Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Episode 65 - Peach Schnapps

We continue our conversation about AMC's The Walking Dead, focusing on Season 4, episode 12, titled "Still".  It was one of those episodes where not too much happened, so we ended up with a shorter show than usual. We do look at some of the main themes of the episode and try to figure out some of the nagging questions it raises. Listen in and see if you think we were on the right track with our theories. Let us know what you thought by sending email to mail@z-realm.com or by posting a message in our Facebook page.

1 comment:

  1. I thought this was a good episode.

    I didn't have a problem believing Beth's actions were in character. "Get drunk" is a pretty silly surrogate-purpose-in-life, but it makes sense that the phrase "I need a drink" might be something that would pop into her mind as she thinks about her recovering-alcoholic father (the writers have her mention Hershel's trips to the drunk tank later in this episode, I think, to shed some light on that motivation, not just to play into the family-background and alcohol themes). Plus she reiterates her "do [X] if it makes you feel better" catchphrase to Daryl in this episode, so maybe she's thinking that herself. Can't fall apart, need to get booze! Consistent with that, as soon as she gets her hands on the titular peach schnapps, she starts to suffer a complete emotional breakdown. Which Daryl resolves by smashing the schnapps and embarking on Quest for Booze 2: The Quest for _Real_ Booze.

    Then they both get wasted and I thought that made for a pretty interesting scene. We get into some of Daryl's character background that the viewers have been kept in the dark about up to that point. And Beth is way more interesting than the suicidal survivor turned bodhisattva of the zombie apocalypse from past episodes (that facade crumbles a little as things are breaking down at the prison, but now we get to see some of the complexity underneath).

    The IMDB reviews are interesting in just how polarizing the episode is. Viewers who like character development and people at the end of their rope liked it. People who just want to move on with the big plot and want stories about how everyone who survived the apocalypse is a paragon of smarts and sanity who never does anything dangerous for dumb reasons hated it. And of course there are the complaints about the relative lack of zombies. (Also people who complain that the "never have I ever" scene was also in Lost, who fail to realize that scene is older than dirt.)

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