The Walking Dead Season 5

[Morpheus 02]

Regarding the tainted meat scene, did the Termites know that everyone is already infected with the zombie virus? I assumed part of the reason they started spitting out what they were eating was because they still assumed that turning into a walker was the result of a walker bite, thus eating a bite victim would make them turn.

I mean, our heroes only know because Jenner told Rick. Granted some people worked it out for themselves, such as the Guvenor (and I think Shane was working it out too).

Do we think the wider surviving populace is aware that everyone is infected already after 2 years?

Personally I think most people still associate a bite/wound from a walker as the cause.

We've talked about this here (or some thread)...that some of us theorize there is a zombie "virus" and a zombie "bacteria" (using those terms very loosely)."

Everyone has the virus. ANd those who have survived these past 2 years and has seen someone die (like the flu or extensive bleeding or whatever) will know that EVERYONE has it, and will reanimate after death. They may not know how quickly it can happen, but by now they now to destroy the brain.

The bacteria, many should know from seeing their friends die if they have been bitten. I don't know if the Termites have tried the amputation thing (and know that it does take a minute for the infection to make it into the bloodstream). But they know that tainted meat means something.

I WAS disappointed that they didn't let one of the Termites die because of that poisoning (either by the sickness itself, or suicide). It could've stretched the storyline an episode or two. I think Gareth was a great villain, and went just a tad too soon.

 

[Velocity]

The thing is...even with the technobabble...it sounded like he would have to do some kind of experiments...tweak things based on certain results....it's not a simple formula, but rather a METHOD of figuring it out that scientists would be able to figure out. Even writing it down would in no way guarantee success. And for the non scientist, basically meaningless

Exactly--writing it down for Joe Average accomplishes nothing, since the cure requires his participation. Without Eugene, the written details means nothing to Rick's group, as they would be glorified shipping to a group who needed the man to help--not notes.

But REAL science depends on procedures being reproduced by other scientists after the method, etc has been written down (in professional journals which can't happen in the ZA), so Eugene should be familiar with the process. Paper and pencils are still available, right? All they would have to do is deliver his ideas to the scientists he is hoping to meet up with. I am still suspicious of him.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The problem with that is Terminus: they were acting on that hope with their broadcasts, and if Rick's group thought it was a chance (as in the actual course of events), the same (rejection of cannibalism / captured as livestock) still unfolds.

You're saying because cannibals are luring people with radio broadcasts, nobody should be listening to radio broadcasts? I can't really agree.

No--i'm saying that ending up at Terminus would have unfolded anyway, since Terminus actively broadcast their invitation, and happened to be the only thing broadcast in their general area. If they respond to that, the same thing happens: marching headlong into a trap.

Plus, I never said they have to check out every broadcast or transmission, and they certainly don't have to believe them, and most importantly, if you DO decide that it's a transmission worth investigating, you do so with extreme skepticism, as in the complete opposite of how they went into Terminus, which I've been saying since the end of last season. lol

Well, we see that being skeptical--after all of the bad experiences with other living groups--was not adopted as a self preservation trait.

Basically, you don't go looking for sanctuary or rescue in the middle of the disaster area. You get out, look for an isolated place to live, & then carefully research options. 2 years in... somebody should have thought of that & acted on it by now

However, living in the safest way possible is that absolute worst thing they could be doing if they want to drum up some drama for a tv show, I figure

Yes--they have to continue to do the opposite of anything promising safety.

 

[Mojochi]

I'm still of the opinion that investigating the Terminus signs & broadcast is not an unavoidable trap. They never should have marched headlong in there. That's what being skeptical is all about

I'm beginning to wonder if the only way to keep up this drama is to continually spit in the face of survival common sense, because that can & will make it unwatchable for me eventually. Characters that never learn a damn thing that's useful are as ridiculous as Gilligan's Island. I'd believe it would wear thin on everyone eventually, which means that going about it this way makes the show a diminishing property. As such, they should just roll the dice & do it right, instead of playing it safe by drumming up senseless conflict

The concept of the show is wholly unrealistic. As such, the characters can't be. If you make a show about doctors or lawyers, then that is a fairly commonplace setting, & then the characters can be stretched in believability, but when the show concept is a complete fantasy, then the characters are actually required to be MORE realistic. We have to be able to wrap our heads around something, and them acting like real people with actual brains has got to be it, either that, or don't keep any of them around long. Start fresh, with new people, & you'll get the freedom to play the stupid card a little more freely, but to watch these folks do it, after 2 years in world is painful

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I'm beginning to wonder if the only way to keep up this drama is to continually spit in the face of survival common sense, because that can & will make it unwatchable for me eventually. Characters that never learn a damn thing that's useful are as ridiculous as Gilligan's Island. I'd believe it would wear thin on everyone eventually, which means that going about it this way makes the show a diminishing property. As such, they should just roll the dice & do it right, instead of playing it safe by drumming up senseless conflict

It is interesting you mention Gilligan; several series where the heroes are "lost" or in fixed situations often suffer down the line from character stupidity, otherwise, simple, realistic solutions would solve the problem in less than 5 episodes.

In the case of TWD, their incessant failure to learn from guaranteed disasters such as human threats pushes credibility to the limit, and if the comics give any clue, they will walk into more human threats. Right around the corner.

This sort of reminds me of the repeating plot weakness in George Romero's zombie films: beyond the original film, the replay of nonsensical arguments or lack of even mildly sensible planning (after the humans know what they're up against) takes the viewer out of the fiction, as we know no one can continue to be so clueless in one skirmish after another.

but when the show concept is a complete fantasy, then the characters are actually required to be MORE realistic. We have to be able to wrap our heads around something, and them acting like real people with actual brains has got to be it, either that, or don't keep any of them around long. Start fresh, with new people, & you'll get the freedom to play the stupid card a little more freely, but to watch these folks do it, after 2 years in world is painful

Good point.

 

[Corran Horn]

It is interesting you mention Gilligan; several series where the heroes are "lost" or in fixed situations often suffer down the line from character stupidity, otherwise, simple, realistic solutions would solve the problem in less than 5 episodes.

I dunno. Real people hardly make the best choices in real life. Happens all the time.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

It is interesting you mention Gilligan; several series where the heroes are "lost" or in fixed situations often suffer down the line from character stupidity, otherwise, simple, realistic solutions would solve the problem in less than 5 episodes.

I dunno. Real people hardly make the best choices in real life. Happens all the time.

Place yourself in the shoes of Rick's group. After running into no less than four collections of hostile humans in a world where decent, cooperative behavior is nonexistent, would you go for a fifth try by walking into a town advertising itself as your last stop for survival?

 

[Corran Horn]

It is interesting you mention Gilligan; several series where the heroes are "lost" or in fixed situations often suffer down the line from character stupidity, otherwise, simple, realistic solutions would solve the problem in less than 5 episodes.

I dunno. Real people hardly make the best choices in real life. Happens all the time.

Place yourself in the shoes of Rick's group. After running into no less than four collections of hostile humans in a world where decent, cooperative behavior is nonexistent, would you go for a fifth try by walking into a town advertising itself as your last stop for survival?

I might be that desperate, sure.

 

[Mojochi]

I dunno. Real people hardly make the best choices in real life. Happens all the time.

Place yourself in the shoes of Rick's group. After running into no less than four collections of hostile humans in a world where decent, cooperative behavior is nonexistent, would you go for a fifth try by walking into a town advertising itself as your last stop for survival?

I might be that desperate, sure.

There it is! Desperation. Desperate would be that your life is imminent peril, imho. If they had simply written it so that our characters WERE desperate, then I could get on board

By desperate, I mean maybe a number of them are injured, shot, bleeding out, dying of thirst, or starvation, chased in by a huge herd they couldn't beat, etc... THEN it becomes a priority to save yourself, and going into some place like Terminus without knowing what to expect is acceptable, because you really are out of options, you're in no position to properly stake out the place, and you won't survive otherwise.

Had that been their circumstance, I'd never have questioned them going in there at all, but they weren't desperate at all, they were pinning their safety on hopes, & they continue to do so. Real people make dumb decisions, yes, but real people hardly choose the same dumb decision after the 3rd time it blows up in their face, without gaining some new perspective. Real people learn... especially when their ass I on the line

If Abe claims the need to get out for Eugene's safety, then he should've left that night, before the Termies showed up, & if not, then once they were all dead, the safe move is to stay with the bigger group, & do your best to maintain its integrity, as in, you hold on long enough to figure out what happened to Carol & Daryl.

Abe being a man trained to put his life in other people's hands should be experienced in that way. It would be like putting a veterinary doctor in the group & then having their pigs get sick & nothing gets done about it until everyone is already dying from illness... Oops, Sorry Hershel. lol

When characters are new, you can forgive some dumbness, even occupational dumbness, but when they have canonically gone through things that should give them perspective, & suspiciously don't get it, because the plot needs them to still be dumb, then your plot is crap.

The premise of The Walking Dead is wholly unrealistic, The behavior of the characters must be entirely the opposite, or we, as real people, will have nothing to invest in. Several seasons in, either some of the dumbness needs to get removed from the equation, or some of the people who should no longer be dumb do

 

[Velocity]

They are desperate to find a safe place to live. They weren't totally trusting, Rick took the precaution of hiding most of their weapons and they didn't see anything through the fences that looked suspicious. It's harder to believe that everyone in the country other than our group is evil and homicidal than it is to think that there must be others somewhere who just want to live in safety, too.

 

[JD]

Sure, they should have been a little more cautious, but I really don't see where the decision to go to Terminus was that unrealistic. Before deciding to go DC, their goal was pretty much just to find a safe place to survive, and the best way to do that would be to find a place like Terminus, or

Spoiler: the comics

Alexandria

in the comics.

 

[kitik]

By desperate, I mean maybe a number of them are injured, shot, bleeding out, dying of thirst, or starvation, chased in by a huge herd they couldn't beat, etc...

So here's a question: should our people even be afraid of being chased by a huge herd anymore? We've seen a number of people put on zombie guts and blend right in with them, without attracting much attention and without getting harmed themselves. We've seen Michonne use her pets to just walk right through zombies.

So in the future, when encountering a group that's bigger than they can kill or more than they want to, and when leaving or escape isn't their preferred option, why not put on some more zombie camouflage?

 

[Trekker4747]

By desperate, I mean maybe a number of them are injured, shot, bleeding out, dying of thirst, or starvation, chased in by a huge herd they couldn't beat, etc...

So here's a question: should our people even be afraid of being chased by a huge herd anymore? We've seen a number of people put on zombie guts and blend right in with them, without attracting much attention and without getting harmed themselves. We've seen Michonne use her pets to just walk right through zombies.

So in the future, when encountering a group that's bigger than they can kill or more than they want to, and when leaving or escape isn't their preferred option, why not put on some more zombie camouflage?

I suspect covering yourself in the zombie offal isn't generally pleasant. And while it may hide you to a degree or two it may not be something that'd work over the long term. There's been cases where the zombies looked suspiciously at those covered in the offal. As for the pets, sort of the same thing, I guess. Even Andrea's didn't work 100%. It could also be a "more trouble than it's worth" sort of thing especially considering a group this big and the number they'd need to camo all of them, not to mention the restraints and stuff they'd need.

 

[Sindatur]

By desperate, I mean maybe a number of them are injured, shot, bleeding out, dying of thirst, or starvation, chased in by a huge herd they couldn't beat, etc...

So here's a question: should our people even be afraid of being chased by a huge herd anymore? We've seen a number of people put on zombie guts and blend right in with them, without attracting much attention and without getting harmed themselves. We've seen Michonne use her pets to just walk right through zombies.

So in the future, when encountering a group that's bigger than they can kill or more than they want to, and when leaving or escape isn't their preferred option, why not put on some more zombie camouflage?

I suspect covering yourself in the zombie offal isn't generally pleasant. And while it may hide you to a degree or two it may not be something that'd work over the long term. There's been cases where the zombies looked suspiciously at those covered in the offal. As for the pets, sort of the same thing, I guess. Even Andrea's didn't work 100%. It could also be a "more trouble than it's worth" sort of thing especially considering a group this big and the number they'd need to camo all of them, not to mention the restraints and stuff they'd need.

Plus, it's pretty much a strategy you need to decide upon, before being in the thick of the herd. It's not really a strategy you could decide to use, once the herd is already upon you

 

[sojourner]

My take is that the bigger the group of people the harder it is to mask the "smell of the living". Michonne by herself didn't even need to put the guts on her. She just kept a walker nearby. Rick and Glenn had to cover themselves in offal.

 

[bbjeg]

I dunno. Real people hardly make the best choices in real life. Happens all the time.

Place yourself in the shoes of Rick's group. After running into no less than four collections of hostile humans in a world where decent, cooperative behavior is nonexistent, would you go for a fifth try by walking into a town advertising itself as your last stop for survival?

Not all of the groups that our group came in contact with were evil. The Vatos, Hershel's farm, and technically the first group (with Rick's family at the start) were all good folk.

 

[Mojochi]

Not all of the groups that our group came in contact with were evil. The Vatos, Hershel's farm, and technically the first group (with Rick's family at the start) were all good folk.

& yet, with each of those groups came catastrophic or near catastrophic consequences regardless. They almost warred with the Vatos. They nearly lost Carl to accident at Hershel's farm & solidifying relations was not easy, & bloody Merle was a damn nightmare in the Shane camp. My point being, It's anarchy! There is potential for things to go wrong or badly even if the other group is decent. The circumstance creates danger, in & of itself. You can't afford to carry yourselves as if there isn't a care in the world beyond perambulating corpses, and though you should still leave an opening in your philosophy for acceptance, you can't assume civility from the world of the living, when civilization is gone

With Terminus, they tramped into the area, got made by spotters, and after tucking a few weapons away in seclusion, rolled into the unexpected. Honestly, If they'd taken a day, they'd have probably caught at least a glimpse of people being herded around like cattle. If they'd scanned the region, they probably would've also come across scouts like Tyrese's punching bag guy, who clearly have no problem traveling alone. You spy that shit

Abe & Rosita are military. Bob was a medic, which sounds military & Rick was in law enforcement. They really need to be better at "Low profile" ops. They're like a bunch of bull moose, who think they still live in a civilized world

 

[shapeshifter]

They tramped headlong into the area with hope grown from the journey along the tracks littered with signs intended to disarm weary travelers with a promise of hope. As presented, it was a perfect trap.

 

[Trekker4747]

I dunno. Real people hardly make the best choices in real life. Happens all the time.

Place yourself in the shoes of Rick's group. After running into no less than four collections of hostile humans in a world where decent, cooperative behavior is nonexistent, would you go for a fifth try by walking into a town advertising itself as your last stop for survival?

Not all of the groups that our group came in contact with were evil. The Vatos, Hershel's farm, and technically the first group (with Rick's family at the start) were all good folk.

Sort of my thought, the only bad group they've encountered is The Governor and his followers and then the Termites. Occsional bad people, the guys in the bar in S2, but over the course of a couple years they've only truly met one bad group, Terminus, as The Governor was more of a single bad individual charismatic and devious enough to get people to follow him.

 

[Velocity]

There was also that group that Daryl fell in with after he lost Beth. They had it in for Rick for an understandable reason, but then they went beyond simple revenge. I don't know if the zombie apocalypse changed them, but I suspect they weren't much different from before.