the show is much better than the original graphic novel series by kirkman. much!

Now I'm watching Season 2, thanks to the streaming tips I got here. A few things I noticed:

Firearm safety. They do not use ear plugs and eye protection when training with guns. One would think they would be able to find sunglasses and cotton strips to stuff in the ear.

Crossbow. Guy shoots a squirrel, the bolt goes into a tree. Guy walks up and easily pulls the bolt out of the tree, presumably with the arrowhead intact. I haven't shot at trees before, but I gather getting a bolt out is a pain in the neck, and the point can get stuck in there. But, heck, later when the guy impales himself on a bolt in an accidental fall, he pulls the bolt through (point first, with the fletching going through the body).

Farmer's daughter. Hot. Must add some condoms to my kit. Best. Survival. Tip. Ever.

It's been broadcast in the UK, too. It can be good, but often relies on the characters being stupid to drive the plot forward. The final two episodes got better. They at least did some firearms practice.

Foolishnesses include camping in the open with tents, not being diligent about keeping watch, making repeated visits to the pharmacy whenever they need anything instead of taking everyone in one visit.

[quote=Bingley
Farmer's daughter. Hot. Must add some condoms to my kit. Best. Survival. Tip. Ever. [/quote]

Isn't that SOP for productions of this ilk. Actually, ditch the condoms. Survival of the population is the main objective here.

I watched a couple episodes. Way too PC for my tastes.

Since you bring up the question of culture, I think the show is trying to address a certain trend in contemporary American society. The main characters tend to be somewhat conservative in value, and the storyline works in topical themes such as gun ownership, property rights, religion, and certainly race. But the show also shows a certain discomfort with stereotypical shortcomings associated with the conservative movement: racism, close-mindedness, unthinking religiosity. So instead it opts for a multi-ethnic survival group even with interracial couple(s), and for a certain amount of skepticism towards religious fundamentalism if not towards religion. The biggest jerks are the two, urh, rustic brothers. The show certainly made effort to make race seem like not a problem except for the one bigot who made it a problem.

This does make me wonder what zombies represent. Does the show have political undertones? That is, are zombies those people who do not share moderate conservative values? Note that the group had to escape from the city to the country. Does that reflect the blue urban/red country divide in today's political landscape?

Now, don't get me wrong: I don't think The Walking Dead is some deep show. But often cultural forces work themselves into TV shows. It's just that the shows don't give a deep answer to our social problems.

On a separate topic, the end of Season 2 seems to set up two different modes of survival: Rick's survival with honesty and integrity, and Shane's "dog eat dog" survival. Rick risks himself and his group to perform human and humane deeds. He represents altruism, even though his family is most important to him. Shane, on the other hand, is willing to kill an ally so he can get away from the walkers and bring the needed medical equipment back to the group. So Shane is sort of tribal.

In Jonathan Haidt's very interesting book on moral psychology called The Happiness Hypothesis, he suggests that conservatives tend to be oriented more towards the good of the group they belong to (e.g., family, country), while liberals tend to be concerned with the good of all (i.e., beyond their immediate group). So Rick is kind of a compromise: he does value his family and his survival group, but not to Shane's extreme of doing moral wrong to survive. So this, along with the larger themes of the show as discussed above, makes me think that the Walking Dead is speaking to the new brand of conservatism that is evolving as we speak, that turns away from some of the attitudes of the older generation of conservatives.

Interesting analysis, Bingley. I'm pretty attuned to politics but haven't detected any political undertones in the show. Daryl's brother, Merle, certainly was a nasty cliche (perhaps the last KKK member on earth) but he also disappeared after the second episode (which hand did he sever - his right or left?).

Daryl, the surviving hick brother, became (season 2) Mr. Team Player/Hero in his selfless quest to find the missing girl, Sophia. If I had to pick one of that group as a survival partner he'd be the one I'd go with at this point - at least you'd always have squirrel steak to chew on. I would be compelled to introduce him to the marvel of soap.

Prior to this show I'd stayed away from any zombie entertainment because I equated it with horror shows and do not enjoy the horror genre. But in The Walking Dead the zombies are just the central recurring plot device to explore the survival dynamic of a group of disparate individuals. The zombies could be the slow-moving goo of "The Blob" or invading aliens, highway marauders in Jericho (sadly cancelled in 2008) or the unseen, looming threats in a vast wilderness.

Zombies could be metaphorical, as the 1950s spate of alien invader films were at the height of the Cold War and superpowers nuclear arms race. That would be in the eyes of the beholder even if it were not the intent of the producers. That aspect of the zombie phenomenon is thoroughly explored in this article:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/bl...l-be-ready.html

Will be interesting to see if the zombie virus evolves in some way that makes them slightly more intelligent so that they could be cunning and not just primal in their quest to feed on flesh.

http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead

One thing I know for sure: when the zombie virus hits, we are high-tailing it out of DC. On a sailboat. And I'd want to have a group of peops to survive with - strength in numbers. I'll need others to do the gruesome zombie executions while I cover my eyes and ears.

Bingley. wow man you really tucked into that comment. very nice.

Regarding the Shane new world mentality versus Ricks old values, this was discussed on the Talking Dead after show. And the consensus is that Rick is moving towards a more 'new world' mentality. Visually he did this by taking off his uniform and wearing normal clothes.

Also with his wife's pregnancy and the conclusion of the Sophia search, he is struggling to see where does the world fit in with his values.

According to gossip I have seen on the show since hiatus, the next half of the season will be more action based. Hershel, farm owner/vet/religious man, has a serious life crisis trying to reconcile his beliefs and the realization he couldn't save his turned family(something I think the show used to highlight Ricks standards vs. Shanes evolving one), and at least of the main characters is killed. Also something the comic has not be afraid of doing and also occurred in Season 1.

It seems to me the show needs the group to leave the farm; too little action might be good for survival but it makes bad TV.

Realistically, I think Rick was right on track trying to fit in with Hershel's community. If he had managed it, the group would've been well positioned to start rebuilding their lives - not simply surviving. However, I have a feeling that morphing into Little House on the Prairie is not the direction the story tellers want to go in .

Shane on the other hand is positioning the group to get back on the road and delve further into a Mad Max lifestyle. It's certainly not how I'd want to live but it should be interesting to watch.

I don't think we can ever expect "good" decisions from the group because truly good decisions would result in less action and less drama. The people making good decisions in this world are sitting around playing cards, working their little gardens and living off their preps in relatively safe locations.

Not to hijack this thread, but that's the best definition of librals and conservatives I've heard.





I'm not entirely sure that bugging in is the best way to deal with the George Romero type zombies. I think it's all dependent on if they "flock" together (Dawn of he dead), in which case you are going to get besieged if you stay put, or you're dealing with individuals (Survival of the dead).



Getting back to the show, I made it up to about the middle of the second season (save the last one) before I gave up. The drama was getting in the way of the plot.