Back at the prison I wanted them to stop scavenging and start building. I wanted them to use the nearby railroad. In an apocalyptic scenario like TWD, what they have lost the most is knowledge of how things worked. Eugene is not a scientist, but he is a PHD. Make him the lead scientist and start him building a steam engine. Daryl knows how to build a moonshine still. That's an important piece of technology. Get farming again. Don't go out on run to get supplies, go get library books. This can be interesting because this still fits the zombie genre. The popularity of zombie shows is that it stimulates the viewer to think about what they would do in that situation. Figuring out how to grow crops or capture and train horses still fills that niche. They don't need to just find other groups and shoot them. They can make interesting stories where they compete with a dangerous group, but outlast the others because they get horses while the others stay with cars but eventually run out of gaseline. The choices they make can still lead to success or failure.
One of my favorite episodes is Vatos from the first season. This is where Glen was kidnapped by a latino gang and held in exchange for guns. Rick was going to go in shooting, but in a twist, the latino gang was protecting the residents of a nursing home. Encounters don't always have to end in a fight. They can learn to trade and cooperate.
It was an interesting twist but I felt the reveal sucked. Some grandma blows the cover and the leader just folds and goes all 'little boy aw shucks'? Nah.
In real life, and what would have made much better theater, is if he barked back at the Grandma and acted all tough still. It would be the first clue that something was other than it appeared, but you wouldn't know for sure. Spend about 10 minutes of Rick observing the actions and behaviors of the 'gang', and THEN have him take the guy and say, in a gentle but forceful manner, "I respect you and your strength. However, I also respect people who care for the helpless."
It would have been a killer line and a much better arc.
My belief is that this show is not a horrow show, it is actually a western.
Brilliant observation.
According to my wife it's a soap opera that happens to have zombies in it.
An update on what happened to them (in the nursing home) would be interesting. Although I can guess. They got et.