Experts agree there is no more than a 40 percent chance the world will end in a zombie apocalypse. But when we say that The Walking Dead is full of shit, we're not talking about that part, or the fact that every member of the cast is an expert marksman. We're talking about the unspoken rules by which the entire universe functions -- a universe which, aside from the zombies, is supposed to be our universe. Think about it. The central themes of the entire series are that ...

4 When Shit Goes Wrong, Only The Badass Killing Machines Will Survive

In the world of The Walking Dead, nobody has jobs, unless stabbing zombies in the brain through a chain link fence can be considered a job (and even if it can, it's certainly not a career). Now, this is of course part of the appeal of any apocalypse story (as we've mentioned before, most of us would love to trade long days in a cubicle for lawless zombie combat), but it's also by far the most implausible part of the show, even including the undead and the fact that women can apparently survive a zombie apocalypse while dressed like this:

AMC

"THERE, I AM NOW UTTERLY BITE-PROOF."

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

It's not the implausibility that's worth noting; it's that it implies something about the world which only terrible people believe. Let me give you an example:

There's a moment in Season 3 in which some of the main characters are driving along in their product placement SUV and a random, able-bodied survivor in a backpack tries to flag them down, begging to join them.

AMC

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

They pass the guy, ignoring him, the unspoken understanding being that they can't take on another mouth to feed. Later, at the end of the episode, they pass by the same dude, now lying dead on the street. They stop, take the supplies off his dead body, and drive off into the distance. The message is clear: In this new, dog-eat-dog world, all people are good for are the food and tools in their backpack.

So ... what if it had turned out that guy was himself a badass zombie-killing machine? That'd come in pretty useful, right? Well, maybe they could tell by looking at him that wasn't the case (no visible weapons, not covered in enough zombie blood). Fine. But what if he turned out to be a skilled surgeon? Or an electrician? Or an expert gardener? Or a carpenter? Or a mechanic? You don't think they'll ever need somebody who can heal wounds, or hook up a generator, or grow food, or build a shelter, or repair a vehicle? Really? Because it seems like 90 percent of the group's problems could be solved by somebody who knows what the hell they're doing.