AMC's The Walking Dead Season 1 Discussion & Spoilers

[PsychoPere]

Professor Zoom wrote:

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And, with the racist and the key....I really wished the guy hadn't dropped it. Easy out. I really wish the guy had said, suck it, and chucked the key. I want to see people start acting like this is a world without rules. I want to see people struggling with humanity. Basically, I felt like it was an easy out, having the key fall into a whole.

This character wasn't that type of guy, but with the comics as a roadmap, the show definitely will go there.

Snaploud wrote:

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Some differences from the comics:
I don't remember the zombies being able to climb fences. It also seemed to be implied that they didn't move very fast (in comparison to the half-run of some of the zombies in this episode).
Also, I think the sex (between the wife and the best friend) was just a one-time even that was revealed later in the storyline.
It's been a long time since I read the opening story arcs, so I could be wrong.

All correct. As I recall, in the comics, Lori and Shane had sex one night when both were particularly depressed, rather than the apparent ongoing situation implied by the scene in this episode. Zombies definitely couldn't climb fences

otherwise the gated community and the prison both would have been abandoned quickly, and the zombies definitely slowed down as winter set in.

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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I thought it was a bit odd that they could hop the fence but couldn't figure out the ladder.

It did look like one of them had gotten its hands onto the rungs, but might not have been able to pull up due to the weight of the other zombies around it.

TheBrew wrote:

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Good news, Zomfans! TWD got renewed for a 2nd season!

It did? When?

[Mike Farley]

Zombie wrote:

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I'm waiting to see if they do anything with that one particular Zombie that got off the bus when Rick rode by. The Zombie with the black hair and black suit. When Rick jumped up to close the hatch on the top of the tank that Zombie stood out from the crowd in the way it looked at him. There was somthing there besides thoughts of food. At least IMHO.....

He just wanted his close-up. That was Charlie Aldred, the penciller of all but the first 6 issues of the series.

[label]

PsychoPere wrote:

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Zombies definitely couldn't climb fences

otherwise the gated community and the prison both would have been abandoned quickly, and the zombies definitely slowed down as winter set in.

I might be misremembering, but I didn't think the zombie actually got over the fence but sort of made a half-baked attempt to get over the gate, failed, and then the walkers knocked the fence down.

They certainly didn't successfully climb the ladder early in the episode either so I don't get the feeling that the zombies will be able to overcome a fence that isn't easily pulled down by the weight of the crowd.

As for the "affair" between the wife and friend........I really hope that is dealt with and over in an episode as I could sincerely less about a love triangle in the context of an apocalyptic zombie story. I didn't care for them in Lost and I certainly don't think this series will benefit from their use beyond just being an easy crutch for writers to lean on for easy story-telling.

[PsychoPere]

label wrote:

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I might be misremembering, but I didn't think the zombie actually got over the fence but sort of made a half-baked attempt to get over the gate, failed, and then the walkers knocked the fence down.

I had looked away from the tv screen for a few moments and when I refocused on it, the fence was down, but I suspect you're remembering correctly.

label wrote:

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As for the "affair" between the wife and friend........I really hope that is dealt with and over in an episode as I could sincerely less about a love triangle in the context of an apocalyptic zombie story. I didn't care for them in Lost and I certainly don't think this series will benefit from their use beyond just being an easy crutch for writers to lean on for easy story-telling.

If the tv series keeps to the comics roadmap, the affair itself (and most of Rick's reactions to it) should be over pretty quickly, though there will be some lingering effects for quite some time.


For those of us who've read the comics, where do you think this season will end, if it ends in similar comics-inspired events?

I'm thinking it'll end with the zombies attacking the camp and the survivors setting out in Dale's RV. I can't recall, though, was that before or after Rick knew about Herschel's farm?

[Professor Zoom]

PsychoPere wrote:

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This character wasn't that type of guy, but with the comics as a roadmap, the show definitely will go there.

Yeah. I know. But, what I'm really getting at: we're AHEAD of the show. I KNOW they're going there. So I would rather they get there more quickly and THEN start surprising me. Because right now, that's where I am. I'm waiting to be surprised, or shocked by their behavior.

I know people are going to start making awful choices. It's like waiting for the twist that you know is coming. I hate being ahead of shows.

[the G-man]

Mike Farley wrote:

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He just wanted his close-up. That was Charlie Aldred, the penciller of all but the first 6 issues of the series.

You mean the one that sort of looks like a Zombie Jim Carrey?

[Zombie]

Mike Farley wrote:

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He just wanted his close-up. That was Charlie Aldred, the penciller of all but the first 6 issues of the series.

Oh......I thought it was something important.

[Zombie]

label wrote:

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I might be misremembering, but I didn't think the zombie actually got over the fence but sort of made a half-baked attempt to get over the gate, failed, and then the walkers knocked the fence down.

They certainly didn't successfully climb the ladder early in the episode either so I don't get the feeling that the zombies will be able to overcome a fence that isn't easily pulled down by the weight of the crowd.

Oh they definitely climbed the gate before the weight of all the other Zombies knocked it down.

They showed at least three get up to the top and then Rick shot them down, then while they showed Glenn getting the keys to the truck (amazing lucky IMHO to find and then get the right truck) they show Rick shooting several more times. Then as they get in the truck one final Zombie jumps the gate and trys to get Glenn just as he gets in the truck. At this point the gate falls.

Maybe if a Zombie see you do it the Zombie can do it. Or attempt to do it.

Zombie see, Zombie do?

Makes some sense.

As for the "affair" between the wife and friend........I really hope that is dealt with and over in an episode as I could sincerely less about a love triangle in the context of an apocalyptic zombie story. I didn't care for them in Lost and I certainly don't think this series will benefit from their use beyond just being an easy crutch for writers to lean on for easy story-telling.

You ain't going to have to worry about that.

[Cutter John]

Mike Farley wrote:

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He just wanted his close-up. That was Charlie Aldred, the penciller of all but the first 6 issues of the series.

Thanks for the explaination. I always worry when a single zombie gets an extended close up. It's probably from watching too much Romero, but it always seems thats the one zombie who seems to find the secret way in to the survivors and winds up popping up later in the film to threaten a main character (see the Hari Krishna zombie in DotD).

[RJDiogenes]

Servo wrote:

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One of the characters said that it was just a cloud burst, that they get them all the time, and it would pass pretty quick.

Yeah, they did justify it, but it still came off as a convenient plot device. They should have let it keep raining for a while.

USS Avenger wrote:

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I also noticed that one of the zombies was using a rock (or maybe a piece of broken pavement) to try to break through the glass doors of the department store. That use of a simple tool has me wondering just how intelligent these zombies are. Who knows what else they could figure out?

Yeah, I saw the tool-using Zombies as well. And some of them knew how to climb the fence. And some of the looks Rick and Glenn got in the street were really creepy, like the Zombies were really mulling them over.

Etched wrote:

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See the sweat that was coming off him? It wasn't from running. Any tank can get very hot just sitting there in the sun. Stay there too long without water or AC (and thats if the tank has one which I doubt) and he dies.

Okay, that makes perfect sense.

[Vendikarr]

PsychoPere wrote:

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For those of us who've read the comics, where do you think this season will end, if it ends in similar comics-inspired events?

I'm thinking it'll end with the zombies attacking the camp and the survivors setting out in Dale's RV. I can't recall, though, was that before or after Rick knew about Herschel's farm?

They left the field, met Tyree, found the gated community, then Hershel's farm. Their pace is a bit slower than I thought it would be. I thought the best place to end season one would have been after they move into the gated community. The camera pans outside and we see the snow fall off the sign revealing the message Do Not Enter All Dead Inside. Then to be continued...

[Zombie]

RJDiogenes wrote:

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Yeah, I saw the tool-using Zombies as well. And some of them knew how to climb the fence. And some of the looks Rick and Glenn got in the street were really creepy, like the Zombies were really mulling them over.

Yeah the Zombies were thinking: "They look weird even for one of us but they smell like us.....their faces though look too fresh......"

[Temis the Vorta]

Another great episode, filled with ingenuity and gore.

The redneck guy was maybe too cliched for me, but overall they're doing great so far. Grant is now my favorite character.

[Horta Burger]

This show is definitely interesting, if for no other reason than it is very different for TV . In terms of effective scenes, what stand out are:

(1) The tank scene at the end of Episode 1. Crawling under the tank seemed hopeless, then the sudden transition to the pristine interior of the tank, the close-in zombie shot, the resulting noise dislocation, then the shot of ant-like zombies around the tank from above. Visually, that was just a very well-done sequence. Very sensory.

(2) The father and son in Episode One, culminating in his inability to shoot the zombie of his wife. It was somewhat cliched but effective.

(3) Yeah, the guts-smearing thing. You just don't expect to see that on TV.

I'm curious whether they can keep this going given the one-dimensional nature of zombies, but it's surprisingly effective so far.

[PsychoPere]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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Grant is now my favorite character.

I assume you mean Glenn.