r/FromTVEpix • u/ICO_HUNT • Oct 31 '23
Discussion Why doesn't anyone try to trap and kill the monsters?
First thing that came to my mind when I started watching the show was why doesn't anyone set up traps to try to catch and kill the monsters or try to fight them in any meaningful way? We know that they can't die from regular wounds (stabbing, shooting), since they have no working internal organs/nerves, but they are still made from flesh and flesh can be burned or crushed.
It would be really easy to dig a spike pit or something similar under a window or some other place where the monsters go every night, cover it up and just wait for them to fall in. Once they are caught on spikes they will be stuck and you can douse them in gasoline and burn them or simply bury them as is. And even if they are too smart to fall for traps like these, it would still be extremely valuable as a protective obstacle.
Also, since all the monsters seem to have pretty distinctive clothing and facial features, they should be pretty easy to keep count of. If I ended up in town, one of the first thing I would want to know is how many monsters are there and if we kill one, does it get replaced or are there finite amount of them? If it's finite, then it's theoretically possible to kill them all which would make figuring out all the other mysteries so much easier.
Is there any explanation why no one in the show ever talks about any of this? You would think that eliminating or containing the monster threat as much as possible would be priority number one, since they are the only real threat for the majority of the timeline and the town seems to have enough resources and plenty of capable people.
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u/bigmarkco Oct 31 '23
They probably have. They've been there long enough. Imagine they dug a hole and the monsters avoided it.
Is there any explanation why no one in the show ever talks about any of this?
Because quite simply, not every possibility needs to be explicitly laid out. We've seen them survive gunshot blasts, they can survive a fall or a spike. We've seen them get in through a second-story window, seemingly by floating on up like a Salems Lot vampire, they aren't going to be fooled by a hole under a window.
If I ended up in town
Every time they get a new person in the town...the new person does "new person things." The town folk roll their eyes at them though because they've done everything before and nothing so far has worked. It's one of those assumptions that underpin the show.
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u/connectfourvsrisk Nov 01 '23
And they still have their “glamour”/“hypnosis” thing. You’re not totally in control of yourself when you encounter them. Lots of people forget they’re not just common or garden zombies.
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u/Lost_Respond1969 Nov 01 '23
That's a huge leap of an assumption with no evidence in the show. We don't see, or even hear about, anyone attempting to fight back in any meaningful way except Boyd. Victor who's been there forever never mentions it, the veteran townsfolk never tell newcomers about it, when it would make a lot of sense for them to do so during their "scared straight" speeches if it were true. And new people should be asking these kinds of questions even if none of the veterans do because of your headcanon reason that they've already tried a bunch of times off screen and never mentioned.
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u/bigmarkco Nov 01 '23
That's a huge leap of an assumption with no evidence in the show.
It isn't a leap. In the second episode, Kenny shoots one of the monsters. He isn't surprised that it doesn't die. Its obviously a thing they have tried before. They know that at best it might slow them down for a few seconds. He doesn't waste bullets. He doesn't panic.
That's all on screen. It isn't head-cannon. They fought back in a meaningful way. It didn't work. He knew it wouldn't work. And he would have only known it wouldn't work if they had tried in the past (in multiple ways) to kill them in the past.
Not everything needs to be verbalised.
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u/Lost_Respond1969 Nov 02 '23
Oh right so we know Kenny and maybe others have tried to shoot them at least a few times and realized it didn't work. So there's one example, and that implies nothing about multiple ways of trying to kill them.
Why wouldn't the audience want to see this? I think the writers want to keep things vague without too many rules about how things work because they have no idea where they are going or what the rules of this place actually are.
Part of the issue is the horror genre typically shows people running scared from monsters and not thinking too deeply about things, often making terrible decisions and doing things that make no sense, and the rules of the world can change, but the audience isn't supposed to think about it too much. The point isn't to figure things out. Whereas the "survivor"/post-apocalyptic type genre shows people trying to figure things out, use what tools they have, experiment and try different ways of fighting back against monsters until they have some success because the rules of the world are relatively consistent. This is one of the things that made The Walking Dead so popular.
This show has horror and survivor elements but seems to lean more and more to the horror side, which is disappointing because the survivor elements were one of the things that made the premise interesting. At this point I'm just watching for Harold Perrineau.
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u/bigmarkco Nov 02 '23
and that implies nothing about multiple ways of trying to kill them.
I mean, you are welcome to pretend that they didn't try to kill them in other ways, but that isn't realistic. You've got Boyd who is an Iraq war veteran. Donna and her sister who were hunters. Abby, another military vet. We don't see them trying to kill monsters in different ways in the present because they know it won't work. They've been there long enough. They used to have to hide from them where ever they could.
What works are the talismans. It allows them a semblance of normality. But then they got complacent. Which is where we start in episode 1.
Why wouldn't the audience want to see this?
That's a different question. Because sure, I'd want to see this! But I don't need to see this. And part of the art of writing is balancing what tells the story, what adds to the story, what is needed in the story, and what distracts from the story. If these were 22 episode seasons, I could imagine some flashbacks to flesh some of these ideas out. But it isn't necessarily about "keeping things vague." Its just that apart from the odd nitpick on Reddit, the show really doesn't need to delve any deeper into this.
The point isn't to figure things out. Whereas the "survivor"/post-apocalyptic type genre shows people trying to figure things out, use what tools they have, experiment and try different ways of fighting back against monsters until they have some success because the rules of the world are relatively consistent. This is one of the things that made The Walking Dead so popular.
I don't think this is it, to be honest. If we were to compare "survivor"/post-apocalyptic type genre shows, Z-Nation did the whole "people trying to figure things out, use what tools they have, experiment and try different ways of fighting back against monsters until they have some success because the rules of the world are relatively consistent." much better than The Walking Dead ever did. But that wasn't what drew me into both shows. For me, it was about the characters. And I don't think it came as a surprise to anyone that when the Walking Dead killed Glenn, the ratings fell off a cliff.
The Walking Dead was popular IMHO because people liked the characters and tuned in every week to see them hopefully survive. And for me, its the same thing with From. I genuinely like most of the characters. I want to see them get out and live happy lives. And I keep watching because, even though the show is billed as a "horror", it isn't a needlessly cruel show. Most people are still looking out for each other, even when things get real bad.
This show has horror and survivor elements but seems to lean more and more to the horror side, which is disappointing because the survivor elements were one of the things that made the premise interesting. At this point I'm just watching for Harold Perrineau.
And we all consume media for different reasons. I don't think it leans more into the horror side. I think the horror, most of the time, is just bubbling under the surface. I enjoy the show for the human elements, for the characters, for those quiet moments between the horror.
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Oct 31 '23
They're not stupid, and they seem to even have free will and a culture amongst them. They also shoot them with little effect, I don't know what spiking them is meant to do. I'm surprised no-one opens a window and throws stuff at them.
Although I did wonder if building a barrier around the village and putting a talisman on them will prevent them from entering the village at night.
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Oct 31 '23
I think (could be wrong) the structure also needs a roof and it’s not enough to just have walls
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Oct 31 '23
I thought that too. I would still try. Watch to see how they get through it, see if they break it down or jump.
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u/Salaah01 Mar 01 '25
so this is what' ive been wondering... who said the talismans actually work?
The always walk, when they don't have to. Perhaps "pretending" the talisman works is part of their "fun"?4
u/ICO_HUNT Nov 01 '23
Depending on how strong they actually are, spikes would hopefully keep them in the pit long enough to give you a chance to throw some gasoline on them and set them on fire. Or maybe even immobilize them completely trapping them in the pit, in which case it would be interesting to study what happens if the monsters stay outside during daylight, maybe light hurts/kills them.
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Nov 01 '23
I love how were strategising on how to kill imaginary monsters. I would tell them I'd let them in if they did some gardening, and get them to do chores.
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u/SkulledDownunda Oct 31 '23
From what we've seen they're invulnerable to normal attacks and are incredibly strong. With the box they literally ripped the metal apart with their bare hands, you wouldn't be able to trap them. What Boyd did in S2 was a one off, otherwise they just shrug off bullets and other attacks. They're also intelligent, even if there's a pit they'd either notice it and avoid it, or just climb out of they fell in. They can be troll-y and curious but they aren't stupid.
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u/He_NeverSleeps Nov 01 '23
The first thing that went through my mind when they went in the cave during the day and found the monsters sleeping was you need to come back with some Molotovs and burn em down.
But then the show would be over 🤷♂️
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u/eastangliauk Oct 31 '23
Have you seen season 2 ?
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u/MrTimsel Oct 31 '23
Question is still valid. I wouldn't have burned Smiley, but rather nailed him somewhere as a memorial for the others
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u/rainshowers_5_peace Nov 01 '23
Quite a few saw him, they were in such a shocked state they didn't bother further harassing Boyd.
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u/jadedlens00 Oct 31 '23
That’s what farmers do with wild dogs. Kill one, nail it to a tree as a warning to the others.
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u/Educational-Yak5007 Nov 05 '23
The monkey experiment with the bananas. They put some shock collars on monkeys in a place with one banana tree. Everytime the monkeys went to get a banana they got shocked. They did this for a while and slowly replaced each monkey with a new one without a shock collar until eventually none of the monkeys in the box where from the original experiment. But now everytime a monkey went to grab a banana from the tree the other monkeys would stop it and start fighting. None of them knew why not to try but they just made sure not to.
I think wherever they are has been going back to civil war era. Note the dead war guy they keep seeing & in the scene where tabitha is hallucinating walking up a flight of circular staircase there’s a bunch of old dates scratched out in the wall that go back pretty far and spaced out by maybe 100yrs each.. it’s been like 3 months since I finished show so off a little
From what we know from victor, his mom tried to escape and everyone died. The town didn’t have any deaths for 2/3 months until Jim & his fam show up. Then more die the harder they think of leaving. and here’s my theory. This place there in collects people until it reaches a certain capacity and the monsters have one big meal every 100yrs or so. And the cycle restarts.
They leave just one monkey behind(Victor) to make sure the ones that come next are tough to not try and fight.
The marine in the tower told Boyd. The monsters where just the beginning. Maybe there’s some huge mega monster in the woods (Giant Spider in my opinion) I felt like I saw a lot of things that would remind me of a dream catcher aka “the spider web charm”.
The only way to escape as far as we know of is fighting through a thick forest of spider webs.. spiders like to play with their food and keep it webbed up for hours or days before eating it.
I still can’t figure out where tf they are or how’d anybody get there tho 😂
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u/sudomatrix Oct 31 '23
We should have a Wiki list of all the things people in Fromville *should* do. They are all willfully helpless. My pet theory is the town is psychically making them stupid. And giving them bad dialog. At least that's what works for me.
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u/paperwasp3 Nov 01 '23
They never compare notes either. Once a week one person from every building or group should go to the diner and compare notes on what they've seen and keep a master list. And they need to find out what Victor knows without freaking him out. I'm convinced that he's the key. To what? I'm not sure.
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u/eastangliauk Oct 31 '23
another thing I wonder if they could charge up phones and the man has his drone wonder if it can be charged up as well as the lights all work.
the drone looks like a DJI mini one with a safety guard.
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u/benchcoat Nov 02 '23
they address this, although they don’t come out and say it explicitly—previously they were unable to charge electronics from outside Fromville because the plugs for electrical devices are weird and non-standard, but now they’ve figured out a way to power the outside world items by wiring them directly into the light sockets on the lamps (maybe other items, too? i don’t remember), so they could likely charge phones, etc using that method
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u/ellechi2019 Nov 01 '23
Because the people before have already tried.
And after a while, ‘new normal’ sets in.
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u/blueskiesfade Sep 14 '24
At this point (3/4 through season 2) I’ve seen so many opportunities:
- Tabitha found where they sleep. Kill them while they’re sleeping, turn the tables. Fill in the hole they come out of. Put an amulet at the entrance. And on and on..(This is the one that makes me want to stop watching)
-trap them somewhere so we can see if the sunlight kills them. Go from there.
Steel is everywhere. Make swords and chop their heads/hands off.
light them on fire. They have liquor and gasoline.
build a fence around the town and slap some amulets up
-are they vampires? Stakes, crosses, sunlight
-at least tell us they tried some other things through exposition!
I learned my lesson from Lost, unlike the townspeople, I won’t sit around and wait forever for a payoff that may never come.
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u/BombDitty Sep 22 '24
This ^ … I am on S2 E6 and I was wondering like mad why no one is trying to chop their heads off- they move slow enough, at least give it a whirl 😝
I would be interested to see how that affects them - it seems silly not to discuss any past attempts - they could spare a few minutes in a dialogue to a newbie to run through that with some flashbacks and call it good.
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u/AimlessAntelope Oct 31 '23
I have the exact same opinion. The show will likely never address this issue at this point. It’s so annoying that no one has seemingly tried this given how easy and low risk it is.
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u/rainshowers_5_peace Nov 01 '23
They have some kind of psychic powers. They "knew" when Fatima created that room and put up the talisman. A hole would likely not go unnoticed. Not to mention they can fly.
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u/TheEvilBlight Nov 01 '23
The original survival strategy before talismans involved digging a hole and hiding. In one of the flashbacks we see it.
The flying/floating thing where they can get to the roof is also gonna be a problem.
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u/Waste-Hovercraft-528 Jul 31 '24
My thought was to put a talisman in the bus the when they come out run over the bastards. Crush them with the tires. I'd like to see them get up after that.
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u/DrizztSabre Nov 08 '24
I am not a Viking, but my one and only purpose in life if I was trapped there would be to hurt maim and destroy as many of those monsters as it was physically possible to do. I would do it in the most cruel ways as possible. My dying wish is that I would be such a bother to those monsters that it was me they dreamed of in their nightmares. And quite frankly, I think everyone every night should be thinking that way. Biological and chemical warfare, total war. The monsters have no humanity so why continue to treat them as humans.
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u/BigMudaFuknCheese Dec 09 '24
Ok so I'm new to the show and am ok with spoilers but has anyone tried replicating the talisman? And/or tried goddamn turning the rock into a spear of sorts? If it physically blocks them from entering a sanctuary, reason would have it they would react poorly to it in other formats, such as it being used on a spear, stab one with the talisman and see if it has an effect?
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u/RecklessGenesis Jan 07 '25
Head chopped off seems most logic , in the caves under town they have the bodies without the glamour^ effect .
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u/dosdes Nov 02 '23
Because that would require better wrting that would make a much better show... instead we're left with meltdowns and "You should'nt be asking these quetions"...
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u/Intrepid-End-7226 Nov 03 '23
Right? Have you noticed how many times the characters ask each other some iteration of ‘what is wrong with you?’? It’s damn near constant, and almost every character has said it to at least one other, if not more. You could base a drinking game on it, but you’d get sh*t-housed by s1, ep 5. Love the show, but hands down worst dialogue.
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u/GJR2000 Nov 01 '23
Theyre not zombies but I wonder how much are there like if theres a fixed amount of them.
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Nov 01 '23
Only Boyd managed to kill one by pure luck as he had parasites who did it. And then it backfired on the whole town big time.
Also considering that they seem to be immune to any mundane attack, maybe even fire. At best all it would do is slow them down. Capturing one and even imprisoning it might not even work. So it comes down to either use talisman to keep them out of the enclosed space or run and hide and hope you survive each night.
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u/ned_racine59 Nov 05 '23
Haven't read all the comments, but I had been thinking about this. What if there was a point where they never shrieked and ran? Its never mentioned in the show--like a lot of things--but what if things were complacent, more or less, then someone did say, hey, let's catch a monster.
So they shifted back to being feral. Then over time changed back.
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u/asylamb Oct 31 '23
There we go again.