AMC's The Walking Dead Season 1 Discussion & Spoilers

[Reverend]

It's been mentioned numerous times in this thread.

You'll have to forgive me for not reading through 40 pages of posts before asking.

[Caliburn24]

Cracked lays it out the best I have seen. 7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail(Quickly).

http://www.cracked.com/article_18683...l-quickly.html

Very funny, and well written little piece.

But I'm not really looking for a scientifically accurate zombie apocalypse.

I just want some reasonable explanation for how civilization falls with all its mighty armies and massive resources. Yet our ten or so idiots in a magical self-repairing RV survive, all while bickering and beating each up, not noticing the machine guns laying all around or even having the good sense to fort up in a remote hard walled building somewhere.

I like the show more than almost anything else on TV at the moment, but there is a reality disconnect that is jarring for a show trying to stay so grounded and realistic.

[Guy Gardener]

If too much blood got into the water table that would make zombie rain.

But it they haven't mentioned it, I doubt it happened.

[Chaos Descending]

Caliburn24 wrote:

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Cracked lays it out the best I have seen. 7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail(Quickly).

http://www.cracked.com/article_18683...l-quickly.html

Very funny, and well written little piece.

But I'm not really looking for a scientifically accurate zombie apocalypse.

I just want some reasonable explanation for how civilization falls with all its mighty armies and massive resources. Yet our ten or so idiots in a magical self-repairing RV survive, all while bickering and beating each up, not noticing the machine guns laying all around or even having the good sense to fort up in a remote hard walled building somewhere.

I like the show more than almost anything else on TV at the moment, but there is a reality disconnect that is jarring for a show trying to stay so grounded and realistic.

Some people just have lucky breaks.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This is a cool book, and series, and all that, but I'd really like to see them film Philip Nutman's novel Wet Work. That has different 'stages' of undead, if you can believe it; some of them are the slow, shambling 'dumb' zombies we're used to seeing, others are the super-fast variety, all the way up to intelligent, thinking zombies that retain their personality and memories and can do everything we can, like talk, drive cars, put on new clothes, organize ambushes ("Body patrol, come and bag our food!") using guns, etc.

Failing that, I'd go for the possessed-by-aliens angle that another book (which I can't remember at the moment) used. I think that's the only actual 'realistic' zombie portrayal that could be done. There's no other way a dead body could become reanimated; biology just doesn't work that way.

[PsychoPere]

Caliburn24 wrote:

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I just want some reasonable explanation for how civilization falls with all its mighty armies and massive resources.

That's not the point of the series.

[Morpheus 02]

PsychoPere wrote:

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That's not the point of the series.

Yeah...they probably nit picked "Darmok " & "Inner Light", and thought they were bad episodes.

[Spider]

Just taking the series for what it is, a zombie story, it’s not too bad. But the last TV show that really kept my interest was nu-BSG and this doesn’t even come close and frankly shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence. I’ll watch the next season though just because I’m interested in seeing what happens to the people and if they ever get out of this mess and recreate Earth.

As to the show itself, its best moment came in the opening episode where our hero tracks down that half a zombie lady in the park and says “I’m sorry this happened to you” before he shoots her. There just wasn’t a really good moment after that for me.

[Cutter John]

In any zombie story you're going to have to go with a little suspesion of disbelief, or else give the zombies or its cause some extraordinary powers.

The problem I see with a lot of these thread is that people have seen too many movies. They expect that if the dead started to rise, they'd suddenly turn into John Rambo: Zombie Killer. When in fact, most people would hesitate, get frightened, or freak out completely when faced with a horde of partly decayed creatures covered in blood and gory wounds. And probably smelling to high heaven too.

Actually if you're interested in this sort of thing, I'd suggest tracking down a copy of the Zombie Combat Manual http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Combat-...1775053&sr=1-1 It really is a well done and researched book rather than a quicky knock-off of Max Brooks' book.

Random thoughts:

* I can see how zombies could be easy to defeat if it occured in pockets that could be isolated and held in check. But if it occurred everywhere at the same time?

* In some ways, fighting zombies is easier. They don't shoot back, or really have any real weapons apart from their bare hands. Otoh, theres no such thing as a wounded zombie. Shoot a human opponent in an arm, leg, or chest, and they're pretty much down for the count. Humans can also be intimidated, or knocked out by concussion weapons, flash-bangs, or shrapnel. The same shot will only slow a zombie down for a few seconds. (another reason I also really recomend anyone track down a copy of WWZ. It really does cover a lot of this stuff in detail)

* And yes, many people have guns. But how many, apart from a few 'gun nuts' have more than a few boxes of anno lying around? That plus the fact that unless you're a hardcore gang-banger, or combat vet, you're likely to have a problem with, or even hesitate to shoot anther person. No matter how bad-ass you think you might be.

Theres also the problem that, despite what we see in the show, making consistant head shots isn't that easy, unless you're right up in the zombies face.

Just my $.02.

[PsychoPere]

This piece of news makes me go :

[...] reps from Charlie Sheen have confirmed that the actor will cameo as a zombie next season.

[JacksonArcher]

PsychoPere wrote:

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This piece of news makes me go :

This is amazing on so many levels.

[Cutter John]

Can't say I blame him. Who wouldn't want to be a zombie onscreen? Just God forbid the show starts turning into 'Celebrity Zombie Cameo of the Week'

[Temis the Vorta]

Caliburn24 wrote:

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Cracked lays it out the best I have seen. 7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail(Quickly).

http://www.cracked.com/article_18683...l-quickly.html

Very funny, and well written little piece.

Great article. Interesting about the zombie porn.

The problem I see with a lot of these thread is that people have seen too many movies. They expect that if the dead started to rise, they'd suddenly turn into John Rambo: Zombie Killer. When in fact, most people would hesitate, get frightened, or freak out completely when faced with a horde of partly decayed creatures covered in blood and gory wounds. And probably smelling to high heaven too.

I think people would be wigged out the first day, but they'd very quickly get used to thinking of zombies as subhuman (which, after all, they are) and after that, the main problem would be the bullet supply. People are perfectly capable of dehumanizing other people who are not dead, decaying, and trying to eat them, so I really don't see the problem, after everyone gets over the initial shock.

And any celebrity who wants to be a zombie on this show should have to agree to play themselves. Imagine how much fun they could have when the gang makes their way to what remains of Hollywood...

[MilleniumLance]

Yet our ten or so idiots in a magical self-repairing RV survive, all while bickering and beating each up, not noticing the machine guns laying all around or even having the good sense to fort up in a remote hard walled building somewhere.

stay tuned

[PsychoPere]

MilleniumLance wrote:

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stay tuned

...in one year!

I think this wait is going to be painful.