The smartest decisions in The Walking Dead: Part I

The Walking Dead Smartest Decisions: Season One

Rick and Glenn use walker cloaks to sneak through a herd

Now, I know, walker cloaks and similar things are used so frequently in The Walking Dead these days (Particularly by the Whisperers) that they’re practically ubiquitous at this point, but, at the beginning of the series, this concept was revolutionary, and, when seen in that context, reminds you of just how clever it was.

In the very second episode of the show, “Guts”, after realizing that the walkers used scent to detecting the living when they couldn’t see or hear them, chose to use that to the group’s advantage, taking the guts of one of the walkers (Hence the name of the episode) that had followed he and Glenn after escaping the street, and coating a pair of trench coats in them to make them (Largely) undetectable by the herd.

What makes this so smart is actually two things: 1) It uses an observation of the dead’s behavior to create a defense against them, and 2) It uses necessity to override squeamishness; Neither of those things should be underestimated.

What I love about the first part is that it is fundamental to learning. So much of our human behavior is born out the same process Rick employs: He observes something, and then figures out a means of exploiting/working around what he’s observed.

Compare this to what I rated as the worst decision of season one. In that case, Glenn, in spite of knowing (And using) the fact that the walkers were drawn to sound and would follow it, he still drove the Challenger (With its alarm blaring) all the way back to camp, practically drawing the herd a map to the group’s location.

What I love about the second part is that, while squeamishness is a natural reaction, we see Rick determine that, whatever reservations he might have about slathering his clothes in walker entrails, he knows that, if he doesn’t do it, he and everyone with him won’t survive, and so, he and Glenn power through it to do what they have to do.

Sometimes, what makes a decision a smart one is when it leads to you doing the thing you don’t want to do, but have to do.