Walking Dead

I watch Walking Dead.  I know it's based on a comic but I haven't read it at all and have no idea how closely the show follows the plot line of the comic.  Anyway, the first season started off well enough.  I mean really, how can you go wrong with a zombie show?  Lots of thrilling violent confrontations and escapes and more gore than ever seen before on network television.  Sweet.  Then came the second season.  What a downer.  The plot slows to a halt, never getting anywhere because of an endless series of mini side crises and internal group conflicts, the longterm end goal/ survival plan is still completely up in the air, and there's not a single truly interesting or likeable character on the show.  Nevertheless, I was in too deep, so I've been tuning in to season 3, and I've really enjoyed it!  Where they've gone with it really justifies the tedious nature of season 2.  Frustrated as all hell in getting through the last season, I now find the show to be an excellent exploration of the fundamental nature of humanity, how we relate to eachother and choose to organize ourselves to maximize our chances of survival, and the struggle to find meaning in it all.  The longterm battle for existence in the face of the zombie apocalypse actually makes a great backdrop for this study.  Sure there are a lot of Lord of the Flies parallels, but the ubiquitous zombie threat really does add another dimension.   I can't remember ever watching a show or movie where I've had such disregard for the individual characters but been so fascinated by the evolution of the group as a whole. 

While I don't necessarily agree with the show's assessment of humanity, here's what we've learned so far:
-In the early days of post-apocalyptic living, many will attempt to cling to the higher ideals of civilized living.  They'll go out of their way to help strangers, and put themselves and the larger group at risk to protect individual lives under the principle that you do not leave people behind.  Some level of acknowledgment and respect will remain for individual property rights, and groups will experiment with democratic decision making. 
-As time passes and lives are lost, the higher ideals are shed.  People become more calculating and economical about the sacrifices that can be made for individuals.  Democratic decision making leads to gridlock and endangers everyone.  The alpha males battle for control.
-The groups that emerge as long term survivors are characterized by a single, dominant, authoritarian leader.  A new fierce tribalism emerges, characterized by tremendous distrust for any survivors outside of the group and a severely diminished respect for the lives and property of outsiders.  Rather than leveraging the talents of others to build a stronger, more sustainable group, the tendency is towards violence and scavenging of precious remaining supplies. 
-While most survivors come to accept the absolutely authority of the group leader as essential to their survival, there is the very rare outsider who seeks to neither rule nor be ruled and is content to rely fully on their own competence and abilities to continue to hack out an existence.  Go Michonne!  Libertarian to the end!  The groups have difficulty understanding how to deal with such a person, and they're definitely seen as threats. 

So there you have it.  As the season 3 episodes have gone along, I've greatly enjoyed noting the parallels between Rick's group at the prison and the Governor's at Woodbury.  I continue to wonder, are these common characteristics of the surviving groups really the foundation of any organized society?  Are the rest of our modern civilized principles just a facade, just lipstick on a pig?  Furthermore, as the characters struggle with their own desires to continue on, maintain relationships or bring children into the world, by not addressing any real longterm goal, the show instead asks us, hey, what really is the point of all of this?  It's just a question of severity of the situation, but really not so different for any of us when it really comes down to it. 

Anyway, it appears the show may be taking a turn, ramping up the plot developments with some exciting confrontations straight ahead, but I really hope they continue to explore some of these prominent themes.  It's been fun.