Margaux and I weren’t crazy about last night’s mid-season finale of The Walking Dead, but at least Carol made it to the end credits.
Trevor: Thanks for filling in for me last week. Although I’m sure the readers missed our witty banter and “will they/won’t they” back and forth.
Margaux: To quote It’s Always Sunny, “It’s not will they or won’t they – it’s I know they won’t. And I don’t want them to.” But just like our sexual tension, I was unmoved by last nights Walking Dead. I mean, better Beth than Carol, but I wouldn’t say it was the most…impactful death I’ve ever seen on the show. Gimme Rick killing zombie Shane and crying anyday.
Trevor: Yeah, I’ll admit to feeling moved after Beth’s death, before realizing that it was just surprise. Which quickly curdled and turned to something like anger, before mellowing into disappointment. But like you said, the silver lining is that Carol is still alive. That handoff in the hospital was so tense and well-done (director Ernest Dickerson is a vet of highbrow HBO fare like The Wire and Deadwood) that I found myself close to screaming “Get outta there, Carol!” at my TV cause I knew gunplay was imminent.
Margaux: Welp, that explains the fucking Dutch angle during the hallway showdown – good GOD we get it, SOMETHINGS AMISS HERE. But you totally nailed my thoughts on “Coda” – disappointing. Especially after the season hit the ground running and didn’t show any signs of stopping, this episode fell back on the shitty and easy stuff in The Walking Dead that makes me crazy – people just standing around, talking about their damn feelings.
Yet the way Beth died was probably the most accurate character death on the show, she died the way she lived, DUMB.
Trevor: Well, how about we talk about the parts of last night’s TWD that actually worked? Namely, the cold open. I’m really loving the new hardcore Rick. Guy doesn’t give a shit anymore. Rick ain’t care. I loved the re-use of Gareth’s phrase “You can’t go back, Bob” right before our protagonist shot a man who was on the ground begging for his life. Better than leaving him for the walkers, which is what I thought was gonna happen.
Margaux: I thought the cold open was the strongest point in the show and that everything that followed was total weak sauce. So I’m happy to talk about Rick hitting a man with a car, shoot him in the head, then tell his dead body to “shut up”. I thought that Rick was gonna bust back into their hiding spot and tell everyone, “Fuck Tyreese’s pussy plan, we’re doing MY plan now.” Cause I would have loved a Rambo: First Blood hostile takeover, not some peaceful and somewhat confusing (and also rushed) resolution.
Trevor: Agreed, going in guns a-blazin’ would have been a lot more satisfying. I think one place this season (or half-season) really excelled was their choice to have two bad guys, Gareth and Dawn. The Walking Dead of season two or three would have kept Gareth around for probably a dozen episodes, but this new Walking Dead a more brutal creature and killed him off almost immediately. And Dawn showed a surprising amount of dimensionality, but at the end of the day she was still a manipulative, self-involved sociopath. Pretty garden variety when you break it down, but Christine Woods gave a pretty solid performance.
Margaux: Considering the amount of screen time we had to get to know Dawn, I thought she did the best she could to convey as much depth and bury the pretty boring motives. That being said, I did think Dawn’s confrontation with O’Donnell, where Beth saves Dawn by shoving him down the elevator shaft, came out of nowhere to force a moment between Beth and Dawn. And Beth’s final words to Dawn, “I get it now,” she couldn’t have stayed alive 30 seconds longer to explain it to us? Cause I have no idea what was really going on at Grady Memorial. Still. Besides lots of raping and occasional old man pushing around.
Trevor: “I get it now,” I think, referred to the lesson that Dawn was inadvertently teaching Beth – that people are self-serving users who can’t be trusted. Just when Dawn was starting to show some humanity, she demanded on getting Noah back, most likely will some fell notion in mind. And then after “getting it,” Beth – who has long been posited as this show’s embodiment of hope and optimism – gets another thing, namely a bullet through her Tom Waits-loving skull. At least that’s what I took away from the encounter.
Margaux: I got the impression Dawn made the last minute addition of requesting Noah back was to save face in front of her team. But what I didn’t understand about that was how quickly Noah agreed to it all. Not only did Rick back him up, making Rick part of the more “moral” group, but Noah knows everyone in that damn hospitals hates that bitch, so if he refused, what was the worse that could happen? No one was going to back up Dawn. She can’t even get them to radio back to her.
Trevor: Yeah, and even if the two groups were pretty matched in terms of numbers, Rick’s group had a Rick, a Daryl, and an RNC, so it’s not like they wouldn’t come out on top anyway. (Also, side note: Rick’s negotiation with the two cops on the roof was baller as fuck, especially when Sasha took out that walker just to let the cops know that Rick had backup.)
Margaux: It was a well-executed scene (pun intended) that showed how insync they are together. Also, that Grady is at the disadvantage – not only are they weak because their turning against Dawn – but the cops that respond to the call look completely caught off guard. Sasha headshot only made them look more terrified.
Speaking of the people I now hope to die every episode (bye Beth), Father Gabriel. You know damn well that if Rick was inside the church, he would’ve left his ass outside to get eaten just like his congregation. Cause COLD BLOODED.
Trevor: Yeah, especially considering that his INFANT DAUGHTER was in there. Seth Gilliam is reliably good as Gabriel, but I can’t see what he’s adding to the group right now. They should have let him die of irony.
Speaking of dying – Eugene? Even if he’s still knocked out from Abe’s punches, he’s gotta be brain damaged or something. If you’re out that long then something is seriously wrong. I think your theory is correct, that he’ll wake up as a walker (it’s already been established that people take different amounts of time to turn).
Margaux: I laughed at how quickly Glenn broke the “we’re not going to DC” news to Michonne and when Michonne told Maggie where the rest of the group was, “Beth is still alive,” I told my TV – not for long. I mean, even Maggie was like, eh…she’s probs dead. But the false hope Maggie has for 15 minutes was pretty ironic.
Do you think Daryl was crying when he carried dead Beth out of Grady because of how boring it all was? Or was just relieved he’d never have to hear her sing a Tom Waits song ever again?
Trevor: Daryl and Maggie’s reactions, while as well-done as most of “Coda,” actually become more problematic the more you think about them. So much time is spent on how Beth’s death affects other people, and as an audience member I don’t buy it because Beth was only important when the show needed her to be (unlike, say, Carol, who’s had an incredibly convincing character transformation over several seasons). So the show didn’t kill a character, it got rid of a questionable plot device.
Margaux: Ha, I’d 100% agree with that. And to that end, considering Beth had a little character rehab this season, why not let her go out in a more dignified way? Like taking a bullet for Rick or Carol? It was a missed opportunity to not have Beth and Carol – even briefly – have a deep feelings conversation or two. Because if the writers were going to basically give up on Beth at the very end regardless, why waste the time? Just let her be kidnapped and leave it at that – see what kind of toll that takes on the characters.
Trevor: God, that would have been so much better, if we never found her again. Just gone with no resolution. Damn, I wish they’d gone that route. Maybe you should have a staff writer job (just remember: Keep it Gimple, Stupid).
Margaux: Hahaha – thanks. How have WE not replaced Chris Hardwick on Talking Dead yet? We’re way funnier and wear less make-up.
Trevor: I woke up like dis.
Let’s talk star count. I’m thinking three and a half for “Coda” and four for the front half of this season. Season five got off to a pretty good start, but at the end of the day, The Walking Dead does not excel at mid-season finales.
Margaux: Probably because mid-season finales are a fucking cop out. I wrote in my notes the exact same star count as you – “Coda” wasn’t the strongest of the season but here’s to hoping the rest of the season next year keeps up with the RNC pace set at the start.
Oh! What about Morgan? Are his epilogue catch-ups just a really long winded excuse to set up The Walking Dead spin-off or will he ever meet up with Rick? Cause he is taking his sweet ass fucking time.
Trevor: You’re probably right about the goddamn spinoff. The mid-season finale of which will probably also get three and a half stars.
“Coda” – 3.5 stars
Season Five, first half – 4 stars
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