Walking Dead is boring!

[Beorning]

Ooops. I said that aloud  ;)

Seriously speaking, though... I really don't get why this series is getting such great reviews. Personally, I'm in the middle of season 2 and I find my interest waning. The whole story is about a bunch of people moping about living in an awful, post-apocalyptic world and occasionally killing some zombies...

I freely admit that the series has great production values, but overall, it's not that good. There's only so much mileage you can get out of zombies... Personally, I feel the series ran out of interesting stuff after the first few episodes.

I don't get the popularity. And I don't get the popularity of zombie apocalypse genre in general... It's always the same one story: Night of The Living Dead being repeated over and over. NOTLD was a good movie, but the whole idea is very limited...

[Jag]

I used to really like Walking Dead, but my interest ran out mid-way through the first season. I finished out the first season and forced myself to watch the first episode of the second season. It didn't grab my interest, so I gave up. I agree with you, the had a good concept, but zombies get old quick. I love zombie movies, but only because they end and they are quick. I'm really no longer interested in a drawn out series about the poor, sad people who have to deal with the zombies.

[Silverfyre]

I am with you on that.  I enjoyed the first season and then halfway through the second, my interest waned considerably.  I blame the characters of Lori and Carl.  She was not only way too intense at times but also turned the series into what I call "Lori Bi-polar Theatre".  And Carl.. stay in the fucking house!

[Moraline]

I've felt this way at times. I get tired of the over done drama and constant whining but...

I also get why people enjoy it to.

Unlike a regular Zombie movie where we see the people in a race/struggle to survive, instead we have a protracted struggle. It brings another side to the story where we see the constant stresses and strains of life in an apocalypse. It's something that you don't get out of a 2 hour movie. Instead we are witnessing the evolution of society as a whole through the microcosm of a small band of people and the ones that they interact with.

Obviously the show is a drama, aka a Zombie Apocalypse soap opera, and if your not a fan of drama then your most likely not going to enjoy the show for very long.

Personally, I prefer my horror with lots of action so while I enjoy the show at times I am also bored by the drama of it quite often.

That's my take on the show.

[Sabby]

The Dawn of the Dead remake was the only semi-recent Zombie movie I actually liked. Then I saw the original movie it was remaking and that was just as good in it's own way. But Walking Dead was a struggle for me to get through, and the characters were just atrocious :/

If you're going to make a zombie apocalypse story a character piece/soap opera (which isn't an inherently bad idea) then at least have some decent writing. Forgive me if I don't mourn when that blonde gets her legs eaten in a stairway :/

[Beguile's Mistress]

I saw both versions of "Night of the Living Dead" and wrote in a zombie story in Caprion's Lab.  I think that did it for me with zombies.  Once you've dispatched a zombie bull in a "gloriously disgusting, disturbingly gory and grossly gooey layer of zombie viscera" there is nowhere else to go.

[Beorning]

Obviously the show is a drama, aka a Zombie Apocalypse soap opera, and if your not a fan of drama then your most likely not going to enjoy the show for very long.

Oh, I love drama. One of my favourite shows is The Good Wife, after all...

It's just there's not much drama potential in a zombie apocalypse story. There's one basic problem: the world ended and zombies are everywhere, now the survivors are facing a crappy life of wandering and scrounging resources. It's not that interesting in the long run...

And I don't think that zombies are that interesting as monsters, to be frank, either. There's only a few distinct scenes / situations you can do with them. It all gets repetitive after a while...

I saw both versions of "Night of the Living Dead" and wrote in a zombie story in Caprion's Lab.  I think that did it for me with zombies.  Once you've dispatched a zombie bull in a "gloriously disgusting, disturbingly gory and grossly gooey layer of zombie viscera" there is nowhere else to go.

Hey, now I want to read it!  ;D

[Moraline]

A Soap Opera isn't about the Zombies or the Hospital or the Police Force where it takes place in. It's about the people interacting in the drama.

This is what The Walking Dead is going for - that interaction/life drama.

If you continue to watch the show you'll see the individuals as they break down emotionally. Some get stronger, some lose it entirely. That's the point of the shows story line. It's all about how the people interact/change/grow with each other over the course of this crisis.

However, I'm not saying it's good. Very important that you distinguish the point I'm making. I'm just saying that it's a drama and by focusing on the Zombies your missing the point of the show.

[Sabby]

I'm just saying that it's a drama and by focusing on the Zombies your missing the point of the show.

The shows called The Walking Dead :P It's advertised as a zombie apocalypse story. I think everyone misses the point with that kind of false image.

[Beorning]

My local TV advertises it as horror... Hm.

[Moraline]

The shows called The Walking Dead :P It's advertised as a zombie apocalypse story. I think everyone misses the point with that kind of false image.

Stories aren't about the protagonists or even the action, they are about the building and growth of characters. It's about who the people are and what happens to them as individuals. By that I don't mean whether they get bitten or not. I mean that it's about how they change emotionally/mentally.

As I said previously, it doesn't matter if the setting is Zombies, Apocalypse, Police, Hospitals, neighborhoods or anything. The settings give you motivation and conflict with which to grow your characters in.

So the name of the show and whether it has Zombies in it or not doesn't matter. The original poster was saying "There is only so many things you can do with Zombies."  However, it's not the Zombies you are supposed to focus on, it's the people in the show.

Honestly the same goes for any shows, TV/Movie/Documentary... it doesn't matter. The growth and development of the characters are the driving force behind any well told story.

So, like the show or don't like the show it doesn't matter - the Zombies aren't the show.. the characters in it are the show/story.

My local TV advertises it as horror... Hm.

~ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1520211/
TV Series  -   45 min  -  Drama | Horror | Thriller

It's only labelled a horror because it contains elements of horror but it's still a Soap Opera Drama involving people.

soap op·er·a
Noun:   
A television or radio drama series dealing typically with daily events in the lives of the same group of characters.

[Chris Brady]

O:)

;D

[Strangler]

What Chris posted ;D

Having read a few of the graphic novels and watched a bit of Walking Dead I think a big part of the problem is in the adaptation. Walking Dead is unusually faithful to the original material. But what works well in a graphic novel doesn't necessarily translate into watchable live action. By TV standards the Walking Dead characters are thinly defined, dull and give far too much exposition. TV is so much more of an interdisciplinary medium than graphic novels and I think the lack of an original interpretation and artistic direction by the creators has seriously handicapped the show.

Also their zombies suck and they don't do a very good job of bringing home the existential terror of being eaten alive. I mean, it's horror. You could at least get me distressed and disgusted rather than, you know, bored.

[Chris Brady]

o the name of the show and whether it has Zombies in it or not doesn't matter. The original poster was saying "There is only so many things you can do with Zombies."  However, it's not the Zombies you are supposed to focus on, it's the people in the show.

What he meant, is what most people typically mean, when they say something like that, is that the premise in and of itself is limited, by the nature of the show.  Because it has Zombies, who react in a predictable manner (Shuffling along for brains) there's typically not many situations that promote a growth for the characters.  It's getting to the point where the perception has devolved into a repetitious 'daily' grind.  All the hard choices stop being hard after the 5th or 6th time you have to make the same one.  Outside of survival, there really isn't a clear goal.  You can't stop them, you can't 'cure' them you can't do much to them other than shoot them in the face.  And the moment you miss, you are one of them.

This is what is usually meant when someone says "It's a show about X."

[Stella]

I think it would be more exciting if it had more likable characters.

Except Daryl.

Daryl's a boss.

[Shjade]

The shows called The Walking Dead :P It's advertised as a zombie apocalypse story. I think everyone misses the point with that kind of false image.

1) "The walking dead" as a phrase refers to the zombies and the survivors. As in "dead man walking." I'm pretty sure in the comics at some point one of them actually says, "We are the walking dead," but I'd have to go through all the books again to be sure. Does that shed any light on why the show's atmosphere is what it is?

2) It is a zombie apocalypse story. That means it's about people surviving a zombie apocalypse, not a documentary on zombies. When you watch a volcano disaster movie, how much time do they usually spend focused on characterizing and showing off the volcano? Answer: not a whole lot. There's a volcano; it's erupting. That's about it. 98% of the movie is how the characters are working together (or against each other) to survive the result of that eruption. Zombies are just another catastrophic event, not the star of the show.

I'm not sure where the idea of "there's only so much you can do with zombies" is coming from. There's only so much you can do with any end of the world scenario, but that's just a setting. The character interaction in that setting is what's important. I mean, hell, if there were really so little to do after an apocalypse, why is Fallout such a popular series of games? They should've run out of material in the first one, right? Nuclear fallout's a hell of a lot more "limited" than zombies as apocalypse options go, after all.

As for complaints specific to the show, rather than the series/concept: yeah, season 2 completely blew. A couple of worthwhile moments, but on the whole I don't think I really enjoyed any one entire episode in that season. Season 3's been considerably better in terms of "shit is actually happening" as opposed to season 2's "let's spend an entire season arguing in circles about the same problem on this farm because we don't want to resolve it until we can make that resolution part of the season finale for extra drama ooo ahh" crap pacing.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Seriously, they should've just fucking killed Shane long before it finally happened. Would've given them room to push forward past the Rick vs. Shane stuff that they kept repeating and repeating that whole time, inject some new material.

[Wolfy]

The shows called The Walking Dead :P It's advertised as a zombie apocalypse story. I think everyone misses the point with that kind of false image.

The real Walking Dead aren't the zombies, though...it's the characters.

As we've seen many times in both show and comic, anyone can die.

:D And the real threat during a Zombie Apocalypse isn't really the zombies, oh no...they're predictable for the most part, unless they sneak up on you.

It's the people in the apocalypse that's your greatest threat. :3

[Silverfyre]

I also think the title can be quite applicable to the living characters, especially considering that they will become zombies if they die from any cause. 

[SinXAzgard21]

"The second we put a bullet in the head of one of these undead monsters--the moment one of us drove a hammer into one of their faces--or cut off a head. We became what we are! And that's just it. That's what this comes down to. You people don't know what we are. We're surrounded by the dead. We're among them--and when we finally give up we become them! We're living on borrowed time here. Every minute of our life is a minute we steal from them! You see them out there. You know that when we die--we become them. You think we hide behind walls to protect us from the walking dead! Don't you get it! WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD!" - Rick Grimes

[Remiel]

I have to admit, I've been watching every episode religiously since the show first started.   No, I'm not going to try to defend it.  No, I haven't read the comics.  Yes, Season 2 was painfully slow and I don't blame anybody for turning out. 

I do have to say, though, that season 3 has been better (even though Michonne is, to me, a completely unlikeable character).  I have to admit, I was quite shocked when

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Laurie died in childbirth and then was promptly eaten by a zombie.

However, I have to give the series respect for that.  No one, even the "main" characters, are safe.

I think Wolfy put his finger on the whole point, on why the show still garners interest.  Despite the title, It's not about the zombies.  Yeah, they're there, we get it, they're dangerous, they want brains.  Ho hum.

No, the real theme of the show is--at the core, stripped of the artificial constructs of society, who are we, as human beings?  Are we intrinsically good, or intrinsically evil?  Without the safety and security of law and order to protect us, would we retain our compassion for our fellow human beings, or would we devolve into animals, intent on nothing but survival?   There is a saying, that all of mankind is three meals and twenty-four hours away from utter barbarism.  And we certainly see that, with some of the characters that the show presents.    We saw that in 28 Days Later too, with the company of soldiers.  It was completely realistic, completely believable, and completely tragic.

[Ellipsis]

I only watch it because my roommate claims the television on Sunday nights and usually, I'm out in the living room when she does.

[Stella]

^ Love it.

[Love And Submission]

I have to admit, I've been watching every episode religiously since the show first started.   No, I'm not going to try to defend it.  No, I haven't read the comics.  Yes, Season 2 was painfully slow and I don't blame anybody for turning out. 

I do have to say, though, that season 3 has been better (even though Michonne is, to me, a completely unlikeable character).  I have to admit, I was quite shocked when

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Laurie died in childbirth and then was promptly eaten by a zombie.

However, I have to give the series respect for that.  No one, even the "main" characters, are safe.

I think Wolfy put his finger on the whole point, on why the show still garners interest.  Despite the title, It's not about the zombies.  Yeah, they're there, we get it, they're dangerous, they want brains.  Ho hum.

No, the real theme of the show is--at the core, stripped of the artificial constructs of society, who are we, as human beings?  Are we intrinsically good, or intrinsically evil?  Without the safety and security of law and order to protect us, would we retain our compassion for our fellow human beings, or would we devolve into animals, intent on nothing but survival?   There is a saying, that all of mankind is three meals and twenty-four hours away from utter barbarism.  And we certainly see that, with some of the characters that the show presents.    We saw that in 28 Days Later too, with the company of soldiers.  It was completely realistic, completely believable, and completely tragic.

The problem is though that while their are people who  are intrinsically evil in the world , those people are actually the most interesting which is something  The Walking Dead and 28 days Later got wrong.

Granted I stopped watching after the first season ( though I have been enjoying the game.) but there's no Frank Booth or Bane in the walking dead. There's no  Vlad The Impaler or Genghis Khan. There's just these seemingly one- dimensional strawman villains without bite.
This  is a real problem with the game to me , I keep playing and they put me up against these villains are very plain and unrealistic.


In real life despite being Villains  John Dillinger and Frank Lucas were entertaining and what to me makes them scary is that you kind of want hang out with them. I don't want to hang with the dudes from 28 days later. They seem way to  exaggerated  for me.


Utter barbism is a total fallacy  because even the barbarians were actually pretty comical and entertaining.

Just read this quote by Kahn himself.

“I am the punishment of God...If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.”-  Genghis Khan

You have to admit that is pretty epic.

There's a reason he has Sixteen Million  descendants living today. Who wouldn't want to sleep with a guy that cool?

[Beguile's Mistress]

There's a reason he has Sixteen Million  descendants living today. Who want to sleep with a guy that cool?

I have a feeling wanting to didn't enter into every time or maybe even most of the time.

[Chris Brady]

I only watch it because my roommate claims the television on Sunday nights and usually, I'm out in the living room when she does.

For ME, once you hit the Pink zone, I stop watching and never come back.

And DTW has got it, truth be told, Zombies are lousy 'villains' because they have no goals other than to eat your brain, but don't really have much drive to do anything else.  It sounds to me like a lot of the people who like this show watch it IN SPITE of the Zombies, rather than BECAUSE of them.

[Moraline]

It's true. I do watch Zombie shows not because of the Zombies but because it's an Apocalypse show.

Meteor
Super Volcano
Massive Change in Weather
EMP pulse
Solar Flares
Virus Outbreak
Zombies

All terrible villains... but generally they aren't the villains in the shows.

Usually the villain is some other people/characters in the show with immoral and/or possibly sociopathic tendencies.

My favorite parts of these types of shows are not the backdrops but instead the efforts to survive by the people and the human-character interaction amongst them.

Why did it happen?
How did it happen?
How will they hold onto their humanity?
How will civilization endure?
How & Why do some people choose different ways of dealing with the catastrophe?
What about life, love, and all of the little things that they had before this happened?
What's really important in life?
etc...

[Beorning]

Okay, then maybe The Walking Dead is just lousy on drama? Usually, I like drama - but this show's characters and their problems just aren't interesting...

Or maybe I'm just an old-fashioned horror fan who watches horror shows to get some chills, too... I really do think that, if a show features horror monsters, it should try to actually be scary. TWD is not scary...

[Moraline]

I think you've hit the nail on the head. You want a fright fest and it doesn't deliver. It really was never developed to be a scary horror fright fest. The core component of this show is drama. The old Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead do a much better job (in my opinion) of being frightening.

And honestly, the drama is quite terrible in TWD, it has it's moments but most of it is terrible in my opinion.



Something just popped into my head... Has their ever actually been a scary and/or frightening TV series?

[Chris Brady]

Something just popped into my head... Has their ever actually been a scary and/or frightening TV series?

Several.  The Twilight Zone being a big one.  And the only I can remember.

[Moraline]

I thought about the Twilight zone but it wasn't really scary to me. It had an element of creep and thrill to it so I guess it qualifies.

Has there ever been anything like a Friday the 13th Horror show (not that weird adventure show they had on for awhile) or a Zombie gore fest?

Do shows like Falling Skies count? They have a bit of gore, some frightening images and the threat of an alien invasion? Does that count as one? Honestly, I found it much more frightening then The Walking Dead.

[Geeklet]

Something just popped into my head... Has their ever actually been a scary and/or frightening TV series?

Are You Afraid of the Dark. That series scared the crap out of me as a kid.

Anyway, back to the Walking Dead. Season 1 started out good, started to drift off. Season 2, it was lacking in several areas, but it was starting to pick up on one of the elements that people seem to be complaining about. Yes, zombies are lousy villains, especially after such a long time. But the main 'villain' for this season wasn't the zombies, it was, IMO, Shane. True, it did drag on a bit longer than it should, but it was a step in the right direction. And now, I think things have started to pick back up in season 3. Between characters getting killed, new ones being added, and some current ones developing and changing, it is starting to change the dynamic. And there is a very clear villain in the Governor.

[Kuroneko]

I really like The Walking Dead, even though season 2 was a bit of a snore fest.  3 has been much better.  But then again, I often work as a makeup artist, so I'm heavily invested in that tech, and can watch it for that alone. 

[Love And Submission]

I have a feeling wanting to didn't enter into every time or maybe even most of the time.

Praeda Preda.

[Beorning]

Something just popped into my head... Has their ever actually been a scary and/or frightening TV series?

Two words: Twin Peaks.

[Remiel]

Something just popped into my head... Has their ever actually been a scary and/or frightening TV series?

I don't know if American Horror Story counts as scary and/or frightening, but it was pretty damn dark.

[gwpom]

Yes, absolutely Twin Peaks.  I was watching that at the time, and yes it had it's lame moments, but when it was scary, it was really scary.  Bob's scenes, especially toward the end when he was appearing to Maddie, were incredibly creepy for prime time TV.  Made me a Lynch fan for life.  If you were a Peaks fan, you know... if you didn't see it... you'll probably never understand.  But that series to me was one of the best ever to come through network TV. 

[Shjade]

The X-Files had some scary episodes. On the whole, as a show, no, it wasn't consistently horrifying, but I'd say a good half the time. ...until it turned dumb.

Granted I stopped watching after the first season ( though I have been enjoying the game.) but there's no Frank Booth or Bane in the walking dead. There's no  Vlad The Impaler or Genghis Khan. There's just these seemingly one- dimensional strawman villains without bite.

...wait, did...you're talking about Bane from Batman, right? Did you just imply Bane is not one of the most one-dimensional characters ever created?

I...wow. I just. I don't even.

[Sex Bobomb]

I don't know if anyone watch The River when it was on. I felt it was genuinely creepy and unsettling at times. It's a shame it became a monster-of-the-week show.

[InariShiftskin]

Something just popped into my head... Has their ever actually been a scary and/or frightening TV series?

Tales from the Crypt Keeper! And not the animated kids' version.

[Remiel]

Walking dead is back!   

Plot spoilers follow

Merle is still an asshole!  Rick is going Cuckoo for Coco Puffs!  And Glenn...*gasp* actually emotes!  [/spoilers]

[bubby]

Season 1 sucked me in. Season 2 was a bit lame and tended to laaag.

Season 3? So far has been constantly O_O WTF!!!

I'll admit. I'm hooked.

[KieraHaroden]

I didn't read every post in this thread, but I thought I'd put my two cents in.

I absolutely love this show. I've watched it religiously from day one. Granted, series two is seriously lacking in excitement until the last few episodes. But series three seriously makes up for it, in my opinion.

The Walking Dead isn't just about zombies, and people surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. It's about the characters; how they come to rely on each other for survival; how their relationships grow, and break down; how they react in various situations. It's one of the reasons I enjoy watching it so much. The characters are all so unique and different from each other, and they all work well together. Some of them annoyed me *cough* Carl *cough* at first, but they've redeemed themselves later on in the series'. Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick, is an amazing actor (and British :D). He plays his part so well. In fact, each and every one of them does.

The show might not be for everyone, or it might not have enough zombies in it to please everyone, but give it a chance. At least watch series three; it might be slow at times but it's all made up for in the end. Just look at the characters' and their developments. That's what makes The Walking Dead so bloody brilliant. If it was all purely zombies and not much focus on the characters', it wouldn't make for a very interesting show.

[Remiso]

Trust me when I say the show really doesn't do the series justice, if you want to get into The Walking Dead you should look into the comics. I started with the first season of TWD and I was kinda turned off by it when everyone I talked to said Shane was a horrible person... he's just trying to get by and do what he feels is right!

Also, the series really isn't all that great... what is great is all of the discussions it starts. I remember sitting around for three hours discussing why

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Shane shot that dude to escape from those zombies.

[Thesunmaid]

I tried watching it because I had so many rapid fans saying"watch it! become one of us..."but...for me I have just never been big on zombies..shows,movies...ect.

I will admit a guilty pleasure of mine are law shows..law and order of any kind and I recently started watching one called Harry's law with Kathy Bates.(IE crazy bitch from the movie misery) She is awesome. But for a horror junkie who has been watching horror movies since I was 4 years old..I have to say not many shows really scare me and sorry but the walking dead just did not keep my interest.

And although the show itself over all did not scare me...the bad guys called the gentlemen from Buffy...jesus fuck those things were creepy.They didn't talk and they creeped me out.

[Rhapsody]

The shows called The Walking Dead :P It's advertised as a zombie apocalypse story. I think everyone misses the point with that kind of false image.

I've always looked at the title as a reference to the characters, not the zombies.

[Shjade]

I've always looked at the title as a reference to the characters, not the zombies.

It's both, but yes.

Rick's monologue, complete with title-drop.

[Sabby]

Wait, season 3  is actually good? I saw a picture of it on FB, and it did look interesting... just the writing is a bit of an effort to get through.

See, when you have a monster movie, most of the time the monster is quite capable of just goring the characters even if they acted logically. So having them make stupid decisions and dying for them makes no sense. But with zombies, I'm more sympathetic for the writers, since they now have the job of killing these people off without making them so horribly stupid that the viewer doesn't want to see them win.

[Rhapsody]

It's both, but yes.

I've never read the graphic novels, so good to know I wasn't completely off-kilter. :)

[Shjade]

But with zombies, I'm more sympathetic for the writers, since they now have the job of killing these people off without making them so horribly stupid that the viewer doesn't want to see them win.

Ah, but that's what other people are for.

I think people have killed more people than zombies have this season. Though I'm including zombie deaths caused by people's actions (ie: breaking a camp's defenses to let zombies in on purpose) as people kills rather than zombie kills.

[Chris Brady]

The issue with me, is that the writers HAVE to automatically assume that people in general are too stupid to live if Zombies can actually be a threat.  Zombies are in general a stupid premise.  Let's ignore all the obvious and mostly external biological reasons that zombies wouldn't exist.

First off, what makes us the top of the food chain is that combined with our ability to think sideways, adapt the world to us, and our instinct of self-preservation that doesn't force us into mindlessness, we are the preeminent killers on this planet.  We may not have the natural tools, but we've designed a whole slew of artificial ones that kill faster, effectively and more efficiently than any other species in this world.  Not to mention that our cities are designed to make it difficult for our enemies (namely other living, thinking, planning humans) to navigate, making them excellently defensive fortresses.

Now, take zombies, which is a human with no sense of self-preservation, no thought beyond 'eat brains' and definitely no tactical thinking capacity.  For heaven's sake, they can't even figure out a bloody DOOR KNOB!

Which makes me wonder how stupid the entire race of humans has to be if they can't clean up that mess in less than a week.

Shows like the Walking Dead would be better served by making the 'monsters' a little less common but a bit more dangerous.  Instead whenever I see people dying to zombies, I nod to myself, thinking 'Yep, that's about right, if you aren't smart enough to know how to deal with a mindless creature.'

[Sabby]

Ah, now you're making me think a TV series of Vampire Earth... now THAT would rock my world so much you'd need to replace your richtorscale.

[Shjade]

Chris, generally speaking the threat presented by zombies isn't the same as the threat presented by one zombie.

One zombie? Sure, anyone healthy of high school age or higher could probably deal with that. Maybe some would have more difficulty than others, but I think they could manage.

Ten zombies? Well if they aren't already surrounding you you can probably get away from that, no problem.

One hundred zombies? Now we're getting into iffier territory, especially if you're in an enclosed area.

One thousand zombies?

Ten thousand?

A million?

It's not that zombies are individually threatening, it's that in a scenario like this they're just fucking everywhere. It's hard to be vigilant 100% of the time. It's tiring. You get exhausted. You get slow. You don't notice things as quickly as you should. You make worse decisions, maybe more reckless or overly cautious. You take something for granted that you shouldn't have and sprain your ankle. Whatever. It's not fighting a zombie that's a problem. It's fighting the war of attrition with an enemy that doesn't give a shit if you need a break.

As for the initial outbreak? Eh. Bird flu. Whatever. People have demonstrated their ability to get screwed over by pathogens on a massive scale before despite our evolutionary advancements.

[Chris Brady]

Shjade, the issue is getting past the 1,000 zombies at once point, that's where the issue with me lies.  Now, if the Zombies were more intelligent/cunning, then I can see the idea of having to keep moving, keep alert and keep a weapon handy.  Human's are despite the sheep like behaviour we see, are pretty smart once we get going, and Zombies as they are commonly depicted would never be that big a problem.  That's my issue.

The protagonists in the Walking Dead are utter and complete morons, and I cannot relate to anyone just that stupid.  I'm not a smart person, but I know enough of the world to realize that most militaries, especially when bored, have actually thought up of plans of how to deal with zombie infestations.

[Remiel]

I'm always amazed at how fragile zombies are in movies and video games.  You can hit a person in the head with your fist, and all that it's likely to do is piss him off.  A few blows later, and maybe you've knocked him out or given him a concussion.   But punch a zombie in the head?  Either their skull collapses, or you knock its head clean off.

Also, my biggest problem with zombies is that they're mindless, thoughtless eating machines.  Basically the whole point of existence is to fill their stomachs, no?

...so what's to stop them from eating other zombies?  I mean, hey, free meat!

[Sabby]

To you're first sentence, I've actually never seen that xD It's always been 'they're too derp to take a punch and fall over'.

And to the second, they usually handwave that as a psychological thing.

[KieraHaroden]

Remiel,

I think zombies are so "fragile" because they're dead, their bodies are decomposing. But their brains are the only thing keeping them alive. If you break a zombies arm, it won't deter them because they shouldn't feel the pain. They'll keep coming because their brains are telling them to find food. Kill the brain, you kill the zombie. They can't function without the brain.

As for eating other zombies, I think they're "designed" to find fresh blood and flesh, rather than decomposed flesh. I think that's why in shows like The Walking Dead and some films, if the protagonists cover themselves with zombie flesh/guts/blood, they're more likely to get past a bunch of zombies because they smell dead.

[SinXAzgard21]

I'm not a smart person, but I know enough of the world to realize that most militaries, especially when bored, have actually thought up of plans of how to deal with zombie infestations.

Proof?

[Chris Brady]

Proof?

Nothing substantial that I can find online, but I know a couple of soldiers online, and they've relayed a couple of stories that their bases or their allies (and this is in Germany and a couple in the U.S.) once planned out how they would deal with an 'invasion of zombies'.

And here's the other thing, no one centers of disease control, that would try and isolate how zombies come to be?

[Shjade]

I'm sure they'd try. That's not a guarantee of success.

[Chris Brady]

Perhaps, but you'd think that after a few hundred zombie sightings, people would learn to cremate their dear old dead aunts and uncles...

Either way, I've explained why I can't get into zombie programmes and movies, you guys keep enjoying this one.  I hope it has many more seasons ahead of it.

[Geeklet]

Which makes me wonder how stupid the entire race of humans has to be if they can't clean up that mess in less than a week.

And here is the problem. A single person is smart. But groups of people are stupid, irrational, and prone to panic and frenzy, moreso the larger the group gets.

[Rhapsody]

And here is the problem. A single person is smart. But groups of people are stupid, irrational, and prone to panic and frenzy, moreso the larger the group gets.

Wizard's First Rule.

[Chris Brady]

And here is the problem. A single person is smart. But groups of people are stupid, irrational, and prone to panic and frenzy, moreso the larger the group gets.

Uh huhn.  I think there are quite a few soldiers in this very thread that could argue against that.  And that's something no one ever seems to take into account, the trained personnel we have on our various armed forces and emergency services.

But I'm going to bow out.  Sorry, peeps.

[SinXAzgard21]

Nothing substantial that I can find online, but I know a couple of soldiers online, and they've relayed a couple of stories that their bases or their allies (and this is in Germany and a couple in the U.S.) once planned out how they would deal with an 'invasion of zombies'.

And here's the other thing, no one centers of disease control, that would try and isolate how zombies come to be?

... So its all hearsay.

Uh huhn.  I think there are quite a few soldiers in this very thread that could argue against that.  And that's something no one ever seems to take into account, the trained personnel we have on our various armed forces and emergency services.

But I'm going to bow out.  Sorry, peeps.

I don't think anything can train you for seeing a mass of undead people walking/running towards you. 

[MysticSparxman]

I'm always amazed at how fragile zombies are in movies and video games.  You can hit a person in the head with your fist, and all that it's likely to do is piss him off.  A few blows later, and maybe you've knocked him out or given him a concussion.   But punch a zombie in the head?  Either their skull collapses, or you knock its head clean off.

Also, my biggest problem with zombies is that they're mindless, thoughtless eating machines.  Basically the whole point of existence is to fill their stomachs, no?

...so what's to stop them from eating other zombies?  I mean, hey, free meat!

That's actually a good point.

After all, when have you ever seen a zombie eating the brains of another zombie? I don't think I've ever seen it, but it sure would be interesting to see.
Maybe they just go after the humans because the humans are fresh meat and not......dead meat.  ;D

[TheGlyphstone]

I also know a good number of current and former servicepeople online who've said their units had written up Zombie Defense scenarios/plans in their spare time. It's hardly surprising that when you get a bunch of intelligent, well-trained combat-minded people with access to significant quantities of weaponry together for long periods of inactivity broken at irregular intervals by actual danger (if in a combat zone) or regular intervals of tedium (in a non-combat area), they'll end up with contingency plans for everything, up to and including zombies uprisings and alien invasions.

But more importantly, zombies are inherently problematic as a threat from another angle, which is competing against themselves. I think I originally got this from Cracked, but it's a salient point regardless - a zombie's sole food source (people) is also its primary means of reproduction (people), which is also its apex predator (people). It's like having to wrestle a lion into submission bare-handed any time you want to have sex or make a sandwich.

That said...any story featuring zombies, or a zombie apocalypse that succeeds in destroying society as opposed to simply crippling it, has to take all of that above and basically handwave it to get to the meat of the story, focusing on the survivors and how they make their way through a ruined world. The zombies are like the aforementioned volcano, just a backdrop element that occasionally tries to eat you. Similarly, enjoying a zombie story requires accepting that handwave into your suspension of disbelief, otherwise it'll just eat at you and ruin the fun.

[NotoriusBEN]

... So its all hearsay.

I don't think anything can train you for seeing a mass of undead people walking/running towards you.

since it hasn't happened yet, no one is prepared to fight or give 1st hand knowledge in this event. You have to consider the type of zombie to arise. If it is like walking dead and world war z where they actually are dead and just virii controlling the brain, modern soldiers are not equipped to fight that. explosives and bombs are out, unless it is direct trauma to the brain. Their effectiveness is way down when the only way to stop a dead zed is an all or nothing hit. they literally walk off shrapnel.

even the training of the modern soldier is not up to snuff for dealing with zombies. they are trained to shoot center mass or inside the triangle (head and pecs). and to put as much ammunition down range as possible to win the fight... except zombies dont care about being suppressed or self preservation or fear. and again, a direct hit to the brain matter is the kill shot, anything else is waste.

Im drawing a lot from world war z, but I believe that is a fairly realistic assumption of what might go down (aside from the fantastical walking dead zeds)

as for service people planning for ''zombie pandemics''. This was actually a brilliant move by the Center for Disease Control to implement, because preparing for zombies also has surprising parallels to preparing for natural disasters and human made ones as well. If using the sensationalism of zombies got a few more people self reliant in a 'rather mediocre' crisis, its a good thing.

[TheGlyphstone]

WWZ is a great story, but don't take it as gospel - the military was handed a gigantic Idiot Ball at the Battle of Yonkers for the sake of advancing the plot. It's also hampered by the classic element of zombie fiction, that everyone is Genre Blind and refuses to even say the word 'zombie', let alone give any acknowledgement to the decades of zombie stories we've grown up with.

[Shjade]

WWZ is a great story, but don't take it as gospel - the military was handed a gigantic Idiot Ball at the Battle of Yonkers for the sake of advancing the plot.

While true, keep in mind that no amount of grunts making fantasy plans for how they'd defend against a zombie invasion has influence on what their commanding officers actually order them to do. I'm sure we're all aware how poorly the command structure can work at times depending on the competence and priorities of whomever happens to be in charge at the time.

[TheGlyphstone]

While true, keep in mind that no amount of grunts making fantasy plans for how they'd defend against a zombie invasion has influence on what their commanding officers actually order them to do. I'm sure we're all aware how poorly the command structure can work at times depending on the competence and priorities of whomever happens to be in charge at the time.

Yeah, but the current generation of majors/colonels/1-stars are the ones who grew up with the first Romero zombie flicks. I don't exclude that there would be screwups initially, before it sunk it what was going on, but 'how to kill a zombie' is too deeply ingrained in our culture at this point, and barring story-enforced refusal to believe in zombies despite all the evidence matching up exactly to the stories we've been telling each other for decades, I would expect anti-zombie protocols to go into effect fairly quickly.

[Sabby]

Hmmm... a zombie virus could work if it had two things.

1. Was airborne.
2. Had a long incubation period.

That cuts out containment. By the time the outbreak is confirmed, it's already too spread out for containment.

[TheGlyphstone]

Hmmm... a zombie virus could work if it had two things.

1. Was airborne.
2. Had a long incubation period.

That cuts out containment. By the time the outbreak is confirmed, it's already too spread out for containment.

That's how the zombie virus works in the Newsflesh trilogy, which I find to be one of the better post-zombie-apocalypse stories out there, in part because it specifically avoids the genre-blindness trope, and humans being genre-savvy (plus social media) is responsible for our survival. Granted, the version of the zombie virus there is also not immediately lethal, dormant until the host dies of other causes or is exposed to the fluids of an active zombie, but it's an airborne long-incubation spread that infects the entire human race before anyone can do anything to stop it. Zombies never go away, but society adapts around them for the most part.

[Sabby]

Please tell me this exists in audiobook form.

[TheGlyphstone]

Please tell me this exists in audiobook form.

http://www.amazon.com/Feed-The-Newsflesh-Trilogy-Book/dp/B003KJM4Z2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361231103&sr=8-2&keywords=newsflesh+audio+edition
http://www.amazon.com/Deadline-The-Newsflesh-Trilogy-Book/dp/B0054KKZO2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1361231103&sr=8-3&keywords=newsflesh+audio+edition
http://www.amazon.com/Blackout-The-Newsflesh-Trilogy-Book/dp/B0085YQFKW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361231103&sr=8-1&keywords=newsflesh+audio+edition

Possibly also for free in some dark, peg-leg-infested corner of the Internet, but audio versions do exist.

[Sabby]

I love you .___.

[TheGlyphstone]

I love you .___.

Always happy to spread the gospel. ;)

[Shjade]

Considering everyone zombifies on death in the Walking Dead world as well, that pretty much applies in that series also. No doubt there are differences in the turn toward apocalypse, though.

[TheGlyphstone]

Considering everyone zombifies on death in the Walking Dead world as well, that pretty much applies in that series also. No doubt there are differences in the turn toward apocalypse, though.

And that's really what it comes down to. Even in the genesis of zombie movies, the zombies themselves were nothing more than a prop/background element/natural hazard. The story's always been about the survivors, and how they handle a world overrun by zombies..."the real enemy is us" and all that. The only difference is how many survivors there are, how organized they manage to end up, and how long they can stay organized.

[Sabby]

...I got nothing.

[Beorning]

Huh?

[TheGlyphstone]

Wut.