1 And about that Rick/Lori/Shane love triangle (very popular discussion in comments)? So like some folks suspected, it's gonna be "All My Children" with rotting corpses. Lovely. Waiting on the re-airing later tonight.

2 Over/under on the number of people Rick is going to get killed?

Based on what I've seen so far, come the zombie apocalypse, I will shoot any LEOs who try to take charge.

3 "Zombie" make me think sailboat, not campsites - but that's just the practical side.

4 Daryl's first scene has him hunting deer with a CROSSBOW? Not a compound bow, but a crossbow?

I guess that's what he had on hand.  They aren't exactly hitting all the stores after the apocalypse and rifles use ammunition they don't have and make the kind of racket that'd bring the zeds on down on top of them.

5 Now I was thinking that the first thing you might want to do in this type of survival situation is part ways with people like daryl and merle.  Really can't start a good new society with people like that around.  Course maybe thats what we are supposed to think from the producers, but yeah I'd say bye bye to them in my post apocalyptic wonderland. Where I would be named king, right?  I said RIGHT?!

Oh, and I own a compound bow.  And you can shoot squirrels with them.

6 So I'm a red neck if I used to get an occasional squirrel with my wrist rocket?

7 The show starts out with two dudes talking about relationships. One dude drops a hint about the other dude's wife. Of course it's a soap opera.

8

  Well, to be fair, this IS set in Georgia.  I think crossbows for deer hunting are legal in some of the Southern States.  Up here in Iowa, only the handicapped who can't shoot a compound bow are allowed to hunt deer with a crossbow, so the only ones you see around here are ones owned by people who are somewhat........detached from polite society.

  You're right, you CAN shoot squirrels with arrows.  I can't do it, but I'm not much of an archer.  It would take LOTS of practice with a bow to use it on tree rats, which reinforces my point that Daryl probably spent the last decade or so training for just this sort of situation.

9 Does all of this zombie stuff mean that the vampire fad has finally run its course.

10 Posted by: Jean at November 15, 2010 12:07 AM (CPefM)

I hope so. Vampires are fucking tarded. Emo Vampires are even more tarded.

11

 So I'm a red neck if I used to get an occasional squirrel with my wrist rocket?

Posted by: Jean at November 15, 2010 12:03 AM (CPefM)

 

  Yes, but in a GOOD way.

12 Apparently all the suburban department stores are inaccessible.

13   The first one of you Suckers of Cock who starts going on about sparkly, misunderstood, emo zombies gets the banhammer right between the eyes.  Zombies are Manly Monsters, so let's shun any attempts to feminize them.

14 In an survival situation - why would want to spend a lot of time and effort scrounging up a little protein - wouldn't effort be better used on carbs?  I guess collecting a bunch of acorns and cattails doesn't make good "optics".

15 so after we work thru zombies is it back to tentacled horrors and weird sub-titled Japanese cartoons?

16 My guess?  Like his fellow survivor "Ed", Daryl is pretty set in his ways regarding "Man Chores" and "Squaw Work".  Men kill stuff.  Women walk around the woods picking stuff up off the ground.  Then the wimmenfolk prepare the meals, clean the clothes, boil the drinking water AND pick up all the trash while the men sit around drinking PBR and telling hunting/fishing stories.

17 This show suffers from LSU Syndrome. "Let's Split Up"

18

1) It seems that the bands of survivors need to be a bit pickier about who they hook up with. So far the white trash hasn't been worth it

2) Steven King had one thing right with the Stand (and we saw a drop of it tonight with Ed when he basically threatened to knock out the blond girl and all she could do was act indignent) - when the "end of the world" comes, the women are boned - in more ways than one.  Women will become the most valuable commodity, and you leave them alone at your own risk.  The rules that keep slobs like Ed from enforcing their physical dominance don't help when they're gone. Unless every woman has a Shane around to konck someone out, they better start pumping iron as well as packing some.

 

19 so after we work thru zombies is it back to tentacled horrors and weird sub-titled Japanese cartoons?

Posted by: Jean at November 15, 2010 12:14 AM (CPefM)

  My hope is that this latest round of Zombie-Centric Horror finally shakes loose a sequel to John Carpenter's "The Thing".

20 Russ  with our luck they will do a remake.

21 Wait. I'm confused. According to the canon (there's a lot of undead revisionism going on, so I could have this wrong), if a vampire bites you, you become a vampire. If a zombie bites you, you become a zombie. If a vampire bites a zombie, or vice versa...?

22 Zompire? Vambie?

23 9 Does all of this zombie stuff mean that the vampire fad has finally run its course.

Posted by: Jean at November 15, 2010 12:07 AM (CPefM)

I've heard that Romero and the guy that wrote "I am Legend" essentially fucked up the undead mythos.  I think it goes that the writer of I am Legend essentially wrote about creatures that qualify as vampires.  And those creatures are the basis for Romero's Zombies.  And they are the actual vampires.    Zombies are supposed to be a reanimated corpse under the control of some magical overlord.  Undead creatures rising from their graves and a bite from one can turn you.  Sounds like a vampire to me doesn't it?

24 Even worse:  A shot-for-shot "It's Not a Remake, It's a Homage" like Gus Van Sant's "Psycho".

25 These zombies are nasty, they ate a fucking HORSE for Gawd's sake!

26 As a matter of physics, zombies and vampires can't exist in the same universe.  Parallel universe maybe.  But a sharktopus can.

and I hate squirrels.  that is all.

27 buzzion, I will put on my true geek hat here, your regular zombie is raised by something and is grinding, mindless death machine - now your juju zombie and ghoul have the infectious bite, insatiable hunger aspect.  The film club guys were too cool for D&D.

28 Sounds like "Days of Our Unlives." Pass.

29 If a vampire bites a zombie, or vice versa...?

Posted by: railwriter at November 15, 2010 12:21 AM (WovsE)

I think if a Zombie bites a Vampire, the Vampire gets Eczema. If a Vampire bites a Zombie, the Vampire is just still hungry. And gets Eczema.

30

 But what is the source for the juju zombie?  Like I said, I think the Romero Night of the Living Dead zombies are based on the "I am Legend" creatures which are actually of the vampiric type.

31 Do zombies fart?

32 Does zombie shit stay still or shamble down the street?

33 What if sharktopus were infected with the virus that causes zombie reanimation?  A shark/octopus hybrid is bad enough, now imagine one that can't be killed AND spreads zombie infection.

34 Do zombies fart?

Pretty much constantly. 

All those gasses being released through decomposition.

35 Dear God I hope noone from SyFyllis comes here and reads these movie ideas.

36 I just learned takes have "shotgun rounds," kind of like a canister filled with tungsten balls.  Dang.  That'd be good for zombie crowd control.

37 Wasn't the book, I am Legend supposed to be the scientific reasoning behind vampires?

38 *** Very minor spoilers below - none that would bother me had I not seen it ***

"Daryl's first scene has him hunting deer with a CROSSBOW? Not a compound bow, but a crossbow? And before you start (I'm lookin' at you, Douglas), you should realize that longbows would be a pretty piss poor weapon to use in a post-apocalyptic situation.)"

You *DO* realize that pretty much everyone in the show knows that noise attracts the zombies?  That's why they try to avoid using firearms whenever they can.   It's also why they used the car with the blaring car-alarm to distract some of the zombies away from the downtown building to allow them to escape. Crossbows are a natural extension to that belief.  Not that I'm defending Hollywood, in general, but this has been a pretty common plot device so far and that's why the (non-hillbillies) went after Merle with crossbows.

39
And because this is Frank Darabount, the racist redneck is also the only one to pray to God. 

40

You *DO* realize that pretty much everyone in the show knows that noise attracts the zombies? 

Slug, I think his point is that a composite bow is going to have greater range and impact force than a crossbow will.  Not that he's criticizing the use of a crossbow over a rifle for hunting.  Its about his choice in silent weapon for hunting.

41 Haven't followed this one too closely - do we know what triggered the apocalypse?  Is Holdern or Gore on the credits?

42

So how did Merle One-Hand get off the roof without being swarmed?  Were they tripping over massacred zombies on the stairs?

And why are all the men such miserable fuck-ups except for Rick and maybe Shane?

And I can't wait for that stupid little bitch sister to get eaten. Shut your hysterical mouth, drama queen.

 

43 Crossbows are low skill, short range devices for the masses; your compound or recurve bow require skill and practice -- doesn't this argument date back to late middle ages?

44 "(More Than) One Life To Live"

45 I heard Dennis Miller refer to Harry Reid as a "whining cadaver." Harry Reid: Zombie King.

46 43 Crossbows are low skill, short range devices for the masses; your compound or recurve bow require skill and practice -- doesn't this argument date back to late middle ages?

Posted by: Jean at November 15, 2010 12:50 AM (CPefM)

Yeah that's true.  And if you watched Topshot this year and saw those guys shooting they were more comfortable when firing the crossbow than shooting a bow and arrow.  The firing is a little bit closer to a firearm.  But if you accept the premise that the crossbow is for the low skilled soldier, why in the hell would you want the low skilled guy to be going out doing your hunting. 

47 At least this gives Shane a chance to work out his aggression over Lori biatch slapping him.

FTFY

48 buzzion, all of my hard core redneck kin are excellent archers - for a variety of reasons (one of which being the various restraining orders and domestic battery statutes ban possession of firearms, but allow bows).

49 These zombies defy physics, chemistry, and biology. Why not give them the power of invisibility or telekinesis?

50 49 buzzion, all of my hard core redneck kin are excellent archers - for a variety of reasons (one of which being the various restraining orders and domestic battery statutes ban possession of firearms, but allow bows).

Posted by: Jean at November 15, 2010 01:00 AM (CPefM)

So would they rather hunt a deer with a bow or a crossbow?  I would think they would prefer a bow, for the fact that its likely to have a greater distance while still maintaining killing power, keeping you farther from the deer so its less likely to smell or hear you and be startled?

51 50
These zombies defy physics, chemistry, and biology.

Why not give them the power of invisibility or telekinesis?

Posted by: eman at November 15, 2010 01:03 AM (0Ui1v)

Or the ability to run!

52 Buzz - bows, I don't know a one that has a crossbow - any they have every other sharp implement ever conceived by an aboriginal hunter or Hollywood prop designer.

53 Undead creatures rising from their graves and a bite from one can turn you.  Sounds like a vampire to me doesn't it?

More like ghouls since vamps don't consume the entire body.

54 i gotta say, the acting on this show is horrendous, but i guess it fits the tacky dialogue. i see we've moved on to the 'sexist' man vs.women script now, THAT didn't take too long. and really...does this merle guy and his brother HAVE to be such assheads? and just why did the zombies get up to where merle was anyhow? was he screaming too loud....now he should know better than anyone not to make noise.

you're on top of a roof...handcuffed.....theres zombies down on the streets errrrrrrwhere...ya might wanna be the fuck quiet and figure a way out.

took the guy long enough to see the empty bag of tools didnt it?

the whole "dont get any blood on your skin or in your eye"-line is going to haunt this series. its way too difficult to believe that after dozens of zombie kills youre not gonna have SOME splatter on you?....come on now.

it's gettin to the point where i hope the entire camp gets wiped out.

55 Based on what I've seen so far, come the zombie apocalypse, I will shoot any LEOs who try to take charge.

Note to self: When the zombie apocalypse comes, tell people I'm an accountant.

It has a few issues but I still think it's the best show on TV right now.

56 You guys really should familiarize yourselves with the comic... uh, graphic novel on which this series is based. It would answer a lot of the questions/statements I've read above.

57 57 You guys really should familiarize yourselves with the comic... uh, graphic novel on which this series is based. It would answer a lot of the questions/statements I've read above.

Posted by: Replica Number 3s in the woods at November 15, 2010 02:06 AM (f1jQH)

Well, given the nature of the questions above, it strikes me that the answers almost have to be pretty dumb to actually resolve the concerns.

Just sayin'.

Course, it's easy for me to say, I haven't seen the show OR the comics.

58 And because this is Frank Darabount, the racist redneck is also the only one to pray to God.

Oh, he's even more odiously backwards than that... he prays to Jesus!

Plus he's a vet!

I'll just bet if we could peek inside the wallet he's going to be carrying in his left pocket from now on we'd see a voter registration card that reveals a registered Republican!

Not at all pleased with the show for this character, or for the carefully selected Rainbow Coalition of survivors (none of whom, except for Glenn, were in the comic).  Also not pleased that it decided to double in size a cast that was already too big.  Didn't like the vibrator joke, didn't like the hillbilly stereotypes, really don't like the soapy stuff.  Better luck next week.

59 57 You guys really should familiarize yourselves with the comic... uh, graphic novel on which this series is based. It would answer a lot of the questions/statements I've read above.

I'm actually enjoying not knowing what's going to happen next, so pass.

60 I would head to a Military base. Lots of weapons, food, water, power supplies, survival gear, etc.

61 61 I would head to a Military base.

Lots of weapons, food, water, power supplies, survival gear, etc.

Posted by: eman at November 15, 2010 02:22 AM (0Ui1v)

TV people would never think of that. Firstly because they're idiots, and secondly because they'd just assume the military "did it."

62 Realistically, a military base in this situation would still be occupied by living people (assuming it wasn't manned by total fuckups a la 28 Weeks Later).  But realistically, the zombies would never have been able to take total control of an entire city like Atlanta so it's just one more thing to chalk up to dramatic zombie license.

63 Plus a military base would have training manuals on how to stay alive when you are in deep shit.

64 Why is everyone called this a miniseries? They're filming season 2 in February, I believe. Another 12 or 13 episodes. It's just like Breaking Bad, first season is a trial run of 6 episodes, and then full seasons after that if the ratings warrant it.

Also, the problem with the crossbow is the target-point arrows Darryl keeps using. Can't drop a deer, wounds too small. Could probably kill a zombie though. Also, I kill squirrels by throwing rocks at them, and I didn't see Darryl shooting any.

Oh, and why would you saw your entire hand off? Just cut off the thumb, then slip the cuffs. Kind of a plot hole, but I'll let it slide, if they have Darryl talk with an Irish brogue for one scene.

65 So, since the existence of zombies in this show doesn't appear to be supernatural, wouldn't they just die out without sustenance? Isn't it just a waiting game of like 4-6 weeks?

66 Unless there was a scene of them eating animals, like say a deer. Or a horse for that matter.

67 Oh, and why would you saw your entire hand off?

Why didn't he just try to saw the cuffs off instead?  If I'm in that situation, all I have is a hacksaw, and I don't know if or how quickly the zombies will break through that door -- and even if I weren't horrified at the thought of cutting off my hand -- I'd still think my better and quicker bet would be trying to saw through one of the links of those cuffs, rather than solid bone.

68 Except that handcuffs are made of hardened steel, same as hacksaw blades. It takes for ever just to scratch'em. I know from experience, got padlocked to a tool chest once. Of course, the writer probably doesn't know anything about alloys, so another plot hole, of sorts.

69 Could the zombies catch horses and deer without the aid of the deer being dead, or a dumb human riding a horse into the middle of zombie central? Plus, we're not talking about keeping a small number of zombies alive, but thousands or hundreds of thousands.

70 I would have tried the rusty bar that he was handcuffed to.

71 They could live on trapped pets. Lots of dogs chained up in folks' backyards. Plus they seem to like eating on people, though that supply won't last as long. Of course, we don't really know enough about Zombie metabolism to accurately estimate the amount of time necessary for them to starve.

A gator can live for months on one meal, some reptiles can go for over a year between meals. And gators can run 30 miles an hour if they want, a lot more than these Zeds.

72 The bar might have worked. Would have been better if the black guy that dropped the key had just given El Racist the hacksaw in the first place, then padlocked the door to the roof.

73 Isn't it just a waiting game of like 4-6 weeks?

74 You know the real flaw in all of this?

The dead start to come back to life and eat people, and the Government tells everyone to go to the nearest relief center, and people actually do what the Government tells them to do!

Good lord, people don't leave cities about to get hit by hurricanes, why would they start listening to the Gov now?

75 Wow the spam is weird here, isn't it? Almost topical

76 I've been trying to find info on the internet, but from what I've found, the comic doesn't go into the origins of the Zombies, dead people just reanimate without explanation. If any one has read the comic, is this true, or does the book offer a reason for all of the reanimated corpses. I guess it could be supernatural in origin if the book doesn't say one way or the other, maybe an end days kind of thing.

77 5 picard facepalms each... to all the commenters wondering about zombies eating to "stay alive".

Leave zombie hunting to the professionals - now git in your bunker and eat saltines, noobz.

78 78 I've been trying to find info on the internet, but from what I've found, the comic doesn't go into the origins of the Zombies, dead people just reanimate without explanation. If any one has read the comic, is this true, or does the book offer a reason for all of the reanimated corpses. I guess it could be supernatural in origin if the book doesn't say one way or the other, maybe an end days kind of thing.

Posted by: devilish at November 15, 2010 03:29 AM (vyRPu)

I think that unless you're looking for a way to end the Zombies or find a cure for it the reasoning isn't necessary to the story.  Better off just leaving it ambiguous. And could write themselves into a corner. 

79 The comic doesn't explain it.  And really, no explanation is necessary.  The characters have no means of finding out the cause, and it would make no difference for them if they did know.

80 Should read "and giving a reason could write themselves into a corner."

81 Generally Zombie movies and fiction don't provide any real origin or explanation for the outbreak*. I think Romero kind of made this a tradition, and everyone else sort of copies it, to create a sense of uncertainty and suspense.

Or they're all too lazy to think up a reasonable explanation.

*28 Days Later being an exception

82 OT: Does anyone know a political blog that discusses the Palin Show premiere on TLC. Didn't see it all, and want to get an idea for the general reception. Hotair doesn't seem to have anything, and C4P doesn't really count.

83 Oh. All this time i thought zombies were double-speak for democrats.

84 ...and don't forget to bring your shinebox.

85 85 Oh.

All this time i thought zombies were double-speak for democrats.

Posted by: humphreyrobot at November 15, 2010 03:42 AM (EiH7n)

Its an honest mistake. 

86 Zombies like to hang out in strip malls, democrats see strip malls as a blight on the land and want to turn them back into swampland/forest. Plus Zombies eat meat.

On the other hand zombies do vote democrat.

87 classic

88 shinebox I have a tazer built into my shinebox.

89 Though that definition of Zombie adds to the point I posted about earlier.  That the monsters in walking dead and the Romero movies are actually more like classic vampires than zombies.

90 Zombies have different characteristics. Some have monosodium glutamate. Or as i like to say; mono gluta!

91

Zombies are gross.  Vampires are kinda gay.  Werewolves are the cool ones.  They can just be themselves until the full moon then go wild.  They can hunt, get even with people who crossed them and lick their own balls.  Not a bad life.

92 Why didn't he just try to saw the cuffs off instead?

Well, let's see.  Zombies are starting to try and come through the door that Merle doesn't know the black guy locked.  He's dehydrating and starting to rave.  Panic a possibility?  I'd sure say so.

And what's harder to cut through?  The cartilage in the wrist joint or hardened steel?

93 While the hand cuffs are hardened steel Merle's cuffed to a piece of 5/8 or 3/4" mild steel all thread, with a hack saw I could cut this faster than my hand.

94 By the way, Lori's first words should have been "Are you happy to see me or is that a M26 frag in your pocket".

95 Oops meant to say M67 frag or really a M69 training grenade with the body painted OD but the lever still blue.

96 I believed I voiced my suspicion last week or the week before that Shane had been the one to tell Lori that  Rick was dead, and I'm glad that panned out.  I never bought into the "cheating slut" side of the argument.  Furthermore, now that we've seen more of the camp dynamics, is anyone shocked that she hooked up with him?  It's obvious that the women of the camp are not in the best position, especially with the likes of Merle, Daryll and Ed running around.

I actually like the drama and soap opera shit.  An hour a week of zombie headshots and people getting eaten would get boring quick.  The whole point of a zombie movie is that the zombies are not dangerous to a well armed, well organized group, but once that group breaks down, individuals become easy prey.  The struggle to survive is not just against outside forces, but against our own imperfect natures.

The crossbow makes plenty of sense, and it's nice to see Daryll pulling out the bolts for reuse, as opposed to simply pulling more out of thin air.  I'm suprised that they are so low on weapons.  Even with the mass exodus of people and the breakdown of society, there should be firearms lying around, either at local police stations, sporting goods stores or in private homes.  Yes, looters would grab some, but if that's the case then you are talking about a lot more survivors, and we should have seen them by now.  If you cant find firearms, then rigging up some adhoc boar spears would be the next best thing.  A spear with a crosspiece to prevent the zombie from working it's way up the shaft will at least slow them down until the shooters or the guys with machetes can get there.

97 Predictable writing, tired stereotypes, plus that end music was ripped off from 28 Days Later. I watch to pick out Ga. Landmarks, but that aside the show's already getting boring. Oh, and I hate fake southern accents.

98 #13

Russ, it's too late:
http://tinyurl.com/289enot

99

 ...there should be firearms lying around...

That though has occured to me, too.  There should be all kinds of firepower waiting to be picked up.  The first episode showed Rick riding past a .50-cal machine-gun with a full belt of ammo loaded.

I've heard on the inter-tubes that the writer of the comic graphic novel is a lefty.  So, you probably have the typical prejudice against firearms.

100

#101,

Add my vote to your list.  To be charitable, there's not that much fresh (heh) writing one can bring to the Zombie table, but sheesh - can no one break stereotype?

Switching between the Giants/Cowboys game (can't stand either team - so sure, I watched - one was guaranteed to get beat...) and the three episodes, well, the trendline isn't good.  Episode 1= good, Ep. 2=mediocre, Ep. 3= YGTBFKM.  Episode 4 to feature the teaming up of the Redneck faction (now led by the One Hand)vs. those still in the city w/the inevitable conflict that brings the horde down upon both (you fool! You've killed us all!!!), until a wise latina (or little kid) pops up w/a last minute way out.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch (camp, whatever), there's intense sexual tension between Whiney Bi**h & Butch, while the Lifetime Network's influence shows in the intensely heated scenes between Bo, Luke, and Catherine Bach....

101 How come no .22's, not as much noise as a centerfire and lot's of ammo out there. Also good for hunting.

102 Note to self: When the zombie apocalypse comes, tell people I'm an accountant.

Meh. Couldn't hurt...

I assume that most Pima County Deputies  are (operationally) on the up and up, even though I personally believe Sheriff Clarence Dupnik to be such a completely clapped out political whore that I doubt every report that comes from his department.

I imagine that most of his troops find him to be an excellent administrator. 

That gets them most all of the equipment they could ever need and less and less need to actually be out in Pima County.

I haint seen hide nor hair of PCSD, now that I think on it, for over a year....

Not even at road construction sites!

FINES ARE DOUBLED!!!

It's all Staties, lately, come to think on it...

So much for Gabby Giffords' "targeted" Stimulus, no?

Wasn't that your gig, Clarence?

Time for me to visit the Naninini branch of the library again, don't you think?

(There's a district office of the SD pretty much in the same building, a  largely shared parking lot, except for the fencing, and a DMV just around the corner which I found kind of odd when I first visited Tucson over a decade ago but WTH?)

Just wondering if you all have any cars anymore...

103

#103,
Well of course "firearms" are bad - they bring the horde down up you.

'cept when you're plugging Zombies from the upstairs in Episode 1.

104 If this is a replacement for Breaking Bad, I'm gonna' be disappointed.

105

Geez, handcuffs are the easiest things to pick the lock of on the planet.  

 

Hawrrywuuuud.  

 

The know NOTHING!

106

BTW, "I Am Legend*" references vampires, not zombies.

 

* = RM's excellent book, not Will Smith pi**ing on another classic novel (see Robot, I)

107

One last thing -

this being a "milblog" and all, where's 1/9 USMC?  They've got the "Walking Dead" thing pretty well sorted out...

108 It was interesting to try to pick out the various places in Atlanta that they filmed some of this. The road that he walks down in episode 1 and that Glenn drives down in episode 2 looks somewhat like Freedom Parkway. Or I guess it could be the Connector. Nice to see that even during a zombie apocalypse there is bumper to bumper traffic.

109 It does seem odd that only hardcore stereotypes seems to survive apocolypses. it seems like that is a given in this genre.

110 i agree that there prolly woulda been more guns lying around. and that camp has what? 10 people there? thats a boatlod of food youll need to keep em on the up an up. they shouldve ALL been out hunting, not just one guy gettin a few squirrels. frog legs my ass.

and let's be honest, i realize its just a silly show, but hacking thru ur hand? gimme a break. they show the guy sitting there talking to god and remembering silly shit instead of frantically looking for a way out. if you're in 'panic mode' you wouldve done WHATEVER necessary to escape without dismembering urself.. and yes, that includes breaking off and dragging a pipe around with you if need be. so i'm not buying that crap.

its a zombie apocalypse....youre stranded in a camp with like 10 peeps...food and supply is dwindling...are you seriously going to give three shits if you cant get ur best friend's pussy anymore? is that something to worry about and sweat while there are hordes of man-eating zombies around?

this show is dumb.

111 When in doubt, bring on the drama.  Sure, Merle could have used the tang of his belt buckle to force the cuffs; or the hacksaw on that rusty bit of steel anchoring him, but where's the fun in that? For the writers, that is.  Too obvious, I guess. Kinda like being "stuck" in a tank. Don't try to start it. Or use the machine gun. Or lob that grenade out the hatch. What? You're going to make it worse?

112 Started to watch it online last night but it was taking forever to download.   Only got through til Glen was driving up the mountain road...

So I'm convinced that the wife hooked up with the partner after all the shit went down. 

But the partner did have some designs on her if her and Rick ever did break up.

As for supplies..   There's a 3 or 4 lane highway filled with cars that's been showed a couple of times.  Have they all been picked over already? 
Gas completely siphoned out of? 

I'm nitpicking again.  Frank Darabont makes characters that make single dimensions seem deep and complex.   As to why he's still allowed to work in Hollywood?  He makes the right kind of movies.  See The Majestic and The Shawshank Redemption.  The Majestic turned the Joe McCarthy era on it's ear by making the communist sympathizer the good guy and in Shawshank, the warden was a bible thumping christian who was a crook and a murderer.  (not in act but in approval)

113

#116,

Kinda like being "stuck" in a tank

Yeah. Only in hollywoodland is that a bad thing during a zombie apocalypse/attack of the giant whatevers...

114 On the other hand, it's nice to see the chick who plays his wife (from Prison Break) get another role. 

Kind of a hot redhead. 

115 *Sheriff Rick roles over onto his wife and glances at his son in the cot next to them*

Wife:  He won't wake up.  He hasn't the last couple of time--  I mean.  He's a very sound sleeper.

116

Another issue i have with these movies or shows of this genre is how quickly the army is overrun.

How exactly do zombies stop a tank? Really? Please someone explain this to me, because i am under the impression that a tank is 30-40 tons. Why not just drive through the streets crushing everyone til you run out of gas?

Or what about napalm? It seems to me that fighting these slow moving and weak zombies would be pretty easy if you had the resources of the armed forces

117 Yeah, you had better boil that arrow first before you use it again with some game.

118

Also, I'd like to make some predictions:

The wife beating hick will die saving the rest of the group from zombies.

Merle will die at the hand of Rick, and Rick will probably have to kill Merle's brother too.

The asian kid(glenn right?) will survive the entire series.

Rick and Shane(the other cop?) will come to blows, but shane will die saving Rick's wife and son.

The two sisters will survive the entire show.

The black man and his son from the first episode will meet up with Rick and the other survivors and he will fall in love with the single black woman in the camp.

The zombie's will unionize and spend more time picketing their unfair working conditions than eating flesh, which will lead to their downfall and the rebirth of civilization.

119 "It seems to me that fighting these slow moving and weak zombies would be pretty easy if you had the resources of the armed forces"

---just a plot device really, it adds to the fear factor of it all.

best line of the night, and im paraphrasing....."well even with the car alarm, you cant really pinpoint where the sound is coming from because we're so far back in here"

....and they wont use guns to hunt...

and again, someone needs to tell 'glenn' theres a zombie apocalypse goin on lol

120

Not too many nits to pick in this episode except the big one about sawing the hand instead of the all thread.

Being the beta male that I am, I would most certainly be hanging around the hunter types. I can guarantee Merle and Daryl have been waiting for this since the "black helicopters" of the Clinton administration.

Finally, when will the women start whoring it for protection and/or food. Apparently, Lori lasted only a few weeks probably because she already knew the guy.

 

121

I have to agree with Alex's comments up above.  I didn't really think that the wife and Shane had been going at it even before the zombies took over.  I think he was definitely interested in her and took the opportunity to separate her from her spouse when said spouse was in the hospital and the whole zombie thing went down.  No wonder she told him to bugger off in the last episode.  Not only is she ashamed for hooking up with him and fears discovery of that relationship, but she now realizes that he led her down that path by telling the most egregious of lies - that her husband - his "best friend" was dead. 

That said, where do you go with this series if there is no "drama" among the survivors?  Pretty damn boring TV to just watch people waste zombies in new and interesting ways ever week.  The zombies are just the background noise, the interaction of the living is where the stories are.

122

Or what about napalm? It seems to me that fighting these slow moving and weak zombies would be pretty easy if you had the resources of the armed forces

In a post last week, I suggested a Federal government zombie apocalypse scenario. That is, the Federal government employees were given secret vaccinations that backfired and made them more susceptible to zombiehood. Basically the military would be the first thing to collapse.

123 'Not too many nits to pick in this episode except the big one about sawing the hand instead of the all thread.'

sure there is.

darryl is wiping zombie blood off of his crossbow bolts, why risk infection? "dont get any blood on ur skin or in ur eye" <----that line is going to haunt this show. he even wipes some off on his pant leg, does blood not soak thru pants? and considering the wiped out city, army, the infection is fast acting and deadly to say the least. yeah, lets wipe off the zombie blood with a rag and bare hands.

zombie head gets chopped off while the group is beating the hell out of the thing, again, no blood splatters ANYWHERE.

food supplies for this extra large camp of survivors has to be difficult to keep up with. i realize theyre not gonna have three squares a day but come on.

at the end of the episode, they sure get back to the building pretty quickly and effortlessly. hell, almost too easy seeing as last week there were zombies everywhere you looked.

it took merle HOURS to find that bag of tools, nah his survival instincts have him sitting there talking to god.....sure....

124 With the hand..  three choices.  One being rather pointless being handcuff chains and the other being very, very painful.

the threaded bolt should have been the obvious choice..

But no drama.

Maytag:  So instead of product placement they namedrop.  nice.

125

The show has potential.  What it's missing is a plot.  I don't see them returning to the Atlanta every episode to pick up something they forgot. 

Getting the redneck off the roof should be easy.  Strap the deer to the roof of the car, drive it into the city and park it a couple blocks down the street.  All the zombies will run to it and the building will be relatively clear.

I can foresee the following happening: redneck gets bit on roof, gets the fever and attacks the camp from the inside.

"I am Legend" is similar, except the infected still have their intelect.  Now that I think about it, why wouldn't the "Legend" zombies have eaten the escaped zoo animals?

126

That said, where do you go with this series if there is no "drama" among the survivors?  Pretty damn boring TV to just watch people waste zombies in new and interesting ways ever week.  The zombies are just the background noise, the interaction of the living is where the stories are.

they need an epic lighsaber fight.

127 "That said, where do you go with this series if there is no "drama" among the survivors? "

---my suggestion is the whole 'breakdown of society' scenario. why cant the survivors be chasing down a retreating military?

or the road trip sort of whackiness ala 'zombieland'?

hell, create two separate groups of survivors and tell their stories as they meet up or outrun each other.

with a zombie apocalypse backdrop, the possibilities are endless. instead we get a dude looking for his family and running into a group of campers....oh and his best friend is screwing his wife....zzzzzzzz

the biker gang from dawn of the dead should make an appearance and steal all their shit....id love this show if that happened!

128

The show has potential.  What it's missing is a plot.  I don't see them returning to the Atlanta every episode to pick up something they forgot

either by the end of the season, or in the finale, they will find out that there is a safe zone somewhere, either from the helicopter or on the radio. Then the entire second season will be them trekking to this safe haven.

129

That said, where do you go with this series if there is no "drama" among the survivors?  Pretty damn boring TV to just watch people waste zombies in new and interesting ways ever week

 

 

>>>>  I checked out some of the story arcs from the comic.  If they hold true to form and meet "the governor" and go to "the prison" and later, to the "secure city" in DC suburbs, it will be plenty interesting

130 The threaded rod?  About 1/2 inch or so.  It wouldn't take much to hack through that at all.

131

I saw a piece of clothesline with tin cans rigged on it in one scene, now I'm happy about the whole perimeter alarm thing.

cut his hand off... fracking hollywood.  Hacksaws will work on handcuffs, just takes a little time.  Haven't these emo writers ever seen Mad Max?  It would sure as hell work on that pipe hanger bolt too, those aren't exactly grade 8 chrome moly.  And if the Z's got through, they would have eaten the hand, so you know he had time to spare.

Guns:  well, I'm not from GA, but in this part of flyover country  I can just about promise you damn near every pole light you see at night out here has at least one scattergun sleeping under it.  Might be an old Iver Johnson or an H&R single barrel, but it will make your sunny day rainy if you piss it off enough.  Also, liberals, do you really know how many AR's and other assorted ill shit actually got sold in the past 2 years? 

I was happy to see the bubba Ike Turner student get dealt into the plot line too.  One screwed up, white male age 25 to 55, ex military, Biker for Jesus, redneck gun nut what's wrong with today's society wasn't enough.  All we need now is a misunderstood gay to round out the magical solution for the closer.  Too bad Jack Ritter is still dead, he played a convincing nancy boy.

End of rant, and dammit, I'm hooked on this crack, just like I was with WoW and then male enhancement pills.  You morons are like the 12 steps backwards, damn enablers. 

132 i say let's keep a 'glenn survival'-watch.  that kid isnt gonna die no matter the circumstance.

cant wait to see the ingenius way he gets out of a jam lolol

133

darryl is wiping zombie blood off of his crossbow bolts, why risk infection? "dont get any blood on ur skin or in ur eye" <----that line is going to haunt this show. he even wipes some off on his pant leg, does blood not soak thru pants? and considering the wiped out city, army, the infection is fast acting and deadly to say the least. yeah, lets wipe off the zombie blood with a rag and bare hands.

I think they find out Zombism is a Sexually Transmitted Disease. They trace it's origins to a bathhouse in San Francisco.

134

#125

"Finally, when will the women start whoring it for protection and/or food"

Ah, when exactly have women not, well, you know...

 

135

I think there's plenty of time for a "roadtrip" to a safe zone or a million other things to keep the plot going (aside from love triangles and crazed hicks).  This was just episode 3. There's also still the unexplained helicopter flyover from Episode 1 to consider.  Hmmmm, military or the local news station still looking for big Nielson ratings?

I doubt it will ever be explained, but I'm wondering if these people don't have some immunity to whatever made others get sick and go the zombie route.  They all have to have been exposed, considering that it looks like 99% of humanity has "gone zombie." And as others have pointed out, they've all been spattered or otherwise had "close encounters" with zombies that should have been enough for them to contract something.

Ah well, there are plenty of holes and other annoying things, but this is the first TV show that has kept me interested past the second episode for years. 

136 They cannibalized the Camaro when there is an entire freeway of cars ripe for the picking. 

Again, they don't even need to go into town to do so.  The producers made ample evidence of this by Rick riding into town on the horse and again when Glenn was cruising out in the hot rod. 

It's  a safe jaunt there and back again.  And being on the highway, you'll have clear visibility for any Zeds stumbling their way toward you. 

Also, where is the vehicle that brought Glenn, Merle and the gang into town?  What did they do with that?  

137

Guns:  well, I'm not from GA, but in this part of flyover country  I can just about promise you damn near every pole light you see at night out here has at least one scattergun sleeping under it.  Might be an old Iver Johnson or an H&R single barrel, but it will make your sunny day rainy if you piss it off enough.  Also, liberals, do you really know how many AR's and other assorted ill shit actually got sold in the past 2 years? 

that is something I didn't get either. Here in SW PA we have at least 1 gun store every few miles.

I would assume rural GA would be the same. Maybe there were runs on gun stores when the outbreak hit.

138 Why do they want to strip down the truck for parts to fix their truck?  There's a whoe city (country) of new and used trucks to choose from.

139 I'm actually enjoying not knowing what's going to happen next, so pass.

This +1.

I'm liking the camera work, and the dramatic setups. Sure it's juvenile, but you can't make it completely cerebral, or no one would watch it. People like mind numbing stuff, and I'm just glad someone is throwing a little bit of thinking our way. I liked Rubicon, too, so I can see that AMC is going after some pretty high brow shows (compared to the rest of the tv lineup).

140 "Also, where is the vehicle that brought Glenn, Merle and the gang into town?  What did they do with that?"

was probably horded by zombies while they were trapped inside is my guess. prolly no way to really get to it from that point.

and all those vehicles stranded on the hwy= not ONE RV.....sure....

and i agree with syracuse in that they may be immune....and maybe we will find that out later on down the line. but right now it just makes for a totally confusing TV show.

141 Has anyone read the comic book? What is the origin of the virus. Please tell me it isn't fox news or something along those lines

142

Three episodes into the First Zombie Miniseries in history,

I never saw it, but I thought The West Wing was the first?

143 This answers the question.  Who the hell was in charge to send the racist and the black guy into town? 

So far, it looks like the closest guy who is in charge is Shane, the buddy..

The bag of guns was a nice brick I thought they had abandoned.  Next week, we'll see if it lands.  

144 148

And we have a winner! That's some weapons-grade snark, right there. Well played!

145 I'll be the chump and keep watching.  Hell, it's halfway done anyway, may as well check out the rest. 

Next week has to be an improvement over this week.


As for the camp, dunno how many ways in or out of there but they did show one side of it exposed to the quarry cliff side and the windchime alarm on the other. 

146

I'll be the chump and keep watching.  Hell, it's halfway done anyway, may as well check out the rest. 

there are only 6 episodes?

147 For the first season, yeah..

I think it was mentioned earlier in the thread that it was picked up for another season for next year.

148 This episode was obviously filler to stretch out the story arc.

I would've like to have  seen the "college educated cooze" beat the crap out of Ed. I mean, I could've taken the fat slob down no problem. I'm not liking the apparent implication that only "helpless" females will survive. Where are the female police officers and soldiers? Why do we fall back on cook, clean and fuck to survive for the women? Of course, it's GA, I'm thinking the demographic would be different in Texas

Although I did like the "I'll be beat ya to death, Ed" line.

All in all, I'm afraid I'd have to vote some of those fuckers off the island.

And commenter ed should be happy to see the tin can picket line.

149

darryl is wiping zombie blood off of his crossbow bolts, why risk infection? "dont get any blood on ur skin or in ur eye" <----that line is going to haunt this show. he even wipes some off on his pant leg, does blood not soak thru pants? and considering the wiped out city, army, the infection is fast acting and deadly to say the least. yeah, lets wipe off the zombie blood with a rag and bare hands.

That was Rick who said that. What does he know about zombie infections? Nothing. So far the show has said nothing about transmission possiblities other then 1)black lady having a high fever and dying.

150 Also it was Daryl with the crossbow and bolts. He may not care.

151 The college educated woman didn't know enough to kick Ed in the nuts? 

152

I didn't get a good look at the crossbow last night, but a good compound crossbow will shoot long and straight.  A crossbow is easier to learn than a compound bow and easier to carry through thick wooded areas.  However, the general purpose of a bow is to cut enough blood vessels that the animal bleeds to death.  Zombies don't bleed (which also explains the lack of blood spatter).  How often is someone really going to shoot a zombie through an eye socket with a bow?

Why are they all driving '70's model pickup trucks and RVs?  I'm sure there's a car dealership outside Atlanta waiting to be plundered.  Do I want a '79 F150 that gets 9 MPG and will sometimes start or a '10 F150 that gets 15 MPG and starts on the first crank, every time?

Survivalist note:  If you're ever in the zombie apacolypse, move to a rural area with a natural gas well.  Find a vehicle converted to CNG to take with you.  If you take a gas well off the main supply line, you could be looking at decades of heat and light for a small group of survivors.

153 The college educated woman didn't know enough to kick Ed in the nuts? 

Or buy a gun?

First handguns I ever bought, after I got out of college, was a Colt .380 semi and a S&W .38 revolver.

Every college girl should have at least one, instead of a vibrator (or in addition to).

154

at the end of the episode, they sure get back to the building pretty quickly and effortlessly. hell, almost too easy seeing as last week there were zombies everywhere you looked.

last week I questioned how they got to the store (vehicle?) and how where they going to return with supplies. Zombies were on the streets. They clearly show them going up a fenced railway area.

it took merle HOURS to find that bag of tools, nah his survival instincts have him sitting there talking to god.....sure....

Hours? How do you know that? Merle's "oh woe on me" scene is at the beginning of the episode, which, for all we know, is only minutes after the black guy locked the door.

155 "All we need now is a misunderstood gay to round out the magical solution for the closer. Too bad Jack Ritter is still dead, he played a convincing nancy boy." Prediction, Glenn comes out as gay...

156 Glenn also quips something about this being nothing like a first person shooter. 

157 Hours? How do you know that? Merle's "oh woe on me" scene is at the beginning of the episode, which, for all we know, is only minutes after the black guy locked the door.

They did show Merle's forehead kind sunburned..   As if he's been up there for some time. 

158

Why do we fall back on cook, clean and fuck to survive for the women?

Bascially because the entire popular portrayal of women since Ellen Ripley in Aliens has been completely wrong. The woman warrior is nearly a complete fiction.

159

They did show Merle's forehead kind sunburned..   As if he's been up there for some time.

Either it was already sunburned or it was from him beating his head on the ground. I just don't see it as a nit to pick.

160

"He's apparently well practiced with said crossbow, "

He must be pretty quick at reloading it anyways even if he is a horrible shot, did you see how many arrows were sticking out of that deer?  It should only take a decent hunter one shot, and in 99.9% of instances, that's all you're going to get.  A cross bow is going to take a few seconds to reload and after the first shot, unless you hit the heart, the deer is going to be on the move so you'd better be watching where it went instead of fumbling with another arrow.  Love the show though, just something that bugged me when i noticed it.  I'd rather have a compound bow in that situation, myself.

161 Then again, he can't be that bad of a shot to get those squirrels.  Unless he trapped them somehow.

162 Even my wife caught the handcuff thing.  I commented that we'd see the hand laying there, and she said cutting the handcuff off the pipe would be too obvious.

As Shane was beating the crap out of Ed, I pointed out that was why the women are doing the wash.  She was not amused, though I honestly didn't mean anything by it.  Really.

163 Maybe I'm being too literal, but you use a Bludgeon arrow tip, you can take squirrel/rabbits with a bow weapon.  You gotta practice some, and YMMV of course, but it's not that hard.

164 Either it was already sunburned or it was from him beating his head on the ground. I just don't see it as a nit to pick.

I got the impression he's been up there for a few hours..  At least enough time where Merle had time to take off his belt and try to hook and drag the hacksaw before giving up for a while. 

I know it's for dramatic impression with the hand but the threaded rod would have been the quickest and pain free cut.  And probably the fastest as well.

165 So, you know it's going to start to rain, do you stand out in the middle of the street or wait under the awning that is 10 feet away?

Also, zombies have smell people? Based on what?

166

Hours? How do you know that? Merle's "oh woe on me" scene is at the beginning of the episode, which, for all we know, is only minutes after the black guy locked the door.

Posted by: Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz at November 15, 2010 11:16 AM (4JpPD)

We're really supposed to believe Merle went completely crazy just minutes after being left behind?  I suppose that's possible, but his opening scene last night was so over the top it seemed like a guy who'd be isolated for a long time.

Hilarious that we're also supposed to believe that Merle never bothered to *turn around* and notice that there were a bunch of tools right behind him before losing his mind.  I know we're only three episodes in, but this show has some of the laziest writing I've ever seen.

167 142 They cannibalized the Camaro when there is an entire freeway of cars ripe for the picking. 

Posted by: Dave C at November 15, 2010 10:14 AM (poJjg)

The scene where the asian guy (I don't know if any of these characters have names because they're barely characters) is pouting because they're taking parts off his car was beyond stupid.  They're in the middle of the apocalypse and he's bummed out that a car he's had for maybe an hour is being destroyed?  Aren't there millions of other cars to choose from anyway?

Plus, he drove that car back to the campsite with the siren wailing the whole time.  I know they addressed this in the show somewhat, but it really kills all the tension when characters can act that stupid with no repercussions.  

168 The thing that bugged me was when the man on the roof (cant remember his name) uses a hacksaw-a device made for cutting through metal-to slice off his hand instead of sawing through the cuffs or the thin, vent metal he was chained to.

169

Judging by the skyline, the characters' campsite looks to be on the west side of ATL. Could be wrong, though.

Anyway, what's the point going back downtown for weapons when you could probably find more weapons the further away you got from downtown?!

170

there is an entire freeway of cars ripe for the picking.

Not only that, but every major artery going through Atlanta (I-75, 85, & 20) has car dealerships out the wazoo.

171 The woman warrior is nearly a complete fiction.

Nearly. Sorry, but this is a contemporary setting and we have yet to see a female that is a LEO and/or a soldier. Now, granted, soldiers don't seem to have fared to well in this show so far, but there are strong female types who do hunt and shoot, especially in the southern states.

So far, all we've seen are mealy mouthed, prissy pant women whose only value is to cook, clean and fuck. It irks me.

172 So far, all we've seen are mealy mouthed, prissy pant women whose only value is to cook, clean and fuck. It irks me.

And complain about the lack of vibrators.

173 And complain about the lack of vibrators.

Precisely. And washing machines.

Maybe the apocalypse was brought on by a rip in the space-time continuum that sent all back to 1955.

In short, there has yet to be a female character introduced that I can identify/sympathize with. So far, they're a bunch of annoying twats.

174 That's what I liked about Zombieland..

They at least were able to have their pick of transportation.. 

The bright yellow Hummer?  Sure, why not? 

175
The bright yellow Hummer?  Sure, why not? 


"God bless rednecks. Big trucks and bigger guns.”

176

If they follow the comic, they won't run out of plot anytime soon.  Plenty of action and suspense to come.  Season 1 is only six episodes so it is barely scratching the surface.  Trust me, the best is yet to come.

The origin of the virus/infection has thus far not be revealed in the comic and Kirkman himself has said that it doesn't really interest him at all anyways so don't be surprised if it never is.

 

177 The origin of the virus/infection has thus far not be revealed in the comic and Kirkman himself has said that it doesn't really interest him at all anyways so don't be surprised if it never is.

I would like to at least know the events leading up to the collapse. The people were around for that.

178 I read up on the comic..  Apparently Rick does lose his hand later on in the series..

Maybe Merle was some sort of foreshadowing of some sort? 

Again, it's Frank Darabount so I'm leaving that up to pure chance.

179 Trust me, the best is yet to come.

Not really -- what we're watching is the adaptation of issues 1-6, which were the best the comic ever got.  After issue #6 the book started a long decline in quality, a lot of which had to with *koff* soap-opera bullshit.

180 Best guess to what happens next week?  They find Merle and the duffel bag at the same time because Merle recovered them first.

181   But Merle might not know that Rick dropped that Big Bag O' Guns right in front of the disabled tank.  It's not like Rick talked about it a lot before they had to skedaddle off the roof.

182

Not really -- what we're watching is the adaptation of issues 1-6, which were the best the comic ever got.  After issue #6 the book started a long decline in quality, a lot of which had to with *koff* soap-opera bullshit.

But you continued to read it it through this "long decline in quality"?  Soap-opera??  Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

183 The source of the zombie outbreak is never revealed. Since it's a TV show, maybe at some point in the future (to boost ratings) they do a storyline about it - maybe not. As a means of discussion, zombie outbreaks are never explained. The only times and can think of that it is, is in the original NOTLD (space radiation) and in WWZ (a virus called Solanum, originating in China - though in this case the origin of the virus is never revealed. Also in the Return of the Living Dead franchise - some type of chemical agent created by the government. As a plot device, it helps to keep the origin ambiguous - keeps people talking, as we are here. One reason I think it never is really explained is it is so far fetched of an idea. nothing in the real world has ever acted this way so to try to ascribe a real-world type answer doesn't work and would stretch peoples credulity only so far. In the original NOTLD released in the 60s it made a bit more sense to ascribe 'space radiation' to it - people's insight into actual science at the time was still fairly limited. Going with the 'government created it' angle has been overdone and is also too easy. The speculation is fun, though.

184 Dave C, they show in the previews for next weeks episode - Glen grabs the duffel with the weapons from the street, Merle doesn't find it.

185 The biggest problems with Zombieland: No shortage of electrical power. Everyplace they go, the juice is always on. Except for the scene where the college student gets picked up, there is absolutely NO TRAFFIC on ANY of the streets they drive on. Even driving in front of Mann's Chinese Theater in downtown LA - NO cars. You see some of that in TWD, but those are rural raods, so a bit more believable. Zombieland though is a more tongue-in-cheeck comedy, so it can be forgiven attention to realism.

186

I'm calling Ed out as the gay one based on his wife's little boy haircut...

187 and another thing...I think Glenn is going to get some zombie strange...it's how he swings!

188 AS to the differentiation of gender roles, the group devolves into at what were one time social norms - the woman to the 'menial' work, cook, clean, etc. The men to the men stuff - hunt, gather, guard-duty, repair, etc. Of course you've got the wife-abusing white trash doing nothing - but those types, as we've seen, don't last long as the group will eventually get them to begin pitching in or toss them out. We even have some retention of classical hierarchy, the LEO is 'in charge' of the group, being he is seen as an authority figure and knows how to deal with varied personality types. The older guy is a 'wise-man' of a sort being a mediator during the discussion around the campfire. And let's not forget we're going to get some kind of racial overtones with the story given the location. Hopefully, they don't try to push the preaching of this aspect of things to far, it's off-putting to me. And to not be much of a spoiler, the two 'Alphas' are gonna fight...

189 No bankers available to screw everyone in the camp?

190

Okay, I've only gotten to skim the comments so I'm sure a lot of what i'm going to say is repetitive, but:

1) I KNOW I'm not alone in shrieking, "What the HELL?" when we saw that Merle had cut off his hand.   WHY would you go through the effort of cutting off your own hand with a hacksaw instead of HACKSAWING THROUGH THE HANDCUFFS?  I mean, the hell, Merle?  You think the smell of your bloody stump isn't going to draw the zombies to you like sharks to chum?

2) I'm not a big fan of Shane, but i'm going to guess that he told Lori that Rick was dead so he could get her the hell out of that house instead of walking into the Hellmouth to try and rescue her most-likely-dead husband from the hospital.  However, if that was the case he should have said it while she was bitching at him about it instead of standing there like a dumbass.  I will not cry if he gets nommed.

3) Also, he is trying WAY too hard to be Second Papa to Carl.  Just... chill, dude.  You're giving off some seriously pervy vibes with all your water splashy playdates.

4) I admit I WAS cheering when Shane beat the hell out of Ed, though.  That was awesome.  I was kind of irritated that Andrea didn't haul off and punch him first.  Or at least kick him in the crotch.  I'd offer him up as the sacrificial lamb who gets thrown to the zombies when the others are making their escape.  Just slash his Achille's tendons and toss him off the back of the truck.

5) Am I alone in thinking that Daryl, the younger hillbilly, isn't as bad as Merle?  He was confrontational and outspoken, yes, but he was also surprisingly cooperative.  He went through all that trouble to hunt that deer, but he didn't argue when Shane nixed his idea of trying to salvage some venison by cutting away the gnawed bits of the carcass to avoid eating tainted meat.  Likewise he made it clear that he'd hunted the deer AND the squirrels for the entire group, not just for him and his brother.  And even though he had every right to be furious and to go off half-cocked about the others abandoning his brother on that rooftop, he nonetheless got his shit together, calmed down, and agreed to follow Rick's plan to go back to Atlanta.  He didn't go haring off on his own like an idiot.  I think Daryl has potential to really grow and become a leader in this group, provided his stupid brother doesn't completely ruin him and the others don't dismiss him out of hand as some backwoods hick.  Man's got survival skills; they ought to remember that.

6) If Lori spends 95% of her time as a teary-eyed, nagging wifey and doesn't grow some backbone, I WILL feed her to the zombies myself.  Your son gets and accepts your husband's sense of duty, honey, even if he doesn't like it.  Grow up. 

191 192

I'm calling Ed out as the gay one based on his wife's little boy haircut...

Posted by: scrood at November 15, 2010 02:33 PM (56O11)

I kind of wonder if that haircut indicates that she's recovering from chemotherapy or something, so her hair is still growing back.  It seems too short to be a deliberate choice.  In which case Ed is even MORE of a douchebag.

192 I kind of wonder if that haircut indicates that she's recovering from chemotherapy or something, so her hair is still growing back.  It seems too short to be a deliberate choice.  In which case Ed is even MORE of a douchebag.

Probably had brain surgery after the last time Ed beat the crap out of her.

Hated it when she ran to him sobbing "I'm sorry" after Shane gave him a justifiable ass kicking. I would've asked him "How does it feel, asshole?" But, that's me and not the wimpy women of TWD world.

193 The whole cutting off the hand thing is foreshadowing. Yes, it would have been far easier to at least cut through the small bar he was actually cuffed too though than try to cut through the cuffs themselves. Handcuffs are tempered to be hard to break and/or cut. Maybe he could have done it, but one has to also think about the panic/pucker factor. The zeds couldn't get to him, but he didn't know if that would last. He was thinking the quickest thing to do was cut through his wrist.

194 Are we even sure that was Merle's hand? 

195 Hated it when she ran to him sobbing "I'm sorry" after Shane gave him a justifiable ass kicking. I would've asked him "How does it feel, asshole?" But, that's me and not the wimpy women of TWD world.

Posted by: mpur in Texas (kicking Mexico's ass since 1836) at November 15, 2010 03:00 PM (QV82F)

This +1!

And what the hell were the other women doing, hanging back and letting her do that?  Geez, people, you're in the middle of a frigging zombie apocalypse.  Time for some hard truths.  Things like, "Hey, lady, your husband's a selfish asshole who needs to die.  You and your daughter come away from him and stay with me and the next time he starts complaining, we'll give him another ass-kicking.  And we'll keep doing that until he learns his lesson or becomes zombie chow."  Is that so hard?  The rules, such as they were, have completely changed.  guy is a danger not only to his family but to the entire camp.  The sooner everyone puts him in his place, the better.

What also annoyed me was the way Andrea leaned away from Shane after he got finished giving Ed that truly first class beatdown.  It was like she was saying, "Oh my God, Shane, you're such a monster.  My college-educated self can't stand such violence!"  WTF?  Lady, you should be shaking his hand, and you SHOULD have been putting the boot in a few times yourself. 

196 199 The whole cutting off the hand thing is foreshadowing. Yes, it would have been far easier to at least cut through the small bar he was actually cuffed too though than try to cut through the cuffs themselves.

Handcuffs are tempered to be hard to break and/or cut. Maybe he could have done it, but one has to also think about the panic/pucker factor. The zeds couldn't get to him, but he didn't know if that would last. He was thinking the quickest thing to do was cut through his wrist.

Posted by: catmman at November 15, 2010 03:04 PM (DTzwU)

And I get that, but I would have liked to see some indication that Merle had at least attempted to either saw through the cuffs or through the vent metal before settling on his hand.  If he's supposed to be a rugged survivalist you'd think he'd have some knowledge of metal strength, and since he seems like the type to have a criminal record he probably knows a little bit about handcuffs.  The week before he'd asked the black guy to hand him one of the tools - can't remember if it was a hacksaw, crowbar, bolt cutters, what have you -- to get him out of the cuffs, so he'd clearly put a little thought into it already. 

Oh well.  Maybe he figured he could throw his hand at the ravening zombies to distract them while he... floated over the side of the building?  IDK. 

197 Lady, you should be shaking his hand, and you SHOULD have been putting the boot in a few times yourself. 

Posted by: MWR at November 15, 2010 03:25 PM (4df7R)

Though, I forget.  This was the same lady who, the day before, in the middle of an abandoned department store with zombies hammering on the glass doors in desperation to eat her sweet, sweet, flesh, was worried about taking a necklace from a jewelry display because it might be considered looting.  Yeah, okay, I understand wanting to (bitterly) cling to the rules of civilized society as a coping mechanism, but give me a break. 

198 they show in the previews for next weeks episode - Glen grabs the duffel with the weapons from the street, Merle doesn't find it.


Didn't see the preview..  the online site I was using to watch the show this morning clipped it off before it was shown.

It's not like Rick talked about it a lot before they had to skedaddle off the roof. Posted by: Russ from Winterset

When did a little plot hole stop a show like this? 

199 People indignant about the cleaning, cooking, washing women probably need a bit of a reality check, because if they doubt that would be the overall trend, they're kidding themselves. I think it would take longer for the current feminist "I am woman hear me roar" bullshit to be laid to rest, but the black lady's bitching can stand in as pro forma protest I guess. Since the prevailing zombie killing method seems to be blunt trauma, women are at a decided disadvantage. Plus, you can bet your ass most women would be adamant on leaving the icky zombie killing to the men, which pretty much decrees they're left with the low intensity, safe work, out of sheer fairness. I will grant sit-on-his-ass Ed was being dickish by not appearing to do as any work, and the butch haircut wife didn't deserve to get smacked in that case, but, personally, I would have been seconds away from getting physical with college chick since it actually was not her business, and she was being a deliberately antagonistic bitch. Shane's beating was pretty much 90% misdirected Lori rage, and completely out of proportion to the crime. Also, Ed's wife's subsequent behavior was spot on what should be expected from the kind of woman who would marry and stay with Ed in the first place, so I'd say that behavior is currently in character. Also agree about the pc stereotypes regarding the redneck character silliness, and the ridiculous hand sawing, as well as irritated at the made for tv cast size doubling compared to the comic, oh, and anyone who doesn't think the single black lady is there as suburban black dude's dead wife rebound is sweetly naive.

200 People indignant about the cleaning, cooking, washing women probably need a bit of a reality check, because if they doubt that would be the overall trend, they're kidding themselves. I think it would take longer for the current feminist "I am woman hear me roar" bullshit to be laid to rest, but the black lady's bitching can stand in as pro forma protest I guess. Since the prevailing zombie killing method seems to be blunt trauma, women are at a decided disadvantage. Plus, you can bet your ass most women would be adamant on leaving the icky zombie killing to the men, which pretty much decrees they're left with the low intensity, safe work, out of sheer fairness.

Being self sufficient does not equal feminism. I would do what needed to be done to survive, be it laundry, kicking Ed in the nuts or bashing zombie heads. Don't make the assumption that because I'm a woman I can't handle the "icky" stuff.

201 Being self sufficient does not equal feminism. I would do what needed to be done to survive, be it laundry, kicking Ed in the nuts or bashing zombie heads. Don't make the assumption that because I'm a woman I can't handle the "icky" stuff. You apparently didn't fully read, or latch on to what my post actually said : "if they doubt that would be the overall trend." I don't know you, so I'll freely grant you might be one of the minority whose interpretation of "I would do what needed to be done to survive" didn't involve letting hypergamous instinct prompt you to latch onto the highest status male you could find to provide added protection, but you can't reasonably make the declaration that this reaction would be anywhere near as common as the opposite. Again, since guns appear to be a general no-no, unless you are/decide to become an archer, you're left with blunt force trauma, in which upper body strength is critical, plus the endurance required for cross country multiple-day-long periods of rough zombie hunting. Again, you might be one of the exceptions, but given that on average, women only have 1/2 of a man's upper body strength and only 2/3rds the general aerobic capacity, on average women will tend to need the men of the group to pick up the slack, which will lead to resentment, and is generally a bad idea. Again, let me clear, I'm talking about on average here, if you're your state's top female biathlete, you're probably be of more use on the team than at least 70% of your common guy, but should the top male biathlete show up, odds are he'd trump you in team value, so averaging everything out, women stay safe and cook and clean, men go kill zombies.

202 I can hold my own.

That's my point: according to the series, all women (so far) are the sit back and let the men handle it type. Granted, that would be the case most of the time, but in these times, there are women who are better trained and in better shape than the average male bear. Did none of them survive?

Of course, so far, all southern redneck men are racists and/or misogynists, so it's a moot point, I suppose.

As I said before, they have yet to introduce a female character that I can identify/sympathize with.

203

As for supplies..   There's a 3 or 4 lane highway filled with cars that's been showed a couple of times.  Have they all been picked over already? 
Gas completely siphoned out of? 

Those cars will be filled with zombies inside the vehicles, and/or hard-to-spot ankle-biter geeks crawling on the ground.  Picking them over for parts or siphoning gas would be possible, but fraught with potentially deadly clusterfucks.

...soap-opera bullshit.

All of the Romero zombie films are replete with soap opera and melodrama.  That said, I could have stood for a bit less of it, but it seems to be the price for wholesome zombie/mafia/serial killer goodness in even the best cable programs.

Realistically, a military base in this situation would still be occupied by living people (assuming it wasn't manned by total fuckups a la 28 Weeks Later).

When the zombie apocalypse comes, it's very easy to imagine how a military base would be overrun, from without and then from within -- corpses rising from the dead, bitten victims turning.  These things are obviously outside the scope of conventional military training and defense practices. The show has broad visual hints of this military collapse, such as the neatly stacked bodies left outside the hospital, and the tank in the street...

Kinda like being "stuck" in a tank. Don't try to start it. Or use the machine gun. Or lob that grenade out the hatch. What? You're going to make it worse?

How does a civilian start or maneuver a tank -- are these things intuitive or obvious?  Did it run out of gas after one of the occupants turned and killed the others, with the engine left running for hours or days until the fuel was gone?  The show emphasizes the noise factor as deadly in an urban setting.  A grenade would scatter a ring of zombies, but then draw in even more -- yeah, it would likely make the situation worse, absent an immediate escape route (such as a waiting vehicle).

according to the series, all women (so far) are the sit back and let the men handle it type.

If it follows the comic, a couple of bad ass wimmens are on the way.

204

Hello my moron brothers and sisters!  I got here late, and there are over 200 comments already, so I'm behind the power curve.

Not much talk about zombies, so I'll start with this minor topic...

157The college educated woman didn't know enough to kick Ed in the nuts? 

Ahem.  I've been in more than my fair share of street fights.  Everyone thinks a shot to the nuts is a sure fire way to triumph.

I'm here to tell you it ain't. 

Not once in all my streetfighting days did anyone ever successfully land a nut shot on me.  People tried.  But it never solidly landed.

Now don't get me wrong.  Nut trauma is pretty horrific.  When I was in elementary school, I tried to show off by riding my bike down two flights of stairs at school.  After the first couple of stairs, I slipped off the pedals and rode the center bar, bouncing it off my pre-pubesent nuts all the way down.

I had to crawl off to the pickleweed and dry heave for an inmeasurable time after that.

Anyway, nut shots are like the lottery.  Yeah, if you get one, the pay off is pretty spectacular.  But the odds of a payoff are pretty low.

205 Russ from Winterset:13  The first one of you Suckers of Cock who starts going on about sparkly, misunderstood, emo zombies gets the banhammer right between the eyes.  Zombies are Manly Monsters, so let's shun any attempts to feminize them.   You are absolutely right.  Vampires gotta ask permission to enter your home, and silly ass garlic and religeous charms are enough to keep them at bay.   Zombies?   You need a G*d damned fence to keep them at bay.  So yeah, Daryl is on food resupply detail.  Shane is on frog and water resupply detail.  Dale is on equipement and weapons maintenance detail.  Ed... Ed, me and you gotta have a long talk, OK?  See me after the evening meal before the fireguard roster is posted.   And Russ?  There's a shovel with your name on it.   So pretty please, with sugar on top.  Build the fucking fence.

206 Probably a dead thread, but I'll comment anyway.

Anyway, nut shots are like the lottery.  Yeah, if you get one, the pay off is pretty spectacular.  But the odds of a payoff are pretty low.

Which is why when I was training in martial arts, we were told to go for the knees. a) Guys don't instinctly protect their knees; and, b) if you get a good knee shot, they don't recover any time soon. Plenty of time to run away, call the police, call a cab, go have your nails done....

207 Somebody upthread mentioned mentioned "main arteries out of Atlanta" which (in this context, at least) made me think of somebody trying to cut off his own hand with a hacksaw ... there'd be blood all over that roof, even if Merle found some way to stop the bleeding ... assuming he decided cutting  his hand off was his best option ... after he made no attempt to recover the hacksaw <i>until</i> the zeds were trying to force the door. 

Yeah, this little plot device just gets worse and worse the more you think about it.

I'm insulted in what passes for my intelligence and good sense, and that of all my fellow morons, especially if they don't even attempt to address how he got off the roof.  His rescuers needed to cut the chain to get the door open, so he couldn't have gone down the stairs.