Summary
The Walking Deadhas hooked audiences for years with its brutal, emotional take on a world ruled by the undead. But fans have noticed that the original AMC series falls prey to one of the worst zombie plot tropes, and it happens the minute the first episode begins. The looming question of how the apocalypse unfolded before Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes woke up from his coma has never gotten a satisfying answer.
Instead of showing society’s collapse in real time,The Walking Deadskips straight to the aftermath. While it makes for great drama, this storytelling choice also highlightsone of the biggest issues in zombie fiction:the way writers often dodge the question of how, exactly, zombies could overrun modern civilization. Because when you break it down, the idea of an undead uprising wiping out military forces, law enforcement, and heavily armed civilians is a tough sell.
From the very first episode,The Walking Deadtakes the easy way out. The pilot, “Days Gone Bye,” drops audiences into the action with Grimes waking up in a hospital bed, confused and alone. The world as he knew it is already gone — Atlanta is a ghost town, corpses are rotting in the streets, andwalkers shuffle aimlessly through abandoned neighborhoods.
Viewers do get a flashback in Season 1: a chaotic scene where Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) sees the U.S. military bombing downtown Atlanta. It’s a great moment, but it raises more questions than it answers. If the military was still operational, it seems unlikely they wouldn’t have been able to get things under control, given that they were willing to bomb cities and all.
Later seasons ofTWDdon’t bother filling in the blanks. Characters like Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt) mention that the government tried to handle things, but viewers never actually see the downfall unfold. By the time we meet the Governor (David Morrissey) in Woodbury, or the infamous Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his Saviors, the world is already a wasteland. The audience is expected to accept that the collapse was inevitable.
This isn’t just aWalking Deadproblem. Tons of zombie stories, films, and series skip the beginning of the outbreak.28 Days Later(2002) does it by having Jim (Cillian Murphy) also wake up from a coma to find London empty. TheResident Evilmovies breeze past the destruction, jumping straight to the dystopian aftermath. EvenBrad Pitt’sWorld War Zskips over key details, favoring globe-trotting action over any explanation of how things went wrong. But there’s a reason for that: it takes a lot of creative problem-solving for writers to make the fall of all civilization in the face of slow, lumbering zombies believable.
Why Zombie Apocalypses Are So Hard To Pull Off
Zombies, on paper, shouldn’t be a real threat, especially the walkers inTWD. They’re slow, uncoordinated, and easy to distract, outpace, or kill. In some versions — like the rage-infected creatures in28 Days Lateror the sprinting hordes inTrain to Busan— they’re faster and deadlier. But classic zombies, like those inThe Walking Dead, are basically shambling corpses.
The Military Would Wipe Out Walkers
Even inThe Walking Dead, the military is supposedly wiped out within weeks. Yet somehow,scattered groups of untrained survivorsmanage to stay alive for years. It doesn’t add up. A fan onRedditsummed it up best in a post titled “The Walking Deadmakes no sense at all when you stop and think about it,” writing:
“[…] the US military is the most well equipped best fighting force the planet has ever seen. There are 1.4 million active members. I refuse to believe zombies ate them all that is lunacy.”
They go on to explain how a single Marine with 30 bullets could take out 30 zombies with ease. Factor in penetration kills, multiple clips per soldier, and the sheer firepower available, and it becomes almost laughable to think that the undead could overrun the military. As long as resources and supply chains hold, a well-trained military force should have no trouble holding back slow-moving, brainless enemies.
And that’s not even taking weapons of mass destuction, drones, tanks, air support into account. Zombies don’t use guns, and they don’t take cover. In an actual outbreak, military forces would likely mow them down with ease. Even measures taken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)could have contributed to stopping the spread. If a contagious real-world virus like Ebola or COVID-19 required mass lockdowns, an infection spread through zombie bites would too.
World War Z(the book, not the movie) at least tries to explain the downfall, showing how bureaucracy, panic, and political failures made things worse. ButThe Walking Deadskips over the hard part, assuming that society crumbled before we even get to see it happen.
When AMC launchedFear the Walking Dead, it seemed like they were finally going to answer the big questions. The show’s first season is set in Los Angeles,focusing on the Clark familyas they witness the beginning of the outbreak. At first,Fear the Walking Deaddoes a better job than its predecessor. Viewers see hospitals become overwhelmed, riots break out, and the National Guard struggle to maintain order. It’s a fresh take — until, suddenly, everything collapses way too fast. By the end of Season 1, the world is already gone. The military vanishes, cities are abandoned, and civilization is reduced to isolated survivors.
This is whereFear the Walking Deaddrops the ball. Instead of gradually showing the fall of society over multiple seasons, it rushes through the most interesting part. By Season 2, we’re back to the same survivalist and isolationist themes asThe Walking Dead, with small groups of survivors battling for resources. The show had a chance to do something different, but instead,it defaulted to the same old formula.
One of the most egregious examples is the infamous chain-link fence scene. One Reddit user commented:
“Fear The Walking Deadshows an organized military force losing in the most laughable way. Like the zombies are pushing through a chain link fence, and the soldiers are going full auto on them, and their bullets are literally plinking off the chain link fence.”
Zombie Stories That Pulled It Off (Or At Least Felt Plausible)
Suspension of Disbelief Is Important for EnjoyingThe Walking Dead
At the end of the day,The Walking Deadworks because it focuses on characters, not logistics. The show doesn’t need a fleshed-out, hyperrealistic explanation of how the world ended — it works just fine on compelling survivors and tense, dramatic stakes. Sure, the idea of sluggish zombies wiping out the entire U.S. military is ridiculous. But if fans can accept Danai Gurira’s katana-wielding Michonne andNorman Reedus' crossbow-sniping Daryl Dixonas real humans as much as action heroes, that’s really all that matters.
