Joe Chiarenzelli is an editor on The Gadfly Press who cares way too much about television.
Joe:
What I find fascinating
about this season finale is how it played out exactly as any reasonable human
being would assume it would. Although it still maintained a pacing and
structure that made it an entertaining watch.
As Herschel would say, “Christ promised a resurrection of the dead, I
just thought he had something different in mind.” I think anyone who watches
the show could guess who would escape the farm and who would die. Namely, the
main cast got away and two of Herschel’s gang who have been in around 4 scenes
total got their various organs ripped out of them.
The set up to this
episode was extremely interesting in that it showed the zombies trip from
Atlanta towards the farm. Obviously the most interesting part of this sequence
was the helicopter over the city and what that may indicate about a larger
settlement with access to modern technologies (although a notable feature of
this sequence was the wonderful “Trespass its your ass” sign on the fence).
This segued into the zombie siege of the S.S. Herschel’s Farm, I refer to it as
a vessel due to Herschel’s attitude of a sea captain, he will go down with his
farm.
The defense of the farm
has some great set pieces, including Herschel’s magic never needs reloading
shotgun, Carl’s forced pyromania, and Glenn and Darryl shooting zombies out of
moving vehicles. However, the more important character moments happen after the
siege is over and the farm is abandoned. These scenarios all deal with whether
or not they should go back and try to meet up with others who could have
potentially survived. My favorite involved my main man Tdog, who was finally
given a moment to express some real emotion and demonstrate his leadership
skills. He came off like a giant jackass. While he acknowledged it was unfortunate
that the others had died he did insist that they head towards the coast until
Lori has to threaten to jump out of the vehicle to get him to change his mind.
And change his mind he did, immediately demonstrating that he has no concept of
a three point turn by driving into the ditch while trying to perform a u turn.
Luckily Carl has
convinced Rick to stay on the highway where they left supplies for Sophia and
the rest of the group arrives. They then set off for the east coast with the
exception of Andrea who ran through the woods fighting off zombies for what
seemed to be around 12 hours if I’m following the chronology correctly. There
is a lot more to unpack but what do you think about the siege of the farm
before Rick declared himself King of the Survivors.
Sarah:
I think the scene in
which T-dog insists that Lori, Beth, and he should continue driving east toward
the coast instead of turning around to rendezvous with whomever is left in the
group reveals much about his loyalties to the group. His insistence, though,
does not seem to be anything more than a purely utilitarian stance driven by
his desire to continue to stay alive after the closest encounter with death he
has experienced in this season. So while he is ultimately loyal to the group
(as demonstrated by his willingness to comply with Lori’s demand), I think we
may see T-Dog’s character develop in season three such that he is placed in a
similar situation in which his loyalty will be tested again (and perhaps it
will involve an appearance of Merle). One final note on T-Dog is that he seemed
to be the only person who definitively thought that Andrea had been overtaken
by walkers; he claimed “We saw her go down.” Carol couldn’t give a clear
account of what happened because she was overwhelmed by nearly being ripped to
shreds, but T-Dog seemed to have thought he could vouch fairly accurately for
Andrea’s fate. Will he be responsible for the group failing to launch a search
party for Andrea in the upcoming season?
What the fuck was up
with Lori’s reaction to Rick’s confession of killing Shane? Had she not played
a key role in orchestrating this end? How quickly she forget that she went Lady
Macbeth on Rick in an earlier episode, goading him to defend his family and do
something about Shane’s increasingly aggressive behavior. While her reaction is
difficult to decode, another possible interpretation is that her anger is not
meant to be directed at Rick, but rather is an outward expression of her
realizing her responsibility in pitting Rick and Shane against one another. If
this is the case, how will Lori deal with this guilt in season three? And how
will her struggle parallel with Rick as he comes to terms with the death of
Shane?
“Ricktatorship” – the name
for the group’s new government as coined by Glen Mazzara. What do you think
about Rick’s new stance on how the group will be governed here on out? And what
was up with Herschel’s reaction? He seemed to be almost giddy, as if he was
relishing in the fact that Rick was coming into his own as the rightful and
unchallenged leader of the group. It struck me as if he were a proud father
watching his son.
Joe:
I think what we will
see going forward with the more fringe characters in the group is an increasing
doubt towards Rick as a leader. Carol seems to be goading Daryl into some sort
of confrontation with Rick although he seems to want no part of it. The thing
with Tdog is particularly fascinating because (as farfetched as this will
sound) it was almost like the actor was willing to flee the show due to his
lack of lines, almost a metacommentary. But, interestingly his specific
reaction does make a certain kind of sense, since I watched it with you I know
you noticed in the previous episode what I did about Tdog, he seems to never
actually have an interaction with anyone else in which he is A) not interrupted
and B) not muttering something unintelligible under his breath. But yes, I
think we will see more disaffection with the Ricktatorship as next season
starts. Which leads me to my next point…
Are they so wrong to
view complete leadership by Rick as a bit of a bad idea? Sure, he did kill
Shane only when he was forced to, but he also has really established himself as
a particularly talented leader. Especially in contrast with the cloaked figure that
saves Andrea, she seems to have done a pretty good job learning how to deal
with zombies, seeing as she’s accessorizing with them. As far as I can tell the
smartest thing Rick did, from an objective standpoint, in this episode is to
set the barn on fire as a distraction. It did seem to do the trick of
distracting the zombies from the main house for a while (also it was super
badass when he took that walker out before it was able to have some raw
Herschel (which incidentally is the new cereal I’m trying to market, “Raw
Herschel, it will make you a doctor even if you’re only a vet.)).
But let’s look inside
Rick’s psychology. Firstly the way in which he describes letting Shane lead him
further and further into the woods seems to imply that he both has a death wish
and is also incapable of acting in self-defense until he has no other choice,
although the latter may have changed now that he has asserted his authority.
Secondly, the man is way too affected by his wife and son, which is not to say
that he shouldn’t care about them, but Lori is clearly out of her goddamned
mind and Carl is a petulant kid. This in no way indicts them as human beings,
under the circumstances it’s understandable, but if we are to accept Rick as
the group’s leader he needs to remain objective and unaffected by his own
personal familial issues. This, of course, is the safeguard that a democratic
system puts in place; no one individual’s problems can override the good of the
majority. But, if he is to assume total control over the group they will
certainly be subjected to his psychological deficits.
Sarah:
To bring your point out
further, I think the question of the trajectory of the Ricktatorship will align
with the confrontation Carol is pushing for between Daryl and Rick. As you have
noted, the safeguard that a democratic system offers its members is that “no
one individual’s problems can override the good of the majority.” With Merle
removed and Carol as his strongest relationship in the group, does Daryl have a
greater capacity for objectivity than Rick? I think we saw an intimation of the
kind of calls Daryl would make as group leader during the scene of the rendezvous
on the highway in which he questions the group’s decision to not turn back to
try to save Andrea. Daryl’s questioning was contrasted against Rick’s argument
that the only two possibilities of Andrea’s fate were either that she was dead
or had moved away from the farm, which meant that returning to the farm would
be futile. Contrastingly, Rick made the objective decision that was best for
the group. So, we have a conflicting understanding of Rick: he is the most
likely in the group to be tied down by his personal obligations to his family
while simultaneously he has consistently exhibited the ability to make the
necessary objective decisions when the need arises. As you have also pointed
out, it is clear that Daryl wants no part in the confrontation that Carol is
gunning for. But, out of all the characters, it seems that the greatest
opposition to Rick’s leadership next season may come from Maggie. She is
clearly aligned with both her family and Glenn (as the “I love you” exchange
and her near break-down over the fate of Beth et al. demonstrated), and as such
would be a likely candidate to create a schism.
While this wasn’t
discussed in this episode, on tonight’s The
Talking Dead Mazzara explained that the flashes we saw between Shane’s
death and his transformation were meant to be a window into the transformation
process the brain undergoes as it dies and is reanimated. I am unsatisfied with
this explanation, though, because the flashes depicted peculiar images to
represent such a transformation. Were those images meant to be taken literally
as what Shane’s dying brain was projecting or figuratively as the carnal urge
quickly consuming Shane’s limited brain power as he reanimated?
On a final note, I am
relieved that my favorite character is still alive. Green Hyundai, you are so
resilient and reliable, and I dare say much more emotionally complex than
others take you for.
Predictions:
How
soon will they get to the prison? Will it be overrun when they get there, will
they need to clear it out?
S&J: At the end of the first episode of the
third season they will find the prison, and it will be overrun with walkers.
When
are Andrea and Michonne going to come back and interact with the central group
of survivors?
J: They will enter deus ex machina in the back half
of the season.
S: If they do enter deus ex machina, will we see
their story line progress parallel to the group’s or will we only see them
again at the moment in which they swoop in to save the day?
When
will the Governor enter the picture and in what manner?
J: The Governor will enter the picture by way of
Merle; Merle seems to be someone who is incapable of surviving for a long
period without taking direction from someone else. But, the Governor will not
be the one to instigate the interaction with Rick’s group.
S: The Governor will enter the picture when the
group extends their scavenging radius.
Who
is going to die next?
S: Beth will most likely die next and if Rick
appears to be culpable will Maggie possibly incite a schism with the Herschel,
Glenn, and whomever else will follow a challenge of the Ricktatorship?
J: Carol will die next, but only because she serves
no purpose in the story’s arc and has no survival skills whatsoever.
When
will Lori’s pregnancy start to show?
J: If there’s no time jump, Lori will start to show
after the first few episodes of season three. Unless the writers have planned
it such that her pregnancy develops all throughout season three and into season
four.
S: Lori’s pregnancy will start to show and
subsequently start to put a burden on the group when they have managed to move
into the prison but are facing the challenge of keeping it well stocked and
guarded.
What did you think about The Walking Dead finale, where is the show going to go from here? If you watch Talking Dead, is Chris Hardwick's Adam's apple as disturbing to you as it is for us?
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