In 2010 NBC cancelled the once popular serial TV show Heroes, which, for all those who can't remember or didn't watch, followed the adventures and misadventures of a group of individuals who wake up to find that they have each have superpowers. The programme was part television drama, part action comic, and kept it's viewers hooked with the kind of episodic cliffhangers typical of your standard Spanish soap opera. One of the shows primary characters was the emotionally sensitive and lovable Peter Petrelli, presumed dead at the end of Season 1. But during the final moments of the long awaited Season 2 premiere, we saw him chained up, shirtless and with a brand new haircut, chained up by his wrists and shipment container in Ireland. Which was kind of mind-blowing to my 14 year-old self, seeing as the show was primarily set in New York. Then the episode ended, and by the time the next episode rolled around I was on the edge of my proverbial seat to find out, but the following episodes dragged on like crazy, revealing effectively nothing.
Flashforward six years and here we are with two Governer-centric episodes of The Walking Dead that have dragged us away from the main storyline in the prison. It's obvious why this has infuriated a lot of people; when we saw the Governer overlooking the prison in Episode 5 I wanted to jump ahead and find out what was going to happen straight away - what would he do? Was someone going to die? Probably. But here's why these two episodes had to happen, and it manifests in a single word:
Conflict.
Since the season premiere we've seen the increasing threat of zombies making their way into the prison, and Rick and Carl did a mighty fine job of staving off any potential threat by mowing them down video-game style. We've also had sickness and an absence of food. But what we now need is a new threat to provide excitement, and the writers have duly supplied that. The story needs conflict. Something has to be posing a threat to the characters, otherwise it turns into just another run of the mill soap opera, like the ones I previously mentioned, where we as the audience are fed weekly scenes of various characters conversing about deep philosophical issues, or something else faux-profound. Something has to threaten their safety and their livelihoods, and that thing has just stepped in.
Look, I'm not saying that the last two episodes have been great. Heck, Live Bait was one of the dullest hours of my life, only saved by the adverts in between that allowed me some time to get another cup of coffee to keep me awake through the thing. Dead Weight was something of a step up, seeing as it pretty confidently leads onto more prison-centric antics.
On a further note, these episodes were necessary in providing a basis for the Governer's return as the epitome of conflict. What I mean is, if he had returned as he did at the end of Episode 5, emerging from the forest and ready to serve as the primary villain, it would've been so terribly contrived and desparate that I probably would've lost even more faith in the show. There had to be some basis, some further backstory concerning 'Brian' and what he's been up to, rather than just introducing him as an excuse for something to happen.
Indeed, while these last two episodes haven't exactly been some of the best, or the most entertaining or the most well-made, they were unquestionably necessary in the longer run of things. There just better be a big pay-off of entertainment factor in the midseason finale.
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