The Walking Brain Dead

Or, why I think "The Walking Dead" should be retitled "Everyone But Daryl is an Idiot."

I've written before about what the characters on The Walking Dead are doing wrong. It's loads of fun to armchair quarterback the post-apocalpyse since there's no way I'd survive that long. I live in a city (high population = easy transmission of disease in a pandemic, including zombie-ism) and I suffer from migraines which require medicaiton that my local pharmacy often has to order. So instead of looting the pharmacy like a normal survivor, I'd be stuck wandering through the zombie-ridden streets of Brooklyn in search of a store that has what I need in stock.

But The Walking Dead is back and most of the characters are still too stupid to have survived this long. (I don't know how their TV behavior stacks up against their comic book behavior, since I'm holding off on reading the books so I can remain spoiler-free. I couldn't stand to watch the US version of Being Human because I'd seen the UK version and the first episode cribbed heavily from the original.)

Perhaps you can help me answer these questions with something besides "because the character is an idiot."

**Mild Spoilers for last night's episode to follow.**

Why is Laurie upset that her son says he would've shot his zombiefied friend? Even the little girl's mother believes that the zombie child wasn't her daughter, just an animated corpse. Do you let your friends' dead bodies wander the earth killing, or do you put them down? My husband and I have already promised to shoot each other's zombie version in the head. With a crossbow because the noise of a gun attracts more zombies.

Speaking of which, why has no one followed Daryl's example and gotten themselves a crossbow? Do none of these towns they raid for supplies have a sporting goods store?

And speaking of zombie apocalypses in general, why does no one on the show realize that any zombie outbreak is going to burn itself out in a year or so? All these zombies are clearly decomposing as they wander the countryside. Even with all the preservatives we eat nowadays, the walkers are going to lose their ability to walk at some point, making cleanup much easier for the survivors. All anyone has to do is survive to that point. All this "There's no hope for any of us." nonsense is just a waste of time.

Why does Laurie go after Rick, Glenn and Hershel? Rick & Glenn know exactly where Hershel is likely to be. They went in the first place because there was a sick woman at the farm. Laurie decides that she can't just wait, so instead of, say looking around for a home first-aid book, she decides that someone needs to go get the guys. First she asks Daryl, who was almost killed while looking for a kid that was already dead and is disinclined to go after anyone else. Especially when there's no need to. Then Laurie sets off by herself. It's a waste of gas and reckless besides. And we all know how well that turned out for her.

Why doesn't Rick trust the other survivors they meet? At first, they don't even meniton that they're part of a larger group. And now that Hershel's family doesn't have a barn full of zombies to feed, they could probably support a few more people. The biggest threat in a zombie apocalypse is being outnumbered by zombies. A larger group is more likely to survive. Can you still think of yourself as a good guy if you deny others the same safety and medical care that you've secured for your own group?

OK, your turn. Any other examples of idiocy I missed? Any answers to the above questions besides "stupidity?"