The Ashcan

The Walking Dead Interrobang: TS-19 (s01e06)

Posted on 07. Dec, 2010 by theashcan in Interrobang, Television

Anupa and Simon sure love television shows but are way too lazy to write proper recaps about them. Compromise? They will be discussing (zombterrobanging?) AMC’s new gore filled zombie series The Walking Deadas a means to flesh(!) out their questions(?) every week. Yea, that was awful, but you knew what you were getting into when you saw that interrobang symbol.

The season finale leaves us wanting this week. Keep reading for bad puns and questions about the CDC’s decontamination policies.  Spoilers ahead.

*****

Anupa: LOL i would love it

oh dude

i just clicked on something and found out a major spoiler

Simon: yea

i read comments yesterday

like a fool

a FOOL

so I think I know a few things too

Anupa: what do you know

DO YOU KNOW WHAT I KNOW (this is good interrobang material btw, i say we’ve already started)

Simon: agreed

I read some stuff about the whisper

about LORI

and possibly about how zombie virus works

also, that Bruce Willis is a ghost in the 6th sense

Anupa: YES

Me too I totally read about how the zombie virus works

HAHAHA major spoilers

omg this IS feeling Shyamalan-y isn’t it

(THAT’S A GOOD ONE FOR BEST WORDS WE MADE UP 2010)

Simon: in 2000 that word would be a compliment

my how things change

ok, so I’m going to be straight up about this

I thought the finale sucked

it BLEW

Anupa: literally

(HAR HAR)

Simon: bad puns are my specialty

Anupa: Also the CGI was actually offensive

Equal to or possibly more offensive than in the last season of Lost

Simon: I harped on this last week, but I kind of refuse to think that’s how the CDC really decontaminates itself

BLOWING YOURSELF UP IS NOT A SOLUTION

that applies to centers for disease control AND survivors of zombie apocalypses

Anupa: Okay but hang on: wouldn’t it make sense that as a last resort, when the power is failing, etc, and things MAY get out that shouldn’t get out a centre that houses those things would want to eradicate them

Simon: yes

but blowing up the building cannot be the most efficient way of doing that

there must be some other, more contained way

I’m no scientist, but it just seems silly to me

basically they’re saying if a terrorist could knock out the Atlanta Power grid

they would get a free nuclear bomb out of it?!

that seems silly

also, for a giant explosion, their caravan looked ok considering it was only 1 parking lot away, haha

am I being fickle? these are some typical action movie tropes I’m nitpicking, I realize

Anupa: No but that’s been the problem with the show

It’s got this great, fascinating premise

But deals with it so shittily

Through character, action-movie, audience-baiting cliches

But like, we’ve kind of been spoiled with good zombie/apocalypse movies (28 Days Later, Children of Men, the first half of I Am Legend) so we know what the genre is capable of

Simon: yes. I think one scene where I realized how problematic the writing has become

was when it opened silhouetting the survivors against the light of the CDC door

and I thought why are there so many people?

I had no idea their group was so large

it’s only like 12 people but after the first season, I still only know like 5 names

and everyone else is completely irrelevant and forgettable

Anupa: And that’s what sucks about these deaths

They’re meant to be somewhat poignant, but we barely know the people who are dying

Simon: yes

also, suicide

I have no sympathy for suicides

go out there and get EATEN ALIVE LIKE A MAN Dr. Crazy Coat

Anupa: Um, I don’t mind them

Simon: well, you said you’d off yourself

so I am unsurprised

hahaha

Anupa: HAHA exactly

I’d be like ‘PAINLESS DEATH IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE? I’LL TAKE IT’

Simon: weaksauce

Anupa: Totes

But what the fuck at Dale pressuring Andrea to leave but he didn’t say anything to the black lady

What is up with me not even knowing the black lady’s name because she is basically an insignificant character

Simon: seriously. the black lady whose name I do not know and know nothing about except she’s a lawyer

on the bright side

I thought the opening scene was pretty good

Anupa: YES

Simon: it captured the breakdown of the event well

and humanized Shane as a somewhat less cartoony jackass

Anupa: It gave us some more insight into Rape-y Shane

What do you think is the meaning behind Rick’s breathing stoppage then startage?

Simon: Maybe he was just breathing really quietly

Anupa: Yeah

Simon: I mean

he put his head to his chest for 6 seconds in a war zone

that is not exactly medical expertise

Anupa: I interpreted it as that and/or weird things happen when a person is immediately taken off life support but then their body may “kick in” again

HOWEVER

The Vulture recap, positioned it as possibly meaning that Rick died and then came back to life maybe as a nice Zombie or something

Simon: but his brain works, since he remembers stuff

Anupa: Exactly

Simon: so if that’s a theory, he’d be a completely different strain of zombie

Anupa: Which could be possible, but they’re not really setting us up for nuance

Simon: zombie civil war!

ok, and can I say

I don’t laugh out loud much at television or internet items. I chuckle, kind of or smile. But that scene with Shane drinking a bottle of wine in the shower?

I basically fell off my chair laughing

Anupa: LOLLL

What made me mad was that Jenner explicitly said “don’t use up the hot water”

Simon: YES

THOSE SELFISH BASTARDS

Anupa: And they were all just LOUNGING in the shower

Simon: god forbid they ration food and alcohol too

Anupa: HAHA right?

Like CRYING in the shower, really? FUCK YOU ANDREA

Simon: it was kind of annoying that they made the CDC such a big deal

then blew it up after one episode

Anupa: Right

Simon: this didn’t really feel like a finale to me

Anupa: Well especially because they gave us an “explanation” in this episode

(A shitty, obvious one)

That’s something that shoulda been laid out up top

Simon: kind of douchey of Jenner to not tell them the building was going to blow up in a day

I’d be like, dude

not cool

they didn’t really explain anything though

we still don’t know what causes it, what spreads it, where it came from, how to stop it

all we know is it’s global and the French are brave (AS IF)

Anupa: Well, what I mean by explanation is the basic premise of zombie-movies… “we can’t explain this mystery ‘virus’”

I mean, if you were going to tell us something we already know from the PLETHORA of zombie entertainment out there, why not just put it up top

Why turn it into a powerpoint presentation?

Simon: yes

also, does it seem odd that, as a scientist studying zombies

you would kill the zombie as soon as it reanimates?

wouldn’t a living sample be useful to have?

for research purposes? dangerous sure, but useful.

also, star trek computer was a pretty awful plot device as well

I have nothing but complaints really, haha

Anupa: HAHAH “VI”

YO

If Vi could explain what the acronym for “DECONTAMINATION” was

Why did they go running into the basement to find those empty barrels to discover more?

Why couldn’t they just ask her?

Simon: can we title this interrobang “we should have done boardwalk empire instead”?

Anupa: Also, they didn’t believe that giant clock? YOU’RE IN A STATE OF THE ART FACILITY?

Simon: they also seemed not at all impressed with a computer that they could talk to

Anupa: I wouldn’t be wasting my time trying to prove that the building was actually gonna blow up

I’d be LEAVING

Simon: I would have been like “tell me the history of Honduras”

Anupa: And, yes, we totally should have done Boardwalk Empire

WHICH IS AMAZING

Simon: yes

it is

it’s surprisingly consistent

UNLIKE SHOWS I WILL NOT MENTION, EXCEPT ON A WEEKLY BASIS IN AN INTERROBANG

there are a lot of dangling mysteries out there

which, although I haven’t seen lost, I have heard is par for the course

the black father/son

merle

the helicopter

Anupa: Yeah, they’ve left so many weird open cues for next season

I don’t know whether to be excited or to just lose interest

Do you feel like this show is for people unfamiliar with the zombie genre?

Simon: I think that’s a good point

they don’t nerd out on zombie conventions or anything for sure

but there are barely zombies in it really

so you’d think they’d care about making the characters worthwhile

if this was Star Trek half the cast would be nameless extras wearing red uniforms

Anupa: “His arms wide..”

Simon: “when the walls fell”

Anupa: LOL

You’re right, it is the best episode of TNG

Simon: no doubt

ok, so let’s just hash this out

what was the whisper?

Anupa: I bet it was Jenner telling Rick the zombie secret we know but won’t spoil for our readers

Simon: should we just talk about it?

I feel like speculating is the best part of this

also, we have a spoiler warning

we can insert another one here, hahaha

maybe it’s not what we think

Anupa: No it totally is

****BUT YES, SPOILER WARNING****

Simon: ALL DEAD PEOPLE ARE ZOMBIES?

Anupa: EVERYONE IS A ZOMBIE

Like, everyone has the virus right?

Simon: yea

Anupa: But once you actually die… via a bite I guess

Simon: so you reanimate no matter how you die

Anupa: You become a zombie

I guess unless you’re incinerated in a shitty CGI explosion

Simon: or die via a traumatic brain injury

I don’t know if that changes anything

I mean, it changes how you treat dead people

but as a survivor?

you’re still just looking for a cure

Anupa: And trying especially hard not to die

I mean it destigmatizes it in a way

Because you’re all equally fucked right?

Simon: but I mean, if you get bitten

you still become a zombie right?

you don’t have to die in that case?

Anupa: Well that’s confusing

Because exactly, what if you get injured?

Can you heal? Or do you just become a zombie?

Simon: because people say they’ve seen people become zombies right?

like black dad’s wife

I am unclear about this issue

Anupa: Me too.

Simon: poor jim is just sitting in pain under a tree somewhere

Anupa: Do you think this show will become clearer next season?

What are your hopes?

Simon: I will watch it next season

Anupa: And your realistic expectations?

Simon: but with minimal patience

I’m glad Darabont decided to take a bigger role

Anupa: We should poll readers and ask if they want us to continue to Interrobang it?

Simon: I think one voice writing will help the bigger picture consistency

yea

my fear is darabont’s vision will suck

like we get saved by a mouse

or an underground tunnel

I hope it gets smarter

that would be my hope

you?

Anupa: Yes, it would be my hope too

Is the next season going ot be longer? Do we know this?

Simon: yea

I think so

I feel like if the first 3 episodes are bad

we’ll regret committing to this weekly

and our readers will have to suffer through our crying

Anupa: Bad is subjective though isn’t it?
Because don’t you feel like, at least, this show delivers on a very BASE level?

Simon: the episodes with zombie fighting do

and that’s TOTALLY FINE with me

but I feel like the goal of the show has been to make it about people

not the zombies themselves

and if that’s the goal

they’ve been pretty bad

they need to pick a path and stick to it

or ideally blend both more eloquently

Anupa: FIN

Tags: darmok and tanagra when the walls fell, exploding buildings, featured, Season Finales, Shyamalany, weak writing