# The Walking Dead; 1.03 "Tell It to the Frogs" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697 "2010-11-15T02:03:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/41 "2010-11-15T20:58:40Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Merle was also coming off a coke binge which would affect his judgment and possibly his ability to feel pain. \ Good point. > [@](#): > > it’s sparsely populated and gators might help with any adventurous zombies. But what about ZOMBIE GATORS?!? > [@EllisDee](#): > > We don’t know. In the first episode, Rick was shot in the line of duty and went into a coma before any zombies showed up; the world was still normal. When he woke up from the coma, he was alone in a hospital that had already been ravaged by the zombie apocalypse.\ Ah, thanks. I regret missing the first show - that’s always the most interesting bit, what happens when people realize society is going down the pooper. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > - That always happens in post-apocalyptic films & TV series (as well as historical fiction). Sometimes you’ll get full beards on the men, but hairy women are pretty rare.\ “Shave my legs and pits? There are FREAKIN’ ZOMBIES TRYING TO EAT ME! I don’t think so, dear.” ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/42 "2010-11-15T21:25:33Z")
Has it been established for how long Rick was in a coma? It would appear, given the state of Atlanta and the surrounding areas, as well as the makeshift camp/society set up in the mountains, that at least a couple of weeks would have gone by. Yet Rick was presumably being fed and hydrated through a tube. Once all the hospital staff had either died or abandoned the hospital, it would seem that he’d have 2-3 days at the most before he either woke up or died from thirst. Am I thinking about this wrong? Or is this another area where I need to suspend my disbelief? ---
**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:** [November 15, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/43 "2010-11-15T21:27:36Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > I don’t agree with this. They were not dead, and they were operating high tech equipment. You mean the Firefly zombies or the 28 Days Later zombies? Either way, you say tomato I say tomato. The Reavers might not have been Romero zombies but they were essentially just zombies (in spaaace). However we probably shouldn’t hijack this thread any further. Anyone wishing to discuss Firefly zombies/Reavers should probably open a different thread. I thought the latest episode was so-so. Not as good as the previous two but it’s setting things up for later I think. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/44 "2010-11-15T21:34:37Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > Has it been established for how long Rick was in a coma? It would appear, given the state of Atlanta and the surrounding areas, as well as the makeshift camp/society set up in the mountains, that at least a couple of weeks would have gone by. Yet Rick was presumably being fed and hydrated through a tube. Once all the hospital staff had either died or abandoned the hospital, it would seem that he’d have 2-3 days at the most before he either woke up or died from thirst. > > Am I thinking about this wrong? Or is this another area where I need to suspend my disbelief? There could have been a staff member with him until as few as perhaps two days before he woke up. Maybe even a day. He certainly wasn’t in a coma unattended for longer than three days or so. But it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t matter to me who was or wasn’t there, and why they’d walk away. There could be a thousand reasons: freak out and snap, give up hope for him, get killed, maimed, ect. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/45 "2010-11-15T21:45:27Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > There could have been a staff member with him until as few as perhaps two days before he woke up. Maybe even a day. He certainly wasn’t in a coma unattended for longer than three days or so. But it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t matter to me who was or wasn’t there, and why they’d walk away. There could be a thousand reasons: freak out and snap, give up hope for him, get killed, maimed, ect. In the first episode: There’s a mostly-eaten body lying in the corridor down from Rick’s room, that he sees through the window of a set of closed double doors. I assumed that was the attendant that was taking care of him while they were waiting to be med-evac’d, and she (the head was intact, and seemed female) was attacked and eaten while waiting, leaving Rick unattended. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/46 "2010-11-15T21:47:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Atlanta has one of the highest per-capita gay populations in the U.S., so probably some fabulous surprise guests. (Elton John has a place in Atlanta as does Thom Filicia from QUEER EYE- maybe Elton could sing Zombie in the Wind while Thom redecorates the RV.) If the writers want to give us a chuckle, they could show an Elton John zombie. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/47 "2010-11-15T22:11:31Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > Am I thinking about this wrong? Or is this another area where I need to suspend my disbelief? I think you’re thinking about it wrong. The tendency in this thread seems to be “I’m going to find every little thing wrong to nitpick” instead of “at first glance this seems wrong - but is there any half-decent explanation that could easily reason this away?”. The producers were given 6.5 hours (before commercials - after, that’s like 5 hours) to tell a complete story arc in a serialized format. They’re both working to condense the source material to fit as well as expand that source material where it’s thin. I honestly do not see the enjoyment of holding up a slight (perceived) flaw and declaring it a reason that you were ripped out of the story and can’t bear to watch anymore\*. We’re watching a show about friggin’ zombies - at some point you’re willing to accept an alternate reality and alternate set of rules. At this point, we haven’t even been given those rules - and yet we’re second-guessing an off-screen decision by a coked-up redneck to cut his hand off at the wrist rather than the large steel bolt it was cuffed to, in the face of unknown adversity and danger with a tool of unknown quality. At some point people need to ask themselves: “In the extremely limited amount of screen time available, is the omission of X, Y and Z all that critical or necessary to my enjoyment of A-W?” \*Not that you’ve done this - but it happens in these threads all the time, as it currently is. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/48 "2010-11-15T22:11:45Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > If the writers want to give us a chuckle, they could show an Elton John zombie. _Someone saved my life tonight_ Take it, Zombie Elton! _SUGAAAAR BEAAAARRRRR!_ ---
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/49 "2010-11-15T22:45:51Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > Yet Rick was presumably being fed and hydrated through a tube. Once all the hospital staff had either died or abandoned the hospital, it would seem that he’d have 2-3 days at the most before he either woke up or died from thirst. The biggest real world problem with Rick being in a coma such as he was is that he wasn’t catheterized. But, as with the thirst issue, enhanced reality is probably better than really getting down to the nitty gritty. Zombies gnawing on people’s faces are one thing, but emptying catheter bags? That’s just gross. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/50 "2010-11-15T23:17:07Z")
> [@Camus](#): > > The biggest real world problem with Rick being in a coma such as he was is that he wasn’t catheterized. But, as with the thirst issue, enhanced reality is probably better than really getting down to the nitty gritty. Zombies gnawing on people’s faces are one thing, but emptying catheter bags? That’s just gross. Well they could just shoot Rick’s facial expressions as he tries to remove the catheter without fully knowing how. That alone could almost as distrubing as the flesheating scenes to watch. And the real ick factor involves number two. Rick in a diaper wouldn’t be too graphic, but waking up in shit stained sheets? :eek: Having never even heard of a _rectal_ catheter until I asked about it in GQ I’ve no clue how they’d even manage to imply that on basic cable. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/51 "2010-11-16T01:30:31Z")
As to the how long was Rick asleep question, there was a throwaway line in the first ep by the black guy, as they were getting ready to shower, where he said that the hot water had gone out “about a month ago”. So, say a week before the hot water goes, plus a month–Rick was out for 5 weeks at least it seems to me. I like the theory that the mangled corpse in the hospital hallway was Rick’s recently munched-on attendant. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/52 "2010-11-16T02:20:23Z")
> [@Are you nuts? Derivation, please,](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nuts-derivation-please/65046/6): > > So these have to be proper Romero zombies - being dead with an intact brain is enough to make you a zombie. This is fully addressed in the comic, and actually has an important plot point (I’ll address this question but not the plot point) Indeed, these are Romero zombies. Everyone dead with a sufficiently intact brain rises. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/53 "2010-11-16T02:42:15Z")
I don’t understand how I’m the only one who thinks this show is terrible. Everyone is a damn stereotype and events are so heavy-handed. It’s a damn melodrama. The actors aren’t even good. In the first episode, a guy had to shoot his wife and it was all dramatic. In the second, it’s generic racist time. In the third, it’s generic racist again and generic wife beater. It’s a zombie show with _a very special episode_ every week. Who knows what social issue they’ll touch on next week? I bet Andrea is gay. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/54 "2010-11-16T02:50:11Z")
[QUOTE=Palooka] I bet Andrea is gay. [/QUOTE] For Andrea and other gays going through the zombie apocalypse, we’ve all been there. It gets better. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/55 "2010-11-16T03:24:00Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > I don’t understand how I’m the only one who thinks this show is terrible. Everyone is a damn stereotype and events are so heavy-handed. It’s a damn melodrama. The actors aren’t even good. In the first episode, a guy had to shoot his wife and it was all dramatic. In the second, it’s generic racist time. In the third, it’s generic racist again and generic wife beater. It’s a zombie show with _a very special episode_ every week. Who knows what social issue they’ll touch on next week? I bet Andrea is gay. How is someone racist or a wife beater in an original, non-generic fashion? The series explores the depth of depravity post-apocalyptic people can sink to. These racists and wife beaters are not even in the comics. I really think they exist in the show as something of a warm up for the truly monstrous (and more original) human terrors the audience will encounter. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/56 "2010-11-16T03:25:23Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Ah, thanks. I regret missing the first show - that’s always the most interesting bit, what happens when people realize society is going down the pooper. Agreed, but they kind of robbed us of that. When Rick was shot, the world was all normal, then the screen faded to black as he passed out and the next\* fade in was him waking up from his coma in the post-zombie apocalypse, the last living human in the hospital and one of only three humans left in his town. So they skipped right over the “going into the pooper” part. That may have been my favorite part of the Dawn of the Dead remake with Sarah Polley, those first 10 minutes when zombies tore the world apart. Not that I’m complaining how the show handled the apocalypse; I’m also rather fond of the 28 Days Later sudden reveal to someone who slept through the whole thing. And this show did an _excellent_ job with the entire hospital sequence from when he woke up to when he finally ventured out into the town. A+. I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of the pilot. > [@](#): > > “Shave my legs and pits? There are FREAKIN’ ZOMBIES TRYING TO EAT ME! I don’t think so, dear.” And you’d object to a man shaving his face on the same grounds, or is this a women-only excuse? \*There were also some hazy dream-like memories of a couple hospital visitors, but the point largely remains. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/57 "2010-11-16T03:25:33Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > For Andrea and other gays going through the zombie apocalypse, we’ve all been there. It gets better. You know, sometimes I don’t know if I should slap you or kiss you. Or both. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/58 "2010-11-16T03:28:06Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > When Rick was shot, the world was all normal, then the screen faded to black as he passed out and the next\* fade in was him waking up from his coma in the post-zombie apocalypse, the last living human in the hospital and one of only three humans left in his town. So they skipped right over the “going into the pooper” part. …I’m also rather fond of the 28 Days Later sudden reveal to someone who slept through the whole thing. See, I find that stylistic choice fantastic. My imagination can create much, much worse “the world is going to hell in five days” scenarios than can be feasibly shot in movie or TV format. I personally feel that leaving the option to the viewer to imagine what it must have been like during the fall of civilization makes for FAR more discomfort and terror than actually filming it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/59 "2010-11-16T04:05:42Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > These racists and wife beaters are not even in the comics. Which makes it all the more annoying that some writer or producer felt it necessary to “punch up” the plot with these silly, two-dimensional characters. Note that the characters who ARE original to the comics have some depth, and are more interesting for it. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697/60 "2010-11-16T04:41:48Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > How is someone racist or a wife beater in an original, non-generic fashion? > > The series explores the depth of depravity post-apocalyptic people can sink to. These racists and wife beaters are not even in the comics. I really think they exist in the show as something of a warm up for the truly monstrous (and more original) human terrors the audience will encounter. Generic is the wrong word. I meant cliched. Being the warm up act is fine. The problem is how poorly its done. I’m not really sure how Wife Beater had sunk to that as a result of the zombie thing. Certainly isn’t anything in the scene to indicate that. He just kind of started yelling at the women for laughing. They did everything possible to make him low class. Smoking. Workman’s shirt. Hating on education. There is an interesting way to handle wife-beating-as-a-result-of-zombie-apocalypse. Like the husband is obsessed with protection or something and his wife wants to go find photo albums or something important to her and then he hits her after being unable to convince her they aren’t worth it. Or something better than what I can come up with in 60 seconds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-03-tell-it-to-the-frogs-open-spoilers/560697.md?page=4)