As for this week's episode, my take:

Noah escapes and runs into Darryl and Carol. D/C interrogate Noah to figure out what's going on in the hospital, and ask if Beth is in there. They devise a plan where Carol, knowing that she won't get hurt/killed in the hospital, goes in to get an inside view, and make sure Beth is OK. Darryl takes Noah back with him to get reinforcements and let Noah heal up a bit.

ernest_t_bass;1670582 wrote:Aren't they following the comics as closely as possible?

never read the comics and could care less. I could probably follow the comics timeline because I don't have to remember what happened 4 years ago (its been 4 years since the show debuted)

Did anyone else interpret the hospital as essentially a brothel? Officer Dawn Lerner is the 'pimp' (i.e., " give you [Beth] food, clothes, protection"), and the patients Beth, Joan, etc. (and Carol at the end, as she's being carted in) were the 'entertainment' (pleasure) for the Officers (Gorman, O'Donnel, & Shepherd).

Officer Dawn stated, "In here, you're part of a system. The wards keep my officers happy."

• The "system" is 'sex trafficking',
• the "wards" are the 'patients/prisoners', and
• the "keeping my officers happy" are 'sexual acts/favors for the officers'.

Furthermore, Officer Dawn goes on to state, "There have been compromises, but it's working."

• The "compromises" would be the sacrificing of morality and
• the "working" would be 'keeping everyone safe from the Walkers'.

Dawn even goes on to say to Beth "That's [what] makes you worth something" (i.e., the only reason you're here, Beth, is because you're a blonde girl who can sexually please my boys, essentially).

Curious to know if anyone else interpreted it this way...

Scarlet_Buckeye;1671412 wrote:Did anyone else interpret the hospital as essentially a brothel? Officer Dawn Lerner is the 'pimp' (i.e., " give you [Beth] food, clothes, protection"), and the patients Beth, Joan, etc. (and Carol at the end, as she's being carted in) were the 'entertainment' (pleasure) for the Officers (Gorman, O'Donnel, & Shepherd).

Officer Dawn stated, "In here, you're part of a system. The wards keep my officers happy."

• The "system" is 'sex trafficking',
• the "wards" are the 'patients/prisoners', and
• the "keeping my officers happy" are 'sexual acts/favors for the officers'.

Furthermore, Officer Dawn goes on to state, "There have been compromises, but it's working."

• The "compromises" would be the sacrificing of morality and
• the "working" would be 'keeping everyone safe from the Walkers'.

Dawn even goes on to say to Beth "That's [what] makes you worth something" (i.e., the only reason you're here, Beth, is because you're a blonde girl who can sexually please my boys, essentially).

Curious to know if anyone else interpreted it this way...

Yeah. I don't think it was that ambiguous. I thought the implications were pretty heavy.

So the Everybody hates Chris dude was there for Dawns pleasure?

Sonofanump;1671418 wrote:So the Everybody hates Chris dude was there for Dawns pleasure?

I guess Dawn likes milk-chocolate.

Sonofanump;1671418 wrote:So the Everybody hates Chris dude was there for Dawns pleasure?

Why was Chris so unhappy then? Unless he has to service male guards, one could do A LOT WORSE than Dawn in the post-zombie apocalypse. Just ask Darrell.

Scarlet_Buckeye;1671412 wrote:Did anyone else interpret the hospital as essentially a brothel? Officer Dawn Lerner is the 'pimp' (i.e., " give you [Beth] food, clothes, protection"), and the patients Beth, Joan, etc. (and Carol at the end, as she's being carted in) were the 'entertainment' (pleasure) for the Officers (Gorman, O'Donnel, & Shepherd).

Officer Dawn stated, "In here, you're part of a system. The wards keep my officers happy."

• The "system" is 'sex trafficking',
• the "wards" are the 'patients/prisoners', and
• the "keeping my officers happy" are 'sexual acts/favors for the officers'.

Furthermore, Officer Dawn goes on to state, "There have been compromises, but it's working."

• The "compromises" would be the sacrificing of morality and
• the "working" would be 'keeping everyone safe from the Walkers'.

Dawn even goes on to say to Beth "That's [what] makes you worth something" (i.e., the only reason you're here, Beth, is because you're a blonde girl who can sexually please my boys, essentially).

Curious to know if anyone else interpreted it this way...

you are looking way too much into it. its as simple as everyone there must work for their protection. but you just have one bad apple who likes to rape and whatnot.

gut;1671442 wrote:Why was Chris so unhappy then? Unless he has to service male guards, one could do A LOT WORSE than Dawn in the post-zombie apocalypse. Just ask Darrell.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew I recognized Dawn from somewhere. Looked it up on IMDB (god I love that site), and discovered that Dawn was on one of my all-time favorite shows that unfortunately nobody watch - FlashForward (Agent Janis Hawk).

Glory Days;1671652 wrote:you are looking way too much into it. its as simple as everyone there must work for their protection. but you just have one bad apple who likes to rape and whatnot.

See... this is why I came here and posted that. Because I think the real reality was lost on many of the viewers. And if you think about it, it's actually quite intriguing when you finally come to the realization that it was more-or-less a brothel & a pimp.

She was also in the HBO series Hello, Ladies. That's where I recognized her from.

Glory Days;1671652 wrote:you are looking way too much into it. its as simple as everyone there must work for their protection. but you just have one bad apple who likes to rape and whatnot.

I think you're both partially correct. Different rules for the "guards" (if they were even real cops). Dawn probably knew about it and looked the other way or didn't care, because the male guard has more value to the group than that skank. That's why the doctor killed that other guy, because another doctor would make him less important and reduce him to 2nd-tier status.

Looks to me like just a different survival model, a sort of indentured servitude. Some add to the group like Rick, others "recruit" like the governor, and this group appears to force people to join by playing the "we saved your life" card. They aren't self-sustaining and so have to go outside for supplies, and presumably they occasionally lose people that need to be replaced.

Scarlet_Buckeye;1671942 wrote:I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew I recognized Dawn from somewhere. Looked it up on IMDB (god I love that site), and discovered that Dawn was on one of my all-time favorite shows that unfortunately nobody watch - FlashForward (Agent Janis Hawk).

she was also into chicks on that show!

Well I always figured Eugene wasn't a scientist.

Ytowngirlinfla;1672886 wrote:Well I always figured Eugene wasn't a scientist.

I cheated after season finale and looked-up his character. Shocked that they revealed it this early. Should have let him die when his face hit the pavement stone knocked out.

Again, don't know if it's writing or not, but that character just isn't remotely believable (the character, not the story). And Sgt. Slaughter's character kind of sucks too, and I KNOW he's a good actor after watching him on Southland. Both characters are comic-book cartoon-ish and that just doesn't work on tv.

But I'm generally liking the pace of this season. Very well-done, overall, so far.

gut;1672908 wrote: But I'm generally liking the pace of this season. Very well-done, overall, so far.

the pace is on par for the last few agonizingly slow seasons. you've got the crew from tonight, who went 25 miles in two days...while having vehicles. you have the girl's storyline from LAST SEASON! and there is still Rick's group, which if we are lucky, might find out what they are up to next week. they really need get back to a minimum of 2 story lines.

The show is at an all-time low as far as entertainment value. The last 2 episode's I've nearly fallen asleep watching...I was actually more interested in my Bears getting the shit kicked out of them.

So disappointing after how they promised so much and built this season up. I'm sure the ratings are reflecting the sub-par story writing.

SnotBubbles;1672948 wrote:The show is at an all-time low as far as entertainment value. The last 2 episode's I've nearly fallen asleep watching...I was actually more interested in my Bears getting the shit kicked out of them.

So disappointing after how they promised so much and built this season up. I'm sure the ratings are reflecting the sub-par story writing.

its almost like unless its the last episode of the half season or season, its not even worth watching anymore.

Glory Days;1673201 wrote:its almost like unless its the last episode of the half season or season, its not even worth watching anymore.

I think the episodes up to last weeks episode were pretty good, paced well and enough action/story. I was very hopefully it would be a season full of good episodes unlike last season that were like fillers until the mid season finale. I guess I got my hopes up too soon.

Ytowngirlinfla;1672886 wrote:Well I always figured Eugene wasn't a scientist.

IMO, worst kept secret of the show.

Sonofanump;1673293 wrote:IMO, worst kept secret of the show.

Exactly. He wasn't believable. Some redneck with a mullet knows how to cure the world.

Ytowngirlinfla;1673340 wrote:Exactly. He wasn't believable. Some redneck with a mullet knows how to cure the world.

I was thinking he was more along the lines of Sheldon Cooper. He had a form of autism, or something like that, Aspergers, etc.

Ytowngirlinfla;1673211 wrote:I think the episodes up to last weeks episode were pretty good, paced well and enough action/story. I was very hopefully it would be a season full of good episodes unlike last season that were like fillers until the mid season finale. I guess I got my hopes up too soon.

The show has REALLY struggled with linear plots - the acting and writing generally isn't good enough to be compelling. Not that separating plots into separate episodes works all that well, but it's a less is more kind of thing.

I think the hospital crew is interesting. Beth is an uninteresting, kind of irritating character (like the one sniper started out as). Sgt Slaughter and the "scientist" are such cartoonish characters they're just painful to watch. That's been the real shortcoming of the last two episodes.

Can't believe how quick they revealed the scientist was a fraud. He sabotages the bus, then does the reveal all in one episode. That's what I mean by liking the pace - maybe just a low bar because of they're past tendency to draw out trivial BS for weeks.

SnotBubbles;1672948 wrote:The show is at an all-time low as far as entertainment value. The last 2 episode's I've nearly fallen asleep watching...I was actually more interested in my Bears getting the shit kicked out of them.

So disappointing after how they promised so much and built this season up. I'm sure the ratings are reflecting the sub-par story writing.

Agreed. Even most of the die hard fans I know have agreed it's been a let down from the first few episodes.

ernest_t_bass;1673345 wrote:I was thinking he was more along the lines of Sheldon Cooper. He had a form of autism, or something like that, Aspergers, etc.

I was thinking he was a gamer who played call of duty 20 hours a day.