AMC's The Walking Dead

Here's another Walking Dead/zombie apocalypse-related question ...

If you knew you were fucked, that you had no chance for survival, would you ...

A) Kill yourself?
B) Go out in a futile blaze of glory and probably get eaten in the most horrid manner possible?
C) Isolate a walker or two, get bitten in such a way that you're not getting torn apart, and then eventually become a walker yourself?

I think it goes to the heart of zombie movies/shows are all about. On a surface level, the fear in zombie movies is obviously about death and suffering, but elementally, the fear we really have is about the uncertainty of change and transformation.

I mean, the obvious answer is to kill yourself. It's your choice, etc., there's probably no pain, etc. But if you off yourself, you're presumably thinking that the death you suffer at your own hands is better than death-by-zombie, but you really don't know. It might be a worse option.

Death-by-zombie is really just a dramatic form of change. You die in the clinical sense, your consciousness (and conscience) die too, but you "live" in another form, presumably forever. Is that state-of-being worse than not being at all?

(Which begs the question. Don't the zombies ever rot? I would think, 28 Days Later-style, that they would eventually rot to the point where they couldn't walk and wouldn't be a threat.)

Death-by-zombie might be a detestable way to spend your afterlife, but who's to say that existing, no matter what form it is, is worse than not existing at all? Or vice versa?

It all goes to our fear of change and transformation. We're all going to face the uncertainty of death, change and transform after we die. Zombie flicks just bring this fear we all have to the fore in an entertaining way.

Now pass the blunt ...

 

Team Care Bear or Team YGBFKM aside, I loved the episode. I liked it more than the season premiere, which seemed choppy and overt to me. This was more what I expect from The Walking Dead. Rick's descent becomes more evident by the minute. That scene outside with Lori was powerful stuff. Lori wants redemption. In Seasons 1 or 2, Rick would have given it to her. Now, he's hardened. He doesn't give a fuck. It makes sense.

I loved that they gave Lori and Carl useful things to do. It's about time for the other two members of the Grimes family to start contributing. And T-Dog and Carol have become really valuable characters. The group's composition has shifted, and several of our more important characters from the early going are gone. But I can honestly say I see real value in every character left except Beth, who is there mostly because Carl loves her. Even Hop-Along Herschel should be able to provide medical direction, though he may not be able to carry out anything.

The cast has balance now. It lacked it in the first two seasons. That's progress.

The prisoners were a great twist. Five guys with one gun weren't a real threat, but they were dangerous in their own way. The leader was a fucking psychopath. The two that stayed alive were kind of interesting and might have made decent additions to our regular group, but it would have been unrealistic for Rick or Daryl to trust them.

A lot of people want The Walking Dead to go the route of Lost and explore the characters' histories with flashbacks. That's not real to me. It's easy to remember the past when you're on an island. There are moments alone, nights of restful sleep. In this world, there is terror. There is fear. There's no time for remembering. There's no safety in being alone. So I expect to learn about these characters through traits displayed. I liked that character moment when T-Dog looked almost broken-heartedly at the two living prisoners and told them to burn the bodies. Carol asking to practice a C-section on the corpse of a walker. Those are valuable in a way that feels more germane than Lost-style flashbacks.

I have a feeling we're in for a lot of twists this season, but I would enjoy a full episode of a regular day in the prison. Just one. We had too much of the farm, and the farm was too comfortable, but the idea was good. I'm at a point where I trust the writers now, though. That wasn't true even six episodes ago. Killing Dale, and the way they killed Dale, told me they were in it for real. That let me dig in.

 

Rick should have killed the prisoner's leader on the spot. That dude was 10 miles of bad road right from jump.

On the other hand, the dude that ran and got eaten? I think Rick could've spared him.

On a Machiavellian level, you need some pawns around if the walkers or another group of survivors become a threat. That dude alone was not a threat, but he'd have made a helluva pawn.

 

If you're alone and have no hope, you should kill yourself in a way that assures you have no way of coming back. It's the civil thing to do. I'm not sure I would have the stones to do it. None of us knows what we would do in that situation. But the right thing to do, the thing you'd hope a stranger did, would be to split your fucking head open with a chainsaw.

 

Red-carpet shot of Emily Kinney aka Beth Greene aka Krazee-Eyez Killa:

 

Really good discussion going here, all.

Rick Grimes went from cool to awesome last night.

 

DISH and AMC have settled their feud.

 

The AMC smear campaign is no longer.

I laughed at those commercials.

 

Rick was following his instincts and thinking that they could never trust the guy.

I think his reaction to Lori fits right in with everything else going on with Rick. He's doing what he has to do to protect the group, but it is costing him his humanity. Maybe he just isn't capable of connecting with her emotionally any more beyond her role as a member of the group. That is certainly how he treated her in last night's episode.

 

In regards to Rick & Lori, I also think it is that Lori kind of lit the fuse with Shane in terms of Rick having to do something, and then when he finally did, she was pissed. She has pulled him in different directions ever since he reappeared and enough was just enough.

 

Maybe Rick should have a threesome with Carol and the zombie corpse.

 

The zombie corpse was working that sun dress.