The Walking Dead

[X]

i just sorta stopped watching at some point a season or so ago.

[Jobydrone]

Rico are you current with the comic now?

[Rico]

Rico are you current with the comic now?

Yep - finally caught up.

[Bryancd]

Great start to the season, nice to be getting back to some scary and gruesome stuff, I was tired of the Gov.

[Rico]

Last night's episode was nuts!  Man, these poor people never can catch a break.

[Leighgion]

I'd say that, on the scale of a post-zombie plague apocalypse world, that they have caught a break.

[spoiler]
While the threat of disease they're facing now is scary and in many ways much harder to deal with than just walkers, the group's in a way lucky that they haven't had to face it earlier. At least now they have more resources to cope with the problem. They've now two members with pre-plague medical training and one of the most secure homes they could hope for which also has built-in quarantine facility.

Imagine if people had started getting sick in season one during the convoy phase.
[/spoiler]

Hey, it's Walking Dead, not Glee. What can do you do?

[Rico]

There is one thing I was thinking about this week after last week's episode...

[spoiler]Wouldn't it make sense that if you stayed in one location for a time that the Walker population would eventually go down to the point they wouldn't be much of a threat?  I mean all those walkers outside the prison seem to just fill in with new ones each day they kill some.  Where are they all coming from??[/spoiler]

[Leighgion]

There is one thing I was thinking about this week after last week's episode...

[spoiler]Wouldn't it make sense that if you stayed in one location for a time that the Walker population would eventually go down to the point they wouldn't be much of a threat?  I mean all those walkers outside the prison seem to just fill in with new ones each day they kill some.  Where are they all coming from??[/spoiler]

I've considered this as well. Way I look at it though...

[spoiler]
While it's tempting to think that you could deplete the local walker population through attrition, I believe that's founded on a false sense of reality encouraged by video games, where it's normal to be able to "clear" an "area" of hostiles.

Consider the following:

It's been well-established that walkers not only move in response to immediate stimuli, but can migrate en mass, almost like a drive of cattle.

The population of the State of Georgia as of 2013 is almost 10 million, with an average population density of about 165/sq mile.

For argument's sake, let's say that half the population has become walkers, while the other half has been, reanimated and been destroyed, died in a way that prevented reanimation, been disposed of in a way that prevented reanimation, or (a tiny minority) actually survived like our protagonists.

That leaves almost 5 million walkers with an average undead density of roughly 90/square mile (rounding off to make easy numbers) in the State of Georgia alone.

That's a lot of undead to go around, even if we're optimistic about the number of fortified camps of survivors. The walkers don't get tired and so are completely free to wander far and wide towards whatever attracts them, like say, groups of survivors. Walking isn't fast, but if you can do it day and night, you get places.

All this is say nothing of the fact walkers don't respect state lines.

I think a fortified group could buy themselves periods of respite by cleaning up the walkers regularly, but the population would eventually be replenished by the roving undead attracted by the activities of the living.

Eventually they'd have to run out, yes, but even if we scale up my example and say half the population of the US is either resting in peace (most) or struggling to survive (few) that still leaves over 150 million American undead and I think I'm being way too generous saying only half have reanimated.

The only way I see to have comparative haven is to stake out an island surrounded by ocean. Rivers would be a little too unreliable given that walkers do no appear to need air. An island in the sea though, could be cleared and assumed pretty safe from random roving undead, as walkers do not seem to be strong swimmers.
[/spoiler]

[Rico]

I still think there are way too many dead when they stay in one place. But it sure makes it exciting. The most recent episode dealing with the illness was so intense. Show still rocks!

[Bryancd]

Once again, it's back to it's gory, scary roots and couldn't be better!

[Praxis]

This season is on fire. love it

[Dangelus]

I've  lost my enthusiasm for this show for some reason. Maybe zombie fatigue but I'm thinking of dropping it.

[Bryancd]

I've  lost my enthusiasm for this show for some reason. Maybe zombie fatigue but I'm thinking of dropping it.

That's how I feel about Agents of Shield, I have Super Hero fatigue.

[Rico]

I've  lost my enthusiasm for this show for some reason. Maybe zombie fatigue but I'm thinking of dropping it.

It's not really about the zombies - of course.  It's about the people.  ;)

[Praxis]

Good mid-season finale. Brutal.