The Walking Dead: 15 Stupid Decisions Lori Grimes Would Be Proud Of

5. Carol Keeps A Secret ("30 Days Without An Accident")

The Season 4 premiere showed the prison as it had never been seen before: functional. Rick and Carl were tending crops. Beth was raising Judith. Daryl was picking up stray survivors. Everybody was actually contributing. For her part, Carol had taken up a sort of domestic management position, delegating duties and hosting a story time for the children. Well, as far as the adults knew, anyway. As it turned out, Carol's "story time" involved lessons in weaponry rather than literature. In theory, Carol had the right idea. After all, Sophia might not have died if she'd been given any sort of survival training, and Carl was proof enough that children could be sources of help rather than burdens. Teaching the children how to safely handle knives was a good plan. What wasn't as good was the execution. Carol's insistence on secrecy prevented her from instilling in the kids a well-rounded understanding of when they should and should not try to fight, and we see the repercussions in the midseason finale when Lizzie took matters into her own hands. "Too Far Gone" shows Lizzie disregarding the original plan for everybody to meet at the bus in case of emergency and convincing the other children--who were carrying baby Judith €“ that they should help defend the prison because Carol had taught them to fight. When the kids were not on the bus, Beth left to find them. When Beth was not on the bus, Maggie left to find her. When Maggie did not return to the bus, Glenn left to find her. The group was needlessly split up, leaving the people on the bus vulnerable and without any leader. All in all, probably not what Carol had in mind.