Fear the Walking Dead Discussion

[7.62]

I now fear "Fear the Walking Dead" because it consumes an hour of my life each week and infects my memory with crappy television.

Haha I agree!

 

[Libertarian01]

One thing not mentioned, is that no one has actually seen a zombie eat anybody. Sure we've seen bites, but thus far the survivors aren't really aware that they are a food source for the infected.

I was starting to agree but then I got to thinking - the neighbor eating the dog, right before his head was blown off by Rubin.

I still chalk it up to a massive case of denial. NOBODY wants to believe the world as they know it is ending! It simply cannot. We have cured disease, split the atom, put a man on the moon, reached for the stars. We are the most powerful nation on earth, completely unchallenged by anyone in recent history. How could it end?

I don't mind the apparent stupid... yet. I don't agree with some here that things are so obvious. First, people will resist believing something so incredible. Second, when they do agree that things are "bad" they'll fight admitting they are "really bad." Even when they think things are really bad they'll still cling to their perception of normalcy. Even if things are really bad and out of control the army/navy/air force/USMC/national guard/police/sheriff will at least come to help! Folks will resist the notion that they are on their own - for real.

Most people will also resist the acceptance of being blatantly lied to, like the army lieutenant is probably doing. They will want to believe any story that reinforces the idea that all of their comfort, safety, security and convenience is gone. When they do finally accept this they will not react rationally. They will panic and do all sorts of ridiculous things.

The other problem is that probably very few are actually seeing the big picture. This IS the one area that chafes me to no end! This is the one, absolute, unbelievable concept for me to swallow. BBC, Al-Jazerra, AP, Reuters, if a republican is in office MSNBC, if a democrat is in office Fox News. There is NO WAY this sort of story could be covered up and allowed to grow this big. Now, I could believe where news sources would put a lid on some stuff for a short time, like a week or two, but there is way too much access to video for the mainstream media to ignore stories like these. After all, "if it bleeds it leads."

Travis's antigun comment was good in my opinion. For most people if he were gun loving then the logic of the gun would simply be, "oh yeah, it figures." Whereas with him being somewhat antigun his conversion will be, "boy was I wrong" and folks watching may be pulled to our side by sympathizing with him, or seeing him as an idiot and reinforcing our side. Either way, we win with him starting as an anti.

Madisons trust level is way down. She is questioning things and taking risks to look into stuff for herself. With that in mind she has no clear plan of action on how to move, nor a goal to move toward. Making up your mind that these army turds are lying and bad for us is one thing, convincing everyone else of this is another thing, and finally you need to convince the group to try to move in a certain direction toward a goal. When ALL that is met only then can you begin to form a plan of action. For us on INGO we're a bunch of paranoid whackjobs, so this transition would be fairly quick. For others, think of all of your customers, coworkers, relatives and neighbors.

All that said I will clarify, I don't mind Travis sticking his head in the sand, for a time. IF he continues to be shown evidence of bad coming and continues to have head up kazoo, then I will begin to despise him and hate his character. I'm just not there yet.

Regards,

Doug

PS - Except for the first line this is for everyone, I am not targeting Kutnupe. I simply transitioned from puppychow to semi-coherent thoughts.

PPS - I was so looking forward to the dog living. If it befriended Nick, then "A Boy and His Dog." If it befriended Travis, then Dogmeat (without the fallout)

 

[Libertarian01]

I was thinking about how this could have been done better, and so the thought came to me.

What if, instead of a school teacher and guidance counselor, it would have been a young to middle aged male and female pair of paramedics? This would still be very far from being "militant" types of characters but at the same time not totally incompetent as they would be used to dealing with very stressful situations.

They could have access to some scuttlebutt, which could help with all sorts of backstory information about what was going on, but not too accurate as it would be, at least initially, conjectures and rumors. Imagine all the potential comments and innuendo's from police, ER doctors, nurses, etc that could be made without followup. They could have been a little closer to the dead, and thus had a bit of a heads-up on what was happening.

You could have even kept the family dynamics intact with the druggie son, goofy daughter, and a divorce with a son thrown in. This would have really allowed for them to be slightly inside the system but not in the deep intelligence community or the bowels of the CDC. So, ignorance of what was happening would have still been there but not as much as they are facing now.

Heck, you could even keep both Travis AND Madison, just modified somewhat in either relationship or dynamics.

Drama could have been very good as a team of paramedics are torn between their drive and desire to help others and their need to protect their own family. Even Travis's aversion to firearms would be MUCH better to sympathize with as he could relate all the damn bullet holes he's had to patch over the years. I still wouldn't agree with him but I could relate better than some vague comment about how he feels about guns. At least as a paramedic there would be some bridge of understanding his revulsion.

Plus, an ambulance would make a cool bugout vehicle when the time came! You could sleep inside it safely, have a relatively good storage capacity compared to a small to medium sized care plus have a good supply of medical gear. Not perfect by any stretch but a cool variation of a standard vehicle. Besides, the sirens would be neat!

I just think this would have been a better choice. A paramedic mother dealing with her druggie son would have given far more variation in how she handled things, given a probably almost constant contact with the same problem on the street daily.

I think this would have been a better plot line to write than two (2) totally ignorant folks. Not that the ignorant folks wouldn't be out there by the millions, but more for us as the audience to get a better feel for some of the stuff we aren't seeing. We could have a much better view of the problem without revealing too much.

Again, just a thought.

Regards,

Doug

 

[mrunnebo]

I find myself rooting for Nick to die. I can't stand that dumb little druggie.

 

[actaeon277]

I find myself rooting for Nick to die. I can't stand that dumb little druggie.

I don't see it ending well for him.
But... this is Hollywood.

 

[scoutsniper]

The ignorance is so strong I'm about to stop watching. I mean **** no common sense at all in this show. I literally get mad and bored watching this show... I told my wife if she did the **** these people do she'd be on her own. Maybe I'm just a *******.

 

[rhino]

I FEAR that I may be compelled to waste another precious hour of my life on this show tonight, hoping that it will be good.

 

[Fordtough25]

I FEAR that I may be compelled to waste another precious hour of my life on this show tonight, hoping that it will be good.

its time for somebody in the cast to become walker food.

 

[KLB]

The ignorance is so strong I'm about to stop watching. I mean **** no common sense at all in this show. I literally get mad and bored watching this show... I told my wife if she did the **** these people do she'd be on her own. Maybe I'm just a *******.

You think your average person in this country would act differently than the characters in the show? People in general are not smart and are very trusting of the government.

 

[pudly]

The first responders, the stupid and those in denial will be the majority of those dying off early in a situation like this. Some of the main characters should get busy dying already.

 

[actaeon277]

You think your average person in this country would act differently than the characters in the show? People in general are not smart and are very trusting of the government.

Yup

 

[KLB]

The first responders, the stupid and those in denial will be the majority of those dying off early in a situation like this. Some of the main characters should get busy dying already.

Agreed. The strong woman/weak man theme is already getting old.

 

[Libertarian01]

I'm just not with some of you guys on this. Who are you expecting to be the main characters? John Wick, Rambo, and their wife Sarah Connor along with the shifty neighbor Alice Parks?

They have NOWHERE good to go and are existing in an apparently safe bubble without any information on what is happening outside of that bubble. They have NO reason to distrust the army/national guard/whatever up until now. The ONLY character up until now that could easily justify questioning the military IS doing so, Rubin; but he has no power to do anything yet.

Being in California they are probably very prepared for an earthquake or some other expected disaster. Beyond that, they are being normal, which means being in denial about how bad it's going to get. Realizing that organizations you have been raised to trust are not acting in your best interests is a very big hurdle to overcome. I think some folks here are expecting too much too soon. Remember, it has only been a couple of weeks and the military is moving to assume control. No force on this earth has stood up to and survived a full assault of the US military over time. Why would we think this will be any different?

Even with that said some of the characters are beginning to question things and wrap their minds around the idea that this is not going to go away. They have yet to gather around the kitchen table and make any sort of plan. When faced with a near overwhelming task most folks will shut down simply because they don't know where to start. The loss of family may well compel them to do so now.

The way it is working out they are going to have a place to start now: get their loved ones back! Then they're going to need a place to run to.

Don't forget that we are in the minority nationally. Most Americans, nearly 81% (Link: https://ask.census.gov/faq.php?id=5000&faqId=5971) live in an urban environment. This means a far greater dependence, both physically and mentally, upon the government. We here in Indiana have a more rural mindset. Our thinking is skewed between government and self reliance. Even those in cities here live very near or have friends who live rurally. Just driving down to Fishers for bacon cheeseburgers on Saturday I passed mostly farmland. I was at least subliminally reminded of how farmers and country folk do everything themselves. Major urban dwellers like those in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles NEVER EVER see this on a daily basis! They have to work their butts of to get out of the city, and having been raised in the concrete jungle all their lives don't consider how the rural folks function on a daily basis.

So I hope this is a gentle push to be a little more sympathetic to those who have not only the physical hurdle of zombies to contend with, but the mental hurdle of too much reliance on the government as well. Be kind to the weaklings. They need our help.

Regards,

Doug

 

[actaeon277]

I agree. But who is Alice Parks?

 

[Alpo]

Alice Parks, Resident Evil

 

[actaeon277]

Alice Parks, Resident Evil

Thanks. I tried looking it up, but there were a million responses.

 

[Alpo]

Yeah, she was known as Alice, but most people never picked up the "Parks" Maybe because Mila created too much drool and blood migration.

 

[9mmfan]

I'm just not with some of you guys on this. Who are you expecting to be the main characters? John Wick, Rambo, and their wife Sarah Connor along with the shifty neighbor Alice Parks?

They have NOWHERE good to go and are existing in an apparently safe bubble without any information on what is happening outside of that bubble. They have NO reason to distrust the army/national guard/whatever up until now. The ONLY character up until now that could easily justify questioning the military IS doing so, Rubin; but he has no power to do anything yet.

Being in California they are probably very prepared for an earthquake or some other expected disaster. Beyond that, they are being normal, which means being in denial about how bad it's going to get. Realizing that organizations you have been raised to trust are not acting in your best interests is a very big hurdle to overcome. I think some folks here are expecting too much too soon. Remember, it has only been a couple of weeks and the military is moving to assume control. No force on this earth has stood up to and survived a full assault of the US military over time. Why would we think this will be any different?

Even with that said some of the characters are beginning to question things and wrap their minds around the idea that this is not going to go away. They have yet to gather around the kitchen table and make any sort of plan. When faced with a near overwhelming task most folks will shut down simply because they don't know where to start. The loss of family may well compel them to do so now.

The way it is working out they are going to have a place to start now: get their loved ones back! Then they're going to need a place to run to.

Don't forget that we are in the minority nationally. Most Americans, nearly 81% (Link: https://ask.census.gov/faq.php?id=5000&faqId=5971) live in an urban environment. This means a far greater dependence, both physically and mentally, upon the government. We here in Indiana have a more rural mindset. Our thinking is skewed between government and self reliance. Even those in cities here live very near or have friends who live rurally. Just driving down to Fishers for bacon cheeseburgers on Saturday I passed mostly farmland. I was at least subliminally reminded of how farmers and country folk do everything themselves. Major urban dwellers like those in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles NEVER EVER see this on a daily basis! They have to work their butts of to get out of the city, and having been raised in the concrete jungle all their lives don't consider how the rural folks function on a daily basis.

So I hope this is a gentle push to be a little more sympathetic to those who have not only the physical hurdle of zombies to contend with, but the mental hurdle of too much reliance on the government as well. Be kind to the weaklings. They need our help.

Regards,

Doug

You hit the nail on the head! This is southern California for heavens sake. Cradle to grave mentally rules their

 

[Libertarian01]

Alice Parks, Resident Evil

Thank you for answering that for me.

I really didn't need to post this, I'm just bumping Milla. She's worth it.

Doug

 

[Libertarian01]

I agree. But who is Alice Parks?

For those who may(?) not have seen these characters in action, here is who I was presuming some folks were expecting as the main characters representing an "average" American surviving a zombie apocalypse.



Doug

PS - Rambo is NOT the one with a knife to his throat. He is the other guy!