AMC's The Walking Dead Season 1 Discussion & Spoilers

[Meredith]

Wouldn't it already be obvious that all dead people come back as zombies (if it is indeed true on this show)? That's a rather hard thing not to figure out by this point in the apocalypse, though they get a little bit of slack given that it takes between two and eight hours to turn...

I'm not sure I buy the timing of all this, though. It might make sense that some of the research locations would run out of fuel, but aren't a lot of military bases designed to run for years post-nuclear explosion? It really hasn't been that long post-apocalypse. Is it possible that the really-secret locations kept their mouths shut in order to keep safe?

A tiny Nuclear reactor in the basement would let that place run for YEARS if not a Decade or two. All you would need is one the size of one that is used in a nuclear sub and access to an underground water source like a well and that facility would be set.

 

[Vendikarr]

Wouldn't it already be obvious that all dead people come back as zombies (if it is indeed true on this show)? That's a rather hard thing not to figure out by this point in the apocalypse, though they get a little bit of slack given that it takes between two and eight hours to turn...

I'm not sure I buy the timing of all this, though. It might make sense that some of the research locations would run out of fuel, but aren't a lot of military bases designed to run for years post-nuclear explosion? It really hasn't been that long post-apocalypse. Is it possible that the really-secret locations kept their mouths shut in order to keep safe?

A tiny Nuclear reactor in the basement would let that place run for YEARS if not a Decade or two. All you would need is one the size of one that is used in a nuclear sub and access to an underground water source like a well and that facility would be set.

Perhaps the NRC wouldn't give them permission to put a nuclear reactor in Atlanta?

 

[Chaos Descending]

And perhaps they couldn't afford to crew said reactor? They don't just run on their own, ya know.

 

[Zombie]

And perhaps they couldn't afford to crew said reactor? They don't just run on their own, ya know.

Yes they do. The one I have under my hou......

Nevermind........

 

[Silvercrest]

Wouldn't it already be obvious that all dead people come back as zombies?

Only the ones who aren't shot in the head! Seriously, not all dead people do come back as zombies. Some things are obvious for the main characters, like when a zombie's brain is destroyed. Others, not so much without serious clinical observation. The characters just haven't had a chance to figure out all the rules.

I'm not sure I buy the timing of all this, though. It might make sense that some of the research locations would run out of fuel, but aren't a lot of military bases designed to run for years post-nuclear explosion? It really hasn't been that long post-apocalypse. Is it possible that the really-secret locations kept their mouths shut in order to keep safe?

The timing of all this does seem really dodgy. There's the existing issues that everyone keeps bringing up. Rick's survival in the hospital bed for an uncertain number of days, and the encampment running out of food and gas (and duct tape) even though there should be canned goods and vehicles galore throughout the city. There are so few living people around that there is no way the survivors could possibly have consumed it all in a couple months.

But there are new issues. How long did it take the caravan to reach the CDC? One day? Granted that it took a while to repair Dale's hose, I can forgive the timing even though it's in the same city. But as far as I can tell, they left the morning after the attack... and that was the morning after the fish fry. And they told Jenner they hadn't had any food for two or three days? What?

Plus, Jenner's reaction to the destruction of his samples was really odd. He must have known the total self-destruct was only a day away, so why get so upset right then? Unless he was on the verge of a cure, I'm surprised he would even care.

Of course, maybe he had several months' worth of fuel before the group showed up. They must have REALLY used up the hot water!

 

[davejames]

Jenner was creepy as hell. Unsettling. Yet, I understood his actions on an intellectual level. He was dead already. He was only on a 30 day delay. There's a reason solitary confinement is used as punishment. It fucks with your head.

I also thought it was a nice touch that he wasn't really the brains behind the operation. He was just a random scientist who was trying his best to carry on his wife's work, but was clearly out of his depth.

Anyway, awesome episode. It's not very often that a show has me completely riveted to the screen like that, but this one definitely did (especially when it seemed like they really WERE fucked with no way out of that building).

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Okey doke since we have a YEAR before finding out the truth, here's my official speculation:

What Jenner said: "Someone in your group is infected." Being a dick, he deliberately didn't say who. Being a nutjob, Rick doesn't necessarily believe him.

Red-herring suspect: Andrea. Why was she vomiting? We assume it's because she drank too much, but we don't actually know.

Real infectee: Rick. How did he stay unzombified all this time? Nothing happened w/n eight hours that would have infected him.

Answer: he was infected in the hospital, DIED, and was resurrected without zombification. Shane was right, he didn't hear a heartbeat. I watched that scene listening for gunfire, and there was some, but not loud enough to mute the sound of a heartbeat right under your ear. Also, Shane should have felt the heartbeat as well.

How did Rick escape zombification? Unique DNA, or perhaps the hospital was ground zero for an experimental zombie virus that was being developed as a "cure for death," except gee, there were some unforseen "side effects." That's why the soldiers massacred the doctors in the hallway. They found out what they did - it was revenge.Perhaps Rick was infected with the "right" version of the virus, the one that worked correctly, but mutated and escaped. Either he was a guinea pig or it was accidental. Ironically, this means Rick is immune and doesn't realize it. So when Rick gets bit next season, nobody panic. The twist will be that nothing happens.

The solution to the zombie plague is for all survivors to be infected with the correct virus, be killed, and resurrect. From then on, they will be immune and also may be immortal, but that's a different problem.

 

[Aragorn]

"Your wife is pregnant and the child isn't yours, you're infected but somehow immune so humanity is completely dependent on you, all of this started when a kid ate a bad taco salad from his high school cafeteria, I know how Fringe ends, and you're a dick for pining after your friend's wife in Love Actually so I wouldn't throw any stones regarding the first thing I told you."

 

[Meredith]

Okey doke since we have a YEAR before finding out the truth, here's my official speculation:

What Jenner said: "Someone in your group is infected." Being a dick, he deliberately didn't say who. Being a nutjob, Rick doesn't necessarily believe him.

Red-herring suspect: Andrea. Why was she vomiting? We assume it's because she drank too much, but we don't actually know.

Real infectee: Rick. How did he stay unzombified all this time? Nothing happened w/n eight hours that would have infected him.

Answer: he was infected in the hospital, DIED, and was resurrected without zombification. Shane was right, he didn't hear a heartbeat. I watched that scene listening for gunfire, and there was some, but not loud enough to mute the sound of a heartbeat right under your ear. Also, Shane should have felt the heartbeat as well.

How did Rick escape zombification? Unique DNA, or perhaps the hospital was ground zero for an experimental zombie virus that was being developed as a "cure for death," except gee, there were some unforseen "side effects." That's why the soldiers massacred the doctors in the hallway. They found out what they did - it was revenge.Perhaps Rick was infected with the "right" version of the virus, the one that worked correctly, but mutated and escaped. Either he was a guinea pig or it was accidental. Ironically, this means Rick is immune and doesn't realize it. So when Rick gets bit next season, nobody panic. The twist will be that nothing happens.

The solution to the zombie plague is for all survivors to be infected with the correct virus, be killed, and resurrect. From then on, they will be immune and also may be immortal, but that's a different problem.

So Rick is actually "The Walking Dead".....

Maybe because if he was infected he was so close to death that his body's metabolism was different which caused the disease to progress differently. He died from dehydration in his hospital bed and when he woke up he was in fact "resurrecting".

Rick is an awesome Zombie!!!! Of course if he was dead, why would the zombies go after him in the tank and later, I thought the dead avoided the other dead, wasn't this the point of the zombie guts on them. Unless Rick tests positive since he has the antibodies (most virus tests test not for the vitus but the antibodies) and for some reason he fought off the virus due to something going on with his hospitalization. Maybe what Jenner said was, "You test positive, but you are not displaying any symptoms, you could have the antibodies for a cure in your blood, if you manage to escape this building, get help, you are humanity's last chance of survival....".

Jenner seemed to get even more depressed after testing the blood, because he knew the facility itself didn't give him enough time to develop the cure and that they were unable to escape like trapped animals....

 

[Silvercrest]

Answer: he was infected in the hospital, DIED, and was resurrected without zombification. Shane was right, he didn't hear a heartbeat. I watched that scene listening for gunfire, and there was some, but not loud enough to mute the sound of a heartbeat right under your ear. Also, Shane should have felt the heartbeat as well.

So Rick is actually "The Walking Dead".....

Maybe because if he was infected he was so close to death that his body's metabolism was different which caused the disease to progress differently. He died from dehydration in his hospital bed and when he woke up he was in fact "resurrecting".

Jenner did say there were no surprises. I think that would count as a surprise.

A simpler explanation might be that Rick was so deep in coma and his heartbeat was so weak that Shane missed it. It's been known to happen.

I think Rick may have been affected by the virus in some unforeseen way, like maybe it was able to keep his brain stem going until the healing process was complete. But I don't think he's dead.

 

[Meredith]

And perhaps they couldn't afford to crew said reactor? They don't just run on their own, ya know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_4S

They do and are need minimal crewing and are a lot more plausible than the AI they had running in that place.

 

[Meredith]

Hmm had a through, medical nanties to "keep people involved in extreme trauma" alive by re-enforcing the brain stem neurons until the person can recover, but they went rouge... Dun Dun Dun....

 

[Silvercrest]

You've got some serious word substitution going on in that post, but... wow. That's very possible.

And it means there should be others like Rick.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Jenner did say there were no surprises. I think that would count as a surprise.

Jenner didn't know all that stuff about Rick. That's my speculation. All he knew is, Rick is infected, and for whatever reason, hasn't yet shown symptoms. All Jenner knows is that he's never seen more than an eight hour lag time between death and resurrection but he said nothing about the lag time between infection and death. Maybe he has no idea how long it can be. There's never been any discussion of this one way or the other that I can recall, and certainly no proof.

It would be "no surprise" if someone in their group were infected, so I do think he found something in the blood.

In other news, pirates have no taste: The Event is more commonly pirated than The Walking Dead.

 

[Zombie]

I think you are all stretching things.....

I think it's one of two things:

#1 He tells Rick that Lori is pregnant. This is the most likely one.

#2 He tells Rick that all living humans are infected with the Zombie virus and upon any death, not just a Zombie bite or scratch, one will come back as a Zombie. This is why the comic series is called "The Walking Dead" as it's not a reference to the Zombies but the characters themselves. In the book they discover this for themselves. They have not yet discovered it in the show.

I don't think anything else is going to be the whisper. Shane is not a doctor and was under stress and thought he didn't hear a heartbeat. It can and does happen. Rick is a lucky bastard who managed to survive.

 

[LitmusDragon]

I want to believe that the thing that Jenner whispered is "everyone on Earth has the virus and will become a Zombie once they die" which ties in with the comics. This would explain his somewhat cryptic comment about "no surprises" on the blood test- he was hoping someone would show up negative. However, then you'd have to ignore the people who died during the zombie attack and didn't resurrect, and the fact that Jenner said they weren't sure what the pathogen was (if they weren't sure, how could he know everyone is infected). Those last two things could just be continuity errors however.

I like the theory that Rick is some kind of super zombie, very cool.

I really enjoyed this series and look forward to the next season.

 

[Zachary Smith]

no! No! NO!! NO Viruses!!!!

OOoooooOOoo! Be patient! I have it ALL figured out!

Pathogens do not, can not and will NEVER effect dead tissue. Pure and simple.

There is an alternate mechanism by which the Undead are reanimated which circumvents and is independent of biological pathways. It explains everything from the fact that the Walking Dead reanimate in the first place and includes explanations for why they crave human flesh, acquire a decayed appearance so rapidly and even identifies why some zombies seem to function at different levels of intelligence, a few even seeming to maintain a slight concept of "self" and perhaps vague memories. I've even worked out why the bite kills--WITHOUT the fall-back of a "virus".

The Rise of the Walking Dead was a WORLD-WIDE event that manifested simultaneously across the planet. No pathogen can do that. The situation requires the presence of an element already in the environment which is then activated by another factor. Once the Dead rise, then, yes, those people dying from bites would form a spread constellation similar to that of a highly virulent contagion, but that is misleading. There was a direct Cause/Effect incident that created the situation and it operates on a non-biological principle. At least, it is not bio-CHEMICALLY based.

Be patient. I'm putting it all together in my short book.

So did the cliffhanger contradict anything you've worked out, confirm it, or just leave it open to your book.

i hope you're able to finish the book soon...i would be VERY happy to see your ads on Trek BBS instead of the stupid AXE commercials (There ARE others that i DO click on -- the Samsung one was actually helpful)

Thankfully, no. The show did not contradict anything, though I was afraid that it was going to. In fact, the emphasis placed on looking for a biological/pathogen vector as the source for reanimation would put the researchers on totally the wrong path so, in a way, what happened could be seen as validating my concept because they didn't have any answers at all. Of course, I have no idea what the scientist whispered to Rick.

Anyhow, I'm not going to mention it again and I'm out of the thread. There's been no intention to "advertise" on my part. I've just felt impatient to share but don't feel quite ready yet. I WAS hoping to see if anyone had questions I hadn't myself thought to consider, which was one of my main reasons for monitoring this thread and the primary reason for mentioning what I've been working on. So far, no one has stepped up to the plate in that regard though.

Anyone interested can PM me but I don't want to offend any delicate sensibilities like Sentinal's or scnj's any further. I'm sure their eyes must be just be simply exhausted from having been forced to read my posts.

Sorry there, lil' troopers.

 

[Cutter John]

Its a bit unsettling to think that should we have to count on the CDC to save humanity, that everyone there would pack up and run away at the first sign of problems.

Well, the good folks at TWOP found this episode "boring:" and the whole season "overrated." They really do hate everything, don't they?

Ah screw'em. Typical nerdish 'If it becomes popular with the mainstream, we have to show how cool we are by hating it' behavior. (see also Avatar, and the LotR's movies)

 

[Peter the Younger]

And perhaps they couldn't afford to crew said reactor? They don't just run on their own, ya know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_4S

They do and are need minimal crewing and are a lot more plausible than the AI they had running in that place.

Yeah, that would work very well. But you're operating under the assumption that critical government facilities will be built in a way that makes the most sense, especially if it is an uber-critical function. Based on the many monumental cluster****s the world has seen in the past decade or so, I have no trouble believing that the CDC would be powered by diesel generators, because "it's cheaper/we'll get sued if we put a reactor so close to Atlanta/the company that builds the diesel generators is in my congressional district." Take your pick.

 

[Zombie]

I want to believe that the thing that Jenner whispered is "everyone on Earth has the virus and will become a Zombie once they die" which ties in with the comics. This would explain his somewhat cryptic comment about "no surprises" on the blood test- he was hoping someone would show up negative. However, then you'd have to ignore the people who died during the zombie attack and didn't resurrect, and the fact that Jenner said they weren't sure what the pathogen was (if they weren't sure, how could he know everyone is infected). Those last two things could just be continuity errors however.

I like the theory that Rick is some kind of super zombie, very cool.

I really enjoyed this series and look forward to the next season.

Your problem is that the people who died during the Zombie attack didn't turn into Zombies because the group put a pick ax through their heads before they woke up.

Daryl in fact is the one going around camp doing it. Except for wife beater guy. His wife smashed him good.

The one person who died in the Zombie attack and who turned into a Zombie and woke up was Amy. Why? Because Andrea didn't let anyone with the intention of smashing Amy's brain get close enough to do the deed. Andrea wanted to wait for her to turn, wake up and then Andrea would shoot her.