[Steph]

I don't think Patrick busting his nose is where the blood came from. There was a walker at the fence that had bled from the eyes. I think that walker is the source of the disease and the disease migrated to human and animal alike. Because even if it is swine flu, how did the pig get it? It had to come from somewhere and I think it was from the walker at the fence whose eyes were bleeding.

Did he have blood in his eyes? I don't recall, I thought it was coming from his mouth.

It's not swine flu though, I had that shit when it was going around a few years ago and didn't bleed from my eyes or mouth. Though did feel like I was going to die, holy shit I was so sick, for about a month I'd say.

[Jamber]

i liked it b/c it was walking dead but it was a rather poor season premiere ... funny thing, even on here and the tons of fb comments i'm looking at, alot think it was rather bad, is that gimple? lol

[d2daybreak]

Did he have blood in his eyes? I don't recall, I thought it was coming from his mouth.

It's not swine flu though, I had that shit when it was going around a few years ago and didn't bleed from my eyes or mouth. Though did feel like I was going to die, holy shit I was so sick, for about a month I'd say.

Yes, the bulk of the blood was around his mouth, but there were reddish streaks under his eyes that could be blood streaks.

[Austin]

I think they are all linked too and that the walker with the bleeding eyes is the source. Whatever it is kills fast. Patrick was fine that morning talking to Daryl and Carol, and in the afternoon with the other kids. All of a sudden, he was sick, then dead.

I saw that same bleeding eyed walker twice on the fence in the episode. Patrick stood by the fence with the other kids.
Maybe it has a side effect where it makes you act like a teenage moody girl (Carl)

[blasian orange]

This episode was good, nothing spectacular in my opinion. It has a vastly different feel to it, though that's expected with Gimple running the show now. I would have liked to get a little more focus on the main characters we already know besides Darryl, I agree that the Dixon fangirling within the show is a bit much, though understandable. A lot of these people came from Woodbury where Merle was a hero. I do think that there is a connection between the dead pig and Patrick. In the opening wasn't Patrick working with food? I believe that it's some sort of plague, not necessarily swine flu, but something deadly that's communicable between pigs and humans. It cannot be healthy to constantly have dead bodies hanging around with livestock right there.

[Tay]

i liked it b/c it was walking dead but it was a rather poor season premiere ... funny thing, even on here and the tons of fb comments i'm looking at, alot think it was rather bad, is that gimple? lol

What was poor about it?

[leegreenman]

I don't think the illness is Walker related. I think the point is to remind us that there are still non zombie related biological threats to worry about. As for the In episode Daryl worship, I think it was supposed to be something of a joke.

[Jamber]

What was poor about it?

poor is a bad choice of words, more like it was ehh plain? not exactly a premiere episode? may have to do with so many redshirts taking screen time and it's only a hr long, safe bet alot of em die off in the next few episodes so that's always good

[Deadpelican]

, I agree that the Dixon fangirling within the show is a bit much,

The former Woodbury people are followers prone to hero worship (which is how they got mixed up with the governor). I think that's the real point.

Granted, not everyone there is a former Woodbury resident but many of them are.

[Mr. NomNom]

Don't get me wrong I mean I understand a virus and all but, don't these people have enough to worry about? Lol. I say once they are down to about 10 or so people they leave the l prison.

[Serenity@sea]

I thought it was a good set-up episode. I expected more wow factor, but then again, there were raining zombies.

I too, connected the bloody eye walker, the pig and Patrick getting sick. My impression was that the bloody eye walker died from the virus (or whatever it is), not necessarily that he was spreading the virus.

[d2daybreak]

In watching the opening again, the show opens with Rick and the first thing he does is wash his face in a barrel of water. The last Patrick does is take a shower, but not before coughing all over a barrel of water. I don't think that was by accident. I think the water definitely plays a part in this infection story line.

Also, the opening segment ends with Rick noticing the walkers at the fence, specifically a walker with blood streaks coming from his eyes. That is the first time we see this walker.

[Sweetsister]

Not sure how to rate it yet cause I don't want my excitement for having the show back influence my vote.
I did like the "falling walkers" I'd never seen anything like that, great tension; you don't know where or when the next one will fall.
I also liked that it seems we wont have episodes focusing on "is Carl the next Guv" Carl and Rick seem to be OK.
I wonder why the walker are now zeroing in on the prison and always in "attack mode"? Past seasons we were told they were suppossed to be somewhat docile, does it have to do with this new virus/infection is it affecting walkers as well as humans and animals? Some pretty good setups I thought, hopefully will lead to a great season

[remmdog]

Watching the second hour replay. Patrick shakes Darryls hand..... Then of course Patrick ends the episode dead..... Hmmm wonder if there will be anything to that.

[walkerbait13]

Watching the second hour replay. Patrick shakes Darryls hand..... Then of course Patrick ends the episode dead..... Hmmm wonder if there will be anything to that.

I was talking to my dad when I thought of the same thing. I was just like "hell no!"

[DukeSilver]

I thought the episode was good. Not spectacular, but I'm still optimistic about the rest of the season.

The gore & special effects were amazing; not surprising, considering Nicotero directed. That entire scene in the Big Spot was really well done. I think we all knew that Zach was a goner, so no big shock there.

It was great to see more of Michonne's personality come through. I loved her interactions with Carl, Rick and Daryl.

I really like Sasha a lot, too.

Wasn't a fan of Rick's plot this episode.

I'm not sure what I think about the whole Patrick situation. I'm still leaning towards something like cholera, but that walker with the bleeding eyes is throwing me off. Regardless, it has me worried that he coughed all over the water supply for the shower, AND that Carol put him in charge of preparing the food at the beginning of the episode.

[JesusMonroe]

Grade: C+
Rating System Explained

Spoiler

I rate a show AGAINST ITSELF. If I don’t, then it would be unfair to compare an episode of something like Under the Dome to Mad Men

The highest grade I give is an A and the lowest I give is an F (no F+ grade)

A goes to what I think a show can pull off when it’s firing on all cylinders (1 episode of TWD has gotten an A)

F goes to truly remarkable, awful television (No episodes have gotten an F yet)

D- goes to as dull and uninspired an episode of a show can get (Two have gotten this)

C IS AVERAGE. I feel the need to say this in case I get hate for giving something a C this season. It means not good, not bad.

A+ breaks the rule of rating a show against itself. A+ goes to the best episodes of television ever. I do not hand out this grade lightly. Only 4 or 5 episodes of TV ever have gotten this grade. Some of my favorite shows have never gotten an A+. Walking Dead hasn’t gotten this

I will make no reference to the comic in this post so you can read without fear of being spoiled

I watch a lot of TV and my favorite aspects of it that I think all shows should have without an exception are characters that you fall in love with. Watching TV should be like eating a warm bowl of soup. You sit down at a certain time every night, watch your favorite show, and leave satisfied because you spent another hour with them. You got to see the characters you love again and go to bed happy.

How I personally feel about the characters on TWD is irrelevant. Let’s assume I loved every single character during Season 3. Now, it’s Season 4. There’s been a long time jump and almost every single character is different.

They did the same thing from Season 2 to 3 and frankly, it’s ridiculous. I know I’ve complained about time jumps before and it might be getting old but how can this be a character driven drama that’s “not about the zombies and gore, but about the characters” when every single character changes from season to season and they’re not even recognizable by who they were

Rick is now a farmer and refuses to have a gun. I’d be fine with this if we could see it happen. This feels like this is here just to have Rick go through a character arc during the season. It doesn’t feel like an organic and natural development. It feels ham-fisted. Like, last season, he abandoned a hitchhiker on the side of the road, and now he’s inviting a stranger into his camp? Other characters were changed just to be more likable, like Michonne. I didn’t like her character much at first so it’s a welcome change, but it feels like there’s too much string pulling by the writers. They don’t care about characters being true to whom they were and possibly developing them into more likable characters if it’s needed. They just want to give characters like Sasha and D’Angelo a lot of lines before they’re inevitably killed so we feel something

Cutty now has qualms about killing walkers which is another dumb character development that doesn’t feel natural. These characters don’t have any depth to them. It goes as far as nice guy, wise old man, leader, fan of Daryl, etc. The only ones who have any measurement of depth are Rick, Carol, and Carl

The following is a post I wrote in July regarding the time jump

1. We won't get to see Daryl's initial emotional fallout from Merle's death
2. We won't get to see Michonne's initial emotional fallout from Andrea's death
3. We won't get to see how each member of the group (specifically Carl) develops with the new community
4. We won't get to see Rick's friendship with Tyreese form. Mark my words, we'll be hearing a lot of "Remember when we..." stories that we never got to see. I guarantee a lot of characters will be buddy-buddy expecting us to not question it in typical Star Wars: Episode 2 fashion
5. We won't get to see the group clear out the prison and make some of their own developments. I'm not sure about this one but I'm pretty sure we'll start the season with the prison cleared and a lot of problems solved
6. We won't get to see the initial problems with the community

I know I didn’t hit the nail on the head for everything but some things like number 4 are pretty accurate. Michonne and Daryl, Rick and Cutty, etc. They’re all buddy-buddy and they don’t give us any reason to believe it besides saying that they are

The main reason these time jumps bother me is because we skip over really compelling stuff. I swear you could’ve written two seasons worth of material for these two time jumps between seasons. I’m getting sick of it because they’re missing some pretty compelling stuff. I didn’t get to see the group on the road last season and this season, we skipped that awkward “Getting to know you” phase between the prison group and Woodbury, which could’ve made for some great drama

We also skipped the clearing of the prison, which sucks. I feel like if we saw the group clearing it, struggling, then overcoming, it could’ve led to extreme development and satisfaction for the characters, the audience, and the location. Last season, when Maggie and Glenn were rescued, it didn’t feel like they were heading back home. I feel even more disconnected from the prison this season because it doesn’t even look the same. At least last season, we got to see them fight their way inside and Rick killed a prisoner. I don’t feel like there was a great struggle to get all these defenses up. Plus, nobody in Rick’s group died while on the road last season. A lot of people have died in the prison and during the time jump. I don’t think the writers are doing a good job at showing the value of a sanctuary

And by the way, I’ll say this now. I don’t want to hear the argument that a time jump is necessary because of Chandler Riggs aging or Georgia’s seasonal conditions. If there was no time jump this season, it would be May or June, which wouldn’t be hard to film during. Also, people know actors age. Based on all the problems this show should be focusing on, continuity with a child’s age shouldn’t be one of them. It would seem strange at first and then people would just shrug and move on

Anyway, let’s get to the meat of the episode

There are more people at the prison. There names are annoying children who I hope will get eaten (and whose only purpose will be to develop Carl/Carol and act like a plot device for a dark scene in the future), D’Angelo, Daryl fanboy, Governor target practice, and zombie food

D’Angelo is a new member to Rick’s group and Lawrence Gillard Jr. is probably the best actor on this show so I hope he sticks around. However, every line involving him was some of the worst exposition I’ve ever heard. I know this a premiere and there was a time jump but this entire episode had some awful exposition and some bad dialogue. All of Rick’s lines toward Carl could’ve been replaced by, “I’M TRYING TO RECONNECT WITH THE SON I USED TO HAVE BEFORE HE LOST HIS HUMANITY IN THIS BLEAK AND HOPELESS WORLD!”

Most awful scene in this episode? The one with the children by the fence. Chandler Riggs is still a terrible actor, and I was more lenient on this before, but after watching Game of Thrones, this is unacceptable. All of the kids besides Greg from Everybody Hates Chris are bottom of the barrel actors (and he’s still mediocre…and dead)

I’m glad this show is finally interjecting some humor into it. I know it’s bleak but it can be funny once in a while. The scene outside the Big Spot had some chuckle worthy moments

Rick’s scenes with the woman were kind of…I don’t know? Weird would be the word. I guess they were trying to have a mysterious vibe to them but it didn’t work. I just kept wondering why Rick wasn’t suspicious of her for not being suspicious of him? Wouldn’t she think he’s a murderer or rapist? She reminded me of Jolene from TWD game. She was also a terrible actress

That grocery store scene was cool from a technical standpoint but it was absolutely ridiculous. Glenn struggling with one walker even though he dealt with one tied up last season? You fooled me, writers! I certainly thought you were going to kill a major character in the first episode, as well as the best new actor on your team! The only person I thought was safe was that chubby kid!

The bottom line is, this was simply a decent episode. It wasn’t remarkable by any means and if it showed up at any point later in the season, it would’ve been considered filler

Favorite characters: Carol, Sasha, and D’Angelo. Least favorite: Rick, Beth, and all those 4^th graders

Stray Observations (Things that don’t affect the grade/notes):

-The good grade for this episode is mostly because I’m willing to give the episode the benefit of the doubt since it’s the premiere and they had a lot of groundwork to cover. This grade could fluctuate in either direction depending on how the rest of the season goes. I’d be willing to bump it up to a B+ or even an A- if the rest of the season follows through on a lot of the stuff set up in this one. If the rest of the season sucks, this could go down to a C-

-This will be the only episode this season where I take points off because of the time jump

-The people who edit the “Previously on…” segments leave choice things in. When they mentioned that “we’re all infected”, it was pretty apparent that someone would die and turn

-I don’t remember the opening credits last season but it foreshadowed a lot of things. Dania Guirra was on a tombstone. Hmm…

-Something about Rick’s frustrated, “Don’t name them. They’re not pigs, they’re food” made me laugh my ass off

-Why are the zombies on the fence a problem? Have four groups of people that rotate every six hours. It’s dumb. There should be people on that fence all the time

-Carl’s going to be pretty disappointed with those comics. With the luck of this world, they probably all end on major cliffhangers

-How ironic that Greg Nicotero was doing an “art of directing” segment because he’s f***ing terrible. This was the only passable episode under his belt

[Gwalker]

I thought it was a satisfying episode. It wasn't THE most exciting episode, but it did keep me wanting more. And that is what the show needs.

I also thought that the bleeding eyes actually looked different from the other walkers. Did anyone else think they were a lot more yellow and fully tainted?

Loving that Michonne is still after the Governor. The whole Daryl fangirling wasn't that bad; I think the Woodbury people worshipping him is just like how they adored Merle and Phillip. But overall pretty good episode...definitely not complaining! Just glad my show is back

[Matt G]

I enjoyed this episode. Nice introduction to the season. I like the fact that the walkers are becoming a threat again. In the Big Spot was very suspenseful. Something I haven't felt dealing with the walkers in a long time. I also liked that some of the background characters are involved with the story a bit. That is refreshing to see that there not just in the background. We get some conversation from different characters is great. I got kinda tired of seeing the same groups talking to the same people. Did anyone else kinda feel like the Beth and Daryl talk was a possible foreshadowing of what might happen later on? Maybe I'm grabbing straws. All in all it was a solid episode an I'm excited that the show is back on!

[Matt]

Uggh, I hated all the Daryl praising. It's bad enough in real life, why did Gimple feel the need to inject it into the show itself? If he isn't dying slowly and painfully at some point in the season after this, there'll be hell to pay.

Good episode though. Solid pacing, and some great character moments (Carol, I'm looking at you! lol). One main complaint I had though was the Rick/Clara subplot. I found it pretty weak, honestly. It was a condensed, emotionally empty retread of Clear. Nothing would have been negatively effected had they omitted it altogether. In fact, it would've been better that way because we could've gotten more scenes focused on characters like Carol and Sasha who were quite lacking, or deepening the relationships between Karen and Tyreese, Beth and Zach (before he bit it), etc.

[DukeSilver]

Stray Observations (Things that don’t affect the grade/notes)

Are you writing for the AV Club now?

In all seriousness, I enjoyed your review. You make a lot of good points.

[Duffy Duck]

Patrick did shake daryls hand in the beginning so maybe Daryl gets that virus...just food for thought

[Creeper]

I rated it excellent. I thought it was a great mix of zombie scares/gore, creepy, character development and showing where the group is at now and how things have changed.

A few things:
- VERY interested in this virus threat. My guess would be the water as well, not sure how else it would spread to both humans and animals.
- Before I watched the show I thought the Rick-being-a-farmer was kind of dumb, and that I didn't really get why the show would have him not want to pick up a gun. I still kind of feel that way. But I also think that the show was making Rick realize that people are still going to die, things(like the pig) are still going to die, even when you try to take care of them, and even when you lay down your weapons. He can't stop things from dying, just by taking a back-seat to decisions. Anyway, I'm sure he'll come back to himself soon.
- That woman was seriously creepy, but I guessed as soon as she started leading Rick back to her "husband" that she was going to try to kill him at some point.
- Hmm..I seriously hope that "moment" between Daryl and Beth was just platonic! Daryl was certainly surprised. No romance, there, please!
- Carol teaching the kids: obviously doesn't want any more children to be helpless victims like Sophia.
- I'm liking Michonne so far...I like seeing her opening up, she is much more fun.
- I wonder how they go about removing dead walker bodies now that there are so many around the prison?

[Matt G]

Maybe Daryl gave him the virus with his finger licking!? Didn't think of that did ya? Kinda odd that he gets sick after that? Hmm Daryl I'm on to you.

[Officer_Friendly]

I get that Rick has a new change of heart on outsiders, but the fact that he followed Clara alone really disappointed me. She was leading him pretty far from the prison, and he was alone. I thought that after all he's been through, he would have known better than to have followed her to a possible trap.