# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/81 "2014-09-27T21:14:42Z")
Heck no! Other than GoT it’s one of the few current shows most of my friends still watch. It’s fun to crack jokes about the acting and character decisions, fanwank plot holes and backstories, and come up with better ideas than the show. Plus every once in awhile there are still good episodes and the zombie effects and post apocalyptic setting are still a fun indulgence. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/82 "2014-09-28T02:06:36Z")
> [@revjo](#): > > I still watch it with friends…its a social thing, but it has become pretty repetitive. Also, how the hell do you sometimes have quiet zombies that sneak up and kill people, but other times the zombies make so much noise? Democratic zombies and Republican zombies. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/83 "2014-09-28T04:23:45Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Cannibals? Really? > > You can’t just shoot some birds or squirrels? Or any of the game that should be running rampant? This sort of thing is why I quit watching during season two. The people on the show were just pointlessly stupid. It sounds just like TWD to have cannibals in a world of plenty. Heck, I think there’s a ZA book _called_ “An Empty World of Plenty.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/84 "2014-09-28T06:18:55Z")
I won’t watch, but that’s because the show has never really interested me in the first place. The idea of this sort of thing being in primetime is interesting, and something I support, but what you said here has always been a sticking point. > [@Skald The Rhymer](#): > > I do not want to infect my mind with images of a world that is totally without hope, happiness, or joy. It’s the same reason I will not watch Battlestar Gallactica. I got the same depressing feeling from just the first couple of episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/85 "2014-09-28T14:11:55Z")
Most zombie apocalypses, as depicted, make humans look really shit. I’d expect reasonably mobile humans, without guns and outnumbered 4:1 to be able to overcome zombies. Resident Evil has made up a large chunk of my zombie experience, and this always takes me back to the third game, which opens with the police and soldiers being overwhelmed with zombies after a battle in the streets. I always thought that looked especially unconvincing. At worst, you just have to retreat at walking pace and keep firing. But I don’t doubt there are ways of making a zombie takeover plausible enough, if your story involves them getting lucky in a few key places, or a zombification method that allows for millions to appear in a short time. I’ve been meaning to ask here for some time: is there any fanwank for a virus that infects everyone, but remains asymptomatic until you’re bitten by a corpse reanimated by that virus? Do we need to postulate two viruses, one that reanimates and one that causes such extreme symptoms the victim inevitably dies? Have we discovered some kind of viral symbiosis? Does the reanimating virus somehow keep the human cells alive enough that the killing virus can continue to use them for reproduction, despite the death of its host? Perhaps, then, the zombies are not decaying as quickly as we’d expect for that reason, and the “rotting” is, in fact, largely a combination of injuries sustained by the original human before death (and perhaps after, if killed by zombies); injuries sustained by the mindless, and presumably painless, zombie wandering into fences and tripping over corpses; and the destruction to cells caused by the viruses, which is, of course, never repaired. > [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > The fact that people fighting against zombies did not think of wearing protective clothing. When fighting zombies at close quarters I do not expect a female to choose to wear some Daisy Dukes. This. I know it’s supposed to be warm there, but I would seriously consider moving north for that reason. Just wearing jeans and a hoodie would do a great job of protecting you from minor, but still fatal, bites and scratches. Imagine how good motorcycle leathers would be! It doesn’t just bother me from a practical perspective, it _feels_ wrong watching them get so close to zombies with juicy, bare arms everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/86 "2014-09-28T15:06:41Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I’ve been meaning to ask here for some time: is there any fanwank for a virus that infects everyone, but remains asymptomatic until you’re bitten by a corpse reanimated by that virus? Do we need to postulate two viruses, one that reanimates and one that causes such extreme symptoms the victim inevitably dies? If you wanted something resembling a scientific explanation, I’d suggest that you blame the immune system. Say the virus thrives in the human body and fares poorly anywhere else. You’re always being exposed to the virus, but always at such a low level of exposure that your immune system can fight it off. The problem only happens when the virus finds a human host which doesn’t have a healthy immune system - i.e. a corpse. In that environment the virus can multiply and zombify the corpse, and that corpse carries a viral load much higher than the environmental exposure that your immune system can handle. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/87 "2014-09-28T16:44:01Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > If you wanted something resembling a scientific explanation, I’d suggest that you blame the immune system. Say the virus thrives in the human body and fares poorly anywhere else. You’re always being exposed to the virus, but always at such a low level of exposure that your immune system can fight it off. The problem only happens when the virus finds a human host which doesn’t have a healthy immune system - i.e. a corpse. In that environment the virus can multiply and zombify the corpse, and that corpse carries a viral load much higher than the environmental exposure that your immune system can handle. Memo to self: Buy Flintstones vitamins. ---
**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 28, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/88 "2014-09-28T18:49:08Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Most zombie apocalypses, as depicted, make humans look really shit. I’d expect reasonably mobile humans, without guns and outnumbered 4:1 to be able to overcome zombies. I think you’re overestimating the zombies and that we’d do much better against greater numerical odds with nothing more than bronze age technology. Let’s take a company of soldiers numbering 200 men and arm them with Romany style rectangular shields, maces that weight three pounds, and we’ll give them some rudimentary armor on the forearms and shins made from Kevlar, leather, or duct tape to protect against bites and scratches. How many tens of thousands of zombies could this company kill? Let’s look at the advantages the zombies have. They’re fearless, they don’t have to worry about logistics, they have no need of rest, and they usually have a numerical advantages. What are their weaknesses? They’re incapable of forming a strategy, they can’t learn, and they have only the must rudimentary ability to use tools. What advantages do people have? We can learn from our mistakes, we’re awesome at using the tools we have, we can make new tools as the situation demands it, and not only are we capable of coming up with multiple strategies as the situation dictates but we can also use them to mitigate our weaknesses. As far as weaknesses go we feel fear, we fatigue, and we need to be concerned with logistics to supply us with food, water, and essential supplies. I think in a single day, armed with nothing more than maces and armored with shield and leather, a company of men could easily kill 20,000-30,000 zombies in a day while suffering minimal casualties. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/89 "2014-09-28T19:07:18Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I think in a single day, armed with nothing more than maces and armored with shield and leather, a company of men could easily kill 20,000-30,000 zombies in a day while suffering minimal casualties. Bashing skulls open, however rotten, is tiring work. 20,000 during a 16 hour day is 20 a minute for the company. How many guys in a company? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/90 "2014-09-28T21:01:12Z")
Lances or spears man, the company can use them to impale and keep away the zombies and someone else can concentrate on piercing the skull. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/91 "2014-09-28T21:33:59Z")
This presumes an organized company of humans with support thunderdoming against a herd of zombies. In a set piece like that, I would expect humans to triumph every time. I just don’t see it working out that way reliably unless we stipulate zombies with a herd instinct. The ones on the show do often, but not always, herd up. ---
**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 28, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/92 "2014-09-28T22:01:46Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > This presumes an organized company of humans with support thunderdoming against a herd of zombies. In a set piece like that, I would expect humans to triumph every time. I just don’t see it working out that way reliably unless we stipulate zombies with a herd instinct. The ones on the show do often, but not always, herd up. Of course it presumes an organized company of humans because the idea that slow unintelligent zombies could wipe us all before we have a chance to organize is just plain silly. Sillier than the idea of the dead rising to begin with. We’re talking about _The Walking Dead_ here which uses the classic Romero style slow and dumb zombie. I would imagine scouts would play cowboy rounding up the zombies and herding them to choke points where the zombies would be slaughtered. This is just bronze age technology here. You add helicopters, automobiles, loud speakers, etc., etc. it’s luring zombies anywhere you want them to be is a trivial matter. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Bashing skulls open, however rotten, is tiring work. 20,000 during a 16 hour day is 20 a minute for the company. > How many guys in a company? For the purposes of this exercise there are 200 men in the company. I assume a Roman style formation where the front ranks are replaced by those behind them periodically so everyone gets some time to rest. Also some men rotating with the reserves to get even more rest. People do engage in some pretty strenuous physical labor for long periods of time both in the past and today. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/93 "2014-09-28T22:02:00Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I just don’t see it working out that way reliably unless we stipulate zombies with a herd instinct. The ones on the show do often, but not always, herd up. So this company sings Christmas carols for an hour or so, until they have attracted a sizable herd. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/94 "2014-09-28T23:16:30Z")
Why do they keep going in dark abandoned buildings/houses to clear zombies? Stay at the door in the light and lure the zombies out with noise duh! ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/95 "2014-10-01T16:14:53Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > the general consensus was “Yeah, it can’t go down like it does in the movies because essentially zombies are magic and people have to be unimaginably dumb for this to even become a threat.” Yep. Just like how Ebola was completely contained. People listened to doctors, stayed in quarantine, and didn’t do stupid stuff like [stealing blood-stained mattresses and sheets](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/17/liberia-ebola-clinic_n_5685635.html). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/96 "2014-10-01T16:24:13Z")
Ebola, of course, acts like regular viruses and doesn’t have magical “you’re immediately infected and you will reanimate once dead and only go after living things and you _will_ violate the laws of thermodynamics and you _will_ remain impervious to rot/flesh-eating bacteria/hungry dogs” properties. Other than that, ebola contaminations and zombie-viruses… yeah, they’re exactly the same. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/97 "2014-10-01T17:25:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Ebola, of course, acts like regular viruses and doesn’t have magical “you’re immediately infected and you will reanimate once dead and only go after living things and you _will_ violate the laws of thermodynamics and you _will_ remain impervious to rot/flesh-eating bacteria/hungry dogs” properties. The only way that zombies make any sense at all is if they’re the result of some kind of Schlock Mercenary nanotech. The little kerjiggers infect everyone and activate once vital signs cease. Somehow they’d have to be able to extract enough energy from the environment to keep parts of the brain, nervous and muscular systems functioning, however poorly. But the important point here is that non-magical World War Z/The Walking Dead type zombies would have to be the result of intelligent engineering, not just a random mutation or escaped lab virus. There’s too much going on in terms of keeping the zombies up and moving and imperishable and hungry. That’s a weapon, not an accident. Of course, if you postulate an enemy (e.g. aliens) who can cheaply and easily destroy 99% of a population by turning them into undying automatons, then you’ve rendered TWD pretty much pointless, because pretty soon the mop up squads will arrive to take care of any survivors. No one in the TWD can reliably outwit a shambling pile of rotting meat, so I don’t think they’re going to do too well in Round II against the alien storm troopers. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/98 "2014-10-01T18:10:22Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I think you’re overestimating the zombies and that we’d do much better against greater numerical odds with nothing more than bronze age technology. Let’s take a company of soldiers numbering 200 men and arm them with Romany style rectangular shields, maces that weight three pounds, and we’ll give them some rudimentary armor on the forearms and shins made from Kevlar, leather, or duct tape to protect against bites and scratches. > > How many tens of thousands of zombies could this company kill? > > Let’s look at the advantages the zombies have. They’re fearless, they don’t have to worry about logistics, they have no need of rest, and they usually have a numerical advantages. What are their weaknesses? They’re incapable of forming a strategy, they can’t learn, and they have only the must rudimentary ability to use tools. > > What advantages do people have? We can learn from our mistakes, we’re awesome at using the tools we have, we can make new tools as the situation demands it, and not only are we capable of coming up with multiple strategies as the situation dictates but we can also use them to mitigate our weaknesses. As far as weaknesses go we feel fear, we fatigue, and we need to be concerned with logistics to supply us with food, water, and essential supplies. > > I think in a single day, armed with nothing more than maces and armored with shield and leather, a company of men could easily kill 20,000-30,000 zombies in a day while suffering minimal casualties. I was using a low estimate. The point was just that it would be easy to kill at least that many. I was thinking something more like a group of able-bodied civilians with what weapons and armour they can find, rather than a modern day Roman centuria. Either way, people would get tired quickly, and that would be the real limitation. I imagine it would be comparable to chopping wood. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/99 "2014-10-01T19:15:54Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Other than that, ebola contaminations and zombie-viruses… yeah, they’re exactly the same. :rolleyes: My point was that there’s little evidence that people would be rational and follow directions, even in the face of accurate reports. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843/100 "2014-10-01T19:29:23Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > My point was that there’s little evidence that people would be rational and follow directions, even in the face of accurate reports. Eh, there’s plenty of evidence they will. Witness the rise of condom use in the wake of AIDS, the use of masks during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, etc. Will some ignore the rules, thinking it can’t happen to them? Of course. Will others panic, potentially increasing the risk of infection? Yes. Will there be massive cover-ups and outbreaks of idiocies like the kind mentioned by Grude in post 71? Not at all likely. Has the incidence of disease and deaths thereof gone down since mankind learned about vaccinations? Undoubtably - it’s not even up for debate. So I claim the opposite: that the evidence is overwhelming that “people” will be rational and follow directions in the face of such an outbreak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-given-up-on-the-walking-dead-if-so-why-open-spoilers-likely/698843.md?page=6)