Fear the Walking Dead

[TomFoolery]

I thought it was funny how the gang sat down and played monopoly.  It'll be a wonder if they survive for two weeks longer, let alone as long as Rick's group.

My favorite moment so far was... [spoiler]... in the second episode where the daughter is looking out the window and sees a male neighbor attacking another female neighbor and her mom pushes her back and shuts the curtains.

The interaction between them describes in one 15 second clip exactly what it means to be human.

The daughter screams out "Mom! That's Mrs. So and so!" I think most decent people would have that reaction to seeing a neighbor being attacked by someone. Altruism in the face of violence is a very human thing.

But the mom doesn't care, because just a few hours earlier, she was fighting for her life while the former principal of the school she worked at was trying to eat her face off. Abandoning common decency in the wake of extreme fear and the unknown is also about as human as it gets. [/spoiler]

[Hydra009]

Yeah, but I think these people are taking far too long to get their shit together.  Rick acclimated pretty quickly by comparison.  Right now, not only would zombies get these Californian suburbanites, but bandits would wipe the floor with them.  Assuming they don't suffer a far more mundane death like starvation.

If I saw the neighborhood go to hell in a handbasket like they did, I'd barricade and gather supplies and arm myself pronto.  And when I had to hoof it, I wouldn't think twice about self-defense.

[drunkenshoe]

Rick woke up to a whole town walking dead. Walked between piles of corpses from an abondoned hospital with doors locked and written 'Do not open dead inside' on it. And had someone to explain after everything is gone. He was in a coma during this phase. Not to mention he is a sheriff.

[Hydra009]

Okay, not exactly the same circumstances.  Still, he walked out of that hospital, oblivious to everything that had happened, and managed to survive his first few walker encounters without acting like a complete idiot.  Meanwhile, we have way better informed people in a group who seem perpetually confused and collectively couldn't defend themselves from an angry duck.

[TomFoolery]

Yeah, but I think these people are taking far too long to get their shit together.  Rick acclimated pretty quickly by comparison.  Right now, not only would zombies get these Californian suburbanites, but bandits would wipe the floor with them.  Assuming they don't suffer a far more mundane death like starvation.

When a few cases of Ebola turned up in the US, I didn't take all the food and supplies I could and go hide out in the woods. Most people would agree that's overreacting.

These people are understandably in that same state. True, they've seen much worse than Ebola firsthand, but they don't know what a worst case scenario looks like and they have a lot of questions. And now the National Guard has shown up, and people want to have faith that the military will protect them in a situation like. So maybe they're thinking the worst case scenario now is that they'll have to live under martial law for a while, maybe food and fuel will be rationed, but eventually things will get worked out. I think there's a decent reason for them at this point to believe that, because it's only been a few days of rioting and general chaos.

Rick however woke up to find a worst case scenario: he was alone and corpses were trying to hurt him. He probably had some questions about why, but there were no questions about how bad it could get, because it was already there.

[peacewithoutgod]

LOL, I have to wonder if the under-40 crowd really like zombies that much, or if it's just the Hollywood producers dumping shit on you. When every other new series or movie is about zombies or vampires, how can it not get old?

[drunkenshoe]

Actually, what Hydra is complaining about what I think is realistic and love about the both shows. Because the progress of realising what is really going on would be very slow. This is one of the reasons why -like 28 Days Later- the TWD starts with Rick getting out of coma after everything is messed up. To get in action asap.

Also you already know what you are watching. You know what happened in the scenario.

In real life, people do not live their lives with a zombie apaocalypse at the back of their mind or that some event could break out to lead to some E.L.E. to take ultimate surviving position. It's not something they know, but somethig they need to learn. Also half of the people would die in events breaking during the panic.

Nobody would believe in it watching it online or witnessing it -as they showed it very cleverly by 'the cop shot a man' lol- without being attacked. And even then it would take a long time for people to see that everything can be gone and that there won't be any authority or help coming. It's also a defense mechanism.

And nobody would help, could help, but just watch mostly. Because you know, help should be coming, somebody must be in charge. Brr... gave me terrible goose bumps.  Depresssing.

[Hydra009]

When a few cases of Ebola turned up in the US, I didn't take all the food and supplies I could and go hide out in the woods. Most people would agree that's overreacting.

True.  But a very slim portion of the population would react like that.  Most people would go about their daily lives.  But if I saw half the community keel over from it, I might grab some gloves and a face mask.  That would be a pretty appropriate reaction, imho.  Actually, maybe a little bit on the low end of the ol' competence curve.  And these people are even more clueless and ineffectual than that.

And funny that you should bring up Ebola, because I think it illustrates another issue with this series.  The ebola outbreak was relatively limited.  And the news was all over that.  Even if you lived under a rock, you knew about that stuff backwards and forwards.  But apparently, the end of the world didn't merit nearly that much attention.  Only that internet kid really had the skinny early on, and even as the shit really started hitting the fan, most people were utterly uninformed.  You'd think some guy taking 5 to the chest then biting another guy's face off would attract more attention.  Especially if there were dozens, then hundreds of reports just like that.  It almost strikes me as a contrived, plot-induced idiocy.

[drunkenshoe]

There wouldn't be anything serious or real info in the news. Because of the fear of panic that would break out which would kill more than the virus in a short time in the first phase. And they would start to come back in masses according to the scenario how virus works.

Also people would start to stock, loot...attack around...etc. Atrocities would ensue. Governments would deny anything is out of control, well untill everything is really out of control. A lot of people would get shot dead by armed forces. Again to come back. At some point not too late, people would run off to their families from armed forces, leaving their posts.

The only thing that they will screw up in the series -I hope they won't- would be the bombings of certain urban areas and cities run over that would start in the next phase. May be they'll skip it altogether. Hard to balance in the scenario.

[TomFoolery]

LOL, I have to wonder if the under-40 crowd really like zombies that much, or if it's just the Hollywood producers dumping shit on you. When every other new series or movie is about zombies or vampires, how can it not get old?

I think it mainly speaks to arrogance. Like, remember the time when circumstances killed off everyone, except me (and probably my loved ones, because this is my fantasy goddammit!)? Of course not. It speaks to a large group of society that is self-centered and/or wants everyone else to get what they think is coming to them. Some politicians and Wall Street bankers like it because they're sociopaths and deep down would love a chance to rule the world like the governor. Blue collar types love it because they fantasize about a world in which money and power don't matter, but common sense and hands on skills like hunting and mechanics do. Hell, even the bitch from the fat-shaming video would probably relish at the idea of fat people being too slow to outrun zombies and natural selection finally getting it's voice heard again.

What most people don't get (and a few other people in this thread seem to have touched on) is that most people would die as collateral damage during the civil unrest period, and not from being attacked by the undead. Imagine how many people were killed in those riots alone? Then there are millions of people dependent on medication and other medical interventions to survive, and once those amenities disappeared, those people would also die and then reanimate, and thus the problem grows exponentially. Then once the military can no longer contain it in large urban centers, there's no question in my mind that they would bomb the shit out of large cities in a last ditch effort to stop or significantly slow it. No matter how amazing you are with a bow and a wrench, you still can't survive the government plopping an H-bomb down in your neighborhood.

But everywhere you look, there are people saying, "Look at those suckers, I would be smarter than that. I can't believe they weren't prepared for zombie/robot/alien/vampire/mummy end games!" I think that's why this show appeals to me: it shows people acting like people, not a traditional strict dichotomy of strong and capable versus weak and useless. As to why zombies, I think they're just what's trending right now. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, it was very much aliens. It's early in this show, but these characters are showing they have both strengths and weaknesses, rather than being these unconquerable survivors that the original show keeps around.

[drunkenshoe]

But everywhere you look, there are people saying, "Look at those suckers, I would be smarter than that. I can't believe they weren't prepared for zombie/robot/alien/vampire/mummy end games!"

Yeah, people seem to lack a lot of imagination of what would happen if you ask me. I would be one of the first to go. Probably in the first phase. 

As to why zombies, I think they're just what's trending right now.

Besides the trend -or this is why it is the trend among the end of the world scenarios we love to rewind- a deadly virus that can animate people to attack others while removing the identity of people is good for:

-A virus that can renimate dead people is the best catalyst to build a ground for any madness human is capable. You can't do that with a world war or a natural catastrophy scenario. Highly likely, there would be some authority standing in both cases. At least not dark enough as a movie. It also plays to the vigilance, personal survival skills, because there can be attack from anywhere, anyone. From people you know, people you are emotionally bonded to.

-People can kill them without any burden on their conscience.  Because they are already dead.

I could discuss the governor's case from a different point. The talk he had with the woman -in the trailer- and the child he found after saving that girl... He changed instantly and went to kill the other candidates. Strong and able males go on and turn into something else when they own up to a woman and a child; a family. Doesn't matter whose at that point. They play to that a lot in the series; sometimes in a disguised way, sometimes openly.

Think about Shane. After Rick comes back, more than losing a woman, it is losing a family to fight for, because they make him stronger. 

Rick is not the governor, but he will have to somewhat act like him in a lot of instances, because he gets it better by the time that every safe haven is a temporary delusion.

The Governors are the last men standing. Sooner or later every men managed to survive will turn into the governor.

-And personally I love the idea that the series' message is 'even when the whole world rises from the dead to eat you alive, you had better be scared from the living next to you'.

[Hydra009]

As to why zombies, I think they're just what's trending right now.

Imho, the main draw of the Walking Dead isn't the zombies at all.  The zombies just the background threat that the survivors have to deal with.  The real draw is the survivors dealing with loss and hardship and trying not only survive, but desperately trying to hold onto their humanity while faced with extremely difficult decisions.  And that's a consistent theme from the very first episode to the very last episode.  As the comic states explicitly, The Walking Dead doesn't refer to the zombies, it refers to the survivors.

You also get to see idealism and realism as well as good and evil play out in a setting devoid of law and structure.  The survivors have many different, often mutually exclusive goals, and (as the comic recently showed) different ideas of how people should live going forward.  Which way of life will ultimately triumph?  I'm dying to find out!

It's early in this show, but these characters are showing they have both strengths and weaknesses, rather than being these unconquerable survivors that the original show keeps around.

I couldn't disagree more.  I was just watching the season 5 final of TWD and several characters almost crack in that episode.  They're not unconquerable and they certainly display strengths and weaknesses aplenty.

And once again, I find myself unhappy with the spinoff because I honestly don't see much characterization in any of these people.  If you asked me to describe any of the main family, I'd be hard pressed to do it.

[TomFoolery]

I couldn't disagree more.  I was just watching the season 5 final of TWD and several characters almost crack in that episode.  They're not unconquerable and they certainly display strengths and weaknesses aplenty.

Well, sure, they display weaknesses, but those weaknesses aren't really huge weaknesses. Rick has spent the series on a rollercoaster from this buoyant optimist to paranoid asshole who also lost his mind after his wife died, but somehow he's always more or less kept it together. Carol was a domestic violence survivor and after she toughened up when her daughter died, she's killing people just for having the flu, stoically executing a psychopathic child, and threatening to hurt little boys who tell her secrets.

And once again, I find myself unhappy with the spinoff because I honestly don't see much characterization in any of these people.  If you asked me to describe any of the main family, I'd be hard pressed to do it.

I'm beginning to get a feel for them. The mom is tough and will do what she has to. Her daughter I think has potential, but it seems to soon. Her son is a selfish twit with enough junkie smarts to probably survive (figured out where the neighbors kept their shotgun that he once tried to steal pretty quickly, ya know?). Her boyfriend is a sensitive guy who hates guns but even he mowed down a drug dealer walker with his truck. Mr. Salazar is a badass, but I'm going to say his independence is going to get him in trouble. I want to say his wife is a goner because she's overly dependent on her husband, but at the same time she coyly told her daughter she had survived worse, so I get a feeling she might be a dark horse.

[stromboli]

I personally was zombie'd out about 1965. The whole concept keeps meeting my logical mind and the silliness of it and ends there. Other imaginary stuff yeah, space travel and time travel and whatever, but zombies really never appealed to me. I don't watch any of the shows. I saw an analysis of a zombie outbreak on another forum that indicated that such an occurrence would only last about 3 years tops, and ol' Rick has been running around at least that long.

[drunkenshoe]

I personally was zombie'd out about 1965. The whole concept keeps meeting my logical mind and the silliness of it and ends there. Other imaginary stuff yeah, space travel and time travel and whatever, but zombies really never appealed to me. I don't watch any of the shows. I saw an analysis of a zombie outbreak on another forum that indicated that such an occurrence would only last about 3 years tops, and ol' Rick has been running around at least that long.

The show is not about zombies. It's about the people.