The Walking Dead: The Television Series

[Angrist]

Oh yeah I was wondering about something... Rick and Shane walk miles through the forest to the spot where Shane wants to kill Rick. And suddenly - tadaa!! - there's the kid watching them. ò_Ô What the heck is he doing there!!?! Or did Shane lead them back to the farm and did he want to shoot Rick within hearing distance of everybody else??

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Angrist

Oh yeah I was wondering about something... Rick and Shane walk miles through the forest to the spot where Shane wants to kill Rick. And suddenly - tadaa!! - there's the kid watching them. ò_Ô What the heck is he doing there!!?! Or did Shane lead them back to the farm and did he want to shoot Rick within hearing distance of everybody else??

The camera cut to Carl (the kid) standing in the window, looking out. When they did that camera shot, I immediately asked myself, "I wonder if Carl is leaving the house." And I guess he did....how Carl found them I have no idea.

It seemed like Rick and Shane were fairly close to the house when all the drama went down. But it seemed like they were walking for miles. What amazes me is that they went out walking in the dark, like wtf.

[Neo]

The gun went off when he got stabbed. Carl heard it and came looking.

[Typhoid]

This entire Season has lacked any serious zombie threat...and this episode they suddenly start boarding up the house. I mean, shouldn't that have been episode 2? Maybe instead of fixing the well they could have boarded up the house. I get it: Hershel wasn't planning on letting them live there. But in the case of an emergency zombie outbreak, wouldn't having a fortified house make sense?

Okay, so I'm back to nitpicking about bad writing.

Not to constantly be the defendant; but -

I get it: Hershel wasn't planning on letting them live there. But in the case of an emergency zombie outbreak, wouldn't having a fortified house make sense?

Then no, you do not get it. Hershel wasn't aware of "the outside". He thought they were curable, he didn't know they would come to his house, and attempt to slaughter him. That is the only reason he had them in the barn. That is why he didn't have his house boarded up.
That God-fearing man had no reason in his mind to board up his house to protect himself of the Walking Dead. That's why it already wasn't protected. Come on man, you're watching the show. It's like you're purposely forgetting things they spend ample time discussing in previous episodes because you're looking for something to complain about.

Of course the black guy is helping move all the shit, and "no you aren't sleeping on the couch." "Okay, masta sir!"

Why do you go and have to be racist like that. A white guy isn't allowed to tell a black guy that the couch he owns is taken, without someone who's (hopefully jokingly) looking for things to pick apart saying "lol 21st century, black man doing work for a white guy and being told what to do", where as I refute with "lol 21st century, he's allowed to help and be part of the group like any human being, and be told not to go places like every other normal person. That is equality."
When I see a writer doing things like that in a show with a black person I think "Good for you. You're not afraid of writing honestly. You're not going to walk on eggshells and not write a black actor into normal roles because you're afraid someone will make some bullshit slavery connection for no fucking reason."

Man, I don't get why people watch a show if all everyone ever says about it is always negative. In 2 seasons I've only seen/recalled maybe 5 positive posts that were not from me. and I don't mean posts that are filled with hate on the last episode, and sprinkled with a positive "but".

Here is my summary of the majority of people who watch this show commenting after every episode:

"I don't get the show. I don't like the direction they're taking _______. The acting is bad, I don't feel invested in any characters. And how did _____ get ____ without _____ knowing/thinking/seeing _____? That doesn't make sense. Why did they cast ____ as ______ anyways? He/she can't act ______ as well as I hoped that character would be acted. I'm so ________ that they're still _________. _______ is such a ______, fuck. Why can't _______ ________ _______. The worst scene of last episode was when _______ and ______ were _______ by the _______ with _____. Like _____, why can't ______ just _____. That would make _____ so much _______. Every week I watch this show my life gets significantly worse. The 48 minutes I spend every Sunday watching this glorified pile of vomit are worth it though, for the 5 minutes that I think are cool, so it's okay. I like the show, that's why I watch it."

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Typhoid

Why do you go and have to be racist like that. A white guy isn't allowed to tell a black guy that the couch he owns is taken, without someone who's (hopefully jokingly) looking for things to pick apart saying "lol 21st century, black man doing work for a white guy and being told what to do", where as I refute with "lol 21st century, he's allowed to help and be part of the group like any human being, and be told not to go places like every other normal person. That is equality."

I would say you are being pedantic, but even you expressed some doubt that my comment was completely serious when you said: "someone who's (hopefully jokingly) looking for things to pick apart." That would be correct...I made that comment as a joke.

But if my comment was a joke, then where does the humor come from?

And this is where I can say you have ignored context. So far T-Dog has been nothing but a throwaway character. His existence in the series is seriously questionable, especially since his character does not exist in the comic. Add in the fact that he has very few speaking lines, no subplots, and he has a stereotypically racist name "T-Dog".....it isn't a huge leap to suggest that he is the "token black guy." And that TV TROPE does exist:

It's the "Token Minority" trope.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph.../TokenMinority

Token Minority is a character designed to get more minority groups into the plot.

And oh, guess what? On the Token Minority trope page, T-Dog is actually cited as an example of the trope!

Played painfully straight in The Walking Dead with T-Dog, who is the only major character in the series not to have any sub-plots and little dialog. Extremely apparent in Season 2 episode "Judge, Jury, Executioner" in which the group deliberates whether or not to kill Randall, the episode focuses on the opinions of every member of the group except T-Dog whose one line of dialog is cut off by Dale.

So to answer the question, "where does the humor come from when KillerGremlin makes a joke about T-Dog." The answer is that it comes from the applied context, that has already been established by anyone watching the show. Which is that T-Dog is as useless of a character as useless characters come.

So when T-Dog is featured in a scene moving shit, it is hilarious for me to make jokes like, "Yes, masta sir." Because my joke is blatantly racist, which is a nice commentary to attach to some of the implied criticisms of T-Dog's character.

So I have to strongly disagree with your observation:

Originally Posted by Typhoid

When I see a writer doing things like that in a show with a black person I think "Good for you. You're not afraid of writing honestly. You're not going to walk on eggshells and not write a black actor into normal roles because you're afraid someone will make some bullshit slavery connection for no fucking reason."

Edit: Amazingly, the Walking Dead writers were able to develop a NON token minority black guy in episode 1 of the TV show. This guy is a perfect example of a developed character:

http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Mo...28TV_Series%29

I would love to see a follow up with what happened to him, no? I would be okay with a 10 minute flashback at the start of an episode, before cutting back to current events.

[Angrist]

Yeah I really thought they'd take that storyline with the negro father and son somewhere. (Am I allowed to say negro these days? I'm so confused about what's considered racist and not in the States...)

What I also liked about the first episodes is that the zombies still had some personality left. The wife still knew where she lived. The zombie girl still walked around with her bunny doll.
I guess the writers ran out of ideas after that, because I never have got the same feeling again after that.

[Vampyr]

Negro is not usually an acceptable term, it's something you only hear really old people say, and then everyone kind of stands there being uncomfortable.

It's kind of absurd what's considered racist and what isn't. For some reason "black" is not racist. Neither is "African-American", even though a lot of dark skinned people are not of African decent.

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Vampyr

Negro is not usually an acceptable term, it's something you only hear really old people say, and then everyone kind of stands there being uncomfortable.

It's kind of absurd what's considered racist and what isn't. For some reason "black" is not racist. Neither is "African-American", even though a lot of dark skinned people are not of African decent.

I feel pretty confident saying that the PC term these days is "black." I do see African American used in some literature still, especially with respect to census stuff, statistics, medical stuff, and sociology/psychology. But yeah.

Angrist, if you do come to the States...don't say "Negro." I mean, you might get away with it, it just depends if you are (a) sexy, (b) have a sexy accent.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

I feel pretty confident saying that the PC term these days is "black." I do see African American used in some literature still, especially with respect to census stuff, statistics, medical stuff, and sociology/psychology. But yeah.

Angrist, if you do come to the States...don't say "Negro." I mean, you might get away with it, it just depends if you are (a) sexy, (b) have a sexy accent.

Oh! I have a negro friend! Maybe he knows your negro friend?

[Angrist]

I thought for sure "black" would be racist. It's not realy black is it? More like brown... in all kind of shades.
I'm pretty sure that in a while "African-American" will also be considered racist.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Angrist

I thought for sure "black" would be racist. It's not realy black is it? More like brown... in all kind of shades.
I'm pretty sure that in a while "African-American" will also be considered racist.

Well, I'm "white" but I'm actually more of a pinkish tan...

We think about this stuff way too hard.

[Dylflon]

Posted by Steven Yuen (actor who plays Glenn) on his Reddit AMA (ask me anything) thread:

I think it's great that you hate Lori. When I hear something like that I smile and think about what an amazing job Sarah Wayne Callies has done and also how fearless the writing is with her character.

What I find interesting about TV and the audience reaction sometimes is that everyone tends to want each character to be likable or consistent. Even with villians, if they are consistent, they kind of like them. Then, when a villian displays some sort of warmth, they go bonkers because they love the idea of a villian with a heart of gold.

But how come it's harder to swallow when it's a good person that isn't consistently good?

I remember reading the comic and HATING Lori. I hated her because she was bipolar; irrational in one moment but then suddenly rational the next. Loving one moment, and scornful the next. But then I realized as I took a step back and looked at the whole that her character is completely necessary and makes for interesting drama.

They are in a zombie apocalypse. They are going to be inconsistent. People are going to mess up. People are going to be irrational. People are going to be selfish. People are also going to be good.

[Angrist]

[Dutch accent]I'll try to remember it.[/Dutch accent]

[BlueFire]

I very much enjoy this show. Great season. I was surprised to see how many of you guys have a problem with the writing or the acting. /shrug

[Angrist]

PAGAN! BURN HIM!!