# The Walking Dead; 4.09 "After" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934 "2014-02-10T01:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/41 "2014-02-11T00:42:14Z")
I’m glad they remembered to finish off Hershel’s head. I think I even brought that up in a previous thread. Nicotero brought the head prop on Talking Dead, and holy crap that thing was incredibly realistic and creepy. Espcially when Hardwick fed it puddin’. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/42 "2014-02-11T00:47:01Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > The original pets made some semblance of sense insofar that they were Michonne’s husband (lover?) and his friend, and we’ve been shown repeatedly that the undead retain some faint memories from their former lives, hence them being docile in Michonne’s company when de-jawed and disarmed. > > But just random zombies? Yeah, that’s a bit daft, but whatever. Milton, the Gov’s science nerd, explained that he discovered during his experiments that if zombies can’t eat (like because they have no jaw) they eventually stop trying and become fairly docile. The original pets not attacking her had nothing to do with them being her lovaaaaaah or friend or anything. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/43 "2014-02-11T00:48:53Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I enjoyed it. You can’t analyze this thing too deep. I spend a lot of time musing over the remains of civilization. I think I’d love to be a set decorator on this series. > > Oh and Michonne with the katana in the memory sequence … I think that popped in as her memories merged with her current life. She put the katana back into the knife holder, if you noticed, and one of them says, “You’ve gotten good with your sword,” a skill I doubt she had back then. By the end of her dream, the two men were missing their arms, yet sitting at the table still. Also, the scene of Atlanta in the background through the apartment windows changed from normal to ruined apocalypse. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/44 "2014-02-11T00:53:10Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Milton, the Gov’s science nerd, explained that he discovered during his experiments that if zombies can’t eat (like because they have no jaw) they eventually stop trying and become fairly docile. The original pets not attacking her had nothing to do with them being her lovaaaaaah or friend or anything. Milton also thought that he can communicate with a zombie with some music and bells. Guy wasn’t exactly the brightest pen in the tool shed. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/45 "2014-02-11T01:45:42Z")
Bit of a hit and miss episode for me. Most of the Michone stuff was good, I liked her dream/flashback sequence. It was a bit heavy-handed on the whole “I’m little better than a zombie if I wonder by myself” revelation, but I still loved her reaction when she found Rick & Carl. The Rick/Carl stuff I didn’t care for. As per usual it was the practicalities and details that bothered me. - It has been well established in the show time and again that zombie skulls generally have the consistency of overripe watermelon, but suddenly an axe doesn’t penetrate a zombie skull and in fact gets stuck. Then in the very same episode suddenly they’re back to watermelons as a katana is slicing straight through skulls. - The ‘pets’ is just terrible stuff. I don’t think it’s been quite so egregious before. So you can apparently wander through the middle of a zombie horde simply because you have a rope attached to a docile zombie. I realise it harks back bad comic book stuff, but the TV show hasn’t had a problem changing other things. - All that canned food lying around, that would be the situation in almost every house. None of the survivors should ever be going hungry, all it would take is ransacking half a dozen houses. - Why do they need to go in and ‘clear’ a house/shop etc. Carl kind of got it later. Just stand at the door and make some noise – the zombies will come running. You just need to check any closed doors etc. No need to get surprised by a zombie lurking in the dark. I really don’t know how these people survive for so long, they are abject morons. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/46 "2014-02-11T01:49:49Z")
I loved the last scene where there’s a (Michonne) knock on the door, Rick looks out, turns to Carl and says, “It’s for you.” Almost as much fun as the in-print “Oh #@&\*!” for the Grimm mid-season cliffhanger. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/47 "2014-02-11T02:04:58Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > Milton also thought that he can communicate with a zombie with some music and bells. Guy wasn’t exactly the brightest pen in the tool shed. He wasn’t trying to communicate with them; he was trying to determine what, if any, memories\* they retain from life. It’s a valid line of inquiry, and the CDC (& other overseas labs) was probably doing the same before total collapse. \*It’s clear that they do retain some memories. For example they can walk if their legs (& spinal chord) are intact, climb steps, bite, chew, swallow, etc. And the pilot had Mrs Jones returning to the house her husband & son were sheltering in night after night. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/48 "2014-02-11T03:23:01Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Yeah it’s horrifying, but it’s also impossible to actually show without looking comically ridiculous. Kinda like [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUSvdqpQ6d0). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/49 "2014-02-11T08:10:33Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > Milton also thought that he can communicate with a zombie with some music and bells. Guy wasn’t exactly the brightest pen in the tool shed. The recent loss of Russell Johnson has made the absence of smart supporting characters even more stark. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/50 "2014-02-11T14:34:19Z")
[quote=stegon66;17092936Stream it and save yourself the misery of sitting through an assload of commercials.[/quote] I regret dropping cable 5% less every time I read comments like this. It is so unbelievably luxurious to watch stuff with NO, NONE, ZERO, NADA interruption. I can’t make up my mind on this episode. Definitely some very stupid points with Carl’s behavior, but I can see they’re going to go round-robin on the gang until they’re reassembled in about four weeks. Not a bad way to get some character development and gentle retconning in. And really, the closing line made the ep for me. WD doesn’t tend to do great lines, but that was a great one to go black on. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/51 "2014-02-11T19:29:35Z")
Does anyone think Michonne went back to the prison to get that gaudy cat statue? ---
**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:** [February 11, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/52 "2014-02-11T19:37:38Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Does anyone think Michonne went back to the prison to get that gaudy cat statue? I think she went back to find the others. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/53 "2014-02-11T19:42:12Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Does anyone think Michonne went back to the prison to get that gaudy cat statue? She didn’t go back to the prison. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/54 "2014-02-11T19:47:16Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > She didn’t go back to the prison. For a few seconds when she was just stumbling along with the walkers, I thought she’d end up back there. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/55 "2014-02-11T19:53:11Z")
Interesting piece in Wired: [The Walking Dead’s Scariest Element Isn’t Zombies, It’s Memories](http://www.wired.com/underwire/2014/02/walking-dead-flashbacks/) _The survivors are like Lot’s wife traveling the long way out of hell, keeping their eyes straight ahead as though they’d fall to pieces if they looked back. And they might; the past is taboo because it’s dangerous, and that’s the very thing that makes it so magnetically attractive._ ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/56 "2014-02-11T20:36:57Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > As per usual it was the practicalities and details that bothered me. > > - It has been well established in the show time and again that zombie skulls generally have the consistency of overripe watermelon, but suddenly an axe doesn’t penetrate a zombie skull and in fact gets stuck. Then in the very same episode suddenly they’re back to watermelons as a katana is slicing straight through skulls. Not all zombies are equal, the older ones are “squishier”. The guy that took Carl’s shoe for example was actually still built like a wrestler. > [@](#): > > - All that canned food lying around, that would be the situation in almost every house. None of the survivors should ever be going hungry, all it would take is ransacking half a dozen houses. What bothered me was that there would be any unlooted places within injured walking distance from the prison. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/57 "2014-02-11T20:51:25Z")
> [@](#): > > - It has been well established in the show time and again that zombie skulls generally have the consistency of overripe watermelon, but suddenly an axe doesn’t penetrate a zombie skull and in fact gets stuck. Then in the very same episode suddenly they’re back to watermelons as a katana is slicing straight through skulls. Rick had just taken a severe beating and almost died, he wasn’t in prime brain-axing condition. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/58 "2014-02-11T20:51:54Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Not a terrible start, though I missed the rest of the gang. > > I assume this has already been posted to the boards, but since I just saw this for the first time tonight I figure some of you may not have seen it yet either: > > [Honest Trailers - The Walking Dead](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxvo8AcpQQ) Did I see Rick hold up a revolver and tell someone “Have a shell in the chamber abd be sure that the safety is on.”? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/59 "2014-02-11T21:02:25Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > What bothered me was that there would be any unlooted places within injured walking distance from the prison. Why? The entire world should be essentially unlooted except by the very small survivor pool. Even early looters’ caches should be right where they were left. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934/60 "2014-02-11T21:09:12Z")
I agree as others have said, it makes no sense for people to murder each other because there should be more than enough resources for everyone who’s left. That was why I was always sympathetic to Dale’s point of view. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-4-09-after-open-spoilers/680934.md?page=4)