The Walking Dead Season 2 Special Edition Blu-ray Review

[mzupeman]

Nah. Most criticism I have heard is all the same... they spend half a season looking for Sophia... they spent too much time on the farm. These are the same people Im sure who complained about not enough 'whackings' on The Sopranos, when that show was really more of a character study.

[insomniac013]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The entire first half of Season 2 was them searching for Sophia lol

It was a bit boring until the mid-season finale and then the rest of the season was awesome!

The Walking Dead - Season 2- Recap - YouTube

Originally Posted by mzupeman

Nah. Most criticism I have heard is all the same... they spend half a season looking for Sophia... they spent too much time on the farm. These are the same people Im sure who complained about not enough 'whackings' on The Sopranos, when that show was really more of a character study.

All that is find and good, but when you have main characters this dull and unlikable, you really need more of "The Spectacle of the Zombie Apocalypse" rather than just seeing them sitting around on a farm, episode after episode, talking philosophical nonsense.

[mzupeman]

Originally Posted by insomniac013

The Walking Dead - Season 2- Recap - YouTube





All that is find and good, but when you have main characters this dull and unlikable, you really need more of "The Spectacle of the Zombie Apocalypse" rather than just seeing them sitting around on a farm, episode after episode, talking philosophical nonsense.

But there IS a bit of 'philosophical nonsense' that would come up regularly in a world full of zombies, which is what people are failing to realize. Are these characters unlikeable? Sure, but not unrealistically so. In a world where these people are struggling to hang on to their humanity, we end up seeing more of their ugly sides because they are continually forced to make tough decisions that take their toll on each and every survivor. If this show was nothing but runnin' and gunnin', it would have been old by now.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by insomniac013

The Walking Dead - Season 2- Recap - YouTube





All that is find and good, but when you have main characters this dull and unlikable, you really need more of "The Spectacle of the Zombie Apocalypse" rather than just seeing them sitting around on a farm, episode after episode, talking philosophical nonsense.

You can always go play a video game, if you don't like things such as: Character development!(from a theatrical standpoint)

[itMFtis]

Surprised this scored higher than season 1. I didn't dislike season 2, but I definitely thought it was inferior to season 1.

[JaseT]

I loved both seasons 1 & 2, but for me:

Season 2 > Season 1

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by rickah88

You can always go play a video game, if you don't like things such as: Character development!(from a theatrical standpoint)

Character development in walking dead? LoL.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Snicket

Character development in walking dead? LoL.

How is that funny? A large part of the show is the characters - who they are and how they will survive both against the walkers and with their own problems.

[insomniac013]

Originally Posted by rickah88

You can always go play a video game, if you don't like things such as: Character development!(from a theatrical standpoint)

Lol what character development? The only character i find vaguely entertaining is T-Dawg and he remains silent for most of the episodes. We know nothing about him

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by Snicket

Character development in walking dead? LoL.

Guess you missed the part where the whole second season was character development, right?

[BLeClair12]

Would like to have the head, but to me, it's not worth the $60+. I do want the digipack, though, to match my season 1. Hopefully it will be released later on.

[the1tyrant]

Originally Posted by insomniac013

Lol what character development? The only character i find vaguely entertaining is T-Dawg and he remains silent for most of the episodes. We know nothing about him

Oh i don't know, Rick, Daryll and Andrea seem to spring to mind. They have all changed significantly from the characters that we were initially introduced to.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Snicket

Character development in walking dead? LoL.

Yep, sorry you missed it. Good thing you can rewatch the upcoming BD.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by insomniac013

Lol what character development? The only character i find vaguely entertaining is T-Dawg and he remains silent for most of the episodes. We know nothing about him

See above.

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by iScottie

How is that funny? A large part of the show is the characters - who they are and how they will survive both against the walkers and with their own problems.

Originally Posted by RJ Smoove

Guess you missed the part where the whole second season was character development, right?

Originally Posted by rickah88

Yep, sorry you missed it. Good thing you can rewatch the upcoming BD.

I'll start off by saying I like the show, at least it makes an effort to be better than most other shows on TV.

But Season 2 had some serious problems. More often than not its story lines were stretched out beyond what was reasonable, and the parts in the middle just felt meandering and were the perfect example of filler. The season could reasonably be condensed into 3/4s of its episode run and it would have been
fantastic.

I don't mind when characters divulge into "philosophical" conversations, I encourage it. However there has to be some payoff for these conversations to mean anything I can think of one instance the entire season where there was a payoff and it was Shane's story, but it was also poorly executed.

[Show spoiler]So Shane going off the deep end was a major plot point for the whole season, everyone knew what needed to be done but nobody wanted to admit it. Until Rick's wife speaks up...So she convinces Rick that Shane needs to be put down immediately, for the safety of Rick, herself, and the other survivors. So Shane gets killed and in a head scratching dumb turn of events Rick's wife (Killing Shane was her idea btw) becomes unreasonably upset with him and all of a sudden Rick looses it and becomes a dictator. Say whaaaa???

Thats was the only major plot point involving some character development. Everything outside of that just felt like a chore. The mundane nature of Season 2 didn't come off to me as something the narrative called for, but more like the writers were not sure how to fill their episode order so plot points were stretched out ad nauseam and things generally felt held back.

The Walking Dead isn't a bad show for sure, its enjoyable enough, but not the first place I go to for character development, thats what Mad Men and Breaking Bad are for.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Snicket

I'll start off by saying I like the show, at least it makes an effort to be better than most other shows on TV.

But Season 2 had some serious problems. More often than not its story lines were stretched out beyond what was reasonable, and the parts in the middle just felt meandering and were the perfect example of filler. The season could reasonably be condensed into 3/4s of its episode run and it would have been
fantastic.

I don't mind when characters divulge into "philosophical" conversations, I encourage it. However there has to be some payoff for these conversations to mean anything I can think of one instance the entire season where there was a payoff and it was Shane's story, but it was also poorly executed.

[Show spoiler]So Shane going off the deep end was a major plot point for the whole season, everyone knew what needed to be done but nobody wanted to admit it. Until Rick's wife speaks up...So she convinces Rick that Shane needs to be put down immediately, for the safety of Rick, herself, and the other survivors. So Shane gets killed and in a head scratching dumb turn of events Rick's wife (Killing Shane was her idea btw) becomes unreasonably upset with him and all of a sudden Rick looses it and becomes a dictator. Say whaaaa???

Thats was the only major plot point involving some character development. Everything outside of that just felt like a chore. The mundane nature of Season 2 didn't come off to me as something the narrative called for, but more like the writers were not sure how to fill their episode order so plot points were stretched out ad nauseam and things generally felt held back.

The Walking Dead isn't a bad show for sure, its enjoyable enough, but not the first place I go to for character development, thats what Mad Men and Breaking Bad are for.

I saw that quick fix you made "The Walking Bad"...

Anyway, I'm not here to dissuade you as you are entitled to your opinions. Your points are well put.

[Show spoiler]Although you neglected to mention any of the new characters living on the farm. I think Hershel's character is one of the best on the show. He's obviously a man of Faith and principles, in a world that, literally, has none! Talk about having a rough day. Then to top it all off we find out he's a recovering alcoholic. Then Maggie's need to have a relationship with Glen, knowing that any minute could be her(their) last, in this apocolyptic world.

I could go on, but I guess we have different takes on how this season played out.
I was very happy with not a lot of "hack/slash/shoot 'em up" scenes. Instead a little peak into the minds of not only Rick's group, but the Greene family/friends living on the farm. The whole farm setting provided a temporary "sanctuary", if you will, where the two groups of characters could speak their minds. All to varying results!
Plus any reader of the comic knows that this whole "on the farm" season was just the calm before the storm that will be:

[Show spoiler]The prison, the governer, Michonne, and the ensuing bloodbath.

It will be very interesting to see how they deviate from the comic this season, and to what degree!

[prozacnation1978]

Anyone think this bluray will drop below 40 bucks at best buys? It's showing 49 bucks at the moment

[djgeneral]

Originally Posted by prozacnation1978

Anyone think this bluray will drop below 40 bucks at best buys? It's showing 49 bucks at the moment

Without a doubt.

It will be $29.99 or $34.99 the first week. The ad will be revealed in a few days

[sycro]

Originally Posted by prozacnation1978

Anyone think this bluray will drop below 40 bucks at best buys? It's showing 49 bucks at the moment

The special edition isn't....

[mzupeman]

Originally Posted by Snicket

[Show spoiler]So Shane going off the deep end was a major plot point for the whole season, everyone knew what needed to be done but nobody wanted to admit it. Until Rick's wife speaks up...So she convinces Rick that Shane needs to be put down immediately, for the safety of Rick, herself, and the other survivors. So Shane gets killed and in a head scratching dumb turn of events Rick's wife (Killing Shane was her idea btw) becomes unreasonably upset with him and all of a sudden Rick looses it and becomes a dictator. Say whaaaa???

Eh, it seems you missed the whole point of Laurie getting upset there.

[Show spoiler]Laurie was feeling responsible for Shane going in the deep end. We know this because out of the blue when everyone was against him, just when it seemed Shane got the message about Laurie and him being over, she makes it a point to run and apologize to him. This essentially proves to Shane that she still must care about him, and that if Rick was gone - say, in an accident or something - then they would be together.

Of course, Laurie already told Rick that Shane needed to go because he was dangerous. So, Rick was 'set in motion' by Laurie to kill Shane.

Well, Rick and Shane went out in the woods and only Rick came back. Rick killed him. So, why did Laurie act so disgusted? Part of it was that after telling Rick to go ahead and get rid of Shane, she ended up feeling all sorts of bad and got all mushy on Shane again. Yet here she was, faced with the news that Shane was killed, and it was her fault. She KNOWS she's responsible for Shane and Rick going head to head, and part of her disgust is with herself. That's not all of it, of course. She's actually genuinely upset that Rick had to kill Shane, because she did sort of retract how she felt... but it was too late. Not like she can tell Rick, though.

As transparent as this show can be at times, it also doesn't go out of its way to spoon feed everything to you... not all the time. Maybe we'll get more info on this in the third season, but the reason listed in the spoiler kind of shows that there's more going on than some kind of goof-up by the writers, which is what you were hastily implying.