The Walking Dead 2.11 - Judge, Jury, Executioner (spoilers)

Kzach said:

I think the best solution is to leave the farm altogether. They now know that there's a rape/murder squad 30+ strong with heavy firepower marauding around the area. It's only a matter of time, no matter what they do with the kid, before the squad finds the farm, even if they're not looking for it in particular, they're still roaming the area looking for just that sort of thing.

So personally I'd abandon the place. In a ZA there's no such thing as holding your position. That might make sense in a mundane warfare situation, but not in a ZA, especially when you simply don't have the resources to defend yourselves against such a force.

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That's a good point. Keep him prisoner until you can make clandestine preparations to bail out. Drop him off 20 miles out and then get out of there. Hopefully Herschel would go with you for the medical support, but I would keep the planned regrouping destination secret from him so the "Gang of 30" couldn't torture the info out of him. They may not be as noble as we are after all.

Kzach said:

I think the best solution is to leave the farm altogether. They now know that there's a rape/murder squad 30+ strong with heavy firepower marauding around the area. It's only a matter of time, no matter what they do with the kid, before the squad finds the farm, even if they're not looking for it in particular, they're still roaming the area looking for just that sort of thing.

So personally I'd abandon the place. In a ZA there's no such thing as holding your position. That might make sense in a mundane warfare situation, but not in a ZA, especially when you simply don't have the resources to defend yourselves against such a force.

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well, he claims it's 30 heavily armed men. Who knows if he's BSing or not?

However, I agree with not sticking around. The farm is not all that defensible against either a horde of walkers or 10-20-30 armed men.

And, at the end of the show, they made it seem like they're low on ammo as well. (Weren't they engaging in extensive target practice a few episodes back?)

NewJeffCT said:

well, he claims it's 30 heavily armed men. Who knows if he's BSing or not?

However, I agree with not sticking around. The farm is not all that defensible against either a horde of walkers or 10-20-30 armed men.

And, at the end of the show, they made it seem like they're low on ammo as well. (Weren't they engaging in extensive target practice a few episodes back?)

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The problem with leaving the farm is the same as staying...you will run into the bad guys, that is just the way it works.

some other points; they have yet to ask Randall where the last camp of the raiders was, this can tell them a number of things...one if he is from the area and not just dropping names he heard while he was being treated. Maybe they think the raiders have left the area, never stay in a place longer than a couple of days, always keep moving but not knowing, not all that smart. 30 people is a lot to keep out of the mouths of zombies and keep safe.

For me...it would still be the coast and a boat.

Spatula said:

"Hey Dale, they don't agree with you, why don't you try TALKER LOUDER at them, that will make them change their minds! Or call them names again, that always works."

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It's unusual for someone that old to have learned so much from the Internet.

Hand of Evil said:

they have yet to ask Randall where the last camp of the raiders was, this can tell them a number of things...

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No, they asked that. He said they move around a lot and that they would've moved by now so he didn't know where they would be camped.

Kzach said:

No, they asked that. He said they move around a lot and that they would've moved by now so he didn't know where they would be camped.

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Still, knowning where they were, placing it on a map and knowing where they have been, would give a lot of information, things like search pattern, normal travel periods, routes and future locations. You also, can find out who the leaders are, chain of command, names of the members.

Naaa, that is expecting too much.

I just wish the ZA were better populated by engineers and scientists, rather than school teachers, stay at home moms and testosterone fueled cops. Honestly, give me one engineer in the fall of civilization -- somebody who can jury-rig devices to help us survive, improve the fencing, help us develop some solar electricity or a generator of some sort, then, rather than leave the farm and roam, we hunker down, build up defenses, keep the zombies out, breed us some live stock, and wait for civilization to rebuild itself. Keep Rick and Shane around as security, sure but why the hell are they in charge anyway?

In fact, here's my "wish" list for a survival party in the ZA (assume a party of 10-15 or so adults):

1. 2-3 people with engineering backgrounds, at least one with some civil engineering experience.
2. 1-2 people with military/law enforcement/security backgrounds.
3. 1-2 people with real backgrounds in farming/agriculture/livestock management.
4. 2-3 people with some form of medical training, even if it's just at the level of first aid, but at least one real doctor and/or nurse.
5. 2-3 Scouts/Foragers.

The rest of the group can be populated by a wide array of people from other backgrounds, but each of them would be actively trained in at least one of the above skill sets. So on day one, I'm useless in a zombie apocalypse, since I'm a college professor who specializes in the humanities, In the ZA, that becomes my hobby. If I'm lucky, I'll also scrounge a guitar somewhere. Also a hobby. But on day two, I'm being actively trained to build turbines, treat wounds, forage for supplies, fire a gun, or birth cattle.

Then we hunker down on the farm, build a big wall, and wait.

Remus Lupin said:

Keep Rick and Shane around as security, sure but why the hell are they in charge anyway?

In fact, here's my "wish" list for a survival party in the ZA (assume a party of 10-15 or so adults):

1. 2-3 people with engineering backgrounds, at least one with some civil engineering experience.
2. 1-2 people with military/law enforcement/security backgrounds.
3. 1-2 people with real backgrounds in farming/agriculture/livestock management.
4. 2-3 people with some form of medical training, even if it's just at the level of first aid, but at least one real doctor and/or nurse.
5. 2-3 Scouts/Foragers.

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Good list overall - I might flip 3 and 4, as there always seems to be medical issues, be it a pregnant woman or somebody breaking a leg or something. The group of The Walking Dead would kill for somebody that could repair/fix things, not to mention build them.

In the comics, Rick is in charge because he is sort of the moral center of the group, which was the role taken by Dale on the TV show, and also something of a leader. Not sure why he is in charge on the TV show - maybe he was a higher ranking police officer/sheriff than Shane?

Dangit! I LIKED Dale.

I really, really wanted to hear his backstory. Grumblegrumblegrumble.

As for him acting foolishly... well, geeze, folks, you may feel you can act like machines under stress, but most folk get a little less rational. The characters are in over their heads, and under unimaginable stress. I'm surprised we've only seen two attempted suicides.

In Dale's case, specifically, as far as he was concerned he had just witnessed the final fall of civilization as he knew it - he'd said as much. What he did was foolish, but only for someone who wanted to stay alive. It seems to me that Dale may not have really cared that much about his own continued existence in his new world.

I've only seen one show where I felt the characters were under similar unremitting stress and desperation - the new Battlestar Galactica. It was so bad for BSG that I stopped watching the show, because it stretched credulity that they didn't have main characters blowing their own heads of in despair.

The only reason I think Walking Dead manages to not get that same reaction from me is that they have a shorter season than BSG.

I agree. I'm one of the Dale likers as well.

As for suicide, well, we've seen two attempted suicides, and at least two further successful ones (I may be forgetting someone).