The Walking Dead Review: “Still”

Excellent character development or opposite-the-Oscars throwaway?

Title: “Still”

Cast and Crew

Directed by Julius Ramsay
Written by Angela Kang

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon
Emily Kinney as Beth Greene

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

Daryl and Beth mope around and get drunk. We learn more about each character, and we see hints of the far more disturbing story that unfolded in a country club.

High Points

This episode gives us insight into who Daryl has been and what Beth has become, and the actors rise to the occasion. Reedus handles perfectly the moment where he exposes Daryl’s emotional heart.

We get some interesting tension—including sexual tension—but the writers wisely go no further.

Low Point

The positive aspects aside, the episode gives us very little relative to the length of the show. We need something more than just another episode where characters wander around and get interrupted at random by funhouse zombies. The small, character-driven episodes need to end—- not forever, but as a continuous trend.

The Scores

Originality: 2/6

Effects: 5/6

Story: 5/6 We have this week a bizarre, compelling short story that reveals character. It does not satisfy as part of the larger arc, and suffers from the running time—we have too little to fill a full hour.

Acting: 6/6 See “High Points.”

Emotional Response: 5/6

Production: 5/6

Overall: 5/6

In total, “Still” receives 33/42