recent episode and I don't want to read this thread too much to spoil it. Has anyone else noticed the camp where Jesus comes from seems like its a southern cotton plantation in the slavery days. The old guy is the only one in the old and very clean mansion. Everyone needs to wash to be inside, even during his discussion/negotiation he mentioned something about join us we'll hold on to your stuff and you can work or something similar.

 

[Kaido]

While I haven't watched the most recent episode and I don't want to read this thread too much to spoil it. Has anyone else noticed the camp where Jesus comes from seems like its a southern cotton plantation in the slavery days. The old guy is the only one in the old and very clean mansion. Everyone needs to wash to be inside, even during his discussion/negotiation he mentioned something about join us we'll hold on to your stuff and you can work or something similar.

Yeah, I think that's kind of the vibe they're going for...almost like the colonial settlements back in the early American days. Trading between settlements, setting up walls, having danger outside (but instead of Native Americans, it's zombies & bad guys).

 

[Kaido]

I agree: the only place for this to go is from survival horror to RTS.

As long as they have new issues to face, they can always keep it going under the live-action kind of approach. I'm probably missing stuff, but a brief timeline:

1. Rick wakes up & has to survive (thanks Morgan), then finds his family
2. CDC (ka-boom!)
3. Hershel's farm (RIP Shane)
4. The prison & the Governor
5. Termites (Bob-b-que!)
6. Hospital (bye bye Beth)
7. Alexandria (misc. issues)
8. Wolves & quarry zombies (RIP)
9. Gregory's group & Negan's Saviors

For starters, I really hope it's not another get-kicked-out-and-move-on bit. Kicked out of the CDC, then the farm, then the prison, then Terminus, then the hospital (sorta), so...c'mon. Negan's group can prove to be fun because they travel in units rather than as a whole, so they can optionally attack them in groups rather than as a single, giant force. Plus there's trading & settlement opportunities with other "good" groups, which is kind of like the colonies from early America, which can help to rebuild civilization.

One of the things that frustrates me is how quickly they put things to bed & move on. Like Terminus was a huge huge huge goal for them, they get captured at the end of the season, then at the start of the next, Carol pops 'em out and they pretty quickly finish them off at the church. I was hoping for at least half a season of craziness with those guys...not as stretched-out as the Governor's story, but at least kinda meaty, you know? Same issue with the Wolves...all this buildup with the "W", the guys that Morgan runs into, even the comic that the girl was reading...all for pretty much nothing. I was hoping there was going to be an awesome bossfight or something, but it was just kind of a quick siege during the zombie run through town, and then Rick & Carol finished the last of them off. Pretty anti-climatic.

 

[Cappuccino]

Today's episode reminds me of DayZ lol. Everyone is killing everything on sight.

 

[Cappuccino]

Hmm, I wonder how they're going to play this out long-term. Negan is obviously going to be very mad about the loss of two of his groups (biker gang & armory) and will take it out on Rick's group by killing at least one of their members (key member, from the sound of it), but then how does that play out long-term?

I think Rick's going to go bananas & will go into full stamp-out-the-enemy mode, which means that he'll have to enlist the help of the other settlements for manpower, because it sounds like Negan's group is huge. I'm curious if they're going to play this out over Season 7 like the Governor, or if it will be a quick die-off like Terminus. Since hanging around Alexandria is getting kind of stale, it would be cool if Rick & co took out Negan's group & engendered goodwill with multiple settlements so they could really get their supply base growing.

Those social connections would really help them grow their world & offer more opportunities for story development, because if they get booted out of Alexandria again, then it's just like re: the farm, re: the prison, re: everywhere they've ever stayed since the beginning. They can't be on the road again with the baby plus (maybe) Maggie's baby, so hopefully Negan will be a fun long-term threat to Rick's group. So far, I've really liked this second half of the season...very intense, lots of good action, lots of new story stuff (Gregory's camp, the Saviors, etc.).

I just hope they don't pull a hershel execution on one of the main character in this season. Hershel death was brutal and I hope it doesn't repeat
My brain tells me it's going to be worse. RIP whoever is next

 

[dank69]

Today's episode reminds me of DayZ lol. Everyone is killing everything on sight.

I think you are still a week behind. This week was estrogen week.

 

[Cappuccino]

I think you are still a week behind. This week was estrogen week.

This ep was about carol & maggie killing the people who captured them?

 

[Bird222]

Did anyone else think that Carol was putting on the whole time, but apparently she was for real? In addition, Maggie just went nuts. It's almost like they switched personalities. I know Maggie isn't that timid but I expected Carol to be acting like Maggie was.

 

[JM Aggie08]

I think you are still a week behind. This week was estrogen week.

Regardless, it was pretty damn brutal.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Did anyone else think that Carol was putting on the whole time, but apparently she was for real? In addition, Maggie just went nuts. It's almost like they switched personalities. I know Maggie isn't that timid but I expected Carol to be acting like Maggie was.

Carol is Donionrings man

 

[Phoenix86]

The questions are "how many people have you killed?" and "why?" so I'm sure Rick considers the choice to murder these people a reasonable decision. "Why?" "To protect our people."

The group they hit with the RPG? Sure.

The assault they were paid in supplies to put to the knife while they were sleeping? Ehhh, not so much.

 

[Phoenix86]

Did anyone else think that Carol was putting on the whole time, but apparently she was for real? In addition, Maggie just went nuts. It's almost like they switched personalities. I know Maggie isn't that timid but I expected Carol to be acting like Maggie was.

It did seem out of character for Carol, OK religious, fine, whatever. However she's been a pretty cold killer when she needs to be, it was odd she cracked under those circumstances. Hell the episode before, during the assault, she was basically saying "maggie, let me kill these people so you don't have to risk yourself/baby."

 

[ImpulsE69]

I thought she was acting weak to lessen the chance of her being killed. At least to a degree. In the talking dead, they talked about it, and apparently was left ambiguous on purpose.

 

[Charmonium]

They key is tho that they have strong communication. And not just via walkie-talkies, but sophisticated channel & code systems, as illustrated on the drive to the slaughterhouse with Maggie & Carol under the hoods. That has to be one of the secrets to their success...they can still talk over long distances, even without cell phones. I think Rick's group has a few radios, but they definitely aren't as well-equipped as Negan's group. So they operate as individual cells of a whole gang unit.

Plus they are apparently fear-driven...you can never leave the group, and everything you own belongs to the group/to Negan himself. So maybe Negan is like Rick, still looking out for his people, but rather than giving them a choice, he rules through fear (with a certain weapon...).

Interesting. Did you get any sense for their range? With short wave and an antenna on high ground, you can probably go a couple hundred miles.

 

[Kaido]

Interesting. Did you get any sense for their range? With short wave and an antenna on high ground, you can probably go a couple hundred miles.

The range is pretty decent...the second group of bad guys was 10 minutes away and were crystal-clear, and the redheaded lady knew Rick's group was coming because their walkie talkies were staticy enough for them to be as far away as they should have been, unless they were following them.

 

[Kaido]

I thought she was acting weak to lessen the chance of her being killed. At least to a degree. In the talking dead, they talked about it, and apparently was left ambiguous on purpose.

I think it ultimately boiled down to Carol channeling an act of what she was actually feeling. So she played her card as a weak grandma, but she really was feeling it because all of the deaths she was responsible for were catching up to her.

Thanks, Morgan :thumbsdown:

 

[Kaido]

The group they hit with the RPG? Sure.

The assault they were paid in supplies to put to the knife while they were sleeping? Ehhh, not so much.

Yeah, that's where the writing gets good, because now - are they still the good guys? The problem is, they weren't only killing those people in their sleep just for supplies...the biker group was going to kill Abraham & rob all of their supplies, and the rest of the group would have caught up to Alexandria eventually & subjugated Rick's group to a 50% tax burden as well, which would have started to kill them because their supplies were already dwindling. So they were preventing a known threat from happening by being the first to attack.

It's a murky line, but again, they did a good job justifying it with the serial killer photos, the fact that they wanted Gregory's head (no group of good guys does that), etc. Rick's group has good intentions, but in this world, they've accepted the fact that they will do what has to be done to survive. They could have easily taken over Gregory's camp with force, but they opted to strike a deal with them instead - so their intentions are still good, they just have to make crummy decisions like killing people in their sleep in order to prevent further harm from coming to their community through starvation, an example sacrifice by Negan, etc.

This is what I liked about Lost (well, the first couple of seasons anyway) - it's not just about the storyline & action, but the discussion points about who is right, who is wrong, what is good, what is bad, so it makes it more fun to talk about after the show is over instead of just being a popcorn flick.

 

[Remobz]

Yeah, that's where the writing gets good, because now - are they still the good guys? The problem is, they weren't only killing those people in their sleep just for supplies...the biker group was going to kill Abraham & rob all of their supplies, and the rest of the group would have caught up to Alexandria eventually & subjugated Rick's group to a 50% tax burden as well, which would have started to kill them because their supplies were already dwindling. So they were preventing a known threat from happening by being the first to attack.

It's a murky line, but again, they did a good job justifying it with the serial killer photos, the fact that they wanted Gregory's head (no group of good guys does that), etc. Rick's group has good intentions, but in this world, they've accepted the fact that they will do what has to be done to survive. They could have easily taken over Gregory's camp with force, but they opted to strike a deal with them instead - so their intentions are still good, they just have to make crummy decisions like killing people in their sleep in order to prevent further harm from coming to their community through starvation, an example sacrifice by Negan, etc.

This is what I liked about Lost (well, the first couple of seasons anyway) - it's not just about the storyline & action, but the discussion points about who is right, who is wrong, what is good, what is bad, so it makes it more fun to talk about after the show is over instead of just being a popcorn flick.

Serial killer photos? Please explain what you meant by this?

 

[Phoenix86]

It's a murky line, but again, they did a good job justifying it with the serial killer photos, the fact that they wanted Gregory's head (no group of good guys does that), etc. Rick's group has good intentions, but in this world, they've accepted the fact that they will do what has to be done to survive. They could have easily taken over Gregory's camp with force, but they opted to strike a deal with them instead - so their intentions are still good, they just have to make crummy decisions like killing people in their sleep in order to prevent further harm from coming to their community through starvation, an example sacrifice by Negan, etc.

Yes, the photos reinforce that these were truly bad people, however they made the decision before knowing that. I agree it's good writing and I'm enjoying this season so much more because of it. Regardless of how bad they were it's still preemptive murder. The people they attacked hadn't done anything to Rick's group, their friends did, but not these folks. Murky indeed.

 

[Phoenix86]

Serial killer photos? Please explain what you meant by this?

When Glenn was killing a guy he had photos of a bunch of dead bodies, presumably all the people he killed, pinned on the wall above his bed.

 

[Charmonium]

Yes, the photos reinforce that these were truly bad people, however they made the decision before knowing that. I agree it's good writing and I'm enjoying this season so much more because of it. Regardless of how bad they were it's still preemptive murder. The people they attacked hadn't done anything to Rick's group, their friends did, but not these folks. Murky indeed.

The decision to attack Negan's group was primarily strategic. The writers set it up so that it was a decision between starving and attacking. Hilltop wasn't going to do jack for Alexandria unless they got something in return and the way it was written, it seemed like the only thing Rick and his group had to offer was their fighting skills.

Technically, that makes them mercenaries and we don't generally have a very positive view of mercenaries. We all understand that they're a necessary evil under some circumstances, but still an evil.

So the decision to attack the armory was morally ambiguous but the writers did give you ways to rationalize it. For example the "message" to Gregory from Negan's group. Of course you don't really know whether or not that message may have been justified. I wouldn't be surprised if we find out at some point that it was.

The thing that really set this episode apart for me was how Rick killed "Negan" w/o even a second of hesitation. In almost all of the other instances, the writers make a point of highlighting the difficulties most of the group have with this attack. But Rick seems to have gone over to the dark side.

 

[Kaido]

The thing that really set this episode apart for me was how Rick killed "Negan" w/o even a second of hesitation. In almost all of the other instances, the writers make a point of highlighting the difficulties most of the group have with this attack. But Rick seems to have gone over to the dark side.

Rick is kind of the new Carol: he coldly removes any threats to his "family", without hesitation. The guy who claimed to be Negan was the last out of the three groups they encountered (the bikers, the armory, and the third group that Carol torched), so by eliminating him, Rick felt this would provide closure. I don't think he's so much gone to the dark side as much as he's given up on letting things get in the way of him doing his job.

Although I do think it's in a different vein than Carol. Carol used that coldness to function & operate and do what needed to be done. Rick has been through more of a journey to get where he's at now, whereas Carol is still on her journey & is getting back to her human emotions roots. Rick has simply adapted from being a cop in the living world to being a caretaker & protector in the world of the dead. He snapped a long time ago, after the death of his wife, and came back from it, and finally cemented who he needs to be after Jesse's husband took out Deanna's husband: he knows what needs to be done and knows he is capable of doing it, so he's done clowning around. It's like pulling weeds...he simply does what has to be done to protect what he has.

 

[bononos]

........
So the decision to attack the armory was morally ambiguous but the writers did give you ways to rationalize it. For example the "message" to Gregory from Negan's group. Of course you don't really know whether or not that message may have been justified. I wouldn't be surprised if we find out at some point that it was.

The thing that really set this episode apart for me was how Rick killed "Negan" w/o even a second of hesitation. In almost all of the other instances, the writers make a point of highlighting the difficulties most of the group have with this attack. But Rick seems to have gone over to the dark side.

It didn't seem that morally ambiguous after what the Savior doormen did to Gregory's head. Along with the previous message, 2 ambushes (walker parade with Daryl and Sasha), Abraham's fuel truck) and the scene with the terrified couple running away with Daryl motorcycle, I think the Saviors were bad news.

Carol didn't have time to tell Rick that Negan was just another codename for Saviors before he blew Negan/Primo away and Carol was too dumbstruck to say anything. Nice play by Carol earlier to pretend that she was harmless instead of a steely killer.

 

[dank69]

This ep was about carol & maggie killing the people who captured them?

Oh okay yeah that was the latest one. I was confused because last week had more killing I think. I guess they were slaughtering quite a few walkers this week though.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Oh okay yeah that was the latest one. I was confused because last week had more killing I think. I guess they were slaughtering quite a few walkers this week though.

They beat a woman to death with the butt of a gun, shot another in the head point blank, shoved another into a spike to have her face eaten off, then set an entire room of people on fire. Not to mention, Rick shooting homeboy in the head at the very end.