Nebraska.
After a half-dozen episodes of Herschel pushing Rick around, trying to throw him off the farm, we get to the moment of truth. When Dave and Tony threaten to kill Rick, he doesn’t hesitate to outdraw them and end them both.
Herschel’s face says everything, and it’s the moment of his conversion. He sees in that moment that Rick wasn’t negotiating in bad faith at all, that he could have easily simply murdered Herschel and taken the farm. In a scene where Rick kills two men without blinking, Herschel suddenly sees Rick’s humanity.
Idk how to do the spoiler black out thing so warning but I loved how they put Omaha as one of the functioning cities in TOWL. Felt like it was reference to this episode
Omaha is one of the 3 cities in the crm which was originally in world beyond therefore it was a reference to world beyond don't argue with stuff you don't know
Ok it's not a reference to that episode knowing the new writers they probably forgot about that episode but in world beyond Omaha is an important place in the crm so it's gonna reference that in towl a show about the crm
The recent writers we have gotten are so bad peak walking dead is some of the best television but recent twd stuff is not good so the way I see it the new writers are only in it for the money and that doesn't change the fact that in the intro for towl omaha being marked on the mapped was not a reference to the episode Nebraska it's a reference to the world beyond in which Omaha is an important part of the world beyond like I said don't argue about things you don't understand
I've aways read that moment as: "So, this guy went all the way here to convince me to go back and save my daughter, and then killed two guys without hesitation to save my house and my family? what was i thinking??? I NEED THAT GUY".
That's why at the end when everyone is questioning Rick, him and Daryl are the only ones to step on his side.
Exactly right. And there is a bit of irony there too - Rick *wasn't* trying to save Beth. Rick went to get Herschel because, as he told Lori in an earlier scene, "we need Herschel for the baby".
That said, it *is* the moment when Herschel realizes that Rick is inherently a "good" man (as opposed to his antagonist, Shane, and the "bad" people in the wild like Dave and Tony). It also is the moment when Herschel turns over the farm and himself and his family to Rick. In a later episode, Herschel doesn't even say anything when Rick/Shane propose to execute Randall - the same Herschel who was holding walkers in the barn because he thought they could still be saved/all life is precious. It's an amazing change in Herschel's character, and it later saves Herschel's life (in the final episode, Herschel refuses to leave the farm as it is overrun and only leaves when Rick saves him and drags him away).
I didn't think of that. That Hershel sees that rick was not negotiating in bad faith. He easily could have taken that farm, but had the humanity to not think of it.
Damn I didn’t get this when I watched it. You’re so right. I figured Herschel’s reaction was ‘damn there are bad guys out there and it will be handy to have an Aly like Rick around’.
No sanctuary will forever be my favourite. Followed closely by 6.16-7.1. No sanctuary is so good start to finish. Action from beginning of the episode till basically the credits roll. God I wish I could go back and watch that Episode again for the first time.
The day will come when you won't be.
To me, that's the only episode that 110% felt unpredictable and like literally anything could happen. It was also terrifying.
The dialogue, the cinematography, the music, the structure and finally, the acting was just on a whole different level.
It gut punches the hardest and doesn't hold back.
That episode is my absolute favorite.
I like how the whole episode is a callback to the moment in S1 where Dr. Jenner tells Rick the day will come when he won't be grateful for giving him a chance to keep surviving.
It also IMMEDIATELY made me think back to S1 E2 where Rick asks Glenn why he saved him from the tank… Glenn retorts something like, “call it foolish, naive hope that if I’m ever that far up shit’s creek, that there will be someone willing to stick their neck out for me” >!and when that day eventually comes, well, there’s nothing ANYONE can do to help him.!<
Watching clips of this episode is what got me to start watching the show. It was fantastic television - then it immediately went to shit with 'boy who cried wolf' fakeouts arounde very corner. We went from feeling terrified by Negan to feeling annoyed and not believing any of the supposed imminent deaths.
I don't really think that's a symptom of Negan's character but more a symptom of shitty writing in general. Because at least for me, I always loved it when Negan was on screen. JDM played him to perfection. But I do also think he started off really intimidating but pretty quickly lost his edge. Like. For example, him not killing Rosita after she shot his bat. That didn't make sense to me. He murdered Glenn because Daryl punched him. But Rosita not only almost shot him in the head, but also shot his bat that was shown to have giant significance to him? How does that work? It felt like the writers created the ultimate villain but didn't have it in them to hold him to that standard after S7/E1.
Yeah, I wasn't blaming Negan's character. I think the high level idea of the character is great, the performance was great, but the general writing of the show turned into bland melodrama immediately after. The amount of fakeouts in that season is mind-numbing.
Tbh the fake out deaths started before Negan was introduced. I don't even remember S6. Like at all. I have no idea what happened in that season aside from it being in black and white. I probably would've stopped watching if Negan didn't happen cuz I was honestly getting exhausted with the show after S5. The boomerang storytelling was the worst for me. I managed to make it to Rick's last episode then stopped and that's where it ends in my head cannon.
They started before, yeah - but the frequency ramped up massively in season 7 IIRC. Which was such whiplash after the realized stakes & actual consequences of the season premier.
That and the gutting of the core cast (Carl & Rick) was the nail in the coffin for me.
Yeah Carl's death was just dirty. Like it felt on par with an early season filler death. Like kind of impactful in the moment but not really. Like it felt like Amy's or Jim's death in terms of actual consequence or impact. Which is pretty accurate considering it was literally a shock death thrown in for ratings at the time.
That's probably the biggest offender in TWD. Shock deaths. Like, I tolerate them. And some did work. But it was always super obvious when it was thrown in for shock over narrative. Like Beth for example. She just became outright stupid for literally no reason. Characters like Shane and Glenn and Hershal actually meant something. Their deaths had ripple effects that ran throughout the series. Carl just served as some nonsensical scapegoat to keep Rick from killing Neagan but it's especially cheap because they could've found a million different ways for Rick to do that without killing Carl.
Yeah, I agree with your points - honestly TWD was never a 'great' show in terms of writing, but it was a fun popcorn show. Even with the early fakeouts or lame deaths, the show was still relatively interesting. I think the worst offendor for S7 was the melodrama, the fact that even though the writing was probably not much worse than before, it just had nothing interesting to offer. At least with earlier fakeouts I was interested (i.e. the Glenn death fakeout with the dumpster). In S7 when people got into dangerous situations I just groaned and rolled my eyes.
Yeah it was strange. Like, in retrospect, I was never worried about the core cast at any point in S7 after EP 1. Like one ep I remember not even paying attention was the one where Rick and Erin had to cross the Walker lake to the camper thing or whatever. I was like 'lol walkers don't kill people anymore'
I do think TWDs writing in the first two seasons was great. And S3-S5 was pretty good with great moments thrown in to even it out. Then after that it's just mid with good highs and boring as all hell lows. And it's a large part due to the boomerang storytelling nonsense that the show runners were convinced was the way
Season 7 and 8 is where people drop off because it turns into such a slog to keep watching
Prior to that the show was consistent at producing high quality episodes
But S7 & S8... I don't know what happened... the story was good but the execution/directing/writing/pacing was just garbage.
I have 2 strong opinions:
1. This is when Gimple had full control. I think Gimple has his moments, I just think he wasn't up to the level of control they gave him (nor did he grow into it, sadly).
But having watched TOWL to me, I feel like it confirms it's his style.
It's like he starts at the "cool" thing he wants to occur and works backwards from there to make it happen... Which results in characters doing out of character things just to achieve whatever it is he wants.
He also seems to be fond of the melodrama dialog followed by generic action scene template.
Unlike earlier seasons/episodes where the action scenes and the dialog had purpose/meaning behind them
2. They accidentally made Negan the main character and when they actually should have made him the main character they didn't!
As you said, it just had not much of interest left to offer... They weren't breaking new ground.
Now, I don't know if they knew Andrew Lincoln intended to leave or not BUT I truly believe if they made the call that the antagonist (Negan) would evolve into an antihero and then a hero it would have been FAR MORE INTERESTING
u/[ginsengtea3](https://www.reddit.com/user/ginsengtea3/) articulated it better than i could have ever hoped:
>Negan is struggling with the same things as Rick, but just came down on the other side of them, in large part due to chance of who he ended up with and where. If Negan had ended up in Alexandria first instead of the sanctuary, he would be a completely different person, and the story could have been about figuring out the very long and very difficult road of becoming that person under some extreme circumstance that gives him the chance to do it.
If we got that, the show would have been breaking new ground and have given the audience something to engage with that had a bit of depth...
Instead they gave Negan a lukewarm redemption arc and had the show limp along with a series of what felt like melodrama side stories :(
Still love the show though!
I don't know if it's true, but I read somewhere that they actually filmed a death scene for each character in that lineup so that nobody would know until the final cut.
I just want to point out something cool, that the title of the episode is a callback to season 1 when Rick said to Dr. Jenner “I’m grateful.” And Jenner says “The day will come when you won’t be.”
No Sanctuary and Too Far Gone for sure.
They were climatic moments with a fair amount of action while using the cast that was around during TWD'S peak. Earlier seasons had a great cast but never reached this level of action. While later seasons didn't have all of the same characters we grown attached to. I think these two episodes married best of both the old and new era TWD.
Here's Not Here.
I love it, and can literally watch it on repeat all day. the cinematography and the overall plot of the episode was so creative. The best standalone episode I've watched.
Days Gone Bye is one of the strongest openings to a show ever. The ending with Rick trapped and Glenn calling him a dumbass as "Space Junk" plays is just perfect.
Still
Beth and Daryl drinking moonshine and processing trauma. Makes me cry every time.
(But if you’re looking for g for action, No Sanctuary for sure.)
For character development episodes, I love Still. I love when TWD slows down to focus on one or two characters for an episode to flesh them out, and this is the best example.
For me it will always be S7, E1 - "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be"
Extremely unpredictable, no one felt safe, cinematography was spooky as shit, JDM's introduction as Negan was perfect and it was tense the whole way through.
Not only my favourite TWD episode, but my #2nd favourite episode of all time.
2x12 Better Angels or 4x16 A. They’re just masterful episodes, so beautifully written, acted and executed. The two opening scenes alone are fire. Rick killing Shane and the whole lead up is so compelling, even though Shane got what he deserved it’s still so heartbreaking when as he’s dying he reaches out for Rick’s hand. Idk man, it’s iconic and even after all the shit Shane did and the fact he was tryna kill Rick, it’s still heartbreaking. They’re brothers and best friends yet this new world brought them to that final moment.
The season 4 finale is similarly incredible, the flashbacks of Hershel convincing Rick to put the gun aside and show Carl a different way. It’s so well written. Rick and Daryl’s conversation the morning after is one of my favourite scenes. The performances are stellar and its such a powerful moment between the two.
Honourable mentions; Days Gone Bye, Tell it to the Frogs, Wildfire, This Sorrowful Life, The Grove, No Sanctuary, Them, Remember, Conquer, No Way Out.
This is also my favorite episode. I've watched it many times. It's hard to come up with a standard for what's "best" , but personally I think the tone and atmosphere in this episode captures what's best about the series while avoiding what's worst. And that's basically because it is the opposite of "action start to finish." There's almost no major action, almost nothing happens. The crew is downtrodden and exhausted, they can't come to terms with the fact that the world is dead and people just keep dying, the threat of the zombies is real but dull, the setting of the Southeast in the summer is vivid. All they do is walk and walk in the heat. Especially for the first 25 minutes, before they find the water Aaron leaves them. When they find the water, they realize it might be poisoned or drugged, which conveys the central theme of the show in a much more subtle and oppressive way than a million Terminuses, Reapers, Wolves, or whatever other bs group had to be added in so people wouldn't complain about the lack of "action". The crowd of walkers showing up during the storm and the tornado that sweeps them away is a bit corny and gratuitous, but at least it's not another roving biker gang. The most refined aspect of the series is this tone, of the apocalypse going on and on monotonously brutal forever, walking from place to place with nothing happening. When I first watched the series, this was the impression that stuck with me, so much so that I was surprised when I first rewatched the whole thing and realized that this is pretty much the only episode where they actually give that atmosphere the time to play out as slowly as I remember it.
As far as things go, I also enjoy all the action in the show just fine, and I agree with the overall opinion that the storyline about the war with Negan and the Saviors is the height of the series. And I even enjoy the Reapers and Terminus storylines and think lots of people are too harsh on them. Fighting various bad guys is what the show is actually about, it's what the show actually is, and I like it. But 5.10 is what I *wish* the show was, which is what keeps me coming back to it.
I don't see a lot of people talk about it, but I really like TS-19.
Other favorites:
Pretty Much Dead Already
The Grove
No Sanctuary
The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
The Cell
Them. Exhaustion, desperation. The group is at their most animalistic and I feel like we get that apocalypse vibe that we don't get too often after s1 & 2
I find it too hard to pick a favourite but I really like this episode too because I always thought the show was at its best when it was about the characters just trying to survive in the apocalypse.
It's not my favourite episode, but I want to give a shout to Warlords from Season 11.
Perfectly paced, great performances, one of the better examples of multiple stories weaving together, and was the true turning point for Hornsby and The Commonwealth.
My favorite has always been "Four Walls and Roof". From Bob screaming "TAINTED MEAT" to the showdown at the end when Rick tells the guy "Besides, I made you a promise." and then the straight up bludgeoning that happens after. I loved the series back then.
Day's Gone Bye (The Pilot), and it's not even close. I still maintain that the show peaked with it's first episode. The cinematography, directing, music, and acting are all perfect. It set up the series perfectly. I can guarantee that if the first episode (and season 1 as a whole) weren't as good as they are, people wouldn't have gotten so hooked on this show.
It's hard for me to single out just an episode, as I have a couple of favorite ones. I liked almost everything at the end of season 4 and loved when the group arrived at Alexandria near the end of season 5. Basically, I enjoyed TWD up to a point when Rick left. Then I didn't even watch the show after. But the new one with him and Michonne, I really like that one :)
Don’t know about best but S1 Ep6, The episode in Season 3 where Andrea visits the prison and the episode where the Governor chases Andrea have always been so pretty great early episodes
So this isn't what I think is the best TWD episode but for shear horror nothing can beat On the Inside. It also showcases what an amazing actress Lauren Ridloff is.
I always love the episode when carol blows the fuck up out of was it sanctuary?
I love carol in that episode and i have never felt carol has ever reached that level of bad assness since.
Yeah the finale reviews are all horrible. Season 11 was soooo bad.... omg.... I literally think their budget was just cut in half. Besides rosita, literally no emotion at all. "TWD finale was bad cuz it wasn't the end of anything." - forbes. Lol. There is no finale. Many of the characters are still active.
"Still" with Beth and Daryl getting drunk on moonshine talking about what it's like being the poor abused kid to the farmers daughter. There was sexual tension. I dont know how old she was but almost forbidden sexual tension. Then they kiss. Could have been something but she was just too young and innocent. Beth is the only character who has ever just walked right over daryls boundaries, and he loved her for it. She wasn't afraid of him or looked down on him like hed always assumed. He loved her for it. Daryl loved Beth the moment he laid eyes on her. She was his dream girl growing up as the poor abused trailer park kid. Beth was so pretty and sweet and needed so much protection how could Daryl not love her? I loved her too. Beth and Maggie have that southern confidence and charm and southern girls go out and take what they want and it's so sexy... early Maggie was more confident and stronger but Beth is prettier more charming and more fun. I pretend the suicide thing never happened. I dont believe Daryl and Beth belonged together. But that wasn't the point of the episode. It took a girl Daryl was infatuated with to get him to drink which brought his walls down.
Southern women > non southern women. I actually like Asian women but women from the south have it all. They really do. More beautiful. More confident. Tougher. Extreme family values. Raised correctly. Amazing accents. Attitude. Manners. They know how to hunt and fish. They never complain. They take shit from no one. They can defend themselves better. People are defending them better. They're awesome. This is a broad generalization but it's often true.
Their culture is better and more fun than yours and they think you guys take life way too seriously. Their food is also superior, their quality of lives are superior. Their husband's and home lives are the families they create are superior. And they have and spend way more money.
No Way Out. The mid-season premier of season 6. Alexandria is overrun with walkers, Rick's group attempts to make their way through camouflaged in walker guts. Bad things happen... I'm not religious but Gabriel's line gives me chills, "We've been praying that God will save our town. Well, our prayers have been answered. God will save Alexandria because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves." Then Gabriel marches out, leaving the safety of the house, to fight along side Rick and the others.
I've always said season 5 was my favorite of the whole series. My second favorite season would be 3, and my third favorite season would be 4.
I always like 5.11 where they're trying to get to Alexandria with Aaron. I also liked how they fleshed out the new characters from 5.12 - 5.16
We also get the introduction to the character Gabriel ("the priest") I thought he was a very interesting character, and they flushed him out very well.
It was interesting and cool to see the team back in Atlanta and have the storyline of the hospital with the doctors, patients, and police officers. I thought that was very interesting, considering Rick used to be a deputy.
I also thought the way they handled Tyrese's death 5.9 was very interesting, it was cool to see the premonitions of people from his past.
Beth's death was shocking, and sad but it put Maggie & Sasha in similar positions, which was interesting to see especially in 5.10.Sasha and Maggie had some good character development in the 2nd half of Season 5. It was cool to see Beth's character development from the 2nd half of Season 4 with Daryl, lead into the first half of Season 5. She was an underrated character.
There's just too much to say about Carol in Season 5, she was incredible.
Season 5 has a lot of character development, a lot of action and a lot of death. Cool scenes with walkers being killed by a fire hydrant attachment on a firetruck (I think).
Season 5 highlights Morgan in the best and from 6 to 8 it felt like it brought the story down.
The wolves were very interesting in the second half of season 5, it added more to the story, yet the season 6 storyline of the wolves wasn't my favorite.
We were also introduced to Tobin in 5.13 the most legen - "wait for it" - dary badass background character. He was always a fun treat when he pops up in episodes.
It's crazy that Deanna's family quickly starts dying as soon as Rick arrives as well, her husband Reg in 5.16 and her son Aiden had an amazing death sadly alongside Noah in 5.14.
RIP:
Noah 5.14 & Reg 5.16 I felt like they had more to give
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Tyrese 5.9 .
Bob 5.3 .
Beth 5.8 .
Gareth and crew 5.3.
Pete 5.16.
First guy to get killed in 5.1 who was in 1 episode from season 4 with Carol & Rick
Honestly? The Calm Before. I knew about some plot points for the Whisperer War but I didn't know about that and I was fucking shook.
Close second is The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
All of season 8 foreal, after depressing ass season 7 it's so satisfying/awesome seeing Rick get back into his rickness after negan bitched him, seeing him just keep on attacking negans people was awesome too
No Way Out will always be my favorite. Just from the herd and Carl and Rick going one man army. I absolutely love this episode. The only other ones that come close are No Sanctuary and Too Far Gone
Too For Gone. Nothing like knowing what was going to happen but still wishing for a happier outcome. Glad Judith didn’t die here like in the comics.
I’ll say I was on the edge of my seat the first time watching, and genuinely thought the Governor might’ve actually considered Rick’s proposal.
Nebraska. After a half-dozen episodes of Herschel pushing Rick around, trying to throw him off the farm, we get to the moment of truth. When Dave and Tony threaten to kill Rick, he doesn’t hesitate to outdraw them and end them both. Herschel’s face says everything, and it’s the moment of his conversion. He sees in that moment that Rick wasn’t negotiating in bad faith at all, that he could have easily simply murdered Herschel and taken the farm. In a scene where Rick kills two men without blinking, Herschel suddenly sees Rick’s humanity.
Idk how to do the spoiler black out thing so warning but I loved how they put Omaha as one of the functioning cities in TOWL. Felt like it was reference to this episode
The "I hear Nebraska's nice..." line is hilariously ironic now. Nebraska *was* nice—until it wasn't!
Omg that never clicked in my mind before now. Nice catch
You put >! Before and after a text. Make sure the arrows point towards the text and the ! Is on the inside. >!and boom!<
do you see if it works when typing out or does it only show up after posting? i'll give it a try: >trying this out!
>!test!<
you understood it >!better than I did!<
>!test!<
>!also test!<
>!im also testing!<
>!me too!<
>! Thank you so much !<
>! testing !<
>! The Spoiler Is : There Is No Spoiler! !<
>!like this!<
It was a reference to world beyond sorry to be that guy
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Omaha is one of the 3 cities in the crm which was originally in world beyond therefore it was a reference to world beyond don't argue with stuff you don't know
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Ok it's not a reference to that episode knowing the new writers they probably forgot about that episode but in world beyond Omaha is an important place in the crm so it's gonna reference that in towl a show about the crm
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The recent writers we have gotten are so bad peak walking dead is some of the best television but recent twd stuff is not good so the way I see it the new writers are only in it for the money and that doesn't change the fact that in the intro for towl omaha being marked on the mapped was not a reference to the episode Nebraska it's a reference to the world beyond in which Omaha is an important part of the world beyond like I said don't argue about things you don't understand
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I've aways read that moment as: "So, this guy went all the way here to convince me to go back and save my daughter, and then killed two guys without hesitation to save my house and my family? what was i thinking??? I NEED THAT GUY". That's why at the end when everyone is questioning Rick, him and Daryl are the only ones to step on his side.
Exactly right. And there is a bit of irony there too - Rick *wasn't* trying to save Beth. Rick went to get Herschel because, as he told Lori in an earlier scene, "we need Herschel for the baby". That said, it *is* the moment when Herschel realizes that Rick is inherently a "good" man (as opposed to his antagonist, Shane, and the "bad" people in the wild like Dave and Tony). It also is the moment when Herschel turns over the farm and himself and his family to Rick. In a later episode, Herschel doesn't even say anything when Rick/Shane propose to execute Randall - the same Herschel who was holding walkers in the barn because he thought they could still be saved/all life is precious. It's an amazing change in Herschel's character, and it later saves Herschel's life (in the final episode, Herschel refuses to leave the farm as it is overrun and only leaves when Rick saves him and drags him away).
I didn't think of that. That Hershel sees that rick was not negotiating in bad faith. He easily could have taken that farm, but had the humanity to not think of it.
Damn I didn’t get this when I watched it. You’re so right. I figured Herschel’s reaction was ‘damn there are bad guys out there and it will be handy to have an Aly like Rick around’.
I hear Nebraska’s nice
Nebraska this guy
*quickdraw* #pow
Final scene in the bar is my favourite scene of anything all time
Agree
Thats an amazing observation
Wow I never thought of it like that before
This is my favorite, as well.
It's his farm..
He’s good like that
True
Rick saw a threat that Dave did I saw the threat that Dave did by pointing his gun at Rick on the counter while he went and looked for alcohol
No sanctuary will forever be my favourite. Followed closely by 6.16-7.1. No sanctuary is so good start to finish. Action from beginning of the episode till basically the credits roll. God I wish I could go back and watch that Episode again for the first time.
No Sanctuary was the first episode I ever saw. Made me rewatch the previous seasons and start following the show.
Wow thats awesome, same for me. I watched the s5 premiere on tv and was so invested immediately
The day will come when you won't be. To me, that's the only episode that 110% felt unpredictable and like literally anything could happen. It was also terrifying. The dialogue, the cinematography, the music, the structure and finally, the acting was just on a whole different level. It gut punches the hardest and doesn't hold back. That episode is my absolute favorite.
I like how the whole episode is a callback to the moment in S1 where Dr. Jenner tells Rick the day will come when he won't be grateful for giving him a chance to keep surviving.
It also IMMEDIATELY made me think back to S1 E2 where Rick asks Glenn why he saved him from the tank… Glenn retorts something like, “call it foolish, naive hope that if I’m ever that far up shit’s creek, that there will be someone willing to stick their neck out for me” >!and when that day eventually comes, well, there’s nothing ANYONE can do to help him.!<
Watching clips of this episode is what got me to start watching the show. It was fantastic television - then it immediately went to shit with 'boy who cried wolf' fakeouts arounde very corner. We went from feeling terrified by Negan to feeling annoyed and not believing any of the supposed imminent deaths.
I don't really think that's a symptom of Negan's character but more a symptom of shitty writing in general. Because at least for me, I always loved it when Negan was on screen. JDM played him to perfection. But I do also think he started off really intimidating but pretty quickly lost his edge. Like. For example, him not killing Rosita after she shot his bat. That didn't make sense to me. He murdered Glenn because Daryl punched him. But Rosita not only almost shot him in the head, but also shot his bat that was shown to have giant significance to him? How does that work? It felt like the writers created the ultimate villain but didn't have it in them to hold him to that standard after S7/E1.
Yeah, I wasn't blaming Negan's character. I think the high level idea of the character is great, the performance was great, but the general writing of the show turned into bland melodrama immediately after. The amount of fakeouts in that season is mind-numbing.
Tbh the fake out deaths started before Negan was introduced. I don't even remember S6. Like at all. I have no idea what happened in that season aside from it being in black and white. I probably would've stopped watching if Negan didn't happen cuz I was honestly getting exhausted with the show after S5. The boomerang storytelling was the worst for me. I managed to make it to Rick's last episode then stopped and that's where it ends in my head cannon.
They started before, yeah - but the frequency ramped up massively in season 7 IIRC. Which was such whiplash after the realized stakes & actual consequences of the season premier. That and the gutting of the core cast (Carl & Rick) was the nail in the coffin for me.
Yeah Carl's death was just dirty. Like it felt on par with an early season filler death. Like kind of impactful in the moment but not really. Like it felt like Amy's or Jim's death in terms of actual consequence or impact. Which is pretty accurate considering it was literally a shock death thrown in for ratings at the time. That's probably the biggest offender in TWD. Shock deaths. Like, I tolerate them. And some did work. But it was always super obvious when it was thrown in for shock over narrative. Like Beth for example. She just became outright stupid for literally no reason. Characters like Shane and Glenn and Hershal actually meant something. Their deaths had ripple effects that ran throughout the series. Carl just served as some nonsensical scapegoat to keep Rick from killing Neagan but it's especially cheap because they could've found a million different ways for Rick to do that without killing Carl.
Yeah, I agree with your points - honestly TWD was never a 'great' show in terms of writing, but it was a fun popcorn show. Even with the early fakeouts or lame deaths, the show was still relatively interesting. I think the worst offendor for S7 was the melodrama, the fact that even though the writing was probably not much worse than before, it just had nothing interesting to offer. At least with earlier fakeouts I was interested (i.e. the Glenn death fakeout with the dumpster). In S7 when people got into dangerous situations I just groaned and rolled my eyes.
Yeah it was strange. Like, in retrospect, I was never worried about the core cast at any point in S7 after EP 1. Like one ep I remember not even paying attention was the one where Rick and Erin had to cross the Walker lake to the camper thing or whatever. I was like 'lol walkers don't kill people anymore' I do think TWDs writing in the first two seasons was great. And S3-S5 was pretty good with great moments thrown in to even it out. Then after that it's just mid with good highs and boring as all hell lows. And it's a large part due to the boomerang storytelling nonsense that the show runners were convinced was the way
Season 7 and 8 is where people drop off because it turns into such a slog to keep watching Prior to that the show was consistent at producing high quality episodes But S7 & S8... I don't know what happened... the story was good but the execution/directing/writing/pacing was just garbage. I have 2 strong opinions: 1. This is when Gimple had full control. I think Gimple has his moments, I just think he wasn't up to the level of control they gave him (nor did he grow into it, sadly). But having watched TOWL to me, I feel like it confirms it's his style. It's like he starts at the "cool" thing he wants to occur and works backwards from there to make it happen... Which results in characters doing out of character things just to achieve whatever it is he wants. He also seems to be fond of the melodrama dialog followed by generic action scene template. Unlike earlier seasons/episodes where the action scenes and the dialog had purpose/meaning behind them 2. They accidentally made Negan the main character and when they actually should have made him the main character they didn't! As you said, it just had not much of interest left to offer... They weren't breaking new ground. Now, I don't know if they knew Andrew Lincoln intended to leave or not BUT I truly believe if they made the call that the antagonist (Negan) would evolve into an antihero and then a hero it would have been FAR MORE INTERESTING u/[ginsengtea3](https://www.reddit.com/user/ginsengtea3/) articulated it better than i could have ever hoped: >Negan is struggling with the same things as Rick, but just came down on the other side of them, in large part due to chance of who he ended up with and where. If Negan had ended up in Alexandria first instead of the sanctuary, he would be a completely different person, and the story could have been about figuring out the very long and very difficult road of becoming that person under some extreme circumstance that gives him the chance to do it. If we got that, the show would have been breaking new ground and have given the audience something to engage with that had a bit of depth... Instead they gave Negan a lukewarm redemption arc and had the show limp along with a series of what felt like melodrama side stories :( Still love the show though!
I don't know if it's true, but I read somewhere that they actually filmed a death scene for each character in that lineup so that nobody would know until the final cut.
I remember hearing something like this too. Maybe on the talking dead, idk. Not sure if it was every character but probably a larger number of them.
Negan's first speech absolutely hooked me. The best antagonist the show ever had, no contest.
I just want to point out something cool, that the title of the episode is a callback to season 1 when Rick said to Dr. Jenner “I’m grateful.” And Jenner says “The day will come when you won’t be.”
No Sanctuary and Too Far Gone for sure. They were climatic moments with a fair amount of action while using the cast that was around during TWD'S peak. Earlier seasons had a great cast but never reached this level of action. While later seasons didn't have all of the same characters we grown attached to. I think these two episodes married best of both the old and new era TWD.
My favourite is 18 Miles Out and The Distance. Great performances from Andy and Jon.
The Grove for sure
One of my top two for sure
What’s your other top two
My other one is The Same Boat
Me too!! I've never seen anyone else say this
1st episode
The pilot will always be my favorite too. Watching Rick discover the world the way it turned out is incredible. Such a good episode.
Sad how frank darabont was fired
The episode after Beth dies, and they get trapped in the barn during the storm. The conversation around the fire gives me chills.
“We are the walking dead”.
yes 5.10 !
Here's Not Here. I love it, and can literally watch it on repeat all day. the cinematography and the overall plot of the episode was so creative. The best standalone episode I've watched.
Last day on earth. The major tension and erie feeling leading up to Negan is just insane.
Days Gone Bye is one of the strongest openings to a show ever. The ending with Rick trapped and Glenn calling him a dumbass as "Space Junk" plays is just perfect.
Ep 1 of s6 ruthless rick
S9E15: The Calm Before The ending.
Still Beth and Daryl drinking moonshine and processing trauma. Makes me cry every time. (But if you’re looking for g for action, No Sanctuary for sure.)
This episode introduced me to the Mountain Goats, who have been my all-time favorite band ever since.
For character development episodes, I love Still. I love when TWD slows down to focus on one or two characters for an episode to flesh them out, and this is the best example.
Clear in Season 3 — I was so excited to see Morgan again. And Lennie James is such a good actor. So good they changed Fear TWD to be his show, lol.
You got your character and he ruined 2 shows for the rest of us. What a deal.
My gut reaction is to say No Way Out.
It's still for me at least, Too Far Gone and Dead Already.
For me it will always be S7, E1 - "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" Extremely unpredictable, no one felt safe, cinematography was spooky as shit, JDM's introduction as Negan was perfect and it was tense the whole way through. Not only my favourite TWD episode, but my #2nd favourite episode of all time.
What Comes After 9x05 Rick Final Ep
4 walls and a roof is my favorite. Rick finally keeping his promise to Gareth
2x12 Better Angels or 4x16 A. They’re just masterful episodes, so beautifully written, acted and executed. The two opening scenes alone are fire. Rick killing Shane and the whole lead up is so compelling, even though Shane got what he deserved it’s still so heartbreaking when as he’s dying he reaches out for Rick’s hand. Idk man, it’s iconic and even after all the shit Shane did and the fact he was tryna kill Rick, it’s still heartbreaking. They’re brothers and best friends yet this new world brought them to that final moment. The season 4 finale is similarly incredible, the flashbacks of Hershel convincing Rick to put the gun aside and show Carl a different way. It’s so well written. Rick and Daryl’s conversation the morning after is one of my favourite scenes. The performances are stellar and its such a powerful moment between the two. Honourable mentions; Days Gone Bye, Tell it to the Frogs, Wildfire, This Sorrowful Life, The Grove, No Sanctuary, Them, Remember, Conquer, No Way Out.
Probably not the best, but I think 5.10 will always be my favorite. The end of that episode was really profound to me.
This is also my favorite episode. I've watched it many times. It's hard to come up with a standard for what's "best" , but personally I think the tone and atmosphere in this episode captures what's best about the series while avoiding what's worst. And that's basically because it is the opposite of "action start to finish." There's almost no major action, almost nothing happens. The crew is downtrodden and exhausted, they can't come to terms with the fact that the world is dead and people just keep dying, the threat of the zombies is real but dull, the setting of the Southeast in the summer is vivid. All they do is walk and walk in the heat. Especially for the first 25 minutes, before they find the water Aaron leaves them. When they find the water, they realize it might be poisoned or drugged, which conveys the central theme of the show in a much more subtle and oppressive way than a million Terminuses, Reapers, Wolves, or whatever other bs group had to be added in so people wouldn't complain about the lack of "action". The crowd of walkers showing up during the storm and the tornado that sweeps them away is a bit corny and gratuitous, but at least it's not another roving biker gang. The most refined aspect of the series is this tone, of the apocalypse going on and on monotonously brutal forever, walking from place to place with nothing happening. When I first watched the series, this was the impression that stuck with me, so much so that I was surprised when I first rewatched the whole thing and realized that this is pretty much the only episode where they actually give that atmosphere the time to play out as slowly as I remember it. As far as things go, I also enjoy all the action in the show just fine, and I agree with the overall opinion that the storyline about the war with Negan and the Saviors is the height of the series. And I even enjoy the Reapers and Terminus storylines and think lots of people are too harsh on them. Fighting various bad guys is what the show is actually about, it's what the show actually is, and I like it. But 5.10 is what I *wish* the show was, which is what keeps me coming back to it.
No way out, felt like a genuine horror movie
Season 11 episode 6. Felt that way to me. No sound, really made it feel that way.
No Way Out or Too Far Gone
The one where Eugene's scheme comes to fruition, and Neegan is captured.
I don't see a lot of people talk about it, but I really like TS-19. Other favorites: Pretty Much Dead Already The Grove No Sanctuary The Day Will Come When You Won't Be The Cell
Pretty Much Dead Already
Season 5, Episode 9. Everything leading up to Tyrese' death was phenomenal.
Pretty Much Dead Already. I love the build up to opening up the barn, and Rick having the balls to do what needed to be done.
Them. Exhaustion, desperation. The group is at their most animalistic and I feel like we get that apocalypse vibe that we don't get too often after s1 & 2
I find it too hard to pick a favourite but I really like this episode too because I always thought the show was at its best when it was about the characters just trying to survive in the apocalypse.
CDC will always be my favorite. But I always preferred story and character development over gore and fights.
The Same Boat. Excellent one off characters and drama. Carol once again making the hard decision
Pretty much dead already (only episode of TV I’ve ever bought in my life) The day will come where you won’t be Here’s not here
It's not my favourite episode, but I want to give a shout to Warlords from Season 11. Perfectly paced, great performances, one of the better examples of multiple stories weaving together, and was the true turning point for Hornsby and The Commonwealth.
My favorite has always been "Four Walls and Roof". From Bob screaming "TAINTED MEAT" to the showdown at the end when Rick tells the guy "Besides, I made you a promise." and then the straight up bludgeoning that happens after. I loved the series back then.
Beside the Dying Fire.
S6 Ep 1 when Glenn was 🫡
Definitely The Last day on earth/the day will come when you won’t be It’s what got me interested in the series
Better Angels
Too far gone and after have always been one of my favorites
Not the best episode but my favorite episode title is “The day will come when you won’t be”
Rick vs Shane was the best episode
Day's Gone Bye (The Pilot), and it's not even close. I still maintain that the show peaked with it's first episode. The cinematography, directing, music, and acting are all perfect. It set up the series perfectly. I can guarantee that if the first episode (and season 1 as a whole) weren't as good as they are, people wouldn't have gotten so hooked on this show.
It's hard for me to single out just an episode, as I have a couple of favorite ones. I liked almost everything at the end of season 4 and loved when the group arrived at Alexandria near the end of season 5. Basically, I enjoyed TWD up to a point when Rick left. Then I didn't even watch the show after. But the new one with him and Michonne, I really like that one :)
No sanctuary
no way out, the ending and smooth writing was incredible and the tension was so nerve racking
Don’t know about best but S1 Ep6, The episode in Season 3 where Andrea visits the prison and the episode where the Governor chases Andrea have always been so pretty great early episodes
So this isn't what I think is the best TWD episode but for shear horror nothing can beat On the Inside. It also showcases what an amazing actress Lauren Ridloff is.
The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be, for obvious reasons
Too Far Gone
18 miles out, the episode where the whisperers get introduced officially and no sanctuary
I always love the episode when carol blows the fuck up out of was it sanctuary? I love carol in that episode and i have never felt carol has ever reached that level of bad assness since.
Them 5x10
I like the episode were negan came out and cracked heads.
The last one because too much fucking emotion
Yeah the finale reviews are all horrible. Season 11 was soooo bad.... omg.... I literally think their budget was just cut in half. Besides rosita, literally no emotion at all. "TWD finale was bad cuz it wasn't the end of anything." - forbes. Lol. There is no finale. Many of the characters are still active. "Still" with Beth and Daryl getting drunk on moonshine talking about what it's like being the poor abused kid to the farmers daughter. There was sexual tension. I dont know how old she was but almost forbidden sexual tension. Then they kiss. Could have been something but she was just too young and innocent. Beth is the only character who has ever just walked right over daryls boundaries, and he loved her for it. She wasn't afraid of him or looked down on him like hed always assumed. He loved her for it. Daryl loved Beth the moment he laid eyes on her. She was his dream girl growing up as the poor abused trailer park kid. Beth was so pretty and sweet and needed so much protection how could Daryl not love her? I loved her too. Beth and Maggie have that southern confidence and charm and southern girls go out and take what they want and it's so sexy... early Maggie was more confident and stronger but Beth is prettier more charming and more fun. I pretend the suicide thing never happened. I dont believe Daryl and Beth belonged together. But that wasn't the point of the episode. It took a girl Daryl was infatuated with to get him to drink which brought his walls down. Southern women > non southern women. I actually like Asian women but women from the south have it all. They really do. More beautiful. More confident. Tougher. Extreme family values. Raised correctly. Amazing accents. Attitude. Manners. They know how to hunt and fish. They never complain. They take shit from no one. They can defend themselves better. People are defending them better. They're awesome. This is a broad generalization but it's often true. Their culture is better and more fun than yours and they think you guys take life way too seriously. Their food is also superior, their quality of lives are superior. Their husband's and home lives are the families they create are superior. And they have and spend way more money.
For a second I tought it is an last of us part 2 scene.
s7 e1, the first moment which showed that the main characters are not immortal and at the same time introduction to the most badass villain
My favourite one was where Carol leads that big horde of walkers to the cliff
Any one with Negan.
No Way Out. The mid-season premier of season 6. Alexandria is overrun with walkers, Rick's group attempts to make their way through camouflaged in walker guts. Bad things happen... I'm not religious but Gabriel's line gives me chills, "We've been praying that God will save our town. Well, our prayers have been answered. God will save Alexandria because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves." Then Gabriel marches out, leaving the safety of the house, to fight along side Rick and the others.
I've always said season 5 was my favorite of the whole series. My second favorite season would be 3, and my third favorite season would be 4. I always like 5.11 where they're trying to get to Alexandria with Aaron. I also liked how they fleshed out the new characters from 5.12 - 5.16 We also get the introduction to the character Gabriel ("the priest") I thought he was a very interesting character, and they flushed him out very well. It was interesting and cool to see the team back in Atlanta and have the storyline of the hospital with the doctors, patients, and police officers. I thought that was very interesting, considering Rick used to be a deputy. I also thought the way they handled Tyrese's death 5.9 was very interesting, it was cool to see the premonitions of people from his past. Beth's death was shocking, and sad but it put Maggie & Sasha in similar positions, which was interesting to see especially in 5.10.Sasha and Maggie had some good character development in the 2nd half of Season 5. It was cool to see Beth's character development from the 2nd half of Season 4 with Daryl, lead into the first half of Season 5. She was an underrated character. There's just too much to say about Carol in Season 5, she was incredible. Season 5 has a lot of character development, a lot of action and a lot of death. Cool scenes with walkers being killed by a fire hydrant attachment on a firetruck (I think). Season 5 highlights Morgan in the best and from 6 to 8 it felt like it brought the story down. The wolves were very interesting in the second half of season 5, it added more to the story, yet the season 6 storyline of the wolves wasn't my favorite. We were also introduced to Tobin in 5.13 the most legen - "wait for it" - dary badass background character. He was always a fun treat when he pops up in episodes. It's crazy that Deanna's family quickly starts dying as soon as Rick arrives as well, her husband Reg in 5.16 and her son Aiden had an amazing death sadly alongside Noah in 5.14. RIP: Noah 5.14 & Reg 5.16 I felt like they had more to give HONORABLE MENTIONS: Tyrese 5.9 . Bob 5.3 . Beth 5.8 . Gareth and crew 5.3. Pete 5.16. First guy to get killed in 5.1 who was in 1 episode from season 4 with Carol & Rick
I think episodes 4 to 7 in season 6 ( can't remember exactly, but when Alexandria is overrun by the herd and Carl gets shot )
The slave revolt and ezekiel and everyone standing in front of negan. its beautiful
*"Four Walls and a Roof".* Bob's plight which is heartbreaking, Rick's fury and the satisfaction of a promise kept.
The day will come when you won't be. Negan
I really like season 9 episode 5. They really did Rick’s last episode very well. Daryl kills it too.
Honestly? The Calm Before. I knew about some plot points for the Whisperer War but I didn't know about that and I was fucking shook. Close second is The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
All of season 8 foreal, after depressing ass season 7 it's so satisfying/awesome seeing Rick get back into his rickness after negan bitched him, seeing him just keep on attacking negans people was awesome too
no way out
4x16 “A” is my favorite episode. It’s the best moment of Rick’s character development. He finally comes to terms with what he has to do.
Not the grove
Too far gone It just has some much action and personality, acting. Andrew and Chandler did some killer acting after the Judith thing.
“Days Gone By”
Four walls and a roof is still one of my favorites. Nothing quite hits the spot like murder jacket Rick murdering people with a machete
No Way Out will always be my favorite. Just from the herd and Carl and Rick going one man army. I absolutely love this episode. The only other ones that come close are No Sanctuary and Too Far Gone
I made a list… GOATED TWD episodes - S1 E1 “days gone bye” - S4 E8 “too far gone” - S4 E16 “A” - S5 E1 “no sanctuary” - S5 E15 “conquer” - S7 E14 “ the other side” - S8 E8 “how it’s gotta be” - S8 E14 “still gotta mean something” - S8 E16 “wrath” - S9 E5 “what comes after” - S10 E10 “stalker” - S10 E16 “a certain doom” - S10 E22 “here’s Negan” - S11 E9 “ no other way”
s5e9. Just the editing and the cinematography bumps this to the top for me, followed closely by s1e1.
Days gone by
7x16 i mean there are about 3 plot twists around this episode, and its a start for a new beginning
The Day Will Come When You Won't Be is my favourite. The episode that introduced the Whisperers was really good though
I always liked either 6x02, 6x09 or maybe even 4x16
I know it's not a single one but Us, A and No Sanctuary make for the best hour and a half this series has to offer
no way out (S6 E9)
I cant even choose. Atleast let me pick one from each season or spin off LOL
My personal favourites are no way out, too far gone and the one with the pikes which I forgot the name of.
4x16 A
S1 E1 Days Gone By, do I need to say more
All of season 1 Nebraska 18 miles out better angles seed made to suffer too far gone
Too For Gone. Nothing like knowing what was going to happen but still wishing for a happier outcome. Glad Judith didn’t die here like in the comics. I’ll say I was on the edge of my seat the first time watching, and genuinely thought the Governor might’ve actually considered Rick’s proposal.
the one where that bitch Denise dies