I'm guessing it's primarily the same reason why most other US shows are primarily set in the US - demographics. Frankly I'm a little surprised TWD wasn't changed from Georgia to a more "popular" state.
It'd be interesting to envision the zombie apocalypse in Europe, and how it might differ from the traditional american development. The first thing that springs to mind is that many European cities still have more or less functional city walls, and that old fortifications such as Windsor Castle (if cleared and competently defended) would be formidable obstacles for the zombie hordes.
I'd say the best way to fight zombie hordes isn't with traditional military forces, but a large pit and a boombox. As shown quite recently, zombies will happily jump off a bridge in order to reach whatever it is they're chasing, with predictable results. IE the best military setup you could have to clear large-scale zombie groups is a company of army engineers and some reconnaissance troops, ideally in helicopters.In other news AMC's making a Walking Dead companion series set to take place immediately before and during the zombie apocalypse. That has potential! :)
Right, but how long does it take someone to figure that out? Meanwhile the national guard gets swarmed every time they fire a gun, don't know to shoot the head, and headshots are hard.
.. while the renfaire geeks make their knowledge religion check and quietly hack away with spears...
You mentioned that every time the national guard fire a gun (make noise) they get swarmed. Seeing as how national guard troopers are as smart as everyone else, wouldn't it be fair to assume that after the first few times they'd either avoid the problem by using sound suppressors or take advantage of the fact by using noise to lure zombies away from their targets?
For a parable, during the Iraq war the iraqi troops realized that the US troops used thermal technology to spot them during the night, and used wool blankets to distort their heat signature. They adapted to the enemy.
Well, from the article I linked earlier it seems like the government tries to keep a lid on the whole... "The dead walk the earth" thing. Assuming I'm in the government and I'm actually going to take this seriously (which at first I wouldn't, but... No smoke without a fire and all that), the first thing I'd do would be to capture some walkers, run some experiments and write a threat report. I'd imagine it would read something like this.
Zombies have:
A strange duality in that they are simultaneously extremely durable and extremely fragile. Moderate blunt force applied to the head will eliminate a zombie, otherwise a zombie can and will keep going despite major physical trauma to the body.
Extreme endurance, tremendous capacity for enduring pain. They can walk or fight for extremely extended periods of time without ever having to stop to rest, eat, drink.
Surprising physical strength. A single walker is capable of overwhelming an adult male, while multiple walkers can quickly take down even determined and trained soldiers.
Extreme hostility against living creatures (human or animal) but seem to ignore one another.
Degraded senses. Most zombies have poor hearing and eyesight. They will however be attracted to loud noises and can chase these for protracted amounts of time.
Little to no ability for problem solving or abstract thought. They are unable to use simple items such as ladders or doorknobs. They will run off a cliff to follow a sensory stimuli.
Slow, shambling gain. Zombies are clumsy and struggle to make good time over rough terrain.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy TWD. Post-apocalypse literature is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine and I've read a fair amount of zombie fiction. Almost universally I find that "the fall" is the weakest part of the writing because a zombie apocalypse really only works if the rest of the world is collectively and repeatedly hit with the stupid bat.
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People need to remember that in The Walking Dead, none of the zombie books or movies exist. There is no prior knowledge that head shots stop a zombie. And until the dead rise up and start chewing on the living, thus turning them into zombies also, there is no prior knowledge that this can happen either. And the big secret that everyone is infected and will turn after any kind of death that does not also happen to destroy the brain, is not known by anyone outside of maybe the CDC. Besides, police and military are trained to aim for center of mass, which will do nothing to stop a zombie.
You'd discover the head weakness very early in any kind of stress test on a zombie. However my main tactic is to lure zombies off natural or man-made hazards, which one would assume to work better if one does not know about the unique characteristics of zombies.
Given the opening scene of last episode, does anyone else think that putting Sasha in a tower with a sniper rifle is a really, really bad idea?** spoiler omitted **
Ugh. I really hope that doesn't happen. The problem with going all Dexter is that people forget that you are not supposed to be rooting for them. Wife snatching? Nope, that is junk what Neegan was doing and he did't get a pass. Rick unfortunately has plots of plot protection.
You mentioned that every time the national guard fire a gun (make noise) they get swarmed. Seeing as how national guard troopers are as smart as everyone else, wouldn't it be fair to assume that after the first few times they'd either avoid the problem by using sound suppressors or take advantage of the fact by using noise to lure zombies away from their targets?
Would they know though? When all you have is a hammer, and a hammer keeps summoning more nails...
And they don't issue sound suppressors for what most troops are walking around with. (and they're not all that effective anyway)
the first thing I'd do would be to capture some walkers, run some experiments and write a threat report. I'd imagine it would read something like this.
One of the themes of the show is the breakdown of society. This didn't spread like a normal virus, it infected everyone and THEN symptoms occured. By the time you catch a zombie the road between you and the zombie testing base is clogged with fleeing people. By the time you get to the base the armed guards necessary to protect the place have said "Screw this, i'm taking this government issued gun and going home to save my family" . It takes you twice as long as usual to conduct any experiments because you don't have any help (remember the CDC researcher that was doing her own field acquisitions) so that when its time to file your report the internet has caught fire and the person you should send the report TO is a zombie, his second in command is a zombie, and his third in command is hiding with his family in the mountain retreat they prepared cause he knew this was a commin.
I have to say I thought it odd, jarring even when Rick put his hand on the gun stuffed in his waistband at the end of the episode. I take what was said above, the duality of Rick's warring natures, but he's never been a 'take from others' type of guy, only a 'do what I have to do to protect me and mine'. The doctor's wife ogling seems a big step towards being a bad guy. It just felt misplaced! Then again, the very end with him and the zombie was also strange!
Carol was very scary too, doubly so because of the false housewife persona she's been adopting. Poor kid! But an excellent way out of a situation I was unsure of how they would resolve. I saw what she was doing during the interview in making herself look unthreatening but as the others have noted above, didn't see the assault rifle fumbling for what it was until it was pointed out. Bravo to the writers and wow has Carol had a great season for doing awesome stuff :)
Now, who else thinks Enid stole the gun Rick put in that plastic can before they went in to Alexandria!?
I was thinking the same thing. Also that they're a spy for a larger group
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I started to feel much the same about Rick's behavior, but then I thought about it a bit more....
The hand to the gun was, in my opinion, an expression of this thinking, mixed with a pure gut reaction from having lived outside the walls for such an extended time.
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One of the themes of the show is the breakdown of society. This didn't spread like a normal virus, it infected everyone and THEN symptoms occured. By the time you catch a zombie the road between you and the zombie testing base is clogged with fleeing people. By the time you get to the base the armed guards necessary to protect the place have said "Screw this, i'm taking this government issued gun and going home to save my family" . It takes you twice as long as usual to conduct any experiments because you don't have any help (remember the CDC researcher that was doing her own field acquisitions) so that when its time to file your report the internet has caught fire and the person you should send the report TO is a zombie, his second in command is a zombie, and his third in command is hiding with his family in the mountain retreat they prepared cause he knew this was a commin.
BNW nailed it right here.
The argument of the military or the guard beating these creatures would hold water in a conventional fight - but it isn't a conventional fight. The dead are rising up and eating people. Around 10 minutes into realizing that this is the end of the world, pretty much every cop, guardsman or solider who is not locked down somewhere is going to say "F this, I'm going home to protect my family".As far as the research is concerned, go back to the early stages of the outbreak. People don't turn right away when they are bitten, so this acts as a second hammer to drop on all the initial survivors and their own personnel who have been injured/bitten. So any medical/research set up that does not have 100% quarantine and secured isolation units is done for.
So early on in an outbreak, any guarded bastion a few days in after securing their site will probably have several injured people. A day later you have the undead running around in your "once" secured base camp attacking people where they are most vulnerable (sleeping, not watching the wall, infirmary/triage). This probably happened all around the world at the same time or at least within the first few weeks.
By the time people figured it all out you have already lost 95-99% of the countries infrastructure and communication.
Fast forward a few months for the remaining people in any tightly secured areas. They know if you get bit you turn, so they try to take limbs or mercy kill their injured because this becomes common knowledge. What happens in the underground complex when the good Dr. Knowles dies in his office due to a heart condition - the first person to die of natural causes after the start of the outbreak. He reanimated corpse wanders around, bites a few lone suckers and bye-bye secured base. By the time someone else finds this safe house it will be entirely infested with the undead.
Though I have to say, With all that great survival gear and weapons it would make for a pretty well stocked "dungeon".
Those soldiers the governor stole military equipment from in season 3 or 4 told a story just like that. They'd secured a base, someone died and they didn't know about everyone being infected and he turned several people before they figured out was going on.
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** spoiler omitted **I started to feel much the same about Rick's behavior, but then I thought about it a bit more....
** spoiler omitted **
I'd like to think that, as a police man, he's good at reading people. And that, being good at reading people, he's already decided that Jesse is a good person who needs the protection his family can bring. Also, that her husband may not be such a good person, and therefore has to be considered a potential threat.
I am not quite so sure. I think if it was a policeman's intuition he would have reached for his trusty hand canon. I think the reaching for the hidden gun was a solid nod towards Rick trying to figure this place out. I think he is preparing himself for having to do things a friendly officer is wont to do. It will all be for the greater good of course!
The hand to the gun was, in my opinion, an expression of this thinking, mixed with a pure gut reaction from having lived outside the walls for such an extended time.
I think this is more likely. Rick is struggling with facing the world he left behind with the world he now knows. Glen said it best, "We were almost out there too long..." This new storyline seems to be about facing the past and coming to grips with what has happened. Also, maybe for a change Rick and crew are the bad guys. Will they come around before its too late??
This new storyline seems to be about facing the past and coming to grips with what has happened.
Yes but not as much for Rick & Co. The Alexandrians are living in complete denial of what has happened, hunkered down in their post-apocalyptic mansions baking cookies. Sasha nails the episode when she says it's "not real." They are champagne survivors, faking their way through the end of the world. Literally their only accomplishment is the wall. They are the ones who really need to come to grips, much more than Rick's group. Rick's group is currently struggling with trying to coexist with people who haven't hurt them yet, but when they do get hurt, the façade will fall (like Glenn vs. what's his name). Something will happen to test their fragile relationship, and if the Alexandrians try to sit in judgment old-world style, they're going to get their butts kicked fast.
Ironically the best thing that can happen to Alexandria is for it to get attacked, because if the two groups don't find a common enemy, they're going to go at each other.
the audience can't hear him silently reassuring himself
I think you're right. If it was meant to be threatening (even as a silent threat to reassure himself), he would have put his hand on his revolver. He picks the other one to visually display the fact that he's doubling--something he hasn't had to do in a long time. None of them have. They're all totally honest with each other (one of the main themes of the whole show). Now they're thrust into a situation where they have to pretend not to be fubar (ie: lying to everyone all day) and that can't last long.
A couple random things that stuck out to me in the last episode were:
The closing scene with Rick at the wall was a pretty strong callback to him being trapped in the train car. They're f'ing with the wrong people!
Also did anyone else notice the group enjoys killing zombies these days?
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Gabriel picked a great moment to stir the pot. Deanna is already struggling with Rick's posse taking up all the positions of authority. When Glen gets back with a knocked out chicken sh!@ and no Aiden she is going to have a lot more to worry about. Cant wait fo the next couple of weeks.
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Pretty much this.
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HELP! We need a doctor!
Rick: "... *#($"
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I'm guessing it's primarily the same reason why most other US shows are primarily set in the US - demographics. Frankly I'm a little surprised TWD wasn't changed from Georgia to a more "popular" state.
I believe Georgia has also been aggressive in offering tax credits to bring in movie/television production.
Which is more or less the same reason you won't see TWD in Europe (or another continent). I can't imagine there's much demand from an American audience to begin with, but even if there were, an American series shooting in another (non-Canadian) country is likely an expensive proposition. Besides, cross-Atlantic knock-offs are a time honored tradition - if there can be an American version of The Office, there can certainly be a British version of TWD.
Wow. Latest episode was a punch to the gut. Then ripping open of said gut and devouring of the entrails...
I'm pretty sure I know where the finale is heading and the ep tonight covered a lot of ground.
Wow. Latest episode was a punch to the gut. Then ripping open of said gut and devouring of the entrails...
I'm pretty sure I know where the finale is heading and the ep tonight covered a lot of ground.
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Thats not a capital crime now though. In the zombie apocolypse when you're short on doctors there's going to be consequences to making it one.
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Thats not a capital crime now though. In the zombie apocolypse when you're short on doctors there's going to be consequences to making it one.Wow. Latest episode was a punch to the gut. Then ripping open of said gut and devouring of the entrails...
I'm pretty sure I know where the finale is heading and the ep tonight covered a lot of ground.
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This is another one of the major themes of the show, in my opinion.
The people in Alexandria all have "skills" that make them "valuable." Like, "my skills hold you hostage so I can act with impunity." It's like they literally played that philosophy game where you choose who you think you'd need in the apocalypse and have to shoot the people who don't make the cut. The downside of which is, not only are you all murderers now, but now you're stuck with these people, however terrible they might be. How do you hold someone accountable who knows you need them enough that their skills trump someone else's life?
Most of the people in Rick's group, on the other hand, were just regular Joes thrown together by circumstance. Only a couple of them were people of any level of "importance" in the old world (cops, veterinarian, army guy). The rest of them were sort of nobody. A pizza delivery guy (who hasn't died yet), a battered wife (who hasn't died yet), a kid (who hasn't died yet), a redneck bum (who hasn't died yet), and a handful of others who were essentially no one before are now all bad-asses. They're all valued because of who they are on the inside, what they're willing to do for the group, and their absolute trustworthiness.
This is especially brought to light when people play the game with Daryl of trying to guess what he "was" before the apocalypse. Daryl is a superhero these days, and the joke is before he was nobody. In that philosophy game though, most of these people wouldn't have made it into the bunker, and the irony is now they're the hope of survival for the ones that have been living in said bunker.
One of these groups values people for the wrong reasons. I think that's why Deanna wants Rick around. I think she truly is a good judge of character and motive, and wants Rick to help her clean house. Then the worst that can happen from her perspective is she gets rid of some of her own bad eggs, can point blame and keep her hands clean publically. Best case scenario is the Alexandrians accept Rick as "the law" (which he basically is, complete with legitimacy bestowed by Deanna) and everyone accepts his judgment and moves forward.
Rick does have a lot of plot armor unfortunately, Kirkman has insisted that even though he pushes the boundaries he is a hero and he is (at least in the comics turning into another governor, hardly an issue goes by without a big picture of Rick all screaming and frothing "EXILE OR DEATH! YOU KILL YOU DIE!' I really think Rick's time has come and having another viewpoint character is needed.
Watching now.
Thats what happens when you shave your facial hair. i tell you, its the only thing keeping the brains in. But yes, the parallels are striking. "I want your woman and the excuse I'm going to use is you're too weak to hold onto them..."
This isn't so much about how much better "I" would do as it is about how improbable it is that the military wouldn't do better. Sure, zombies are relentless like the Terminator, but the military is built to undertake all of the tasks listed above while being attacked by individuals armed with weapons that are more effective than claw/claw/bite.
Its not that the claw claw bite is more effective, its just freaking weirder. If you want to see a top down hierarchy break down you don't throw a bigger threat at it you throw something they haven't seen or dealt with before. The guy in the field can't explain what he's seeing to someone high up in the chain of command well enough for that plan to be enacted. Look at what happened with katrina. "Oh, just set up a command and control center here..." "Sir, the area you're pointing at is under water" "well, call the local ems and have them..." "Local ems are down to rowboats" . Or even something as simple as the civil war,
"Ah, fire once then charge em with bayonnetes!"
"Sir, they'll get off 8 volleys before we make it to their...
"SHUT UP AND CHARGE YOU PANSY!"
How long did it take for THAT to sink in?
Maybe lots of people die, maybe I die, but society certainly doesn't collapse when confronted by a threat that can be stopped by 10' high wall.
I dunno. It doesn't take a heck of a lot before people are clearing out walmart and breaking windows.
Once the wall is up, the zombies can be as relentless as they want - it's not that difficult to stay inside a walled compound and it's not as if the zombies are going to suddenly learn a new tactic.
And then Mrs Mcgullicutty dies of a heart attack in her sleep and rises as one of the undead, infecting her entire family before anyone realize there's a problem. or worse, rises inside a packed bunk style fema tent with 120 people crammed inside.
Walls don't keep it out. Its already inside you.
Conversely, if the U.S.-f&&!ing-military can't defeat a couple million unarmed, unintelligent, slow-moving foes, then 5 dudes in a prison with a wooden spoon or a half dozen people with multiple thinking-challenged members won't last much longer.
PROBABLY not. But if we were looking at the rule rather than the exception the show would look a lot different.
I learned a long time ago to turn my brain off with most movies/shows. Occasionally I will allow myself to think, but only if the movie/show is supposed to be ultra-realistic.
When everybody came to see the fight Rick should have just choked him out, and then explained what happened, instead of losing his mind. He even had the support of the guy's wife.
In case of zombie apocolypse, I'll be the guy here with a claymore
Bring dice.
It may take me a while to swim there but it looks like a great place to hole up!
plus coward has a gun now...is that the same gun Rick hid before the group entered Alex? i'm having a bad feeling about Glenn's survival at this point :s
Nobody talking about the wolves? I think the writers will have to go some to out-squick the termites, but the wolves are definitely getting there post-tree sacrifice... *shudders*
one ep left and i'm wondering who else will die and what the cliffhanger is going to be!
Loving this season, it's the best season imo.
If that was me, Nick wouldn't have made it alive into the van. And that would have been the right call seeing as I knew he would betray Glenn when he got back to Alexandria. And the strong possibility of shooting Glenn in the back. He basically has no redeeming qualities.
My prediction is that she dies in the next episode.
His biggest mistake is that he thinks this is still the Rick-tatorship, but it's not. With so many additional people, he needs the support of his group.
Also, he already discussed the problem with the mayor and then went over her head without support from other people.
After gaining support, he should have discussed it with Deanna again. Everyone, no matter who you are, lives by the same rules. After, approach Pete with 3-4 people and said "We know what you're doing, you need to stop or you'll be exiled".
But I don't really think that Rick wants Pete to behave. He's becoming like Shane.
Just as they decide to exile him, the wolves will bust down the gate and start killing everyone. Most of Alexandria will die. Most of the group makes it out, some characters will die, probably Tara, Gabriel (yay!), and Sasha (who will make a heroic sacrifice).
I don't think anyone other from Alexandria (other than Jessie and Aaron) will make it out into season 6.
Once society collapses there's a few different strategies for survival
Hold up and hide: This works great...but depends on supplies, and there's only so much even a dedicated prepper can stock. At the extreme end it works until your water chip breaks. It also depends on no one finding you. If someone knows where your bunker is they can force you out with a shovel and some time, and if they're starving they will.
Roam and scavange: The main characters strategy. Stay in a small band, hit a place, get supplies, move on.
Build: The local town has passed the hold up phase and gone here. This is neccesary to keep everyone from running out of food, water, shelter, ammo and weapons. The problem is that you can only make a group so big without an industrial complex behind it, which gives you problems with..
The locusts. The most efficient short term survival is a group of murderous, mostly male psycos with no remorse rampaging through the countryside, killing everyone and taking everything that isn't nailed down. Highly efficient and mobile because they're not building anything, burdened with children, or stuck looking after the suck and weak they're just taking everything. Its a 100% fighting population.
The moral problems aside, they're the thing that keeps society from getting off the ground again, not the walkers. You need to build eventually , but why bother if its just an invitation to have things taken from you?
I don't get what is going on with Morgan. All the reports about the actor said he was under contract for two episodes this season. If all that meant was his two brief appearances at the end of two episodes, I will be very disappointed. He better show up in the finale and either rescue people in the town or rescue Darryl and Aaron in the jam they are supposed to get into during the finale.
Maybe the virus induces stupidity even before it causes full blown braaaain eating? It would explain a lot in universe.. but probably take away from a lot of the series comments on human nature.
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I don't get what is going on with Morgan. All the reports about the actor said he was under contract for two episodes this season. If all that meant was his two brief appearances at the end of two episodes, I will be very disappointed. He better show up in the finale and either rescue people in the town or rescue Darryl and Aaron in the jam they are supposed to get into during the finale.
Yeah, I like Morgan. Who knows, maybe he'll ride in and save the day at the last minute.
About an hour to go til the season finale!
So who dies and who lives? Does Morgan finally show up again? What new baddies, if any, show up tonight? And does Alexandria survive the episode?
I wonder if we saw morganbits at the end of the last episode
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Whoa! That was pretty f*+#ing cool!
Loved the parts with the wolves. That's gonna get crazy.
Carol, showing she's ultra badass again in her confrontation with a#!%#$! Pete.
That trap the wolves set was cool. I was worried for a second that Daryl or Aaron was well and truly f%&@ed. Daryl with the chain - how cool was that? Ninja Morgan to the rescue!!
Glen should have shot Nicholas in the knee and left him for the Walkers. That dude's a pissy little tool and he needs to die.
And that ending. Poor Reg. But at least Sasha took a step towards recovering (and maybe Gabriel?), and Deana showed a bit of a spine, telling Rick to go ahead and put a round in a$!!&&! Pete.
Lastly, WTF?!? Dude who plays Morgan is a Brit?!? Holy SHITBALLS!
No way he was effective!
Although i suppose for the zombie apocalypse that isn't a bad class...
That.. did go a little conveniently well for rick.
So zombies break into the compound, but he's the only one that sees them? He could have dragged that thing in from outside.
A witness against him is being detained by his pet sniper
And his main rival not only goes balistic in front of everyone, but also killed the one person in the crowd that would guarantee a flip the switch order from the governess.