# The Walking Dead; 5.11 "The Distance" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377 "2015-02-23T00:35:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/21 "2015-02-23T05:35:52Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I expect better manners from a small-town Southern boy. I’m gonna assume you’re calling Rick a boy, not me. Otherwise I have to do the thing with the gizmo. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/22 "2015-02-23T05:37:24Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Eh, I try not to extrapolate from the sneak peeks too much since they tend to be way out of context. Also that’s a basic common sense rule for any survivor community; the gang had the exact same rule back at the prison. Tonight was the first episode I actually liked since the hiatus. I’ll bet you $324,625 that Terminus Mark 1 did NOT enforce that rule. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/23 "2015-02-23T05:41:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m gonna assume you’re calling Rick a boy, not me. Otherwise I have to do the thing with the gizmo. Not the gizmo. Anything but the gizmo. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/24 "2015-02-23T05:51:55Z")
So why would they send out as diplomats and recruiters someone so odd as Aaron, answers questions evasively, carries creepy promotional materials, refuses to even take a bite of the food he himself was carrying. Is there any way he could have sent a worse vibe out? And after all this Rick still makes the same mistake of taking his whole group in at once, instead of sending one or two people to scope it out for a couple days and then leave and meet up and report. If they don’t show up he knows something is up, but nope everyone march on in.:smack: As a good will gesture the community could provide some supplies for those outside. There was no need to punch Aaron or treat him like shit and keep him cuffed in the middle of a zombie swarm, but then they don’t take basic cautious steps to build trust between everyone! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/25 "2015-02-23T05:56:50Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ll bet you $324,625 that Terminus Mark 1 did NOT enforce that rule. The mistake Terminus Mk.1 made was assuming letting in an all male group of outlaw bikers with swastikas tattooed on their face was going to work out well.😃 Terminus never made much sense, so the lesson they learned from letting in a gang of rapists was that in the future they have to cannibalize everyone including small kids(remember the table of stuffed animals) before the kids…start raping everyone I guess. I think Terminus would have worked better as some kind of crazy religious cult that started worshiping zombies, and thought that they too could become like zombies or something like that. EDIT:The cheapness this show has when it comes to sets is bugging the shit out of me, they never go anywhere but rural forested roads! Come on, they can’t afford to film some debris laden roads with businesses and buildings visible? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/26 "2015-02-23T05:57:54Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > I KNEW I’d [seen the actor playing Aaron before](https://www.youtube.com/user/MarquandR). > > He’s a fantastic impressionist. This character he’s playing has a bit of a Kevin Spacey tone to him, though he looks vaguely like Topher Grace. He reminds me of Judge Reinhold. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/27 "2015-02-23T05:58:37Z")
> [@grude](#): > > And after all this Rick still makes the same mistake of taking his whole group in at once, instead of sending one or two people to scope it out for a couple days and then leave and meet up and report. If they don’t show up he knows something is up, but nope everyone march on in.:smack: Yeah, once again, this show answers the question, “What if the only survivors of the zombie apocalypse were hopeless dullards?” They do outright stupid things week after week. . ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/28 "2015-02-23T06:06:25Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > And the preview of the “gatekeeper” telling our Mötley crëw to surrender their weapons? No frakking way, that’s a bad call, that one requirement would destroy the minimal amount of trust Aaron had built with the group. Rick is expecting it. That’s why he put a pistol in a blender and hid it. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/29 "2015-02-23T06:18:08Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Not the gizmo. Anything but the gizmo. Seriously, never admit that you’re afraid of any given gizmo, unless it happens to be the one gizmo that restores your optic blasts or pyrokinesis or whatever to full potency and you’re trying to fake the bad guys out. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/30 "2015-02-23T06:34:08Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Seriously, never admit that you’re afraid of any given gizmo, unless it happens to be the one gizmo that restores your optic blasts or pyrokinesis or whatever to full potency and you’re trying to fake the bad guys out. I assure you, I am incapable of such subterfuge. And please don’t gizmo me into that briar patch. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/31 "2015-02-23T06:51:39Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I assure you, I am incapable of such subterfuge. > > And please don’t gizmo me into that briar patch. :: puts down gizmo, picks up axe :: ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/32 "2015-02-23T08:20:27Z")
Evil gayz. Why didn’t I think of that. Lure in the straight people and force them to make more gayz! That’s it. Or something. Worse than cannibals! Make Gabriel marry them against his will! ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/33 "2015-02-23T13:44:46Z")
> [@theR](#): > > Why the hell do they keep using ancient cars when there are millions of more recent cars available? It is driving me crazy. If I needed a vehicle for post apocalyptic travel- I’d get something pre 1985. Carbs and distributors may not be the most efficient way to turn fuel into motion - but they are darn reliable and are completely serviceable. You’re not going to have a bad solder joint in an ECU bring you to a halt. Better yet - get a diesel from that era. They’ll run on just about anything you dump in the tank - from french fry grease to JetA. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/34 "2015-02-23T14:32:52Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > My theory was that something had happened to the population of the settlement and only Aaron and his partner were left. They left and came back and everyone was either dead from a plague or just gone–a Roanoke situation. The settlement itself was still secure and supplied and basically these two guys were trying to find people to repopulate it. > > The end with the sound of kids on the other side makes me wonder. That’s sort of what I was thinking. The whole thing with no people in the pictures was weird. I liked this episode, even though I agree it was stupid to march everyone into the compound all at once. But then this is starting to have a definite _Lost_ feel to it, so maybe it’s: Live Together or Die Alone. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/35 "2015-02-23T14:36:56Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > It could be a recording of kids playing, to get people to let their guard down… > > Agreed, those walls do _not_ look very durable, they may be walker-resistant, but rifle bullets would still pass through, they look like nothing more than corrugated steel > > And the preview of the “gatekeeper” telling our Mötley crëw to surrender their weapons? No frakking way, that’s a bad call, that one requirement would destroy the minimal amount of trust Aaron had built with the group. I was thinking it might be a recording, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/36 "2015-02-23T14:51:44Z")
Maybe I misunderstood Aaron, but I thought he said the walls of their compound were solid steel, 15 feet high and 12 feet thick. Wouldn’t walls that size just sink into the ground? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/37 "2015-02-23T15:11:36Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Maybe I misunderstood Aaron, but I thought he said the walls of their compound were solid steel, 15 feet high and 12 feet thick. Wouldn’t walls that size just sink into the ground? That is what he said. I assumed it was a slip of the actor’s tongue–that the script read “12 INCHES thick.” ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/38 "2015-02-23T15:59:22Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Maybe I misunderstood Aaron, but I thought he said the walls of their compound were solid steel, 15 feet high and 12 feet thick. Wouldn’t walls that size just sink into the ground? Without going back for the quote, I was under the impression that he meant the walls were made of steel plates that were 15th high and 12ft wide. Don’t remember thickness mentioned. Rick needs to ditch the beard. I’m finding that staring at the carpet growing on his face is getting distracting. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/39 "2015-02-23T16:00:17Z")
As far as hearing the kids playing when they pulled up to the gate, I thought that was a really well done moment in the episode. Rick and Michonne’s previous conversation about what they heard when they came to Woodbury and Terminus (“nothing”) was very observant. Something I hadn’t noticed before, so when you could hear the kids playing, it was quite a relief. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377/40 "2015-02-23T16:02:58Z")
Just confirmed, he said 12 feet _wide_, not thick, framed with cold rolled steel beams and square tubing. Thickness is left to the imagination of the viewer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-5-11-the-distance-open-spoilers/713377.md?page=3)