# "The Walking Dead"; Episode 4:1 tonight **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138 "2013-10-13T14:37:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/41 "2013-10-14T14:07:42Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > They were passengers on the heli that crashed up there. That makes sense. I didn’t get a good look at the helicopter. It must have been a very big one. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/42 "2013-10-14T14:08:52Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > Yeah, I thought that was just stupid. That, and Rick going off alone in the woods. Why would anyone go off by himself / herself in the zombie apocalypse? It just seems reckless to the point of idiocy. Not to mention no one wonders where he disappeared to for several hours? > [@Cat Whisperer](#): > > Anyway, they are living in a prison - are they still locking themselves in to sleep, or not? It doesn’t look like they are, but they’re gonna wish they had. Why wouldn’t they? I mean all it takes is one old person to die in their sleep or some nerd to slip and crack his head open on the toilet and now there’s zombies in the wire. I guess we are supposed to see that they’ve become a bit comfortable and perhaps complacent during the hiatus. The children are naming the zombies. Everyone is falling in love. Which means it’s only a matter of time until the zombies defy the laws of physics and push over a reinforced chain linked fence. > [@Amateur Barbarian](#): > > Yes, the most experienced and intelligent person could make bad choices. Accidents happen. Wishful thinking is hard to get past. But you do accumulate heavier weapons, better vehicles, food and fuel stores and the like, instead of making a near-lethal run to the nearest abandoned store in a Kia econobox every time you run out of cereal, armed with an old .38 Special. I suppose a logical explanation is that it might be able to keep the Kia econombox fueled than one of the Governor’s 5 ton army trucks. The basic problem of post-apocalypse life is that they ain’t makin any more stuff to scavenge. It’s not like a videogame where STANAG mags for their M4 rifles or .50 BMG rounds for the “Ma Deuce” on the Governor’s truck are going keep respawning. Plus where are all the new zombies coming from anyway? It doesn’t look like they are someplace that had a lot of living people in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/43 "2013-10-14T14:09:42Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Better question is, how’d the zombies get on the roof to start with? I think they were part of the helicopter / rescue effort. If you watch the video on the AMC website they kind of explain that. Now then, as for the new virus: **IT WAS THE DEER!** Am I just way off here? I thought it was really obvious. Sick glasses kid thanked Daryl for bringing in the deer yesterday, they ate the deer - the deer was infected. By a zombie bite, or by some new version of the virus, I don’t know which but it was painfully obvious that the deer was the root cause. And I’m thinking the dead pig has caught the same virus, so the entire meat supply is going to be infected. Loved the episode. It was great seeing how they’ve built a small town, organized classes and food supply runs, built a garden, etc etc. It shows how they’re adapting, which I think is a really smart move. I guess I’m in the minority here but I loved the episode and am looking forward to this season. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/44 "2013-10-14T14:15:05Z")
So… what is the illness that killed the pig and also caused the nerdish kid to die a bloody mess? I’m assuming that with several lingering shots on water that there is a contamination of the water supply? Is there a connection between the illness and the red-eyed zombie they showed (I think) twice on the fence line? I also seem to recall Rick staring at it, seemingly registering that something was wrong there but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Anyway, they certainly seemed to focus on that zombie and it’s eyes were quite red and different than any other zombie we’ve seen. Or maybe I’m seeing things myself. Personally, I hope this is a straight-up illness going around and not some tie-in to a strain of whatever-it-is that everyone is infected with and causes zombification. The larger crowds of zombies at the fence is interesting too. I’ve been wondering why they’ve not brought back the concept of herds that they used at Hershell’s farm. Our cast of survivors have become rather non-challant about the danger of zombies - using their developed protocols to deal with them easily enough. But a herd… nothing they have developed works against a herd, right? I honestly don’t care about The Governor. I didn’t care for him in the comic books and was pretty well bored of him last season. For me, it is a better story that he lost his mind at the end of last season and killed almost everyone with him and now is just out there somewhere - alive or dead - but pretty much a broken human being we saw in the finale. I’m sure he’ll be back but again I just don’t care anymore and wish they’d leave his story alone and move on. The roof scene made sense to me as they presented it - with the exception Folacin points out that why had none of them walked onto the weakened roof earlier than that? The water dripping in front of the liquor stands, former alcoholic tempted by the bottles causes the stand to collapse, the crashing stands drew the zombies attention, and it’s raining zombies (Hallelujah! It’s raining zombies hey-hey!). Anyone else notice the references to the “committee” or “council”? Clearly they’ve moved past the Rick-tatoriship but how does this committee/council work? In this world, to increase your chances of survival, do you need a single person calling the shots or a council making decisions? Both have benefits and drawbacks I suppose. And seriously, it should be required that everyone sleeps in a cell with the door locked. The occupant has a key and the council has master keys. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/45 "2013-10-14T14:51:43Z")
I liked that the comic books that Michone brought Carl weren’t off-the-shelf latest issues but bagged and boarded books. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/46 "2013-10-14T15:11:48Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Now then, as for the new virus: **IT WAS THE DEER!** > > Am I just way off here? I thought it was really obvious. Sick glasses kid thanked Daryl for bringing in the deer yesterday, they ate the deer - the deer was infected. By a zombie bite, or by some new version of the virus, I don’t know which but it was painfully obvious that the deer was the root cause. I don’t see it. Plus, we saw a zombie at the wall with the same symptomatic melty eyes, so I doubt we’re supposed to know what the root cause is at this point. But there were enough shots of water bottles, water skins, water barrels, water faucets, water glasses, etc. to know what the delivery mechanism is… ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/47 "2013-10-14T15:45:59Z")
I don’t think the illness is related to the Zombie illness. I think it is just a virulent illness made worse by proximity to animals, close quarters and lack of hygiene and medical care. The kid rose because as long as your brain is intact, when you die you rise as a zombie. I could be wrong but that was just my impression. I still find it funny that not once is the word Zombie ever used either in the Comic or the show. Sometimes I think this takes place in a parallel universe where George Romero never made Night of the Living Dead so Zombies are still only associated with Voodoo. I had seen some mixed reviews of the premiere but I liked it. The comic was always more about how people handle the end of the world with Zombies just filling a roll that could have almost as easily been a meteor strike or something. This episode had a nice balance of that whole “rebuilding civilization” plus some zombie action. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/48 "2013-10-14T16:05:13Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I still find it funny that not once is the word Zombie ever used either in the Comic or the show. Sometimes I think this takes place in a parallel universe where George Romero never made Night of the Living Dead so Zombies are still only associated with Voodoo. Thats because it is in a universe where Romero never made night of the living dead…You cant have a believable Zombie story in a universe with the stories already in place. The Roof was pretty laughable, would have made way more sense if they had all congregated to one point and then it collapsed. No locked doors, No Zombie proofing the inside of the prison at all, Typical Walking dumbassery. Would it really be that hard to make a latch that the walkers would have trouble opening but the living wouldnt and have the doors Swing shut on their own? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/49 "2013-10-14T16:08:17Z")
That store was really well stocked (not sure how it could be) so it’s believable there’d be human survivors hanging around there. Booze! Then the helicopter tries to land but is probably also trying to deal with a zombie or two on board. It crashes on the roof, chopping some people in half - they made note of that as our gang were entering the store and one of them wondered how a zombie got chopped in half in front of the store, as if it had fallen off the roof. So, everyone on the roof hoping to get rescued either got away or got turned while still on the roof. As for why none of the walkers fell through before now - I dunno. For the same reason a shelf of booze in a dry, protected area decides to collapse for no reason. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a dept store with large shelves that could topple over. Oh, well. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/50 "2013-10-14T16:27:48Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I don’t think the illness is related to the Zombie illness. I think it is just a virulent illness made worse by proximity to animals, close quarters and lack of hygiene and medical care. The kid rose because as long as your brain is intact, when you die you rise as a zombie… Good point; it could just be an ordinary deadly disease made worse by the fact that everyone’s already infected with a dormant virus/bacteria/prion/etc that reanimates them upon death. As for not using the z-word; it’s a pretty standard conceit in zombie fiction that the story is taking place in a universe were Romero never made his Living Dead films. **Return of the Living Dead** being a very notable exception. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/51 "2013-10-14T16:30:10Z")
They built some spiked barricades to protect the gate but they couldn’t build a few more to keep the zombies off the fences? ---
**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 14, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/52 "2013-10-14T16:41:24Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > Ah, I do recall the guy getting dripped on before the shelf collapsed. But it is a bit of a stretch. > > Were I a writer, I would have put a huge skylight over the wine rack. The noise summons the walkers. They all climb up on the glass and once there’s enough weight, it collapses and rains zombies in spectacular fashion. Now you get 100’s of geeks on the floor. Chaos ensues and you don’t annoy your watchers. > > Or maybe you just don’t annoy me. I don’t know if anyone else was bothered by that. Regardless, it was a magic roof. There’s no flat asphalt roof that would have as thin of sheeting as that one did. And even if the sheeting was rotten, the weight of the asphalt is orders of magnitude greater than rotting corpses. If it had deteriorated enough to collapse, the whole roof would have come down - not just 4’X4’ sections under the walkers. > > I gotta work on my suspension of disbelief. We are watching a zombie show, afterall. Oh that part bugged the shit out of me too. As if the entire roof.is just tar paper and gravel, and the only thing between them was some suspended ceiling tiles. No support structures, no ductwork, no electrical. That was a bit beyond suspension of belief, and only for the sake of having walkers fall all around the survivors instead of through a more logical single breech. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/53 "2013-10-14T16:48:15Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Better question is, how’d the zombies get on the roof to start with? Well, this old world started getting them down… ---
**Author:** ![Breen11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Breen11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breen11)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/54 "2013-10-14T17:00:00Z")
I hope this season is better then last season. Im thinking something (zombie contamination) is in the water, & thats how theyre getting sick, & dying, then turning into zombies. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/55 "2013-10-14T17:33:07Z")
Referring back to my first post, I’m happy to say that I thought the season opener was better than reviewed and better than I expected. I was sure one of the black guys would be killed because of the whole Black Guy Gets It First meme, but figured the young guy channeling James Dean would also be a likely choice. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/56 "2013-10-14T17:41:29Z")
So the big question is this going to be a “road trip” season or a “safe house” season. Zombie shows and films usually alternate between “road trips” where the survivors roam the post-apocalyptic landscape until they find a “safe house” (Romero farmhouse, shopping mall, Herschel’s undefensible farm, prison, Woodbury). But it’s only a matter of time until the safe house is breached and the survivors are back on the road to start the process over again. We’ve already had two seasons of the gang trying to get comfy in some little enclave they created (the farm in Season 2 and the prison in Season 3). Maybe it’s time for another road trip? > [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Oh that part bugged the shit out of me too. As if the entire roof.is just tar paper and gravel, and the only thing between them was some suspended ceiling tiles. No support structures, no ductwork, no electrical. That was a bit beyond suspension of belief, and only for the sake of having walkers fall all around the survivors instead of through a more logical single breech. And yet the roof is still strong enough to hold the weight of a large helicopter…until it arbitrarily isn’t. randwill - I assume they came out of the helicopter. Presumably it was overloaded with civilians or whatever and crashed. Which would make sense except that some of the zombos were cut in half, presumably by the rotors. Which would imply that they were already on the roof when the helo crashed. So maybe there were a shit-ton of people on the roof, possibly being attacked by zombies, the helicopter went in to rescue, got swarmed World War Z style and then crashed on the roof. > [@MeanJoe](#): > > And seriously, it should be required that everyone sleeps in a cell with the door locked. The occupant has a key and the council has master keys. Or just grab some simple bike locks next time you go to town. Or even some carabineer clips from a local sporting goods store if you don’t want to risk getting locked in someplace without a key. It’s not like zombies can figure out locks. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/57 "2013-10-14T18:12:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, this old world started getting them down… 😃 I haven’t watched yet, but I think I’ll be okay with a lot of Dead being on the roof and the roof collapsing. People could have been up there to get away from the Dead below, if some had gotten into the store. Then came the helicopter crash, and the Living were victims. The flimsy part of the roof could have been shoddy workmanship, or it was storm-damaged and not repaired. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/58 "2013-10-14T18:28:06Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > 😃 > > I haven’t watched yet, but I think I’ll be okay with a lot of Dead being on the roof and the roof collapsing. People could have been up there to get away from the Dead below, if some had gotten into the store. Then came the helicopter crash, and the Living were victims. > > The flimsy part of the roof could have been shoddy workmanship, or it was storm-damaged and not repaired. It was certainly more interesting than having them just walk over there and maybe get pebbles in their shoes. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/59 "2013-10-14T18:35:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It was certainly more interesting than having them just walk over there and maybe get pebbles in their shoes. Someone gave me a novelty book last year because they knew I was a TWD fan. It was titled [Things Zombies Hate.](http://www.amazon.com/Zombies-Hate-Stuff-Greg-Stones/dp/1452107408) “Pebbles in their shoes” should have been one of the entries!! ---
**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:** [October 14, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138/60 "2013-10-14T18:35:57Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > \ > I gotta work on my suspension of disbelief. We are watching a zombie show, afterall. It’s a fine line that writers of science fiction have to walk - you’re allowed your one big leap (that people are re-animating as zombies), then after that, you have to make everything else make sense. Writers/directors/producers who forget that do so at their own peril, causing endless nitpickery from the fans. 🙂 > [@msmith537](#): > > \ > I guess we are supposed to see that they’ve become a bit comfortable and perhaps complacent during the hiatus. The children are naming the zombies. Everyone is falling in love. Which means it’s only a matter of time until the zombies defy the laws of physics and push over a reinforced chain linked fence. \ I think that was what we were supposed to take away from this episode - they are indeed complacent, and now they’ll have an exciting new way to die. > [@](#): > > Plus where are all the new zombies coming from anyway? It doesn’t look like they are someplace that had a lot of living people in the first place. Zombies don’t move fast (usually), but they do move, and they don’t stop until something or someone stops them. By this time, the zombies on their fence could have come from, what, a state or two over? And as someone on twitter I think it was said, we’re just going to forget Carl ever had a hat? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-episode-4-1-tonight/671138.md?page=4)