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| "One of us, one of us..." |
Yeah, you probably wouldn’t think those two shows had
anything in common. One is a comedy about a group of nerdy scientists and their
socially awkward attempts to fit into the world around them. The other is a
harrowing drama about people trying to survive in a world decimated by zombies.
But if you watch both series there are quite a few clues that show how those
not so innocent scientists led to the rise of the Walkers.
1.)
Steve Yeun
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| "I would rather live in the South than deal with that nut anymore." |
One
of the main characters in The Walking Dead is Glenn, played by actor Steve
Yeun. Coincidently, before Steve got cast in this plum role, he had a small
role on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. In a flashback episode, Steve plays
Sheldon’s former roommate before Leonard moved in. Now how does this in any way
connect to The Walking Dead? Actors play different roles all the time. But what
if this isn’t a different character? Glenn is surprisingly skilled at survival
in the world of The Walking Dead. He’s quick witted and good under pressure.
Almost as if he has survived a traumatic experience prior to the zombie
apocalypse. A traumatic experience like having to live with Sheldon Cooper.
Despite his many annoying habits, Sheldon does like to be prepared. FOR
EVERYTHING. He has drills and contingencies for so much. Also it is conceivable
that after putting up with all that, Glenn would want to get as far away from
that as possible and he would move from Pasadena, California all the way to
Atlanta, Georgia.
2.)
Science
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| "Back off man, I'm a scientist." |
At the heart of The Big Bang Theory are scientists. These
characters are geniuses in their chosen field. And this is important because most
likely the virus that causes the zombies was created by a group of genius
scientists. People who both know how viruses work and how they could possibly
affect the brain. Specifically a microbiologist (which is Bernadette’s
specialty) and a neurobiologist (which is Amy’s specialty). Now you might think
that creating such a thing as a zombie virus would be too unthinkable a thing
for people as sweet and kind as Bernadette and Amy to do, you would be wrong.
Bernadette has mentioned several times on the show that she has done some
pretty messed up things in the lab (combining Ebola with the common cold just
as an example). And Amy has “joked” many times that she would like to dissect
her friends simply out of pure curiosity. These two evil geniuses could easily
get together one afternoon and play around with some new viruses in the lab.
3.)
Fear The Walking Dead
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| If the zombies don't get you, The Hipsters will. |
Now while I am theorizing that The Big Bang Theory could be
a prequel to The Walking Dead, AMC already did release a series that is a
prequel. And guess what? It takes place in California. Just like The Big Bang
Theory. Fear The Walking Dead deals with the beginning days of the zombie
outbreak. When we tune in to The Walking Dead it is Rick Grimes waking up after
being in a coma for months and the zombie apocalypse is well underway. Fear The
Walking Dead deals with a world where zombies are just starting to appear. It
is a rare occurrence. And since most of the news reports and encounters with
zombies seem to be in Cali, specifically Los Angeles, we can assume the
outbreak started there. Or perhaps it started in nearby Pasadena, where the
characters from The Big Bang Theory live. Being a current California resident
(residing in Burbank myself) I can tell you that it is not hard to get from
Pasadena to LA. But LA is a large metropolis so probably there would be greater
panic over zombies showing up there than in the quaint little Pasadena so LA
becomes the perceived ground zero, when in fact it should really be 2311
North Los Robles Avenue (the primary residence of Leonard and Sheldon).
4.)
Penny and/or Wolowitz
Okay, it is easy to imagine Amy and Bernadette cooking up
the zombie virus, but how would such a virus get around the world. On The
Walking Dead it is revealed that everyone is infected. Every single person has
the virus in them and it just takes their death for it to activate and
resurrect them. So how did the rest of the world, or at least the US, become
infected. Well there are two possibilities. The first involves the loveable yet
not as bright as the rest Penny. While originally on the show Penny was an
aspiring actress, this past season has seen her become a drug sales rep. This
particular career requires her to travel a lot. She would make the perfect
carrier for a disease that is intended to infect a large population. Every
airport, train station and taxi cab she gets in or out of infects another huge
group of people who in turn infect others and who in turn infect others more.
Not to mention all the various doctors she will infect who will pass the disease
on to their patients.
The second possibility is Bernadette’s husband Howard Wolowitz.
A brilliant engineer and astronaut, he could design some sort of device that
could distribute the virus in a low earth orbit. Possibly both methods are used
seeing the length to which the virus has spread in the world of The Walking
Dead.
5.)
Sheldon
There is one problem with the idea that Amy, Bernadette and
Wolowitz would team up to release a zombie virus upon the world. All of them
are too nice. They could never do something so heinous as infect the world,
even if they were experimenting out of scientific curiosity. But someone in
their group of friends would. Sheldon Cooper has been described more than once
throughout the series as a super villain in the making. And he is not above
messing the lives of others if it suits his needs. In simple, Sheldon would
absolutely release a zombie virus on the world. He might even do it simply
because he was playing the Resident Evil video games and wanted to see if he
could transfer the skills from the game to a real life scenario.  |
| "Can I eat my own brains?" |
So there it is. It is completely conceivable that at the end
of The Big Bang Theory we will see Sheldon Cooper unleashing the zombie
apocalypse. Or quite conceivably Daryl and Rick could run into a horde of
walkers that consists of four nerds and a pretty blonde. Perhaps Michonne will
decapitate a still lecherous dead Wolowitz. Either way, it is worth watching
both series to see how they unfold and reveal more ties to each other. Bazinga!
Great post.
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