Rick's group because it's battle tested and more equipped to handle things when they go bad.

 

I want to be in the group that Daryl is in. <3

But seriously, I think the prevailing thought is that the ASZ crew has just been incredibly lucky that they have not ben attacked by some horrible band of rovers. Their luck will run out eventually and they will be completely ill equipped to handle it and will essentially either be dead or become the Termites. So short-term, I'd rather be the ASZ group but long-term I'd rather be Rick's group because once they establish a home base (and I believe they would have found/established their own safe zone eventually even without finding ASZ) they will appreciate it more and know how protect/defend it.

 

I hope not...always felt Woodbury was a little bit like that i.e. too many "non fighters" hiding behind a handful of survivors...Just a bit unrealistic, I thought.

 

Well, I'll put it like this: when faced with a madman wielding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire named Lucille, I know who I would want to count on:

 

They'll both learn from each other. Alexandria is much more sheltered while Rick's group is full of tough warriors, but Alexandria isn't just surviving: they're living. They're more grounded and are able to have a society together, and Rick's group can learn from that.

 

What do you think Rick's group was doing at the prison? After they took the Woodbury citizens in, they had a nice little community going there. And they built it up from nothing, in a much rougher environment with fewer resources but it was functioning well. And they did this without the benefit of the type of walls that they have at Alexandria. So Rick's group understands that kind of community but they also understand how easily it can all disappear. How others can try and take it from you. I don't think the people of the ASZ have that kind of experience so what Rick's people bring to the table is far more valuable.

 

Yes, and I think if you hide behind your walls and you don't fully embrace the new world you put your community in jeopardy. There was even an element of that which was touched upon in 4x9 when Carl blamed Rick for becoming a farmer and not trying to pursue the Governor after his first attack. So there is a balance, and at points Rick's group perhaps even became too complacent for a bit.

 

Well, the fact that rick's group has survived so long in such dire conditions is precisely why they should teach these people a few things. Having a wall and squealing and playing is all good, but a band of monkeys can do that, as long as they are friends with some people who can build a wall. Sure, they must have at least a few strong men to have build the wall, but that doesn't make them fighters or warriors or fortification tacticians. And I'm guessing we'll see that their wall isn't as strong as they think.

 

Faith is not Faith until its all you are holding onto.

Our group for sure.

 

Kind of like Carol told Rick. You can be a farmer, Rick. But you can't just be a farmer. Not in this world of theirs. And Rick's group certainly understands that. If Alexandria has not been through that kind of experience and loss that Rick's group has, they may not have learned that lesson.

 

ASZ crew, cause Aaron.

 

I gotta disagree with this characterization of how the group was at the prison. They appeared to me to be sitting around waiting for death to happen. What did they build? A couple of animal pens? The interior of a prison looked no different when they were chased out as it did when they found it.

Had they actually made it into home, we'd have at least seen walls painted differently, curtains hung, a swing set for the kids - something. There was no lack of resources - that's a suspension of belief the writers keep trying to push on us that I simply can't accept. There's a whole world of resources out there that no one is using!! In the middle of nowhere, Georgia, you might not find a Starbucks or Apple store, but there are plenty of tractor dealers and farm supply stores.

The only experience they bring to people with the minimal intellect needed to establish a stronghold in those circumstances is that doing so is a waste of time because somebody'll just come along with a tank and run you out of the place (of course, one would expect the minimally intelligent people to have commandeered a couple of their own tanks).

 

You're looking at material things. Curtains, swing sets, paint....that doesn't make a community. If anything it might make you too complacent. We don't know what the people at the ASZ had to begin with. Maybe it was a gated community. I'm sure the houses were already there pre ZA along with all the bells and whistles. After Rick's group took in the Gov's people it seemed to me that they had what they needed. They were working together cooperatively, they had food and water, the kids were being educated, people were laughing and falling in love, they were working on their defenses, etc. I'm sure they were scavenging anything they could realistically take back to the prison with them when groups went out. It might not have been as fancy as the ASZ but it was a good place for those people to be at that particular time.

 

I'm not saying that curtains and paint make a community. I'm saying that if they'd developed this thriving community, we'd see things like curtains and paint. If they were living instead of just surviving, they'd have been making visible changes at the prison.

They had food and water - food Daryl scavenged for and water Carol scrounged out of that trickle of a creek and the rainwater collection bucket.

We don't know the exact time between seasons, but it was enough time for Rick to have grown mature plants (so we can safely assume it's measured in months and not days). During this period (let's call it 2 months), they had plenty of able bodies to improve their situation. What did they do? The only changes I can think of are the animal pens and Rick's hobby garden (Oh yeah, they leaned some boards against the fence to "fortify" and built that Mad Max gate attached to a flimsy chain link fence.).

That's what I'm saying, though. They could realistically bring back pretty much anything you can imagine. The highways are glutted with tractor trailers, some completely full of drinking water or canned food. Bring one back and you have food or drink for months, plus a 40 foot section of zombie proof fence.

If the group had been doing anything but sitting around waiting for death during those months, the season would have started with us seeing the kids playing Halo and eating popcorn. The adults would have been shooting pool and sipping cocktails in the bar they converted one of the rec rooms into. There would be a lush farm surrounded by a virtually impregnable (by zombies, anyway) fence. A quick "shopping" trip to the local national guard armory would have likely netted them heavy arms and armored vehicles.

The bottom line is that, from what was shown, Daryl, Rick and Carol were the only ones who actually did anything, and what they did was relatively nonproductive. They most definitely didn't have a functional community. If anything, I'd think all the people from Woodbury would be constantly bitching about the loss of running water, electricity and plentiful food.

Now, don't get me wrong. I completely understand why the show's producers wouldn't have wanted them to act like competent adults during the off season. With that many people and a tiny bit of common sense, they'd have created a fortress where they could live in luxury, safe from any zombie herd or assault by a tank and a dozen people on foot. They couldn't have this because it would have broken the show. I'm OK with that.

I just don't like when people refuse to acknowledge that the conditions at the prison were what they were because producers decided the group was simply too stupid to improve those conditions, and instead insist that they COULDN'T improve them because there were no resources (when there's an entire industrialized nation worth of resources sitting around waiting for someone to walk up and take it) or that it was too dangerous to get the resources (when it's implied that Daryl was making more-or-less constant supply runs - he was just bringing back what could fit on his stupid motorcycle instead of driving the entire truckload of supplies back to the prison). Or worse, try to rewrite history so the prison was this idyllic community, when compared to Woodbury, it was... a prison.

 

Oh noes...hope this isn't the return of farmer Rick or playing house at Herschels because that would be very very boring.

 

definitely Rick's group. I think it will be easier for his group to assimilate back to the life of the Alexandrites rather than the other way around. I bet not all people in Alexandria can protect themselves in this dangerous world.

 

My goodness,have you been watching the show?

The prison was located in the boonies.
There are herds of walkers everywhere which could make filling up that U-Haul truck you think is right around the corner difficult.
The major roads are blocked.
They always have trouble finding working vehicles with enough fuel.
The Gov. burned what was left of Woodbury so no scavenging there.
Scavenging is dangerous. Beth's boyfriend lost his life last time they were in a big box.
Most of the people taken in from Woodbury are not warriors. Many are old. There are children. Rick's group must concentrate on defense.
There are more and more walkers on the fence daily. Makes working on the fence a bit difficult but they do what they can to keep the numbers down.
Halo and popcorn? Really? These people are living like pioneers but they appeared to be happy. They did have showers.
Might have helped if they had an engineer in the group or if Eugene and co. had found their way to the prison but the longer the group was there, you probably would have seen changes.
Unfortunately they had no tanks cause they weren't the type of people that would ambush and kill a group of military men, to take what they had. Instead they served as a beacon of hope to stragglers who could answer their three questions, and then didn't eat them afterwards.
They weren't waiting to die. They were trying to live with the hand life dealt them.

Let's see how the ASZ functions if suddenly herds of walkers mass around their walls making it difficult to enter or exit. Are they prepared to face any and all human threats? How many of their citizenry can actually fight? What will they do if a group like the ones that decimated Noah's community lob an aerial attack over those walls and flatten those pretty houses? Is anyone farming inside in case they can't get out? Let's not judge a book by it's cover. I'm not a comic reader but I want to see how things run inside that community and how they prepare for the unexpected before I decide if it's so great there.