Category: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead, S5 E15: “Try”

Nov 15, 2025 – 1:02 PM

Many of the problems in Alexandria are simple. There is no system, and there is no force that guarantees the power of the leader. Thus, Deanne’s power is fragile and via the free consensus of the majority. At any time, the majority could withdraw this consensus, and the society would immediately devolve into anarchy. The force that she does integrate as the executive is Rick and Michionne—the problem is they are not loyal to her. So, essentially, she brought in an armed force that had every incentive to take them over, especially since Alexandria is inhabited by people who do not know how to fight and are not hardened by suffering the way Rick and the others were.

The situation here evokes the concept of the monopoly of violence and civilian control of the military. The military is a kind of “shadow society,” with its own professionals, tradesmen, service people, &c., as well as its multitude of soldiers. Compared with the rest of the population, they are stronger in all possible ways. They are supposed to be. The problem is, if they are not under the complete control of the civilian population, then they could and many times do take over. Many parts of the world are under military control, juntas, usually as a result of a breakdown of civilian society but sometimes also as a result of coups or forced takeovers.

In a post-apocalyptic scenario, I imagine (as I’ve mentioned before) that the warrior class would take precedence over every other class, and the most successful societies would have a primarily militarized culture. The brutal realities of scarcity and the lack of widespread institutions upon which people can depend make that a necessity. As such, Rick was right to feel that Alexandria was primed for collapse. It had no way with which it could defend itself during a full-scale attack, which was likely given their prosperity. They would also at some point require more and more people to help with their increasing needs, which increases needs further necessitating more people still, and in such cases an internal security force would be needed to supplant the external force that protects from threats outside.

As a member of the police force before the apocalypse, Rick was very much aware of this. However, being the idiot that he is, he does not articulate it in any way that makes sense. Rather, he has a vague feeling that something is not right. Moreover, his attraction to a married woman was the ultimate cause of his outburst. The justifications regarding security were secondary.

At this point, these people were dramatically, irrevocably traumatized. They could not and never be expected to function in the heightened capacity that they had to in their given roles. And Rick and the others were showing signs of the disordered thought associated with PTSD, with Rick especially given his aggression. A person like Deanne should have been able to know this. Alexandria was therefore doomed to fail.

Carol in particular was very deeply traumatized. She has been so traumatized by so many different kinds of tragedies in her life that she has integrated her response to this trauma into her very ethos. She has purged herself of every caring instinct, and though in the beginning it seemed as though she was ready to return to a kind of suburban housewife mindset, we see later that actually it was a ruse that was part of her ruthless machinations.

Rick is a total loss. It strains belief to think that the people still consider him their leader, even after he makes such terrible calls, although we do see them beginning to realize that he may not be fit for the job. And as always it is Michonne who ends up knocking some sense into him—which in the case of Rick is knocking him completely out, since there was no sense left. I still don’t understand why she is not their leader.

The very apparent problems of societies like Alexandria I think are what rob these later seasons of drama, including the pacing of the stories that are simply too fast. We are not given enough time to care about these people. And with such a simple scenario without people that we can truly, deeply care about and understand the series becomes a series of events that, while titillating, and somewhat interesting, are still not to the level of storytelling that can be considered great.
The Walking Dead S5, E1: “No Sanctuary”

Nov 12, 2025 – 9:15 AM

Cannibalism is a particular type of turning from civilized society. It requires all the technological and logistic advancements we have today: Organized supply chain, hygienic practices, and so on, but featuring the ghastliest taboo that few is considered one of the greatest abominations.

Historically, civilized people have had to resort to cannibalism under the most dire circumstances. Shipwrecked people during the 1800s have practiced cannibalism through a ritual called the “delicate question.” All willing drew straws, and the person who drew the short straw was eaten, the idea being that in participating in the vote, they also participate in the risk. This ritual was very important. Anyone who partook in this type of cannibalism by necessity was considered innocent under the law, and was not shunned by society, because it was done under the guise of civilization: that of democracy. However, people who have been found to not have undergone this ritual, and instead ate the weakest among them, were found guilty of murder.

This would only change later, when British Law found that under even deathly and desperate circumstances, the right course of action would be to accept death. That is, under the law, there are no circumstances in which another person should be seen as merely an object to satiate one’s hunger like animal. A prohibition higher than even killing, as self-defense has always been considered legal and moral grounds for killing.

In the Ancient World, the Romans (who have become a model for what we considered civilized) despised human sacrifice and by extension cannibalism. When they wanted to justify their expensive and existential war against the Punics (over whom they eventually prevailed, at great cost) they pointed towards the Punic religious practice of sacrificing children to their god Moloch. With the spread of Roman culture, and its basis for much of the Western world, we hold the same sentiment towards human sacrifice and cannibalism: unadulterated disgust.

Yet a post-apocalyptic world might push many to cannibalism, the same way that starvation through war or famine has throughout human history. In this episode, the cannibalism is very sophisticated, and so Terminus is a kind of meeting point between civilization and barbarity. People are not merely shot in the head and then barbequed. Instead, they are slaughtered as a cow might be slaughtered in a meat processing plant.

The idea that industrial society and cannibalism may be intertwined, seemingly without contradiction of principles, has existed in the human imagination ever since the dawn of mechanization and ultimately the industrial revolution. An example that stands out is Soylent Green. In the movie, we realize that absolute depravity has become the foundation of civilized society. It had become a necessity, and one cannot exist without the other. Without Soylent Green, people would starve. Without civilization, Soylent Green could not be so efficiently produced and its true ingredients concealed from the public.

To survive during the apocalypse, we will need to make all sorts of sacrifices. That includes moral sacrifices, as I’ve mentioned before, but there is a point where the moral sacrifice is not a sacrifice; rather it is an abandonment. A sacrifice is something that we “set apart” (cf. “sacred,” “secret,” from “sacer” (holy) + “facere” (to make) – “holy” meaning “to set apart” or “not ordinary/vulgar but divine”). A sacrifice is something that is done for a higher purpose, ideally a divine purpose. Whenever it is done to satiate our baser instincts, our plain biological drives, then it ceases to become a sacrifice.

The most crucial part of this episode is when Carol speaks to the lady from Terminus, the same lady who welcomed the first group and offered them food that was most likely human flesh. She says that, to survive, they had to become cannibals. In the beginning, they truly were the Terminus that they made themselves out to be with the signs along the tracks. But they were savaged, and they did what they had to do to survive. An old Hollywood saying comes to mind: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”

At some point, however, for many people, surviving would not be worth it, if it means abandoning one’s humanity in this way. For to do so would already mean a kind of death. This is what Carol means by, “I’m not here, and neither are you.” Carol, in killing the child Lizzie in the classic episode “The Grove,” feels as though she has moved past sacrifice and abandoned her human nature. Tyrese is keenly aware of this; this is why he avoids killing the man from Terminus when it seemed as though he should have. He screams: “I won’t!” Yet later we find out that he did kill him, in that he realized some sacrifices are worth making, have to be made, especially in the case of an innocent life like Judith.

The wager of the people from Terminus is that to survive, we have to be able to sacrifice everything, including our humanity. Rick is so disgusted by this very idea that, even when Terminus is overrun by zombies and on fire, he wants to return so that he may kill whoever remains. Rick is a champion of civilized human values, and one of his main weaknesses is he is many times unwilling to make the appropriate moral sacrifices for the sake of survival. I suppose we will see how these tensions play out for the rest of the season.
The Walking Dead S4, E8: “Too Far Gone”

Nov 5, 2025 – 11:22 AM

I’m glad to see that the governor was given two episodes to flesh out his character. Now, I think his is an interesting character, although I am still very much bothered with his portrayal. His Elvis Presley accent in particular is bothersome and at times unintentionally humorous. Moreover, despite him having a family, I do not feel any sympathy for him. If anything, the fact that he could still be a cold-blooded and selfish murderer despite having found a new family, or the beginnings of one, makes me dislike him even more. And not in the way that one might dislike villains because of their cruelty. He seems only like the worst of human trash: Opportunistic without lofty aim. Lacking principles.

Rick shows great leadership here in that he makes a speech about hope. And he was about to succeed. We will never know what would have happened Rick did not become enraged when the Governor killed Herschel (who was my favorite character). Perhaps his thugs would have realized that he is a plain, selfish murderer, especially after he killed a defenseless old man. But Rick’s weakness once again makes an appearance when he loses his cool and starts the gunfight.

Also, we see how much of a badass Michonne is when she dodges all those bullets simply by rolling like a log.

I knew that Herschel was going to die at some point. I’m just sad that he had to die in the manner that he did. I believed that he was destined for greater things and a spectacular death. Instead, he died a captive. He was an extraordinarily brave and caring man. He risked getting infected with whatever disease was going around the prison because he wanted to help the sick even if it killed him. The end times will be propped up by people like Herschel, much more than people like Rick: Brave men who do what must be done with compassion and equanimity and determination from their deeply held principles.

I was very surprised, too, when Zombie Apocalypse Elvis Presley’s newly adopted daughter was killed. I think it was handled deftly, in terms of how it was portrayed, although one cannot escape once again feeling that the story beat was rushed as well as too convenient. But ZAEP’s lack of hesitation when doing away with her so that she did not turn shows that Rick besting him as a leader finally and truly broke him. When Michonne killed his zombie daughter in Dewbury, he still had something despite that enormous loss. He knew that he was still capable of becoming a leader, of making great sacrifices to bring people together and allow them to survive and thrive. But seeing Rick almost win the battle before it even began with his charisma (speaking within universe; I do not think he is charismatic) showed him that, finally, he had nothing left. And seeing that her newly adopted daughter was now also dead reinforced that.

I am not sure why the people went through with storming the prison. There was nothing to gain from doing that. The walkers would have been attracted to the place due to the noise, as they mentioned. The prison was ruined. The people who were already living there (Rick’s group) would have been needed to maintain the farms that they have already set up. And there was no reason to take the inevitable losses. Rick fired shots, and he should have been dealt with because of the danger he posed, but coming in with the tank was not a very good decision. That is what the Governor wanted, and perhaps they could have been swayed by the force of his personality—but why would they be? He was not especially compelling, and he had not been able to do much for the camp since he came into power. So, why were they so loyal to him as to risk their lives?

It doesn’t make sense to me. And when things are presented arbitrarily like this, it weakens the story. It becomes a series of events that, although exciting, do not present insight into the human condition or what it is like to live in such times. I just want the Governor to go away and for a more compelling villain to take the stage. I miss Merle.

The Governor’s death also left me wanting more. I’m a big believer in speeches during death scenes. As a convention, it is dramatic and an opportunity to “sum up” that character’s purpose. There is a right way and wrong way to do it, of course. Still, it would have been better than simply seeing him writhe there on the grass. And of course Michonne should have sliced off his head. Big mistake. We are shown that he might have been shot in the head and killed. But we don’t know that for sure.

Finally, we see that Judith is probably dead. The death of a child, especially a baby, is always the darkest an event could possibly be. And there is not much to be said here. I suppose what matters now is what the characters will make of it. After having lost so much, and already being riddled with grief, I do not know how Rick can go on.
The Walking Dead S3, E16: “Welcome to the Tombs”

Nov 4, 2025 – 7:07 AM

The best parts of the previous episodes are seeing the Governor become increasingly evil. At least now I have someone to hate. The previous episodes felt very aimless character studies, and not very good ones. Still, the Governor makes me roll my eyes whenever he does something. His motivations are so muddled and his methods are so stupid. I suppose that some of them are made so that we can say the villain is devious and a liar, but it only makes him look like a buffoon, and we cannot really be afraid of buffoons.

One might think that Merle is the real buffoon. He is the deadly jester. But not really. Again, I think Merle is the more compelling villain, and I hoped that his end would have more to it, although the heroic end he got wasn’t too bad. He got his redemption, which by the logic of such stories had to come at one point or another. Although I could not help but wish that his sacrifice was more impactful.

I am also growing very weary of Rick. Although I know he is riddled with grief, he is also supposed to be the strongest of them. This is what it means to be a leader. There will be more sacrifices to come, and he will have to bear the brunt of that, if he is going to be the first and last among this group. But he simply could not contain himself. Every member of the group has experienced loss at some point or another. Herschel lost a child and carried on with his duties that very same night.

In the end, when he chooses not to give up Michonne, I suppose we see that he has the nobility we expect from leaders. But the fact that he had to make his way to that conclusion bothers me. Why was he so conflicted? How could he, at all, think that this was even an option? To hand over a member of their group? That should not even have been a consideration. It would have been easy to simply slip out of the prison and find somewhere else to go. In any case, they were within the sights of a much more powerful foe. Who is to say that the Governor won’t demand something of them again? Extort them? Exterminate them for their resources later?

The decision is baffling, even if consider that it was made for dramatic purposes. I do not consider Rick heroic or honorable; I consider him arbitrary and selfish. And most of all confused. He has no plan. He has no values. And the things that he considers important, he finds out slowly, as circumstances “reveal” it to them. This feels to me like someone who has not had much time for introspection in his life; who is basically unfamiliar with himself. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with this, as this is part of the journey of life, this certainly is a sign that he should not be the leader. He even looks the other way when his son commits murder. Even though he could not really be sure because he was not there, he does not even consider the situation grave enough that he must immediately discuss the situation with his son. I consider this a serious moral issue as a father.

I am not sure why Michonne is not the leader. She is decisive. She is capable of handling her emotions. She is decisive. She is tough. And she has an ironclad moral compass that she is also capable of pursuing with a sense of humor (as when she insisted on accompanying Carl to obtain a family picture, taking a figurine cat with her as well). And she was even capable of shedding tears for Andrea, her friend—who I also never liked. Andrea means well, but once again she seemed the entire time to be clueless, confused, and unsure of what she wants. She also sleeps with the Governor despite never having any emotional connection with him apart from him revealing his real name.

When Andrea and Rick have a moment as Andrea died, it was like watching two stupid people commemorate their stupidity that led them there. It was awkward, and Andrea mentioning the safety was lame—it was almost as if she had spent her time suffering there with a bite wound thinking about how she could make a witty remark when her friends show up for her. Even Rick looked like he wanted to say something about how ridiculous it was, but held himself back because she was about to die in a stunning show of tact.

Andrea did not even thank Michonne for all she did for her. I suppose their bond means that those words did not need to be said, but a little thankfulness and contrition would have been good, since Michonne saved her, fed her, took care of her while she was sick, and stayed with her as she died.

Overall, I do not find the characters, the world, or the storytelling in this series compelling. The stupid are given too much airtime; the compelling are ignored or killed. Seems to me we have enough of this in the real world. In a show like this, we could use some poetic justice. And because it only runs around 40 minutes, perhaps we could focus on the best aspects of this world and not whatever Rick and Andrea are supposed to be.

This season is a series of disappointments and false starts. Apart from a few interesting moments, we barely if ever gain any insight into the most in captivating aspects of a world destroyed by a zombie apocalypse. We are expected to feel deeply all the while being given the most shallow of impressions. The pacing is too fast for the emotional payoff it is trying to achieve. As such, it never truly reached the dramatic potential of its premise. I am hoping the next seasons are much better. And that Rick dies.
The Walking Dead S3, E9: “The Suicide King”

Nov 3, 2025 – 7:52 AM

Woodbury has gone to shit now because the main group invaded it to save Glenn. And while this was of course inevitable, I was sad that we did not spend enough time discovering how the settlement worked. Barbarity living alongside civilized geniality is one of the core themes that would be interesting to explore. It could also serve as a reflection on how, even in our current times, dark, terrible, painful, and horrifying things underpin our luxuries and comforts. Sadly, these things were not given enough time to develop. On the whole, our visions of Woodbury were only scattered snapshots.

I would have liked to know how they settle disputes. What their everyday life is like. How families there live. Perhaps we could have had an episode where we follow a single family and saw how they lived: Where they got groceries, where the children go to school. How it was trying very hard to become like modern society but, in some ways, failing, and in some ways deviating in disturbing ways, such as the gladiatorial combat. Perhaps the children get into storylines typical for a Disney movie, but the realities of living in such a world catch up to them. Then the fate of the settlement would have more gravity.

The Governor of Woodbury

If we saw the side of the Governor that was more benevolent and sincere, I think his downfall would be more tragic and therefore more satisfying. It would also have been more thematic. In these types of apocalypse fiction, and especially in zombie fiction, one of the things we keep coming back to is how our civilized and modern values do not mean or count for anything in this new world. Trying to be moral or good are futile. We like the people who try to be those things, despite the futility, because they embody a quixotic character. A champion of noble human values.

The Governor was a straightforward, perfunctory antagonist. He was never truly good; he was merely manipulative. Even his love for his daughter is rooted in control. He did not want to let her go, and so he kept her as a walker, when she should be allowed to rest in peace. In this way, Seth was a better villain. Seth was once a truly good man who was ruined by the apocalypse, as well as the baser aspects of human nature: jealousy, possessiveness, pride. But the Governor was pure sociopathic malice. If his character had more than that, not enough of that side was shown to be substantial to how we perceive him.

Dr. Julius No

In any good story, we have to like the antagonist, even if this is only because we are awed by their evil. The Emperor from Star Wars comes to mind, as well as Darth Vader even before the prequels or his redemption. Mere humans like Hans Gruber or demigods like Thanos. The Bond villains, especially from the earlier movies, are also like this. But the Governor is not like this, either. He is neither a gunslinger or especially charismatic. His motives are not particularly grandiose. He is not particularly skilled. He is not even particularly evil or sadistic. Simply put, he is boring.

In contrast, I think Merle is more interesting. He is opportunistic, vicious, and callous, but he and Daryl clearly love each other and are loyal to each other. One does not really know whether he will be redeemed, or he will snap. He is at the crossroads of good and evil. He takes one step in the direction of one and then back again.

As of now, I don’t think there is enough time to make the Governor a sympathetic or complex figure. But I am open to being surprised. Though I am disappointed that Woodbury was not better explored.

I have also been greatly enjoying the character of Michonne. She is mysterious, powerful, and has a cool weapon, all the while still vulnerable and many times almost killed. I was afraid that she was going to be some kind of invulnerable character, like a ninja, but that wasn’t the case, thankfully. I am looking forward to learning more about her.
The Walking Dead S3, E1: “Seed”

Nov 2, 2025 – 6:06 AM

I am watching the Walking Dead. I am already in Season 3, Episode 1, “Seed.” So far, the drama is more or less engaging, and the action beats are satisfying. The deaths can also be devastating, which I suppose is a big part of how they convey the horror of the zombie apocalypse. Overall, I am satisfied. I am not necessarily wowed, but I am enjoying watching it.

One thing that bothers me especially however is the tactical soundness of many of the decisions Rick makes. In particular, here, in the cell blocks where they need to maneuver in the dark to explore the prison and gather supplies. Rick appears to favor the tactic, whereby the form a circle and go in blind. I don’t understand how this is supposed to be a good idea. This doesn’t make sense that he would make this call, either, since he is supposed to be a seasoned police officer—although he did turn his back to an armed criminal in the very first episode, leading him to get shot. Maybe that was a clue to the fact that he is not very good at his job.

To think of it, that was also one of Seth’s misgivings about him. That he is not very good at protecting his family and not a very good leader. Maybe this shows that he was right, even if he did not go about solving that problem properly. Maybe this is because Seth is himself incompetent.

If I were to find myself in a situation similar to the one they find themselves in this episode, where we needed to navigate twisting cell blocks in the dark, I would put in place a kind of “chunking” system so that we progressively create a safe fallback space as we traverse the dangerous, unknown parts of the area. I certainly would not move the entire group deeper and deeper into the dark, passing obstacles that could trip us as we escape if things go wrong, and making our escape longer and longer as we go further in. In doing so, the more we go in, the worse our chances for survival become. In effect, the advantages of exploring the place becomes increasingly outweighed by the disadvantages as we go on.

Here is how I would do it: We clear one specific area, a “chunk,” demarcated by the entrance and the nearest exit or exits. We thoroughly ensure that area is clear, remove all obstacles, clean it, light it, and stock some supplies there. It becomes our fallback area. We explore an area adjacent to it and do the same thing. In this way, if we need to escape, we do not need to run an ever-increasing distance for the exit. It is only in the next exit over.

I understand that this method has its own problems: Mainly, it is too expensive. Even if we do not put supplies in each chunk, lighting the area, clearing, and cleaning it requires time, manpower, and resources that we do not have. But in this case then I would urge the others to simply not go in or go in too deep. We will have to take our time. But we will certainly not go deeper and deeper, and especially not without protective gear. In the show, they remain in their tattered clothes, with Daryl even wearing a sleeveless shirt.

It is easy to say that these are artistic liberties and made for narrative tension. But I think it adds more to the story to try and make sense of these things within the story, while negotiating some of the premises laid out implicitly by the logic of the story. Through that method, what I understand of Rick’s character is that he is an incompetent and lackluster leader. He is in over his head. And I suppose that is meaningful, in that he was thrust upon this role. He was an ordinary cop, and not a very good one. For a great majority of us, this is what it will be like. Although we have knowledge and expertise in some areas, that will hardly ever be enough to survive. We will also need to be very, very lucky in the long run.

I myself have many such ideas about efficiency but obviously one is incapable of knowing what one does not know. I find it likely that before I even have a chance to propose any of my ideas regarding systematicity and efficiency (or any of the liberal arts in which I was trained for a high very price during my college years) I would already be dead because I haven’t the faintest idea regarding the basics of survival.

Sadly, the episode ends with one of my favorite characters Herschel getting bit. Rather predictably, an obstacle tuns out to be an animate walker and bites him. I don’t know if he will live, but his lower leg had to be severed with a hatchet. The story might make a miraculous turn, but given the arteries that must have been severed, he will probably die. Which is unfortunate because I liked him.