# The Walking Dead, SERIES PREMIERE, (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026 "2010-10-31T23:53:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/81 "2010-11-02T11:55:35Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > Pardon the hijack - I quit reading the thread when I realized I don’t think my DVR recorded the whole thing. My show stopped right after the deputy shot the half-a-zombie girl in the park. Can I assume for some reason it recorded just the first hour of a ninety minute show? > Thanks. Yep. First ep was 90 minutes. The rest apparently willl be an hour each. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/82 "2010-11-02T12:58:17Z")
OK, thanks. Hopefully they’ll run it again soon, like they did Mad Men. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/83 "2010-11-02T13:02:00Z")
Can I make a humble request? Can people PLEASE put things from the comics in spoiler tags? A few people have already blurted out, or even just heavily implied, things from the comics and potentially given away what could have been big reveals for us who haven’t read them yet. I know the series isn’t going to follow the comic 100%, but I’m sure a lot of things WILL be in it. I’m also working my way through the comics as well, so there’s even more of a reason. That being said I loved the premiere and I’m sad there’s only six episodes for this first season. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/84 "2010-11-02T13:32:31Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > My suggestions for a collective noun for zombies: > > A Groan- a small pack (4 or less) > > A Decomposition- (5 or more) > > An Apocalypse- (hundreds) A Lurch of Zombies. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/85 "2010-11-02T13:58:21Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Can I make a humble request? Can people PLEASE put things from the comics in spoiler tags? A few people have already blurted out, or even just heavily implied, things from the comics and potentially given away what could have been big reveals for us who haven’t read them yet. I second this request. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/86 "2010-11-02T14:24:39Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Can I make a humble request? Can people PLEASE put things from the comics in spoiler tags? A few people have already blurted out, or even just heavily implied, things from the comics and potentially given away what could have been big reveals for us who haven’t read them yet. I hate spoiler tags, but that’s absolutely reasonable. Though I \*will \*plead with people to refrain from spoiler tagging anything that’s already been shown on TV. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/87 "2010-11-02T14:31:47Z")
It’s actually already been a bit of a zombie filled week, after watching Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, the original Night of the Living Dead, The Crazies, Quarantine, Dead Set (Brittish TV miniseries) and buying Dead Rising 2 for the XBox. I liked The Walking Dead, but I was disappointed that it skipped over my favorite part of any zombie apocalypse. Watching civilization collapse as it goes from “normal” to “zombified”. > [@Push You Down](#): > > A common idea in zombie fiction is that zombies don’t “think” they “do.” If they did it in life they stick to that pattern. Romero used it to explain why the undead went to the mall in Dawn of the Dead and he played with it in Land of the Dead with some zombies actually being able to learn and start to think again…which was to make them more sympathetic. With the mom going up to the door and trying to open it- that implies that there must be some intelligence left and not just habitual behavior. It will be reallly interesting to see how they use that in the series. In Day of the Dead, the scientist trained one of the zombies to perform simple tasks. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/88 "2010-11-02T15:05:04Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > 1. The protagonist is an idiot. The Atlanta scene has already been discussed, but he was way too nonchalant about the obvious (to me) Zombie in the tank–check the corpse at least dude before getting all snugly with him; jesus. Cut him _some_ slack. The man got shot, was in a coma, woke up to Zombiepocalypse, found his wife and son missing and got a shovel in the face. Its not too hard to accept that he may not be thinking clearly. He is probaly handling it all much better then most of us would. 🙂 ETA: The black father and son told him that Atlanta had a safe area setup, so the best intelligence he had to go on was telling him that ATL was safe. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/89 "2010-11-02T15:14:08Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Cut him _some_ slack. The man got shot, was in a coma, woke up to Zombiepocalypse, found his wife and son missing and got a shovel in the face. Its not too hard to accept that he may not be thinking clearly. He is probaly handling it all much better then most of us would. 🙂 > > ETA: The black father and son told him that Atlanta had a safe area setup, so the best intelligence he had to go on was telling him that ATL was safe. The guy is still an idiot, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten shot in the first place. He walked forward away from the protective screen of police cars and into the line of fire of the other officers. He failed to ascertain the number of perps in the car. He turned his back on injured suspects before confirming their death. In short, he has no survival skills or situational awareness whatsoever. He is not the kind of guy who deserves to survive the zombie apocalypse and definitely not someone you want the survival of the human race depending on. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/90 "2010-11-02T15:21:05Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > 1. Those cops shooting accuracy is balls at the beginning. > > 2. They really are terrible at their job–not only were they unaware of how many people were in the car (surely the cops chasing them would have radioed them in), but the failed to ensure the car was empty before tending to other tasks. Also, why did some of them not even attempt to take cover? > > 3. The protagonist is an idiot. The Atlanta scene has already been discussed, but he was way too nonchalant about the obvious (to me) Zombie in the tank–check the corpse at least dude before getting all snugly with him; jesus. Real cops probably _would_ be terrible shots in the situation at the start of the episode, though. It’s entirely possible that this is the very first time any of them have fired their guns outside the range - hell, it’s _likely_. Extreme stress is not good for your aim, and these guys probably aren’t used to dealing with it. Not a ding on them. Agreed that their poor situational awareness was a strange blunder - but, again, these guys aren’t used to this level of violence. And taking a bullet to the chest, even if it hits your vest, is a hell of a distraction. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/91 "2010-11-02T16:14:45Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Something odd I noticed was at the dinner table when the father corrected the son’s Ebonics. Later I noticed that both he and the son are using the language style again. > > Any insights into what the purpose of that was to move the script or to give insights into the character? It’s an example of a very common trope in post-apocalyptic fiction. Usually there is a subset of survivors who no longer live by the generally accepted morals and ethics of our society. Let’s call them “degenerate survivors.” While the degenerate survivors aren’t usually the primary antagonists of the story, they serve to hinder Our Heroes in a variety of ways. We often see them engaging in banditry, rape, cannibalism, slavery, etc. The degenerate survivors embody the breakdown of society, while Our Heroes are usually trying to rebuild at least some sort of civilization. Part of the tension whenever the protagonists meet other survivors is trying to determine whether the new people are “good” or degenerate. The “hey dumbass” scene in the tank was scary rather than a relief because we don’t know if whoever was speaking is essentially good or essentially degenerate. They took great pains to make it very clear that Duane’s Dad (DD) was not a degenerate survivor. I could give you a stack of examples, but one of them was that he expected his son to speak properly at the dinner table. It showed an adherence to societal mores and that he hadn’t abdicated his parenting responsibilities. As for why they spoke more casually later–well, the dinner table with a guest is a more formal situation than just sitting around. This was also why the scene with the group with the ex-partner and wife was so worrisome. The ex-partner showed a lot of signs of petty tyranny, and that type of degenerate usually has at least one “good” woman under his control. The clear implication was that the group could well be forced into degeneracy. Part of the reason that this show seems so cliche-ridden to me is things like telling us in eleventeen different ways that DD is a good guy. But I’m a person who has read extensively in the post-apocalyptic genre. Maybe it’s not so obvious to a person who has seen the world end hundreds of different ways. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/92 "2010-11-02T16:23:02Z")
Thanks, **Munch** and **Glory,** for your responses. I see the contest is already closed for this week but will continue next Sunday. And I’m envious, **Munch** (Hah! **MUNCH.)**) that you’ve already gotten to shamble with the zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/93 "2010-11-02T16:28:43Z")
The shootout where Rick is shot just made me think “_This_ is what would have happened in episode 3 if _Dukes of Hazzard_ was real”. [QUOTE=Death of Rats] ETA: The black father and son told him that Atlanta had a safe area setup, so the best intelligence he had to go on was telling him that ATL was safe. [/QUOTE] Though the dad also told him he didn’t know if that was still true. Of course it’s possible that he knew good and well what Atlanta was like but just hates cops. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/94 "2010-11-02T16:29:33Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > It’s an example of a very common trope in post-apocalyptic fiction. > > Usually there is a subset of survivors who no longer live by the generally accepted morals and ethics of our society. Let’s call them “degenerate survivors.” While the degenerate survivors aren’t usually the primary antagonists of the story, they serve to hinder Our Heroes in a variety of ways. We often see them engaging in banditry, rape, cannibalism, slavery, etc. The degenerate survivors embody the breakdown of society, while Our Heroes are usually trying to rebuild at least some sort of civilization. > > Part of the tension whenever the protagonists meet other survivors is trying to determine whether the new people are “good” or degenerate. The “hey dumbass” scene in the tank was scary rather than a relief because we don’t know if whoever was speaking is essentially good or essentially degenerate. > > They took great pains to make it very clear that Duane’s Dad (DD) was not a degenerate survivor. I could give you a stack of examples, but one of them was that he expected his son to speak properly at the dinner table. It showed an adherence to societal mores and that he hadn’t abdicated his parenting responsibilities. As for why they spoke more casually later–well, the dinner table with a guest is a more formal situation than just sitting around. > > This was also why the scene with the group with the ex-partner and wife was so worrisome. The ex-partner showed a lot of signs of petty tyranny, and that type of degenerate usually has at least one “good” woman under his control. The clear implication was that the group could well be forced into degeneracy. > > Part of the reason that this show seems so cliche-ridden to me is things like telling us in eleventeen different ways that DD is a good guy. But I’m a person who has read extensively in the post-apocalyptic genre. Maybe it’s not so obvious to a person who has seen the world end hundreds of different ways. 🙂 Okay. I wondered whether the author was actually being that insightful and subtle. Glad to have it confirmed by another. Now that speaks well for a hope for continued expositive dialogue. Nice job of making it clear, **Green Bean.** ---
**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:** [November 2, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/95 "2010-11-02T16:38:12Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > And I’m envious, **Munch** (Hah! **MUNCH.)**) that you’ve already gotten to shamble with the zombies. Oh, don’t be too jealous. All you can see of me is the top of my forehead for a few seconds in this [epic zombie thriller](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174360/). ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/96 "2010-11-02T16:43:44Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Oh, don’t be too jealous. All you can see of me is the top of my forehead for a few seconds in this [epic zombie thriller](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174360/). _Tres_ kewl.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/97 "2010-11-02T17:20:41Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Real cops probably _would_ be terrible shots in the situation at the start of the episode, though. It’s entirely possible that this is the very first time any of them have fired their guns outside the range - hell, it’s _likely_. Extreme stress is not good for your aim, and these guys probably aren’t used to dealing with it. Not a ding on them. Don’t buy it. The scene was ridiculous (in addition to the other reasons): 4 or 5 cops couldn’t take down one of the assailants before they got grazed (the same assailant who was also under extreme stress)? Let’s not forget that same idiot cop turns out to be pretty adept with his weapon later on. > [@UncleRojelio](#): > > The guy is still an idiot, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten shot in the first place. He walked forward away from the protective screen of police cars and into the line of fire of the other officers. He failed to ascertain the number of perps in the car. He turned his back on injured suspects before confirming their death. In short, he has no survival skills or situational awareness whatsoever. He is not the kind of guy who deserves to survive the zombie apocalypse and definitely not someone you want the survival of the human race depending on. This is beautifully and hilariously put. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/98 "2010-11-02T18:39:15Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > My suggestions for a collective noun for zombies: > > A Groan- a small pack (4 or less) > > A Decomposition- (5 or more) > > An Apocalypse- (hundreds) > [@Chefguy](#): > > A Lurch of Zombies. I’m sorry, but you’re both way off. The proper collective noun for zombies released in a 14 minute video way back on December 2, 1983. Thriller. A thriller of zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/99 "2010-11-02T18:59:49Z")
I only caught the last 10 minutes or so and nearly wet myself when Rick was crawling under the tank. I literally yelped when the guy in the tank came alive. Did I mention I’m a total wuss? I think I’ll catch reruns during daylight hours! ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026/100 "2010-11-02T19:04:48Z")
I got the impression that maybe the wife and his partner had hooked up (at least casually) prior to the outbreak. The partner seemed a little too interested in the state of Grimes’s marriage, ya know? > [@interface2x](#): > > Anybody know how long the main character was unconscious in the hospital? I kept trying to figure it out in the beginning, but none of my explanations made sense. His beard was short enough that it didn’t seem like it would be a long time, but everything looked like it had been a while since everything had started. His muscles were reasonably intact, so it couldn’t be that long, but the way that everything was falling apart (including a lot of buildings) implies a long time. And it seemed strange that the hospital would have gone through a siege that would have torn it apart like that without anyone bothering to come into his room. > > Generally, I liked the show but, like others, I thought it seemed pretty familiar throughout. I felt like I was being asked to suspend a hell of a lot of disbelief with regard to Grimes’s situation waking in the hospital. His beard growth showed it couldn’t have been more than a week that he was unconscious, but the hospital didn’t evacuate any healthy patients? I know in other zombie movies, it’s explained that the hospitals were the first places overrun, since people brought their sick (bitten) loved ones there… that wasn’t addressed at all. We saw at least one person (possibly a nurse) who had been eaten, but no zombie or sick person found Grimes in his bed? I figured they were just trying to get through the setup and the actual, er, “brains” of the show was yet to come. > [@ElectricZ](#): > > What I think it did _very_ well was give empathy for the zombies. A good zombie movie makes you feel sorry for the dead as well as the living. The characters and audience are made to feel that these aren’t monsters, but victims that used to be friends, neighbors and family. > > The scene with the dad trying to summon the strength to shoot his wife intercut with the deputy following the trail of the legless woman was executed perfectly. While the dad looked into the wife of the eyes of the woman he loved (big mistake putting her picture up next to the window from where he was shooting), the deputy knew nothing of the poor woman crawling through the park. The father couldn’t pull the trigger. > > The deputy followed the poor half-woman clawing her way across the grass until he caught up with it, and then knelt down next to her. When it became aware of him, it reached out to him like someone begging for help, even though she was obviously looking for a meal. He looked her in her cloudy, decaying eyes and said, “I’m sorry this happened to you” before putting her out of her misery. I literally sobbed during that scene. I immediately emotionally connected that scene to the memory of being forced to have a beloved pet euthanized. I thought that was strange until a friend mentioned the same connection. Dad needs to get over it and put his wife out of her misery before she comes to bite the son. I understand his issues but suck it up, you have a kid to protect. I never empathize with the family members who can’t kill their poor zombified loved ones, but I’ll cry over the poor horse getting eaten. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-series-premiere-open-spoilers/559026.md?page=6)