5.14: The Walking Dead - Spend

[Dan Jones]

There was some Romero-style gore in this episode, lovely to see. It always amuses me how long the victim remains alive even when their organs are being consumed. Maybe Aiden was just double hard.

Really sad to see Noah die, but I think everything is lining up for the showdown between Rick and Co and the Alexandria crew. I get the feeling that Gabriels snitching was a kind of crack-handed way by the screenwriters of getting the viewer to think of Rick and Co as a kind of Walter White type anti hero, who has gone the full Breaking Bad. But I agree with the posters above that it's more reasonable to think that his snitching is more a reflection of his own loss of faith.

Cracking episode. Eugene stepped up!

 

[Judderman]

I'm really disappointed in Gabriel. Why did he say that? I know the group is a little rough but did I miss something? I didn't see anything that would give good reason as to what was so horrible.

It was the brutal killing of the cannibals by Rick and co in the church. Maybe they deserved it but it seems it was too far.

 

[Culhwch]

Killing people (monsters, really) who were trying to eat you, or locking people out of a church (otherwise known as a sanctuary) to be eaten by monsters.

Gabriel is right - evil has come to Alexandria, but it's wearing all black with a white collar...

 

[Judderman]

The last three episodes have been great. This was a manic one but very entertaining.

Deanna will almost certainly act against Rick's gang with the death of her son, unless they do first. Surely the town will be overrun with zombies too in the mess.
Supplies are amazingly plentiful. I notice people mostly shooting lone walkers rather than stabbing them now. Running short of bullets seems to be overlooked in the story now.

 

[ctg]

Running short of bullets seems to be overlooked in the story now.

As long as there's someone else ammo to shoot then why not?

 

[Dave]

They've been educating the Alexandrians on other topics, so you would think they might educate them to use bullets sustainably too. However, if I'm surrounded by hordes of fast Zombies and I think I'm about to die, then I won't worry about how many bullets I'm leaving for next year either. It is a serious topic though, as it isn't just about the amount of bullets but the calibre too. Then again, they don't explain where the clean water is coming from and two solar panels seem small to power more than some lights. Those things don't make for exciting TV, so not surprising they gloss over them. Leave that for a Prepper's Zombie-killing handbook.

 

[markpud]

They do address the ammo situation in the comics beyond this point.. but it seems to be the case that Alexandria is armed to the teeth so ammo is plentiful for now at least..

Definitely not a good idea to think too hard about the power/water.. at least power issues were used as a basis for the raid this week. Hopefully Eugene can do what the national electrical companies cannot and find a way to efficiently store solar energy for later use, else those lights are only switched on during the day!

Can you imagine how bad it would look if Glenn came back from the run with both of Deanna's kids dead and left behind? At least the 1 survivor can be grilled for the truth - but I'm sure he will lay all the blame at Glenn's feet!

 

[Culhwch]

Nicholas isn't Deanna's son, though. Just another Alexandrian.

 

[markpud]

Whoops yeah you're right, Aiden and Spencer are her sons. Still the point stands, it wouldn't have looked good if the only people coming back are "team Rick"!

 

[Menion]

Rick's twitch at the end when Carol tells him what the doc has done. I see blood on the horizon between then two.

 

[ctg]

Hopefully Eugene can do what the national electrical companies cannot and find a way to efficiently store solar energy for later use, else those lights are only switched on during the day!

Not true. There are efficient ways to store energy in the batteries, and they might even have one in their prototype grid. So overall power situation is addressed by the producers. The water can be acquired from a well, and it wouldn't be strange to see such thing in the suburban area as well because one after another those houses more and less like the ones you see in the housing fairs, where the manufacturers show the latest of the late like for example the zero-energy buildings. The real problem they have in that area is how they handle waste-water, and I don't think they have installed massive septic tanks to handle all poops that comes out from that particular population.

They do address the ammo situation in the comics beyond this point..

I was keeping quiet about it, and haven't voiced it since Rick's group probably salvage enough of ammo from Terminus. Governor had things better because they showed at least two different ammo presses in the Woodbury, and Alexandria might have at the moment a surplus of ammo from numerous scavenging trips into the DC metro area.

 

[markpud]

Not true. There are efficient ways to store energy in the batteries, and they might even have one in their prototype grid. So overall power situation is addressed by the producers.

Seems a little too cutting edge for a small housing development in rural Virginia? I suppose we can argue that it isn't such a big place so they're probably able to store enough power for a day or so at a time. But in the face of the walking dead the power issues are a minor hand-wave!

Deanna said it was some kind of eco-development I think.. so sanitation and clean water are planned for self-sufficience. Basically the perfect place to hole up, and fortify!!

 

[ctg]

You can do power saving by simply using car batteries. There should be loads of them around the DC.

 

[Culhwch]

Whoops yeah you're right, Aiden and Spencer are her sons. Still the point stands, it wouldn't have looked good if the only people coming back are "team Rick"!

True. I said to my wife at the time that Nicholas was lucky Rick wasn't there or he'd be dead already. Still, his survival will cause problems for Rick's group because I can't see him telling the truth somehow. He's gonna make up a story about Glen and Tara jumping them, I'd bet.

 

[markpud]

It'll be an interesting one to see how Deanna handles it.. she seems fairly aware that Nicholas isn't the brightest, but he is family. Great tension..

 

[svalbard]

I think this was one of the best episodes in a couple of seasons. Poor Noah, what a gruesome way to go. There is something rotten behind the seeming tranquility of Alexandria.

 

[Culhwch]

It'll be an interesting one to see how Deanna handles it.. she seems fairly aware that Nicholas isn't the brightest, but he is family. Great tension..

I'm not sure if I missed something and Nicholas is a nephew or counsin or something, but if you're using 'family' in the way that Rick uses it to describe his group, I'm not entirely sure this applies to Deanna and the Alexandrians. I think they are still just a community. They haven't had that familial bond that was forged in our survivors by being on the outside and overcoming zombies, Shane, the Governor, cannibals, and various other murderous trials and tribulations. I think Deanna is capable of standing against one of her own - my only thought is that she may get concerned that Rick's group is taking over, and feel she has to stand by Nicholas as an Alexandrian.

 

[Judderman]

With her son dead and the Priest raving I think she will be rather more than concerned.

 

[Wo7f]

I'm glad they're thinking about the wall, but I still think those thin pieces of metal aren't going to do squat in the long run. They need brick or stone.
I'm not too worried about Deanna's reaction. Yes, she lost her son, but Noah was a causality too. That can't be overlooked.
I also think they need more experienced and less afraid people to do runs. People who can be counted on not to run away and save their own hides. And what's this about "We have a code" ??? to allow people to die so you won't have a chance to get eaten? I think the group needs to sit down and find out exactly what ALL the rules and "codes" are.

 

[Judderman]

What I wonder is if most of the people in Alexandria will be dead by the end of episode 16 or if there will be some cliffhanger/stand off leading to a cull early next series. The massive mistrust between some in the two groups is just too much, the program is not subtle about that. Tension and problems (including deaths) are building up.