TS-19

Sadly, The Walking Dead has already finished its great season, and it did so with a bang!

The episode lets up look back into the CDC and into the headquarters. We find out not everything is how it seems, and that the group might actually be in danger. Without revealing too much, this was a great ending to the season. We also say goodbye to a character and I was really glad another two characters ended up not dying. I do not want to wait for next year, 6 episodes was too little! However, I will be waiting for the next season and to see what the show brings us! Long live the Walking Dead!

The survivors enter the CDC building and meet Dr Jenner.

This is an emotional 45 minutes that has strong character moments and performances.

The plot has a few contrivances that set up the dramatic tension. Without going into detail I think that the timing of their arrival is rather convenient for doing the character development and swiftly kicking off another major moment of suspense. That being said, the character development is very good and the themes written into the character exchanges such as hope, death, and suicide are excellent.

There is a large exposition dump from Dr Jenner that has some great sci-fi detail, but aspects of his backstory and how everything unfolds with him are quite predictable. He is played superbly well by Noah Emmerich. The other cast members give strong performances too.

Visually it is excellent. The cinematography and editing are as strong as ever, particularly the shower scenes that convey the different emotions felt by the various characters. The set design and general art direction is perfect, with superb scenes created both inside and outside the CDC. The imagery used in some of the scientific explanations helps make the scene more cinematic.

It does somewhat follow a 'Lost' formula in cinematic style, but this works well for a zombie apocalypse story.

Had heard nothing but great things about 'The Walking Dead' from friends and IMDb reviewers. It took a while to get round to watching, both from being busy and also not being sure whether it would be my cup of tea. Finally getting round to it a few years ago and slowly working my way through it, having had a very long to watch and review list, 'The Walking Dead' turned out to be very much my cup of tea and as good as the hype made it out to be, have found it extremely addictive.

"TS-19" is scintillating, a cracker of a season finale that comes this close to fully exploding. And a strong reminder of how Seasons 1-5 of 'The Walking Dead' to me were absolutely brilliant and seeing the show in its full glory days (Season 6 was uneven, Season 7 was a huge disappointment and am still debating whether to watch Season 8). It is as emotional, complex and as tense as one would expect , at the same time it has adrenaline and guts.

It still shocks me at how an intelligent, well-made (so much so that it is easy to mistake it for a film) show about zombies could be made when so many films have tried and failed abysmally to do so.

Like all the episodes of the show, "TS-19" is incredibly well made in the production values, with gritty and audacious production design, photography of almost cinematic quality, effects that look good, have soul and are not overused or abused and pretty frightening make-up. The music is haunting and affecting, having presence but never being too intrusive.

The writing is intelligent and thought-provoking, with lots of tension and emotional resonance and already showing signs of character complexity and multiple layer storytelling. The more eventful scenes are thrilling and terrifying as well as uncompromising.

Appreciated the deliberately paced story-building of the first half, with just as much rich detail to characterisation, and just as much the nerve-shredding intensity and excitement of the second half. Would have liked more resolution to a few of the plot threads, not everything felt completely rounded off which for a season finale is a little disappointing.

It's all thrilling and tautly paced without rushing through the more important parts. The world building is already stunningly immersive and effective. Direction is smart and atmospheric while the show throughout has been strongly acted. Andrew Lincoln is an excellent lead, while there are highlight contributions from Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden and especially Noah Emmerich.

In conclusion, excellent and scintillating that could have been even more. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Finally! After a lot of near-nonsensical zombie movies, we've now come across a stylish, matter-of-fact zombie series that's just gripping...to say the least. Apart from the brilliant direction & screenplay, what really hits the viewer(maybe unconsciously)is the brilliant camera-work...and, hold on, the fantastic background music - which is used to a minimum...it's used only at the right moments! Most of the time there's no music, which actually adds to the tension...making you feel you are with them! Of course, the heavy influence of "28 days Later" & "28 weeks later" is obvious, but it's pardonable, considering the final result. Even the background music is influenced by John Murphy...but hey, no problem! The end result - Can't wait for season 2!

This episode serves as a dump of information from C. D. C scientist Edward Jenner and his research team of 1. We get to the "root" of what's really the situation of the world, and it's bad. This episode is also one of the more drastic changes from the comics and as a result, can kind of serve as a identity crisis for the show. But don't let that distract you from the impeccable writing, acting, and directing. This episode is criminally underrated and goes along with the likes of No Sanctuary, Days Gone By and Too Far Gone. The Shane situation reaches another level when Shane takes it a step too far with Lori. Seeing the characters react to this information with despair and outright giving up. Jenner poses as an endpoint for anyone who wants to jump ship with him. If anything, this episode serves for an excellent stopping point for a thrilling, engaging season of non stop action, thrilling set pieces and a brilliant set up for some of the best seasons of television.