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FINALE SPOILERS OUT THE YING-YANG, written during commercial breaks!


Wow... I like how this episode so far has been NOTHING like what I was expecting. Nice job at red-herring-ing those scenes for next week last week!

I was all ready to get all in-your-facey about my boy Shane and his good intentions, until his drunken grope-a-thon with Lori. But at least he backed down. I still like him.

Well then. Vi just clinched it. Our gang shan't be staying at the CDC for long, huh? That's good, actually. Hooray, countdown clock!

Hmm. Methinks mayhap it be time for Rick to pull out that grenade he's been carrying.

And there it is.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Andrea!!!!!

Whew... that was a relief. Dale's little sit-in ploy with Andrea was SO TWD: the comic.

*choke!!* Jacqui's fate... I can't lie, I had to fight back tears when she and Dr. Jenner grasped hands and looked at each other.

Oh my Lordy... the wait until next October? that is going to go SO far beyond sucking that it will become a black hole.

I enjoyed the season finale, its going to be a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng wait til next Halloween.

So whaddaya thing doc whispered to Rick? Best guess: <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">that ALL who become deceased, regardless of cause, will return as walkers.</span></span> This is a truth from the comic, though Rick and the gang had to find this out the hard way. If Rick knows this now, it would render a certain scene from the book (in which Rick returns to take care of some unfinished business) pointless.

Overall, I enjoyed the episode a lot, even though it was off-book. Good character moments, especially with signs that Shane's becoming unhinged. The Dale/Andrea scene was a bit cliched but an effective building block in their relationship that brings things closer to where they go in the book.

AWESOME (if too short) Season 1, AMC & Company! Let's do it again next year!

My first thought regarding the whisper was that Lori was pregnant (revealed via the blood tests earlier).

Poor Jacqui... we barely knew you. Literally. Suddenly the black chick that I had very little emotional investment in and whose backstory is still pretty much unknown decides to stay and die? Okay... And then Dale makes a big deal about convincing Andrea to go with them, but apparently everybody's okay with Jacqui dying?

Other than that the episode pretty much rocked.

^Good alternative theory, Edie! Are you familiar with the comic book, Edie? Your theory about the whisper makes me wonder, plus you've never mentioned if you have or not.

I think the difference between Jacqui and Andrea was that Dale was very emotionally attached to her. Though there seemed to be some connection between Jacqui and T (not sure whether they knew each other or were related, or were we too accept their mutual blackness as their bond? ), we had some good signs of bonding between Andrea and Dale in this and the previous episode. Honestly, other than Dale, it looked like ALL the others were more concerned with surviving than saving the others.

Given what they learned and what they face out in the wilderness, it seemed pretty plausible that some would choose that option.

Good to see the grenade return in a timely fashion! I'd totally forgotten about it from the first coupla episodes. Well played and well set up!

Nope. Not at all.

POSSIBLE COMIC BOOK SPOILER BASED ON EDE'S POST

Now that EDE's said it, I feel stupid for not thinking that's what the whisper to Rick was.

If that's what he whispered, it would be interesting if he included how far along she was. If she was, like, a month preggers, Rick would know it wasn't his.


Ouch! I'm sorry about any spoilers you might've encountered here and there on this thread.

I agree the grenade's usage was awesomely done considering it very subtly had been a part of the first 6 episodes and we actually saw it make it's way to Carol. That was really well done.

Loved the finale. I love that's it is not mirroring the comic but following the same basic timeline and canon for the most part.

The actor playing Shane is really doing a great job making me re-think his character. His really tough scene with Lori furthered this and added some more complications (including his growing animosity with Rick).

I wonder if Season #2 will ultimately end where the first TPB of the TWD ends? AMC series only have 12 episodies per season max, so that isn't too out of the question. Either way, hoping to see Tyrese show up.

Glad Eryk is enjoying the TWD for the first time via the show!

This was a really masterfully done finale! Almost nothing about the CDC went as expected, from my point of view, which made it suspenseful and enjoyable. (I haven't read the comics, BTW.)

In case you thought the "Jenner" name sounded familiar -- EdWARD Jenner studied smallpox and discovered that immunizing humans with cowpox virus protected them from the smallpox virus (of course, at the time, he had no idea what a virus actually was). So, EdWARD Jenner presided over the beginning of modern medicine, and all its successes. EdWIN Jenner presides over it's end.

A mediocre CDC worker, holding a vigil for his dead wife, the true genius who might have saved humanity, going through the motions of the heroic scientist, doomed to run out of time, because modern medicine, like all modern life, depends on electricity, which no one generates anymore. And at the end, the knowledge and the risk associated with 200 years of medical advancement is incinerated. The world we know is well and truly over, and probably not recoverable. And you have to make a choice, do you try and survive, start completely over, or do you decide you've had enough?

And all of that plays out powerfully. I'm left exhausted by the extremity and desperation of these few survivors. Driving away from the mushroom cloud of the last bastion of modernity.

Not a bad finale. A few random thoughts:

>Doc told Rick either what EDE said or that he saw something on a monitor about what happened with Shane.

>Jacqui. So the lady was only there to tell them that there were sewer access in old Atlanta buildings? Nobody thought enough to try to change her mind? Not even T-Dog, whom she apparently shared some bond with?

>Nice to see the grenade in the nick of time. Convenient, but I can accept that.

>Explosion of that size should have tipped the RV over a few times...

>I really liked the opening moments of what was happening at the hospital...showed why Shane thought he was gone. Of course they balanced that out with his actions later.

>Dale and Andrea have developed a great bond.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=29742

6 million for the finale!!!!!!

...and we gotta wait like 10 months for season 2...argh!

I'm surprised by all the positive comments about this finale. I thought it was awful. Really, really awful. Easily the worst episode of the show to date. And one of the worst-written hours of TV I've watched in a long time.

I'll try to think of some nice things to say about it first -

* I liked the beginning with the back-story to Shane leaving Rick in the hospital. Was exciting and also some good character-building for Shane. He's a great 'conflicted' character and this show is doing a much better job with him than the comic did (and I liked him in the comic).

* Great song at the end.

... um that's about all that was good about this episode.

Now for all the crap -

... (I started to write long reasons about what I hated about this episode but it bored me to think about it again so here's some quick bullet points.)

* Jenner - everything to do with him was badly written and badly acted.
* That whole 'trapped in the CDC' sub-plot - completely contrived (it was as if the writers were like 'Quick - we've got to throw some ridiculous obstacle into the way of our heroes to pad out this episode') and completely unexciting or compelling - did anyone have any doubt that they were going to get out?
* Jacquie just turns around and decides to commit suicide out of nowhere? Oookaaay :rolleyes:
* Pacing - our heroes go into that CDC room at the 20 minute mark of the episode and then spend the entire rest of the 45 minute episode in there talking until they escape at the end! Talk about boring. I was literally having to stop myself from fast-forwarding through some of Jenner's stupid 'I'm going to conveniently go temporarily crazy to delay you for a bit' speeches.
* The whole ridiculous convenience of them noticing the countdown clock when there's only an hour left to go on it. Good thing they didn't notice it the night before or else the writers would have been really screwed.

This whole episode just seemed like amateur-hour hokum to me. And I hate to bring up the Lost comparison (but I will anyway) - but that show KNEW how to deliver a KILLER season finale! Every one of them was amazing. I really hope next season's writers get this show back on track because I hated this episode so much it was almost a jump-the-shark moment for me.

Such a shame too because I'd been enjoying this version of The Walking Dead so much until now.

I think EDE has it right with the whipered scene.
My wife feels its the other possibility.
I liked the episode overall. desipte the lack of you know who doing youknow what to you know who, I still feel this may happen early next season.
Next season, I think they will hit some major point form the comic (along with some side-trips) like Wiltshire, hershel's farm and the the prison.
Next season should end with some sort of cliffhanger, odds are some prison/wordbury stand off

I didn't hate it as much as Blacula, but it did try my patience. My wife was pleased when Jacquie and Andrea decided to stay ("Good", she said, "The two worst actresses will be out at least"). I knew they wouldn't off Andrea though, no matter how far off the source material they were.

I thought Jenner was an interesting character but ultimately wasted and his breakdown was telegraphed and entirely plot driven.

This show really needs to decide what it wants to be, because the potential is so great, but I feel this season squandered a lot of that.

If it's to be a character piece, give us meatier characters (a longer series may allow for more focus). If there's going to be larger themes give us some structure to start making a better layered narrative. If it's going to be a straight horror show, then amp it up a bit. Right now it's just a hodgepodge that's servicing the plot instead of the plot servicing a larger goal. I don't hate it, but I really want more.

I'd have to re-watch to know for sure, but I do agree with Blacula that the sequencing/pacing of the "CDC will run out of power/self-destruct" thing seemed off. Didn't all the adults here what the countdown meant, then were surprised when the AC turned off? And I also thought that the explosion should have sent the vehicles flying. That was a big boom, and if it was ultra-high temperature, the heat-induced shockwave would have been substantial.

For me, I still enjoyed this as a episode because it captured the end of the modern world for me so well, with a Jenner there to see it out. And it makes the characters choose--do you want to try and build a whole new world in the face of deadly obstacles, or don't you? I didn't necessarily see the plot as contrived -- the CDC, and some other labs, store some really bad stuff, so some sort of fail-safe containment strategy makes sense.

I do agree that if they want it to be more character-driven (like the best of "Lost" was), they need to somehow allow more character time. But I don't think this episode was devoid of character-building. All the stuff with Shane WAS great. It's clear he REALLY loves Rick, and needs him, but clearly DESIRES Lorrie uncontrollably. He's not all good or all bad. And say what you want about Andrea, but I thought her experiences through all of the past 3 episodes have been powerful foundations for her character. I like it when movies and shows take time to grieve with a character, and they did that with Andrea.

I'd agree with the criticisms of the episode in that so much of it felt clichéd. But I do feel it rose above that with its character work. As dc says, the stuff with Shane was pretty amazing. The during and after scenes with Lori were pretty terrific. Here she is very nearly raped and she can't even tell her husband about it. Then, there's the scene at breakfast the next morning when Shane explains away his scratches, and no one bats an eye. Very effective.

It would've been nice if someone had tried harder to convince Jacqui to change her mind, but everyone was in near-panic mode and obeying their survival instinct, except Dale who is clearly very fond of Andrea. I've no doubt that Dale would've followed through, stayed and died with her had Andrea not backed down. Whatever connection Jacqui and T had, it was clearly not as strong.

I liked that there were people who chose to end it on their own terms. Jacqui mentioned "the wrath of God". She was probably a woman of faith. Some would feel forsaken that God would leave them to this hellish existence. Perhaps this had shaken her faith; others might see it as more of a test. But being of faith or not, facing the end of life as we knew it, would be a hard reality to accept for anyone. Jenner lost his wife and Jackie her faith. Andrea lost her sister but was pulled out of it by her concern for another.

Yes, the circumstances were a lot contrived, but it made a certain amount of sense the way the scenario was portrayed. The CDC does carry samples of the deadliest microbes, so predicting contingencies for them would make sense.

But, yeah, that fireball was portrayed as being TOO big for it not to have taken out the nearby vehicles.Sometimes producers fall in love so much with showing big explosions that they throw common sense out of the equation. If you've ever seen a Die Hard movie or any of countless other action movies, you'll acknowledge that this sort of thing is hardly unprecedented. Chalk it up to some harmless artistic license. If you can accept the dead coming back to life with no desire but to eat the living, then this isn't that big f a deal.

Overall, I'd say this episode is probably the weakest of the lot but is still a good installment. I'd always wondered why the survivors in the book didn't go at least check out the CDC while they were on the outskirts of Atlanta. It was a logical place to look and one in pretty close proximity. Obviously, it would be one of the places to find some hope if any infrastructure still existed on the planet.

Visiting the CDC DID serve an important purpose, in that it underlined for the survivors that they probably have no one to depend upon in this apocalyptic saetting other than each other. They know now that not only was the CDC a dead end but also that it lost contact with anyone else over a month ago.

I wouldn't be surprised if the series' next move is to check out Shane's suggestion of the military Fort he mentioned. If they do, I hope the series is careful to refrain from verring too closely into the territory that 28 Days Later covered in a similar setting. Or maybe a conflict between Shane and Rick over whether or not to go will escalate into a huge fight over which of them should lead their group. That was explored very briefly in the comic and would provide great dramatic fodder for the series, especially given what we know about Shane and Lori that Rick doesn't know.

I'm very interested to see what the producers will do next season and am very encouraged by the choices they've made to this point!

I'm not posting a hell of a lot just now but am reading the boards as much as i can. So just to pip up and say I am loving (as is Jennifer) the TV series, even if we are a week or so behind. But I have never read any of the comics or GN's. So a lot of what I know comes only from the TV show.

Looking like July for season 2.

Really? Oh I DO think that is a better idea that waiting until October!!

As long as they don't run it against TRUE BLOOD on HBO. Summertime NEEDS TWD!!

Just had fun rereading this thread.

think I'll watch TWD on the good ol' DVR.

Which hopefully I can erase when the DVD set comes out! (I think it is due in March)

BestBuy.com has a release date of 3/8/2011 listed... 10 days!

Can't wait for season two! But I'll have Game of Thrones on HBO to fill the time. My second most anticipated new show of the year (after TWD).

Herschel's farm is confirmed for season 2!

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/03/02/walking-dead-season-two-details/

w00t!!!!