It’s getting better. Stop now if you haven’t seen the latest episode.

You stopped?

Alright, if you’re still here and you haven’t seen this week’s installment, then you’re okay with the rest of the discussion.

First, the things I don’t like.

I missed posting last week but I saw that episode and thought “Glenn and the Hillbilly guy  are my new favourite characters.” They still are, but the new episode still has me kinda cursing on the writers. Shit happens at times, that’s a given. And characters can be stupid, another given. But when characters do stupid things and stupid shit happens week after week just to “heighten” tension–that ain’t heightening tension in my book. Those are just cheap tricks I grew up with watching 70’s movies. Cliches and tropes like a couple are being pursued by an axemurder and they reach the car only to find the engine won’t start. Or they’re someplace where’s there’s no cellphone signal. Shit like that, and the last few episodes have had this feeling of “stupid shit” permeating them. You can argue that these folks are still under duress, and that mistakes happen. That’s true enough, so why am I starting to feel like the quicker some of these characters die off the better? I’m not hoping that they survive. I’m hoping some of them become friday’s night chicken delight happy meal. The sooner, the better.

I don’t like or need the flashbacks. Really. There have been SO many zombie stories out there that I don’t need an explanation of how it all began. I don’t. The characters are on the road, trying to survive, and that’s good enough for me. Let me guess, it all started with a virus. Quickly got out of control. Army called in. Society collapses We have survivors. Let’s get on with it.

And the pace has really really slowed down. I’d like to get my hands on the comic book series now, just to see how true they are keeping with the original story.

Those are the bad points. Now, there are glimmers of good stuff on the way. It started with last episode, and continues on this week.

I was beginning to suspect something was up last episode–when they pulled the dead guy from the well and the shock and dismay on the face on Glenn’s new girlfriend  was clearly there. Call me slow to catch on, but for  a farm to be out in the middle of nowhere seeing only a little zombie action, well, that could be just chaulked up them living on the outskirts of town. And because our survivors have been so grateful for the assistance given to them by these farmers, no questions are being asked.

Episode 5 pretty much put some light  on things.

There’s something going on at that farm, with the discovery of the dead being “collected” at the barn. Don’t know what it is. Don’t know if the old vet is something of a religious nut or believes that someday the dead can be cured or that he just can’t bring himself to do in the neighbours as it goes against his beliefs. I know it’s part of the reason why he’s becoming more and more inclined to get our bunch of survivors on the farm on their way soon.

The old codger unnerves me. And I like that. There’s a nice character reversal happening here, with a guy that I once thought of as a “good guy” for patching up the kid, to now going into a grey area… and possibly coming out as crazy.

There’s dead folks on the farm. In the barn. And for the first time since the first episode, I’m looking forward to next week.

Just keep the dumb shit to a low level. And get rid of the flashbacks.