Walking Dead 'Hearts' episode and reloading

[BigBlue]

Spoilers ahead, so if you aren't caught up on the Walking Dead series you may want to skip this...

Sometimes having an above-average amount of intelligence and knowledge of how things work is a big detriment to watching TV. This was painfully apparent while watching the last episode of this season's Walking Dead ("Hearts Still Beating"). Tara had convinced the dude with the mullet to make her a single reloaded cartridge with which to kill the bad guy (Negan). She gets her chance and fails utterly. But two things were so painfully unrealistic about the setup that I just about turned the show off:

1. She shoots what looks like a .40 or 9mm or so semi-auto cartridge. Somehow she ends up hitting Negan's baseball bat and the bullet pancakes like it had hit an armored plate. Stuck right on the bat without any apparent penetration. Really?? Wow. Even the weakest round of that basic size should have done more damage to wood. Even if you think "well, maybe the reload was really weak", then the bullet shouldn't have deformed as much as it did. Totally unrealistic.

2. Then, for the first time in any show ever, the bad guy decides that the most important thing to do after getting shot at is to pick up the spent/ejected case. And examine it closely. Or maybe not so closely, but somehow it is blindingly obvious that this brass had been reloaded. Ugh. I didn't know reloaded ammo was somehow dramatically and noticeably different from a factory round "Look at THAT crimp!". Plus, why should anyone even think about this? There are weapons all over this show's 'world'. Tara obviously found the gun (remember, Negan's crew previously confiscated Alexandria's arsenal), so why is it not likely it had ammo in it? But just because she DID actually have a reload he is able to figure it out. And then, when he asks who reloaded it instead of just saying "who knows, I found the ammo somewhere and just used it" everyone starts confessing about it so that finally the guy who actually did it gets taken away.

Is the rest of the world SO un-knowledgeable that this is remotely a logical scenario? Even if you knew nothing about reloading it seems like the rest of the situation doesn't add up. Seems like the show writers were really lazy and didn't spend any time trying to come up with a believable way to find out about the reloading. And it really shouldn't matter, because they could just as easily come up with found ammo as reload it.

Sad for the world...

BB

[Scratch]

You do realize this show is about dead people, coming back to life, and eating people right...?

I think there's a certain level of "suspension of disbelief" that you have to accept when watching a show like this.

[Ironbear]

Sometimes having an above-average amount of intelligence and knowledge of how things work is a big detriment to watching TV.

Note: Don't watch CSI with folks that have chemistry and biology backgrounds!

1. She shoots what looks like a .40 or 9mm or so semi-auto cartridge. Somehow she ends up hitting Negan's baseball bat and the bullet pancakes like it had hit an armored plate. Stuck right on the bat without any apparent penetration. Really?? Wow. Even the weakest round of that basic size should have done more damage to wood. Even if you think "well, maybe the reload was really weak", then the bullet shouldn't have deformed as much as it did. Totally unrealistic.

Years ago, while shooting bowling pins with some friends, was feeling something hitting my shins. Upon investigation we found that one shooter's .38 special rounds were bouncing off the pins and came skipping back up the range along the floor. Given a direct hit; the soft, lead, round-nose bullets would hit the pin, leave a lead mark on the outside plastic coating, and make it back to the line deformed into a nice little mushroom.

[Erud]

You do realize this show is about dead people, coming back to life, and eating people right...?

I think there's a certain level of "suspension of disbelief" that you have to accept when watching a show like this.

No kidding. The slightly unrealistic scenes involving reloading are where you draw the line, eh?

[Ghost]

The writers needed to find a way to get Eugene over to Negans place. Most people don't know anything about guns and certainly reloading is a tier above guns. Don't worry about the details and pay attention to the story.

I'm impressed Negan could hold onto the bat that took the hit.

[BigBlue]

You do realize this show is about dead people, coming back to life, and eating people right...?

I think there's a certain level of "suspension of disbelief" that you have to accept when watching a show like this.

What are you talking about?? Zombies are real. I've even seen shooting targets with pictures of zombies on them.

All kidding aside, suspension of disbelief is something I can easily do for the zombies. They are entirely abnormal and are the main point of the show. But shooting a gun isn't supposed to be different in this 'world' of the Walking Dead, nor is reloading. It would be like all of a sudden in the next episode someone drives up in a flying car and nobody bats an eye. Viewer is like: "Huh, that doesn't make sense."

BB

[BigBlue]

The writers needed to find a way to get Eugene over to Negans place. Most people don't know anything about guns and certainly reloading is a tier above guns. Don't worry about the details and pay attention to the story.

I'm impressed Negan could hold onto the bat that took the hit.

And they could have accomplished that in a few different ways that didn't fly in the face of physics and logic. I guess I'm just more marveling at the fact that the writers think people are really that stupid, or that they are really that stupid themselves to believe that's how it would work. But I tend to surround myself with people who are reasonable and have a clue about life so this whole concept of people being that different is foreign to me.

[Squib Joe]

I've seen more than one issue with the guns of The Walking Dead

[yukonjasper]

In my mind, I try not to get too technical with shows like this. You have to remember that the vast majority of people in this country don't own nor have they ever shot a gun. The fact that a bunch of "gun nuts" see gun related inconsistencies reflects maybe 5% of the population and that is very generous.

[Scratch]

Here's a somewhat related question that has no chance of EVER effecting me but I'm still curious what some of you would do.

Let's say you were offered a great job on set of a big tv show or movie like this, that uses a lot of prop guns that look real, but you were a hardcore 2A guy and always carried where ever you went. I'm going to assume that the producers would not want ANYONE carrying a gun with live ammo anywhere on set for safety reasons.

Would you carry?
Would you quit?

[Ghost]

Here's a somewhat related question that has no chance of EVER effecting me but I'm still curious what some of you would do.

Let's say you were offered a great job on set of a big tv show or movie like this, that uses a lot of prop guns that look real, but you were a hardcore 2A guy and always carried where ever you went. I'm going to assume that the producers would not want ANYONE carrying a gun with live ammo anywhere on set for safety reasons.

Would you carry?
Would you quit?

It would have to work like Gander lakeville where everything gets locked up before crossing into the simulator. I trust myself and only myself. I wouldn't want others carrying to a place where we would have playtime with "guns".

[Ghost]

The writers needed to find a way to get Eugene over to Negans place. Most people don't know anything about guns and certainly reloading is a tier above guns. Don't worry about the details and pay attention to the story.

I'm impressed Negan could hold onto the bat that took the hit.

And they could have accomplished that in a few different ways that didn't fly in the face of physics and logic. I guess I'm just more marveling at the fact that the writers think people are really that stupid, or that they are really that stupid themselves to believe that's how it would work. But I tend to surround myself with people who are reasonable and have a clue about life so this whole concept of people being that different is foreign to me.

Remember 50 some million people voted for Obama. He had more votes than his opponent. That means there's something like another 100 million eligible voters who don't care enough to make an effort to choose their fate.

Only about 10 million people watched that episode. The odds of many of them being mentally deficient are quite high.

[xd ED]

So who has watched a TV show involving firearms, (exclusive of hunting/ shooting topics), and came away thinking they might have learned something, or at least saw a technically accurate portrayal/ procedurally correct scene?
At this moment, I cannot think of one.

[Sorcerer]

So who has watched a TV show involving firearms, (exclusive of hunting/ shooting topics), and came away thinking they might have learned something, or at least saw a technically accurate portrayal/ procedurally correct scene?
At this moment, I cannot think of one.

The guy that shot his ball cap off comes to mind.

[Ghost]

So who has watched a TV show involving firearms, (exclusive of hunting/ shooting topics), and came away thinking they might have learned something, or at least saw a technically accurate portrayal/ procedurally correct scene?
At this moment, I cannot think of one.

Not TV but The Way of the Gun was pretty decent.