"The Walking Dead" - Frank Darabont, AMC (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by MarkMel

In the previews last night, it said there are only three eps left? How can that be, they just got started? Did they only order 6 or 8?

Yeah, there's only 6 episodes.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by mattCR

Because sometimes, even when the viewer knows the answer to the question, the dialogue serves as a way to make it feel more as a "this is how I might react".

I guess it's a matter of opinion but I don't think so. It's like when people used to incessantly complain about Lost that no one asked what was happening on the island. When there's no one who has the answer, I don't see a point in wasting screen time with people having conversations that will basically consist of "What's going on?" and "I don't know." Yes, it's what someone would ask but it's easy to assume that it's a question that has been raised by the characters and since it would go nowhere, it would be a pretty pointless scene to dramatize.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm sort of "meh" on the human drama, as in the show stops in its tracks when it's just the survivors milling about at their camp (the beatdown, notwithstanding).


I guess zombie blood/guts isn't infectious? I know they smeared all of it on the survivors's clothes, etc in the last episode, but that's just really unsanitary, and then with all the blood splatter from the zombie beatdown, and I'm more grossed out about having that guy walking around with zombie-blood-tipped arrows in camp, too.

 

[WillG]

I don't think it's fair to call Rick's wife a whore. The scene by the quarry made it very clear that Shane told her that he'd checked the hospital room and found Rick dead. Shane was the hero that saved her and her child. It's a literal end of the world scenario. It doesn't seem morally wrong that she did what she did. If Rick actually had been dead, I would bet that he would have even wanted her to. Shane's lie resolves the love triangle, because she feels so betrayed by him that her husband is the de facto choice even if he wasn't her husband.

Ok, maybe I was a little harsh. But I'm saying that if it were me I'd be pretty devistated if I found out my wife started nailing my best friend within that short amount of time even if she did think I was dead. Let me get at the very least 6 months of mourning before hopping into another Man's bed.


I'm with Hammer regarding the Merle situation. Unless you know he'll be a completely changed person, he's too much of a liability. Think of Rick's Son as well. Just got his father back and now he's going to leave him again to embark on this potential suicide mission.

 

[joshEH]

I have a dead body in my pantry, and the zombies on this show are not decomposing in a realistic way AT ALL.
Great episode. Liked how Shane basically hosed his partner by telling the wife he died. Ended up frogging with the boy, but for a while, he had the babe on her knees. Gots to give props to his zombie wingmen. Loved the gasping zombie-head, too. Some really great FX work on this show. Random bits:

- Glad they called Glenn out for driving that noisy-ass car into camp.
- Loved Rick and Shane's conversation about who/what is "worth" saving.
- I knew something was up when there were no zombies at the roof door, but I did not expect a severed hand.
- The walkie-talkie discussion gives me hope that we will meet the Lennie James father/son duo again. The only false note that stood out was the abusive husband demonstrating his misogyny at the exact right moment to give Shane an outlet for his rage. The guy was a little too cornpone-villainous.

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt 150#post_3750680 What I want to know is how Merle got off the roof without cutting the chain on the door.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Where the hell did ol' Dixon get to? Jump? Some other escape route on the rooftops? Saved by Spider-Man? Taken by the choppah, and getting weapons grafted onto his stump? Only time will tell.

Also, those are police-grade handcuffs, thick enough that the characters are actually bringing bolt-cutters to get through them. I don't think that measly saw would have done much good. If anything, the handcuffs would dull the blade. It'd be much faster to cut through the arm, and under extreme duress, the pain would be minimal. Of course, as soon as the adrenaline died down, he'd be in a heck of a lot of pain.


I know a few people elsewhere have mentioned it, but it should really be stressed that Merle was, shall we say, not of sound mind when he made the decision to cut off his hand. I think that's the main thing to keep in mind before continuing to debate the logic of him doing that, versus cutting the cuffs or the pipe.


His thought process probably wasn't, "Shoot, I don't want to lose a hand or bleed to death; I should concentrate on cutting through this rusty pipe," but more like, "FUCK I DON'T WANT TO DIE PLEASE GOD LET ME LIVE AND GIVE ME SOME CRACK AND FUCK YOU MINORITIES AND FUCK YOU TOO GOD I DON'T WANT TO DIE FUUUUUUUUCK"

I wonder if we'll be treated to The Rook going all Aron Ralston on his arm, or if he'll show up at the worst goddamn time with a chainsaw attached to his stump.

Oh, come on -- a guy with a chainsaw-arm would be fantastic, and you know it.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Originally Posted by Keith Plucker


Don't get me wrong, I like the show and will continue to watch it, at least for now, but it doesn't seem to be anything I would watch through more than once. However it is still early so maybe it will grow on me.


-Keith





Soap with Zombie Action thrown in. you've just described the comic.

 

[MarkMel]

He probably would've been able to cut through the allthread that the cuffs were attached to just as fast as his hand and with less pain.


You wouldn't even need to cut all the way through. Cut halfway through and kick the crap out of it.

 

[ChadMcCallum]

Originally Posted by Keith Plucker
Also, there are some major story problems. If covering yourself in zombie guts effectively protects them from zombie attack, wouldn't that make entering the city again really simple? As long as there is no rain (which a poncho would protect them from but lets not go there), they would have nothing to fear as long as they were careful. And what happened to the grenade?

That's what happened in the comic. When Rick first meets Glen they escape from Atlanta fairly easily by jumping from rooftop to rooftop then they arrive at the camp and spend a few days there. A walker (called a roamer in the comics, which I like much better) is found near the camp and Rick decides to return to Atlanta to collect guns from a gun store Glen has seen on previous visits to the city. Rick reasons out that zombies use smell to identify the living and he and Glen chop up the roamer and cover themselves in its guts to re-enter the city easily. They get to the gun store, collect the guns and as they're making their way out of the city its starts to rain, like in the series, but they manage to escape on foot. The redneck psycho isn't in the comic at all. Personally, I prefer the comic's telling of the story so far.


I think they've made a mistake introducing psychopaths so early. COMIC AND POSSIBLE SEASON ONE SPOILERS FOLLOW:




I think having Shane as the first psycho is a better idea. Its all about ratcheting up the tension. In the comic the first few issues are all about establishing the zombies as a threat but the tension between Rick and Shane keeps building until Shane finally snaps and as a viewer/reader you realize that as bad as the zombies are the real threat in The Walking Dead is other humans and the fact that the first psycho is Rick's best friend carries more impact than it would have had they introduced another psycho before, like they do in the series.



As for psychos in the series so far we have the redneck, his brother, the wife beater and judging by the preview next week we also have a big group of crazy survivors that Rick and co have to contend with. When Shane goes nuts at what I assume will be the end of the season it won't be nearly as dramatic, which is a great shame.

I don't think they've done a good job introducing the rest of the survivors at the camp either. A lot of those people are going to be zombie food shortly but if you don't even know their names let alone care about them their deaths won't mean a whole lot. I suppose there's still time to get to know them but they series so far has been pretty Rick centric and with only 3 episodes left I'm not entirely sure they're going to have the time they need to really make the audience care about the supporting cast.





I know it sounds like I don't like the show, I really do but I guess reading the comic for years has made me a bit protective of the story and it was so well told in the comic I'm a little annoyed that its not told as well in the show. The first episode was spot on, I liked just about every change but the last two episodes haven't been as good and it feels like they're being a bit stereotypical with some of the characters, like the redneck and while the comic was stereotypical too it wasn't quite that bad but tv shows take a bit of time to find the right tone and very, very, few series are at their strongest during the first season so I guess I can't be too hard on the show.

 

[Scott McGillivray]

Hmmm...I am really, REALLY wanting to love this show, but like others have said, it sure drags on sometimes. I have read quite a few zombie apocalypse books. The part I love about them is the planning and preparation aspects to the story. What equipment do they have? Where are they going? What will they eat/drink? How to they avoid the huge throngs of zombies? There is little of this here. Washing clothes and snaring a bunch of squirrles just does not cut it for me.

I was very sad to see the Challenger RT get dismantled. I still do not understand why they did that. I would think it would make an excellent scouting car. Get somewhere fast and get the heck out. Noisy doesn't matter much when you are fast!


I dont know. Its hard to put my finger on what the issue is. I dont need it to be all-action all the time. That gets real boring, too. I love character development. I am just not getting hooked by this show.

 

[John_Lee]

Originally Posted by Scott McGillivray
I was very sad to see the Challenger RT get dismantled. I still do not understand why they did that. I would think it would make an excellent scouting car. Get somewhere fast and get the heck out. Noisy doesn't matter much when you are fast!

Worse still was sacrificing the radiator hose on a useful and hardy moving van to service an ancient and ailing caravan.


Why not 'sweeten' the deal by demanding they stop by an auto store to pick up a spare hose.

 

[ChadMcCallum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John_Lee

Worse still was sacrificing the radiator hose on a useful and hardy moving van to service an ancient and ailing caravan.
Why not 'sweeten' the deal by demanding they stop by an auto store to pick up a spare hose.

Well, Dale's trailer has luxuries like a shower, toilet, beds and heat which is important since winter is coming. Imagine someone was injured and need to heal. The back of a cube van wouldn't be too comfortable and neither would a tent. The trailer would be the best place for them to recover and it can still hold quite a few people. At this point the group is more concerned with shelter and defense and not long road trips so its reasonable for them to think the trailer is worth keeping around.


He probably didn't ask them to pick up a spare hose since what they're doing is dangerous enough, plus its possible he thought they might bring another vehicle back with them again.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

If we want to get specific these are really ghouls, not zombies.

PLus they aren't even saying zombie, calling them "walkers" snooze.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Ed:

"Any zombies out there?"


Shaun:

"Don't say that."


Ed:

"What?"


Shaun:

"That...the 'Zed' word."


Ed:

"Why not?"


Shaun:

"Cuz it's ridiculous."





I'm a traditionalist when it comes to these types of beings so they will forever be zombies to me whether the show calls them that or not.


I liked what they called them Land of the Dead, they called them 'Stenches'.

 

[Greg_S_H]

As far as I know, no one in the Walking Dead comic book has ever seen or heard of a zombie movie. I don't think they ever reference Romero or anything like it. I think it's because Kirkman is very keen on avoiding the post-modern, self-referential style of storytelling, even if it would be realistic in our world if we had a z-event.


I don't mind Rick and crew going back into the city since they at least spent a lot of time discussing and arguing the decision. All the issues were laid out, and getting guns and warning Morgan are worthwhile goals. I would thank failing to answer the walkie would be warning enough, though. As for why you would risk your life for a scumbag, Rick hasn't adjusted enough yet to lose his humanity. Six months down the road, he'd say, "Fuck him. As far as his brother will ever know, he died saving us all."

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Why is it that every man in the show is a complete asshole in some respect? Is this some sort of new rule like in sitcoms where the man is always wrong?

"How about you sweeten the deal?"

How about you kiss my ass and give me all those parts back from the car I helped steal from Atlanta? Pure selfishness in a situation where everyone needs to depend on everyone else? Give me a break.


I live in the Atlanta area and just like in Zombieland, "Thank God for rednecks!" would be appropriate. There should be guns and ammo all over the place in small town shops everywhere given how fast the zombie takeover was and how few survivors there are. From the show you would think that Atlanta is just one huge metropolis surround by absolutely nothing rather than a relatively small city core expanding out in all directions into a continuous suburb for at least 30 miles.


I am starting to lose interest in the story because all the characters are being written as one-note a-holes that don't really deserve to live. If they are going for realism then the logical conclusion will be the biggest baddest asshole(s) will simply kill all the rest of them one night, take what they want and move on. The writers need to show how the group can logically stay together as a group and not kill each other otherwise it just becomes a show about the "random personality defect of the week". I want to really like the show but it is getting harder and harder.

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Kevin Hewell

If we want to get specific these are really ghouls, not zombies.

PLus they aren't even saying zombie, calling them "walkers" snooze.

Nope. Ghouls are traditionally just a form of undead or spirit who consumes flesh. Zombies are generally considered to specficially refer to re-animated corpses.

 

[Paul D G]

Originally Posted by Chuck Anstey


I just wish they'd give us a time frame. How long was the cop passed out? Two weeks or six months? It'd give an impression on how fast the zombie infection spread.


Earlier MattCR asked why no one, which I take to mean the cop, is asking questions. A response was:

I guess it's a matter of opinion but I don't think so. It's like when people used to incessantly complain about Lost that no one asked what was happening on the island. When there's no one who has the answer,

I posed the same question MattCR did earlier in the thread. I think the above quote is inaccurate. On LOST everyone was stuck on an island and no one COULD know. On this show the incident couldn't have just happened instantly. It had to spread and there'd be news broadcasts on the whole thing. Accusations and denials. Science gone awry, WMD, terrorism? Everyone would have some amount of information. At the very least they'd know how it started (while not specifically, they'd know where the initial breakouts were and how it spread).

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

It's not hard to pinpoint when the zombie apocalypse happened, or at the very least when it hit the hospital Rick was in, the major clue is his beard stubble that he had when he woke up.


He could have been in that coma for months and had nurses taking care of him, bathing him and shaving him but his stubble suggested that the last time he was shaved was at least a week and a half to two weeks before he woke up.


I have no point, really, except to establish something resembling a time-line of the zombie outbreak.

 

[mattCR]

My basic point was, with something like LOST, everyone knew exactly how they got there, through a shared experience in a plane crash. Here, one person wakes up from a coma, his wife and kids are gone, and everyone is murdered over by zombies. You'd think it would come up.

(HOLY COW reply box being annoying this morning)


I think one of the things about a show is that those kind of questions either get asked or answered in some way. On LOST, there was no real reason to directly ask, because all of them thought all the time they were learning part of the "Why" from the opening salvos with the radio signals to the underground bomb shelter, they kept thinking they were moving into a direction of understanding why. But a big part of the whole motivation for why they did anything was to figure out "what is going on". They didn't have to verbalize it in any way, because that's all every episode really was, and asking the question would have been redundant with their actions.. nobody on the show knew, and so everyone was trying to figure it out all the time.


Meanwhile, here, the cop definitely doesn't know. But he has no idea what anyone, even his wife knows. If I were a cop and woke up and all this happened, and I went to Atlanta (bad move) and saw tanks and other equipment out, I would think someone would have some sort of answer, something along the lines of "and then it was on TV, and they told everyone to stay in.. and next thing we knew..."

I think if you setup the show where it is clear that nobody CAN know, then nobody asks the question because that has already been established. Here that isn't the case; if you thought there was a chance someone did know something, anything, you'd at least find out. Hell, even in their outcasts "how long until it was in Atlanta? Our hometown? Where did it start?" Those are things even someone who just had access to a radio while you were in a coma might or should know, especially if they were able to flee they should have heard something.


So the fact that he isn't curious at all about what anyone knows strikes me as really odd. But, I enjoy the rest.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Paul D G /forum/thread/291556/the-walking-dead-frank-darabont-amc/150#post_3751533

It's not hard to pinpoint when the zombie apocalypse happened, or at the very least when it hit the hospital Rick was in, the major clue is his beard stubble that he had when he woke up.

If I remember correctly in the comic book, it's about a month between when Rick was shot & when he woke up and during that time, the dead started rising. I think it's safe to assume that about the same amount of time has elapsed here.