But for a presumed Trek fan to criticize TWD because if inconsistencies within the show is laughable to me.
Why? ST is the far future, so it cannot be so strictly judged by the scientific assumptions / expectations of the present day audience; you would be better off just accepting that entire world as operating on a level completely out the range, so it cannot be held to the same standard as a series set in the here and now.
On the other hand, TWD is set in the here and now--and while we accept the fantasy framework of the series, you must remember that TWD prides itself on how "real" it is across the board, from its soap-opera, no low is too low relationships, to the gruesome attacks and/or deaths at the hands of the living and the dead.
For that, TWD--whether the showrunners want it or not--the series is expected to present scripts that reflect reality, not avoid it. In the history of zombie productions, few have been brave enough to tackle the why of the ZA; most were willing to fall back on the "if you are bitten, you turn," and not much else. Night of the Living Dead (1968) suggested radiation from a Venus probe may have triggered their ZA, while The Return of the Living Dead pointed to some sort of military chemical stored in barrels.
Plausible or not, the two productions at least provided the audience with the most natural response: why? We already know we're in for horror, escape scenes and drama, but audiences have a desire to know why or how the dead could rise to be cannibals.
Is it too much to ask the allegedly "realistic" WD to even explore that? Or are the creators/showrunners so cowardly to risk" being challenged by...oh, I don't know...being creative and give more than Jenner's one-off, unsubstantiated statements.
Instead, the series--considering its network--is content to be more soaper than horror drama. It is more about characters overacting anguish, anger, sadism or depression than moments where people truly take just a moment to talk about the problem and what they can do to fight it.
Place yourself in the position of the survivors in season two's finale: after Rick tells them Jenner's opinion, would YOU just accept it as truth?
Look, no one is saying characters do not have off-camera conversations, but the on-camera scenes--that which is presented to audiences--has characters just moving on, as though a life-changing catastrophe of this kind is just as easy to accept as an usually long rainy season.
That is where TWD's showrunners deserve criticism--you have a show trying to be SO realistic in its present day settings, but runs away from any real consideration of why the dead walk at all.
if you were with Ricks group what would you do? tell rick they should head towards Area 51 and see if they have a cure? Maybe to the White House and see if there is anybody there with answers.