Post by Sexual Chocolate on Oct 20, 2016 2:05:35 GMT -5
And I thought I was a Negative Nancy.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 23rd for Season 7, and while the show has certainly had its share of strong moments, it wouldn't quite be The Walking Dead if some characters weren't occasionally making decisions so dumb and dense they made you want to facepalm yourself into oblivion.
Look, The Walking Dead universe is an intense one. The weak don't survive. Hell, sometimes the strong don't either. And when every episode's about survival it's only natural that viewers become super-invested in every choice the survivors make, comparing those choices to what they themselves would do in the same situation - while also knowing full well that most of us wouldn't survive a single afternoon in this zombie-filled hell. So we scrutinize, and hold characters to very high, pragmatic standards. But even knowing this, and our pickiness, these guys have made some really stupid decisions.
Letting Merle in the Group
Merle was just too cartoonishly racist and misogynist to believe. Sure, people like him might exist, but he was such a heightened character that it was almost impossible to buy that any of the other survivors would put up with his insulting, reckless ass for more than thirty seconds, much less keep him on as part of their group. Especially when you consider that alpha male Shane was leading the pack at this point.
Merle would eventually return a few seasons later, somewhat domesticated and less hateful/hateable. He was still a son of a bitch, but not a full-blown coke-snorting imbecile.
Carl in the Headlights
Young Carl, during a moment when everyone was frantically searching for lost Sophia (and also after everyone survived a herd of highway walkers) stopped to take in a deer.
Well Well Well...
Granted, the nasty, bloated well zombie from Season 2 has become something of an iconic calling card for the show, even getting its own action figure. But what kind of idea was it to drag this walker out of the well? A half-witted one, that's what. One where Glenn risked his life by being lowered down into the zombie stew.
Shane-Shaming
Early on in The Walking Dead, there were Lori troubles. Instead of making her post-apocalyptic affair with Shane a regretful one-time deal like it was in the comics, they made their relationship more of an ongoing thing that she was a voluntary (though notably distressed) party to and liking her was more of an uphill battle from the get-go.
Watching Milton's Every Move
In the Season 3 finale, Andrea spent a good long while foot-fumbling with a pair of pliers before she started to work on her restraints, but she'd constantly look up from her work to watch Milton transform into a growling, gurgling member of the undead. She paused so much, stopping everything to take in the horror, that Milton eventually wound up feasting on her neck. If she'd just kept her head down and kept at it, she could have escaped.
Beth's Last Stand
Season 5 with its Terminus terror, cannibal carnage, and Alexandria drama had some of the show's best material in it. But when it came time for Rick and his crew to face off against a bunch of headstrong Atlanta cops, ol' bonkers Beth basically killed herself after deciding it'd be a great decision to weakly stab Officer Dawn in the shoulder with a tiny pair of surgical scissors. A move that could have very easily kicked off a huge gun fight between the two sides, killing everyone. In the end, it only served to get herself and Dawn dead.
Abandonment Issues
Right toward the end of The Walking Dead's sixth season, after Rick and his team had been handily handing the Saviors their asses for weeks on end, almost every capable member of our main character crew decided to leave Alexandria while they were on the precipice of open war. Rick and Morgan ran off to find Carol (who left because she was now Sad Carol) and Sad Daryl left because he was upset about Denise, which then caused Glenn, Michonne and Rosita to go out looking for Daryl - in the woods that they already knew were crawling with Saviors.
Agree or disagree? What would you add or omit from the list? More detail for each category at link.
Link to Article
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 23rd for Season 7, and while the show has certainly had its share of strong moments, it wouldn't quite be The Walking Dead if some characters weren't occasionally making decisions so dumb and dense they made you want to facepalm yourself into oblivion.
Look, The Walking Dead universe is an intense one. The weak don't survive. Hell, sometimes the strong don't either. And when every episode's about survival it's only natural that viewers become super-invested in every choice the survivors make, comparing those choices to what they themselves would do in the same situation - while also knowing full well that most of us wouldn't survive a single afternoon in this zombie-filled hell. So we scrutinize, and hold characters to very high, pragmatic standards. But even knowing this, and our pickiness, these guys have made some really stupid decisions.
Letting Merle in the Group
Merle was just too cartoonishly racist and misogynist to believe. Sure, people like him might exist, but he was such a heightened character that it was almost impossible to buy that any of the other survivors would put up with his insulting, reckless ass for more than thirty seconds, much less keep him on as part of their group. Especially when you consider that alpha male Shane was leading the pack at this point.
Merle would eventually return a few seasons later, somewhat domesticated and less hateful/hateable. He was still a son of a bitch, but not a full-blown coke-snorting imbecile.
Carl in the Headlights
Young Carl, during a moment when everyone was frantically searching for lost Sophia (and also after everyone survived a herd of highway walkers) stopped to take in a deer.
Well Well Well...
Granted, the nasty, bloated well zombie from Season 2 has become something of an iconic calling card for the show, even getting its own action figure. But what kind of idea was it to drag this walker out of the well? A half-witted one, that's what. One where Glenn risked his life by being lowered down into the zombie stew.
Shane-Shaming
Early on in The Walking Dead, there were Lori troubles. Instead of making her post-apocalyptic affair with Shane a regretful one-time deal like it was in the comics, they made their relationship more of an ongoing thing that she was a voluntary (though notably distressed) party to and liking her was more of an uphill battle from the get-go.
Watching Milton's Every Move
In the Season 3 finale, Andrea spent a good long while foot-fumbling with a pair of pliers before she started to work on her restraints, but she'd constantly look up from her work to watch Milton transform into a growling, gurgling member of the undead. She paused so much, stopping everything to take in the horror, that Milton eventually wound up feasting on her neck. If she'd just kept her head down and kept at it, she could have escaped.
Beth's Last Stand
Season 5 with its Terminus terror, cannibal carnage, and Alexandria drama had some of the show's best material in it. But when it came time for Rick and his crew to face off against a bunch of headstrong Atlanta cops, ol' bonkers Beth basically killed herself after deciding it'd be a great decision to weakly stab Officer Dawn in the shoulder with a tiny pair of surgical scissors. A move that could have very easily kicked off a huge gun fight between the two sides, killing everyone. In the end, it only served to get herself and Dawn dead.
Abandonment Issues
Right toward the end of The Walking Dead's sixth season, after Rick and his team had been handily handing the Saviors their asses for weeks on end, almost every capable member of our main character crew decided to leave Alexandria while they were on the precipice of open war. Rick and Morgan ran off to find Carol (who left because she was now Sad Carol) and Sad Daryl left because he was upset about Denise, which then caused Glenn, Michonne and Rosita to go out looking for Daryl - in the woods that they already knew were crawling with Saviors.
Agree or disagree? What would you add or omit from the list? More detail for each category at link.
Link to Article