I doubt Merle had a hand in it (ahahahahahaha). He was crazy but he'd have not know that his brother was out of the camp looking for him. I doubt he'd lead zombies all the way back an risk getting his brother killed.
Booooo! I thought about that but he knows his brother is a master with the crossbow and they were probably hunters before all this so maybe he figured his brother would get away. A country boy can survive. Yeeeee-haw!
A master with a crossbow that could only hit the meaty part of some cholo's ass at less than 20 feet?
I watched all four episodes last night, then got drunk and played CoD Zombies split screen with the roommates. It was an excellent evening. Margaret Schroeder gets a lot of shit (ha) for her constipation face in The Boardwalk Empire thread. Has no one else noticed the actress who plays Lori Grimes seems to think "make my eyes as wide as fucking possible" is an acceptable reaction to everything from zombie attacks to picking a bone out of her fish? I can't wait to see the fire and brimstone that Merle rains down when he returns to the group. And, like some of you have mentioned, I bet Lori is going to end up pregnant fairly soon. At which point she'll make her eyes as wide as fucking possible.
After Bumblefuck Mountain, is anyone else expecting the Wal-Mart All-Stars to make their way back into the city to team up with those guys? Their leader did mention something about needing "more muscle." I'm hoping they don't take the show in that direction, because that would be far too convenient, but I have a nagging feeling it may come to that. And did anyone else audibly groan (as I did) at the end of episode 4 when Jim (I think that's his name) said, "Oh...now I remember what my dream was about!" I felt that was tacky, that they were that obvious about it.
I think Jim's delivery is what slide that through the total bullshit line detector. I think that actor nailed his parts perfectly. I was never comfortable with him throughout the episode making sure he wasn't going to flip shit. And by the way, I have to say, Darryl is my favorite character on this show. Maybe it's just the crossbow, but they need to give him just one more funny line per episode in character.
Solid episode, looking forward to the finale. For some reason I think the guy (I only know like 4 character names and I'm too lazy to look these up) who got bit and hasn't turned yet is going to live and remain human. The sister that died and came back as a zombie did so in 12(ish) hours. Plus his fever hallucinations of the zombie face just lead me to believe that some people are resistant to the zombie flu. I really wish this season was more than 6 episodes. It seems like they're just starting to get rolling right now and the peripheral characters are being killed off or leaving making it easier to keep track of and become attached to the remaining main characters. Spoiler So the zombie flu is apparently spread through the air too... makes some sense in regards to how many people are infected and that some seemed to be "bite free" when shown. My only problem with this is that those fucking old people and Vatos and other future groups should have been turned by now as well.
I think it was made clear that everybody is already infected. The zombie bite doesn't infect you, it kills you. And then the infection/virus/whatever that is already inside you makes you go all 'braaaaiiiinsss' and shit. But I don't quite understand what you are trying to say in your last paragraph. Do you think some of the zombies that don't seem mutilated were turned into a zombie by something else? But why do you think the Vatos and the old people should've been turned as well? Because they're Mexican and old?
I disagree. I have the feeling that they're going to channel the Day of the Living Dead in the next episode and... Spoiler I'm betting that the CDC guy infects the blonde haired chick on purpose in order to replace his necrotized zombie tissue with freshly changed zombie tissue in order to keep searching for a cure. Remember, CDC guy was about to commit suicide, because he'd lost all of his samples due to a quarantine and purging of the lab space.
I must have missed where/when they said everyone was infected. I thought they were running the show on the premise that you had to have a fluid exchange with a zombie, ie being bitten, getting zombie blood in your mouth or a cut, or zombie cum in your eye. If it's airborne then everyone including the elderly and the Mexican gang members would be turned already since they're in the thick of it down in Atlanta.
Last night was the first full episode I've seen. I was watching at work with about twelve people. I gotta say, the whole "waiting for your sister to come back to life as a zombie so THEN you can shoot her in the head" thing didn't seem... emotionally easier than letting other people melon-ball her brain.
I don't remember the exact words, but Morgan (the black guy from the first episode) said something along the lines that when you die, you become a zombie. It doesn't necessarily have to include being munched on by one. But like I said, I don't remember it, so I could be mistaken. Spoiler Maybe that's because I'm mixing some stuff up with the comics. In the comics people die by other causes and come back like zombies. They even recognize the fact that they are all already infected and it leads to Rick saying they're already zombies, they just didn't know it yet. That's when he refers to the group as 'the walking dead'. The title doesn't refer to the zombies, but to the survivors. On the other hand, the last two episodes had absolutely nothing to do with the comics. It's obvious they're doing things differently, so who knows?
By the way, I know AMC is traditionally terrible for this, but is there somewhere I can stream the first several eps of this show? Like I said, last night was the first chance I had to watch a full episode.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.ch131.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.ch131.com</a> usually has episodes up within an hour or so of airing. That's what I've been using for the last couple weeks. My understanding was that you are infected when bitten/scratched by a zombie. If the initial bite kills you like it did the girl, your body reanimates as a zombie several hours later. If you survive the attack like Jim (I think that's his name. Also too lazy to look), you begin to experience symptoms of the fever that someone described to Rick in one of the first couple episodes.
I read on AV Club that they are definitely going in a different direction than the comics. Thank fucking God. I can't piss out my 6th story window without some asshat who read the comic trying to spoil the story for me. It's not that they try to do it on purpose, but like Aribidi, they're forget which is which and start saying shit. I loved this last episode. As a solid TV watcher, it is not said how the infection works. They might get at this in episode six. Holy shit, once again Amy has a scene where I'm shaking watching it because it is so tense. Yes, I definitely feel like she needed to wait until she turned to kill her. It was awesome, she had to know she was totally gone. When those eyes open up and she goes to bite her, yeah you know she's gone.
This show does suspense better than anything I can remember from the past 10 years. The reason they accomplish this is 1) the great score, and 2) the writers seem willing to kill main characters. I've found that most shows that try for suspense fail miserably because it's well established that no main character will ever die or be permanently injured. Burn Notice repeatedly fails at this--1st season finale, Michael gets blown up; 2nd season finale, Michael jumps out of a helicopter and swims 5 miles to shore; 3rd season finale, Michael gets shot in the chest--and of course these cliffhangers fail because I know that by the start of the next season Michael will have made a full recovery. Walking Dead, on the other hand, seems willing to kill or at least maim any an all main characters. I hope they keep this up.
It's amazing that you say that, re: willingness to kill off main characters. The comic is notorious for this, and so far I have been blown away by the way they have diverged from the comic in every way but that. Any time there is a quiet conversation I am expecting someone to get chewed in half. I love that they took the gang to the CDC it is a complete divergence from the comic. I also suspect that our friendly neighborhood scientist is on the prowl for fresh braaaaaaaaaaains. The fact that they are totally setting a new course is great from my POV. I didn't like knowing what was going to happen next and now the whole thing is wide open.
I'm not trying to be Buzz Killington here but couldn't the guy just get a sample from one of the many bodies/walkers roaming just outside the CDC, especially now that he isn't alone?
I think the preview gave it away a little. Definitely looks like Amy becomes a test subject as it is obvious doctor is off his rocker. I love the fact they split the hispanic family off. Complaints about the show was that "there are too many characters" at first, now we're getting down to a good sized group.