It was a bit goofy but I did like its uncanny nature. Like just how you'd react in that situation is something not many people can say they've experienced. Since it's a rather foreign concept I won't really say if it was terrible acting or a genius performance.
I was pretty unaffected by episode 4 until the last minute or so, when Rick was talking about going back in and then they hear the baby cry. I was more bummed for Carl having to see his mom go through that and put a bullet in her head than I was for Laurie actually dying. I hated her character since the beginning of season 2... Then seeing Rick's reaction and seeing Carl standing there with the gun in his hand... If the episode was 5 minutes long and consisted of only that scene and the credits, I would have been satisfied
im pretty amped to see what is going to happen on the next episode, after watching the preview. Ricks breakdown is really going to have an effect on the entire group. Now what interests me, is how rick will handle his new child. Will he despise the child and blame it for his wifes death, or will he dedicate every fiber of his being for its well being? Furthermore, is how the child will effect the entire group. It can pose a great threat if it so much as crys, and attracts more walkers.
But my largest hype, is to see what will continue to go on in the community that M and the other girl are at (I cant remember their names) The community is drawing more of my attention then Ricks group is right now.
I disagree completely. That scene was definitely genuine, amazing acting performance. I think he bent down to comfort Carl at first but then realized what happened (and the fact that Carl had to shoot his mom). I shed manly tears.
And T-Dog. D:
But he's been replaced already with that new guy from the prison.
Okay show, you're trying way too hard to paint the Governor as stupidly crazy and evil. Like it almost feels like the show is telling itself "Okay, he's evil, I mean he's REALLY evil!" Like what ever happened to a villain who wasn't so one dimensionally crazy? I mean Shane played a good antagonist because, despite being a bit wacky, he had his points and in the end you felt that he was misunderstood, or just Rick in another light (especially seeing how Rick basically acts like Shane now). They're like "LOOK AT THE GOVERNOR! HE KEEPS AROUND HIS ZOMBIE DAUGHTER! HE'S CRAZY!" and "LOOK! HE HAS WEIRD ZOMBIE BOXING MATCHES! HE'S CRAZY!" It's a bit out of hand.
Also am I the only one who thinks this show's action is getting tremendously worse? It starts looking really fake now and it looked a lot better in earlier seasons, probably because it wasn't so focused on this massive zombie killing sprees and each zombie kill was a bit more "personal". But the action with Michonne is fucking awful and completely breaks my suspension of disbelief. She cuts a zombie in half, diagonally, with a katana. It's fucking dumb. That can't fucking happen. You're cutting through like so much goddamn muscle and bone. You see Rick have a hard time cutting Hershel's leg off but she can cut a zombie in fucking half with a little whisk of her sword? It's just so fucking bad. The stuff with Rick also gets some really bad CG in it and it looks really fake. I know it's just a hurtle of the show and it won't have the production values of a major film but just avoid it then. Like I kinda liked the dolly close up of Rick's face as he's just maniacally killing zombies, I don't really see why they needed to truck the camera around to show the gore. The show is gorey and gritty, we get it.
Like I'm finding myself to increasingly dislike this show the more it goes on. There's still some really solid stuff and characters in it, I just can't stand everyone who isn't Hershel, Maggie, and Glenn basically.
thank god I wasnt the only one, because when I was watching the show, I kind of had a thought in my mind. "This show is starting to take a turn towards resident evil."
By this, I mean its going from survival horror, to just small anticipation cutscenes and then mass horde slaying. Dont get me wrong, a lot of episodes still stick to how the series has been, but last night irked me a little bit.
Especially the governor scenes. The second I saw the daughter I was like "Wow, returning hershel ideals much?" I was satisfied with all the floating heads in jars, i didnt need excessiveness.
Now i didnt expect the whole gladiator battle thing at all, but I kind of wish theyd make the blonde girl fight in it. I cannot stand her charecter since the moment i started watching the show.
Michonne interests me as a charecter, but at the same time she kind of annoys me as one of those "Im a lone warrior with a mysterious past that you couldnt understand herpderp."
Now, if someone could tell me what happened in the last five mins, id greatly apreciate it, because the power went out at my house and lost the recording ;o;
Now, if someone could tell me what happened in the last five mins, id greatly apreciate it, because the power went out at my house and lost the recording ;o;
Merle wins the zombie arena match, Andrea sits in the bleachers looking very disturbed by the barbaric spectacle she's just witnessed while everyone else cheers around her.
Cut to the following morning, Daryl walks up to Lori's grave and places a Cherokee rose on the grave (the same kind of flower that he gave to Carol as a symbol of hope for her missing daughter back in season 2).
Cut to the dark prison tunnels, where Rick is slumped against the wall, sitting on the ground next to the dead (re-dead?) zombie that ate Lori. An old rotary phone happens to be in the corridor. It rings, Rick is surprised. He picks it up and says "Hello?" and the episode ends. If you read the comic, you'll know what's coming next.
*EDIT*
Actually, I think Daryl might have put the flower on Carol's grave, not Lori's. There are three graves on the prison grounds: one for T-Dog, one for Lori, and it's not clear who the third grave is for. Carol went missing at the end of episode 4, and we don't know if she's dead or not. I guess it can be assumed that the grave is meant for her, but at this point we have no solid evidence that she's dead. Daryl probably put the Cherokee rose on the grave in the hope that they would find Carol again.
I'm glad that they're still following the comics, with the phone and what-not. I truly am wondering what will happen to the baby. Even non-comic followers can obviously realise that Rick has his hands tied with leading the group, there's no way in damn hell he would be able to take care of her. Comic spoiler
I'm assuming she'll die the same way, just without Lori, perhaps with a useless group member holding the baby. Quite frankly, I think it'll be Hershell, this is about where he died in the comics iirc,
Also am I the only one who thinks this show's action is getting tremendously worse? It starts looking really fake now and it looked a lot better in earlier seasons, probably because it wasn't so focused on this massive zombie killing sprees and each zombie kill was a bit more "personal".
Well, the kills aren't as "personal" anymore because none of them give a damn anymore, they're all just a waste of time, so they get killed. However, at the beginning of the series, you see the bicycle girl, Hannah, as a walker and Rick has so much trouble killing her. It means nothing to them anymore. Anyway, with the kills being more-so fake, I have to agree.
Michonne tears through walkers as if they were just bodies without bones. Something needs to be changed for that, tbh.
Okay show, you're trying way too hard to paint the Governor as stupidly crazy and evil. Like it almost feels like the show is telling itself "Okay, he's evil, I mean he's REALLY evil!" Like what ever happened to a villain who wasn't so one dimensionally crazy? I mean Shane played a good antagonist because, despite being a bit wacky, he had his points and in the end you felt that he was misunderstood, or just Rick in another light (especially seeing how Rick basically acts like Shane now). They're like "LOOK AT THE GOVERNOR! HE KEEPS AROUND HIS ZOMBIE DAUGHTER! HE'S CRAZY!" and "LOOK! HE HAS WEIRD ZOMBIE BOXING MATCHES! HE'S CRAZY!" It's a bit out of hand.
Also am I the only one who thinks this show's action is getting tremendously worse? It starts looking really fake now and it looked a lot better in earlier seasons, probably because it wasn't so focused on this massive zombie killing sprees and each zombie kill was a bit more "personal". But the action with Michonne is fucking awful and completely breaks my suspension of disbelief. She cuts a zombie in half, diagonally, with a katana. It's fucking dumb. That can't fucking happen. You're cutting through like so much goddamn muscle and bone. You see Rick have a hard time cutting Hershel's leg off but she can cut a zombie in fucking half with a little whisk of her sword? It's just so fucking bad. The stuff with Rick also gets some really bad CG in it and it looks really fake. I know it's just a hurtle of the show and it won't have the production values of a major film but just avoid it then. Like I kinda liked the dolly close up of Rick's face as he's just maniacally killing zombies, I don't really see why they needed to truck the camera around to show the gore. The show is gorey and gritty, we get it.
Like I'm finding myself to increasingly dislike this show the more it goes on. There's still some really solid stuff and characters in it, I just can't stand everyone who isn't Hershel, Maggie, and Glenn basically.
I can't help but disagree with every single part of this post. I honestly don't think the Governor is being portrayed as stupidly crazy and evil. For every crazy or evil thing he's done there's been exposition of some sort to explain his reasoning. How much further from the Governor are Rick & the group at this point? In case you've forgotten, the same Rick that wanted to help everyone and their grandmother the previous two seasons was ready to kill the whole group of prisoners this season. Rick is responsible for like 6 people. The Governor is responsible for like 160... It seems to me that everything he's done has been in the best interests of those people. It's the nature of the world at this point. It's more silly to me how shocked what's her name was with the wrestling match...
I can't fault him at all for keeping his daughter around. I imagine I'd do the same with my son.
Michonne is cutting through rotten, decrepit flesh and bone...with a regularly sharpened katana.
Exhibit A:
Rick was cutting through a man's leg with what again? With how much momentum behind each strike? Honestly, when Rick was cutting off Hershel's leg I turned to my wife and said, "Why didn't he stand up and take it off with a single blow? Why did he just sit there and hack away at it with 2' swings???"
And, you're complaining about a focus on gore and special effects in the episode directed by Greg Nicotero???
I can't help but disagree with every single part of this post. I honestly don't think the Governor is being portrayed as stupidly crazy and evil. For every crazy or evil thing he's done there's been exposition of some sort to explain his reasoning. How much further from the Governor are Rick & the group at this point? In case you've forgotten, the same Rick that wanted to help everyone and their grandmother the previous two seasons was ready to kill the whole group of prisoners this season. Rick is responsible for like 6 people. The Governor is responsible for like 160... It seems to me that everything he's done has been in the best interests of those people. It's the nature of the world at this point. It's more silly to me how shocked what's her name was with the wrestling match...
I can't fault him at all for keeping his daughter around. I imagine I'd do the same with my son.
Michonne is cutting through rotten, decrepit flesh and bone...with a regularly sharpened katana.
Exhibit A:
Rick was cutting through a man's leg with what again? With how much momentum behind each strike? Honestly, when Rick was cutting off Hershel's leg I turned to my wife and said, "Why didn't he stand up and take it off with a single blow? Why did he just sit there and hack away at it with 2' swings???"
And, you're complaining about a focus on gore and special effects in the episode directed by Greg Nicotero???
I just feel that a character who is evil shouldn't have to have so much effort put into proving he's evil. TWD as a TV series has always been about grey areas with characters. Yeah, Shane is a bad guy, and he's designed to be hated, but in the end you understand him. He was doing what no one else would but had to be done. He was taking the initiative that Rick wasn't. And by the end of the season, you see Rick take up a lot of Shane's attributes. But you're still supposed to like Rick. With the Governor, it almost feels like the character is just looking at the screen saying "Here's a list of why I'm evil." I want a grey area with my villains, characters that are evil but you see their motives and understand them. I mean they can make a chaotic evil villain but that's not what TWD does, and it isn't what they paint the Governor as. It's a tug-of-war between a neutral evil and chaotic evil character and it really makes it feel silly. I mean keeping heads in jars, killing innocent military men, and having these bizarre zombie boxing matches is rather chaotic evil but you're supposed to sympathize with him as he lost his family and all this stuff.
It's not that hard to make him neutral evil either. Make him rule the town with an iron fist. He'd be a great parallel to the new Rick. Even Rick remarks at the end of season two "this is not a democracy" and they should have shown themes of that with the Governor.
As for Michonne, it's still bone, and it's still a katana. If she was using Connor MacLeod then I might consider the whole "cutting an enemy straight in half" thing but it's still a zombie. I mean you see in season two, Shane gets his knife stuck in a zombie's skull and you do notice some noticeable difficulty when he's stabbing zombies. But as the show progresses, the gore gets more and more ridiculous and the action feels so unrealistic. It may be rotting muscle and bone but she's a relatively small person with a katana cutting a zombie, whose still made of some significant bone and mass, in half, with no issue. It's wholly unrealistic. Not to mention she's been with Andrea for what, 8 months, and she's probably been on her own for more. Swords and any bladed weapon dull, especially when you're cutting through people.
Also I'm not quite sure you can hack through someone's leg with a single swing with a small hand axe. I mean if you play the Telltale Games, there's a particularly gripping part where you have to hack through a guy's leg to free him from a bear trap. It's really gripping and cringe worthy. It's probably why they made the scene drawn out in the show as well.
I just feel that a character who is evil shouldn't have to have so much effort put into proving he's evil. TWD as a TV series has always been about grey areas with characters. Yeah, Shane is a bad guy, and he's designed to be hated, but in the end you understand him. He was doing what no one else would but had to be done. He was taking the initiative that Rick wasn't. And by the end of the season, you see Rick take up a lot of Shane's attributes. But you're still supposed to like Rick. With the Governor, it almost feels like the character is just looking at the screen saying "Here's a list of why I'm evil." I want a grey area with my villains, characters that are evil but you see their motives and understand them. I mean they can make a chaotic evil villain but that's not what TWD does, and it isn't what they paint the Governor as. It's a tug-of-war between a neutral evil and chaotic evil character and it really makes it feel silly. I mean keeping heads in jars, killing innocent military men, and having these bizarre zombie boxing matches is rather chaotic evil but you're supposed to sympathize with him as he lost his family and all this stuff.
It's not that hard to make him neutral evil either. Make him rule the town with an iron fist. He'd be a great parallel to the new Rick. Even Rick remarks at the end of season two "this is not a democracy" and they should have shown themes of that with the Governor.
As for Michonne, it's still bone, and it's still a katana. If she was using Connor MacLeod then I might consider the whole "cutting an enemy straight in half" thing but it's still a zombie. I mean you see in season two, Shane gets his knife stuck in a zombie's skull and you do notice some noticeable difficulty when he's stabbing zombies. But as the show progresses, the gore gets more and more ridiculous and the action feels so unrealistic. It may be rotting muscle and bone but she's a relatively small person with a katana cutting a zombie, whose still made of some significant bone and mass, in half, with no issue. It's wholly unrealistic. Not to mention she's been with Andrea for what, 8 months, and she's probably been on her own for more. Swords and any bladed weapon dull, especially when you're cutting through people.
Also I'm not quite sure you can hack through someone's leg with a single swing with a small hand axe. I mean if you play the Telltale Games, there's a particularly gripping part where you have to hack through a guy's leg to free him from a bear trap. It's really gripping and cringe worthy. It's probably why they made the scene drawn out in the show as well.
your description of Shane precisely matches my description of the Governor... The Governor is not being presented any differently than Shane was, only, the Governor actually has the power to do all the things Shane couldn't. Innocent military men? Sure. But also a liability. How long before those military men lead others to the town and a battle over resources ensues? Do you think those men would have been happy to stay and keep their mouths shut? Not likely. So take what you need and defend what's yours.
There's nothing crazy at all about the staged fights. They serve their purpose exactly as they're meant to. If Rick's small group is as much of a clusterfuck as it is, what would a group of hundreds of them look like. Creating a spectacle to keep the minds of the people occupied is a fairly standard practice throughout history...
The head in the jars? Yeah, I can't say much about that. That's crazy.
As far as Michonne, did you not watch that video? Shane had trouble with a knife? That's physics bud. No weight = no momentum. And these walkers have been dead and rotting for 8 months since then. Bones don't maintain their density indefinitely, and she's obviously had plenty of time and practice dummies.
And...suspension of disbelief? ...in a television show about...the zombie apocalypse...? Lol
your description of Shane precisely matches my description of the Governor... The Governor is not being presented any differently than Shane was, only, the Governor actually has the power to do all the things Shane couldn't. Innocent military men? Sure. But also a liability. How long before those military men lead others to the town and a battle over resources ensues? Do you think those men would have been happy to stay and keep their mouths shut? Not likely. So take what you need and defend what's yours.
There's nothing crazy at all about the staged fights. They serve their purpose exactly as they're meant to. If Rick's small group is as much of a clusterfuck as it is, what would a group of hundreds of them look like. Creating a spectacle to keep the minds of the people occupied is a fairly standard practice throughout history...
The head in the jars? Yeah, I can't say much about that. That's crazy.
As far as Michonne, did you not watch that video? Shane had trouble with a knife? That's physics bud. No weight = no momentum. And these walkers have been dead and rotting for 8 months since then. Bones don't maintain their density indefinitely, and she's obviously had plenty of time and practice dummies.
And...suspension of disbelief? ...in a television show about...the zombie apocalypse...? Lol
Just chipping in my two cents, because this just bugs me:
Every piece of fiction, no matter the genre or form, has the suspension of disbelief. Shows need to define the fictional universes their characters inhabit; there have to be rules, boundaries, limitations. Immersing people in these locales is a lot like setting up a house of cards; it takes a lot of effort to build and maintain, and one wrong move can bring it all crashing down at once.
Take Star Wars, for instance; sure, there's fantastical space flight and laser swords, but the characters are still humans, with all the vulnerabilities and weaknesses that implies. If Han Solo were to, for example, manage to breathe in space, that would break the suspension of disbelief. The rules are shattered, and this takes the viewer out of the story.
When human bodies start getting sliced like butter with a katana of all things (especially since the series tries to maintain a gritty, serious tone), then yeah, that shatters the immersion. Bone density degradation does not happen that dramatically and that quickly; human bodies do not just turn into walking Playdough like that.
your description of Shane precisely matches my description of the Governor... The Governor is not being presented any differently than Shane was, only, the Governor actually has the power to do all the things Shane couldn't. Innocent military men? Sure. But also a liability. How long before those military men lead others to the town and a battle over resources ensues? Do you think those men would have been happy to stay and keep their mouths shut? Not likely. So take what you need and defend what's yours.
There's nothing crazy at all about the staged fights. They serve their purpose exactly as they're meant to. If Rick's small group is as much of a clusterfuck as it is, what would a group of hundreds of them look like. Creating a spectacle to keep the minds of the people occupied is a fairly standard practice throughout history...
The head in the jars? Yeah, I can't say much about that. That's crazy.
As far as Michonne, did you not watch that video? Shane had trouble with a knife? That's physics bud. No weight = no momentum. And these walkers have been dead and rotting for 8 months since then. Bones don't maintain their density indefinitely, and she's obviously had plenty of time and practice dummies.
And...suspension of disbelief? ...in a television show about...the zombie apocalypse...? Lol
But Shane didn't keep heads in jars and comb his zombie daughter's hair or stage zombie boxing matches. Shane did the dirty work no one wanted to and was understood for that. I mean all the bad things Shane did (kill Otis, kill the zombies in the barn, kill the kid they find) were done for the good of the group. Shane saw killing Otis as the only way to save Carl and it was a choice of either them both dying or one of them dying and saving Carl. He killed the zombies in the barn because they put them all at risk. He killed the kid because they wanted to but no one had the balls. All the things that classify Shane as an antagonist make him understandable and tragic. Everything that they use to classify the Governor as evil (zombie boxing matches, jars in heads, killing the soldiers, creepy zombie daughter) don't make him likeable at all, they make him stupidly evil. Like it's okay to have chaotic evil villains, like The Joker in Batman is a good example. But the Governor doesn't fit that, both in his role and in how they try to present him, but the way they characterize him is chaotic evil. It just doesn't work.
As for killing the soldiers, there's nothing that would make him believe they'd lead others in the town. You heard the story of the chopper pilot and it's not like they were some rapey 28 Days Later soldiers. They were protecting civilians in a base until someone got bit and it spread like wildfire. They were forced to run away. I'm sure if they saw someone maintaining a town that's safe they'd go behind the Governor. To kill them off the bat without assessing what they are (well trained, well disciplined military men that provide combat experience and muscle to the group) is just stupidly evil. If he saw they could be a threat to his power after maybe assessing them a bit more and then killed them it'd portray the Governor as a bad guy but not in a stupidly evil sense, more in a power-hungry sense. Which is an understandable perspective.
As for the staged fights, the scene just felt laughable. Like literally it was just the Governor trying to say "Wait wait I'm not chaotic evil!" by listing off a bunch of dumb reasons on why it's "fine". It's not fine, it's completely psycho. If they wanted to blow off steam go organize a karaoke night or a wiffleball game. Having a goddamn gladiator match with zombies is absolutely dumb.
Going on the Michonne thing again, if we're going to factor in 8 months of rot, let's factor in other things. Michonne has no formal sword training, and it takes a lot of time to master swordsmanship. She's been using this sword for at least 8 months, probably much more (before she met Andrea). Swords dull, especially something as flimsy as a katana. I don't think Michonne is hitting the weights every day either, she probably isn't eating well either, so she's malnourished and isn't well built. If the zombies' bones were so brittle, they'd probably just collapse in on themselves. The zombies are still some solid mass, factor that in with the type of sword (irregardless of the video, katanas aren't known for slicing people in twain), the condition it's in, and the person swinging it, and it's not just a bit unrealistic, it's entirely unrealistic.
And I'd pass off the katana thing in something that isn't The Walking Dead. It is supposed to be realistic. I know zombies aren't but the show is designed to be realistic. It's not meant to be a Zombieland type of film that's supposed to be splattery fun, it's a drama. It can't play both a zombie hack and slash flick and a character-driven drama at the same time. If I wanted to have zombie gore porn, as I said before, I'd play Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead, or watch Zombieland, Evil Dead, etc. If I want a realistic drama with zombies, I'll watch TWD.
Honest question here, but how many people stumble across this thread and expect it to be somewhat spoiler free? I understand you guys are taking the necessary precautions in case someone comes in here for whatever reason unrelated to the TV show, but I feel like discussion is more fluid with the spoiler tags since it you have to click every. single. one. if you want to see a full conversation.
Honest question here, but how many people stumble across this thread and expect it to be somewhat spoiler free? I understand you guys are taking the necessary precautions in case someone comes in here for whatever reason unrelated to the TV show, but I feel like discussion is more fluid with the spoiler tags since it you have to click every. single. one. if you want to see a full conversation.
Yeah, I've been mulling this for a while (not just this thread, but any TV related thread like Dexter for instance) and I'm thinking we should start putting a spoiler warning in the title or opening post and let it be spoiler free. The majority of people in these threads are probably up-to-date anyway and just want to discuss recent episodes, it's very rarely newcomers to the show just going "hay i wanna see dis show".
I find the show about walking, undead cannibals to be unrealistic.
No one knows at this point whether Michonne has "sword training".
We've zombie heads get bashed in and flattened under boots. We've seen zombie limbs get broken and pulled apart with little effort. We saw a zombie last season get ripped in half by merely tying a rope around it and pulling. Yet, a sword, which we've seen Michonne sharpening onscreen multiple times, is too much... Y'all need to get your suspension of disbelief checked.
I find the show about walking, undead cannibals to be unrealistic.
No one knows at this point whether Michonne has "sword training".
We've zombie heads get bashed in and flattened under boots. We've seen zombie limbs get broken and pulled apart with little effort. We saw a zombie last season get ripped in half by merely tying a rope around it and pulling. Yet, a sword, which we've seen Michonne sharpening onscreen multiple times, is too much... Y'all need to get your suspension of disbelief checked.
Well, there has to be a level of realism to how anything is presented. The show made a point to show it's a realistic take on an unrealistic perspective. If it wanted to carve itself as unrealistic, you'd have them running around with chainsaws and cheap one-liners. But it's not. Just because the idea of a zombie apocalypse is unrealistic doesn't mean the show isn't.
There's a difference between a blunt object impacting a head and cutting a head in half with a sword. They're both entirely different. As per the well zombie, that was pulled in half by a horse and a crew of guys. It was also in that well for a while and was all soggy and bloated. Like soggy cereal.
Michonne just feels like she's cut from some type of grindhouse flick honestly and doesn't fit a show as serious as TWD at all.
Well, there has to be a level of realism to how anything is presented. The show made a point to show it's a realistic take on an unrealistic perspective. If it wanted to carve itself as unrealistic, you'd have them running around with chainsaws and cheap one-liners. But it's not. Just because the idea of a zombie apocalypse is unrealistic doesn't mean the show isn't.
There's a difference between a blunt object impacting a head and cutting a head in half with a sword. They're both entirely different. As per the well zombie, that was pulled in half by a horse and a crew of guys. It was also in that well for a while and was all soggy and bloated. Like soggy cereal.
Michonne just feels like she's cut from some type of grindhouse flick honestly and doesn't fit a show as serious as TWD at all.
Well damn... I guess my suspension of disbelief was shattered the 100th consecutive time Daryl one-shotted a walker with a goddamned crossbow... Or Rick bullseyed a walker with his six-shooter that he never seems to run out of ammo for...
I felt the same way at the end of season 2 when Michonne shows up in a hood with two "pet" walkers and a slash of light. My first (somewhat jokingly) reaction was "Well, there goes the show, they are now gaining superpowers." That just didn't seem real to me. Not how the rest of the show prior had been.
But, once she was properly introduced and they explained why those pack-mule walkers weren't trying to eat Michonne and Andrea it kind of brought it back down to reality (in the TWD universe I mean).
OH. And are they trying to suggest that part of the host's mind might still remain in the walker, it just has zero control over its movements? And that's why they are interested in Michonne and how she knew how to disable the need to feed and that those two walkers she had were close to her in some way? I thought I remembered Governor's scientist buddy saying something like that but I wasn't really paying attention at that moment.
I dissected human cadavers for a whole year. I know enough about dead human bone and tissue to say that just about all of the things you see in TWD are pretty unrealistic.
In life, bone actually has some flex to it (kind of like a golf ball). In death, bone doesn't get any softer. If anything, it gets harder because the osteoblasts and osteoclasts are no longer functioning to make it the dynamic tissue that it is. A skull is of about the same hardness as a coconut, but it isn't actually hollow like a coconut. It has bone that runs all throughout the interior that provide structural support like beams. So it's actually tougher than a coconut. You can't crush a human skull by stepping on it. Try breaking a coconut by stomping on it as hard as you can. You'll sprain your ankle before the coconut gives.
As for dead tissue, this can vary depending on how preserved it is. Cadaver tissue tends to be tough like jerky, because it's been preserved in a formaldehyde-like liquid (they stopped using formaldehyde in my med school because it's carcinogenic--I forget what they use now). Bodies that are prepped for burial aren't as preserved as dissection cadavers, but they're still preserved somewhat because they're drained of all their blood (which is replaced with embalming fluid) and all the vital organs are removed prior to burial. Now, if you were to find the body of someone who was murdered and dumped in the woods, it would be liquefied in a lot of places because of bacterial infection. This would be the zombie body type you would most likely encounter, since most of them were killed by infection and left to die exposed to the elements without any kind of preservation. In fact, if a dead body is left intact and lying around long enough, there's a high probability it will eventually explode from the buildup of gas in the intestine and stomach (basically an atomic fart). I'm surprised the zombies in the show remain in such good shape. I would expect to see a lot of exploded zombies that can't support their upper bodies in an upright position due to the huge gap where their entire midsection used to be.
Decayed tissue on a walker would probably be soft enough to cut through relatively easily, but the bone would remain really hard. Which brings me to my next thought...
The whole time I was watching season 1 and 2 (before I got into the comics, and before I knew about Michonne), I was thinking, "Why the hell aren't they using katanas?" I always thought that a properly-made katana would be the perfect weapon. It's silent, has reach, and requires no ammo.
When I say "properly-made," I'm talking about the kind that is made by swordsmiths, not the cheap knockoffs that you can buy online. I was obsessed with real katana when I lived in Japan. I lived in Gifu prefecture, about 2 hours from the city of Seki, where the best swords in Japan are made. (As an aside, here's a video my friend uploaded from one of our trips to Seki. That's my voice in the video.)
It takes 6-12 months to make a real katana. These days there are few practicing master swordsmiths in Japan with the skill to make one, and a real katana would cost anywhere from $50,000-$200,000. The $200 ones you can buy anywhere in the US are just stamped out of steel sheet and sharpened. The stamped blade of an imitation katana is brittle and would break easily. The forged blade of a real katana would be able to cut through bone easily. Back in the day of samurai, katana were designed for decapitation. You could easily cut a body in half (transverse) at the abdomen level, because the only bone in that area is the spinal column. Any tissue and organs in the surrounding area would have been long-rotted away, or liquefied.
As for Michonne's upward diagonal slash that cut the zombie in half (sagitally), that was total bullshit. Even though a katana is sharp enough to cut through bone, she sliced through 12 ribs, the vertebral column, probably the scapula (and maybe even the clavicle--it was too fast so I didn't catch it), and she did it with a move that had absolutely no power behind it. She did it with such finesse, you'd think there was nothing but blood in that zombie's torso. If you used a real katana and you did an overhead swing straight downward, you could probably cut through a body sagitally but I don't know if you'd be able to cut it completely in half.
According to Michonne (both in the comic and in the show), she said she found the katana in some teenage neighbor's house. I'm almost certain her katana is one of those fake ones. She wouldn't have been able to do what she did with a real katana, let alone the fake one she found.
And if you drove a knife (or screwdriver, or ice pick, etc.) into the top of a walker's skull, you wouldn't be able to pull it out without using your foot to step on the head and using both hands to pull out the knife. Yes, I've stabbed a human skull before. I drove a dissecting needle into a skull and the only way I could get it out was by jiggling it for 15 minutes to make the hole wider.
Speaking of all this business of stabbing a zombie in the head...
The show is extremely arbitrary about dispatching zombies by going for their brain. According to the show, you can damage any part of the brain--as long you hit the brain--and they go down. I know a thing or two about neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, and it just doesn't make sense to me (or my fiance, for that matter).
My fiance is also a med student, and when we first started watching TWD together, every time someone stabbed or shot a zombie in the head and the zombie fell, we would look at each other and just shake our heads ("That stab was waaayyy too superficial--he totally missed the basal nuclei!"). We've both been wondering: what exactly are they damaging in the brain that makes the zombie go down? In the show, destroying the frontal cortex can apparently dispatch a zombie, but that doesn't make sense because the frontal cortex is responsible for higher thinking and conscience (something the zombies clearly lack), not basic instinct or motor functions. And it's clear that the cerebellum is already damaged because of their ataxic gait and overall lack of coordination. So damaging it (again) shouldn't have any affect on them, anyway.
The aforementioned basal nuclei are partly responsible for motor functions, but those are really deep in the brain. And in order to completely destroy it, you'd have to either put a bullet through it, or if you used a knife, you'd have to stick the blade in and jiggle the blade around (which would be extremely hard to do because of the skull--see my spiel above). Oh, and there are two of them. One in each hemisphere of the brain.
Are they going for the hypothalamus? Because that's the relay station for all sensory input and motor output. In other words, without the hypothalamus, you won't be able to sense anything (which includes seeing), nor will you be able to react to anything (which includes moving). But there are two hypothalami in the brain, and they're both located in the center of the brain. I've seen zombies in the show go down from a blow to the back of the head--the thalamus is nowhere near there.
In order to take a zombie out of commission completely, you would have to destroy both hypothalami, both basal ganglia, and the brain stem (refer to season 1, episode 6, where the show tries to inject some realism when Dr. Jenner gives a scientific explanation of the base functions of the brain stem). You wouldn't be able to hit every structure with a single crossbow bolt (which doesn't spin like a bullet does). Really, the only surefire way to take a zombie down would be to decapitate it (a sharpened katana would be great for that). Or you could shoot it in the neck right through the spinal cord to sever the brain from the rest of the body.
As for stabbing a zombie through the eye to kill it, that wouldn't do anything either. You'd hit the optic nerve, maybe even part of the thalamus behind the eye (not to be confused with the hypothalamus), but you'd miss all the important stuff above and below the eye responsible for zombie function. You also have to remember that there are two of everything in the brain: one in the right half, and another in the left half. You'd have to get at several structures located in different parts of the brain, and you'd have to do it on each side of the brain.
I could go on and on and on (and on) about neurophysiology (I just finished a 6-week theme on it at school recently). And as awesome as Maggie is:
I'm sorry, but that stab in the neck just wouldn't cut it.
In fact, the entire idea of a zombie is just ridiculous. It just can't happen. Aside from the nervous system, there's rigor mortis, which would prevent zombies from using their muscles because they no longer produce ATP to release their muscles from contraction. And so much other stuff.
BTW check out my sig for a better explanation of zombie brains by a Harvard MD-Ph.D
What is "evil?" I would think that in a world gone to shit like in TWD, any notions of "good" and "evil," "law" and "order" get thrown out the window. At that point it just becomes about survival. For us, it's socially acceptable to watch a game of football, but not to watch prisoners on death row fight to the death because we have ethics panels and shit, and laws and a government to keep it all in check. When the government loses control, people will revert to the barbarians that we are by nature. Just look at how easily people will stoop to looting and riots when a court ruling is perceived as racist, or when a hurricane hits.
When the cultural paradigm has shifted completely to revolve around zombies, is it really so unrealistic that a community like Woodbury would incorporate zombies into their entertainment, especially when there are no authorities to answer to? It's easy to talk about "civility" and "good" and "evil" the way our society is right now, but in a zombie apocalypse, I don't think anyone would think it "evil" to keep some de-clawed, de-toothed walkers around as "pets" for their entertainment. Not after watching people die around them at the hands of walkers for the better part of a year. I guess Andrea had a problem with it, but maybe it's because it's her first time seeing it. If she was with that community from the beginning, who knows--she might have been cheering right alongside everyone else.
And what's so "evil" about the Governor keeping his daughter Penny around? "Disturbing" and "abnormal," yes, but Herschel also had his fair share of skeletons in the closet, so to speak. Hell, he had a whole barn-full of them. Though, I gotta agree the collection of disembodied heads is pretty extreme, even in a zombie apocalypse.
As for shooting the soldiers, I guess that's already been touched upon. My only issue with that scene is, how was it that a ragtag group of men led by the Governor were able to take out a fully-armed group of trained, professional combatants?
One of the things the novels focus on is how the Governor became the way he is. Shitty writing notwithstanding, they make a point to show that Rick and the Governor are really not that different at all. But it's not possible to depict the character development of the Governor in the show without going off into a huge tangent. The only feasible way I could see them doing it is by making a whole series of webisodes about his backstory on the AMC website like they did after seasons 1 and 2).
My whole point is that this show is so fake that I can't even begin to cover everything I've spotted. And there are things in the show that I consider to be realistic, even if others here don't agree with me. But does that stop me from watching the show? Does that stop me from loving the show? Hells no. I enjoy it, and all this talk of it being unrealistic is kind of a waste, if you ask me. I simply watch the show to escape.
I mean, how "real" does a show have to be in order to be considered "good?" Does it have to be real enough to fool the average person? Real enough to fool a master swordsmith? Real enough to fool a neurologist? If the show were too realistic, it wouldn't be much of a show, now would it?
*EDIT*
There's a clear time gap between seasons 2 and 3. In that missing time gap, they survived through the winter. Since zombies presumably lack any capacity for homeostasis, I would guess that they all froze during the winter and only reanimated after thawing out in the spring. I think it would've been interesting to show some aspects of winter life.
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