The Worst Decisions from AMC’s The Walking Dead – Part I

Season 5: Beth stabs Dawn while Dawn is pointing a GUN at her.

…GRR.

I’ve discussed this before in “The Worst Deaths In The Walking Dead” list, so, this one is especially fresh in my mind, so much so, that, as I sit here typing this, I’m stopping and thinking about it and getting irritated at just how stupid it was.

Just as a refresher, in the season 5 midseason finale, “Coda”, just as Rick, Daryl, Carol, and Beth were about to leave Grady Memorial Hospital, Beth, angry that the hospital group’s leader, Lieutenant Dawn Lerner, had refused to release Beth’s new friend, Noah, from custody, decided to respond by stabbing Dawn in the shoulder…while Dawn was point a gun at her.

Now, in my “…Worst Deaths…” list, my gripe was more out-of-universe — I was confused and irritated about why Beth, as a character, was suddenly written as a dumbass — but, in this case, I’m going to tackle this from a more in-universe perspective.

If we’re being honest, there had been the odd time here and there where Beth’s decisions were…questionable (I don’t think her suicide attempt was a good idea, for example), but, by season 5, Beth had really shown she was maturing and learning how to be a survivor. She was learning to use ordinary objects (Like car mirrors) as makeshift tools, she was learning how to defend herself, she was standing up for herself against the likes of Officer Gorman, she was really coming into her own as a survivor.

And then…she decides to go in the complete opposite direction and act like moron.

Why? Why? WHY would you stab someone who is pointing A GUN AT YOU?

Can someone please explain the logic of this to me? Was there any? I mean, how much brainpower does it take to look at someone, realize that they are not only armed, but, pointing their weapon AT YOU!?!

I get Beth being angry with Dawn, but, she couldn’t just wait for Dawn to point her gun in some other direction?

Do I…do I even need to explain why this is dumb? …Do I? Isn’t it obvious from what happened to Beth, why this decision was so idiotic?

I’m done, guys. Every time I think about this, I feel the urge to just let my head drop and smash into my desk, it’s that stupid.

That is all for now. There are a fair number of dumb decisions that we’ve seen play out in The Walking Dead since the series began, and, I hope you all either enjoyed shaking your fists angrily at the ones I’ve chronicled here, or, at the very least, enjoyed watching me get annoyed at them, and, if you happened to get some pearls of wisdom for what not to do in a zombie apocalypse from this, you won’t hear me complain. Keep your eyes peeled next week for Part II, where I take a closer look at the stupidest decisions from seasons 6 through 10.

If you want to learn how to make smart decisions in a zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can also get it at Amazon here, on iTunes here!