# The Walking Dead; 1.04 "Vatos" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500 "2010-11-22T01:25:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/81 "2010-11-24T03:16:33Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I don’t think Daryl was made out as a villain at all. He was shown working more or less smoothly with Rick, Glenn, and the others. Rick referred to him as: ‘He’s one of our group, more or less. I’m sure you have a few like him.’ It’s also repeatedly asserted that Daryl ‘attacked’ the boy and it’s never corrected. There’s also a bit where Guillermo is talking about ‘plunderers, the kind that take by force,’ and the camera lingers on Daryl as he says it. But it’s good that he is being treated as ‘more or less’ one of the team and is being a useful member of the group. It’s an improvement on the redneck stereotype that a lot of people on here were complaining about. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/82 "2010-11-24T03:52:24Z")
Daryl attacked the boy because the boy started screaming like a complete idiot, i thought he was perfectly justified and his main goal was only shutting him up. That whole situation worked well for me, i could see how both sides would see the other as the aggressors. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/83 "2010-11-24T04:12:06Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Yeah, their leaving themselves wide open to attack was dumb, but it was exactly the kind of dumb thing people do when defense isn’t an ingrained instinct. They thought they could stay isolated and only the occasional stray walker would come by, and at most there might be a problem with zombies moving out of the city in the future. So they picked a great place to camp and a terrible place to defend. Agreed. I found it believable, but a bit frustrating. At least, I wish they had cleared a range around the camp for visibility’s sake, but in 100 degree heat with no A/C, I can see why they wanted to keep the shade, too. Considering they’d only seen one zombie up there in the months since the breakout, I can understand being a bit lax. But I’d like to think I wouldn’t be. I hope they move, or set up some defenses. Hell, it doesn’t take that much to figure out - limit the entrances, then set up watches. Setting up an earthen barrier around the camp would make it defendable (I don’t know if they have axes to use wood, but they at least have a shovel), even if it’s not feasible to lose the tents. Heck, at least just the firepit and the sleeping area, when visibility is limited. They seem to have a lot of people just sitting around all day who could handle this in pretty short order. Walkers aren’t bright, and even a chest-high obstacle, or simple measures like tripwires or pits, would likely befuddle a lot of them long enough to be noticed by someone. But I wish they’d get further from Atlanta. It seems to me that I’d be heading for an area with a lot lower population density. Fewer walkers, and less competition for any goods than can be scavenged. Considering they have at least one good hunter and one good fisherman among them at this point, it’s not like they’re tied to a population center anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/84 "2010-11-24T07:35:45Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > Agreed. I found it believable, but a bit frustrating. At least, I wish they had cleared a range around the camp for visibility’s sake, but in 100 degree heat with no A/C, I can see why they wanted to keep the shade, too. Considering they’d only seen one zombie up there in the months since the breakout, I can understand being a bit lax. But I’d like to think I wouldn’t be. > > I hope they move, or set up some defenses. Hell, it doesn’t take that much to figure out - limit the entrances, then set up watches. Setting up an earthen barrier around the camp would make it defendable (I don’t know if they have axes to use wood, but they at least have a shovel), even if it’s not feasible to lose the tents. Heck, at least just the firepit and the sleeping area, when visibility is limited. They seem to have a lot of people just sitting around all day who could handle this in pretty short order. Walkers aren’t bright, and even a chest-high obstacle, or simple measures like tripwires or pits, would likely befuddle a lot of them long enough to be noticed by someone. > > But I wish they’d get further from Atlanta. It seems to me that I’d be heading for an area with a lot lower population density. Fewer walkers, and less competition for any goods than can be scavenged. Considering they have at least one good hunter and one good fisherman among them at this point, it’s not like they’re tied to a population center anyway. Their lack of equipment is a little unbelievable. I mean, sure, maybe it’d be hard to get to many weapons, or more particularly ammo, now, because lots of humans would have taken them and then died with them. But these humans that have survived this long weren’t among the humans who had or acquired weapons, except for Merle? Rrright. You mentioing the shovel also reminded me that they’re a bit short of tools (Dale was annoyed about his toolkit being left behind), for which there’s no feasible excuse at all. Shovels, pitchforks etc are also pretty useful as weapons and there’s no way they’re all inaccessible. The car thing I kinda buy; maybe they even took a car part of the way till it ran out of petrol. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/85 "2010-11-24T08:07:11Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > But I wish they’d get further from Atlanta. It seems to me that I’d be heading for an area with a lot lower population density. Fewer walkers, and less competition for any goods than can be scavenged. Considering they have at least one good hunter and one good fisherman among them at this point, it’s not like they’re tied to a population center anyway. But the whole premise of the main plot occurred because they _are and will continue_ to be tied to a population center. Grimes and the group explicitly were united through some kind of zombie serendipity entirely because they need to go on periodical scavenging missions- and presumably, will need to, until the crisis averts. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/86 "2010-11-24T08:20:33Z")
I’m sure many highways may be impassable at certain points… assuming you did make it down the road… then you might have to ford…wandering around in “foreign territories” is liable to zombify ya. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/87 "2010-11-24T08:46:28Z")
Is Morgan Jones, Officer Grime’s [Magical Negro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_negro)? The Darabont-King Force is strong in this one. ---
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/88 "2010-11-24T12:02:10Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Is Morgan Jones, Officer Grime’s [Magical Negro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_negro)? Will there ever be a time when an African-American character who happens to either be friendly or skilled in a particular area not instantly be categorized and squeezed into some eye-of-the-beholder stereotype? ---
**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 24, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/89 "2010-11-24T12:18:55Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > I’m also hoping the hole digging guy had something to do with drawing the zombies back to the camp, I’m not going to be too thrilled if they start throwing psychic powers into the mix. I’m pretty sure he was just having some sort of mental breakdown that coincided with the zombie attack. I also don’t think it’s likely that Merl brought the zombies down on the camp. Merl may be a son-of-a-bitch but I bet he loves his brother and wouldn’t risk his life like that. ---
**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 24, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/90 "2010-11-24T12:24:21Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Is Morgan Jones, Officer Grime’s [Magical Negro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_negro)? > > The Darabont-King Force is strong in this one. No. I left a lengthy explanation for why Jones wasn’t a “magical negro” in the thread about the first episode. I won’t go over it all here but the only way Jones fits the trope is that he happens to be black and he assisted Grimes. IF that’s all it takes to be classified as the magical negro then the trope needs some updating. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/91 "2010-11-24T13:20:48Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > …because they need to go on periodical scavenging missions- and presumably, will need to, until the crisis averts… That’s another thing for which I’ve had to suspend disbelief (which I happily do): what do you need to scavenge in downtown Atlanta that you can’t get in one of its many suburbs? But hey, it’s just a TV show. Can’t overthink this stuff. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/92 "2010-11-24T13:39:00Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > No. I left a lengthy explanation for why Jones wasn’t a “magical negro” in the thread about the first episode. I won’t go over it all here but the only way Jones fits the trope is that he happens to be black and he assisted Grimes. IF that’s all it takes to be classified as the magical negro then the trope needs some updating. Jones isn’t exactly a “magical negro,” but the black characters in this script do all seem to be uncomplicatedly noble-- which is a characteristic of “magical negro” scripts. (Must be boring for actors to play these characters.) ---
**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 24, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/93 "2010-11-24T14:13:27Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Is Morgan Jones, Officer Grime’s [Magical Negro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_negro)? > > The Darabont-King Force is strong in this one. If that’s Stephen King you’re talking about, I’d like to think he’d help them figure out how to do a better zombie apocalypse story. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/94 "2010-11-24T14:16:37Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > If that’s Stephen King you’re talking about, I’d like to think he’d help them figure out how to do a better zombie apocalypse story. 🙂 Please. If it were a King script, half the characters would be psychic. ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/95 "2010-11-24T15:36:07Z")
I liked the episode, especially the suddeness of the walker attack. The only problem I had with that is they have someone on top of the RV all day watching out but at night they had nothing. I suppose that could be explained by the fact that they are all civilians so real security procedures probably aren’t second nature to them. Not that I’m not a civilian but keeping a watch at night is just so obvious. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/96 "2010-11-24T15:48:47Z")
> [@justrob](#): > > I liked the episode, especially the suddeness of the walker attack. The only problem I had with that is they have someone on top of the RV all day watching out but at night they had nothing. I suppose that could be explained by the fact that they are all civilians so real security procedures probably aren’t second nature to them. > > Not that I’m not a civilian but keeping a watch at night is just so obvious. What doomed them was the fish. They were having fun and enjoying themselves, something that probably doesn’t happen very often anymore. They don’t live in constant danger like the vatos do in the middle of atlanta and so they let their guard down. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/97 "2010-11-24T17:02:10Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > What doomed them was the fish. They were having fun and enjoying themselves, something that probably doesn’t happen very often anymore. They don’t live in constant danger like the vatos do in the middle of atlanta and so they let their guard down. Yeh, definitely a “Yom Kippur” moment. ---
**Author:** ![ElectricZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@ElectricZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElectricZ)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/98 "2010-11-24T17:17:40Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > But it’s good that he is being treated as ‘more or less’ one of the team and is being a useful member of the group. It’s an improvement on the redneck stereotype that a lot of people on here were complaining about. I’m liking Daryl. His biggest strike against him is that his brother is an unapologetic douche. He’s not much of a charmer himself, but he’s shown he’s a team player when he wants to be and actually keeps his wits about him in dangerous situations. That’s a good guy to have around. He also seems to be developing a modicum of respect for Rick… I’m getting a Lostish-Sawyer/Jack vibe from them. The big question comes if Merle comes back looking for blood, will Daryl back him up? Or will Daryl have become enough of a team player that he’ll try to convince Merle to let bygones be bygones – and then have to make a choice if Big Brother decides to pull a “you’re with me or against me” play. Lots of plot holes and shaky writing, but I’m digging TWD so far… ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/99 "2010-11-24T20:17:39Z")
I’m confused about why no one has commented on that Shane was bitten? He was bitten right? And now, for all we know, he will turn into a zombie? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500/100 "2010-11-24T20:23:03Z")
I was unable to watch the episode this past weekend (due to being hospitalized) and would like to catch up. Is there someone that would be willing to PM me with a re-airing time/date and/or a legal place to watch online so I can participate in the discussion? It has been HELL avoiding this thread since this morning! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-04-vatos-open-spoilers/561500.md?page=6)