Shoot 'em in the head

December 14, 2010 7:56 AM

Every zombie kill in The Walking Dead in 69s (NSFW)

The adaptation of the comic book series has been generally well received, though there some who have issues with the programme. Previously (1, 2)

posted by fearfulsymmetry (84 comments total)

Damn, I need to get a crossbow.
posted by greasy_skillet at 7:59 AM on December 14, 2010

You know, zombie kills in 69s, with the NSFW ... I translated that verrrrrry differently at first.
posted by adipocere at 8:00 AM on December 14, 2010 [14 favorites]

The Walking Dead considered by The Last Psychiatrist and Overthinking It.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:02 AM on December 14, 2010

It's a show about characters.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 8:03 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

You know, zombie kills in 69s, with the NSFW ... I translated that verrrrrry differently at first.
posted by adipocere

Same. I shuddered pretty hard.
posted by COBRA! at 8:06 AM on December 14, 2010

Wait is the walking dead over now?
posted by angrycat at 8:12 AM on December 14, 2010

69s...what up, my brother?

/nevernotfunny
posted by inturnaround at 8:13 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I've heard that they fired all the writers from Season 1, which was probably a good move. Except they didn't.

A zombie TV show is almost a can't-miss proposal. I expect it to run for a while, regardless of the obvious gaping plot holes that will never be filled. I assume it will be an airborne virus and that these people are the ones who are immune ... or are they? (no spoilers, just conjecture.) I haven't read the books.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:14 AM on December 14, 2010

Allow me to graciously answer some of the excellent questions posed in the "plot holes" article:

Why isn't this world-gone-mad messier?

Because it's a TV show.

Why aren't guns plentiful?

Because it wouldn't be as awesome.

Why are they acting like cars and gas are rare?

Because fuck you this show kicks ass.

Why are they about to run out of food, and why are they out of duct tape?

See above.
posted by windbox at 8:14 AM on December 14, 2010 [14 favorites]

You know, zombie kills in 69s, with the NSFW ... I translated that verrrrrry differently at first.
...posted by fearfulsymmetry

I, too, was ready to break out the eponysterical call...
posted by yeloson at 8:16 AM on December 14, 2010 [9 favorites]

Whoa, the plot holes they go over aren't even the bad plot holes. It is standard apocalypse modus operandi for you to be constantly out of fuel, ammo and basic supplies. Besides, at the very beginning it is established that this is the way the fictional world works. This is like nitpicking space ship design on Star Trek.

No, there are much, much bigger problems with the story, just in the last episode:

The CDC having a giant bomb underneath it (?!), a facility running on backup generators that keeps the AC/cooling units running for comfort (?!), the bomb exploding just out of reach of the vehicles (?!), the Four Season emergency shelter in the CDC (?!), the fact that everyone except one person apparently killed themselves or left, as if a premier biolab in the country wouldn't have a few crazy loners working on the biggest disease ever to hit humanity (?!), that all the ham operators in the world are now apparently zombies as there's no one even coordinating with the CDC (?!).

I'm going to even leave out the truly atrocious dialogue, such as the comically bad line about humanity being doomed because of their reliance on fossil fuels.
posted by geoff. at 8:27 AM on December 14, 2010 [6 favorites]

A zombie TV show is almost a can't-miss proposal

So is a show about people getting superheroic powers. Bad writing and aimlessness can kill anything. I like TWD so far, but Darabont seems to have isolated the weak link, and I hope he's gonna fix it next season.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:37 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

You know, zombie kills in 69s, with the NSFW ... I translated that verrrrrry differently at first.

Sadly, me too.

I didn't make a point of actually watching this show when it aired, but I watched the pilot when it was on Hulu (late at night, before bed, while whacked out on allergy meds, BECAUSE I'M SMART LIKE THAT) and then caught up with the rest of the episodes on On Demand. Cree. Pee. Every time I'm lying in bed and my house decides to have an "I think I'll settle myself a little" moment, I find myself involuntarily checking the doorways.

Though I noticed that the zombiegore dropped off considerably after the first couple of episodes, which allowed me to focus on all the bizarre stuff like "Why hasn't Rick asked how this all happened," "Why didn't they join forces with the thugs in Atlanta," "Why aren't they siphoning gas out of all those abandoned cars," "Why aren't they making makeshift silencers for the handguns," "Why aren't they fashioning bows and arrows," "Why isn't anybody from the camp gossiping about Ricks' wife and whatshisname now that Rick is back," "What would happen to the fetus if a pregnant woman got infected," "How did the zombies manage to take down all those military helicopters," "If the CDC has the capability to LITERALLY make FIRE out of THIN AIR in order to destroy itself, why can't it use that power to POWER ITSELF," and most importantly "WHAT ABOUT EVERYBODY'S PETS? IS THIS ALL JUST A BUILDUP TO A ZOMBIE KITTY TAKEOVER?"
posted by Gator at 8:37 AM on December 14, 2010 [7 favorites]

I'm going to even leave out the truly atrocious dialogue

I'm still stuck on every character announcing their motivations and goals at the start of every scene like they're in light opera. 6 episodes, still can't recall a single character's name.
posted by The Whelk at 8:39 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

I think my biggest problem with this video and quite a few others I've seen is that they focus on the undead and the violence. My reading of the books (and yes, I could be wrong) was that this was a character driven drama that just happens to be set during a zombie apocalypse*. Concentrating on the walkers completely misses the point.

* Because zombies make great metaphors.
posted by JaredSeth at 8:40 AM on December 14, 2010

I had similar issues with The Road. I know it's ten years after the apocalypse, that a lot of the post disaster consumables have been consumed, but come on! Virtually everyone is dead. America has hundreds of millions of fire arms and billions of rounds! And they couldn't find a couple bicycles ANYWHERE?

Yes, I know it's more of a poem, and I thought of my sons and cried over it, but sheesh.
posted by Scoo at 8:43 AM on December 14, 2010

Gator, I found myself wondering about the gas siphoning thing and the missing cats right off. I mean, there's a horse in a farm where a farmer and his wife have shot themselves to avoid becoming zombies, and the horse is fine, but there are no big fat farm cats? Even without rodents (let's say the zombies ate the rats, maybe), cats would (sorry, squeamish people) gnaw on corpses if they needed to in order to stay alive.

Makeshifts silencers is a tougher question, because it would take time and knowhow I'm not sure a lot of the survivors have.

Helicopters, I figure, ran out of fuel and had to land and then were zombie swarmed.

The CDC thing bothered me. The idea that the CDC would have the best grip of what caused this outbreak made sense to me. Then, the huge bomb and the fire that was like a kajillion degrees and took down the entire building but was easily survivable by the people just jumping out the window to get away was just ridonkulous. Absurd.

The pregnant woman and fetus thing had never occurred to me, and it's an intriguing concept that will probably be giving me nightmares now. Thanks for that.
posted by misha at 8:47 AM on December 14, 2010

The Overthinking It piece is OK, but he or she conveniently ignore the survivors living (fairly well) within the city of Atlanta.

geoff. gets to a few of the bigger problems with the show. It's not the missing bodies or guns or duct tape (those are all given suspensions of disbelief based on the genre). It's not the fact that 1 guy in a tank could likely kill a city's worth of zombies pretty easily. I'll even accept the "cover yourself with zombie flesh and they won't notice you" stretch. (I admit the "why don't they just take a car!" part bugs me.)

The CDC thing was wack. One guy and his partner left alone ("Everybody just left!")? A huge bomb (that doesn't crack windshields 50 ft. away) placed underneath a government building in the middle of Atlanta? Merle's saw and handcuffs trick was wack ("Hm. Too dull to cut through steel.") The whole Amy-Andrea setup was wack. Lots of shit was wack.

And, yeah, the dialogue. The acting ain't great neither. I think Jim, the old guy, and Norman Reedus are OK, but the leads are weak. Andrew Lincoln is a better choice than the guy I thought he was (Mark Feuerstein), but it's an odd choice. Lori is over her head. Shane is adequately annoying. Andrea, Glenn, and T-Dog are adequate backups, but nothing special. Carl is lost.

I think my biggest problem with this video and quite a few others I've seen is that they focus on the undead and the violence.

I was going to say the show needs more zombies. The humans aren't interesting enough. Though I would agree on the gratuitous gore. Do I really need to see the pick-ax go into the head?
posted by mrgrimm at 8:51 AM on December 14, 2010

And yet, of course, I'll watch it when it returns. can't miss proposal, I say...
posted by mrgrimm at 8:52 AM on December 14, 2010

Though I would agree on the gratuitous gore. Do I really need to see the pick-ax go into the head?

Please. The only time and attention given to any aspect of this show has been the FX work. Let the makeup dorks have their fun.

The pregnant woman and fetus thing had never occurred to me

The original shooting script of 28 Days Later had a zombie baby in a crib - but it was cut cause it was too similar to the zombie little kid in the burger stand.

But yeah, I'm not seeing a single thing here I haven't seen done better other places. Like the scope and scale is ambitious for a TV series but there's nothing there.
posted by The Whelk at 8:54 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm still stuck on every character announcing their motivations and goals at the start of every scene like they're in light opera.

I am the very model of a modern major ~~~BRAINS~~
posted by Mister_A at 9:08 AM on December 14, 2010 [6 favorites]

Saw a set of cartoons that I can't find again that covered a lot of material of the 'plot holes' link. One I particular remember was Sheriff Rick talking to his kid 'Well son I know you thought I was dead and we've only just got back together but I've got to go back into zombie-filled Atlanta to save the racist psycho no one but his brother likes and the bag of guns I dropped because apparently there are no other guns anywhere.'

It was about half way through the series I suddenly realised that really it wasn't very good. Very inconstant writing and general idiocy (why are they camped next to a wood?! Why are they sat around the camp-fire with their backs to it?!) and bar the odd zombie make-up money shot they whole thing looks cheap (the cinematography is well weak for a start). I know it's 'only tv' but my expectations had been raised by a rather nifty first ep.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:09 AM on December 14, 2010

The pregnant woman and fetus thing had never occurred to me

There was a zombie nativity scene in the new Dawn of the Dead.
posted by Mister_A at 9:09 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Overthinking It piece is OK, but he or she conveniently ignore the survivors living (fairly well) within the city of Atlanta.

I think that piece was written before that episode.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:10 AM on December 14, 2010

The Zombie pregnancy thing was also tackled on one of the Romero's remake. I believe it was Day of the Dead or something like that with Ving Rhames, they are camped out in a mall and a pregnant woman becomes infected. Her husband keeps her alive somehow and the end result is a little zombie baby.
posted by The1andonly at 9:11 AM on December 14, 2010

I loved the first season of the show. The only thing I didn't like so much was the CDC thing, but having read the books, I think that was clearly added to give us a big finish to this first block of episodes. If you went strictly by the comics, I don't know if they could have done a six episode run with a satisfying ending. Merle was also pretty much invented for the show, but I suspect he is replacing a future villain.

They are having to lay an awful lot of ground work in the first six episodes. The comics used a lot of flashing back to explain things, such as Shane and Laurie, but the show isn't doing this really. So, they need to explain stuff as they go, which can be a bit awkward.

I think that Rick, Shane, Merle, Merle's brother, and Dale are all pretty great in their roles. There are also a lot of new characters to come in future seasons.

I am really pumped for season 2 and what I suspect it will bring. :)
posted by utsutsu at 9:11 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I checked the series out after hearing some buzz about it and have to say that I agree with The Whelk on every point. I skipped through most of the first episode just because there didn't seem to be anything original to the setup or story - it's zombie trope 101. And then we got to the violence and cinematic shots of apocalyptic Atlanta. So...it's goredazzled.
posted by zylocomotion at 9:12 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

The walker without a jaw whose tongue is hanging down onto her chest and gets it with a crossbow at the start of one ep is an actor friend of mine. A perfectly lovely young woman who also plays a flying angel in a popular live Christmas show. If only those kids knew!

I love acting.
posted by bovious at 9:19 AM on December 14, 2010

The CDC having a giant bomb underneath it (?!), a facility running on backup generators that keeps the AC/cooling units running for comfort (?!), the bomb exploding just out of reach of the vehicles (?!), the Four Season emergency shelter in the CDC (?!), the fact that everyone except one person apparently killed themselves or left, as if a premier biolab in the country wouldn't have a few crazy loners working on the biggest disease ever to hit humanity (?!), that all the ham operators in the world are now apparently zombies as there's no one even coordinating with the CDC (?!).

Yeah, I love the show but that last episode was just weak. I'm with utsutsu, there's not really a break in the books at this point in the story, so they went with the CDC thing.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 9:24 AM on December 14, 2010

They are having to lay an awful lot of ground work in the first six episodes.

Well I don't know how it comes in the books - but the first, second and 3rd episodes seemed agonizingly padded.
posted by The Whelk at 9:26 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

From what I've read they aren't planning on sticking to the books in general.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:26 AM on December 14, 2010

No kidding about the shoddy writing, poorly-conceived cardboard characters, ridiculous plot holes. There have been several moments in each episode that made me cringe, and I've been rooting for this show from the beginning. I almost threw my TV out the window after watching the "gangbanger nursing home" episode. And that was before they arrived at the CDC that was apparently dreamt up by drunk fifth-graders.

But despite all this, I know I'll keep watching. Sigh.
posted by naju at 9:31 AM on December 14, 2010

Haven't seen the books, and I'm not sure if I'll keep watching -- does anyone have any idea what Dreadful Secret the CDC doctor whispers in Sherrif Rick's ear just before the complex blows up?
posted by newmoistness at 9:37 AM on December 14, 2010

The 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake had a zombie mother and fetus.
posted by oneironaut at 9:39 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm on book 6 of the graphic novel collection and my biggest gripe with the TV series is that Rick doesn't seem much of a leader; he feels more like he's just along for the ride.

Part of this is due to the different pacing and the fact that Shane has stuck around a lot longer than in the comics. Still, it's annoying; one of the more interesting themes the comics explores is leadership: "what does it mean to be a leader, especially in an emergency?", "how far will you go as a leader to control/protect your tribe?" etc. The comic had a lot of conflicts between Rick and the survivors over leadership decisions.

I'm not seeing this so far in the TV series. This season's theme seemed to have been, "the decision to live or die should be in the individual's hands" and "we don't kill the living*". I'm hoping next season brings a greater contrast to this initial sentiment, especially with regards to Rick's character development.

* Yes, there was conflict/hypocrisy over this moral code in the handcuffing episode, but I feel the impact of what was done was quickly forgotten, especially by Rick.
posted by Wossname at 9:40 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

does anyone have any idea what Dreadful Secret the CDC doctor whispers in Sherrif Rick's ear just before the complex blows up?

The answer is here!
posted by shakespeherian at 9:50 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

The reason it sucks so hard is it's by Frank "Shawshank" Darabont and when heads aren't being blown up it's saturated with mawkish Hallmark card sentimentality that would make Charles Dickens' skull blush.

The only way it could possibly be worse is if Sam Mendes were involved.
posted by fleetmouse at 9:52 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

when heads aren't being blown up it's saturated with mawkish Hallmark card sentimentality

I take that back - in the last episode he managed to have both in the same scene. Jesus wept.
posted by fleetmouse at 9:55 AM on December 14, 2010

does anyone have any idea what Dreadful Secret the CDC doctor whispers in Sherrif Rick's ear just before the complex blows up?

1. (as previously guessed) they're all infected
2. Rick is a "Walker"
3. Lori is pregnant ... with Shane's baby

I'll take #1 or #2. #3 and I'm out.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:59 AM on December 14, 2010

I've only seen the first 3 at this point; a move screwed up my ability to stay current, but with this whackadoodle nonsense of almost a year between seasons I didn't feel a lot of time pressure to stay up to date. So I have yet to see this stuff with an encounter with survivors in Atlanta or the CDC. Can't say I'm looking forward to it.

The comic is well worth picking up. There's no hint of explanation of the cause of the 'plague' and writer/creator Kirkman has been clear there never will be - it's irrelevant to the human situation. And that situation is where the book really shines. Kirkman has also affirmed that yes, the walking dead is a reference to the survivors, not the zombies.

It's unfortunate the show can't seem to manage this low-level unease, but I can't say I'm surprised. The incessant pressure of living in that world is a slow burn, something TV doesn't do all that well. There'd be no question in the comic why they don't opt to live in a house somewhere - the lesson that gets learned repeatedly is that you need a lot of directions to flee in and that it's dead easy to find yourself overwhelmed.

I think some of the plot hole complaints are a little misguided. The absence of plentiful guns seems, to me, pretty simple. I live in gun-friendly Virginia but I couldn't tell you where a single spot to pick up a ready cache of weapons would be that would likely still be intact a month later. Sporting good stores and places with long guns would likely have been looted all to hell. Gun stores are pretty damned fortified so if they weren't opened and looted immediately they'd be a challenge to get into.

When it comes to picking up things piecemeal one by one, that would be very time consuming and involve entering dark unsafe house after house in order to search for a weapon that might or might not be there. Ditto food - if I was an early fatality you'd be able to loot my house and get about 8-12 cans. Less than one full meal for their group and you'd have to risk entering an unknown possibly zombie-inhabited home to get it.
posted by phearlez at 10:00 AM on December 14, 2010 [3 favorites]

Haven't seen the books, and I'm not sure if I'll keep watching -- does anyone have any idea what Dreadful Secret the CDC doctor whispers in Sherrif Rick's ear just before the complex blows up?

Yes. And if you thought about it, you would too. All the information you need is in the episode.
posted by Billiken at 10:07 AM on December 14, 2010

What would happen to the fetus if a pregnant woman got infected

Don't ask.
posted by Gelatin at 10:09 AM on December 14, 2010

The comic is well worth picking up. There's no hint of explanation of the cause of the 'plague' and writer/creator Kirkman has been clear there never will be - it's irrelevant to the human situation. And that situation is where the book really shines. Kirkman has also affirmed that yes, the walking dead is a reference to the survivors, not the zombies.

The main theme of the comics, which hasn't really been explored enough in the TV show, is that the biggest problem for the survivors isn't the zombies...it's other survivors. Hell really is other people for the folks in the comic.
posted by Billiken at 10:10 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

shakespeherian: The Walking Dead considered by The Last Psychiatrist and Overthinking It.

From Overthinking It: Though zombies have been present in pop culture since the dawn of the motion picture era, credit goes to Romero for making them a staple. His Living Dead trilogy, which has since expanded into a six-part series...

Aherm, corrections: Romero's series is a tetralogy, with something of a new world/series created in Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. The first four are a progression of the world, from initial outbreak (Night of the Living Dead), the human population dwindles while zombies increase (Dawn of the Dead), zombies become more threatening (Day of the Dead), and zombies become a significant population (Land of the Dead). There was a 20 year gap between Day and Land, but they're part of the same sequence. Diary and Survival are different styles, with Diary kind of an obnoxious Blair Witch-like "documentary in the making," and Survival follows some small-part characters from Diary.

/zombie nerd mode
posted by filthy light thief at 10:16 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Since we're already spoiling things, did anybody else find it odd that Jacqui decides to die at the end of the last episode, and everybody's "All right, see ya!" but then Andrea makes the same decision and Jenner refuses to leave without here. I kept waiting for them to cut to Jacqui with her arms folder and a look that says "Oh, this is just typical" on her face.

But that's what you get for not being a character at all. I bet a lot of you didn't remember that her name was Jacqui.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:24 AM on December 14, 2010 [11 favorites]

I didn't remember that anyone's name was anything, to be honest.

Also, I'm pretty sure that the doc whispered in Rick's ear 'The point is, I would gladly step in front of traffic for you, Rick. And the last thing I would ever do to you... is lie to you.'
posted by shakespeherian at 10:40 AM on December 14, 2010

re: the whisper. potential spoilers follow...



I figured he was letting Rick know that he witnessed Shane getting aggressive with Laurie... surely that would have been caught on security cameras.

On further thought, it could also be something to do with the blood tests... but I don't think it's that anyone is infected.
posted by utsutsu at 10:46 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Here's the zombie newborn from Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake.
posted by hot soup girl at 10:47 AM on December 14, 2010

The Walking Dead considered by The Last Psychiatrist

In Episode 1, a black man and his son are hiding out in their house, the only two humans surrounded by zombies. They save the main character, Fred Grimes, who also has a kid, but Fred is white. Is that just a coincidence? Of course (not). Black is in contrast to white, which would mean-- foreshadowing-- that the black guy is going to become quite dark.

Yeah, I pretty much stopped reading right there.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:56 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

Reasons why Walking Dead sucks
LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU I'M TOO BUSY WATCHING A ZOMBIE SHOW ON TV. WHICH IS AWESOME.
posted by juv3nal at 11:01 AM on December 14, 2010 [4 favorites]

But despite all this, I know I'll keep watching. Sigh.

It was a cold, rainy Sunday. I was done writing my disseration for the night. I was wearing sweat pants and eating candy. And I still switched off the finale before it was over. I didn't think there could be a show more badly constructed than Glee.
posted by Beardman at 11:01 AM on December 14, 2010

Black is in contrast to white, which would mean-- foreshadowing-- that the black guy is going to become quite dark.

wtf is he talking about? That guy is the best.

Well I don't know how it comes in the books - but the first, second and 3rd episodes seemed agonizingly padded.

——————————SPOILER ALERT———————————————

Yeah in the books shane dies in the 2nd or 3rd. It's really heart-breaking and kind of crazy.
/spoiler
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 11:04 AM on December 14, 2010

Man, I really wish people wouldn't use "plot hole" as a synonym for "here is my ridiculous nerd quibble".
posted by Artw at 11:06 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

The Walking Dead is extremely flawed in terms of its writing, acting, direction, cinematography, etc. and the gangsta nursing home episode was downright cringe-worthy. But here is the thing, the worst television show about zombies is better than the best television show not about zombies. So I hope The Walking Dead gets better, but if it maintains its current level of quality and continues to be about zombies, then I will watch it for as long as they care to make it.
posted by ND¢ at 11:11 AM on December 14, 2010 [8 favorites]

I haven't watched the show yet, but I have read Compendium 1 and the first small book that follows.

The awesome thing about this is that you could have easily done a scene-for-scene remake of the books. It's literally a storyboard - I couldn't think of a single extra scene that would be necessary in a video form.

So, it's especially annoying that they apparently are diverging so far from the source material.
posted by odinsdream at 11:11 AM on December 14, 2010

But that's what you get for not being a character at all. I bet a lot of you didn't remember that her name was Jacqui.

She was the only character I liked.
posted by vibrotronica at 11:12 AM on December 14, 2010

There will never be enough zombies.
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 11:15 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

"From what I've read they aren't planning on sticking to the books in general."

This is terrible news if true. I had never read comic books, or graphic novels or whatever before I burned through all 70+ books of the Walking Dead this summer, and I thought it was fantastic. When I heard they were doing a TV show, I thought even better - they have years of quality source material and can't go off the rails like Lost or BSG. The comics still have the right kind of cliffhanger beats, and continuously introduce new characters, perfect for a TV adaption. I thought it could be like a Sopranos version of the Zombie movie, where the zombies are tangential to the characters (like the Mafia mostly was to Tony and the gang), and we could see a properly fleshed out post-apocalyptic zombie filled wasteland instead of what we get in 28 days later and the Romero movies, a 2-hour snapshot that needs a big finish.

The first six episodes are miserable, already divergent from the book, and don't give me much hope for the rest of the series. The CDC thing was a joke.
posted by loquax at 11:15 AM on December 14, 2010

Also, I can't help but feel I'm watching the terrible made for TV "The Stand" miniseries version of the Walking Dead. Some of the same names are there, and they're doing kind of the same thing, but it's missing the point badly.
posted by loquax at 11:19 AM on December 14, 2010

I like the show and know people involved with it but I agree with a lot of the quibbles, especially when it comes to things that make the survivors seem really, really stupid. Like when someone is picking mushrooms and asks if these ones over here are poisonous and another character says "There's only one way to find out."

Yes, there is. Go to the nearest library and take out a book on fucking mushrooms.
posted by Bookhouse at 11:25 AM on December 14, 2010

This is terrible news if true. I had never read comic books, or graphic novels or whatever before I burned through all 70+ books of the Walking Dead this summer, and I thought it was fantastic.

Yeah I'm really bad about things like this:

I read the first 75 books in a single sitting, with 5-10 minute breaks for meals. I'm like a junkie.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 11:27 AM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

Yes, there is. Go to the nearest library and take out a book on fucking mushrooms.

Every show needs its Willow, and every movie needs its Hermoine.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:35 AM on December 14, 2010 [3 favorites]

But here is the thing, the worst television show about zombies is better than the best television show not about zombies.

In a similar vein, one of the pithiest bits of cinema criticism I ever heard was my 7-year-old nephew's thoughtful comment on Pirates of the Caribbean: "You can tell it's a good movie when it has more skeletons than human beings."
posted by newmoistness at 11:41 AM on December 14, 2010 [11 favorites]

Sure, there's probably lots of guns and food left, but there are also lots of places where guns and food can be hidden. The whole problem is that you can't wander around going from door to door and trunk to trunk turning over every leaf and collecting every resource from every abandoned gas tank, because you get bitten if you do that. I have no problem at all with the assumption that guns and duct tape are getting scarce, not because they are physically scarce, but because it's physically impossible for a few dozen people to search all the hideouts of a city of millions of walkers.

I also didn't have a problem with Rick wanting to go back; his desire to get the walkie-talkie needed to warn off Morgan from going to the city was enough justification to me. He did save his life, and Rick seems like the kind of person to not forget that kind of thing.

The CDC bomb idea was just unforgivable though. Also the timing of running out of diesel fuel right after they arrive. And why would Jenner be so eager to run blood tests if he knew that with the added load of a new group of people that the diesel would run out in a matter of hours? Why even bother if you know it's all going up in flames?
posted by Rhomboid at 12:12 PM on December 14, 2010

The Zombie pregnancy thing was also tackled on one of the Romero's remake. I believe it was Day of the Dead or something like that with Ving Rhames, they are camped out in a mall and a pregnant woman becomes infected. Her husband keeps her alive somehow and the end result is a little zombie baby.

That's where I walked out of Dawn of the Dead. Well, actually a couple of minutes before that. You see, I don't generally like this type of horror. Rather than finding it cathartic, I just find it upsetting. So when it became clear to me that the baby was stillborn while the mother was still alive, I expected the mother to be chewed through from within. And that was more than I was willing to watch. So I went out to the hall and did crossword puzzles until the movie was over and my friends came out. I'm told the actual scene was far less horrific than what my imagination had provided, but I still have no desire to go back and finish the movie.

I started to watch The Walking Dead when it came on because of all the hype and the good advance reviews. Then I had a burst of sanity much earlier in the experience than with Dawn... "Hey, karmakaze," I thought, "haven't we already established that this sort of thing just upsets you?"
posted by Karmakaze at 12:39 PM on December 14, 2010

I was pretty amused to see the "giant firebomb at the CDC" plot point end up on PolitiFact (the verdict was, appropriately enough, PANTS ON FIRE!)
posted by Rhaomi at 1:04 PM on December 14, 2010

But that's what you get for not being a character at all. I bet a lot of you didn't remember that her name was Jacqui.

Of course I did. She's probably the best actor of the bunch, after Reedus.

Did anybody else find it odd that Jacqui decides to die at the end of the last episode, and everybody's "All right, see ya!" but then Andrea makes the same decision and Jenner refuses to leave without here.

Dale, not Jenner. And it's been established (in ep. 4 or 5) that Dale, Amy, and Andrea are (were) some sort of post-ZA "family." (Not sure if Dale and Andrea are fucking, but I would guess so.)

Also, T-Dog makes an effort to convince Jacqui to leave. I admit that made me pause ("so only the black guy cares about the black woman?!"), but that probably says as much about me as it does the show.

I had no problems with that scene/decision. It seemed like Jacqui had made a considered decision, whereas Andrea was still grieving for her sister and perhaps not in a stable frame of mind.

If Dale had done the same thing with Jacqui (i.e. "If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving") I have a good feeling Jacqui would say, "OK, it's better this way anyway." I mean, if Andrea really thought she was doing the right thing, why would she care if Dale did the right thing too?
posted by mrgrimm at 1:04 PM on December 14, 2010

why would Jenner be so eager to run blood tests if he knew that with the added load of a new group of people that the diesel would run out in a matter of hours? Why even bother if you know it's all going up in flames?

I assumed everyone in the group (including Jenner) was already infected, which is why when Rick asks him what he found, Jenner says "nothing unexpected."

That would lead me to believe that what he whispers to Rick is that "you're all infected." He also makes comments like "you won't feel that way for long," etc.

Having not read the book(s), I'm at a disadvantage for a prediction here, but that would be my guess.

Haven't seen the books, and I'm not sure if I'll keep watching -- does anyone have any idea what Dreadful Secret the CDC doctor whispers in Sherrif Rick's ear just before the complex blows up?

Yes. And if you thought about it, you would too. All the information you need is in the episode.

Care to write it down for posterity/confirmation? Or when it's revealed, are you just going to say, "Yep, I knew it! Told you!"

Again, maybe it's obvious from the comic book, but the TV season finale offered a few possibilities for what Jenner whispered.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:11 PM on December 14, 2010

I've only seen the first episode so far. I liked it ok, but the tank bit at the end is very unrealistic. First, M1 tanks don't have the hatch on the bottom. M60 tanks did - I've driven both. Second, the nonexistent hatch is under the driver's compartment rather than the main compartment. Third, there is NOWHERE NEAR that much space in a tank. It's very cramped inside a tank. Finally, even if you did squeeze through the driver's hatch, you wouldn't be able to get in the main compartment unless the turret is pointing to the rear.

I don't intend this as a serious criticism, I just think it's interesting what you notice when you happen to know about a specific thing that you see in a movie or TV show.
posted by me & my monkey at 1:13 PM on December 14, 2010

Sometimes my wife gets annoyed with me when I point out things like that. Like how many bullets come out of a six-shooter.
posted by Fleebnork at 1:51 PM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

My favorite is still in that Nic Cage movie The Weatherman which you only catch if you know Chicago pretty well but there's a scene when he says he's going to watch to the Chinese place down the street and leaves his suburban home and the next minute is standing on the corner of Damen and Milwaukee in the middle of Wicker Park.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:24 PM on December 14, 2010

Being able to tell when movie characters randomly teleport around town and then to Toronto for a bit is one of the perks of living inNYC
posted by The Whelk at 2:27 PM on December 14, 2010 [3 favorites]

The most likely answer is that Jenner was telling Rick that someone is the group is pregnant. Lori, most likely. And given the timing that would mean Shane is the father rather than Rick.
posted by Justinian at 2:57 PM on December 14, 2010

Diary and Survival are different styles, with Diary kind of an obnoxious Blair Witch-like "documentary in the making,"

I like Diary of the Dead. It's an updated version that a) inlcudes what would most likely happen with today's technology and b)playfully includes the cliches of every other horror movie.

The Walking Dead is awesome, but the whole "it's really bad in the city" would kind of lead me to believe leaving the city would be a good idea. I mean there was a perfectly fortifiable police station with it's own power supply back the other way right?
posted by P.o.B. at 3:03 PM on December 14, 2010

The Walking Dead is mildly disappointing in almost every respect, but yeah: it's about the zombie apocalypse, so if they keep making it, I'll keep watching.

I was really bummed that Dr Jenner wasn't a keeper - within three minutes he was already my favourite character and I would have loved to see him return in the second season. Also, he was named after the dude who pioneered the Smallpox vaccination.
posted by hot soup girl at 4:31 PM on December 14, 2010

Huh. It got nominated for a Golden Globe. Best Television Series (Drama). Seriously? Also, only one out of the five shows nominated is a network show, all the others are cable. I don't really pay attention to awards anymore, is that just how it is these days?
posted by Gator at 5:39 PM on December 14, 2010

I'm usually the first person to point out glaring frustrating plot holes but only when the series/movie in question seems to be making a genuine attempt at realism. This appears to be a zombie apocalypse tv show. Canon in these situations is nothing needs to make sense whatsoever, you are just always inexplicably running out of ammo and fuel and supplies and everything, everybody you meet wants to kill you, the zombies are really great at destroying infrastructure, and you will escape from big explosions at the last minute. If any of this aggravates you, don't watch post-apocalyptic zombie stuff. IT IS CANON.
posted by tehloki at 5:55 PM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

I though it was pretty good, the big CDC explosion at the end notwithstanding, which was, to be fair, as preposterous as a huge sack of day-glo polka-dot bollocks. That said, I still can't get over the fact that Egg from This Life has ditched being a lawyer for running a caff being a sheriff in rural Georgia.
posted by Len at 6:09 PM on December 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

I love me some zombies, and I quite like the moody soap opera that is The Walking Dead, but my level of suspension of disbelief is constantly tested by this show. It's not just the plot holes everyone has noted above, or the clunky dialogue. No, my problem is that I not only live in Atlanta, but actually work across the street from the CDC. The last couple episode have been driving me insane.

That quarry they were at? They way the cast behaved, it seemed like it was a good long drive from the city, but you could still see the skyline! It was bugging the shit out of me, so I looked it up: it's the Bellwood Quarry, which isn't even outside the city limits. Hell, you can walk to it from the Bankhead MARTA stop. The giant glowy, explodey CDC building? It has a museum, several large conference rooms, and a complete lack of level 4 biosafety labs rigged to blow. My grad school held orientation there this year.

I know you people from LA and NYC must be so completely banal about these things by now, but it still completely throws me for a loop. Sure, it was great fun to see Downtown gone to the dead, but when my thoughts about the super secure CDC lab are, "I had an excellent continental breakfast in that building," I get a bit kicked out of the narrative.

So, it's been fun, but I hope they leave Atlanta soon, and stop with the god awful hamfisted dialogue.
posted by Panjandrum at 6:19 PM on December 14, 2010

Panjandrum, I know what you mean. When the extremely shortlived Drive was on, which I watched because, hey, Nathan Fillion, they were supposedly at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, and there were *mountains* behind them. Mountains. In Florida. Jesus wept, does no one care about accuracy in detail anymore?

Now, the CDC thing. Of course you wouldn't have seen the Level 4 super secure lab area, you know, because in the time-honored tradition it is buried deep underground. Which, okay, yes, the bomb thing utterly ruins. Stupid, stupid plot twist. I actually really liked Walking Dead up until then. But I'll still watch it. Only network gutsy enough to run a zombie show (pun intended), so I figure I should support them.

It occurs to me that if our government were doing biological warfare testing, which of course our government would never ever do because that's against the rules and stuff, the perfect place would actually be a lab buried under the CDC in Atlanta.
posted by misha at 6:41 PM on December 14, 2010

Wait, mea culpa, I've been informed the CDC scene was actually filmed at the Cobb Energy Center, which, while it looks a great deal like CDC bldg 2, is actually even less likely to have a biolab rigged to explode. Please replace my fond memories of bagels with lox with fond memories of a recent Andrew Bird concert.

Which brings me to my next non-sequitur point: how do you forget about a grenade?
posted by Panjandrum at 6:49 PM on December 14, 2010

Canon in these situations is nothing needs to make sense whatsoever

Meh, that's just covering up for lazy writing.

Here's my two questions:

1)Why don't they ever just run over the zombies?

2)Crossbow dude kills a bunch of zombies with said crossbow, then goes out and kills dinner with same crossbow. Aren't those carcasses infected?

Okay, I'll answer myself 1)it would take a ton of special effects to do this and 2) yes.

Just so we're all clear on a Plot Hole: While many stories have unanswered questions, unlikely events or chance occurrences, a plot hole is one that is essential to the story's outcome.
posted by P.o.B. at 6:50 PM on December 14, 2010

When the extremely shortlived Drive was on, which I watched because, hey, Nathan Fillion, they were supposedly at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, and there were *mountains* behind them.

Even before then - they were driving up from Key West on (a) a 3-lane-per-side big-ass highway (b) with high berms on either side.

Panjandrum, welcome to my childhood when Miami Vice was on. That was our first experience with people having a car chase where they turned left and were suddenly 40 miles away. We then had a long sabbatical till CSI:Miami showed up and had well-dressed folks driving around in 40k hummers and going to beautiful steel&glass government buildings rather than grubby gray concrete buildings with bad AC retrofits.

Burn Notice was a nice change of pace and very consistent in its accurate geography in Miami... this this season when it went all kinds of off the rails. Still a fun show but now prone to the 3 minute drive to 50 miles away syndrome.
posted by phearlez at 6:52 PM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also, only one out of the five shows nominated is a network show, all the others are cable. I don't really pay attention to awards anymore, is that just how it is these days?

Yes.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 8:16 AM on December 15, 2010