The Walking dead

[dudius]

The US needs to heed this. Sometimes a series is done after 2 seasons... no need to drag it out for 6 just to keep cashing in.

+1.

I like how a lot of anime series only run 12 episodes.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

+1.

I like how a lot of anime series only run 12 episodes.

Maybe the best one ever made, Neon Genesis Evangelion, is only 22 episodes long I think. And that project was so hard on their team that they blew off some steam making the 6-episode satire series Fooli Cooli (FLCL) which is amazing because it's an anime that makes fun of anime.

I like how they do that for some series, but The Walking Dead is one I would be 100% okay with them continuing for an extended period as long as it stays good. And there are plenty of other series that have yet to overstay their welcomes even after 6 seasons.

 

[Airborneguy]

The problem with Walking Dead as time goes on his that the zombies should have rotted to **** by now (or at least real soon). They need to start addressing the larger issue of how this happened and start heading towards a finish IMO.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

The problem with Walking Dead as time goes on his that the zombies should have rotted to **** by now (or at least real soon). They need to start addressing the larger issue of how this happened and start heading towards a finish IMO.

I agree totally, but the series is doomed to carry on as a zombie itself until enough people stop watching when it really runs out of juice. Then it will be canceled with no conclusion. That's if it follows the normal model, anyway.

 

[BYOBnyc]

LOVE this show, finally joined the forum after improving my craft here for months. First comment is about walking dead, go figure. Off to the informational threads to make my hobby taste better, but first I wanted to share this video. Came across it today, awesome behind the scenes from season 2.

 

[Roadliner]

The problem with Walking Dead as time goes on his that the zombies should have rotted to **** by now (or at least real soon). They need to start addressing the larger issue of how this happened and start heading towards a finish IMO.

Only thing I can think of is there a lot more survivors that we don't know about as we're only following a few groups of people. There could be 1000s of other groups just like them holding out/ replenishing the zombie horde for the time being. If you think of how many millions of people there are.. and weve only seen groups of 100s. There HAS to be more survivors we just haven't come across just waiting to turn into zombies.

 

[45_70sharps]

Only thing I can think of is there a lot more survivors that we don't know about as we're only following a few groups of people. There could be 1000s of other groups just like them holding out/ replenishing the zombie horde for the time being. If you think of how many millions of people there are.. and weve only seen groups of 100s. There HAS to be more survivors we just haven't come across just waiting to turn into zombies.

Yes but many of the zombies are obviously from the original apocalyptic events.
Things like cops in riot gear in the jail are from pre apocalypse and they look as good as the first zombies.
Any new zombies that come from the healthy population would be rare.
Many new deaths would be people that get eaten and the remaining new zombies would be few and far between.

 

[Roadliner]

Yes but many of the zombies are obviously from the original apocalyptic events.
Things like cops in riot gear in the jail are from pre apocalypse and they look as good as the first zombies.
Any new zombies that come from the healthy population would be rare.
Many new deaths would be people that get eaten and the remaining new zombies would be few and far between.

I would disagree.. The cops in riot gear should have held out longer.. thus be in better shape.

I don't understand why new zombies would be rare? They get scratched or just bitten without being eaten.. they are a pretty healthy body that is zombified without much deterioration. Thus still looking like a "new" zombie. I can't help to think with the immense amount of living people available... there wouldn't be a plethora of available bodies to be turned into zombies through multiple scenarios.

Take for instance the guy that died in the last episode.. a perfectly healthy body (though messed up mind) that could have been turned into a zombie through accident/negligence had he not been found by the group and killed/ fed to the zombies.

 

[45_70sharps]

The reason I say they would be rare is because of two things.
First, the original horde of zombies came from converting probably 99 percent of the population of the planet. With only about one percent remaining you can't create as many zombies. We know there's a very small percentage of people who escaped becoming zombies because of the small number of survivors seen around and because whenever there is an institution like the jail there are few if any survivors and enough zombies or bodies to account for most of the people that would have been there.
Second, when the zombies attack they tend to eat the people and not leave enough to convert.
It's fiction, it borders on science fiction and it's got good writers so they may be able to come up with a twist that we wouldn't expect that could explain many of those things.

 

[usfmikeb]

This gets mentioned occasionally, but we're watching a work of fiction, not nonfiction. You have to have a suspension of reality in order to accept that zombies have taken over the world, and that suspension would apply to other things as well.

 

[GrogNerd]

one of the "fresh facts" from last week's episode of Talking Dead was that they were using make-up with more grey in it on the Walkers this season compared to the first.

zombies are re-animated corpses and would continue to decompose so there has to be some point where the deterioration is so bad that they just can't remain upright nor even shamble. which is why I think Zack Snyder was right and Romero was being an a-hole about "fast" zombies; freshly dead zombies would, I think, be able to get to running speeds, but would become much slower as time went on.

given the time frame of the entire show, up to this season (year & a half? 2 years?), I think it's entirely reasonable to presume there would be fewer and fewer fresh zombies and that eventually, with the aforementioned decomposing original zombies becoming "The Crawling Dead" and with survivors realizing that everyone turns no matter the manner of death, actual fresh zombies would become rare.

This gets mentioned occasionally, but we're watching a work of fiction, not nonfiction. You have to have a suspension of reality in order to accept that zombies have taken over the world, and that suspension would apply to other things as well.

true, but suspension of disbelief only goes so far. I can accept that zombies exist in a world where Romero never made his movies (the reason they don't use the word "zombie" in the show), but I have to draw the line at zombies that last forever.

another thing: I've always wondered why the singular form of the word "zombies" isn't "zomby"

 

[usfmikeb]

one of the "fresh facts" from last week's episode of Talking Dead was that they were using make-up with more grey in it on the Walkers this season compared to the first.

zombies are re-animated corpses and would continue to decompose so there has to be some point where the deterioration is so bad that they just can't remain upright nor even shamble. which is why I think Zack Snyder was right and Romero was being an a-hole about "fast" zombies; freshly dead zombies would, I think, be able to get to running speeds, but would become much slower as time went on.

given the time frame of the entire show, up to this season (year & a half? 2 years?), I think it's entirely reasonable to presume there would be fewer and fewer fresh zombies and that eventually, with the aforementioned decomposing original zombies becoming "The Crawling Dead" and with survivors realizing that everyone turns no matter the manner of death, actual fresh zombies would become rare.

NoVA Homebrew in da house!

 

[GrogNerd]

NoVA Homebrew in da house!

woot! woot!

 

[Airborneguy]

This gets mentioned occasionally, but we're watching a work of fiction, not nonfiction. You have to have a suspension of reality in order to accept that zombies have taken over the world, and that suspension would apply to other things as well.

I disagree. A few others have explained this much better than I can, but basically any work of fiction unfolds within 'a world' and we can and should reasonably expect that world once defined, to follow certain rules. The Walking Dead is based in our world, and even though we're dealing with zombie fiction, everything else in the story has for the most part proven to still operate under our world's 'rules'.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

another thing: I've always wondered why the singular form of the word "zombies" isn't "zomby"

Yeah. I feel uncomfortable typing "Zombie" Glad I'm not the only one!

 

[usfmikeb]

I disagree. A few others have explained this much better than I can, but basically any work of fiction unfolds within 'a world' and we can and should reasonably expect that world once defined, to follow certain rules. The Walking Dead is based in our world, and even though we're dealing with zombie fiction, everything else in the story has for the most part proven to still operate under our world's 'rules'.

I disagree. Follow that logic through, and all the survivors need to do is drive straight up to the northern reaches of Canada, because all the zombies will be frozen solid. End of show.

Suspension of reality is core to this show. I get your point, and understand your perspective, but it doesn't make sense for a television show.

 

[GrogNerd]

I disagree. A few others have explained this much better than I can, but basically any work of fiction unfolds within 'a world' and we can and should reasonably expect that world once defined, to follow certain rules. The Walking Dead is based in our world, and even though we're dealing with zombie fiction, everything else in the story has for the most part proven to still operate under our world's 'rules'.

I don't think this show has gone too far outside the boundaries of our world, so I'm willing to give them some wiggle room about most things.

one big problem I have is that it seems there is no suburbia in The Walking Dead universe. They have big cities, small towns, rural farms and then wilderness. when Glenn and Maggie go looking for baby formula, it's a small town grocery.

what? can't find a strip mall or convenience store?

 

[rifraf]

I disagree. Follow that logic through, and all the survivors need to do is drive straight up to the northern reaches of Canada, because all the zombies will be frozen solid. End of show.

Suspension of reality is core to this show. I get your point, and understand your perspective, but it doesn't make sense for a television show.

If you read The Zombie Survival Guide, and World War Z, the zombies in that universe decay very slowly due to the virus that turned them into zombies in the first place. Also, they do freeze in sub zero temperatures.

The Max Brooks world and the Robert Kirkman world aren't exactly the same but they are very similar which I guess is why I never really cared about the non decaying zombies.

They do touch on it in the comics, though it's probably at least a season away.

 

[Airborneguy]

I disagree. Follow that logic through, and all the survivors need to do is drive straight up to the northern reaches of Canada, because all the zombies will be frozen solid. End of show.

Suspension of reality is core to this show. I get your point, and understand your perspective, but it doesn't make sense for a television show.

For the show, it wouldn't make sense to have them do something as obvious as what you just said - drive to Canada - but the point is, they could. As in, Canada exists in their world (more than likely at least, I don't recall Canada being mentioned).

Like I said, someone else explained it earlier much better than I just did, apparently this concept is actually "a thing" as far as fiction writing goes.

Forget the decaying zombies, use the guaranteed head shots as an example. Since we "know" that they are living in our world + zombies, there's no indication that anything else exists which makes them more likely to be super marksman than anything that exists in our world. That said, it is completely unbelievable that every time any character whips out a pistol, a guaranteed headshot is imminent. Even with the experience they now have, it's still not believable. I know people who have served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and have a fair amount of shooting under my own belt, and whenever we talk about the show at work, we laugh the hardest about this point. It's just nonsense the shooting skills they all have, right down to Carl.

 

[GrogNerd]

yeah... the headshot thing bugs me too

and, when they spent 90% of last season searching for Sophia through the woods, covering the most amount of ground SINGLE-FILE?

WTF? you would think that Rick & Shane, as law enforcement officers would know better.

guess they have to make for better drama and for easier recording of dialog

 

[WortMonger]

Love the show and this thread. You guys are very entertaining to read.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Mowed grass
mexican zombies
Just sayin'

 

[mjdonnelly68]

I love when folks get animated about the details of a fictitious concept. I think it's an indication of the quality of the storytelling. People get fully invested in the concept (read: Star Trek and Lost). Well done Walking Dead.

That being said, I think that the slow deterioration of the zombies is being subtly handled by the producers of the show. I think they are slowly shifting the antagonist of the show from the zombie hordes to the surviving 'clans'.

In the first season, the primary conflict was survivors vs zombies. They were everywhere and overwhelming (ala the scenes in Atlanta).

Last season the conflict was centered on the survivors themselves. Think of the Shane vs. Rick dynamic (martial law vs. law enforcement). I'm also thinking of the conflict of philosophies between Dale and Rick (humanism vs realism). Finally, the conflict between Hershel's group and Rick's group (denial vs. adaptation).

That arc completed, this season seems to be focusing on the conflict between surviving clans, ala Rick's group vs. Woodbury. Throughout this season and last, the zombies have been an ever-present threat, but less and less immediate as the survivors adapt and new threats are introduced. I'd compare the zombies to the 'Island' on Lost. Every once in a while the Island would dispatch a character or two to sustain the tension of the premise, but for the most part the action and conflict occurred between people.

Logically, the story seems to be shifting from the Zombie Apocalypse to the impact of the Zombie Apocalypse on the remnants of society. Good stuff and fertile acerage for future seasons.

As for the willful suspension of disbelief, I agree with the folks who say that a certain amount of acceptance is necessary for the premise but I also agree that you need to be careful with the details if your premise is a study in how real people react to an unreal situation.

Critiques of style and substance aside, I'm fully prepared to call Bulls**t on Carl being able to accurately fire a gun as big as his head. Additionally, I'd like to see society restored so that Andrea can be pushed in front of a bus and Daryl can run for congress.

 

[Roadliner]

Congress? Hell, give that guy the presidency.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Congress? Hell, give that guy the presidency.

You gotta start somewhere. I'm thinking maybe, Governor...

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I love when folks get animated about the details of a fictitious concept. I think it's an indication of the quality of the storytelling. People get fully invested in the concept (read: Star Trek and Lost). Well done Walking Dead.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching the show, and really enjoy it.....But the writing ain't all that.

People are just invested in zombies, period. The show's popularity is down more to the subject matter than the quality of the show.

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Don't get me wrong, I love watching the show, and really enjoy it.....But the writing ain't all that.

People are just invested in zombies, period. The show's popularity is down more to the subject matter than the quality of the show.

I'll give you that zombies are the new vampires, but there has to be more to it than that.

Anytime you have real people hoping for the death of a fictional character (read: Lori) a nerve has been hit.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Anytime you have real people hoping for the death of a fictional character (read: Lori) a nerve has been hit.

Not really. I honestly don't think there is any single show I watch that I wouldn't mind seeing some annoying little twonk take a bullet up the nosehole. They all have them! Hell, there are even some people in real life that..........I've said too much. If ABG ever joins the thought police, I am screwed.

 

[usfmikeb]

Like I said, someone else explained it earlier much better than I just did, apparently this concept is actually "a thing" as far as fiction writing goes.

There are many different genres of fiction, and that isn't true of all fiction writing.

BTW, absolutely agree on the shooting, completely unrealistic. There are lots of things like that in the show, that's why its a work of fiction.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

BTW, absolutely agree on the shooting, completely unrealistic. There are lots of things like that in the show, that's why its a work of fiction.

I think the zombies have more to do with it being a work of fiction.