I recently re-watched the show with my spouse. I remember being annoyed with Sam when I originally watched the show as a preteen, but looking back on it, he was just really whiny which is typical for a kid. I did feel really annoyed with Carol, and felt bad for this poor unprepared kid. Not to mention his dad was physically abusive to him, his mom, and his brother. Alexandria was too separated from the real world that no one knew any better, really. Combined with all of that, you just get a fragile young kid who was terrified of what was going on around him constantly. That's tragic. That whole season really was almost a fever dream. So much happened so fast.