Yes, and if so, it's good that they're introducing this new angle to the show. We can probably all agree that zombie flicks are awesome since we're posting here, but the human danger is actually very realistic, and therefore the more disturbing of the two. When governments all over the world spend us into the shitter - and it's coming to the good ol' US of A soon, courtesy our Congress and Chairman Obama - society will break down and the scum of the earth will roam. Think "Occupy" on every block of every town.

Anyone familiar with the original story knew this new sub-plot was coming.

 

Welcome to the boards! I pretty much agree with ya. Funny how all sorts of people have posted their ideas on what happened and really seem to have no clue. It's like there are a bunch of people out there that have to be spoon fed information anymore. :zombies_lol: There really are people out there that think Rick shooting those guys from Philly was wrong.

 

No, I'm totally down with Rick offing them...they were closet Cowboy fans!! :shining:

 

Really? Hahah, I thought he dicked around with them too long. A bullet should have been in each of their foreheads before they even had a chance to settle in.

 

Damn it they should have been shot slower.

 

Navygunz, that's very interesting. I think that IS the story arc the series will take but I'm curious as to why. Why do you think man will become man's most dangerous enemy (given the ZA scenario)? Ostensibly, resources are virtually unlimited now. Food, water, vehicles, weapons, fuel- all anyone's for the taking. Canned and processed food in sheer abundance. I have to admit I don't know why another group would want Herschel's farm- is it magically safe? How would they know?

I thought the Resident Evil series, beyond the first installment, were pretty fantastical offerings in the zombie apocalpyse genre- and I don't mean that in a positive way. But they DO depict the human remnant as realizing that they HAVE to stick together in order to survive. This was pretty much established as protocol in the "...Living Dead" film catalog.

Given dwindling resources I could see humans in conflict with each other, but the ZA doesn't present this threat. So, WHY is man fighting man?

 

Because taking what took you 300 man hours to put together in 1sec with a bullet equals a whole lot of spare time for me. Well, not me, but that is why plunderers plunder. Its easier and in some cases safer just to take.

 

How many of the resources were horded or accidentally destroyed during the onset of the ZA? Also gas goes stale or "bad" over time and with no one refining more how long before it is all used up? I think controlling resources would be a very big concern for any group of people.

(first post, must say I just found the forum and love it, like NavyG said, a lot of good discussions here!)

 

ROTFLMFAO!! I love it!

Thanks for being so quick to point this out. While this development comes as a bit of a surprise to many viewers, fans of the source material (myself included) have been chomping at the bit for this moment to arrive.

 

That's a rhetorical question, right? ;-)

 

Speaking of Wild West, that was probably the point the producers were trying to convey with that music at the end. At least that was my perception--The Walking Dead is now a full on pre-industrialized society survival-of-the-fittest, with zombies!

 

HSZ, take my question in context; why is man fighting man after the ZA? We do have some experience with a people experiencing existential crisis. I visited Haiti last year on a humanitarian aid mission. And the people weren't savages even after months of extreme depravation. In fact, they seemed to be working together quite well.

I would think during the ZA the sheer energy expended remaining alive against the overwhelming numbers of walking dead- who NEVER sleep, NEVER rest, NEVER stop coming, simply wouldn't allow time for one tiny group of humans to travel about scheming to plunder what would be the paltry supplies of another tiny group. At least not within the first year or so. I mean, are they ALL in one geographical area? 90% of the populace is gone: how much free stuff do you have to pass up to get to the stuff guarded by other people with guns? Someone mentioned taking with a bullet in 1sec what it took me 300 man hrs to gather. But what the hell was the marauder doing in all that time- playing PS3?

 

Pulling security against an enemy that never sleeps, never rests, and never stops coming. They don't just maraud, but when they run across survivors their intent is to take.

 

Bassman, my apologies- I was thinking of Resident Evil but wrote Living Dead. Although in Night of the Living Dead the survivors do stick together. Of course, that movie only covers the initial night of the apocalypse. Night was probably the best work and after that the remaining films tended to deteriorate as they became increasingly implausible (particularly when the zombies began to "reason").

I would imagine one could envision the ZA as an invading force. If America was suddenly invaded by "choice-of-enemy-here" to the extent that we citizens were virtually wiped out and our enemies outnumbered us 10-1 how likely do you suppose it would be that we'd run around fighting each other? Even in history, when a people have been laid upon by a much greater force (their "zombies", if you will) seeking their annihilation those people tend to come together to oppose that force, not sink into wholesale battle amongst themselves. If they did so, facing overwhelming outside numbers, then very soon those people would be wiped out.

In many zombie movies the cause of the ZA is manmade. This immediately sets the premise of Man v. Man as Man is responsible. TWD, in my opinion, brilliantly avoided this poison pill (at least so far in the television series) by NEVER providing explanation for the ZA. It simply is upon the world.

So, Man is basically returned in the numerical sense to an ancient state. Anciient man, some believe, faced sabretooth tigers, slavering giant wolves, and maybe the odd dinosaur. And survived via working with his fellow man to reach that point just prior to the ZA. Now, the ZA Man has several advantages his ancestors did not when they faced countless mortal foes intent on eating them. ZA Man has weapons- from rocket propelled grenades to tanks. ZA man has vehicles- Ford F150s, diesel tractor trailers, boats, and aircraft. ZA man has food in abundance.

My point is, given what we know of human history, does it make sense that surviving Mankind would fight each other following the ZA? Or is it more probable that they would come together to try to eliminate the existential threat and rebuild what has been lost? And can a compelling story be created in that vein? I submit that it could.

 

It's funny - if any of you have watched Falling Skies - the survivors there are also struggling to live after the Alien Apocolypse. After the initial distruction, the aliens are scavanging for supplies and children (which they take over in a creepy bug kinda way and make slaves). In that storyline, the people encountered other survivors and they almost always viewed them with suspicion and as a threat. They don't immediately agree to pool resources, they in fact protect their resources intensely. they also had their Rape Squad group that they had to fend off.

The similarities are actually very similar. Civilization breaks down. Everyones moral code seems irrelevant in this new "dog eat dog world". Simple resources (food, fuel, guns, ammo, water) become worth dying for. People that put the group at risk cause they cannot follow orders are stripped of authority and/or kicked out of the group. If two people want to lead, then untimately the group ends up splitting, with one leader/followers going in one direction, and the other leader/follower going in another. I could see Shane/Andrea splitting off into their own group if Shane cannot accept Rick's lead.

I was actually surprised that this is the first time the farm was visited by other survivors, especially since they left that big ass note on the highway telling sophia where they were....

 

It has been going on FOREVER. While I don't always believe this to be the best site for things, I really don't have the time or want to find a more reliable source. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_warfare

 

Bassman. and Maggie, so WHAT explains man making it this far?

Yes, we DO fight, as do Hyena packs, Lion prides, Elephant herds, territorial loners (bears & tigers). But we do so in a given context- i.e. limited resources or religious superiority. These motivations to fight are GONE in the ZA. Maggie, in Falling Skies (a strong show- sorry to see it go...) the survivors DO face limited resources. And while they have internal conflict the primary and far more dangerous enemy are the alien invaders. In TWD the existential threat to mankind, the zombies, are a relatively easy enemy to deal with (taken in context with Aliens with superior technology). This fact is evidenced by the farm heretofore being so safe even as they kept a hoard locked in the barn. This is an enemy easily outran, overpowered, and ultimately dispatched.

So, what is man's impetus to fall into wholesale slaughter? The Jews didn't start chopping up their neighbors when the Nazi's came. We saw chaos following Katrina but we realize that was the minority and the great majority were assisting each other. And these were instances in which resources WERE extremely limited.

Can someone provide a plausible reason Man makes war on man in the ZA scenario? I have ONE: breeding age human females. That's pretty much the only commodity in short supply. Someone above mentioned the marauder, but I don't think they thought it through completely, as the marauder, while defending against the enemy, would also have the opportunity to gather because the gatherers would also have to be defending against the enemy (does that make sense?).

Also, i don't really see these types of personalities/traits as making it too far. If one can't work with others then one is dying pretty soon (as we see and will see with our own group). And again, the survivors span the globe- they aren't all right on top of each other. There may be inital skirmishes as the pecking order is established in different groups and tribalism would set in. But after awhile, relative peace will exist and the focus for each large group will be on keeping their area safe or wiping the zombies out of it.