TWD 2x01 "What Lies Ahead" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN**

[fishfast41]

Hmmm I'll buy it about the bike being Merle's. That didn't even occur to me. Guess I'm too hung up on the perimeter security thing. lol Good call.

[AcesandEights]

I noticed the sig runes (how could you miss them), but that's part & parcel for some 1%ers, so I didn't pay too much more attention to it aside from noting the inclusion.

[fishfast41]

I took them to be part of the whole redneck/racist thing with Daryl and Merle,that's why I mentioned them in connection with Daryl's change for the better.

[bassman]

That's definitely one way to look at it, but I can't recall Daryl ever being particularly racist? Maybe i'm forgetting but I would think he would have called T-Dog out for being black while he was angry with him for leaving Merle on the roof. So from that i've kinda suspected that Merle was the real racist, while Daryl is just hot-headed, but actually an okay guy. Or maybe it's because I really like Daryl now and don't want to see him as racist?

[shootemindehead]

Maybe it's just a bike he nicked?

[kidgloves]

I like Sawyer .............. sorry i mean Daryl. I think he sees the group as a family he never had

[Thorn]

I loved the premier, a couple of things that bothered me some of which have been discussed here and on the talking Dead. The seeming lack of fear of fluids after taking so many precautions to avoid them prior or at least stating "don't get it in your eyes" and wearing a face mask to prevent just that from happening in season 1. Andrea had splatter all over her face and near her mouth. I would have freaked out immediately and gone into "clean it mode", T-Dog had an open wound on his arm and he was covered with a corpse? Normal infections aside that is a huge risk. As for the corpses in the cars, this just did not bother me, it could be that the people died from dehydration, suicide, hunger, old wounds, sickness, temperature... anything. While you can not say (and I will admit you have to stretch your mind to accept it) they could have been reanimated at on time and put down in some cases by other groups moving through the area. People could have locked themselves in their cars, and laid low while a herd was about eating others and died from heat stroke as they sat in silence praying to god the dead would walk away... too afraid to roll down the window or run. You can explain it off, or at least I can. As for Andrea, yes it was really crappy of Dale to force her hand that way, though I would do the same. I am sorry I do not give up easily, and I won't let my friends. If they hate me for it well, so be it I would hope they would come around eventually. As for Andrea and the gun, even if in this one instance she did not cause the rest of the group to die (and her shot could have caused the herd to linger, to get worked into a frenzy and hang around longer, the longer they stayed around the greater the chance the survivors would be discovered, one drops some entrails and bends down to get it... he sees someone and takes a bite out of them. The next thing you know it is game over. That said it is a larger concern for the group in all situations, until people are comfortable, and calm, and collected and can be trusted with firearms they shouldn't have them. Hell any jumpy person in the woods popping off rounds at shadows or rustling branches could kill you... forget the walkers. Look at Carl... accidents happen. The opening with Rick and the Walkie, well it is a monologue, he is explaining and bringing people up to speed. Setting the table, and reminding people of things. There is a way to do this, and the show writers chose this. Was it awesome? Nah it was lacking but whatever I am not going to pick at it too much, the show was a great one.

[Legion2213]

I really enjoyed this episode...the herd scene was gob smackingly awesome. And Daryl has proved once again that he among the most capable individuals in the group with his actions in this episode (I got a real laugh out of his "SS" chopper as well). -- -------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ---------- I loved the premier, a couple of things that bothered me some of which have been discussed here and on the talking Dead. The seeming lack of fear of fluids after taking so many precautions to avoid them prior or at least stating "don't get it in your eyes" and wearing a face mask to prevent just that from happening in season 1. Andrea had splatter all over her face and near her mouth. I would have freaked out immediately and gone into "clean it mode", T-Dog had an open wound on his arm and he was covered with a corpse? Normal infections aside that is a huge risk. They seemed to spend the entire show covered in the stuff...I cringe every time Daryl slots a walker and casually retrieves his gore splattered bolt and just wipes it on his leg, I've decided to just assume that they either have super awesome imune systems or that "walkeritus" dies immediately on contact with fresh air or something.

[kidgloves]

Ricks not having a good time so far this season is he? Losses a little girl, gets blamed for it. Then his son gets shot the 1st time he's allowed away from his mother. Lori's probably going to hate him for that.

[bassman]

Watching the episode again, got a few things to point out. Long post ahead... As I mentioned earlier, Rick actually does looks directly into the camera during the opening scene. How could this slip by? If it was for some weird damn reason intentional, it's one of the worst mistakes the show has made. Very distracting and took me right out of the attempted dramatic monologue. It also appears that the entire scene is CGI. Last minute addition maybe? When they leave the city....it's the exact same highway rick rides in on in episode 1! I can understand them trying to cut corners, but hardcore fans probably noticed this immediately. What's even worse is if you're an Atlanta resident or have a knowledge of the city, it's basically the exact opposite way you want to go to head South to Fort Benning. As many small things as they altered in the first season, they could've at least changed the skyline and surrounding cars to make it appear as a different highway. Maybe I should've already picked up on this, but i'm detecting a pattern for episodes where a major character gets seriously wounded. Much like Amy's fish story in episode 4, Carl gets his Grand Canyon backstory here. What really happens with T-Dog's severe wound? We see Daryl save him from the walkers then there's never any real mention of how bad it was. He looks like he's about to die/pass out from the loss of blood, then we just see him talking to Dale with a bandage? Judging from the wound and his entire body being covered in blood, I thought it was fatal wound... The walker in the woods swallowed a whole woodchuck skull? That raises questions by itself, but what if they didn't find any bones? Were they expecting a piece of flesh with a "Sophia" tag on it? It would just be flesh and blood....no way of knowing. Imo, this scene was only put in as a way to one-up the gore scenes from previous episodes. I love that Dale faked the radiator hose being broken just because he knew Rick would want to move on if it were ready. On the flipside of that same coin, would he? In the same scene with Carl's Grand Canyon story Rick tell's Sophia that he would never go anywhere without Sophia and Carol... Lori has a problem searching through the traffic jam "graveyard", but then has absolutely no problem running across an actual cemetary? Maybe it's a southern thing, but I was always raised to believe that it's absolutely wrong to step on a person's burial ground. Small nitpick there, I admit. I've got no problem with the walkers sitting in the church. Even if it hasn't been established that they have memory in this series, we've seen them doing this before in earlier episodes. With no food around and no "herd" to walk with, they sit by and wait is the way I see it. Lori laid the shit down on Carol and rest of the group. I really like that. Basically saying if you don't like Rick's decisions - the door is that way. Nice to see her really stand up for him. And finally the "deer" thing. Anyone with a knowledge of the books could see this coming from miles away. It kind of makes me wish I hadn't known, really... End long list of second and more thorough viewing opinions....

[Vulture Lives]

I've got no problem with the walkers sitting in the church. Even if it hasn't been established that they have memory in this series, we've seen them doing this before in earlier episodes. With no food around and no "herd" to walk with, they sit by and wait is the way I see it. I have no problem with the zombies just sitting there. Maybe I need to watch the episode again, but my problem was with their body posture as they sat there. It just seemed off. They were too upright, too normal. The show was trying to trick you into thinking that the zombies were living people at first. I thought it was a cheap gag, because it wasn't true to zombie behavior. Zombies would be more slumped over and listless (I realize that only the biggest of zombie nerds would nitpick such a thing).

[AcesandEights]

Cheap gag? Well don't turn on AMC right now, they're showing Survival of the Dead...your head'll spin, brotha

[Wyldwraith]

Hmm, I still don't buy the whole "what Andrea might have done in the RV bathroom had she a working gun at the time" rationale being justification for stealing (let's call the taking of her gun what it is) her gun. By that logic, Rick shouldn't have a gun because he ACTUALLY placed a half dozen people in mortal danger with his shooting, and Shane shouldn't have a gun, because he almost shot Rick in the back with a shotgun while they were patrolling and Dale saw this. Just seems a very arbitrary "boys club" sort of thing. Dale doesn't want her to have it. Rick and Shane consider Dale an important member of the group for his skills, and Andrea less so. So they don't even give the situation a fair review and just knee-jerk side with Dale, while Shane feeds Andrea what has to be the lamest excuse ever about weapons in the group. Besides, it's idiotic for them to be handing out short-reach melee weapons and insisting they be used as primary weapons should the need for someone to eliminate a Walker arise. They should be conditioning the members of their group to keep their distance from Walkers at (almost) all costs, rather then encouraging them to enter the unpredictable-speed "lunge zone" of the Walkers. I also agree with whoever pointed out Dale's hypocrisy-laden reasoning for lying about the RV not being repaired. Ditto for the reasoning about the outbreak bringing out the best in Daryl and the absolute worst in Dale. I've had time to really think it over, and I still believe I would've responded with violence in Andrea's place being denied her own weapon. Maybe not with Shane right there to back Dale up, but the moment I could slip up behind him or beside him while no one was very close by I would put that hunting knife to this throat and demand he give me my damned gun back or I'm going to give him a Cuban Neck-Tie. Such an action would have two good results. a) I'd get my piece back, and b) I'm sure being threatened with violent immediate death would break Dale's sappy paternalistic view of Andrea, thus getting him off her back. Maybe that sounds a bit Khardis-esque, but I REALLY don't take well to people attempting to control me.

[shootemindehead]

Watching the episode again, got a few things to point out. Long post ahead... As I mentioned earlier, Rick actually does looks directly into the camera during the opening scene. How could this slip by? If it was for some weird damn reason intentional, it's one of the worst mistakes the show has made. Very distracting and took me right out of the attempted dramatic monologue. It also appears that the entire scene is CGI. Last minute addition maybe? I noticed this too, but I don't have a problem with it. Reminds me of Dreyfuss looking at the camera in 'Jaws'. What's the issue you have with this Bassy? 4th wall stuff? When they leave the city....it's the exact same highway rick rides in on in episode 1! I can understand them trying to cut corners, but hardcore fans probably noticed this immediately. What's even worse is if you're an Atlanta resident or have a knowledge of the city, it's basically the exact opposite way you want to go to head South to Fort Benning. As many small things as they altered in the first season, they could've at least changed the skyline and surrounding cars to make it appear as a different highway. Not knowing anything about Atlanta (or Georgia), except that it's "in the South" and was burned down in 'Gone with the Wind', I have to say i wouldn't have noticed this at all. It certainly wouldn't have impacted on my enjoyment of the episode. Maybe I should've already picked up on this, but i'm detecting a pattern for episodes where a major character gets seriously wounded. Much like Amy's fish story in episode 4, Carl gets his Grand Canyon backstory here. I think this is quite a common trait in drama. It's like the soldier who pines for his girl back home, you know he's going to get it in the next reel. The "remember when..." blah blah sets the character up as a real person and then whammo. It's a manipulation of audience feeling, so the impact of the tragedy on the character seems worse. What really happens with T-Dog's severe wound? We see Daryl save him from the walkers then there's never any real mention of how bad it was. He looks like he's about to die/pass out from the loss of blood, then we just see him talking to Dale with a bandage? Judging from the wound and his entire body being covered in blood, I thought it was fatal wound... That kind of annoyed me too and I was hoping it was the end for him. He's totally a 5th wheel character and his stupid name infuriates me. I think it might be a case of effect being too severe. It looked much worse than the intended outcome. Mad me wince, I have to say. Found it more disturbing than when they cut the corpse open TBH. The walker in the woods swallowed a whole woodchuck skull? That raises questions by itself, but what if they didn't find any bones? Were they expecting a piece of flesh with a "Sophia" tag on it? It would just be flesh and blood....no way of knowing. Imo, this scene was only put in as a way to one-up the gore scenes from previous episodes. I think that scene is there for a couple of reasons. It illustrates their growing desparation and the fear that everyone is feeling for the little kid and it allows us to indulge in some much needed gore. I had no problem at all with the scene and correct me if I'm wrong, but human flesh would be noticable depending on which part it is. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the whole zombies eating animals thing though. It would generally require a swiftness they wouldn't possess. Lori has a problem searching through the traffic jam "graveyard", but then has absolutely no problem running across an actual cemetary? Maybe it's a southern thing, but I was always raised to believe that it's absolutely wrong to step on a person's burial ground. Small nitpick there, I admit. I found her line there kind of stupid and out of place. I think the vast majority of people would have told her to STFU. For god's they've been riding around in dead peoples vehicles etc since the last series. I've got no problem with the walkers sitting in the church. Even if it hasn't been established that they have memory in this series, we've seen them doing this before in earlier episodes. With no food around and no "herd" to walk with, they sit by and wait is the way I see it. Me neither and I think that Romero's cannon is the template for Kirkman's zombies anyway. Either way, they were sitting around on busses in the first series and Morgan's dead Mrs knew the way to her front door, so it's not beyond the show to have them sit in a church. And finally the "deer" thing. Anyone with a knowledge of the books could see this coming from miles away. It kind of makes me wish I hadn't known, really... I have all of the books and I don't remember Karl getting shot. Hmmmm...

[kidgloves]

Lincoln looks right into the camera in the pilot as well when Rick and Shane are sitting in the cop car having their conversation about women