# The Walking Dead; 1.06 "TS-19" SEASON FINALE (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089 "2010-12-06T01:03:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/81 "2010-12-07T02:33:36Z")
My problem with Darabont’s approach is that he’s dumbed-down the storylines, and made the characters much more stupid/incompetent than they really are. And Teh Stoopid is severely distorting the plot and character development. Really? CDC asplodes as a decon procedure? Really? Stupidly insulting. And it’s one thing to take liberties, but Darabont isn’t telling the story - he’s regurgitating a bunch of Zombie Movie Cliches. The sad thing is that it isn’t necessary - the material is fine on its own. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/82 "2010-12-07T02:59:40Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > If you want a large scale book spoiler set: > > The group is competent - Rick did not lose it in Atlanta - the bag was never lost. Glenn scouted alone, and did not want incompetents with him. He scavenged alone. > > There was a brief fuck involving Shane and the Wife. Wife informed Rick of the pregnancy, and the old dude warned Rick early on about Shane not being happy about Rick being there. > > And Carl, Rick’s son, shoots Shane, before Shane can kill Rick. But it isn’t a head shot, and Rick goes back at some to put Shane down. Shane is a decidedly non-liar, non-rapey person. He did lose it, but the Darabont scripts make a monster of Shane. > > Early on, Rick and his bag o guns yielded a group-wide arms program. The kids were proficient. Even before Rick’s arrival, the group ran patrols and maintained watch. > > The gaggle of cliched/hack/Darabont/red shirts didn’t exist. No Meryl, Daryl and his other brother Daryl. Wife-beater and friends show up later, and it is Rick who goes bugshit on Wife-beater. > > No CDC, no peri-apocalyptic information, no flashbacks. > > As an additional comment, our labs can be safe-guarded without the aid of fuel-air munitions. > > The Old dude? and Amy/Andrea - they are shacked up in the Winnie. After Amy dies, Andrea stays with Old Dude until he dies. She puts him down. > > In the books, the zombies are not walkers, they’re “Roamers”, mainly, and there are a few other types. The Walking Dead refers to the living, as everybody has “it”, and will come back unless they are put down properly. Man, that reminds me how much more sensible the comics were. The show has improved some aspects for me, but I don’t know why they pretty much ditched all of the above. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/83 "2010-12-07T03:01:48Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Man, that reminds me how much more sensible the comics were. The show has improved some aspects for me, but I don’t know why they pretty much ditched all of the above. Marketability, I suppose. Not that Darabont actually respects his source material. That, and I suspect certain aspects of the books would not do well with a broader audience. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/84 "2010-12-07T03:43:03Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Marketability, I suppose. Not that Darabont actually respects his source material. That, and I suspect certain aspects of the books would not do well with a broader audience. I think you’ve nailed it. I don’t think, at this rate, we’ll ever see Rick as anything other than a reluctant-yet-fearless leader with doubts about his aggression. And there’s no way the recent “no one is safe” arc will play out anywhere close to the comics. Why only push the TV envelope on gore? Why can’t we have a protagonist whose actions would challenge some viewers? I know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/85 "2010-12-07T04:04:55Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Why only push the TV envelope on gore? Why can’t we have a protagonist whose actions would challenge some viewers? I know the answer. That’s what’s so frustrating about The Walking Dead for me. Other shows, even shows on AMC, have done exactly that: Don Draper on Mad Men, Tony Soprano, Al Swearengen. But no, in the post-apocalyptic zombie world, the sheriff’s deputy has to be Dudley-fucking-Do-Right. Bo-ring. This show has the freedom of being on AMC but instead feels like it’s been focused-grouped and processed through fifty network TV executives. ---
**Author:** ![RoseMadder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b5e925/32.png) [@RoseMadder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoseMadder)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/86 "2010-12-07T04:11:10Z")
Now that I think about it, probably one of them is pregnant. Because of the blood results, that or that one of them is becoming a zombie. Anywho when they were showing the x-rays of the zombie brain did anybody notice that it still was a little lighted up it was like ember sparks , maybe that has something to do with the cure. I dont know just throwing ideas around. Oh and for being the last episode of the season I totally thin that they should have done a real explosion not some badly made graphics one. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/87 "2010-12-07T04:25:15Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Really? CDC asplodes as a decon procedure? Really? Stupidly insulting. Sure. Because what better way to ensure containment by blowing the building into dust! ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/88 "2010-12-07T05:10:40Z")
Really? It’s more a matter of maintaining containment of the pathogens, and letting them die. The hard part us keeping the stuff alive. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/89 "2010-12-07T05:11:03Z")
I can see why Darabont fired his writing staff. Hopefully he’ll avoid making a total diastor out of using freelancers. **Deadwood** used that model and was fucking spectacular. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/90 "2010-12-07T05:46:09Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I can see why Darabont fired his writing staff. Hopefully he’ll avoid making a total diastor out of using freelancers. **Deadwood** used that model and was fucking spectacular. [Yeah, it’s not true.](http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/12/03/walking-dead-darabont-hurd-writers/) One of the writers is leaving, and a bunch of others have pilots for next season so they’ll leave if they get picked up. But no one has been fired. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/91 "2010-12-07T05:52:13Z")
Well, they should be. They need to start over with a new cast as well. They can keep Daryl and the Korean kid. Make the rest into zombie chow. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/92 "2010-12-07T05:59:15Z")
Darabont is the problem. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/93 "2010-12-07T06:28:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Well, they should be. They need to start over with a new cast as well. They can keep Daryl and the Korean kid. Make the rest into zombie chow. Maybe you just need to pay attention to the show? I’ve been wondering where that grenade was for the last several episodes. The story is _about_ the people and their interactions. We’re still just getting to know them. Again, if there’s a theme this season, it’s dealing with the loss of loved ones, or once they’re zombified, how to deal with them. Morgan wanted to finally kill his zombie wife but couldn’t. Andrea couldn’t deal with it until the last instant and TS-19 was a test subject until enough data had been collected, and then the doc worked to keep the promise to his wife. If the next season follows the conclusion it will be choosing to survive and build a community rather than just escape after escape. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/94 "2010-12-07T06:47:26Z")
The interpersonal drama _could_ be interesting, I suppose, but hasn’t been so far. Part of that is the writing (which hasn’t been very interesting or original in that regard), but I think a lot of it is the acting too. None of the leads in the triangle are very compelling as actors (the actress who plays Lori, in particular, has like two facial expressions), and the soapish aspects, so far. just aren’t playing. The actors don’t engender sympathy for their characters or even succeed very well at suspending disbelief. They come off like actors (especially Rick, who looks like he’s consciously posing for the camera in every scene). The kid who plays Rick and Lori’s son is awful too, by the way. Typical, artificial, Hollywood kid actor. Oh, and the one who plays Andrea is the worst. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/95 "2010-12-07T06:56:12Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > But they’re not a bunch of steely-eyed ex-military survivalist types. This isn’t Left 4 Dead: The Television Series. God, that would be awesome. Just make the L4D1 intro an entire series. CGI too. BTW, the only military guy in either game is Bill, and he’s old. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/96 "2010-12-07T11:42:33Z")
I agree that the actors playing Lori and Andrea are drags on the whole show. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/97 "2010-12-07T12:53:10Z")
Basically, I think the simple answer is that they should have ended the season with being accepted into the CDC, rather than ending on their escape from it. They simply didn’t have time to do anything meaningful (that was CDC specific), and the exposition about zombie brains didn’t really tell us anything we care about. If they had the whole next season to work with, they could have actually made everything make sense. Instead we got, “I’m not telling you that you’re about to be blown up for no particular reason. Nor am I locking you in to this room for any particular reason. And seeing as I have no reason for doing anything, I guess I may as well let you go. Oh but first, let me talk about how zombies _come back from the dead_, since you might not have picked up on that.” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/98 "2010-12-07T14:18:31Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Really? It’s more a matter of maintaining containment of the pathogens, and letting them die. The hard part us keeping the stuff alive. I was being sarcastic. Blowing up a building to contain some pathogen is probably the worst thing you can do. You have no guarantee you will actually kill all the germs, you have destroyed all your research and just spreading building dust around can cause problems by itself. They had enough trouble in NYC figuring out how to dismantle the Deutche Bank building after 9/11 without spreading all the dust, mold and fungus that had accumulated. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/99 "2010-12-07T15:01:11Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Basically, I think the simple answer is that they should have ended the season with being accepted into the CDC, rather than ending on their escape from it. They simply didn’t have time to do anything meaningful (that was CDC specific) That’s exactly why it was best that they didn’t end with them reaching the CDC. If they had, they’d have to actually do something major with it to justify the months of waiting for the next season to start on that cliffhanger. This way, they get it out of the way, so people won’t complain ‘they’re in Atlanta, dealing with what they think is a disease! Why didn’t they go to the CDC?’ But they don’t waste more than a single episode there. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089/100 "2010-12-07T15:10:57Z")
I agree. By going to the CDC they have eliminated the fool’s hope of a cure, and now the focus can shift (more interestingly) to survival and rebuilding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-1-06-ts-19-season-finale-open-spoilers/563089.md?page=6)