The Walking Dead Season 2 Discussion *Spoilers*

[wissaboo]

DarthTom wrote:

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Andrea also had a great point. Why would women automatically be the one's to wash clothes and cook the food? It's sexist to assume that women would automatically fall back into that roll in this situation.

and ironic that Lori ran to Andrea when she needed help.

What about the zombies with no bite marks?

[marillion]

^^ Good call on that.. I hope they don't let that point go.. I'm not recalling if that's been addressed in the comics or not.. But if all it takes is a scratch, our ragtag band of heros needs to start wearing long sleeve turtlenecks!!

[Santeria]

If everyone's infected, all it takes is for them to die through some other means. Heart attack, aneurysm, falling, starvation, etc. The scratches they saw could just be incidental.

Also, notice how nonplussed Rick was about the information. Almost as if he already knew it didn't require a bite.

[PsychoPere]

Dorian Thompson wrote:

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Nobody discussing tonight's episode? Did everyone watch the Oscars instead?

I didn't. I was continuing a Veronica Mars rewatch. I typically save The Walking Dead for my Monday lunch "break" between bouts of school work.

sojourner wrote:

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I'm a little hazy, but is Jimmie married to Beth? If so, where the hell was he while she was playing suicide girl?

I too was wondering where he was during this whole thing, but Beth mentioned they had only been dating for about 3 months. Not sure if that included the time after the apocalypse, or just time prior.

sojourner wrote:

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Also, was this one week later? Rick made a comment at the beginning of the episode that sounded as much. If so, are we to believe that punk kid had never talked in that entire time?

It did sound like this picked up a week later; Herschel probably wanted to give Randall's leg a little time to start healing before they put him back out in the world. Since this seems like the first conversation anyone had with the kid, Rick and company must have kept him silenced while he was in the shed. Doing so seems odd, though, as you'd think they would've been asking questions about the other group.

wissaboo wrote:

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What is the deal with Randall's leg? I thought they cut it off.

To add to what Dorian Thompson said: That was the original plan, but too many walkers were moving in on them too quickly while they were in town, so Rick ended up just pulling the kids leg straight up. When they arrived back at the farm, Herschel had Randall put into a shed so he could perform surgery.

[Santeria]

I really wish they'd start calling them zombies at least. I mean, I could understand one group not doing it, but every group they come across has a different and often silly name. Walkers, roamers, etc.

Did zombie movies just not exist in this universe or something? I'm beginning to think that's the case since they haven't even considered finding a mall yet.

[Temis the Vorta]

Another great episode!

Zombies with no bite marks = the virus is airborne and everyone is infected. They aren't going to need to die before turning, either. It's a ticking clock for everyone.

That's the gut-punch twist this story needs. For people to turn after death is not really going to come across as being so dire - all that means if someone dies of natural causes or is executed (like maybe is happening next week?) you shoot em in the head. Is that really so traumatic compared with everything else they've experienced?

And that's the CDC guy's secret that Rick hasn't told everyone - to this point, he didn't really believe it. I noticed how he lingered and looked at the bodies, as though he was remembering...

The survivors so far have been doubly lucky - they didn't get bit, and they have genetic resistance to being infected without being bit. Some might be immune, which they can tell if they actually go through the zombification process and revive without being turned. I think that's what happened to Rick already, and that his immunity will become an important point after everyone realizes that there really is no hope for humanity.

The plot twist can't really be that there's no hope, period - there's no place for the story to go from there. A slim hope, centered on the main character (and possibly also his son and unborn baby since the immunity is probably genetic) works much better.

As for the Fight in the Kitchen, I was 100% on Andrea's side - Lori just came off as a bitch, and Maggie wasn't much better.

As for the division of labor, it's insane that this group isn't training every able-bodied adult in the use of firearms, or better, crossbows (Herschell must be able to tell them the location of the nearest sporting goods store!) because Rick's idea to use knives is pretty whack. Letting a zombie get within bite range? I'd rather take my chances with a gun until I can find a damn crossbow. Even something like a sledgehammer would be preferable to a knife. Anything that will keep you out of bite range.

If all the adults rotate zombie-spotting duties, then all the adults can cook and do laundry as well. Getting as many people into rotation for zombie-spotting is crucial because having to do a stressful job where you always must be alert, yet nothing usually happens, is very hard for people to keep up for hours on end. I'd say shifts of 2 or 3 hours would be optimal before fresh eyes should be brought on. There should be at least two people on duty at all times - nobody has eyes in the back of their head!

If Darryl or Shane doesn't like to do laundry, tough. It's a zombie apocalypse, or haven't you heard, and everyone needs to adjust.

[Temis the Vorta]

Santeria wrote:

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If everyone's infected, all it takes is for them to die through some other means. Heart attack, aneurysm, falling, starvation, etc. The scratches they saw could just be incidental.

There were no signs of death at all. Two young healthy guys aren't going to croak from natural causes like heart attack at the same time. They didn't have any trauma such as falling, and they didn't look starved. They might have committed suicide by taking poison, but a couple of armed sheriffs are more likely to shoot themselves in the head - the means is readily at hand - yet that didn't happen either.

The virus is what killed them, and it's going to happen to everyone eventually. And Rick is immune.

This is a good plot twist because it means that anyone can turn at any time, without warning. This will destroy the one element that they have going for them - social cohesion (such as it is) - and really ratchet up the stakes.

For people to turn after death doesn't change the stakes much at all. The most likely way any of these folks will die is by zombie bite, which means they're pretty much fated to have their brains blown out post-mortem now. So what if that becomes more of a necessity? It's a plot twist to nowhere. I hope this show is being written better than that.

As for Randall, how can he be able to walk at all, after that horrific leg injury he got? And if Rick thinks about it for ten seconds, he should realize that Randall is trustworthy and sincere in being willing to switch loyalties to them, because he's too stupid to be putting on an act. He spent all that time in the truck and never once asked himself "why are they bothering to drive me out to the ass-end of nowhere?" He should have realized that the last thing he should do, is let them know he's a local boy.

[sojourner]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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There were no signs of death at all. Two young healthy guys aren't going to croak from natural causes like heart attack at the same time. They didn't have any trauma such as falling, and they didn't look starved. They might have committed suicide by taking poison, but a couple of armed sheriffs are more likely to shoot themselves in the head - the means is readily at hand - yet that didn't happen either.

The virus is what killed them, and it's going to happen to everyone eventually. And Rick is immune.

Well, I'm glad you had time to perform an autopsy on the two guys in order to reach your conclusion.

Oh, and this immunity stuff you keep bringing up? more

[DarthTom]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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SNIP

Great analysis as always Temis. I do have one nitpick of the show now that I'm thinking about it. The viewer has no concept of the passage of time. One episode Carl is laying in bed recovering from a severe gunshot wound the next he's on his feet fully recovered.

Similar, Randall's leg is severely wounded, the next episode he's able to at least stand on two feet.

How much time passes between these events? It would help the viewer understand the level of frustration that the group has and Herschel did if we understood how much time they've been staying on the farm.

Presumably to recover from both situation we're talking week's not days.

[RJDiogenes]

This was a great episode. Rick's two-part confrontation with Shane-- with a knock down, drag out in the middle-- and Lori's confrontation with Andrea are prime examples of what makes this show great. And they didn't shrink back from acknowledging that Andrea, as crazy and unpleasant as she is, was right about the kid needing to face the reality of death before knowing that she wants to live.

And zombies with no bite marks-- interesting.

Santeria wrote:

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Did zombie movies just not exist in this universe or something? I'm beginning to think that's the case since they haven't even considered finding a mall yet.

I think, with the exception of comedies, all zombie movies and stories have assumed that no zombie movies and stories have existed.

[wissaboo]

RJDiogenes wrote:

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This was a great episode. Rick's two-part confrontation with Shane-- with a knock down, drag out in the middle-- and Lori's confrontation with Andrea are prime examples of what makes this show great. And they didn't shrink back from acknowledging that Andrea, as crazy and unpleasant as she is, was right about the kid needing to face the reality of death before knowing that she wants to live.

And zombies with no bite marks-- interesting.

I think, with the exception of comedies, all zombie movies and stories have assumed that no zombie movies and stories have existed.

the creator of the comic was on Talking Dead and said they are in a universe with no zombie stories

[PsychoPere]

DarthTom wrote:

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Similar, Randall's leg is severely wounded, the next episode he's able to at least stand on two feet.
How much time passes between these events?

Rick stated at the beginning of the episode that it's been a week.

[Snaploud]

It's funny that Lori was complaining about doing laundry while somebody else was laying about...Wasn't that one of the criticisms of the Lori character (that she went around moralizing and generally acting like a crazy person without doing any of the work)?

[Immolatus]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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The virus is what killed them, and it's going to happen to everyone eventually. And Rick is immune.

if the virus killed them what about the rest of our rag tag group. And Hershals group had a bunch of lamebrains in the barn.

did any one notice the zombies attacking rick? when rick pointed his gun at the zombies head the walker moved the gun out of the way, the third one also moved it out of the way.

[sojourner]

The gun was blocking their ability to bite him. I doubt it was any kind of self preservation.