So far, I'm really liking the Walking Dead, and glad that it's become one of my "go to" shows to watch (any time except dinner.) But even a good show has its share of clunkers and Slabtown is one of them.
First, the setup of this episode is extremely confusing. It begins, like many WD episodes, in the middle of the action. But the starting point they chose was so far from the beginning that it created an unnecessary amount of confusion, leading me to wonder, who are these characters? What's going on? Did I miss an episode? It kept throwing character after character at us as if we already knew who they were, how they related to the story and to each other. It was so bad, I actually had to stop Netflix to make sure I hadn't skipped an episode.
Second, Slabtown is an example of WD's own tropes starting to wear out their welcome and (dare I say it?) become predictable. Trope 1: any group of survivors other than our own are going to be bad guys. Trope 2:Anyone trying to rebuild civilization in any form is foolish and evil, just like Terminus or Woodbury. The only answer, according to the writers, is to roam the landscape, scavenge and forage. Really? In all of human history there's no examples of survivors banding together?
Despite these complaints, it was still an enjoyable and watchable episode. Always nice to see the characters figure out ways to "game the situation" with the walkers to their advantage (this time holing up in a multistory building *AFTER* blocking all access to the upper floors.)Side note-it's very peculiar that, during this run of episodes, Maggie does not wonder at all what happened to her sister. NOT ONCE.
First, the setup of this episode is extremely confusing. It begins, like many WD episodes, in the middle of the action. But the starting point they chose was so far from the beginning that it created an unnecessary amount of confusion, leading me to wonder, who are these characters? What's going on? Did I miss an episode? It kept throwing character after character at us as if we already knew who they were, how they related to the story and to each other. It was so bad, I actually had to stop Netflix to make sure I hadn't skipped an episode.
Second, Slabtown is an example of WD's own tropes starting to wear out their welcome and (dare I say it?) become predictable. Trope 1: any group of survivors other than our own are going to be bad guys. Trope 2:Anyone trying to rebuild civilization in any form is foolish and evil, just like Terminus or Woodbury. The only answer, according to the writers, is to roam the landscape, scavenge and forage. Really? In all of human history there's no examples of survivors banding together?
Despite these complaints, it was still an enjoyable and watchable episode. Always nice to see the characters figure out ways to "game the situation" with the walkers to their advantage (this time holing up in a multistory building *AFTER* blocking all access to the upper floors.)Side note-it's very peculiar that, during this run of episodes, Maggie does not wonder at all what happened to her sister. NOT ONCE.