TWD 4x01 "30 Days Without an Accident" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN**

[Ragnarr]

I guess the only other thing about this episode that bugged me almost as much as the "thank you young sir" was the razor shape zombie bite on what's-his-name's leg in the store scene. Anything other than a shark would have quite a time biting clean through denim, except a zombie when the plot calls for it. It's not just in TWD you'll see this nutty phenomenon. The first Dawn of the Dead comes to mind (Roger's leg while climbing into the truck), and some other flicks. Always makes me yell at the screen, "oh c'mon now!" At least have the zombie slide the pants leg up enough to expose flesh before the chomp. While I'm still on a rant (and bored as hell at work), in the scene when Daryl knocks on the window of the store to draw any walkers inside to the front, what's-his-name displays everything NOT to do with a loaded shotgun short of putting the barrel in his mouth and then doing some Irish step dancing. He sits next to Daryl, shotgun on his lap and barrel pointed at Daryl's side. Safety on or not, one in the chamber or no, it's a great way to accidently kill your team.

[facestabber]

I guess the only other thing about this episode that bugged me almost as much as the "thank you young sir" was the razor shape zombie bite on what's-his-name's leg in the store scene. Anything other than a shark would have quite a time biting clean through denim, except a zombie when the plot calls for it. It's not just in TWD you'll see this nutty phenomenon. The first Dawn of the Dead comes to mind (Roger's leg while climbing into the truck), and some other flicks. Always makes me yell at the screen, "oh c'mon now!" At least have the zombie slide the pants leg up enough to expose flesh before the chomp. While I'm still on a rant (and bored as hell at work), in the scene when Daryl knocks on the window of the store to draw any walkers inside to the front, what's-his-name displays everything NOT to do with a loaded shotgun short of putting the barrel in one's mouth and then doing some Irish step dancing. He sits next to Daryl, shotgun on his lap and barrel pointed at Daryl's side. Safety on or not, one in the chamber or no, it's a great way to accidently kill your team. I agree with both. My girlfriend is overly bothered by the biting through jeans. I saw the shotgun thing as well. If someone flagged me with a barrel like that a heated exchange would take place.

[Andy]

Ob the whole not a bad episode, i enjoyed it That was my take too, but the WHAT that he died of has me puzzled, coupled with how the whole thing was staged: "I'm happy & fine!-uh, I don't feel well-yikes I'm puking blood-aaaand, I'm dead!" what the hell did the the guy catch, super black plague with optional ninja stealth mode? Not a major gripe, but it was a little weird/jarring for me. I actually figured he was just sick with some random fever and blacked out in the shower and smashed his face on the floor. That would kill him wouldnt it? His face was a bloody mess when he reanimated.. Intentionally not reading TWD comics so as to be surprised as the storyline unfolds, but I think this season will be kickass for sure. I wouldnt worry about that man honestly. The comic storyline and the TV story splinter off in different directions early in season 1. They havnt really ever really met, the TV show has few homages and similarities but on the whole, they are different stories you can enjoy without them spoiling each other.

[MoonSylver]

Well, I could guess...   That this leads into the big change up in threat that has been discussed/alluded to for this season. So it could be garden variety disease or a new delivery mechanic/vector for the undead plague that acts like a bite. After all, maybe this kid was one of a few people using that particular shower area (which they made a point of showing at least twice, iirc)? Who knows what's in the cistern it's drawing from. Ah. Hm. I'd dodged all the press, promos, etc, so I hadn't heard that. Ob the whole not a bad episode, i enjoyed it I actually figured he was just sick with some random fever and blacked out in the shower and smashed his face on the floor. That would kill him wouldnt it? His face was a bloody mess when he reanimated.. Maybe...I can buy that. Even if that is the case, what really puzzles me is what strikes so fast you go from perfectly healthy to dead in less than a day? I'm inclined to think along the lines like A&8's, something new we've never seen before? Otherwise, it doesn't make a lot of sense IMO...

[rongravy]

Great show. Loved all the zombies. I was also glad Beth didn't break out into song again. Heartless bitch... And someone PLEASE tell them to cut it with Daryl's superhip hairdo thang he's got going on? Trying to look too much like Leon. A couple things: I thought that chick was a cannibal, too, and that Rick was walking into a trap. On Talking Dead they said it was some dood's head in the bag, I'd thought it was a zombie baby. And the Harry Potter kid: I figure someone figured out a way to poison some stuff to infect people. That medic black dood was looking sketchy the whole episode. I'm getting bad juju off of him. I also think the kid completely cracked his head during the shower fall. Hope they have someone pulling night time guard duty...

[zombieparanoia]

Overall I liked the episode. Thought it was nice to see Daryl getting some recognition, as well as him and carol having a bit of playful banter. The big spot run was generally good. Nice to see Beth is/was getting some. The crazy lady in the woods was well done but IMO the ending a bit telegraphed. Rick having to be told to take his gun seemed to underscore his continuing poor judgement. Criticisms: I thought the redshirts were too obvious. "Hi, I'm a new character, I'll be coming along on the dangerous supply mission, I sure hope I get back safe, I'm banging beth, so I've got a lot to live for" and Discount Napoleon Dynamite were tagged for death as soon as they came on screen IMO. A little too much emphasis on "See? We can have more than one black male in the show" and his alcohol problem, although I wonder why he was perusing the wine section, guess he's a classy alcoholic. It just felt too early for a new character to have backstory like I'm supposed to give a shit about them already. Clearly alky former army medic quota breaker is going to turn out to be bad. Just the way they shoot him tells me this. I hoped they would have dealt with the walkers in the store better. even with the surprise element it would have been nice to see them moving more like when they first took the prison, like a team that had been working smoothly together for a while. half a dozen walkers surprise them and everybody shits their pants. They didn't seem to check/take anything from the military encampment outside the store, that bugs me when they walk right past what are clearly usable supplies. MREs, military medical supplies and weapons come to mind. It's like when a good guy escapes and kills a bad guy but doesn't take his gun. More and better hand weapon usage, I don't expect Jet Li but to see people (other than michonne) competently using hand weapons would be nice. The fences. A lot of things bother me about how they handle the walkers at the fences. Too small a crew for the number of walkers, no pileup of walker bodies? (Do a 300 and build a wall people), they seem to use improvised items, a cane with a sharpened tip, a knife, a piece of rebar instead of things which keep them back from the fence a bit. They seem to move slow, like they kill one and go "yeah, killed one" and then look around and evaluate for the next one. By this time I'd think the fence duty would be just punching holes. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab. Like a slaughter house worker. People get jaded to incredibly disgusting work surprisingly quickly.

[Harleydude666]

In reality, everyone would be more like Michonne. Closed off and distant, reluctant to get close to others, unwilling to share emotional experiences. Undoubtedly. They'd all have severe PTSD. It's the minds natural survival mechanism. And you don't get through it until you realize and admit that you have it and that it's negatively effecting your life. But that can't happen in the midst of the stress and trauma that creates it. It takes years to be able to even start to recover, and that's only possible once you're completely removed from that environment. It doesn't happen after just a little downtime. The original group would be close with each other because they have a history, and a bond forged from traumatic experiences. They'd be closed off and distant toward the new group members though. They'd still be willing to have sexual partners, but there would be little to no real emotional connection. Look at the troops that come back from any serious conflict. They have alot of trouble acclimating to normal life. their relationships with their families suffer, they need mental help, they often become alcoholics. This is the natural reaction to being exposed to extreme violence and suffering repeated loss of people you care about. What we're seeing in the show is fiction, based more on what sounds good in theory, in the writers room. It's totally disconnected from the reality of human nature. When you say- This comes much later, in the late stages of recovery. Once the stressful environment has completely gone. Once you have a chance to reflect on your mental state, and start to put the past behind you. This doesn't happen when the same threat is continuously building up less than 100 yards from where you sleep. You're right though that because we love the show, and the story, we expect more than this. That's why I take issue with this aspect. But this doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the episode, or that I don't look forward to the next. It just means I have to scale back my expectations. But at the same time, discussion in the threads would be pretty boring if all we said was how much we loved everything. What I liked alot about the episode is seeing how they've started to focus on survival more. Seeing them go on supply runs is something I've always wanted more of. And NO, I don't expect to see supply run after supply run. But it would be great to see entire episodes dedicated to missions away from the prison, like we had with "Clear", and "18 Miles Out". It builds upon character relationships for them to spend time with each other in stressful situations, working toward a specific goal. And gives us a chance to see the landscape of the world they're in, gives an opportunity to use imagery to tell the story. Dude, you are way off base here with human nature. First none of us including you has lived through a zombie apocalypse so you can't say how it would be or how it wouldn't be regarding coupling. I didn't go or come back from war as I'm guessing you didn't either. However, I have a young guy who works for me and he saw serious battle in the Middle East and he's totally stable along with a friend of his who I have met. You are trying to speak in volumes regarding this. In real life you would be surprised how people come together under difficult circumstances and these people have been together in close quarters over six months. Let's face it, if all we saw was raid after raid this show would be a borefest and wouldn't last. It has drama also, and part of drama is how humans relate with one another. If you're a guy in this world you do everything you can to score a piece of ass, this show has explored no differently except that these characters are pretty much forced to forge these relationships because of the world they live in and how close they live together. If you want a regular piece of ass you are forging a relationship and acting lovey dovey if you want to keep it because let's face it, you don't have many prospects to choose from. I found it totally believable and I'm glad they didn't over do it either.

[facestabber]

Dude, you are way off base here with human nature. First none of us including you has lived through a zombie apocalypse so you can't say how it would be or how it wouldn't be regarding coupling. I didn't go or come back from war as I'm guessing you didn't either. However, I have a young guy who works for me and he saw serious battle in the Middle East and he's totally stable along with a friend of his who I have met. You are trying to speak in volumes regarding this. In real life you would be surprised how people come together under difficult circumstances and these people have been together in close quarters over six months. Let's face it, if all we saw was raid after raid this show would be a borefest and wouldn't last. It has drama also, and part of drama is how humans relate with one another. If you're a guy in this world you do everything you can to score a piece of ass, this show has explored no differently except that these characters are pretty much forced to forge these relationships because of the world they live in and how close they live together. If you want a regular piece of ass you are forging a relationship and acting lovey dovey if you want to keep it because let's face it, you don't have many prospects to choose from. I found it totally believable and I'm glad they didn't over do it either. I mean no offense when I say this but do you follow your employee home? Have you had intimate conversations with his significant other? I have personal experience with PTSD. No accusations on my part here but the home/personal life seems to be the hardest transition. I understand where babomb is coming from. I think he and I are just worried about a soap opera unfolding and we don't want it. I don't doubt that relationships can form in this environment as people can be quite varied. I just felt the delivery was a little forced by showing 3-4 different relationships. Not the end of the world and the show isn't ruined. I just don't want days of our lives with zombies

[Harleydude666]

I mean no offense when I say this but do you follow your employee home? Have you had intimate conversations with his significant other? I have personal experience with PTSD. No accusations on my part here but the home/personal life seems to be the hardest transition. I understand where babomb is coming from. I think he and I are just worried about a soap opera unfolding and we don't want it. I don't doubt that relationships can form in this environment as people can be quite varied. I just felt the delivery was a little forced by showing 3-4 different relationships. Not the end of the world and the show isn't ruined. I just don't want days of our lives with zombies No offense taken, but we are in a high performance sales career and more time is spent with employees than actual families. 60 to 65 hours weekly so I would say I have a pretty good gauge on him. That's not the point though, not everyone who comes home from war PTSD. Everyone is wired differently. I don't want "Days of our Lives" either but the difference from TWD than other crap on tv is that even though it's fiction, this show is about how humans are dealing with the apocalypse, with each other and against each other, the zombies are secondary. I think excluding some plot holes the writers are doing a good job portraying the social aspect of it all.

[rongravy]

I've seen mention of Days of Our Lives a few times here, and it harkens me back to the big wedding of Bo and Hope. Them leaving on his motorbike... Maybe Glen and Maggie's will be as big a deal. I'm getting the vapors just thinking about it. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[babomb]

Dude, you are way off base here with human nature. First none of us including you has lived through a zombie apocalypse so you can't say how it would be or how it wouldn't be regarding coupling. I didn't go or come back from war as I'm guessing you didn't either. However, I have a young guy who works for me and he saw serious battle in the Middle East and he's totally stable along with a friend of his who I have met. You are trying to speak in volumes regarding this. In real life you would be surprised how people come together under difficult circumstances and these people have been together in close quarters over six months. Let's face it, if all we saw was raid after raid this show would be a borefest and wouldn't last. It has drama also, and part of drama is how humans relate with one another. If you're a guy in this world you do everything you can to score a piece of ass, this show has explored no differently except that these characters are pretty much forced to forge these relationships because of the world they live in and how close they live together. If you want a regular piece of ass you are forging a relationship and acting lovey dovey if you want to keep it because let's face it, you don't have many prospects to choose from. I found it totally believable and I'm glad they didn't over do it either. Were you with them during these battles? People who didn't see alot of action there tend to exaggerate the action they did see. Those who did see alot of action are usually very closed lip about it. Like I said, the original group would be the ones that have a bond forged from tragedy and survival. Not so much with the new members. As was illustrated in the episode, many of the people there are very recent additions. They haven't established who's been there for how long. And going by the episode title, it's been 30 days since the last "accident". We don't know what that last incident was, but the fact is it's only been 30 days since the last tragedy struck. Trauma is still fresh in their minds. To say they've all been there for 6 months living in close quarters is not accurate. It's been 6 months since the previous season. I've also stated in my last post that you quoted that I don't expect or want to see them going on raid after raid. Reread my last post for my exact words on that subject. All I'm really saying is that since the drama is not going away anytime soon, they could at least make it more fun and more realistic to the situation. Rather than making it totally unrealistic, and worse, making it irrelevant. You were impressed by the writers portrayal of the situation, that's totally cool. I'm not trying to rain on your parade here, I'm just expressing my own concerns regarding the writing. There's no need to take personal offense With Maggie's pregnancy scare, I guess Glenn ran out of his supply of eleven condoms. Glen has to learn to fight the urge for Maggies pleasure. As I explained to my girlfriend as the pregnancy issue unfolded....Honey in that world the choice is narrowed to your mouth or ass to which she agreed. Last thing I want in that world is to care for a baby. And I much prefer Maggie in her ass kicking role than playing mom to be. Agreed. Putting Maggie in the role of mom-to-be is one step away from killing her off.

[Moon Knight]

I'm sure he died from a disease. He had blood coming from his eyes; the same kind of eye effect that was displayed on that fence walker that Rick kept staring at. Also, a walker in the comic con trailer seen walking past a doorway during a chase scene had the same bloody, hollowed out eyes. I sense a connection.

[babomb]

I'm sure he died from a disease. He had blood coming from his eyes; the same kind of eye effect that was displayed on that fence walker that Rick kept staring at. Also, a walker in the comic con trailer seen walking past a doorway during a chase scene had the same bloody, hollowed out eyes. I sense a connection. There's gotta be a connection there. I think there's a connection between the deer that Daryl killed that the kid was thanking him for, and the pig, and the dead kid, and the bleeding eyes. The virus is mutating.

[Harleydude666]

Were you with them during these battles? People who didn't see alot of action there tend to exaggerate the action they did see. Those who did see alot of action are usually very closed lip about it. Like I said, the original group would be the ones that have a bond forged from tragedy and survival. Not so much with the new members. As was illustrated in the episode, many of the people there are very recent additions. They haven't established who's been there for how long. And going by the episode title, it's been 30 days since the last "accident". We don't know what that last incident was, but the fact is it's only been 30 days since the last tragedy struck. Trauma is still fresh in their minds. To say they've all been there for 6 months living in close quarters is not accurate. It's been 6 months since the previous season. I've also stated in my last post that you quoted that I don't expect or want to see them going on raid after raid. Reread my last post for my exact words on that subject. All I'm really saying is that since the drama is not going away anytime soon, they could at least make it more fun and more realistic to the situation. Rather than making it totally unrealistic, and worse, making it irrelevant. You were impressed by the writers portrayal of the situation, that's totally cool. I'm not trying to rain on your parade here, I'm just expressing my own concerns regarding the writing. There's no need to take personal offense Agreed. Putting Maggie in the role of mom-to-be is one step away from killing her off. Dude, no offense to you but I'm not gonna sit here and explain why this particular person is not suffering from PTSD because I don't have to, known him for over 20 years since he was a kid and I'm very prominent in his life, close with his parents and know his girlfriend well. Please don't discredit what I know about this person to try and make your point. However with that said, I said agree to disagree but you keep avoiding the fact that they have been there for over six months together. Karen and Tyreese came from Woodbury together and Gimple said himself it's been about 7 months of timeline. I'm going with what the creative Producer said himself. Anyway, humans are social human beings, they are going to find one another in tragedy, history has proved that. If you don't like that aspect of it, I get it, but the fact is the writers are not going to ignore it because it happens in real life and they also need us to care about them so they can unexpectedly waste them by becoming zombie fodder

[babomb]

Dude, no offense to you but I'm not gonna sit here and explain why this particular person is not suffering from PTSD because I don't have to, known him for over 20 years since he was a kid and I'm very prominent in his life, close with his parents and know his girlfriend well. Please don't discredit what I know about this person to try and make your point. However with that said, I said agree to disagree but you keep avoiding the fact that they have been there for over six months together. Karen and Tyreese came from Woodbury together and Gimple said himself it's been about 7 months of timeline. I'm going with what the creative Producer said himself. Anyway, humans are social human beings, they are going to find one another in tragedy, history has proved that. If you don't like that aspect of it, I get it, but the fact is the writers are not going to ignore it because it happens in real life and they also need us to care about them so they can unexpectedly waste them by becoming zombie fodder That's my point. It's hard to care about them when the writing is so stereotypical and unrealistic when it comes to that aspect. I like that aspect, and I think it's necessary, I just don't like how they're doing it. It could be so much better. And this is what we do here, we discuss things like this. Would you prefer everyone chimes in and just says "great episode, loved it"? What fun would that be? I'm not avoiding the fact that they've been there for 6-7 months. I'm saying that isn't the ultimate deciding factor in how they'd act. They haven't been sitting there playing checkers for 6 months, reminiscing. The threat hasn't passed, it's gotten worse. They're still in survival mode. At least they should be.