It is rather surprising that another network didn’t attempt to bring a series of uber-successful graphic novels to life in the television format sooner but give credit to AMC. They looked around and saw the success shows like True Blood were bringing to HBO and decided to dive-in with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. In its first season last year, the network only ordered six episodes, barely enough time to establish characters or plot out an epic arc. The network was cautious due to the high production expense and wanted to see if fans would seek out something they had read or if people would sample zombie-fare in a weekly format.
The experiment paid off as an average of six million people watched each episode last season, making the show one of the most successful scripted shows on basic cable and the network gave it a thirteen episode pickup for this season. Starring Andrew Lincoln as Officer Rick, The Walking Dead is about a zombie epidemic overrunning the world destroying the economy and security that people feel in their lives. The only thing that matters is survival. Rick was shot on the day the epidemic hit the world. Fearing he wouldn’t mike it, his son Carl and wife Lori take off with Rick’s best friend in the police Shane to escape the zombies. Rick miraculously comes through and learns of the destruction zombies are bringing the world.
Season 1 had him find his family and the group of survivors that they had come to live with as one big, irregular family. Little known to Rick, however, was the fact that his wife and Shane engaged in a brief affair after believing he was dead. Other characters of note are Glenn, a tech-wiz young-man that has no fear of going into battle or on missions with Rick, Darryl, a sarcastic smartass who wields a crossbow with the constant goal of hopefully finding his missing brother Meryl after the group of survivors left the racist pig for dead last season, Andrea, a woman who has lost her will to live after witnessing the brutal murder of her sister by the zombies, and Dale, the calm, wise, older force that travels with the survivors and who has a particular interest in Andrea.
The series looks beautiful, as the group moves across the vast, empty, horrifying world with no ending to their terror in sight along with showcasing plenty of blood when the zombies are around. Zombie makeup looks incredible and they can truly be horrifying when there are fifty of them together. Tension lurks around every corner and you never know when the next scare will come from. The premiere this season ended with the shooting of young Carl by an unknown entity.
This season will showcase the group entering Herschel’s Farm, a familiar locale from the graphic novels. Ratings were up 30% for the premiere over last season, meaning the show will be around for years to come. That there is plenty of source material in the comics means there will be plenty of unique story material so that the constant zombie/human chase will never get boring. Kirkman has already deviated from the comics a bit by creating the character of Darryl, so who is to say there won’t be other surprise entrances down the line to keep people guessing about what is coming next.
One wonders when the Rick/Shane/Lori secret will come out and how Carl will survive his gunshot wound. It seems the writers may pair up Shane and Andrea, which has several exciting possibilities. If you like adrenaline-infused shows that are packed to the gills with thrills and surprised, The Walking Dead is for you. The unique blend of a survival story and terror provide one awesome weekly television experience and you don’t want to be the one missing out on the water cooler discussion come Monday. Hopefully this show’s success will open the door for future graphic novel adaptations to the small screen in the near future. The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 8 PM on AMC.
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