I love the show - because I freakin' love zombie stuff - but the stupidity of the characters is truly overwhelming at times.
I'm willing to give Rick a pass on letting his kid tag along on the search party. Firstly, because I'd be freaked the hell out if I got back to the camper and discovered they were overrun by zombies and everyone was missing or they'd picked up and drove off, leaving me no idea what the hell happened. I might be putting the kid in danger by dragging them along with me, but I'd want to keep them close at hand - especially if I'd gone through all the crap Rick went through to find him. After that, there's no way I'd leave him behind. (Though, to be fair, I wouldn't have bothered looking for the girl in the first place. Not my fault the girl was too stupid to follow simple instructions. She deserves to be zombie chow.) Secondly, if the kid wanted to come along but was rudely rebuffed, I think I'd worry the kid might be all sulky and petulant, feeling like he was being treated like a child, and he might sneak away to join the search anyway. (Because, as that stupid girl proven, kids don't always do what they're told.) Might as well let him come, let him feel like I respect him as more than just a helpless child so that maybe he'll listen and follow my instructions when it really counts, and be able to keep an eye on him. The fact that he got shot was just bad luck.
But that half-assed, ill-conceived supply run by Shane and Otis was just idiotic. Quite frankly, they both deserved to die. Given that they can distract the zombies with lights and sounds, there's no excuse for them not coming up with a better plan of distraction to get them in and out of there with the medical supplies. They could've used the car alarm tactic from Season 1. Granted, I know it doesn't make for the most compelling television to recycle ideas, but it'd be more realistic to reuse proven strategies. And making characters act stupidly just to put them in dramatic situations really hurts the overall likability of the characters. And, at this point, there's really not a likable person in the group. I'm actually rooting for the zombies so far this season.
Though, my biggest gripe of all: why the $@#! does nobody carry a baseball bat, lead pipe or, hell, even a hefty tree branch as a Mr. Eko-style Jesus club? Just a simple blunt weapon for crushing skulls. No, it's not the weapon of choice when you're being swarmed, but if you're just taking on one or two zombies, it'd be pretty useful - and practical. It doesn't require ammo and has no reload time (unlike Daryl's crossbow), it doesn't make enough noise to draw attention, and it'd provide a little more reach than a stupid hunting knife or camping hatchet. Seriously. Looking around my room, I count at least three objects that could be used as impromptu blunt weapons. There's no excuse for the group to not carry a couple of simple skullcrushers.
