I’m pretty sure that was Merle again.
The herd idea works for me because zombies are attracted by sound and movement, among other things.
So a bunch of zombies, a herd, is a self sustaining zombie attractor. Any zombies within sight lines or close enough to hear the herd will start to move towards the herd. By the time they realize it isn’t prey it’s too late, they have joined the herd.
This compensates for any herd zombies that are attracted away from the herd.
The herd itself probably moves according to the principle of momentum, where something in motion wants to stay in motion. Let’s say a herd was chasing someone west down a highway. Even after the person gets away the herd will keep moving west down the highway. That was the last direction they were propelled in, until something else appears to draw them in another direction I think the herd just keeps moving that way.
Pogo
1723
I have no problem with the way zombies act in this series. I also don’t have a problem with them ducking under the cars to avoid being noticed by the herd. When Rick dove under a tank in the first episode, he was in a desperate situation and surrounded.
Not being noticed was the right thing to do. Being noticed would have been extremely bad. I wouldn’t exactly trust that RV to go in reverse over a dozen zombies.
Shadarr
1724
If only there were another RV somewhere in America, that isn’t 35 years old.
Pogo
1725
Hah. I think the writers are purposefully omitting any other RVs on the road so that viewers don’t get reminded of that.
ShivaX
1726
Thats pretty much how it worked in the comics iirc.
Yeah, he dove under a tank because it was a desperate situation and surrounded and you saw how that turned out. In this situation, with advanced warning, time to react, weapons, and prior knowledge that diving under vehicles is almost guaranteed death they chose to…dive under vehicles.
The choice isn’t “hide under vehicles or lay open on top of cars waiting for death” there were plenty of vehicles with tall side (the water truck for example) where even the most advanced zombie has one point of ingress at which time they can use their hand held weapons to reach down and bash zombie brains in.
The only reason their stupid, stupid plan, that failed previously, worked this time was because it was in the script that it would work (contradicting the earlier “zombies can smell us” plot point)
Pogo
1728
Yeah, I’ll concede, you’re right. I realize my response is another one from something in me that really wants to overlook all of the show’s ridiculous missteps, because at this point they’re all adding up too quickly.
Raife
1729
Glenn is my second favorite character after Daryl. Then, uh, yeah. That’s pretty much it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you can’t like the show, not at all, I’m just saying why I don’t like it
Well, I’ve just been bored. I thought the first season started promising, but then they spent all that time in that quarry. The CDC felt stupid, too.
This season feels glacial. Okay, we get it, the little girl is missing. The little boy got shot. Can we hurry the fuck up? And quit with all treacly melodrama and talking. I want to slap damn near everyone except the redneck.
Well, the return of a certain person next episode is bound to make things a bit more interesting, but I agree that this season’s gone kind of slow. They need to get back on the road or something.
Pogo
1733
Yeah I get it. I think like most people who keep watching and dealing with all the crap parts is that the good parts of any zombie movie (or in this case, series) is just too compelling to watch. Has to do with why the zombie mythos is so fascinating to many, I suppose.
Which is probably why a lot of people want to see more of the trials and tribulations of dealing with zombies and living/travelling in a zombie apocalypse instead of this infighting passive aggressive drama bullshit.
And that ties into why I hate the well scene. They didn’t have to try so god damn hard to make it tense, because the premise itself stood on its own (other than lone zombie in a place devoid of zombies falls into a well that obviously has a fucking fence around it).
Bingo. If I wanted a soap opera with zombies I’d watch something something soap opera joke
It’s just handled so clumsily and ham fisted, “Gee who’s the bad guy, the loving father or the drugged up racist redneck? Is it the contemplative old man or the drunken abusive husband??”
“Dead Set” was a British TV show about the “Big Brother” cast during a zombie apocalypse that balanced the “zombie” aspect with the “infighting drama” aspect without being soooo damn stupid.
That show alone shows you don’t have to have “traveling” to drive the plot, just “survival”.
Shadarr
1735
My biggest problem with the well scene was that it was pointless. Who is going to drink out of a well that had a zombie in it? Shoot the zombie or don’t, that well is getting sealed up and abandoned.
This seems appropriate, given the recent discussion.
Desslock
1737
Agree with most of this: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/282716/taking-zombies-next-level-jonah-goldberg
The one thing that bothers me most in shows like this (and far more in Terra Nova, which takes it to a ridiculous extreme) is how characters seem unconcerned with danger and act casually in circumstances where they’d actually be fixated on safety and generally terrified.
They should be constantly concerned about going off on their own, staying in one place without an exit strategy, stocking up on food and ammo, finding a defensible location especially given what they know about “herds” etc. They’re just way too cavalier about these things until the plot demands otherwise - even if no zombies are going to appear in the next hour, they should constantly be wary of that possibility.
Thought this season was off to a good start, but the pace has slowed down far too much - these episodes should have been condensed into 2.5 hours or so.
pg1
1738
I agree Desslock. I feel like all that has happened so far could have been 1 episode, maybe 2. Given how safe the farm has been thus far you’d think there’d be other survivors in the area. I’d expect them to be building a moat or wall around the farm house. Feelings and talking about emotions is more important than surviving the zombie apocalypse apparently.
You know, I’ve read things here and there about how it is impossible for the human mind to be ever vigilent. It’s most often seen with soldiers on guard duty in combat zones. No matter how vigilent we think one would be, constant vigilence wears.
Watching the show once a week for an hour with the intentional tension is, one would think, significantly different than living it day to day.
