# The Walking Dead; 1.05 "Wildfire" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234 "2010-11-29T01:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/21 "2010-11-29T06:17:53Z")
It took FOREVER to kill the damn blonde. I was just saying, “shoot the bitch. SHOOT the bitch already!” How stupid is it to keep fondling something that’s going to turn into a flesh eating ghoul at any second, even _after_ it’s already turned and resurrected again? Bringing Jim with them was a dumbass thing to do too. Yes, it sucks to leave him, yes, it’s a horrific tragedy, but everybody left alive is already swimming in tragedy, grief and PTSD, and they KNOW what’s going t happen to him. He isn’t going to be the first person to magically get better. I know it’s easy to say about a fictional character who isn’t me, but probably the best thing for him to have done is ask for a gun and blow his own brains out. Either that or ask somebody else to do it. Isn’t that the zombie genre trope that people who get bitten usually want to be put down before they turn? Hell, he could have asked Daryl to do it with his crossbow and saved them having to waste a round of ammo. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/22 "2010-11-29T06:37:22Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Bringing Jim with them was a dumbass thing to do too. Yes, it sucks to leave him, yes, it’s a horrific tragedy, but everybody left alive is already swimming in tragedy, grief and PTSD, and they KNOW what’s going t happen to him. He isn’t going to be the first person to magically get better. In fairness, they were going to the CDC. Maybe they were hoping against hope that someone there could help him. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/23 "2010-11-29T06:43:36Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > In fairness, they were going to the CDC. Maybe they were hoping against hope that someone there could help him. That definitely seemed to be the point. And…I can’t agree about the Amy situation being moving. All I could think of the whole time was ‘she’s going to eat your face! What are you doing, you stupid woman?’ ---
**Author:** ![Spurious\_George](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Spurious\_George](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spurious_George)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/24 "2010-11-29T07:00:51Z")
This episode had about 4 minutes of plot and 40 minutes of fill. Least entertaining ep yet. ---
**Author:** ![Iridescent\_Orb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@Iridescent\_Orb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iridescent_Orb)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/25 "2010-11-29T07:27:40Z")
I suspect they are going to retrieve Jim in order to have a “fresh” (i.e., non-necrotic) sample. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/26 "2010-11-29T08:01:31Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > I still think leaving Jim behind to reanimate and join the ranks of the Walkers is tactically unsound, sure, one more Walker among the millions may be insignificant, numbers-wise, but tactically, they’ve just left a ticking time-bomb by the roadside ready to ambush any other survivors that happen by, they should have put him down, or at the very least, give him a revolver with one cartridge so he can put himself down… OTOH, would losing a valuable weapon just to put down someone destined to reanimate be worth the loss of the weapon? They wouldn’t have to lose anything. Daryl could just give him a crossbow bolt to the head and then yank it back out. I’m surprised no one broached the idea, although maybe they didn’t want to hear another “we don’t kill the living” speech. ---
**Author:** ![mil0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mil0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mil0)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/27 "2010-11-29T10:29:32Z")
I voted Meh. It’s getting harder and harder to suspend my disbelief at this point. I just can’t fathom how these people are in the 1% or so of those who managed to survive the zombie apocalypse. Between the mentioned lack of any survival gear, to not being concerned about basic needs, to completely ignoring the m16s littering the CDC parking lot when they were willing to risk their lives last week. These are the people who should have died the first day of the zombie apocalypse. And now they’ve introduced the CDC scientist, who must have gone to the Val Kilmer acting academy to portray a scientist that unrealistically. It’s also a good thing his video log saw fit to thoughtfully avoid interrupting his monologue with static, and saved it for the breath he took in between thoughts. It should really be commended. And why the fuck are the women still not armed? Why isn’t anyone carrying melee weapons? Oh FSM, you must be testing me ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/28 "2010-11-29T10:37:20Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > That definitely seemed to be the point. > > And…I can’t agree about the Amy situation being moving. > > All I could think of the whole time was ‘she’s going to eat your face! What are you doing, you stupid woman?’ To clarify my first comment, the “Amy-ness” was only there for a few_seconds_ at most as ZombAmy opened her eyes, then it was all Zombie… and after it was clear Andrea was taking her sweet time in putting down her undead sister, I began to root for ZombAmy, because Andrea was being so willfully stupid… “Go Amy, eat her face, she’s too frelling stupid to live!” in the Zompocalypse, being that close to a zombie threat and taking _that_ long to kill it is clearly taking too long and putting the rest of the group at risk, ZombAmy should have been “lobotomized” as soon as she died, she should have been spiked the evening she died, not left for the next morning to reanimate and yes, Jim should have been put down before the caravan left, not left to be an “IUD” (Improvised Undead Device) roadside Zombie ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/29 "2010-11-29T10:39:29Z")
I was wrong… they bury the dead, burn the zombies. They also let a zombie live, this episode. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/30 "2010-11-29T12:51:55Z")
This episode was a solid “Meh” for me. It did a good job conveying the loss of time, emotional distress, and other things that might affect a person in such a scenario but the stoopid was rampant. First off, to head BACK into the city known to be overrun with walkers is just idiocy. They had enough fuel to go some distance, and should have searched for a better camp, or perhaps have better spent their time fortifying their position. Little things like, maybe establish a perimeter out of brush wood or something? Og on a bicycle. I don’t care about the bad science, they are just using the visuals most of us retain from high school to convey a sense of “science-ness” . Only us geeks would recognize a proper electron scanning microscope, and props cost money. They aren’t going to blow money building a fancy instrument for a few seconds establishing shot. There are zombies to be made and puppets to create. Get over it. I don’t care about the stoopid relationship crap; we do not need this in every show, and there certainly is no place for it during the actual emergency. It tends to ruin the winning formula that makes the shows great in the first place. Amy should have been put down after an hour or so of mourning, crazy grief or not. On the other hand, the scene of the dead awakening was actually pretty cool and I enjoyed watching the new creature being “birthed” so to speak. It looks like newly intact dead might still retain some lower function that is overridden by the zombie instincts. Cool and creepy. Prediction: They will go out after a fresh sample, the dead will get in, or somehow people will get contaminated. The stoopid will cause a relationship argument, and we will be left with a different crew than when we started. It might well reset back to the “lone survivor”. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/31 "2010-11-29T14:39:10Z")
It was fine and all, but I get tired of seeing references to other movies. I get it. WILDFIRE is a reference to The Andromeda Strain. I don’t care. Was the military containment protocall be codenamed SCARLET OMEGA in reference to The Crazies? Also the background music playing during their drive was reused from the movie Kick-Ass which recycled it from the movie Sunshine. Clearly John Murphy’s piece is on it’s way to being the next Adagio for Strings. ---
**Author:** ![BeeDubU2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BeeDubU2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeDubU2)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/32 "2010-11-29T16:15:53Z")
A few quick points about last night’s ep… It wasn’t the best ep, but it did it’s job. (That is, made me both excited for next weeks ep and a little sad that it’s the last for a while.) On the artillery outside the CDC thing, I saw the guns, but I didn’t see any ammo. Ammunion is surely the most precious commodity at this point. Also, wasn’t the first walker they saw a soldier? I can’t imagine the solider going down with even one bullet left. Added to the look of disgust on Darryl’s face when they gave half a box of rounds to the family leaving for Birmingham, I’d say those guns were probably not useful. Speaking of that family, was that ridiculous or what? I dunno how far it is to Brimingham from Atlanta, but it can’t be less than a tank of gas away (if they even had that much to being with). So they’re gonna travel with two kids in a car with a cloth top without resources? Felt no sympathy for them, whatsoever. And why was Shane driving a jeep with no top? Alone? With gas being so scarce, it makes more sense to me to siphon the gas into the sturdiest, most reliable vehicles and pile in together. I’ll spoiler tag this, because it’s a question based on the upcoming ep teaser, but it looked to me like Andrea was infected. Could she have been infected by soaking in her sisters infected blood for two days, or was it the CDC guy? ---
**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:** [November 29, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/33 "2010-11-29T16:36:32Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > CDC Guy seemed very Desmond-y to me but I liked the episode over all. Yes and yes, to both! Except he looked and acted a bit more like Desmond’s precursor (can’t remember his name). I was hoping that one of the infected castaways would turn out to be resistant, and that would be something they’d bring to the CDC. I’m still hoping they explore that idea at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/34 "2010-11-29T16:39:32Z")
> [@BeeDubU2](#): > > I’ll spoiler tag this, because it’s a question based on the upcoming ep teaser, but > > it looked to me like Andrea was infected. Could she have been infected by soaking in her sisters infected blood for two days, or was it the CDC guy? I suspect that she’s pregnant and having morning sickness. ---
**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 29, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/35 "2010-11-29T16:51:44Z")
I don’t enjoy nitpicking the survival strategies or lack thereof, but storming up to the CDC at dusk, out of gas, and with unarmed women and children in tow was pretty stupid. I guess they were really trying to underscore that Rick put all his eggs in one basket, but still. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/36 "2010-11-29T16:59:12Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > OTOH, would losing a valuable weapon just to put down someone destined to reanimate be worth the loss of the weapon? The best solution would be to have the sheriff wait with him, give him a moment to shoot himself in privacy, and then collect the gun. That way the survivors only lose one bullet, and no one needs to have any objections to killing the living. I doubt most people would object to suicide in the face of zombification. ---
**Author:** ![BeeDubU2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BeeDubU2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeDubU2)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/37 "2010-11-29T17:34:33Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I suspect that > > she’s pregnant and having morning sickness. Great. Now I’m worried about zombie fetuses. Dibs on the band name! ---
**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 29, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/38 "2010-11-29T17:43:44Z")
These people are being extremely careless. - It seems that they know that Zombie infect through bite and scratches. So why are they not more afraid of that? The reanimated Amy could’ve easily gotten a bite or scratch in. The diseased guy is a danger too. And what about blood spatter from the dead zombies. - Why not make a plan ahead of time, in case the CDC is closed. They had a long trip in which to discuss that. - Not everyone is carrying weapons. I think Derryl is the only one to like. Other question: - Why did it take the scientist so long time to open (other than suspense)? Because he is going crazy? - Did the old guy figure that Shane was considering killing Rick? - Are the zombies dying off? ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/39 "2010-11-29T17:49:06Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Other question: > > - Why did it take the scientist so long time to open (other than suspense)? Because he is going crazy? probably a combination of things. Didn’t want to risk letting anything in, wanted to be alone to commit suicide, too much time alone, etc. etc. > [@](#): > > - Did the old guy figure that Shane was considering killing Rick? That was my interpretation. > [@](#): > > - Are the zombies dying off? They clearly seem to be rotting away. ---
**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 29, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234/40 "2010-11-29T18:22:45Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > - It seems that they know that Zombie infect through bite and scratches. So why are they not more afraid of that? The reanimated Amy could’ve easily gotten a bite or scratch in. The diseased guy is a danger too. And what about blood spatter from the dead zombies. I don’t know what you mean by more afraid as many in the group were quite clearly afraid. Jackie had a pretty strong reaction when she found out Jim had been bitten and so do the others when she made them aware. Daryl in particular was all set on simply putting him down as quickly as possible. > [@](#): > > - Not everyone is carrying weapons. That didn’t make much sense to me. If a firearm wasn’t available I’d at least carry a club or an axe or anything else I could get my hands on. > [@](#): > > I think Derryl is the only one to like. The guy with the short fuse and a tendency to become violent? For all their faults at least Rick, Shane, and the others actually care about other human beings. As useful as Daryl is (he does bring home food) I’d be afraid of making him angry and getting a bolt through my head or him doing something stupid out of anger that gets me killed. > [@](#): > > - Why did it take the scientist so long time to open (other than suspense)? Because he is going crazy? I would assume that the CDC facility is under full quarantine and he was simply following protocol. > [@](#): > > - Did the old guy figure that Shane was considering killing Rick? I’m not really sure if Dale put it all together. After all, Shane decided not to shoot Rick before he was aware of Dale’s presence. It’s entirely possible that Dale bought the “We need reflective vests” line. > [@](#): > > - Are the zombies dying off? I don’t think so. Since there’s at least a second season. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-05-wildfire-open-spoilers/562234.md?page=3)