1.03: Fear The Walking Dead - The Dog

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After they escape a riot, Travis, Liza and Chris seek refuge with the Salazars; Madison defends her home.

This episode will air September 13 in States and in the UK it'll be September 21st.

 

[Jesse412]

This episode was an improvement on the previous two although it was a bit slower in the second half. I thought the riot scenes were really tense. Kind of funny watching a family play board games as the world falls apart around them. Seeing the hospital in chaos was wild and I think it makes sense as that would be one of the first places to fall. That poor German Shepherd. The gore in the scene where the barber shoots the zombie in the face twice with the shotgun looked fantastic. I thought "Good people are the first ones to die" was a great line. Wasn't expecting to see the military show up when they did.

 

[REBerg]

Watching the characters transition from the world they knew to the world they will know is fascinating. I have found the patience to wait for it to slowly unfold.

Some, like Nick, the drug addict, have made it. Madison, who can organize a Monopoly game when a short time earlier she was forced to bash her principal's skull to a pulp with a fire extinguisher, is probably there too.

Ditto for the patriarch of the Latino family, who seems to be quite at home with the concept of the living dead. I'm fairly certain that his wife is going to be doing the zombie shuffle very soon. Could be that he also sees that coming.

Others, including Travis, are not quite there. He can bid his zombie neighbor, Susan, a cheery “good morning,” even as he is digging a grave for another neighbor had just his head blown off. Never mind that he discovered the neighbor in his living room, eating a poor dog he had killed.

Putting out the garbage seemed like another act of denial. Never mind that the can contents included the blood-soaked blanket with which he had shrouded his dead neighbor.

I was also surprised when the National Guard appeared. After the opening riot scene and the lights going out, I thought chaos had permanently descended on LA.

 

[ctg]

Wasn't expecting to see the military show up when they did.

They were coming as soon as the riots escalated to full blown anarchy.

I was also surprised when the National Guard appeared. After the opening riot scene and the lights going out, I thought chaos had permanently descended on LA.

It has. They just don't know it, yet. Nobody can comprehend the madness, and it's easy pickings clearing a sub-urban neighbourhood from building blocks they have in the city. But the amount of the bodies they had piled at the back of the truck says there's going to be time for them to regroup and organise proper resistance. The problem however is that the normal citizens doesn't have much to go in regards of the "disease." In fact, I expect them to start getting easy and thinking it'll blow over in matter of weeks. So, it's going to be interesting to see how this evolves because next on the list after Martial Law is Quarantine Zones. Do you guys think they're going to do that or will the National Guard pull out after they've cleaned initial outburst.

BTW I was expecting them to drive into main highway to only get stuck in a roadblock or a massive outgoing traffic, because they cannot be the only family thinking about leaving the city.

 

[Dave]

Wasn't expecting to see the military show up when they did.

Me neither, it was quite a surprise.

I was expecting them to drive into main highway to only get stuck in a roadblock or a massive outgoing traffic, because they cannot be the only family thinking about leaving the city.

Yes, I was expecting something like that, which was what happened in Atlanta. They are too late to go to the desert now. The road out would be blocked with cars. Though strangely in Atlanta no one used the other lanes.

...next on the list after Martial Law is Quarantine Zones. Do you guys think they're going to do that or will the National Guard pull out after they've cleaned initial outburst.

I think that once the city has been overrun the walkers will move out to the suburbs. At that point, the National Guard will be looking out only for themselves and Quarantine Zones or not, they won't offer any protection.

...the patriarch of the Latino family, who seems to be quite at home with the concept of the living dead. I'm fairly certain that his wife is going to be doing the zombie shuffle very soon. Could be that he also sees that coming.

He isn't fazed by it at all. I'm sure we are going to discover an interesting background in El Salvador. His wife hasn't got long and how they cope with her will be another test.

 

[REBerg]

BTW I was expecting them to drive into main highway to only get stuck in a roadblock or a massive outgoing traffic, because they cannot be the only family thinking about leaving the city.

Yes, I was expecting something like that, which was what happened in Atlanta. They are too late to go to the desert now. The road out would be blocked with cars. Though strangely in Atlanta no one used the other lanes.

Good point. They had better get out of Dodge sooner than later, via secondary highways and roads, if necessary. The freeways transformed to rusting junkyards of the dead shown coming from Atlanta on TWD indicated a panicked evacuation that went nowhere fast. In a government-ordered evacuation of a major city, as Dave observed, the entire freeway would be used to get out, not just the incoming lanes. If that doesn't happen in LA, it will make Atlanta look like it was surrounded by wide open highways.

 

[ctg]

I'm sure we are going to discover an interesting background in El Salvador.

I think you'll forget the relationship Mexican people have with the dead.

His wife hasn't got long and how they cope with her will be another test.

You mean because of the infection she's going to get terminally ill and turn?

At that point, the National Guard will be looking out only for themselves and Quarantine Zones or not, they won't offer any protection.

Don't know. They cleaned that neighbourhood pretty quickly, and efficiently. Like it should happen, because without numbers loose zombies are a piece of cake to nail with their weapons and advanced tactics. And with 1 zombie per 1000 people, it should be surprisingly easy thing to do, even though it looked like Authorities were on losing side from seeing the chaos consuming the city. National Guards even did head shots, while the police were scoring body hits with their rifles.

 

[Dave]

I think you'll forget the relationship Mexican people have with the dead.

I'm only vaguely familiar with Santa Muerte and with Día de Muertos so I hadn't made such a connection. Is that where they are going with this story? Is that the reason why there are so many Hispanics in the cast? I had just thought it was a cross-section of Californians.

You mean because of the infection she's going to get terminally ill and turn?

Yes, if her foot is gangrenous it will effectively be dead, but because of the virus it will still be alive. I'm not absolutely clear on how the virus works, but when people are bitten they turn, even though they wouldn't die from the bite itself under normal circumstances, so it makes some kind of sense to me. Please tell me if you have a better explanation.

 

[ctg]

I'm only vaguely familiar with Santa Muerte and with Día de Muertos so I hadn't made such a connection. Is that where they are going with this story? Is that the reason why there are so many Hispanics in the cast? I had just thought it was a cross-section of Californians.

I don't think they're going to afterlife with this series. No. All I'm saying is that Mexican people aren't that easily scared about the walking dead. They've seen all sorts and gone through most difficult times to come out as champions - at least in this situation.

 

[REBerg]

The death of the dog bothers me. A fully-grown German Shepherd should have been more than a match for a single zombie.

The dog clearly recognized the zombie as a threat. Even if the zombie was the dog's former master, and the dog could not turn against him, the dog could easily have evaded him and escaped.

I could chase my dog around my living room all day and never catch him. I'm no athlete, but I'm considerably more agile than a zombie.

 

[REBerg]

Yes, if her foot is gangrenous it will effectively be dead, but because of the virus it will still be alive. I'm not absolutely clear on how the virus works, but when people are bitten they turn, even though they wouldn't die from the bite itself under normal circumstances, so it makes some kind of sense to me. Please tell me if you have a better explanation.

Travis' ex-wife spelled out what is going to happen to the injured mother if she does not get medical attention. She will die.

Hospitals, with their ready supply of fresh corpses to get things rolling, are zombie hot spots and unlikely to be much help. The National Guard does not seem to be in the business of rendering first aid to survivors. The show's writers could conveniently put a surviving doctor in the neighborhood to save the mother, but I'm not expecting that to happen.

In the Walking Dead Universe, it seems that anyone who has been exposed to the virus, if that is the root cause of the apocalypse, will be reanimated after death from any cause. Unclear to me is whether anyone bitten by a zombie dies before becoming a zombie or is simply transformed.

Also unclear is whether all who died before the epidemic and have the ability to escape their graves will join the zombie horde. The only scene I can remember that made me suspect that might be the case was the one in which the Governor's surrogate daughter was taken by a zombie which had unearthed itself from a river bank at which flood victims had died. As I recall, a memorial sign at the site indicated the flood had occurred before the epidemic.

 

[ctg]

Travis' ex-wife spelled out what is going to happen to the injured mother if she does not get medical attention. She will die.

I disagree. It is unlikely her foot starts to fester and cause gangrene if they keep the wound clean. It wasn't that bad injury. It is more likely she'll die because she cannot outrun zombies.

 

[REBerg]

I disagree. It is unlikely her foot starts to fester and cause gangrene if they keep the wound clean. It wasn't that bad injury. It is more likely she'll die because she cannot outrun zombies.

These fresh zombies do seem a bit more fleet of foot than their well-aged brethren on The Walking Dead. Their craniums are also sturdier, as shown by the number of times Madison need to thunk the principal's braincase before he was deactivated. The standard butter knife won't be enough to put these new walkers down.

As for the impending demise of the injured El Salvadoran wife, we shall see. I had her pegged as zombie fodder from the moment her kindness allowed the riot refugees to take shelter in the barber shop. No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[SilentRoamer]

I'm only vaguely familiar with Santa Muerte and with Día de Muertos so I hadn't made such a connection. Is that where they are going with this story? Is that the reason why there are so many Hispanics in the cast? I had just thought it was a cross-section of Californians.

Its been speculated that the reason Zombie bites almost always kill are due to the infection - their mouths will contain dead flesh along with whatever microbes they have picked up. It would be like being bitten by a Komodo dragon - only worse.

I disagree. It is unlikely her foot starts to fester and cause gangrene if they keep the wound clean. It wasn't that bad injury. It is more likely she'll die because she cannot outrun zombies.

I think the nurse (Travis wife) made it clear that her foot was sufficiently crushed to kill the nerve endings, dead nerve endings = gangrene. Gangrene without amputation and or serious medical treatment = death.

These fresh zombies do seem a bit more fleet of foot than their well-aged brethren on The Walking Dead. Their craniums are also sturdier, as shown by the number of times Madison need to thunk the principal's braincase before he was deactivated. The standard butter knife won't be enough to put these new walkers down.

I'm not so sure - The Walking Dead zombies are considerably slower now but if you remember back to Season 1 "Guts" they are fairly fleet of foot when they are chasing Rick and Glenn. I would expect fresher zombies to be faster than the more aged ones however so I think as a rule of thumb it is probably accurate.

 

[ctg]

I think the nurse (Travis wife) made it clear that her foot was sufficiently crushed to kill the nerve endings, dead nerve endings = gangrene. Gangrene without amputation and or serious medical treatment = death.

Nerves has nothing to do with gangrene. I'm telling you, you will feel excruciating pain if you get gangrene. Wet Gangrene is caused by bacteria and an infection, while the dry one which causes "mummification" is a result of loss of oxygen in your blood supply (blood clots). Either case gangrene doesn't have to cause a death in the victim.

 

[REBerg]

I'm watching a world in which dead human beings, long after their digestive systems have rotted away, can still power their carcasses by eating live creatures. Could this same world manage to kill off one unfortunate, injured lady without the help of gangrene?

Yes. Yes, it could.

Could her hardcore husband toss her still-warm body out of the pickup truck to clear an escape path through a closing zombie horde? Yes. Yes he could.

He has made no secret of his contempt for the weak. He wouldn't let longering sentiment get in the way of that. Right?

 

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Right.

 

[SilentRoamer]

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about medicine/treatment and I was just going along with what the show said. I think your assesment about mobility is correct though, that house is nowhere near tough enough to "hole up" so either way something gets her. Cheery thought.

About the dog: I assume the dog bit him and started just trying to rag him like it would when attacking something that feels pain. Walker just drops on it and bites it to death. I think what would actually happen is the walker would kill the dog but be torn to shreads doing it.

My few annoyances with this episode:

I found the riot scenes to be pretty poor, people are just stood screaming and shaking random things like scaffolding without any purpose.
Mobs are united usually, there is a centre with a common goal and apart from a couple of individual pieces (car tipping) I never saw that onscreen, just a bunch of random people.

The fact that the truck was just parked without any damage whatsoever was really suspect. I was thinking to myself when they were in the shop talking about going to the van - "at this point I'm not thinking about my van, it's probably toppled and/or destroyed." But no obviously Travis' van has some sort of stealth mode. {Upgrade performed Michael}

Playing monopoly when really bad things are happening. Food? Blankets? A weapon?

What I liked about the episode:

Frank Dillane.

That the cast learned early not to leave walkers alive whenever possible. EVER.

 

[Dave]

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about medicine/treatment and I was just going along with what the show said.

I'll echo that. I can't say if medically correct or not, but from the Nurse's lines they wanted us to think that the foot was dead meat, and presumably they want us to make something of that.

If the infection is not spread by open wounds then why did they chop off Herschel's leg?

I do think the disease needs some further explanation to be believable. I think the dog would have torn the walker to shreds too, and I also thought they found it a little easy to, not only find the truck undamaged, but to get in it, and to drive it away.

 

[ctg]

If the infection is not spread by open wounds then why did they chop off Herschel's leg?

Hershel was bitten. That poor Mexican woman had her leg crushed, therefore, she could not have got the "zombie" infection unless its living on surfaces long periods like Ebola. In fact, Ebola is most virulent after the host dead and it can survive up to three weeks. But giving the writers a credit, they're playing with the audience mind with that nurse dialogue. I don't think she will die, because lack of poor hygiene.

Bob was bitten as well, but not on the leg that the cannibals grilled on the camp fire. And he kept going for a long time without showing any symptoms. Also remember Rick shoving his gun - in the last season final episode - in that walker's face, before got plastered with all sorts yucky stuff. He didn't get infected. Why?