WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of The Last Kids on Earth, now streaming on Netflix.
Despite it not packing the same punch or earning record ratings anymore, The Walking Dead still holds a major spot in pop culture as the TV series that brought zombies back to the mainstream eye in a big way. Zombies were more or less for movies only, but AMC really did spice up Sunday nights with its adaptation of the The Walking Dead.
10 seasons in, though, it's interesting to see how the alliance from Hilltop, the Kingdom, Alexandria and other places such as Oceanside struggle. They haven't evolved as much and are still considered prey for the undead to feast on, which means they really didn't handle the zombie apocalypse that well. However, if you want to see how zombies should be herded in a way to not affect life negatively, adversely, look no further than Netflix's The Last Kids on Earth.
Now, the adult-oriented Walking Dead has a way different tone and uses the zombies as a constant threat. So obviously, the show's writers will never find a way to quell the zombie influx. They need them surprising our heroes, attacking in hordes and basically being a villain that can never be controlled, no matter how many geniuses or weapons the humans have. It's all to add drama, tension, suspense and a never-ending sense of dread.
The Last Kids on Earth embodies a different style as it's for kids, and also, because the zombies are a secondary threat. The main one is the horde on alien monsters dropped into Wakefield thanks to a mysterious portal, which leaves four kids -- Jack, June, Quint and Dirk -- to survive among them. And they do so in the easiest and most efficient manner, despite the town being overrun by the undead.
People turned into zombies as a side-effect of the portal but the kids don't believe in killing them as someday they think the military will arrive with a cure. So they create traps around town to shepherd the zombies into various zones, using giant blaring horns to pull them away from groceries and the hardware whenever a run's needed. Also, they keep the horns mobile and as a distraction using a jeep called "Big Mama," making it the Pied Piper. The high-schoolers cleverly lures zombies into in a parade, away from wherever their mission is, and they do so using football gear and other everyday pieces of equipment.
Jack's posse safely maps out the town this way, and this creates room for them, as well as the friendly monsters they meet, to live as a society. It also allows Jack to do his monster hunting in peace. They also use these zones to keep the zombies and monsters apart as they don't want them hurting each other. The kids even use a pet zombie, a butler named Alfred, for recreation as they think he's so cute! Basically, they're all about compassion, not killing, and prefer to corral the creatures. It's all about simple solutions, not guns and bombs, and this leads to them tying up zombies, using cages and chaining them around town, almost as decorations or statues. The crew thinks they add a kooky aesthetic to Wakefield, and their monster allies are actually down for this.
This produces a weird microcosm but given the levity of the show, Quint -- the genius -- proves how common sense, science and empathy can work as long as they're all on the same page. They even keep the zombies safe, which is why when Rezzoch's mysterious agent starts kidnapping them and leaving their brainless corpses around town, the kids hunt the acolyte down. They believe that as much as zombies are hostile and shaped as "enemies," they're still family and have to be preserved as the crew has hope one day they'll all be saved.