# The Walking Dead; 5.02 "Strangers" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868 "2014-10-20T00:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/101 "2014-10-21T00:56:51Z")
1. bob spoke to gareth at the slaughter house. gareth had a bit of a “why is my dinner trying to talk to me” sigh, before he loosen the gag. bob gave him the eugene talk. gareth finds irony in that bob was in the slaughter house about to be dinner; manages to escape, yet turns out to be dinner after all. 2. i don’t believe that gabriel was involved with the terminus people. he doesn’t seem to be the type that would go to far afield, he stayed very close to church, i’m betting rick and crew were the first people he has seen in quite a while. 3. i think that bob was injured in the water. he was limping after the food bank. he may have felt he had a bit of time to be with his people then he would go off and deal with the situation. 4. i’m still getting a steve jobs vibe from gareth. perhaps i saw too many movie previews with ashton kutcher as jobs. the actor playing gareth looks a bit like him. this leads me to speculate on how jobs would have handled the z.a… then i wonder how gates would have done… then i figure that there may actually be quite a few it survivors in the z.a… ---
**Author:** ![PlumBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@PlumBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlumBob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/102 "2014-10-21T01:00:46Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > To me, the best thing about this episode–and something I rather expected more conversation about–was the quiet conversation midway through between Michonne & Rick. I just loved it. It made me like Michonne a lot more than I ever have before, while simultaneously making her initial unlikability both more understandable and less arch. Anybody feel the same? They don’t let her be likeable very often, so when she is it works. A little likeable goes a long way on this show. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/103 "2014-10-21T01:20:47Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > No one, here or anywhere, has mentioned the hacking-off-and-eating/cooking-someone’s-leg while he was still alive is an element of the REALLY post-apocalyptic novel “The Road” It was also done in in the film [Quest for Fire](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082484/?ref_=nv_sr_2), 1981 and the continuing TV show,[Hannibal.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2243973/?ref_=nv_sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/104 "2014-10-21T01:21:31Z")
I like the character development more than the sick stuff for sure at the moment, but I missed the dialogue between Rick and Michonne. Something about how she got good with the katana and where she got it? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/105 "2014-10-21T01:23:14Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I like the character development more than the sick stuff for sure at the moment, but I missed the dialogue between Rick and Michonne. Something about how she got good with the katana and where she got it? She found it and had to kill zombies 24/7. Anxious musician to the cabbie: “Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?!?” Cabbie: “Practice, practice, practice!” ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/106 "2014-10-21T01:37:19Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > She found it and had to kill zombies 24/7. > Anxious musician to the cabbie: “Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?!?” > Cabbie: “Practice, practice, practice!” Which I’m not sure I completely buy. I’m no martial artist, but her moves with the blade before seemed like she was taught with technique. Someone untrained might get good after a while, but it wouldn’t have that martial arts flare to it, would it? ---
**Author:** ![PlumBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@PlumBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlumBob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/107 "2014-10-21T01:57:26Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Which I’m not sure I completely buy. I’m no martial artist, but her moves with the blade before seemed like she was taught with technique. > > Someone untrained might get good after a while, but it wouldn’t have that martial arts flare to it, would it? Didn’t they show her in fencing attire or talking about fencing in a flashback? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/108 "2014-10-21T01:58:53Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Which I’m not sure I completely buy. I’m no martial artist, but her moves with the blade before seemed like she was taught with technique. > > Someone untrained might get good after a while, but it wouldn’t have that martial arts flare to it, would it? I have no idea. Someone probably taught the actress, but it is a TV show. 🙂 ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/109 "2014-10-21T02:06:19Z")
After the Flooded Zombie Basement Incident, their clothes were clean and dry on the walk back. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/110 "2014-10-21T02:10:38Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > It’s the \*opposite \*of dents that you really have to worry about - bulges indicate that some sort of bacteria, like the kind that cause botulism, is growing inside. Dents by themselves are actually no biggie, as long as they haven’t compromised the air-tight vacuum. Another reason why I’ll die in the apocalypse. Bulges just mean the stock boys bumped it. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/111 "2014-10-21T02:24:25Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Another reason why I’ll die in the apocalypse. Bulges just mean the stock boys bumped it. Dents mean the stock boy bumped it. Bulges mean botulism. Now you know the rest of the story! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/112 "2014-10-21T02:34:59Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > A friend and I were debating the Bob/Gareth thing today. He thought that Bob was a Termite but I disagreed. We were trying to reconcile between how he knew Bob by name. My guess was that Bob and his crew had been in Terminus longer than Rick’s band. They had time to talk to Gareth and the folks before everything went down. We then went back and found this quote from Ep 1: > > “Don’t do this. We can fix this. We told you there’s a way out of all this, you just gotta take a chance. We have a man who knows how to stop it… he has a cure. We just have to get him to Washington. You don’t have to do this, man. We can put the world back to how it was.” > > —Bob to Gareth about Eugene and a cure > > To me that reads that Bob tried to reason with Gareth post capture but pre blood trough and that is how Gareth knew him so well. Trying again and jumping off from this… does anyone else think that Eugene is bullshitting everyone? I swear, that’s what I’ve thought from the get-go and he’s done little to dissuade me. If everyone feels this way and it’s been discussed ad nauseum, I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/113 "2014-10-21T02:43:27Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > What do you call a guy with no arms and legs in a swimming pool? Fucked. > [@Human\_Action](#): > > Credit where it’s due, though, the show has seemingly moved on from its one-black-male-at-a-time rule. It’s even getting into the neighborhood of Georgia’s actual racial demographics; there were 15 characters in the church\*, and 33% were black. Georgia is 30.5% African-American as of 2010. > > \*(Unless I forgot someone: Maggie, Glenn, Abe, Rosita, Eugene, Rick, Daryl, Carol, Carl, Judith, Bob, Tyreese, Michonne, Sasha, Gabriel) Don’t forget Tara. :fistbump: ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/114 "2014-10-21T02:46:56Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Trying again and jumping off from this… does anyone else think that Eugene is bullshitting everyone? I swear, that’s what I’ve thought from the get-go and he’s done little to dissuade me. If everyone feels this way and it’s been discussed ad nauseum, I apologize. Nothing he has said makes any sense, but on this show that doesn’t mean much. I think he’s full of shit, but he may _think_ he knows what he is talking about. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/115 "2014-10-21T03:56:23Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Credit where it’s due, though, the show has seemingly moved on from its one-black-male-at-a-time rule. It’s even getting into the neighborhood of Georgia’s actual racial demographics; there were 15 characters in the church\*, and 33% were black. Georgia is 30.5% African-American as of 2010. How many Brits and zombies in Georgia, 'cause I totally want my show realistic man! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/116 "2014-10-21T04:43:14Z")
Eugene may be bullshitting, but I kinda sorta hope he isn’t. It could offer the show some new plot possibilities and a change of scenery. Either way, I don’t think whatever it is he thinks he knows will work, as that would end the show. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/117 "2014-10-21T13:23:18Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > What do you call a guy with no arms and legs in a swimming pool? As God is my witness, this is the first thing I thought of. Then felt bad about it. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/118 "2014-10-21T13:38:12Z")
Maybe I’m the only one, but the actor portaying the minister (Seth Gilliam) seemed to be channeling Robin Williams - expressions, speech patterns, mannerisms. It was… odd. A strong return to “let’s see how stupid we can all be” scriptwriting. Basement full of slime-zombies? Let’s jump in and fight them! A basement full of slime so smelly - in a world of decaying bodies and poor hygiene - that it’s described as “Satan’s barf” - and they jump right in and never mention it again? Shelves of food that have been festering in satan barf and zombie slime for years? Yum! Shelves that never got knocked over or collapsed from rust and floor collapse under the water? Sure! There is no reason on earth this show couldn’t be tightly and thoughtfuly written. Instead, it’s Gilligan’s Island with gore. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/119 "2014-10-21T13:49:32Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > A strong return to “let’s see how stupid we can all be” scriptwriting. Basement full of slime-zombies? Let’s jump in and fight them! A basement full of slime so smelly - in a world of decaying bodies and poor hygiene - that it’s described as “Satan’s barf” - and they jump right in and never mention it again? Shelves of food that have been festering in satan barf and zombie slime for years? Yum! Shelves that never got knocked over or collapsed from rust and floor collapse under the water? Sure! And in the very next scene their clothing was clean and even wrinkle free. A miracle of modern fabric. Who, except for a complete idot, would jump into a pit of water with decaying zombies swimming around? Who, except for Rick, would order his whole team to jump in? I guess he knew a good dry-cleaner nearby so why not get dirty. The show doesn’t have to get all the details right. I’m willing to suspend some belief. But sometimes they seem go out of their way to be as absurd as possible. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868/120 "2014-10-21T14:15:09Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > And in the very next scene their clothing was clean and even wrinkle free. A miracle of modern fabric. Right out of _Last Action Hero_. > [@](#): > > Who, except for a complete idot, would jump into a pit of water with decaying zombies swimming around? Who, except for Rick, would order his whole team to jump in? Because, of course, all the water-rotting zombies were standing and visible in four feet of water. Couldn’t be any underneath, say, those whose legs had given out. And all the food just above the water was so spotlessly clean! It must have just come back from the same dry cleaners! And a gun store being picked clean - no problem. No one ever looked in the fridge while loading up the Remingtons? You know, for that other unobtainium? I have to suspend my disbelief with 1/4 aircraft cable, and many times even that’s not enough to try and appreciate the story. I keep waiting for someone to address Rick, “Gee, Skipper…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-02-strangers-open-spoilers/701868.md?page=7)