TV Talk: THE WALKING DEAD Episode 1.4 – Vatos (Meredith’s Response)

And then, my friends, there’s Glenn. Whether or not it makes sense that the vatos kidnapped him (I tend to believe they’re simply using him as a hostage to escape the alley and he would have been returned shortly), it certainly works to get me invested. Talk about high stakes! Quick-thinking, quick-moving, pizza-delivering, hat-retrieving, tactical genius Glenn must not be hurt! He’ll turn out to be the Willow of the series—the writers will simply put him in danger any time they want the audience to be scared. And it will totally work. Because I love him.

However, my assuming some logic behind Glenn’s kidnapping is rapidly becoming a trend with The Walking Dead. This show requires an alarming amount of fanwanking in order to make any damned sense, and it’s starting to wear thin. Like, why the hell is Jim psychic? Is anyone else going to be psychic now? Why doesn’t anyone take Devin’s advice and check out Atlanta’s suburbs for supplies? Why did Glenn drive an alarm-blaring car back to camp two weeks ago, and no one could be bothered to steal a car after the van went missing this week? These idiots WALKED back?! Sure, we can come up with feasible answers for all of these questions, but why is that our job as the audience? I’m not getting paid for this shit. Come up with your own damn explanations, writers, and then incorporate them into the dialogue or action in a way that’s not just a big pile of exposition.  You know, the way real writers do. Although I do appreciate that all of the questions we had about Merle’s hand-sawing antics last week are tidily clarified this week. More of that, please.

Anyway, there’s plenty of great stuff in Vatos, so I’ll cease my bitching. The entire fish fry scene is tinged with just the right touch of nostalgia and emotional resonance. Having just come from a weekend of bullshitting with friends over tasty food while sitting around a campfire, I can confirm that the tone of that scene is simply perfect. And then boom! The camp invasion is so shocking and brutal and BAD TO THE ASS that I may or may not have pumped my fist in the air a few times while watching it.

So come on, guys. Two episodes left. Make ‘em count.

Henri, what do you think? Did you prefer this week’s episode or last? If you had to choose a number two, would it be Andrea or Daryl? Do you assume that Merle drove the walkers to camp in the van as revenge? Are you tired of fanwanking the bullshit decisions these characters make day in and out?

You can read more from Meredith at  www.dannyisnthere.com .