Geez HC, I think its pretty silly to be talking about unrealistic things, given the whole premise of the show.
Its not that hard to rip open an old man's stomach, its not like he had a body builder's abs or anything, and if you have something sharp, abs fall apart pretty easily, they used to disembowel people all the time in the past. Maybe the zombie had claw like fingers? Also you act like being knee deep in mud is no big thing, have you ever been knee deep in a swamp? It can be pretty tough getting out.
I assume all zombies are different, it could be that those three were attracted to the cow, and that dale's killer saw dale coming and decided to go for him.
What would you have rather happened? The zombie fall on Dale and claw away to no avail, only to have Dale be put down later because the zombie broke his hip? Probably more realistic, way shittier television.
The herd of zombies is understandable, they could be a roaming herd that just happened to be stumbling upon the farm, the farm, from what I take of it, is a fairly large piece of property and its surrounded by wilderness, if the herd, was say, a mile away, they would be pretty hard to see/detect and they could descend on the farm within a half hour or so.
Anyhow, none of that stuff really bugs me all that much, i don't find that they are any worse than anything that has happened to the show, like Darrell's brother cutting off his own hand and cauterizing the wound on an open flame, come on now, don't be so nit picky.
I don't see how you can think that Herschel is the new Dale, he has never had that righteousness for the sake of righteousness that Dale had. I think if anyone takes Dale's spot it would be Glenn, he is the only character that is unsoiled as a purely good guy. Herschel is not, he is a drunk, wanted to kick people off the farm, had no problem killing randall, etc. In all honesty I think there is no need for a new Dale, Dale's do right-regardless of consequences was a stark contrast to Shane's - do what is easy regardless of what is right persona. With both of them gone, there is no need for a voice of reason.
I don't know if any of the people on the farm live. I am guessing Herschel, because he is a doctor, and an interesting character. Maggie I could see going either way, she is kind of boring, and in both cases - live or die, she makes things interesting for Glenn and Herschel. The others on the farm I see no point in keeping around, unless they feel the need to bring on additional faces due to the deaths.
The bald headed woman has got to go.
Its actually refreshing that the black wasn't among the first handful of people to go. But he's 50-50 if you ask me, though, he actually spoke for the first time last episode, so maybe he stays.
I don't see how Darrel needs to redeem himself, he hasn't done anything to compromise the group, he has just been a bit of a loner, which most people don't seem to mind too much about.
I think Shane's death is really one of the best I have seen in any series, an up close knife is a pretty intimate/brutal way to kill someone, I think the character of Rick has improved by leaps and bounds, that last conversation with Lori and Shane was great too, shows that her character is deeper than we think, even Carl has shown some character development. The show has gotten so much better since the death of Sophia