# The Walking Dead; 2.13 "Beside the Dying Fire" SEASON FINALE (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171 "2012-03-18T23:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/101 "2012-03-19T16:57:50Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Oh, and biology question: just how soft and pliable would a corpse’s skull actually be? Because skinny Andrea pulping a walker’s temple with one whack from the butt of her pistol seems a bit much. Mrs. Plant suggests that the walkers are rotting away, that their skulls have been softened by decay. Hell, I know live folks that has happened to. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/102 "2012-03-19T16:58:49Z")
That was a pretty good finale I thought for sure Herschel was going to go down, defending his farm. I expected Carol to get bit, I don’t know why the writers are letting her hang around, they must be saving her for some important plot line. And I liked Rick’s campfire speech, though I was expecting zombies at any minute. I can’t wait till the show comes back. When IS it coming back, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/103 "2012-03-19T16:59:55Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I can’t wait till the show comes back. When IS it coming back, anyway? Fall. So by Walking Dead standards, that should be about 4 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/104 "2012-03-19T17:03:30Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > They’re jawless. Yeesh. They’d still retain some yomping ability, one would think. Who wants a partial zombie mouth all up in your business, gnawing around? I think I’d pass on a zombie minion, no matter how badass it made me look. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/105 "2012-03-19T17:49:13Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > And FWIW I loved the episode. Seems to me too many people complain and nitpick yet they keep watching. > > It’s about Zombies. You need to tell yourself that each and every time you find a critique. I think we’ve firmly established that most of us love the show, and love talking about it and criticizing it. 🙂 > [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Statements like Glenn’s “I love you” to Maggie make it seem more time has passed. He said, “It’s been true for while now and I should have said it sooner.” Maybe it’s like wartime and you fall in love in days?\ I really liked that heart-to-heart in the car - Steve Yeun is one of the better actors on this show, I think. > [@DianaG](#): > > \ > I really, really don’t get the “Why didn’t they know about the prison?!?!?” complaints. Who says they didn’t? A prison would be the last goddamned place on earth that I’d head for during the zombie apocalypse if I had a group of ten, only five of whom are good for much. I’d assume that the place would be jam-packed with fucking zombies, and they have neither the manpower nor the firepower to safely clear it out.\ I don’t think your average person who has no reason to know it knows where any of your local prisons are. Why would you? They’re not exactly tourist attractions. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/106 "2012-03-19T17:52:58Z")
Until I knew that everybody was infected and would reanimate after death I might actually think a prison would be a good place to go. Easily defended and the assumption would be that once cut off if the prisoners were released they’d have dispersed and if they weren’t released they’d have starved to death by then. Yet another reason for Rick to have shared wit the group that it might be a really good idea avoid places where people would have died of natural causes in any number. Such as medical aid stations and hospitals. (Though I would like it if next episode he says “hey, I was thinking of sharing but then we saw a hundred cars full of dead people so figured he was nuts.”) ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/107 "2012-03-19T17:53:30Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I don’t think your average person who has no reason to know it knows where any of your local prisons are. Why would you? They’re not exactly tourist attractions. Cops would be likely to know, however, if they are in the same state. The question of whether Hershel should know depends on how close he lives to it. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/108 "2012-03-19T17:54:58Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I guess it’s kinda silly to expect high quality television writing and plot from a show that has so much dorky comic writer thought processes running through it. Their primary concern seems to be “Will this look cool?” This explains why so much time was spent on the Walker in the well. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/109 "2012-03-19T17:56:56Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Cops would be likely to know, however, if they are in the same state. The question of whether Hershel should know depends on how close he lives to it. Yeah, that’s right, Rick would be most likely to know if they are still in his state (I don’t know if they are or not at this point). ETA: I just realized that Rick would know where the prisons are in his state, but I don’t think he knows where the group is at this point. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/110 "2012-03-19T17:59:14Z")
They are, so far the entire series has taken place inside Georgia. That said, he may very well know that Prison XYZ exists, but not know that if you take Georgia back roads from Hershels farm for six hours that it will put you on the other side of a hill acroos the back field from the prison. I live six blocks away from the entrance to a federal women’s penitentiary and have no idea exactly where the prison itself is. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/111 "2012-03-19T18:00:30Z")
it makes more sense if Shane and Randall were simply infected because of an open wound, the crew had always been reckless about getting zombie juice splattered on themselves. i’ll take the evidence of dead car people over the words of a depressed, suicidal man. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/112 "2012-03-19T18:04:08Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > **DianaG** > > There’s a Walking Dead Wiki. Here’s the info on the comic version of > _POSSIBLE SPOILERS_ > [Michonne](http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Michonne_%28Comic_Series%29) > _POSSIBLE SPOILERS_ > > Edit: Don’t read about her relationships. I found a big spoiler about someone eventually dying (although the TV show may not go that route). Good Lord. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/113 "2012-03-19T18:11:39Z")
As far as I’m concerned, the comic book wiki is irrelevant. This is the tv show, not the comic book. I wish the creators of this show had made a zombie show that was completely original; then we wouldn’t keep getting sidetracked with these irrelevancies. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/114 "2012-03-19T18:38:41Z")
Well, that was a fun hour, boys n’ girls. Went very fast, lots of action, trimmed the cast down by a couple, and set things up for the next chapter of this near-video game series. We have a prison to live in (oh gosh, will we ever find a place that we can defend? Lawsy mercy!), Ninja-Hoodie Girl, complete with katana and her S&M-bies. We have Lori turning into super-bitch and an entire crew of morons who are still driving 20-30 year old vehicles with faulty mufflers, along with a 300 decibel motorcycle (shhhh, Carl, talk quietly! :rolleyes: ), when the entire freeway is full of nice, new, _quiet_ F-350s and Suburbans. Still and all, lots o’ fun. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/115 "2012-03-19T19:03:44Z")
I loved it when The Battle for Hershel’s Farm started some of them wanted to go back into the house and Daryl dissuaded them, saying, “not unless there’s some tunnel under the house I don’t know about.” And I’m going, hey! They should have listed to the great minds of the Straight Dope Message Board \*Walking Dead \*discussion! We suggested that _weeks_ ago! Speaking of Hershel, I love how pragmatic he has become. And he got the best line! I swear I’m going to lose it in church the next time the Resurrection is mentioned. “Excuse me, Father? Are you _sure_ what Jesus had in mind?” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/116 "2012-03-19T19:47:19Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Can we verify if “we all carry the zombie disease” was always the plan for the big secret or if they just had Jenner whisper something to be determined later when the writers decided that they needed to break it out? Was it in the comics? Was it in the Talking Dead (waaay earlier)? The points you made are good. Rick’s warped reasoning may have made sense in his head, but like you said I think he would have been smart enough to tell _someone_ that, oh, BTW, if anyone dies during the night you gotta clock’em in the head right away or they’ll kill the rest of us, or at the very least anyone sick needs to be restrained. > > Also, when Rick was defending himself to the group about killing Shane, I’m surprised that he never had Carl defend him. Carl saw enough that he could have verified that Rick was acting in self defense. No, Carl had no idea. He asked Rick if he was bit, then commented that he didn’t see the walker that bit Shane. The only reason he raised his gun was because he saw Shane rising. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/117 "2012-03-19T20:14:38Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think your average person who has no reason to know it knows where any of your local prisons are. Why would you? They’re not exactly tourist attractions. Yeah, I know there’s a prison about an hour or so south of me but I couldn’t tell you exactly where. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/118 "2012-03-19T20:39:09Z")
I know where the two big state prisons are in this state, and one federal prison, but I’m not sure if I’d been driving on back roads, I’d know where one of them was. The other two are plainly visible, one from a main road, and the other, [“The Castle on the Cumberland,”](http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kylyon/eddyvilleprisonviews.html) built in 1889, is now located on the bank of a lake. Gah. I just went back and watched video clips from the show and got a better look at the armless zombies. They’re even more horrific at a leisurely viewing. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/119 "2012-03-19T20:41:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I don’t think your average person who has no reason to know it knows where any of your local prisons are. Why would you? They’re not exactly tourist attractions. I don’t disagree, although Rick and Shane are more likely than most to know. My point is that even if they knew it was there, they have no reason to believe that it’s anything other than a deathtrap. After all, prisons are generally overcrowded and designed to keep IN much cleverer things than walkers. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171/120 "2012-03-19T22:10:53Z")
The writers write for situations with no respect for a character motivation. Lori is whatever she needs to be to propel the drama. Same goes for Carol, to a lesser extent. The problem with viewing Lori’s reactions as anything other than badly written melodrama is that nothing else has led us to believe that they’re pursuing some kind of irrationally psychotic angle with her character. For example, we don’t have other characters evidencing an awareness of her irrational behavior, a knowing glance and nod. No, from all outward appearances, she is reacting understandably to these people. Yet she’s clearly not. Rick’s whole apology (to Lori, and then to the group) was made in defense of an act no one would ever question under any circumstance—zombie apocalypse or crazy Wednesday night. Someone, especially someone known to act crazy, is deliberately and admittedly trying to kill you, it’s ok to defend yourself. Hell, even Dale wouldn’t have a problem with this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-2-13-beside-the-dying-fire-season-finale-open-spoilers/616171.md?page=7)