Smart Ones and tool usage

[LiamKerrington]

Hi there,

Yeah, I concur to all replies thus far. However, why has there been this "bruce force" attack on the colony? Where was the cunning strategy in order to minimize zombie losses? Bottom line, are the smart ones just not so smart? Are are they only intelligent yet not creative? Or they are simply drones who have to rely on a orchestrating boss like Ink / Randy?

I think it is a matter of how you measure the smartness of the Smart Ones. They are smart if you compare them with the average zomb, but they are not so smart anymore if you compare them with human beings.

Your final question is pretty interesting - especially considering that we have zero clues about the relation between Smart Ones and Ink/ Randy? What would make any of the two different from Smart Ones, or are they just "Smart Ones" who happened to be at the right place and type to become the leader/s of the zombos? But I think this has little to do with the starting questions, which is all about Smart Ones and tools etc.

As for the brute force attack on the Colony: Back in late 3rd season I was kind of wondering why (all of a sudden) so many zombos were around the Colony - and especially the zombies lead by Ink. Up until then I had the impression that the zombos so far in the south were (and probably still are) a different group which has nothing to do with Ink's army. So why did Ink lead his monsters so far to the south? Was it relly only mere coincidence that these things followed Glen and Pete to the South? And now imagine: The zombs see the fortification; and then they attack it like any other place - the Tower, Dunbar, probably even the Mall considering its fortification. All those locations were attacked by a huge number of zeehs. So basically them zombos stick to their basic main strategy to attack while attacking the Colony. And keep in mind: Ink was able to somehow get into the Colony and try to open a gate in order to lead his army into the Colony; he or his army just failed to take over the place. So you could say that Ink just tried to achieve something similar compared with what he did at Dunbar.

So much for the cunning and smartness of them zombos.

Best wishes!
Liam

[scbubba]

I'll concede the tool usage (trap, fire, car). Still doesn't mean that they are regular users or that they come up with much on their own. The trap, fire, and car could have all been under direct instruction/influence of the Big Boss Zed. Left to their own devices, I'm thinking that even the Smart Ones aren't quite that clever. We have one that figured out that he could climb a ladder to get to the meat on the roof, a few that tried to duck being shot, and one that determined that the rope was worth trying (it probably smelled like people/meat too).

The point? I'm not sure about the "smart" in smart one. I think the only real intelligence in the Zed Army is Ink/TOWTM/Bossman/whomever. The rest are, unless directly commanded/controlled, are varying degrees of "Get People!"

The Little Ones may be a different story. They don't act like regulars. They have more than just survival smarts if we believe the attack on Boulder (hit the command & control first). These guys are definitely on a whole different scale....

[Jannit]

I think it is a matter of how you measure the smartness of the Smart Ones. They are smart if you compare them with the average zomb, but they are not so smart anymore if you compare them with human beings.

I disagree with this statement. The zombies have proven to be capable of using basic traps that work effectively (Season 1, as an example). At the end of the day, I think the results speak more loudly than the methods that were used. Although it might not have been a complicated plan, it worked and that's what counts! This leads me to:

So you could say that Ink just tried to achieve something similar compared with what he did at Dunbar.

I counter with: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

[Malador]

Ink has his little ones, far and away the best troops in his camp. He may be attacking the colony with two purposes, two weaken/defeat the survivors, and to rid himself of the regulars, which at this point are just more mouths to feed. As soon as the walls were breached, he sent in the little ones, suggesting that he wants to turn as many survivors as possible into them.

[Jannit]

Another thought about the way that these plans are carried out:

Most of the grunts on Team Z would be the normal, stupid zombies. It would be unlikely that they would be capable of carrying out highly detailed, or complicated tasks even if the smart ones, Ink, Little Ones, etc came up with a fantastic plan. Anything beyond "ZOMBIES SMASH" could be too complicated for a full-scale assault on something like the compound or Dunbar where high numbers come in handy.

[scbubba]

Looking back over this thread sparked a thought. The mention of complicated tasks and traps reminded me of the convoy ambush site in the rain where Lizzie and Saul made their bet. That reminded me of the smell of the Zeds (smells like shite!). The smell is mentioned several times.

Now, the mention of the smell did not come up at all, IIRC, when Pinstripes was in the Tower. Nor has it been mentioned by people that were in close proximity to the Little Ones (1st gen or turned).

I don't recall smell being mentioned around Behemoths but I'll need to go back and listen to Kalani and Angel at the base to see if one of them brought it up.

Is that a further separation of the two types of beings? OZ's (original Zeds) vs MZ's (Modified Zeds)?

May not be pertinent to the story.... but that's never stopped me before!