Some thoughts on The Walking Dead

This post was mostly eaten by blogger when I first put it up and this has been my first chance to fix it.

I caught the first (and now the second) episode of AMC's The Walking Dead and had a few thoughts.

1. This is left over from last season.  What's the deal about guns being so scarce that someone had to go back into the heart of zombie occupied Atlanta to retrieve a bag of firearms?  This is Georgia in the heart of the American Southeast.  If you want a gun just go into any house and chances overwhelmingly favor finding a few laying around. If you don't want to enter a private residence then go into any gun store, pawn shop, sporting goods store or any big box "mart-mart" and you'll find at least rifles and shotguns.  Also you can go into any sheriff's office, city police office or state highway patrol office or National Guard armory.  In the NG armory you just might find full auto weapons and explosives as well.

2. This season they are searching for the missing girl and hear church bells.  They find a church which is clearly identified as "Southern Baptist".  They find that the bells are recorded chimes (we will not ask where the electric power came from) and set about to exploring the building.  Upon entering they find a giant crucifix hanging behind the pulpit - just like one might find in a Roman Catholic church, but would not see in a Southern Baptist church.

3. What's with the ratty old camper?  They are in the Atlanta metropolitan area!  There are dozens of dealerships with brand new RV's, some nearly the size of Greyhound buses that they could help themselves to.  There are also plenty of dealerships full of new SUV's that they could expropriate.

4. And while we're on vehicles why have the redneck ride a chopped Harley with hangers when a good dirt bike would be far more practical?  After all he could go off road when necessary and maneuver through much tighter areas.  But why have a motorcycle riding point anyway since a biker would be much easier for the zombies to unseat and dine upon than someone enclosed in a car?  It would be better to tow the bike behind the camper and use it when needed.

5. They need to have a wrecker with winch and push-board to ride point so that it can clear obstructions.  An armed man can ride shotgun.

6. Disarming everyone is a spectacularly bad idea.  The theory is that only the two deputies are trained to use firearms however the alternative is to give everyone an edged weapon.  Ask yourself this, which is easier to use without training, a handgun or a sword?

It seems very obvious to me that the writers and directors of this show have never been south of Washington DC.