Walking Dead

[rva]

Thought I'd give it it's own topic since it seems a bunch of us are watching it.

[Doug]

I'm loving the show so far.  But I'm kinda' the target audience, having already been a big fan of the graphic novels.  So far they've stayed pretty close to the story in the books.  Some of the shots in the show are almost exact re-creations of the ones in the book and the characters are dead on.  The show does stuff with the audio that is amazing and creates some really good tension that you can't get in the books.  It's also nice and cliff-hangery like the books.  When I first heard about this coming to TV, I was afraid it would be discounted as a throw away horror show or something.  I'm glad it's getting the viewer-ship it deserves.

[Nate]

I have to read the graphic novels now.  LOVE this show.  Whomever is doing the TV programming at AMC deserves a medal.  3 for 3 so far.

[vizzah]

I'm not the target audience at all, but I've really been diggin' it.  But I agree with RVA that Sunday episode made me hate a LOT of the characters, especially the Rick's wife. I want to murder her face off.
I did enjoy the savage beating of that wife-slappin' goon, though.

[Kwyjibo]

I said what you said about the hacksaw too, RVA.  That's just sloppy.

[Doug]

That hacksaw bit was straight from Mad Max...what can you cut through faster...your wrist or the steel?  I think old dude was freaked out so bad by the zombies scrambling to get at him that he made the difficult choice.

I think the thing I love so much about any kind of zombie flick is that the zombies are monsters, but they don't even come close to the monsters that the survivors of the zombie apocalypse become when under the strain of trying to struggle and survive.  This show does that so much better because it chooses to develop the characters so well.  I couldn't bring myself to hate any of the characters because I can actually envision myself in their place and I probably wouldn't like the guy I would become were I in that situation.

[Kwyjibo]

That hacksaw bit was straight from Mad Max...what can you cut through faster...your wrist or the steel? 

That half inch piece of steel would have been a whole lot easier to cut through than his arm dude, especially considering the how long all of that pain would make it take.

[rva]

That half inch piece of steel would have been a whole lot easier to cut through than his arm dude, especially considering the how long all of that pain would make it take.

I agree.  Plus he still had the option of just cutting off his thumb which is more obviously easier than hacking off your hand, and less likely to kill you.

I can't really buy the panic thing either.  Because when the zombies showed up he still hadn't even gotten the hacksaw yet.  So by the time he finished dorking around trying to snag the hacksaw with the belt it should have been somewhat obvious he had some time.

It also seems like he could have gotten his pants off, thereby giving him a much longer reach as well as a heavier, wider, instrument with which to try and snag and drag a hacksaw or a gun.

The only decent explanation for me would be if someone else came along and hacked his hand off.

I couldn't bring myself to hate any of the characters because I can actually envision myself in their place and I probably wouldn't like the guy I would become were I in that situation.

Yeah, I can dig that.  I wasn't really trying to criticize the series or the characters so much as commenting on that one episode.  If it's done well, there should be episodes where everyone comes across as incompetent, evil, or whatever.  And also some episodes where we see their good sides.  As long as the overall ratio is somewhat in balance over the upcoming seasons, I got no problem with what they did on Sunday.

I like the Shane character.  That actor is doing a really good job.  But I'm with vizzah on Rick's wife.  So far I can't stand her-- either as a "person" or her presence on the show.  Hopefully they tighten that up.

[Butter]

They put in a throwaway line to explain the saw in this week's episode... blade was too dull for the steel, but sharp enough to get through the arm.

I'm going with he was too stupid to think of just cutting the thumb.  Because he was.

Speaking of stupid, way to let your guard down, campers.  Sets up an interesting last couple of episodes to finish the season though, as they wait for the girl to turn into a zombie, or, I assume, race to get help for her.

[Doug]

Sets up an interesting last couple of episodes to finish the season though, as they wait for the girl to turn into a zombie, or, I assume, race to get help for her.

I'd say it will be the former rather than the latter.

[vizzah]

Andrea's (the older sister) over-acting was downright painful to watch at the end.  Like, so bad that it made me uncomfortable.  And, regarding the boat dialog at the beginning, I think my lovely husband put it best:
"man, that one gal seeing her sister die on the walking dead must have been in as much pain as I was during their fishing talk in the intro."

[Kwyjibo]

So Julie and her sister's theory is that dude from the rooftop lured the zombies to their camp.  I think it's plausible.

[Doug]

That was my first thought too, but I somehow don't think that's the case.  There were a ton of plot holes in that zombie swarm.  Their little tin-can alarm system didn't work for them.  Nobody was on watch.  If I was a survivor of the zombie apocalypse, I sure as hell wouldn't be camped out in the open with no guard.  Dumbasses.  I can't wait until next week

[rva]

Andrea's (the older sister) over-acting was downright painful to watch at the end.  Like, so bad that it made me uncomfortable.  And, regarding the boat dialog at the beginning, I think my lovely husband put it best:
"man, that one gal seeing her sister die on the walking dead must have been in as much pain as I was during their fishing talk in the intro."

Yeah, I totally agree.  I don't think it was the actresses fault though, they just gave her nothing to work with.  It was also stupid to me from a plot standpoint.  Yeah, smear yourself with zombie-infected blood.  Just run your hands through it as much as possible. 

I'm becoming disturbed at all the plot holes.  Like Doug said, it shouldn't have been so easy for the zombies to get through the defenses.  I'm also unclear as to why they sent a group to the city in the first place.  They knew there was nothing there, they were somewhat surprised and happy when they came back.  They didn't want Rick going back, even when he had a semi-concrete goal in mind to bring back guns.  So what was the point in sending that first group out there?  Near as I can tell, they were just hanging out in that store, doing pretty much nothing with no car or means of escape and they all would have died without Rick.

I liked the bit with the vatos, though. They had their act together much more than Rick's group.  I mean, the odds were pretty high they were going to die in the city, but they sorta knew that so it wasn't just dumbassery like the others.  But since they turned out to be kinda cool and all, and considering Rick respected them, and considering they had some of the guns and ammo.... why not give them a CB channel and codeword or something so you can stay in contact before splitting?  Maybe they did and they just skipped over it.  If so, I guess we'll be seeing those guys again.

[Juliana]

The whole thing of living in a field so close to a majorly messed up zombified city just doesn't make any sense to me.
I plotted about this last night when I couldn't sleep.
I'd go to the suburbs, block off streets, yards, whatever with cars/construction equipment, and dumpsters and whatever else I could get my hands on.  Overturned busses seemed like a really good idea last night.
You could eventually clear out the whole town and fence the whole thing off like a fortress.