# Anybody else given up on THE WALKING DEAD? If so, why? (Open spoilers likely.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843 "2014-09-18T17:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/21 "2014-09-18T20:52:31Z")
> [@grude](#): > > We’ll agree to disagree then, more densely populated cities you can get around via roof top and ignore the hordes in the street. There is a street near me with six groceries on it, all have isles of canned food not to mention dry goods. All can be accessed via rooftop from neighboring buildings, you could make your way around a city like that without touching the ground. > > I simply can’t buy a large amount of survivors deciding cannibalism is a good deal in TWD, better to use these people on raids. Are they helicoptering in? How are they getting to these roofs without inviting exposure to the hordes? There also wasn’t a magical switch that turned humans into zombies. There was a period of societal breakdown where the stores are going to have been looted. The risk/reward ratios may not seem worth it to these survivors. > [@grude](#): > > EDIT:Why the hell is Michonne not showing them how to make dozens and dozens of “neutered” zombies?! The zombies can be chained together and hitched to carts as essentially both free labor AND camouflage from other zombies. Load up the carts with scavenged goods and use them like a horse team or dog sled. A small defensive argument could be made for them not needing that technique while largely safe in the prison and emphasizing speed in their supply raids. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/22 "2014-09-18T21:26:11Z")
What is wrong with y’all? 😕 (I’m looking forward to TWD more than if they told me my mother was eligible to go into a nursing home!) It’s had its ups and downs, but so far it hasn’t become actually embarrassingly bad, like the last season/finale of True Blood. I’ve read where people involved with the show have said they are cranking up the gore and the violence more than ever. I’m not squeamish, I can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/23 "2014-09-18T21:36:17Z")
I was very frustrated when the Governor showed up for the first time, but OK, we need a bad civilized enemy for some variety, I guess. Still, lots of unnecessary torturing and general meanness. But then he shows up again? And uses a tank to attack the prison? No, I’m sorry. I’m more interested in a show about zombies. I am also very frustrated that the show doesn’t allow any kind of progress to be made. Bleak is one thing… but when the survivors aren’t even learning basic survival techniques, I start getting tired. They’re still struggling with the same issues they struggled with in episode 1. They’ve learned nothing. To an extent, I prefer a zombie movie that has a discrete beginning and end. The zombie apocalypse is just not meant to be a long-term, ongoing problem. There’s an outbreak, lots of people die, and then the survivors figure out how to cope and rebuild. At least, that’s the only way I can conceive of it happening. But the survivors are not learning, they’re not coping and they’re not rebuilding. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/24 "2014-09-18T22:02:01Z")
Is anyone going to watch the new “Walking Dead”? I think it’s suppose to take place in the East Coast. I personally still love the original Walking Dead and deff will watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/25 "2014-09-18T22:30:27Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I was very frustrated when the Governor showed up for the first time, but OK, we need a bad civilized enemy for some variety, I guess. Still, lots of unnecessary torturing and general meanness. But then he shows up again? And uses a tank to attack the prison? No, I’m sorry. I’m more interested in a show about zombies. I think the idea is that the show was never about zombies, it’s about what a zombie apocalypse does to people. I find the idea that other survivors are more of a danger than zombies interesting, although it does get a bit tiresome after a while. > [@dracoi](#): > > I am also very frustrated that the show doesn’t allow any kind of progress to be made. Bleak is one thing… but when the survivors aren’t even learning basic survival techniques, I start getting tired. They’re still struggling with the same issues they struggled with in episode 1. They’ve learned nothing. > > To an extent, I prefer a zombie movie that has a discrete beginning and end. The zombie apocalypse is just not meant to be a long-term, ongoing problem. There’s an outbreak, lots of people die, and then the survivors figure out how to cope and rebuild. At least, that’s the only way I can conceive of it happening. But the survivors are not learning, they’re not coping and they’re not rebuilding. That was sort of the point I was trying to make. The only thing I would say in their defence is they have learnt to fight zombies fairly well, using teamwork and especially “melee weapons”. The reliance on guns against zombies in other stories has always seemed silly to me; they’re dumb and slow, so just hit them on the head. You never know when you’ll really need those bullets. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/26 "2014-09-18T22:33:19Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Are they helicoptering in? How are they getting to these roofs without inviting exposure to the hordes? > There also wasn’t a magical switch that turned humans into zombies. There was a period of societal breakdown where the stores are going to have been looted. The risk/reward ratios may not seem worth it to these survivors. We know Rick survived in a hospital bed, so between the outbreak and the conditions seen in the pilot could have been no more than one or two weeks. Obviously they can find a relatively safe area to climb a fire escape, or rappel to the roof and access the other buildings. Or set up a perimeter and leave, the people left behind can make a large cache of goods and meet up at a per-determined date with their extraction team. This has to both be easier and more palatable ethically than creating an elaborate human trap for cannibalism. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/27 "2014-09-18T23:45:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ll agree that the search for a cure wouldn’t work; it wouldn’t be believable with this set of characters. But what I’d like to see would be some sort of hope–the idea that humanity might not be doomed, not things constantly and pointlessly getting worse > > And you know the very strange way that could be done? Killing Judith. > > Yeah, I know, horrible. I hate to think of a baby dying even in fiction. But if Judith died and STAYED DEAD, then it would mean that not EVERYONE was infected: just those alive at the time of the virus release. > > And as I think on it, they’d not have to kill Judith. It could just be some other survivor’s baby. Hell, if they’d let what’s-his-name–the Governor’s science guy – live and continue his research, that would have been a way to show some possible hope, rather than the endless shock & gore fest. Question related to this for folks who read the comics So…I haven’t read the comics, but did read summaries of them so I know baby Judith died in the comics. Does she stay dead? Or is the idea that we’re all infected an invention for the show? ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/28 "2014-09-19T05:55:54Z")
I gave up at the last mid-season break. I would enjoy the show if it were driven by the environment, dealing with life, etc. like it is in the comic. But the vast majority of the challenges in the show come from incompetence of the characters, or the Threes-Company-like confusion resulting from not exchanging information. I almost watched just because I liked Michael Cudlitz in Southland (another bleak show that managed to finally get too bleak for me as it was cancelled), but I couldn’t raise my interested above meh. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/29 "2014-09-19T09:53:36Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Question related to this for folks who read the comics > > So…I haven’t read the comics, but did read summaries of them so I know baby Judith died in the comics. Does she stay dead? Or is the idea that we’re all infected an invention for the show? [spoiler]We don’t see either way, Judith along with her mom is shot when the Governor assaults the prison, in the mayhem and confusion no one has time to stay and see if Judith rises(although it is also possible she got headshot) The comic works under the same rules as the TV show, everyone dead rises but I don’t think they had confirmation in the comic of an infection, the CDC guy was a TV show invention. [/spoiler] [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/30 "2014-09-20T04:41:40Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > What is wrong with y’all? 😕 (I’m looking forward to TWD more than if they told me my mother was eligible to go into a nursing home!) It’s had its ups and downs, but so far it hasn’t become actually embarrassingly bad, like the last season/finale of True Blood. Comparing TWD to True Blood? That’s like comparing an almost petrified, largely odor-free cat turd found in the box weeks after your favorite feline shat it out, vs. stumbling across a freshly shat out kitty turd, resplendent in its bloody, mucus-y textural sheen, and its singularly intestine-y odor. In other words, would _either_ option be all that desirable? ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/31 "2014-09-20T05:15:35Z")
I watched three or four episodes when it first came out and decided they were all idiots and lost interest. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/32 "2014-09-20T06:17:37Z")
> [@grude](#): > > This has to both be easier and more palatable ethically than creating an elaborate human trap for cannibalism. You’re right, it just doesn’t make sense to resort to cannibalism when you’ve got such a tiny population and there are all sorts of squirrels, possums, raccoons, snakes, fish, and big game available. I suspect the cannibalism is being done out of ideological reasons rather than practical ones. As for the canned food, well, we don’t really know how long it took for the zombies to win. We don’t know how long Rick was in the hospital, but, since dehydration doesn’t take long to kill someone, we can suppose that he wasn’t without care for very long before waking up. And though we’re never really told how long it took for civilization to come to a screeching halt we do have some flashbacks from Shane and Laurie and later Michonne suggesting that it did take some time. There was time to establish refugee, er, evacuee camps and from Michonne’s flashback it looks like she may have been at one for a week or two before it was overrun. An accurate timeline is difficult to establish but let’s say three weeks pass from the time Rick is shot until Atlanta is being bombed by the US Air Force (as seen in a season 2 flashback). And that the night Atlanta was bombed was the same day Rick’s hospital was overrun and Shane’s attempt at rescue failed. [ul] [li]Rick is shot. [/li][li]The next day the news reports of violent riots in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and in faraway places like Cairo, Munich, and Kiev. A significant minority of Americans rush to the market for food, fuel, and supplies. [/li][li]Three days later, thanks to the abundance of camera phones, the threat is clearly understood. New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles are being evacuated with the rising dead being reported in Seattle, Little Rock, Miami, and Denver. Americans as a whole make a mad dash to the market for food, supplies, and fuel. [/li][li]A week later normal economic activity has come to a halt. Martial law has been declared and food and essential supplies are being delivered to evacuee camps or other designated areas. Given the scope of the problem, distribution of food and supplies to those in need is difficult.[/li][li]Two weeks and the most of the larger cities belong to the dead now. Those who didn’t make it to an evacuee camp are running low on food and potable water. [/li][li]Three weeks pass and the walkers have overrun most of the evacuee camps. Shane’s attempt to rescue Rick from the hospital as soldiers euthanize the patients fails. The government’s attempt to hold Atlanta finally comes to an end as the US Air Force bombs the city to cover for their retreating forces.[/li][li]Rick wakes up the day after Atlanta is bombed.[/li][/ul] And that’s the real reason why people still watch this show, my friends. It’s because it’s so fun to talk about, nit pick, and come up with fan theories. Oh, if such a short time passed why did Laurie fuck Shane? Well, their marriage was kind of on the rocks any way. I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/33 "2014-09-20T16:37:31Z")
Somehow I managed to vote for the first two choices. I didn’t even watch last season. I don’t know what happened. When the new season started we had other things going on and it seemed that as long as I read threads here later on I kept caught up. Then I stopped even caring for that. I keep meaning to sit down for a marathon but I guess I don’t care enough to bother. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/34 "2014-09-20T16:56:14Z")
I watched all of the first season, but I only watched a couple of episodes of the second season. I just lost interest. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/35 "2014-09-20T20:27:10Z")
I keep watching mostly so I can feel superior by bashing the horrible writing. It really is bad. A perfect example is the cannibalism discussion. In addition to problems already pointed out, it makes no sense to start eating the one thing that seems to be the zombies favorite food. Why would you compete with this new predator for food rather than getting things they’re too slow and brainless to catch, like wild game and fowl? In a world with fewer and fewer people, people are just about the stupidest thing I could think of to select as a food. Of course, I guess we haven’t absolutely confirmed the cannibalism or did I miss some episodes? I know there is cannibalism at times in the comic, so maybe I’m blaming the show writers for something Kirkman started, but the show seems to be setting it up to be much more significant than what I know of cannibalism in the comics. I assume I’ll start watching the new season but not sure I’ll stick with it. It’s become harder and harder for me to bother. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/36 "2014-09-20T20:28:14Z")
Maybe one day I’ll see the pilot episode… ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/37 "2014-09-20T23:14:25Z")
I’m more than a season behind now. Just stopped caring. I may binge-watch and catch up, but it’s unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/38 "2014-09-20T23:57:37Z")
I’ll watch it. I used to watch it and expect it to be GOOD, but now I’ll watch it and expect it to fill 42 minutes of my time, and be passably entertaining in one manner or another. I don’t watch too much TV, and I have a need to fill an entertainment void in my week. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/39 "2014-09-21T16:23:59Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > What is wrong with y’all? 😕 (I’m looking forward to TWD more than if they told me my mother was eligible to go into a nursing home!) It’s had its ups and downs, but so far it hasn’t become actually embarrassingly bad, like the last season/finale of True Blood. I’ve read where people involved with the show have said they are cranking up the gore and the violence more than ever. I’m not squeamish, I can’t wait! I can’t wait for the new season to start either. I love the show. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/40 "2014-09-21T16:35:31Z")
I voted “hell yes”, but wish there had just been a “yes” option. I enjoy the show even though I recognize the flaws. I reserve “hell yes” for shows like _Mad Men_ or _Rome_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843.md?page=3)