The Walking Dead S9

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Well, I'm liking things "post-Rick" including:

WARNING: spoilers below

First and foremost, little bad ass Judith, but with a soft heart for strays.
The strays (new people). I find them really interesting, especially the ex-convict gal, Magna (Nadia Hilker), partly due to her mysteriousness, partly due to her hotness.
Carol with the long hair, seemingly more benign but now proved not to be after her torching of the remaining "Saviors" which was pretty damn awesome.
The reveal that Rick and Michonne had a son together. Interesting.
I know the showrunners and certain actors have mentioned that the show in S9 is like a Western and the reveal of the rebuilding of Alexandria (after the Saviors destroyed part of it) made it look a lot like a town out of an old TV Western.
Daryl living out in the wilderness, kind of separating himself from the communities, living off the land, and killing the odd Walker.
Eugene having evolved into an unafraid Walker killer. Love that.


Things I didn't like that much:

WARNING: spoilers below

Michonne being such sour ass. I know she's been through a lot but it's been six years since Rick (as far as she knows) bit the big one and she's still bitter? What happened to all the "carrying on Rick and Carl's dream" of getting along with people. I know she doesn't trust because she thinks that all that dreaming is what got Rick "killed" but...get over it! Just my opinion.
Gabriel and Rosita being a couple. When did Gabriel become such a player?


That's all I can think of right now, but my likes outweigh the dislikes, so I'm still with the show. I think the time jumps have reinvigorated the show. We'll see how far the jump takes it.
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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."



We've gone on holiday by mistake
Was that Carol or Sean Connery from The Rock? (borrowed gold)
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I'm liking the seeming evolution of the walkers into speech patterns... though I may have accidentally come upon a spoiler telling more about this so now I'm pissed about that. I liked not knowing a lot more than I like knowing.

Otherwise, I guess I wasn't too off about Michonne's attitude. She has sole responsibility now for Judith and little R.J. so that's bound to make someone a little more protective. Plus, she knows firsthand just how easily the things they've built can be torn back down.

I'm glad for a time jump, finally, but they've had two this season and it just still feels a bit jarring. So, baby Hershel is now about six or seven, but we haven't seen him yet. And was the bridge ever rebuilt? Because Michonne is somehow taking the newbies to Hilltop and I thought they needed the bridge for that. I'm assuming it was either rebuilt in the ensuing six years or they're takin' the long way around.



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Oh, also has *nothing* happened with the helicopter people in six years? How can anyone else in this universe have NOT heard those helicopters at some point? And, of course, what contact ever happened with the woman who gave Maggie the book of all the plans to rebuild society? (Can't think of her name at the moment.) These are the small reasons I dislike the time jump. Frankly, during this whole series (it's now been nearly ten years in this post-apocalyptic world), I was yearning to see how folks would go about rebuilding society and starting from scratch with technology, etc. I think of the small details like, what are they doing for toilet paper? Clothing? Let's assume everything that could be ransacked HAS been ransacked and gleaned so they must now finally start PRODUCING everything they need. So... the corn fuel, the crops, the windmill... but everyone's still wearing proper jeans and shirts and shoes? What about people who need glasses? Is everyone who takes insulin or other life-giving meds now just dead?

Skipping six years of society-rebuilding makes me a little sad. I almost want a documentary more than a scary story, I guess.



On this note: a while ago I posed the theory that zombies that could not eat or drink would "die."

To kill them you just have to destroy the brain, right?
Well, any zombie that could not maintain the basic necessities for brain function would have their brains rot inside their skulls - i.e. without a food, water or oxygen source, their brains would decompose as any organic matter that is not maintained does.
Any zombies trapped (who couldn't eat) would have had their brains rot within a few weeks or months. Any submerged in water would cease functioning even faster. So, there would be no coming upon any "live" groups of zombies trapped within a building.

So years into the series, the only zombies functioning would be those that eat consistently to prevent brain decomposition or recent ones.



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Yes! This too! Their flesh and muscle is decomposing (which Greg Nicotero loves to show us in gory detail as often as possible), so that would include their brain matter.

I also keep wondering how they keep running across huge HERDS of these things ten years later! Let's assume that folks who are dying now get the ol' stab-in-the-brain before they're laid to rest. So, where are all these herds coming from? How have they not been mostly dispatched by now? You'd think one major job in a newly reformed society would be to go out and kill off these things as far and wide as you can in order to keep your community safe.



Yes! This too! Their flesh and muscle is decomposing (which Greg Nicotero loves to show us in gory detail as often as possible), so that would include their brain matter.

I also keep wondering how they keep running across huge HERDS of these things ten years later! Let's assume that folks who are dying now get the ol' stab-in-the-brain before they're laid to rest. So, where are all these herds coming from? How have they not been mostly dispatched by now? You'd think one major job in a newly reformed society would be to go out and kill off these things as far and wide as you can in order to keep your community safe.
Right. In any sort of reality (I know that's silly since we're discussing things that can't happen anyway) - the zombies' masses would eventually be killed off by the living, and all newly deceased people would be dispatched before they could "turn."

Of course there'd still be some random zombies now and then, but for the most part the living would resume control.

In fact, even though civilization would take a hit in the beginning, I think a semblance of control would be restored relatively quickly, unlike the story in the show. And any rogue groups of survivors (like those in the show) would eventually hook back up with civilization.

Comparatively, a zombie apocalypse would be easier to come back from than say a gamma ray pulse from a star or something similar from a foreign nation that would completely knock out the power grid, thus casting the world back to the stone age. And a zombie horde would be easier to fight than a viral epidemic - let's face it, stabbing or shooting things in the head is easier than finding a way to kill microbes inside living people that are resistant to medicine without killing those they're infecting.

Lastly, I'd think some survivors (and among them military personnel like Abraham was as they are trained in survival) would come across a military base or military grade weapons (or even a well stocked police station with SWAT equipment) which would make eliminating herds of zombies pretty easy.



Well, at least we know, in their reality, they're not familiar with the word "zombie."
I wonder; in the Walking Dead universe, if "zombie" still refers to someone under the control of a Voodoo practitioner?

It would be funny if, in the very last episode of the series some new character screamed - "There's a bunch'a zombies headed this way" and everyone turned and went "A bunch of WHAT?"



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Well, at least we know, in their reality, they're not familiar with the word "zombie."
I wonder; in the Walking Dead universe, if "zombie" still refers to someone under the control of a Voodoo practitioner?

It would be funny if, in the very last episode of the series some new character screamed - "There's a bunch'a zombies headed this way" and everyone turned and went "A bunch of WHAT?"



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Abraham returns to direct! If you get a chance, catch his appearance on Talking Dead

I wasn't optimistic about L.A.R but it's pretty good
It was fun seeing "Abraham" (Michael Cudlitz) on the couch on Talking Dead!

What's L.A.R?



Yes, I was wondering what L A R is also? About the hordes of zombies still showing up---first you have to realize that this thing is worldwide...at least that's what producer Scott M. Gimple insinuated on the Talking Dead couch when he said we're going to see new locations and not all of them would necessarily be in this country. As far as I can remember, those were his words.

Plus, my main theory is that the Walkers are still getting fed regularly---either by eating animals they come across or by people in different locales who are eaten, then the zombies move on. As for the new group, well, that's the whispering group and that's a totally different thing from my understanding.

EDIT: Also, did anyone love Cudlitz's cinematic style of filming? From the hand-held camera at the first with Rosita to the giant helicopter shots going to and from Hilltop. The ending shot was great and got my blood pumping as Daryl and the horsemen roared out of Hilltop with the camera showing the all the country beyond. Can't wait to see what Cudlitz directs next.



Yes, I was wondering what L A R is also? About the hordes of zombies still showing up---first you have to realize that this thing is worldwide...at least that's what producer Scott M. Gimple insinuated on the Talking Dead couch when he said we're going to see new locations and not all of them would necessarily be in this country. As far as I can remember, those were his words.

Plus, my main theory is that the Walkers are still getting fed regularly---either by eating animals they come across or by people in different locales who are eaten, then the zombies move on. As for the new group, well, that's the whispering group and that's a totally different thing from my understanding.

EDIT: Also, did anyone love Cudlitz's cinematic style of filming? From the hand-held camera at the first with Rosita to the giant helicopter shots going to and from Hilltop. The ending shot was great and got my blood pumping as Daryl and the horsemen roared out of Hilltop with the camera showing the all the country beyond. Can't wait to see what Cudlitz directs next.
Yeah I thought his style was great, really enjoyed hearing him talk about directing, he obviously seemed to enjoy it too.

It was only after seeing him without the red hair that I realised he was the "for a while..... for a while" bully/poet from Grosse Point Blank



Yes, I was wondering what L A R is also? About the hordes of zombies still showing up---first you have to realize that this thing is worldwide...at least that's what producer Scott M. Gimple insinuated on the Talking Dead couch when he said we're going to see new locations and not all of them would necessarily be in this country. As far as I can remember, those were his words.

Plus, my main theory is that the Walkers are still getting fed regularly---either by eating animals they come across or by people in different locales who are eaten, then the zombies move on. As for the new group, well, that's the whispering group and that's a totally different thing from my understanding.

EDIT: Also, did anyone love Cudlitz's cinematic style of filming? From the hand-held camera at the first with Rosita to the giant helicopter shots going to and from Hilltop. The ending shot was great and got my blood pumping as Daryl and the horsemen roared out of Hilltop with the camera showing the all the country beyond. Can't wait to see what Cudlitz directs next.
On walkers feeding: I could see the ones eating people or animals remaining animated, but the show has so many scenarios of walkers trapped in cargo bins, under the water in lakes, inside museums - where they presumably had no food source for years. Their brains would have rotted out and they'd cease to function. So these scenarios of coming upon hordes of "trapped" walkers should not exist after a reasonable amount of time (if all it takes to stop them is damage to the brain).



On walkers feeding: I could see the ones eating people or animals remaining animated, but the show has so many scenarios of walkers trapped in cargo bins, under the water in lakes, inside museums - where they presumably had no food source for years. Their brains would have rotted out and they'd cease to function. So these scenarios of coming upon hordes of "trapped" walkers should not exist after a reasonable amount of time (if all it takes to stop them is damage to the brain).
I agree. I was just throwing out some scenario for the heck of it. Actually, it seems like a lot of these walking stiffs should have crumbled to pieces long ago, because just eating meat (of humans and animals) shouldn't sustain them, even if they are zombies. But then again, they are zombies! But I don't know why more of them just don't lose their feet and legs---you know, bones collapsing. It seems to be mainly their faces that are rotting. Maybe it's the ongoing mysterious plague that's keeping them up and mobile.

And your talk of them being trapped---yes, they should have died from zombie malnutrition. I don't know. I know that if you create a series and come up with a set of rules, you should abide by those rules (which an eternal series like the Star Treks should have done)...but I don't remember if this show came up with rules for the zombies and how they keep on going. I mean they should be falling to dust, trapped or not! I just roll with it at this point.



I'm just riding with the show's concept that sufficiently damaging the brain stops the zombies and "kills" them for good.

So... their brains are organic matter and without regular maintenance like we living people engage in (food, nutrients, water, oxygen via respiration and a steady blood flow) any brain will begin to decompose. In the real world, any corpse that's been dead long enough will not have any brain within its skull - just some dust and bug droppings and this is because it has ceased to eat, drink, breath and have blood pumped through it.

According to Professor David Wynick of Bristol University (on the question of how long does it take a human brain to decompose):

It really depends on how you define decomposition. The neuronal function stops within a hour or so after death and cell death will by then be underway. The brain will start to degenerate and liquefy within a day or two. If the corpse is not buried and is in a contained environment at room temperature so insects and worms etc can't get at it and thus further decomposition is purely bacterially mediated then I would guess a few weeks to a month.

So, it seems that walkers that couldn't feed (or were deprived sufficient air or water) would have their brains liquefy, decompose and soon dry rot out of their skulls rather quickly.



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Meanwhile, I just love that we're quoting actual scientists about brain decomposition and then relating it to a fictional creature like a zombie.