The Walking Dead: Fellow fans become fast friends

The Walking Dead fandom is certainly one of the best.

Perhaps you’ve had the experience of seeing a fellow fan sporting a t-shirt from The Walking Dead. You mention that you are a fan as well. (Presumably they are indeed a fan and not just wearing a shirt that Uncle Buddy brought back from vacation!) Before you know it the two of you are swapping plot theories and sharing your best fan encounters. Such was an experience that I had today.

Let me back up briefly and tell you where I was. I brought a friend to the little town of Hampton, GA to show her the site of the infamous scene with Glenn and the dumpster. There is a painted outline in the alley where Nicholas and Glenn landed on the ground.

The dumpster is nowhere to be seen. It turns out the dumpster was a prop brought in by the show. But you can still envision the scene by its surroundings. You can, in fact, see most everything from The Walking Dead season 6 episodes 3 and 7 in Hampton. And I’ll give you more scoop on that in another post!

So, my friend and I were visiting the Speakeasy Bookstore while in town. My friend struck up a conversation with a gentleman about his t-shirt, which was not from The Walking Dead, by the way. We all chatted briefly asking where the other was from. When we told him we were from north of Atlanta, he asked what brought us all the way down south of town to Hampton. We shared that we were there visiting locations previously used in The Walking Dead. That was it – his eyes lit up!

The conversation went from pleasantries and small talk to serious discussion of The Walking Dead storyline and theories about the Saviors entrapment of Rick’s group. Our new fan friend, Fred, shared his personal theory about how the Saviors knew the group was trying to reach Hilltop.

You’ve probably heard about the poisoned pickles theory that our co-editor Adam posted about a few months ago. It suggested that Enid was an infiltrator and gave Maggie poisoned pickles.

Related Story: Poisoned Pickles Theory?

(Personally, I think Enid is getting a bad rap and is not a mole for Negan’s group.)
But let’s get back to Fred’s idea. It was one I had not heard myself.

Fred thinks the obstetrician at Hilltop may have somehow caused Maggie to be ill upon his examination, the one where he performed the ultrasound.

At first I thought, no way, what could he have done? But if memory serves, he did send them back to Alexandria with prenatal vitamins. Could they have been tampered with?

I probably respectfully disagree because it seems it would require a lot of unseen machinations to make this happen. Would the doctor be a mole? Or threatened into such action by Negan’s group? I think we know the Saviors have been spying on Ricks group, but would they have gone to such great lengths to set them on the journey to Hilltop?

I am not able to wrap my head around the scenario, but I do agree that Negan’s group had to know the destination of the RV to be able to cut them off at all routes.

Furthermore, it sure seems like they must have known some time in advance where they would be going. All those traps had to require some preparation.

So, I think Fred could be on the right track with the Saviors manipulating the illness. I’m just not sure it would involve the seemingly good doctor. Then again, (aargh, I keep contradicting myself!) Ethan was probably not a bad guy yet he stabbed Gregory under the threat of losing his brother.

But I digress. My point is that fans of The Walking Dead bond quickly over the shared passion for the show. We may or may not have anything else in common, but the fandom we share brings us together so easily. Meeting a new fan friend is a rush in and of itself. We start talking faster, our eyes get bigger, we become more animated, all from the delight of our “common interests” (remember that phrase Carl and Rick used in regard to Michonne at the beginning of the season 3 episode “Clear”?).

Thanks for the great discussion, Fred! It was a pleasure making your acquaintance and “talking shop” about The Walking Dead.

Have you become fast friends with a fellow fan? What do you think about Fred’s theory? Please share!