Only thing that could have saved that first episode for me is if Zombie Jesus came down off the cross and ate Rick's brain. If we ever have a "stupid characters" draft, I'm taking the wife in the first round.
I agree. The Lori character is so horribly written it's excruciating. I didn't even like the herd scene that much. Just like last season, the characters' choices don't make sense. Why would they all spread out and poke around the cars on the highway, with only one person keeping watch? And while the guys are out looking for the little girl, they continue poking around some more. Even though they have no way of knowing if another herd is nearby... Oh, and can't the zombies smell live people? They established very clearly in the first season that the zombies recognize the smell of the living. So how would hiding under a car prevent their detection? I'm sure it's hard to write tense zombie scenes for multiple episodes without getting redundant. I appreciate the attempt to put the characters in new situations and force them to be resourceful. But I hate the lack of consistency regarding the zombies' tendencies and abilities. You can only stretch the "we don't know much about them yet" thing so far.
I expect/hope things will get far more interesting once they reach the Greene farm. [result]Which should happen in episode two.[/result]
13 I wonder how far into the comics they'll get and how much they'll start deviating from their plot. Looks like quite a bit based on the trailers.
I actually prefer the TV-show Lori to the comic book Lori. In contrast, they've ruined the Andrea character a bit for me. Going off on that monologue against Dale and then trying to convince Shane to take her with him just didn't correspond to the woman I know from the graphic novel. In many ways, Andrea is the strongest person out of that entire group in the comics.
So true. I hate harping on how bad it is because I really want to like it, they just make it hard to like. And what's with the scene just after they got the supplies? Some of those zombies were running at a full sprint.
The zombies in the woods were lumbering along pretty fast too. It's not really clear just how fast the zombies can run. As fast as dramatic tension for that scene requires, I guess.
What bothered me more about that scene was the use of flares. Remember season one when Rick and Glenn smeared the innards of a dead zombie over their clothes so they didn't smell like a living person? Based on that, you would assume that Zombies identify their prey through smell. How would a couple of flares distract a few dozen zombies from the two tasty humans who slipped into a mobile clinic just a few dozen feet behind them?
My wife and I actually commented upon that in the first episode when the "herd" walked right past all the tasty humans hiding underneath the cars. There are so many inconsistencies in this show that it's become more fun to point them out as we watch than it is to just sit and enjoy the program.
Could it not be inconsistencies? Maybe they just assumed that they go by smelling them..? Since it is obviously some virus-ish thing, couldn't it possibly mutate in a way where some would have been motor functions than others? Not that I believe what I just wrote, but that's one thing that could explain it. We don't really know what they can and can't do, as zombie-ism isn't a real thing.
I feel kind of silly trying to defend the sillyness, but here goes. For all we know, the zombies can't necessarily even catch the scent of a living person-hence this is why as long as the living aren't in plain view (like when they were under under the cars) the zombies aren't really going to know any better. Also, you have to factor in that if the zombies are herding through an area where there are a lot of decaying bodies around, they aren't going to be able to smell much other than the decaying bodies, if you buy my theory that the living don't give off much of a scent. Go back to scene earlier in the series when the two living guys wanted to fool the zombies by ambling around and rubbing rotten guts all over themselves. If they hadn't rubbed rotten guts all over themselves the zombies would have recognized them more for their non-scent than any special living human smell. Also, as far as the zombies being able to move a bit faster at times maybe it has to do with their level of hungryness or fatigue. A well fed zombie will still bite someone a new butthole, but maybe won't break into a Carl Lewis sprint to do it.
Of course! Can't develop enough character in the regular time-line? Flashbacks. I fully expect to see more of them...from all characters.
I have to admit that a lot of the writing is starting to remind me of Lost, and that's not a good thing...
I'm not sure I follow. Can you explain how the writing is like lost? If the writing were only half as good as lost I'd be happy.
Does anyone watch The Talking Dead? It's a half an hour talk show that airs at 11 on AMC hosted by Chris Hardwick and is about the Walking Dead. Well Sunday night they had creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman on it and Hardwick asked him why some of them were running. Kirkman said, well some of the Walkers have been infected longer so their body is more decomposed and they move slower. The Walkers who've been infected more recently aren't as decomposed so they can move around quicker. I suppose that could make some sense.
Agreed, the rules of this fantasy should be consistent. As an example, if the walking dead in earlier episodes can smell the living. Why would hiding under a car or truck affect their olfactory senses. Also, if Laurie Holden's character got splattered with Zombie blood why has she not started to change. Finally, if the dead are rotting away, when do they lose motor skills and are left to crawl along. They can't live forever and in Georgia, that hot sun would accelerate decay. Maggots and bacteria as such would reduce a corpse to bones in several months.
Well there are a few issues with that theory. For one, the entire crowd of eaters seemed to be moving at roughly the same speed. And based upon the composition of the group of walkers (soldiers amongst them) around the clinic, they have been there for a while, likely since the place got overrun.
I agree, they've been inconsistent. I was just offering up what Kirkman was saying when confronted with the question.