Aaron in general is too wacky. It doesn't work. Villians are happy and wacky, and usually friendly to an extent. Most of the human villians in The Walking Dead in general are people who want power. They need allies, but they kill anyone they consider a threat. Negan, The Governor, Carver, whatshisname who recruited Daryl in 4B. Aaron pretty much acts the way they do.

If you're trying to recruit people, especially Rick's group, it would be best to act more subtle and normal.

 

That's a bit rough. Rick no doubt has his family as a priority which had been the case since day 1. The others were initially people that he was obliged to protect as his sheriffy duties.
However, five seasons on they're no longer just people but family that he shares a bond with. To the point where he is willing to compromise against his better judgment to listen to them, ala the travesty that was the hospital. (Which is a shame cos the 'this isn't a democracy' Rick was awesome.) But he's learnt that he can be fallible which is why he listens to his peeps.
Most other leaders would go psycho with anyone questioning their leadership.

The newcomers feel this bond which is why they want to be a part of it. Share in the love.

What will be interesting is if Alexandria is a farce of a setup. Will Rick take over the reigns diplomatically like he wanted to but hesitated at the farm or will he go all governor on them like the governor did with that community on the woods, sensing weak leadership.

Which is probably why Aaron is recruiting such a large group... Mayor Grimes.

 

I just want to be optimistic at this point. The group are so knackered that they are willing to risk it. If crazies are living inside those walls this is what they d be banking on, desperate people let their guard down.
But yours is the voice of reason and common sense. They should be more cautious, but the state they are in makes them less suspicious than they should be

 

I think the whole notion of sending scouts to attract new members is completely plausible. Here are my thoughts about the whole thing in no particular order.

• Observing a group for an extended period of time is smart. The longer he observes, the bigger the sample size and the more accurate picture he gets of who they truly are.

• Aaron mentioned he had prior experience in dealing with life threatening situations (pre-ZA) so his calm demeanor under duress didn't strike me as odd. He was only rattled when he thought the love of his life was dead or dying.

• The statement about people being a valuable resource is also completely plausible in my opinion. In a time where there are very few humans left alive coming across a group must be rare. It must be even more rare to come across people who could contribute more to a group than they take. Gathering people like that only improves the overall chance of survival

• Going out scouting in pairs, each with a vehicle, is smart. They only split up when they decided to approach the group in person. It's exactly the same strategy Rick employs when Glen and company go to check out Aaron's story about the cars. They may not have walkies but they had a way of communicating in the event of emergency (flares).

 

I'm guessing in ASZ they have multiple people who around for miles looking to either kill bad survivors and recruit the good survivors. It would make sense why they have so much gear and a strong base.

 

I don't understand, I guess, the whole thing of Aaron not being believable. First I will say when I read the comic; his character made sense to me. I understand I perceived whom that character wld be totally in my mind and its a whole different story bringing that character to life sort of speak on the tv. Also who knows how anyone respond cause no one has been in ZA world, but its fun to speculate.. Right that's the whole point?
I agree with what a few of you have said; I don't think its completely implausible to have a few people in each group go out and scout beyond their community. Whether it is for goods, to get an idea of what's around you geographically, and most importantly to look and see if there are other survivors out there or at the least near by. Aaron and Eric being "scouts" I think is actually a brilliant idea, and a communities first line of defense.
Now for Aarons character portrayal I don't understand why people can say, well he is a crummy scout or interrogator - and I really don't understand why they can pass any judgement on the way Rick and co responded. But I do get it- its fun to speculate what you mite do in that situation... Do I think Aaron seemed a lil "too nice" to be a scout, yeah- but I am sure he wasn't trained in this job, nor went to any ZA seminars on how to be a successful scout.. But I will say when you're approaching strangers esp in this scenario its kinda a luck of the draw. Later on in the ep you hear Glenn say shoot anyone on sight. Well what if Aaron rolled up there military style and demanded to talk, and was a lil more pushy or a lil more aggressive? He prolly wld of been shot! So I understand his empathetic approach and his unskilled mannerisms. I don't think he went to college for Scouting 101.
Lastly everyone has had different experiences, from the perspective of Rick and co yeah when you're on the road you have talkies, guns, more guns, and ammo but that's cause they've come across some pretty big bad guys- maybe Aaron and Eric haven't? Maybe they've had some good luck, or use a different technique. I thot the flare guns were pretty awesome.
My point is I think Aaron did everything ok, to the best of his possibilities- he was portrayed different on tv than what I imagined as I read the comic, but still the idea of scouting is not as far fetched as people think. Even just think about when you move to a new apt/home.. Isn't the first thing you do is check out the neighborhood? Where's the seven eleven, grocery store, bar, etc.. Its not much different than that, really.

 

Alexandria could give the group some much needed breathing space. But I don't think there's a happy future for anyone in their world. Long term survival will mean going on the offensive, not hiding away in fortified villages and waiting for things to get better.

 

I find the distance to be somewhat implausible. Would any group really go out 100 miles in search of new people? Aaron's listening device must have a range akin to the sensor dish of the USS Enterprise.

 

This I agree with. They certainly are further out than seems reasonable.

 

Carl would have been on board right away!

 

I think it's one of those things that wasn't really thought out by the writers because it wasn't considered significant to the overall story. If we're looking at this as "real life" it's logistically impossible for even a thriving community to maintain that kind of scouting radius in post-apocalyptic conditions. 100 miles also likely puts the ASZ in contact in some form or another with the Richmond community at Shirewilt. So, perhaps a more realistic scenario was they had a trade relationship with Shirewilt. That gives them a reason beyond recruiting to be so far from Alexandria.

 

With 444 members? I disagree. Why would a group that has amassed 444 members feel it "responsible" to every group member remained 100% isolated in the "safe haven"? Like a ten mile radius 100% combed and clear would provide a sufficient "buffer zone" refuge from aggressive bands/ groups of survivors looking to commandeer their camp?

In addition, with 444 members in the group that was successful in constructing this massive safe haven and defending it successfully against other Human survivor invasion, it only stands to reason that they would "expand" their borders once an area is securely controlled. That is the utter basic Human nature in banding together in larger groups!

It is unreasonable however to believe that Aaron and Eric were the only two scouts. In TWD, we are dealing with Rick's group as a focal point. It is plausible teams of two scouts are sent out in 8 directions and are proceeding in concentric circles extending their secured area.

We also don't know that Aaron and Eric are truly from the group that built this safe haven. For all we know this establishment was indeed recently overthrown (like some are wondering how it was avoided) and the original builders did get way worse than the Terminates. This group could be sending scouts out to "wrap up the overthrown" similar to what Rick insisted on doing immediately following escaping Terminus walls.

This group might be doing exactly what our group elected NOT to do at Terminus that got Bob killed! Again, Eric and Aaron may just be two of the sixteen advance scouts sent due south of the base with serious armed backups within flare range.

By chance coming across a seriously powerful group of survivors while hunting down the previous residents of the Alexandria stronghold it would seem best to either eradicate the new group or "recruit" it to not allow the surviving ousted groups members to potentially ally themselves with it!

Just look at how major money mainstream sport drafting (recruitment) often goes. It is common for a team to choose a player in a position that they are deep in for no other reason that to keep a team that is in serious need of that position player to improved their competitive status.

A group that just commandeered a safe haven is NOT going to leave a wildcard well armed transient group entirely up to chance!