One aspect of the horror genre that it just cant shake is its insistence that stupid people do stupid things. This is, of course, the result of writers having to come up with reasons for people to get themselves into scary and/or exciting situations. Basically, if every character in a horror situation acted rationally, there wouldnt be much drama. However, this stupidity for drama's sake comes at the expense of likeability. You just facepalm at the stupidity of the characters, making them unlikeable, and thus resulting in the audience wanting them dead. The Walking Dead has this same problem, and it has since the very beginning. Instead of characters acting smart and reasoning out situations like rational adults, they make rash, illogical decisions for the sake of generating drama. The zombie genre has been plagued by this stereotype since George Romeros classic Night of the Living Dead. Sorry, but during crisis situations, instinct kicks in and people tend to work together better than ever before, not worse. The characters had it made on Hershels farm back in the second season. But you cant have a serialized zombie show without drama, so characters have to act dumb and over-emotional to keep things moving. The result is that many of the characters in The Walking Dead are annoying. Think about it, who were some of the most hated characters? Lori. Shane. Andrea. Merle. The Governor. Why were they hated? Because they constantly made terrible decisions and acted irrationally. There is a reason Daryl continues to be the fan favorite; he is the most level-headed and rational member of the group. Even our main character Rick manages to grate on ones nerves with his constant pouting and aloof attitude. All the kids act stupid; including Carl, whose routine of acting tough only makes you roll your eyes. Everyone else is either too whiny or dumb. Yet despite so many characters doing annoying, stupid things, fans follow and talk about the characters as if they actually like them. How people can care about people so careless remains a mystery.
