Aside from the cancer that is Merle Dixon and all plot points flowing from his existence, the third episode of The Walking Dead was bearable, giving us a brief glimpse of the ruthless gender dynamics of the post-Zombiepocalypse world. The problem is that, as always, complex issues in the comic become mere plot devices. In this case, we're presented with another new character who happens to be a monster, Ed, the mysogynist wife-beater whose brutal beating at Shane's hands is meant to show us two things -- that Rick's return has pushed Shane over the edge, and that Shane lacks Rick's internal moral compass if not his valor.
The fact that the women in the camp have all somehow been relegated to a domestic role is humorously acknowledged by Jacqui, who wants to know why she's expected to act like Hattie McDaniel. But the joke is almost unearned, since that moment just serves as a reminder of how little actual time we've spent considering this new, ruined world from their perspective. The idea that in the immediate aftermath of the apocalypse, traditional gender roles become more strictly enforced is not necessarily unrealistic, but the writers seem anxious about having to deal with it at all.
That's not to say they won't. Robert Kirkman's original source material reminds us of an essential truth about violence, which is that its effectiveness has less to do with physical strength than an ability to break through the psychological barriers to inflicting pain on another human being. The latter quality is what more closely defines one's chances for survival in a world ruled by the undead, and it has nothing to do with gender.
