And mosquitos, and tales of reanimated corpses (or at least golems), and why were the zombies first depicted as "bloodhounds" and later got their sense of smell downgraded?
And what's up with Our Gang only just now thinking of siphoning, for fuel? Really?
Here's a place to discuss your favorite Thing That's Obviously Wrong That Drives You Nuts.
Or hey, make a whole list of 'em, each of us probably has one!
Nitpicks & Continuity: Where Are All The Flies?
Started by
HelenBack
, Oct 27 2011 10:27 AM
832 replies to this topic
#1
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 10:27 AM
#2
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 10:51 AM
Clothes on the zombies. I can buy the idea that zombie cooties cause the zombie to decompose at a super slow rate, no problem with that. However, why would their clothes also decompose so slowly? OK I realize the tv show is set just a few months into the zombipocolypse but heck, clothes dont stand up to constant exposure to the elements! We should be seeing more naked zombies. Now it being on tv you might think "oh please diebartdie, no way they can show NEKKID ZOMBIE GIRLS!" but bicycle girl was naked, all the others can be too! Why wouldn't they various bits (like noses, ears, penises, breasts) all sort of drop off after a while? No naughty bits = show them naked!
#3
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:40 AM
There should be way more things failing. The cities and roads for the most part look fine. The "Life After People" series goes long into detail about how fragile things are with our ecosystem and how much care we have to put in to keep the built environment sound. Things (physical things) would start falling apart and/or failing pretty quickly. Yet we've seen almost nothing of the sort.
One of my main gripes is the lack of kudzu in The Walking Dead. On Life After People, they talked about Atlanta, and talked about the serious resources (manpower and equipment) they need to try to control the kudzu in the area. I can't find the clip at the moment but this page (Columbia University)says it could grow a foot a day in ideal conditions. A foot a day! And yet our merry band of morons have been at this months and months and we as an audience have yet to see them encounter anything significant related to it.
In just 50 years it could actually take down huge buildings. Now, with fresh 'meat' rotting and decaying everywhere, I think that would only give it more fertilizer and allow it to spread even more.
I don't expect TWD to turn into "life after people" but the environmental challenges that would occur and that they would face, that's interesting to many, or at least worth a mention or two or 30 seconds or something.
One of my main gripes is the lack of kudzu in The Walking Dead. On Life After People, they talked about Atlanta, and talked about the serious resources (manpower and equipment) they need to try to control the kudzu in the area. I can't find the clip at the moment but this page (Columbia University)says it could grow a foot a day in ideal conditions. A foot a day! And yet our merry band of morons have been at this months and months and we as an audience have yet to see them encounter anything significant related to it.
In just 50 years it could actually take down huge buildings. Now, with fresh 'meat' rotting and decaying everywhere, I think that would only give it more fertilizer and allow it to spread even more.
I don't expect TWD to turn into "life after people" but the environmental challenges that would occur and that they would face, that's interesting to many, or at least worth a mention or two or 30 seconds or something.
#4
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 12:44 PM
I don't know that we're at the "months and months" point, yet. By the time Rick caught up with the RV crew, I had the impression that it was still very early in the apocalypse (didn't Jenner say 60-70 days?) and I feel like it might only be 2 or 3 weeks from then until the season two premiere. That said, kudzu should really be in there. Maybe not at clothes and buildings falling apart, but in 2 months kudzu could do a lot of damage.
I'm kind of bugged about the "last man standing" at the cdc. I mean, yeah, -some- people would have left for families, killed themselves, died in accidents, etc, but the cdc (I imagine) would have had hundreds of people there. Plus, it's a reinforced building with its own generator and ample food supplies. Why's he the only one left?
My theory is that, as the timer ran down, a group of scientists packed up and left, maybe taking any leftover military with them. So while our group is messing up left right and centre, I imagine that there's a better-equiped, smarter, more resourceful group out there kicking ass and taking names.
I'm kind of bugged about the "last man standing" at the cdc. I mean, yeah, -some- people would have left for families, killed themselves, died in accidents, etc, but the cdc (I imagine) would have had hundreds of people there. Plus, it's a reinforced building with its own generator and ample food supplies. Why's he the only one left?
My theory is that, as the timer ran down, a group of scientists packed up and left, maybe taking any leftover military with them. So while our group is messing up left right and centre, I imagine that there's a better-equiped, smarter, more resourceful group out there kicking ass and taking names.
#5
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 12:53 PM
Morgan comments in the pilot that the gas went out a month earlier.
Heh, I tried watching Jeremiah and one of my biggest gripes with it was that the roads were still pretty clear of vegetation which I had to call no way on (in that it had been like 15 years since the apocalypse)
One of my main gripes is the lack of kudzu in The Walking Dead.
Heh, I tried watching Jeremiah and one of my biggest gripes with it was that the roads were still pretty clear of vegetation which I had to call no way on (in that it had been like 15 years since the apocalypse)
#6
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 1:28 PM
Everyone should have some kind of weapon by now, kids included, even if it's just a piece of pipe or a bat. It makes no sense to me that anyone would go anywhere unarmed, at any time.
#7
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 4:05 PM
Everyone should have some kind of weapon by now, kids included, even if it's just a piece of pipe or a bat. It makes no sense to me that anyone would go anywhere unarmed, at any time.
Yep. If you watched the little "webisode" of how the crawling zombie lady can to be (she was pretty hot before she was halved and munched up), the folks on the webisode acted far more realistic than our crew of bumble-head and they have been dealing with the ZA for a few hours, not months...
I have taken my 11-year-old twins (boy/girl) shooting several times at a range and they can both safely handle a firearm (after four or five days of lessons). I could have shortened their training time had there been flesh-eating zombies trying to get them...
Edited by ChipBach, Oct 27, 2011 @ 4:08 PM.
#8
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 6:23 PM
I have taken my 11-year-old twins (boy/girl) shooting several times at a range and they can both safely handle a firearm (after four or five days of lessons). I could have shortened their training time had there been flesh-eating zombies trying to get them...
Yeah for real! I live in the country and I know for sure folks around here start hunting as early as 9 or 10 years of age. Kids can handle things like that if taught proper respect for the tool and if they are treated respectfully.
#9
Posted Oct 27, 2011 @ 6:57 PM
For the record, I was pretty enthused to notice a fly on Rick's stank ass Sheriff outfit when he was in Herschel's house. I liked that bit of reality, cause you know Rick is ripe right about now.
It doesn't solve the many lapses these writers have had though. I know we don't need true consistency, but some of the decay of society and its structures would be interesting, and I think help us feel more of what they are (supposedly) experiencing.
The smell thing does get to me from time to time, because if you think about it, these people are nothing if not hungry. Unless I missed it, and not counting Rick's Tang, we have yet to see them eat a single thing this season. And so smells should be especially notable. If you have not eaten a good meal in days and you smell something rancid, it's really going to get to you. And though I fanwanked away many of their stupid decisions with a blanket proclamation of "the hunger did it!", they are equally on the hook for not saying a single thing about how something or somebody smells awful. They did it in 'Guts' because it was situational. But really, there are dead bodies everywhere, and some of them are up and moving.
And bleeding still. And losing parts and skin and tissue. Andrea not only got blood on her, she got nasty, decaying zombie body parts and blood on her face, lips and mouth. Did she just hop in the (nonexistent) shower and wash it off? Sure, she used the Shane water truck, right? Only, a splash of lukewarm water is not going to wash off that impenetrable stench of a dead man come back to life, that has been getting maggots laid in it, had flies and bugs all over it, and has been dragging it's bloody feet down a hot Georgia highway in the summertime.
Yuck. There should definitely be some kind of examination of this. I will always add that the writers formula is clearly working because the show is breaking records. Still, there are glaring issues.
It doesn't solve the many lapses these writers have had though. I know we don't need true consistency, but some of the decay of society and its structures would be interesting, and I think help us feel more of what they are (supposedly) experiencing.
The smell thing does get to me from time to time, because if you think about it, these people are nothing if not hungry. Unless I missed it, and not counting Rick's Tang, we have yet to see them eat a single thing this season. And so smells should be especially notable. If you have not eaten a good meal in days and you smell something rancid, it's really going to get to you. And though I fanwanked away many of their stupid decisions with a blanket proclamation of "the hunger did it!", they are equally on the hook for not saying a single thing about how something or somebody smells awful. They did it in 'Guts' because it was situational. But really, there are dead bodies everywhere, and some of them are up and moving.
And bleeding still. And losing parts and skin and tissue. Andrea not only got blood on her, she got nasty, decaying zombie body parts and blood on her face, lips and mouth. Did she just hop in the (nonexistent) shower and wash it off? Sure, she used the Shane water truck, right? Only, a splash of lukewarm water is not going to wash off that impenetrable stench of a dead man come back to life, that has been getting maggots laid in it, had flies and bugs all over it, and has been dragging it's bloody feet down a hot Georgia highway in the summertime.
Yuck. There should definitely be some kind of examination of this. I will always add that the writers formula is clearly working because the show is breaking records. Still, there are glaring issues.
#10
Posted Oct 28, 2011 @ 2:37 AM
I agree, the stink factor should be pretty high about now. The only real examination of gross decay stench came when they discovered the dead "anti-domestic violence" guy in the tent. When Daryl went in there he almost hurled from the smell. As for the live people, no one seems to be washing up or changing their clothes even, except for Andrea who changed after eye-stabbing Winnebago Joe.
What I've noticed is that whenever they go into a deserted building there are no cobwebs. There should be cobwebs that Tarzan could swing from. I've had my house shut up for several months now (taking care of my Mom at her house) and I go over weekly and am amazed at the cobwebs, dust and dirt that accumulates because no one is living there. I have to clean house even though I'm not there.
And certainly the vegetation should be pretty overgrown everywhere. At least there should be weeds growing through cracks in pavement, etc. It's like all of humanity has disappeared but the environment has remained pretty pristine. And I agree about the kudzu. It's very prolific and should be climbing up walls, fences and trees by now.
Take the church, for example. No cobwebs and the lawn looked freshly mowed and no weeds in the little graveyard.
Maybe it's because of budget cuts, but they don't seem to be paying much attention to "set decoration".
What I've noticed is that whenever they go into a deserted building there are no cobwebs. There should be cobwebs that Tarzan could swing from. I've had my house shut up for several months now (taking care of my Mom at her house) and I go over weekly and am amazed at the cobwebs, dust and dirt that accumulates because no one is living there. I have to clean house even though I'm not there.
And certainly the vegetation should be pretty overgrown everywhere. At least there should be weeds growing through cracks in pavement, etc. It's like all of humanity has disappeared but the environment has remained pretty pristine. And I agree about the kudzu. It's very prolific and should be climbing up walls, fences and trees by now.
Take the church, for example. No cobwebs and the lawn looked freshly mowed and no weeds in the little graveyard.
Maybe it's because of budget cuts, but they don't seem to be paying much attention to "set decoration".
#11
Posted Oct 28, 2011 @ 11:22 AM
Well perhaps zombie cooties only affect humans (causing them to reanimate after death) and plants, causing all lawns and heck even most fields to stay green yet stunted to "freshly mowed" height.
#12
Posted Oct 28, 2011 @ 1:41 PM
Well, in that case, I want a few bags of zombie cooties to sprinkle in my yard next summer. :-)Well perhaps zombie cooties only affect humans (causing them to reanimate after death) and plants, causing all lawns and heck even most fields to stay green yet stunted to "freshly mowed" height.
#13
Posted Oct 28, 2011 @ 3:20 PM
Yeah, until you feel that first nip on your toe...Well, in that case, I want a few bags of zombie cooties to sprinkle in my yard next summer. :-)
After watching this video(skip to 1:45 for the good action), it makes me even more certain that there would be dogs and cats roaming everywhere. They showed a couple in the opener from this season, and you have the 3 chihuahuas but otherwise, zippo.
Not that they aren't wise for not using them. Because since sound attracts the zombies, if our merry band of losers kept a dog for protection, inevitably it would be a barker, an attract all manner of zombies. It would probably be Lori's dog, and thus her fault.
#14
Posted Oct 28, 2011 @ 4:25 PM
Moved because it probably makes more sense here:
Do they really need to wear the same things all the time and be so dirty? I understand that they can't waste potable water on bathing, but maybe they could at least find some handiwipes or moist towelletes the next time they scavenge through stores for food. And aren't their clothes getting uncomfortably crusty? It's not like they even necessarily need to do laundry. Aren't there tons of clothes available they could snag? Why was Andrea the only one who found things to change into among all those cars? Have these people not passed any places where they could scrounge up some stuff? Heck, even some drug stores and convenience marts carry a few items of apparel. I'd happily rock some cheap sweatpants and a novelty t-shirt if it meant being slightly more clean.
Do they really need to wear the same things all the time and be so dirty? I understand that they can't waste potable water on bathing, but maybe they could at least find some handiwipes or moist towelletes the next time they scavenge through stores for food. And aren't their clothes getting uncomfortably crusty? It's not like they even necessarily need to do laundry. Aren't there tons of clothes available they could snag? Why was Andrea the only one who found things to change into among all those cars? Have these people not passed any places where they could scrounge up some stuff? Heck, even some drug stores and convenience marts carry a few items of apparel. I'd happily rock some cheap sweatpants and a novelty t-shirt if it meant being slightly more clean.
#15
Posted Oct 28, 2011 @ 5:09 PM
Well last season they (and by they, I mean all the women, sigh) did do laundry, even folding or ironing, if I remember correctly.
To your point though, after a while it becomes less about comfort and more about health concerns. You can pick up god knows what romping through woods and dead bodies every other day.
Also, since the zombies (of season one at least) could smell you, you'd think someone like Catfish Daryl would want to change clothes often. I get the love for him because he's awesome, but he's straight pigpenning it out. Zombies should be able to smell him for miles around.
To your point though, after a while it becomes less about comfort and more about health concerns. You can pick up god knows what romping through woods and dead bodies every other day.
Also, since the zombies (of season one at least) could smell you, you'd think someone like Catfish Daryl would want to change clothes often. I get the love for him because he's awesome, but he's straight pigpenning it out. Zombies should be able to smell him for miles around.
#16
Posted Oct 29, 2011 @ 12:18 PM
Perhaps his plan is to go without bathing long enough that his scent becomes indistinguishable from that of a rotting corpse?
#17
Posted Oct 30, 2011 @ 12:39 AM
Some notes on the episode thread reminded me, I've heard complaints about this previously.
I tend to be oblivious to this, almost always, but apparently the show plays kind of fast-and-loose with when it's supposed to be daytime, and when it's supposed to be night.
I tend to be oblivious to this, almost always, but apparently the show plays kind of fast-and-loose with when it's supposed to be daytime, and when it's supposed to be night.
#18
Posted Oct 30, 2011 @ 9:03 AM
Seems like pretty much all shows do that HelenBack.
#19
Posted Oct 30, 2011 @ 1:33 PM
Something my daughter noted how did the people at the farm keep their grass so neatly cut or why.
#20
Posted Oct 30, 2011 @ 8:19 PM
I want so badly to like this show, but this season is not doing it for me. I guess I expect more but don't know why - how far can you go with this story line? Sorry WD fans, I'm watching now and laughing - except for the great make-up.................?
#21
Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:56 AM
I'm currently really concerned about the safety of the farm dwellers: they have lights on, and giant picture windows that appear to have no boards or reinforcements at all, and are only 5 miles or so from a heavily-infested school (which implies that there's probably a residential neighbourhood or something nearby)? How have they not been overrun yet?
#22
Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 10:06 AM
Thank you The Magus!! EXACTLY. I think I saw a very sparse, low fence around some part of that farm, but nothing that would keep a freakin' dog out, never mind a walker.
For my part, I keep wondering how it's possible that the men on the show are either clean-shaven all the time, or are always at same point in their 8 o'clock shadow.
For my part, I keep wondering how it's possible that the men on the show are either clean-shaven all the time, or are always at same point in their 8 o'clock shadow.
#23
Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 5:29 PM
You know, I was fine with the glass of juice, and I could probably fanwank that the bread looked so store-bought because the girl with the horse is just *really* good at baking... but the glass of milk. The glass. Of milk. What. The. Hell. Are they hiding a freaking cow in the attic??
#24
Posted Oct 31, 2011 @ 6:13 PM
Its Almond Milk! You can store it for months unopened. The bread is bread that has been frozen and unthawed.
But uh, how are they outside, at night, under a light, chillin? They would have been eaten up sooooooo bad by bugs, are you kidding mr Kirkman?
But uh, how are they outside, at night, under a light, chillin? They would have been eaten up sooooooo bad by bugs, are you kidding mr Kirkman?
#25
Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 1:14 AM
With regards to flies... Humans stop smelling after about 3 weeks if there is proper ventilation to air out the smell. Flies are initially attracted to dead humans not from the smell of rigor mortis but by the smell of feces. Yes something the show won't mention is that when you die, you empty your bowels.
The truly horrible smell is when the tissues start to decay and hydrogen sulfide and methane are released. After 3 or 4 months in the hot Atlanta sun, the bacteria and bugs will have reduced the dead bodies to almost nothing.
I think Otis was responsible for keeping the grass cut on the farm. Helps with the sight line and see if any zombies are sneaking up on the farm. Of course the gate helps deter the zombies too, as long as you remember to close the latch. :)
The truly horrible smell is when the tissues start to decay and hydrogen sulfide and methane are released. After 3 or 4 months in the hot Atlanta sun, the bacteria and bugs will have reduced the dead bodies to almost nothing.
I think Otis was responsible for keeping the grass cut on the farm. Helps with the sight line and see if any zombies are sneaking up on the farm. Of course the gate helps deter the zombies too, as long as you remember to close the latch. :)
#26
Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 7:32 AM
Did Shane close the latch? He seemed pretty shaken up.....
#27
Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 7:42 AM
OK Herschel's folks have at least one horse, that's what is keeping the grass mowed. That is a "167" year old farmhouse, beloved and I bought a 101 year old farmhouse this past spring so I bet Herschel's is like mine in that it has a hand dug well so thats why they have water. Electricity....we'll just have to assume one killer, extremely QUIET generator....perhaps a solar generator? I dont know, gasoline DOES go bad after a while.
Anyway, regardless, here's what bothers me (and perhaps this more rightly belongs in the "save the last one" thread). Shane, dude, you just risked your life and murdered another man in order to bring back medical supplies so that Herschel could OPERATE on Carl. Did it not occur to you that maybe JUST MAYBE the kind doctorvet might possibly need ALL THE HOT WATER AVAILABLE for such a process? It bugged me to NO END that not only was Shane WASTING water he was wasting HOT WATER and he was WASTING PRECIOUS ELECTRICITY! Oh for fucks sake, and ELECTRIC SHAVER for your stupid head of greasy hair? A friggin bic disposable not good enough for ya you raping murdering dickhead?!?!?
Also, why was Otis dressed for November? It's clearly 114F out there, take some layers off....oh nevermind, you're dead now :(
Anyway, regardless, here's what bothers me (and perhaps this more rightly belongs in the "save the last one" thread). Shane, dude, you just risked your life and murdered another man in order to bring back medical supplies so that Herschel could OPERATE on Carl. Did it not occur to you that maybe JUST MAYBE the kind doctorvet might possibly need ALL THE HOT WATER AVAILABLE for such a process? It bugged me to NO END that not only was Shane WASTING water he was wasting HOT WATER and he was WASTING PRECIOUS ELECTRICITY! Oh for fucks sake, and ELECTRIC SHAVER for your stupid head of greasy hair? A friggin bic disposable not good enough for ya you raping murdering dickhead?!?!?
Also, why was Otis dressed for November? It's clearly 114F out there, take some layers off....oh nevermind, you're dead now :(
#28
Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 7:57 AM
My nitpick/question is crows, dogs, cats eating the dead. Granted I've crossed over to RE:A but there should be flies and some dead flying crows with white-out eyes.
#29
Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 8:44 AM
I think Kirkman is on record saying the zombie cooties only work on humans.
#30
Posted Nov 1, 2011 @ 8:55 AM
Yeah, very few viruses and bacteria can successfully cross species, so I'm not too concerned about the lack of zombie animals. Also? If that were to happen, it'd be pretty awful. I couldn't fully enjoy Resident Evil Apocalypse for that reason: if birds have the zombie bug and if it crosses that easily across multiple species, the only people safe are the ones in complete isolation, and we're looking at a complete ecological collapse. So if it's just humans, I'm fine with that.
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