This week, Alicia brought back Rick questions and “You’re Still Here” while channeling her inner Bob Ross. Also, more on Wes, which was nice. My name is Kent, and for Fear The Walking Dead, I only ask 5 questions and some final thoughts to make this blog a little more compact your reading pleasure. Any comments in BOLD are written by me. I hope you enjoy and if you or someone you know may want to do this blog, contact me, leave a comment, whatever. The contact info is at the bottom of this blog.
1. Was it obvious to you early on that Wes was the one who was painting the trees? Do you like Wes or do you think you need more time?
Bob: It was not obvious to me. I think WES needs more time to be who he is and not put on this other front. His paintings, no matter how you stroke it, would not really have allowed him to kill the other guy… (“Stroke it” is a nice paint reference. Of course, you know what was going through my mind when I read that. Yup, Billy Squier! It’s an interesting song when you understand the message behind the song is about getting your ego stroked. I didn’t know the name of the song was “The Stroke”. Huh!)
Raylene: I didn’t realize it was him thought maybe it was someone he knew. I think Wes will be a good addition to the group. (Wes reminds me a bit of Heath, and not for physical reasons. He seems to have a very similar demeanor, not a violent dude, and I think he would be a good scavenger. I wish we had gotten more time with Heath, but think back to him and Glenn when they raided one of the outposts.)
Kent: The way that Wes responded when Alicia brought up the trees was a dead giveaway, I thought. Then I worried that I was going to be wrong. Then I spent minutes wondering if I should backtrack my thoughts, but I stayed the course. O’Doyle Rules!
2. What is Alicia’s purpose or role in the group at the moment? If you can compare her to a character from the past in either show, go for it.
Bob: Little bit of Rickeritissaurus Rex going on here. Losing your purpose, messing up your purpose regaining a purpose, a loose purpose, and now we don’t know where we are going…. Her purpose is to hold on to the 20 year old dudes that watch the show. (She was surprisingly adequate in a film called Friend Request when she was younger. More importantly, I just tried pronouncing Rickeritissaurus Rex 7 times. It is not the easiest thing to say. It’s smooth sailing until I get to that Rex part.)
Raylene: I thought intentionally she’d be a Carol not wanting to kill but at least when push came to shove Carol would defend herself. I felt Alicia was just fairly useless until she got her killing mojo back. (I feel that they wanted to try to capture some of the Carol lightning, but it wasn’t the same because Alicia simply isn’t as relatable as Carol is, or sympathetic. This still goes down as one of my favorite TWD moments.)
Kent: I don’t think she can be a moral compass given this show’s dearth of moral compasses. I think that they would have to kill Luciana, June, and Morgan for Alicia to be considered for that. So I am stealing from a Bob classic and give Alicia the “Will She or Won’t She” label. That’s pretty much no man’s land for character development but you still get screen time.
3. Does Morgan need a new stick? Also, who is the best leader of the group in Fear The Walking Dead’s short history?
Bob: Morgan. Needs. A. New. STICK! Travis would have been the best leader. He was practical and he had to ability to learn but he really seemed like he would be able to hold onto the sanctity of life. I remember one of his last scenes where he was a zombie killing machine in the pit. (I would have really preferred that Madison died instead of Travis. He is still one of my all-time favorite characters. I only have one Fear action figure and it’s of Travis. Travis’ practicality was one of the endearing things about him. He seemed more relatable than Madison. The pit….so good.)
Raylene: Most definitely he needs a new one he’s awkward with the killing. Missing targets and falling down he’ll get himself bit that way. I like Morgan as a leader. I also think Daniel wouldn’t be bad now. (I feel like if Morgan does go down at any point, Daniel may actually take over instead of Alicia or Strand. Strand would be my second choice and Dwight would actually be my third choice. He learned from the GOAT.)
Kent: Yes, I think Morgan needs a new stick because this leaves him vulnerable using his particular fighting style. The length has to be exact or else it throws off the balance, the desired reach, and what you think you should be hitting. As far as leader goes, I would say it comes down to who is qualified. Some may say just Madison and Morgan qualify. I would add Alicia and Travis to that mix. Strand and Daniel are close as arguably co-leaders at times. But if I stick with the four, I am choosing Morgan because Madison was an idiot too often, and Travis and Alicia as leader typically got the group in more harm than was necessary.
4. Why doesn’t Logan’s crew simply eliminate everybody and then get the journals? They have a ton of guns and ammo and seem to not waste it as much as our main group.
Bob: They don’t know where the journal is and Logan is doing this under fear from his group. He isn’t their leader, more of a spokesperson. (He’s got a little bit of Gregory in him, and not the good parts.)
Raylene: I’m not sure if they’d find the journals that way. I think they were hidden by only one person and it’s not anyone obvious. (Ohhhhh, theories, I like theories. If anybody did, it was Charlie or Daniel. Charlie is unexpected and Daniel is a man of will that would never give up information under torture.)
Kent: I don’t think Logan is very smart. His best asset is his determination. He’s not strong, very motivated, and I thought that he was smart but I’m not feeling it. All they had to do was take Al by gunpoint and start torturing her with Morgan watching at gunpoint. Al may not have given up the info, but Morgan would have. How hard was that???
5. Which call back to previous events did you like the most: A) Another black dude with vision impairment issues (Strand and Gabriel), B) Alicia asking a Rick question “How many people have you killed?” or C) Logan’s miniscule crew trying to be like the Saviors and making a roadblock?
Bob: B. I was all nostalgic feeling and I was waiting for the other questions. (It was such a nice reference and made me miss that version of Rick.)
Raylene: I enjoyed the Rick questions. Logan’s blockade made me think of Abe total sadness now. (Poor Abe. Him, Daryl, and Sasha did take out the one blockade of the Saviors of Anarchy on their bikes. So there was that.)
Kent: All three of these are reminders that this show will always be the B show, the junior league. All three ideas happened before and were done better. Strand’s whole ordeal with the tear gas was GMA worthy and ridiculous. Alicia has lost her voice and so she shouldn’t be asking any Rick Grimes questions. If Logan’s group had met up with any of the Savior Satellite groups, even the wimpy ones that collected from the Kingdom with Jared, Logan’s crew would have gotten got. Still, I am going with A because Strand tried to make it his own.
Final Thoughts – There’s plenty to choose from so what was your Glenn Memorial Award nominee for the week? Is Alicia going to be the next Bob Ross?
Bob: It was Strand with the tear gas – and like 3 tears. (Hahaha, the tear gas scene, I feel like nobody consulted with people who understand how it works. Ridiculousness!)
Raylene: Strand and the tear gas was ridiculous he would have been totally helpless. (I feel like if Jake “the Snake” Roberts was blinded by Rick “The Model” Martel’s own cologne named “Arrogance” for 2-3 months, then Strand should be out of commission for 2 or more seasons. This feud culminated in a blindfold match at Wrestlemania 6, I think. The following year, Jake would be #2 on Taker’s streak.)
Kent: My GMA nominee this week for ridiculousness is the theme of season 5. “Hey, I just found ammo. I should use it up immediately instead of saving it for something important.” Why is the group of Logan’s crew finding them if Logan’s crew isn’t going to do anything to them? At that point, just let people know where you are. Nope, instead, go through how many bullets? How has Wes survived this long in the ZA? He has good aim, maybe 75% hit success rate, but that is just going to draw more attention. Why not go take out a few, then lure a few more and whittle them down slowly and then you keep your ammo? It’s like these guys have never played Resident Evil 4 before!!!! Alicia should have plenty of paint to use because I can’t imagine that was among the 250 most likely supplies to be raided. But unless she wants to grow the fro, hell no. Bob Ross forever!!! I just got a Bob Ross can koozie. It’s wonderful.
Finally, I came across this video that I wanted to post as a response to Bob and Raylene at various points in this blog. I would say that Rick, Carol, and Abe were the most featured 3, along with Daryl. If this video does get you excited or nostalgic, then I’m not entirely sure what will. #3 may be my personal favorite.