If so, it fills me w dread, because it means Gimple's going to portray Daryl as morally conflicted. We go into that in detail downthread, but it's a plot point so horrifyingly awful that it actually makes me angry.

I think Carol's probably clinically insane at this point, but I agree completely she's the most interesting character remaining. That M. McBride is a terrific actor, too, has something to do with it. Sasha could also be intriguing, but Gimple seems to have decided to simplify her story to the point where she's a very…

Karene made great points, plus gets a bonus for 'Imagine if Rick has chosen to hang out with the rednecks while hiding
under the bed in the house, thinking, "Well, I've heard these guys talk
for about half an hour, that's enough to Stockholm syndrome-me into a
state of joining up with them. Carl who?" '

Yep. That's a good point, that the business with the blanket harkens back to Beth's appreciation for the tending of the dead in the funeral home, and that Daryl not covering the swinish guy meant putting his personal feelings ahead of principle. That was definitely credible, in that I can easily see him behaving that…

Wow—you know, I hadn't thought about that before, but now that you mention it, it just jumps out—if there's no way to induce any sort of moral conflict in Daryl in a few days (or a few months, either; apparently his involvement with the group at the prison was the first time Daryl's ever fit in and been cared about),…

I think most of us figure the cult is also going to be cannibalistic, but if they wait for the last 10 minutes to get some juicy conflict going I'll be disappointed. Oh, and while I think you're right, and the writers are going to try to portray Daryl as conflicted, that will be preposterous. Daryl was a star in…

The point is regardless of genre, a show should be able to hold itself up based on smart characterization and decent pacing.

Great idea. They should have found a way to keep Bernthal the actor around. Putting him entirely on the other side of things, where his methods lead to Woodbury and he finds himself in conflict with Rick's group in contrast in the crummy prison could have been fascinating. As unsettled as departing the group in Season…

Yes indeed. A great series.

That's an even better point than mine that you made—what if mullethead dies???

We're in the minority wrt the search for Sophia, but it wasn't as if what we got was long stretches of people aimlessly traipsing in the woods, squinting, and calling her name. We got plenty of Daryl, where he's out with Andrea before we knew what a dork she was, where they find the suicide still kicking, and Andrea…

Uh-huh.

You're right. As told, iirc, it makes a little more sense in the comics, but here it's absurd; it's completely unbelievable. Some guy with a mullet and claiming to be a scientist with the key to the epidemic? If he wants anyone's help the 'it's classified' bullshite isn't going to get anyone to risk their life on his…

You didn't even mount an argument. You merely gainsaid my point with a tangential ramble. What sort of reply, then, did you expect?

But I do like that they're showing him as having an internal conflict between morals.

Uh huh. And he was someone who risked his life to save his best friend. And who was sadly, desperately, crazily in love with his best friend's wife. And who was willing to give his life to save his best friend's son. And who was willing to give up his life so Otis could escape. And who until he found out his best…

Uh-huh.

I can get it w/o commercials on a two-three hour delay. Definitely worth the wait, and I've only caved once this season. Nothing takes you at of the atmospheric ZA that what successes the show attains depends so heavily on than cutting to a screaming pizza or acne commercial. It also helps explain, I think, why I…

"In retrospect, that may have been a bit creepy,…"

"that then is 30 lesbians per society"