Yeah I agree. It worked in the comics (not a spoiler) because it would just be a few panels at a time, but you couldn't do that in scene after scene in a tv show.

Really enjoying this season so far. Really finding it's potential and I think it will only get better from here.

I don't think I've seen her in anything before and she might very well be a great actress, but she hasn't handled this role at all to this point on the show. It wouldn't surprise me to find out her background is in dramatic acting (isn't she British?) and has never had an action role in her life. This is no time to learn on the job.

She's from Iowa, though she spent some time in Africa.

Her only notable roles to date (before WALKING DEAD) were on TREME and in the movie THE VISITOR. It's just everytime I see her on screen I think about the rumors that TRUE BLOOD'S Rutina Wesley was being considered for the role and how much better a pick that probably would have been.

Because as evidenced by the True Blood threads, everyone loves Rutina Wesley.

I don't think she is a bad pick. Her acting ability is fine. I think the choice to make her sorta feral is a little odd (I'd like a little warmth maybe, otherwise it is hard to get attached to her), but she survived the zombie wasteland when most people didn't, so I'm thinking it is what the actor & writers decided she needs to be.

If her entire life depends on sleeping with one eye open, then she will be scowling and untrusting. The only way she'd be a bad actress is if that was her personality in real life, and the character is supposed to be warm & fuzzy; then she'd be sucking big time.

I don't get the sword fighting technique complaints either. If she was a ninja-commando like Snake-Eyes then sure, bitch away. But she isn't.

comic back story:

You're out of your goddamned mind.

I think she would have been perfect for the part.

So it is all Kirkman's fault.

I know it looks cool, but a katana is/does:

1. not a magical beheading tool.

2. requires lots of time/instruction/practice in proper form just to use properly or you are going to leave the blade stuck, embedded in bone.

3. better employed against the living since most death strikes are diagonal to the center line of the body.

With no instruction,shed be better off with a 3 foot length of #4 rebar. It just wouldn't look as cool.

Well, we already knew you were crazy...now we know that the rest of your username is accurate as well!

lighten up, Francis!

Decent ep. I am soooooo anxious to see what happens next after that finale.

since Merle took Glenn back to Woodbury, what will happen when Andrea sees him, and he sees her?

I'm much more interested in the Merle/Darryl reunion, and when

I see Merle getting excommunicated from Woodbury, sucking it up, and joining the gang as the shit goes down (second half of the season, I assume). I think he's being set up as a badass antihero who's going to save the day.

He wasn't in the comic. So who knows?

Ha! That'd be the day!

Besides, I can't see any reason why Merle would be excommunicated. He's the Mayor's right-hand man, who's missing a right hand! You can't get better set up than that.

There's no good in Merle.

Really? Can I ask what you've seen that indicates such a set up? As far as I can tell, he's only been set up as a heartless, conniving villain.

Because he lied about killing Micchone.

Doesn't that make it all the better?

The good guys and the bad guys join to get the really bad guys. Those moments in movies are usually great.

He and Daryl are brothers and I think that something great will happen there.

It's interesting that I'm not the only one thinking that will happen. I think ...

One thing is for sure, I'm pretty positive Merle will be very pissed that Daryl is taking orders from Rick. I believe his apparition in season 2 said as much.

I guess.

I would get a kick out of it if the show doesn't go that route and instead...

The Meryl/Daryl dynamic is an interesting one.

The sense I get from Daryl is that he's sort of a passive character who follows others and takes on their traits. So when he's around Meryl, he's a dick. Take Meryl out of the equation and surround him with people like Rick, Glenn, Dale, T-Dog, and Hershel, then he's a good guy.

I've seen this sort of dynamic played out a lot in real life.

When Meryl gets thrown back into the mix, it will test Daryl's loyalties.

Oh, Buttmunker. They did take steps to make it dramatic that Merle was lying. It's certainly going to come back to him. And I think the Governor is more guilty than Merle. Merle comes across as a guy taking orders.

I'll put it this way... If Merle turns out to be a regular bad guy, and doesn't somehow redeem himself (as a leader, turning to Rick's team, or in some self-sacrificial way), I'll be a little bummed out.

Either way, I wouldn't mind if Andrea gets killed for making stupid decisions.

And if Daryl dies, I'll that'll hit hard. He's the character I root for more than anyone else.