zombies – Page 5 – Simon’s Incoherent Blog

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 12 – Not Tomorrow Yet

“We know exactly what this is. We don’t shy from it. We live. We have to kill them all.”

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(SPOILER WARNING!)

There’s an old military maxim, coined in the 19^th century, that no plan survives contact with the enemy. Switching gear from Western to war movie again, this week’s ep of The Walking Dead was a textbook demonstration of that, as we followed Rick and his meticulous planning to lead the gang to Savior HQ, with the ultimate objective of killing them all in their sleep. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 12 – Not Tomorrow Yet”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 11 – Knots Untie

“Your world’s about to get a whole lot bigger.”

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(SPOILER WARNING!)

I frequently bang on on this blog about how The Walking Dead tends to appropriate the tropes of both war movies and Westerns (outside of its obvious genre of post-apocalyptic horror). It was at it again this week, and like a couple of weeks ago, the most obvious source of inspiration was The Magnificent Seven. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 11 – Knots Untie”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 9 – No Way Out

“No-one gets to clock out today. And hell – this is a story they’re going to tell.”

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(SPOILER WARNING!)

As I caught up on the return of The Walking Dead after my usual sojourn to LA this year, it occurred to me that I never did get round to writing a review of last year’s mid-season finale. Not that there was anything wrong with it, particularly; there were some tense set pieces, and some good character action. But basically, it was the third act of every zombie movie ever made – the inevitable bit where the hordes of hungry undead break into our heroes’ sanctuary, and carnage ensues. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 9 – No Way Out”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 7 – Heads Up

“Dying is simple. It all just stops, you’re dead. The people around you dying – that’s the hard part.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Ok, I’ll admit it – last week I missed that we’ve already got on to Day Two of this year’s Walking Dead. In my defence, I think the night happened while Daryl was unconscious, so we only saw snapshots of it in those brief moments he woke up. So, six and a half episodes in, and we’re now on the season’s second day. That’s not quite 24-level real time, but it’s close. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 7 – Heads Up”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 6 – Always Accountable

“If you have a roof over your head… if you have food, you have walls – you have choices. And without Walkers, and bullets, and shit hitting the fan, you’re accountable for them. You’re always accountable.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Still wondering if Glenn’s really dead? Well, I’m afraid you’ll have to wonder at least one week longer, as this week’s Walking Dead caught us up with yet another narrative strand in the gang’s long, long day. This time, we found out what happened to Abraham, Sasha and Daryl while all the other bad shit was going down back at the town; and as ever, the script (by Heather Bellson this week) gave us a satisfying balance of undead action and character development. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 6 – Always Accountable”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 5 – Now

“This is what life looks like now. We have to see it. We have to fight it. If we don’t fight, we die.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After last week’s fascinating diversion into Morgan’s Jedi training/psychoanalysis, it was back to business as usual in this week’s Walking Dead, as we returned to the running plot of Rick’s none too successful plan to lead the Walker herd away from Alexandria, just when the Wolves attacked. But if you found last week’s flashback frustrating for prolonging the tension of whether your favourite characters made it back alive, you must have been positively gnashing your teeth at this one. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 5 – Now”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 4 – Here’s Not Here

“You said you wanted everything I had. Every last bit. Well, here it is. Every. Last. Bit.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple sure knows how to ratchet up the tension. After last week’s events left various of the characters in mortal danger – and in one case seemingly dead – you’d have expected this week’s extra-length ep to resolve those cliffhangers. Not a bit of it – we’re going to have to sweat over the fates of Rick, Glenn et al for another week. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 4 – Here’s Not Here”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 3 – Thank You

“Have you ever had to kill people, because they’d already killed your friends and they were coming for you next? Have you ever done things that made you feel afraid of yourself afterward? Have you ever been covered in so much blood that you didn’t know if it was yours, a Walker’s, or your friend’s?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Blimey. Even by Walking Dead standards, that was bleak. I mean, sure, there was plenty of action – and oodles of gore – but even this show rarely offers an episode so suffused with hopelessness. We knew the Wolves’ attack, and that blaring truck horn, had put a crimp in Rick’s Walker-herding plan, but I wasn’t prepared for quite how catastrophically wrong it all went as a result. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 3 – Thank You”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 2 – JSS

“How do you just live, when that’s the world?”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After last week’s lesson about how ill-prepared they were to deal with the dead, this week’s Walking Dead saw the pampered Alexandrians get slapped in the face by the real world again – only this time by the living. I wasn’t entirely surprised to find that the blaring truck horn distracting the Walker herd at the end of last week was caused by the Wolves – I’d been expecting them to turn up. But I’d thought the show might have given the Alexandrians a little breathing room between dealing with hundreds of Walkers and the marauding living. Not a bit of it – The Walking Dead isn’t a show to give its characters a break. Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 2 – JSS”

The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 1 – First Time Again

“I know this sounds insane, but this is an insane world. We have to come for them before they come for us – it’s that simple.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After six uneven weeks of its nascent spinoff, it comes as something of a relief to welcome back the original Walking Dead, in an extra length season premiere. Six years in, though, the show has seemingly explored nearly every possible storyline in their zombie apocalypse – can there be anything left to say, or is the show simply being prolonged because it’s AMC’s biggest hit? Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Season 6, Episode 1 – First Time Again”