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Review: The Walking Dead S2E9 “Triggerfinger”

Posted on by Arleigh

“So, let’s chalk this up for what it is…wrong place, wrong time.” — Rick Grimes

It looks like no matter what some viewers may complain about The Walking Dead moving as slow as the zombies that ended the world it still manages to surprise everyone with scenes of great tension and burst of quality that we all want the show to be. This was most evident with how the mid-season return episode “Nebraska” at first seemed like it was going nowhere once again, but actually moved the story along. The ending of the previous episode helped Rick as a character grow though it also manages to make his fairer half in Lori become even more hated by most everyone with her stupid decision to try and go into town by herself.

Tonight’s episode continues the two major storylines which ended the previous episode. We get a cold opening which is terrifying despite what people may think about Lori as a character. That scene of the zombie trying to pop it’s head through the crack in the car’s windshield while Lori remained out of it then just before we segue into Bear McCreary’s opening theme she wakes up to see the half-eaten face pushing through.

The title of this latest episode is “Triggerfinger” and for the first third of the night it’s quite a proper one at that. No sooner as Rick, Hershel and Glen gather the weapons of the downed Dave of Tony from the previous episode do the trio get penned in the bar by the very friends the “would be” raiders spoke of. The episode shows just how much a danger survivors continue to be toward other survivors as cooler heads rarely prevail. Soon enough both sides are trading fire like a scene out of Rio Bravo but this time with the added danger of zombies in the midst.

During this scene between two groups trying to just survive we see differing philosophies. Rick’s group tries to defuse the situation even once the bullets start flying and when casualties begin piling up we see Rick still trying to hold onto his humanity by trying to save one of the opposing numbers who have seriously hurt himself in an attempt to leave town. The other group was shown to be more willing to cut loose anyone too injured to save themselves thus leaving them behind to the mercy of the approaching zombies. Mercies that involve the very thing some fans have complained about and that’s not enough zombie carnage. For just the second time in this show’s short life we see someone still alive being set upon by a group of zombies and eaten while still alive and screaming.

The other continuing story from the previous episode has Lori trying to survive the night after crashing her car. No matter what people personally think about Lori as a character this sequence show’ that she can go into survival mode when circumstances needs for her to suck it up and survive. She doesn’t whine or appear helpless despite the precarious situation she put herself in. The fact that people back in the farm don’t even realize she’s been gone for hours must just add fuel to the fire fans have been fanning since the show first started. The series has a role for Lori and while it seems to be one of wet blanket for the most part the ending of tonight’s episode showed that she too will do anything to try and protect her family from dangers both zombie and human.

If the last couple episodes show’s anything it’s that Glen Mazzara’s turn as replacement showrunner has added much needed energy to the show. With last week’s episode and then tonight we’ve seen more action and character developlement than the first half of this second season. There now seems to be a feeling of desperation in how things have started to unfold. We still get some quieter moments between characters back on the Greene farm, but they’re not as prevalent as they’ve been in the past. Again I think this positive development has to be laid down at the feet of veteran tv show producer Glen Mazzara who understands that tv shows rely on keeping it’s audience’s attention focused on what’s going on the screen. So far, he and his writers have been doing a good job in moving the show with much forward momentum and keeping things that would slow it down to a minimum. As much as I love Frank Darabont for bringing this show to tv I think him being replaced was just what this show needed to succeed in the long run.

Notes

  • Now that is what I call a scary opening. I’m sure many people watching tonight’s episode were hoping the zombie got through the windshield and chowed down on Lori, but then we wouldn’t have seen how badass she can be when the chips are down. Her actions in this sequence and in the episode’s end was a nice bookend in helping grow this character beyond the harping shrew many have been calling her.
  • Her reaction to another Shane lie and then her own reveal to him about their relationship to Rick goes a long way in making her go beyond much-hated character to one that’s conflicted but set in trying to fix what she thinks was a mistake that should never have happened.
  • It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the group, especially for the Grimes clan, now that Shane looks to have been shot down once again by the woman he says he love and done so in a way that leaves him with no opening for redemption. The fact that Lori has repeated Dale’s own suspicions about Shane’s role in Otis’ death all the way back in episode 3 of this season show’s that Shane was losing the support of the very person he believes he’s protecting. With talk of actor Jon Bernthal being coveted by Frank Darabont to star in his police detective tv series it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Shane’s much-delayed demise will not have a clock counting down. Whether that clock strikes “zero” before or right at this season’s finale will be speculated on by fans for weeks to come.
  • I like how the show has made the little character details really stand out since Mazzara and crew took over from Darabont. I don’t know if anyone else picked up on it, but during the gunfight back in town we finally hear Hershel leave behind any notion of what he thought about the zombies as being people just sick when he began to call them walkers as he and Glenn tried to survive against the other group of survivors.
  • Tonight’s episode goes a long way in making Hershel the new right-hand man for Rick. While Hershel looks to still be upset by what Rick’s group did with the barn zombies he has at least begun to admit both in his language and mannerisms that Rick had been right all along and that he now needs to protect his own family and Rick’s group may be a key to their survival.
  • Love Hershel puts Shane in his place after Shane once again tries to kneecap Rick’s place as group leader. Tonight really was a coming out party for Scott Wilson and here’s to hoping his Hershel continues to back Rick.
  • On the Glenn and Maggie relationship front…we see Glenn becoming more gunshy and clumsy when it comes to taking care of business when away from the group. Seems Maggie’s professing of her love for him has muddled his brain. We see him make several mistakes tonight that’s damaged his confidence. It will be interesting how both he and Maggie deal with his crisis of confidence as the season moves along.
  • Daryl looks to be pulling himself back from the group emotionally and it’s good to see Carol trying to prevent that from happening. This subplot looks to be in it’s gestation period but if done right it could turn out to be a good sign in keeping Daryl from further isolating himself from the group and at least keeps Carol busy trying to be savior for the show’s resident badass.
  • T-Dog watch: one line of dialogue and not much else. Please, Mazzara and crew just kill him off and bring in Tyrese.
  • We see some great work from Greg Nicotero and his make-up FX wizards from KNB EFX with tonight’s zombie carnage. Whether it was the zombie peeling it’s face off in an attempt to get through the busted car windshield to get to Lori or the face ripping of the wounded shooter as they begin to eat him alive. I know shooting these scenes at night and in the dark helps in keeping the tricks if the trade from being more obvious, but I think even if the scenes were filmed in the daytime I believe the effects work would be even better and much more bloody.
  • Finally, the show ends with Lori channeling her inner Lady MacBeth as she tries to turn Rick into solving the Shane problem (by any means necessary) which looks to be a spark away from destroying everything the group has worked for since they left Atlanta.

Review: The Walking Dead S2E8 “Nebraska”

Posted on by Arleigh

“Ain’t nobody’s hands are clean with what’s left of this world. We’re all the same.” — Dave

[some spoilers]

After almost three months in hiatus The Walking Dead returns with a brand new episode which brings us back to how we left the show after episode 7.

It’s a cold opening with us, the audience, looking up the barrel of Rick’s pistol with smoke still billowing out from him having to use it to put down Sophia. The awkward silence is only broken up by the sobbing by the youngest Greene daughter which soon turns into screams of horror and panic as not all of the walkers the group had massacred was fully and truly dead. But it’s a burst of adrenaline that doesn’t last long. We see the cracks opened up by Shane’s “live or die” outburst from the previous episode now out in the open as the revelation that Sophia was always in the barn and all the searching for her by the group has been for naught and has put many in the group in danger.

Whether Herschel and his family really knew that Sophia was already turned didn’t matter to some in the group who now look at the Greene’s with suspicious eyes. Some still cling to the hope that it was all a mistake and that the only person who knew Sophia was inside had died days before. We once again see that these two differing thoughts have come down between Rick and Shane. It’s a conflict that has been brewing since Rick’s return to the group all the way back in episode 3 of the first season. While its been quite a surprise and a treat to see the TV-version of Shane survive far longer than the one from the comic book source I do think that this conflict between the two alpha dogs will soon come to a head by season’s end. To continue having these two be at loggerheads beyond this season would be unnecessary and take away from any dramatic payoff this subplot has.

The center section of the episode is probably where some viewers will once again harp and complain about the show returning to it’s habit of being talky and spinning it wheels in place. I won’t say that I haven’t worried about this show when it came to it’s quieter and slower moments. There’s been times this season when the show has spun it’s wheels in place instead of moving forward, but as we saw with the Sophia reveal which ended the mid-season of season 2 there’s a crazy logic to what’s been going on even if we can’t see it when it first occurs.

This is not to say that the writers and new showrunner Glen Mazzara don’t have some work to do in improving the show’s pacing and quality. With the start of the second half of season 2 Mazzara and his crew have the opportunity to take what Kirkman and Darabont had laid down with the first 13 episodes of the series and create something that goes beyond the show just being a good show. While the middle section of the episode wasn’t a step in that direction I thought the final twenty minutes of the episode was something the show has been hit or miss with throughout this season. Maybe it’s the change of showrunners from Frank Darabont who’s experience has been mostly with film work while Mazzara has been a veteran of some very dialogue-heavy shows such as The Shield.

In the past episodes with Daradont in charge the scenes between Rick and Herschel in the town bar would’ve been a mixture of great writing but not something easily translated into spoken dialogue. This time around with Mazzara in charge the scene moved at a pace which didn’t equate to a scene being talky, but helped establish the changes in how two men used to a leadership role realizing that they’ve made mistakes which has led them to the growing tension back in the farm and within the two groups. Adding to this great scene was the arrival of two new characters which would ratchet up the tension in the bar from 1 to 11 with just a few lines of dialogue heavy with hidden meanings and agendas.

It’s this final scene with Tony and Dave of Philadelphia that gives me hope that the writers and Mazzara have seen some of the complaints from fans and realize that slowing down a scene with dialogue interactions between characters doesn’t have to be useless and an exercise in exposition dumps. Watching Andrew Lincoln (in his best performance to date) and Michael Raymond-James (Terriers, True Blood) interact with each other like it was some sort of verbal chess match was the highlight of the show. The tension created by the dialogue between the group of Rick, Glenn and Herschel with the two newcomers in Dave and Tony was so thick that it became palpable and like a powder keg just needing the merest of sparks to set off.

The final sequence with Rick finally making the hard decision to protect his group (now Herschel Greene and his brood included) over trusting the potential of other newcomers to either be a boon or a danger felt like the character making a turn from being a white hat of the show to one who now must travel this zombie apocalypse looking at things through shades of grey. Rick has always borne the brunt of fan criticism as being too noble and/or wishy-washy when it comes to making the tough choices. If this episode’s final moments was any indication Rick looks to be capable of making decisions without any hesitation if it comes to the safety of the group. He’s just not roided out in his execution of said decisions as his former deputy, Shane Walsh. Here’s to hoping this greying out of Rick is part of the new change in show leadership. If that is the case then the show may have finally found it’s stable footing for seasons to come.

Notes

  • I loved how quickly Shane tries to reassert himself as the “correct” leader for the group after he failed to put down Sophia and watches Rick make that tough choice. With each passing minute with this episode Shane comes off even more sociopathic, delusional and unpredictable
  • Another great scene is Rick pretty much telling Lori to shut up in no uncertain terms when she tries to argue that he should stay and not go off running to town to bring Herschel back. The look on her face as Rick tells her he’s doing this not just to save Herschel but their unborn baby was some good writing and acting.
  • For a moment during that scene one could almost see why Rick was so frustrated with Lori and their relationship before the zombie apocalypse interrupted the world’s routine.
  • Once again T-Dog has been relegated to being the one character on the show to say one or two lines and still not have any of it show any insight into his character. I still believe his days are numbered and won’t last this season into season 3.
  • The ‘ship growing between Glenn and Maggie continues with Glenn starting to show some doubts as to whether he should stay with Rick and the rest of the group. He seems to genuinely like Maggie, probably even loves her, though he still seems surprised that Maggie feels the same and actually mean it. In the comic book the relationship between the two seemed more like survivors clinging to something humane with love being an afterthought. This is why the tv version of this relationship has actually made these two characters even better than their comic boo counterparts.
  • I’m not sure if it was just me, but Glenn telling Rick in their drive into town about how the only people to say that they loved him was his mom and sisters made for a sad moment. Glenn has never mentioned anything about his life prior to the zombie apocalypse other than he was a pizza delivery guy. Knowing that he has no idea what has happened to his mother and sister or whether they’re still alive or turned into walkers was a very downbeat note in what was a quaint little scene.
  • Carol and Daryl look to be handling the revelation of Sophia from the previous episode in different ways. Carol trashing the Cherokee roses out in the field was very appropriate as was Daryl pulling back once again from the group as his hopes of Sophia being found alive has been dashed. It will be interesting to see whether the two will become assets to the group or more of a liability moving forward.
  • It was nice to see Michael Raymond-James from Terriers and True Blood appear on this episode. His verbal jousting with Rick at the bar was one of the best scenes of this series that didn’t include zombies or a roided out Shane. His performance in what turned out to be a cameo was so good that one couldn’t outright say that he was someone bad looking to waylay Rick and his group. He seemed like someone who was probably like Rick in the beginning of his own group’s travels, but has been weighed down by what he has seen and done to survive and protect his own that desperation has made him to do things that the regular world wouldn’t look well on.
  • All those who think Rick was a paper tiger of a leader and that Shane was the one who would best protect the group should think twice about that criticism. He showed backbone, initiative and some guile in trying to convince the two newcomers from Philadelphia that they need to look somewhere else for shelter. He definitely showed his inner-Raylan Givens with his final act of the episode.
  • I’m going to go all the way back to the beginning of Season 1, episode 5. Rick declared to everyone that they are not to kill the living. The fact that he has broken his own self-imposed rule on the group (already broken by Shane though unknown to most except a suspicious Dale) with what he did in the end of the episode should prove telling in how he behaves as he and his group of survivors continue to meet up with others on the road (hopefully) and with those within the group looking to supplant him as leader.
  • Finally, it’s been awhile since the show used a song to end an episode. It’s been a nice return to hear a particular song used this time and “Regulator” by The Clutch was an inspired choice to end “Nebraska” especially after such having such a down and dirty Old West showdown to end things:

Review: The Walking Dead S2E7 “Pretty Much Dead Already”

Posted on by Arleigh

“It ain’t like it was before!” – Shane Walsh

[spoilers within]

Tonight marks the mid-season finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead. We won’t get a new episode until the show returns in February to continue with season 2’s second half. One could say that tonight’s episode is the reason why this show has gained such a vocal and loyal following despite it’s many flaws both large and small.

This new season has been trying to improve on some of the flaws of the truncated first season by working on rounding out some of the main characters on the show. Whether the writers succeeded in this aspect of the show’s writing has been a hit-or-miss proposition. Characters like Daryl Dixon, Shane Walsh and new ones like Maggie and Hershel Greene become more fully realized during the first six episode this season while others like Rick, Dale, Carol and T-Dog remain too one-dimensional too often through the first half of the season. Then there are plot threads which seem to either drag on too long (search for the missing Sophia) or get too little mention (what is up with the nearly invisible T-Dog through this first half). It’s these inconsistencies which has brought out the even more vocal minority of the show’s viewers who have come to either feel apathetic towards the series or hate it for one reason or another.

“Pretty Much Dead Already” is the title of tonight’s episode and what happens throughout this episode goes a long way to rewarding the show’s loyal viewers for their wait through the first six episodes of this season and all its many flaws. It’s en episode which doesn’t come off as subtle with how it explores new themes of whether one belongs in a world of the living dead and does one have to lose their humanity to survive long. The episode also brings to a head the conflict which has been brewing for the last couple episodes between Rick’s group and that of Hershel Greene’s.

We see a silent opening of Rick and his group of survivors enjoying a breakfast with the tension in the air thick with unspoken consequences from the previous episode’s deluge of secrets being revealed. While Glenn had revealed the secret of the walkers in the barn to Dale the rest of the group still were kept unawares. Despite look of pleading from Maggie for Glenn to not tell the group he gives in to his conscience and tells everyone the biggest secret and their reaction at this reveal ranged from shock, surprise, incredulity and, finally with Rick, a hint of anger. It how everyone moves forward with this final secret reveal that the episode focuses mostly on. There were still some moments of character development and conflict sprinkled throughout the episode (mainly involving Shane and his distancing from Rick, Lori and others of the group), but the episode’s narrative still moved towards a final confrontation between Hershel’s need to keep the zombies corralled with the hope a cure could be found for them or Shane voicing everyone’s concern that a barn full of zombies was a disaster waiting to happen. Either they took care of the problem while they were still kept relatively harmless or they continue on towards their original plan of reaching Fort Benning.

This question finally gets answered with Shane forcefully making the decision for everyone. Jon Bernthal’s performance in the final five minutes of this episode was pretty good and while he teetered on over-the-top level in his anger and frustration at having to make the hard decisions concerning the group’s safety (at least in his own mind) he never steps over the line. The scene where he shows Hershel (as both he and Rick attempt to bring back two more catch-poled zombies back to the barn) made for some very tense and illuminating moments for everyone in the scene. We see understanding from people like Andrea and Daryl who think what Shane is saying is true to the look of horror on the faces of Hershel and Maggie as their idyllic world begins to crash all-around them. Maggie has gradually begun to move away from her father’s viewpoints about the zombies and how they should be treated through the last couple episodes, but to finally see Shane show them the true horror of what the world has become really hits both her father and herself pretty brutal and hard.

It’s interesting to note that tonight’s episode actually made a conscious effort to try and humanize the zombies. The way the episode unfolded was almost like the writers were trying to add some credence to Hershel’s way of thinking. This focus was understandable since everyone in the episode either followed Hershel blindly, were beginning to doubt Hershel’s way of doing things or just outright hostile towards it. This made the massacre of the zombies coming out of the barn with Shane leading a veritable firing squad somewhat poignant and sad. Even Glenn joined in on the shooting spree (though not before silently asking for Maggie’s consent) with an earlier personal epiphany about how he had forgotten just how dangerous the zombies were.

In the end, even the massacre of the barn zombies wasn’t the biggest shock of tonight’s episode. As the sound of gunfire stopped and the echoes faded away we hear a final zombie come out of the barn’s darkened interior and into the daylight. This was the final secret that finally answered the biggest and most dividing question of the second season of The Walking Dead.

Where the hell was Sophia?

Her final moments on the show has her coming out last from the barn and everyone’s fears were confirmed and everyone’s hopes about her eventually being found safe and alive were dashed. Even Shane who had been so gung-ho in showing Hershel and Rick that he was the right man for this new world to make the decisions about people’s well-being was left dumbstruck and unable to do what was needed. It took Rick — lambasted by both fans and detractors of the show plus Shane on top of them as being weak and unable to make the hard choices and decisions — to do what was needed. The scene ending with him standing over the body of Sophia after he shot her in the head (with the same Python revolver he used to start the series with the shooting of the little girl zombie in the pilot) made for a sad, poignant and incredible ending to what had been a tumultous story-arc to cover the first half of this new season.

The show will return this February. It is safe to say that moving forward the second half will be all about how new showrunner Glen Mazzara sees the show as and how to keep it the momentum of tonight’s episode into the second half. Darabont’s contribution to the show has probably ended with tonight’s episode or, as some have surmised, maybe even a couple episodes earlier. If the latter is the case then his firing from the show, as controversial and polarizing a decision to genre fans who love his work, may work to the show’s benefit. With Darabont we had a creative mastermind who dealt with film, but never with long-form tv shows. Maybe in addition to AMC being penny-pinchers and creating a hostile working arrangement with Darabont was only part of the problem. Could be that Darabont not having any experience writing for TV finally showed and kept the show from fixing some of the writing problems from the previous season. It will be interesting how a veteran tv writer and showrunner like Glen Mazzara will handle a show that tries to explore the conflicts and drama of a zombie apocalypse.

“Pretty Much Dead Already” doesn’t mean the show is now dead on arrival, but it does highlight that the premise which drives The Walking Dead could easily symbolize how this apocalyptic event has killed what humanity some might have had while also highlighting that every zombie killed was still someone’s son, daughter, mother, father, friend and family. In a world full of dead people the walking dead may not be the zombies but the survivors themselves.

Notes

  • Once again I like how the show has evolved the character of Glenn. Even when he’s being awkward as he tells everyone the secret of the barn gives a glimpse as to the sort of person Glenn is. Part of him wants to make Maggie happy, but knowing that keeping the secret of the barn will endanger his people and Maggie, he makes the hard decision to tell all even if it means Maggie hates him for it. Glenn shows that he can make the hard choices but do so with his conscience guiding him.
  • This is opposite with how the show has developed Shane this season and how this episode finally shows Shane tipping past his breaking point. Yes, he shows he can make the hard decisions but he does so not with his conscience as his guide but his base, survival instinct.
  • I found it darkly comical how Shane tried to one-up Rick in the eyes of Lori by pointing out how he was the one who has saved Lori and Carl to her. This scene with Lori really makes Shane less the badass zombie killer with people’s well-being in mind, but more of a selfish, sociopath who’s begun to believe all the lies he has been telling everyone and himself to justify his actions.
  • This in contrast to Daryl. While Daryl didn’t have as many scenes in tonight’s episode the ones he was in continued to explore his dual-nature. He will always be the true badass zombie killer in the show, but the show also continues to explore his growing humanity in his steadfast belief that they will find Sophia. It’ll be interesting how the dashing of his hopes on the Sophia subject will affect him moving forward.
  • I like how Daryl also hides behind aggressive reactions to hide his discomfort at others caring about his well-being and his safety. Will Daryl succumb to his inner-Merle and revert to how we first saw him in the beginning of the series as the violent, angry redneck? Or will he finally realize that the group does care and appreciate what he has done and continue on his journey into becoming a part of this post-apocalyptic family unit.
  • T-Dog has been pretty much useless and invisible this first-half of the season. I think I’ll echo what others have been saying about this character. Either give him something to do other than stand in the background or kill him off, but hopefully in spectacular and heroic fashion.
  • Even though Robert Kirkman gave an explanation about Sophia, the barn and Hershel during the after-show Talking Dead live segment I still think the second half needs to fully explain whether Hershel already knew that the girl the group had been searching for and putting themselves in danger during these searches.
  • There still some awkwardness in how child actor Chandler Riggs has been handling the role of Carl, but he’s getting better. I hope this improvement continues because Carl, whether the show follows the comic books or not, will become a major player in this show’s overall narrative sooner or later.
  • Once again, great make-up effects work by Greg Nicotero and his make-up effects wizards at KNB EFX. Their work tonight wasn’t as gruesome as the previous couple of episodes, but their work to give a semblance of humanity to these zombies helped make tonight’s episode one of the better ones, if not the best, of the show.
  • Finally, Andrew Lincoln does his best performance as Rick Grimes. Love how he lets his expression speak for themselves throughout most of the final 5 minutes of the episode. From the helpless look as he fails to stop Shane to finally showing everyone that only he can truly make the hard decision as he finally puts down Sophia while Shane watches helplessly this time around.

So, what did people think of tonight’s episode and the whole first-half of this second season. Did you like it? Does the show still have problems to work out with how these characters are written? Will Darabont’s removal and absence in these last few episodes and moving forward make the second half of season two something to look forward to?

All comments welcome and will be discussed in healthy, civilized, if heated discussions.

Review: The Walking Dead S2E6 “Secrets”

Posted on by Arleigh

“Everything is food for something else.” – Carl Grimes

[spoilers within]

“Secrets” is the title for the sixth episode of the new season of The Walking Dead. It’s an episode that really should please not just fans of the gore and action, but also those who like some character and story development in their shows. The first five episodes of this second season has been hit or miss. Those episodes have reinforced some viewer complaints about how the show seems to go nowhere at times. Except for a couple moments of well-done script work involving Daryl Dixon (who happens to be the one character created for the show and absent from the comic book) the writing for this season continues last season’s uneven quality.

The last couple episodes were light on the zombie mayhem, but they were rife with character development and some forward momentum in the story (though Sophia still remains missing) with the discovery made by Glenn the big cliffhanger leading up to tonight’s episode. An episode which more than lives up to it’s title as secrets become known as others remain hidden.

With Glenn’s discovery one would think that the title of tonight’s episode meant Glenn and Maggie trying to keep the secret of the zombies in the barn kept from Rick and the rest of the group. The predicament Glenn finds himself in with Maggie begging him not to tell anyone about the barn then on another side Lori also begging him not to tell anyone that she’s pregnant. Glenn would be the first to tell both women how much he sucks at keeping secrets and the episode wasn’t even past the first ten minute mark when his resolve breaks under Dale’s epic eyebrows and fisherman’s hat.

The secrets which this episode focuses on doesn’t just include the barn and Lori’s pregnancy, but the secrets Shane has been trying to keep from everyone in camp. It’s during the aftermath of a very thrilling and eventful foray into the nearby housing association by Shane and his shooting apprentice in Andrea that Shane’s recent turn to the dark side comes to light with none other than the show’s elder busybody. Everyone in the show seems to tip-toe around the topic of Shane and his behavior, but not Dale who sees danger in Andrea learning from the one person who’s agenda may not lie in the group’s overall safety.

Like the show’s own troubled off-season, the show seems to have made a turn with the last couple episodes into something that seemed to balance well zombie action with the show’s more expositional side. This may not be too much of a surprise since Darabont as show-runner was supposed to have been fired around the filming of episode 4. Could his departure from the show and the promotion of a veteran tv writer and show-runner in Glen Mazzara finally put the show on a much more focused path. It’s a possibility and it could also have been part of Darabont’s plan for the season to have such a long slow-burn. I hate to admit it but as much as I love Darabont as a horror and genre fan I think his departure finally putting the show on the path to consistency on all creative fronts.

The secret about the barn and Lori’s pregnancy, not to mention Shane’s character becoming more and more dark, could’ve been strung along for the length of this season’s 13-episodes, but the last 2-3 episodes seem to dispute that. The show has begun to reveal it’s secrets into the open quite quickly and letting the characters deal with the ramifications and fall out. Already we see a much more spirited Rick react to Lori telling him of her pregnancy and what occurred between her and Shane. We get to see why in the end he’s the leader the group needs now and not Shane or Daryl or even Glenn (as Maggie suggested). He’s thinking of the group and trying to keep them sane in a new world hell-bent on driving all of them beyond the brink and past the breaking point. All that he has suspected since reuniting with his finally are now out in the open and while he’s angry he also looks to trying to work things out. How the knowledge that Shane and Lori got together bears out in future episode will make for some interesting thing times ahead especially for Rick.

This episode definitely put character conflict and drama into the forefront with very little wince-worthy moments. Everyone reacted in an organic way to everything suddenly coming out into the open. Even Andrea has begun to make the turn from helpless, suicidal to someone who may become the group’s most important protector. While the episode continues on last week’s high points it still had the Sophia issue which continues to plague the show. The writers will need to reward it’s viewers’ patience (and growing lack of in regards to the missing girl) and make sure the Sophia question gets an answer and soon.

There’s just one more episode left before the show goes on it’s mid-season break. From the look of things the show looks to be heading towards this break on a high note. It would be interesting to see how the Mazzara-led writing group deals with the ramifications of tonight’s episode with the mid-season finale.

Notes

  • For a kid who has been shot then operated on just days before (unless the show has skipped showing some days pass by) Carl looks to have recovered quite well.
  • Great to see Carl wearing Rick’s sheriff’s deputy hat. That look on Carl remains one of the comic book series’ most iconic image.
  • Seeing Carl learn how to shoot and do it well could be a sign that the show may soon start dealing with putting this show back on track in regards to the Rick-Lori-Shane triangle.
  • Steven Yeun’s role as Glenn continues to grow and he’s definitely got the awkward moments of the character done to a T.
  • I think T-Dog as a character either needs to grow or he needs to go. He’s been mostly absent from this season outside his fever-induced ranting to Dale a couple episodes back.
  • We finally get to see more and more how the Greene family sees the zombies and why they keep them cooped up in the barn. Some people will say what they’re doing is stupid. I think it’s a nice shout-out to the tenement scene in the beginning of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead where people kept their dead locked up because they still thought of them as loved ones who might still get cured or whose culture teaches them to respect the deceased.
  • Lauren Cohan as Maggie continues to be one of this season’s highlight. Her reaction once back on the farm toward’s Lori after her and Glenn have themselves a zombie encounter was very nice. Lori’s horrified reaction was great.
  • For those wondering what that piece of badass metal Glenn used to go aggro on the pharmacy zombie. It’s a Gerber Gator Machete Pro  and retails on Amazon for $41.63 with nylon sheath.
  • If Glenn wasn’t confused about how Maggie feels about him then tonight’s episode will drive him crazy. Still great to see that the show has one relationship born out of genuine interest and not out of necessity (though for Maggie it may have started as one it sure doesn’t seem to be that now).
  • I know there are people out there calling for support of Team Shane, but I think everyone should get behind Team Glenn. He seems to be the one out of everyone in the group to be the most level-headed one notwithstanding the awkward with girls and not being able to keep a secret routine.
  • I know that there are many out there who hate Andrea because of the past 4-5 episodes going back to last season’s finale, but tonight definitely saw her go from victim to survivor and do so with a bang. Love the moment out in the middle of that suburban street as a calmness washes over her face and every shot begins to land true.
  • Dale gets to use those epic eyebrows of his and say how it really is when it comes to Shane.
  • Finally, the show’s cold opening of Patricia breaking the chickens’ legs before dumping them into the group of zombies in the barn should not be pleasing PETA and this show probably not in PETA’s must-see list since the pilot episode.

Review: The Walking Dead S2E5 “Chupacabra”

Posted on by Arleigh

“If I knew the world was ending I would’ve brought better books.” – Dale

[spoilers within]

There’s been a growing complaint from fans of the show that this second season of The Walking Dead has been meandering and walking in place instead of dynamically moving forward and killing lots and lots of zombies along the way. I will admit that the show has lingered on too much on the”Sophia is missing angle” for far too long. The writers seems to be using the search for her as the reasoning for Rick and his group to continue on staying on the Greene Farm. I will however disagree that the show hasn’t had enough zombie action to justify the show’s premise of a world experiencing the zombie apocalypse.

The Walking Dead the tv series was always going to be a show which focused on the characters and how they’re managing to adapt or not adapt to the new world around them. If there was ever a reason why fans of the books became fans it was that very thing. I try not to compare the show to the books, but if there was ever a similarity between the two it’s how the zombies remain on the background as a looming threat which would actively make their presence known not every issue but when readers least suspect them. The show has done a good job in trying to convey this aspect of the books and at the same time taken more effort to make the characters on the show more fully-realized.

This season has done more in expanding the characters than the truncated first season, but it also meant it had to sacrifice some of the more gruesome and zombie action some fans have been clamoring for. The previous episode, “Cherokee Rose”, typified the complaints some fans have been having with this season. It went too heavy on dialogue some of which were pretty good and some which didn’t seem to do anything but just expound on the main themes for the season.

“Chupacabra” makes the fifth episode into the second season and it manages to balance the zombie action and the character interaction. First off, we still haven’t found Sophia in one shape or another. Even one of the characters on the show second-guesses the need to continue searching for the missing girl if it meant constantly putting the group in danger. While the search for Sophia only amounts to finding a discarded doll by the creek during the search it does mark one of the stronger part of this episode. An episode which continues to make a character created for the show and not in the books one of the highlights of the series in it’s 11-episode history to date.

But before we move onto why Daryl Dixon remains the badass and fan favorite of the series I must point out that the series does another great cold opening. This time it’s a flashback to the chaotic days of Shane, Lori and Carl trying to make it to the refugee center in Atlanta. We see them stuck in the very same type of highway gridlock which began this new season. This scene shows Sophia still safe and playing with Carl as we see a bit more of the abusive relationship between Carol and her husband. The highlight of this scene is seeing the event of Atlanta being napalmed and dashing the hopes of Shane and Lori that a safe haven could be found there. Like the cold opening from season 1 where we see Shane back in the hospital with a comatose Rick, this episode’s opening does a great job of showing how things just fell apart while Rick was under.

This opening would be followed up with Daryl going off on his own to continue looking for Sophia and getting into more trouble than he anticipated. If anyone ever doubted how much of a badass Daryl Dixon has turned out to be then this episode should erase such doubts. Not only did he survive falling off a horse, down a steep incline into the river and get an arrow stuck to his side for his troubles, but he survives even worst things as the day wore on. We even see the return of Daryl’s brother, Merle Dixon, in this episode but in such a way that fans of the show probably didn’t expect.

When the episode wasn’t focusing on Daryl’s troubles it brought it back into the Greene Farm where we continue to see a growing rift between Hershel and Rick. Hershel is starting to turn from the kindly, country doctor and into a patriarchal autocrat who expects his orders to be obeyed or else. In the case of Rick and his group the or else would be them being told to leave the safety of the farm for the outside world. It doesn’t help that Shane’s growing pragmatism and survival at all cost mentality has turned to questioning Rick’s judgement as the group’s leader. Even their good-natured conversation about their respective love life during their high school days shows that the two really are quite polar opposites when it comes to their personalities and how they view things around them.

It’s these type of scenes which some fans have considered as too soap opera-ish and boring. How it detracts from the horror of a show about the zombie apocalypse. It’s these scenes which actually makes a point in showing just how much horror awaits those who have survived, so far. All the reminiscing of their past lives just reinforces the fact to these people that their lives have irrevocably changed and not for the better. It also shows how much the new world they live in now have begun to change all of them and not for the better. For some these changes have been easier to accept while some still try to cling to the ways of the old world in an attempt to not just survive but live.

Even the title of the episode just reinforces the premise of the show and how everyone in it must learn on the go to live and survive. In a world where the dead have come back to life to devour those still left alive then everything and anything is possible. Whether those still left will find a way to stay human in order to survive is the ultimate focus of this show. The zombies will always be waiting to greet these characters which makes these “peaceful” moments that much more bittersweet for everyone involved.

Notes

  • As a huge fan of apocalyptic fiction the cold opening of the highway gridlock was well-staged. From everyone seeming to have packed haphazardly to Carol’s husband acting like their quest for a refuge was a military operation.
  • The scene of Atlanta being napalmed as the horrified refugees looked on in the distance is really something we rarely see in zombie fiction. Zombie apocalypse stories usually occur with the world already gone to hell or the setting is more intimate and smaller scale. Rarely do we see just how epic in scope the event truly is (w/ exception to Max Brooks’ World War Z and, to a certain extent, 28 Weeks Later)
  • It was good to see Carol not moping around and feeling all useless. Her volunteering to cook for the group and the Greene family was a nice touch in trying to bring her back from the brink.
  • Leave it up to Glenn to figure out Lori’s secret and as we see later on in the episode it won’t be the only one he will have to try and keep to himself.
  • Speaking of Glenn, his growing relationship with Maggie was such fun and nice addition to a show that’s all about doom and gloom. The fact that they were acting like high school kids who were in lust with each other put a smile on my face.
  • The fact that the barn finally becomes a major component to the current story-arc wasn’t a surprise, but how the writers were able to finally show why Hershel wanted Rick and his group to stay away from the barn should make the next episode something to look forward to.
  • Maggie’s expression of glee at another rendezvous with Glenn suddenly turning into utter horror continues another strong performance from Lauren Cohan in the role. She has definitely made the Maggie Greene much more well-rounded this early on in the show when compared to the books.
  • I was surprised at how Merle’s return was treated and I must admit that it was done in away that made sense.
  • Always wear steel-toed boots when the zombie apocalypse hits.
  • Andrea is finally on her way back from being useless and constantly harping on Dale and everyone. Unfortunately, her first attempt to show just how useful she can be ends up turning into a friendly fire situation.
  • Daryl’s “encounter” with his big brother Merle may not be to Rick and the group’s benefit. Going to be interesting what the writers plan to do with this turn of events and whether fans of the character will like or hate it.
  • Two more very inventive zombie kills from the make-up wizards of KNB EFX.

Review: The Walking Dead S2E4 “Cherokee Rose”

Posted on by Arleigh

“Some fathers never earn their sons’ love” – Hershel Greene

[some spoilers within]

The first three episodes of this new season of The Walking Dead has for the most part been very good about keeping the story focused on what transpired in the beginning of the new season. The group is still looking for Sophia (a subplot that is definitely getting to become boring, if not a liability) who ran off during a zombie attack on the group. During the search we saw Carl end up accidentally getting shot by Otis, the hapless and helpful ranch hand of the Greene Farm. Every piece of plot thread in the three episodes had their origins from that initial premiere episode.

The previous episode took the two plot threads of the two kids in the group and the danger they were in and tried to resolve them. Carl’s predicament was resolved in horrific fashion as Shane had to make a calculating decision to wound Otis and make him become a living bait to the zombies on their tail. This plot and character development was one for the books as it put Shane on the dark path to losing his humanity as he begins to embrace the necessary cold-hearted decisions to survive.

One would think that with a third episode and still no sign of Sophia that the show would finally try to resolve this storyline in the fourth episode. The answer to that would be a yes and no. Yes, the episode has made some strides in the search for Sophia as Daryl comes across some signs of someone alive during his search of an abandoned home in the woods. Whether this was a sign that Sophia was still alive didn’t get resolved. This storyline thread has had quite the mileage to it and not for the betterment of the show.

“Cherokee Rose” wasn’t all bad despite what I’ve mentioned above. The episode was mostly acting like the calm before the storm. We see the episode begin with the Greenes, Patricia (Otis’ wife) and the Rick’s group holding a brief ceremony for our dear departed Otis. Shane doesn’t look well in this opening especially when Patricia begged him to say a few words and tell everyone Otis’ final moments. Shane’s words and how things played out definitely didn’t match up, but no one was the wiser and took Shane’s discomfort as his attempt to grieve. To say that Shane looked like a man holding onto that last strand of sanity would be an understatement. It was another great moment for Jon Bernthal which this season has had a lot of.

The rest of the episode was actually pretty peaceful as everyone went about trying to find Sophia in an organized manner, go out into town for supplies (Glenn and Maggie) and just contemplate once again the new world they now inhabit. I’m sure there will be many cries and complaints that the show was becoming too soap opera-ish. These people wouldn’t be too far off, but I also think that non-stop zombies would make this show become too one-note.

The scenes with Rick and Hershel as they briefly talked of God and their differing attitudes concerning the Creator were really interesting as were the scenes of Andrea finally making some strides in her attempt to move on from Amy’ death during season one. These scenes between Andrea and Shane as she pesters the deputy to teach her more about gun safety and how to protect herself was a good start in finally moving Andrea the character towards the badass that she’s destined to become. Andrea’s not fully there but this episode was a good start.

Another fun development in this episode had to be between Glenn and Maggie Greene as the two continued their flirty ways as they ventured into the nearby town to scavenge for more supplies. For fans of the book the relationship which begins between these two characters have become one of the few nice moments in a story that’s all about danger, dread and depression. Even how the two finally end up hooking up wasn’t born out of sentimentality but out of two lonely people and their current predicament allowing for something to brew. The fact that their brief tryst in the town market came out a very awkward situation Maggie found Glenn in was funny, touching and really something the show needed after all the doom and gloom of the first three episodes.

Even Daryl Dixon (becoming the fan favorite of everyone) got to show some of his softer side as he tries to comfort Carol about her missing Sophia. His little monologue about the white flower he found outside the abandoned home that might’ve been where Sophia was hiding explains this episode’s title but also showed much more about how much Daryl has started to see this group as his own little family even though his brusque outward appearance and attitude may not always say so.

“Cherokee Rose” wasn’t one of this season’s good episodes, but I wouldn’t call it one of it’s bad ones. Despite no resolution to the Sophia question the episode still made some good strides in developing some of the characters. The episode also continues this season’s habit of ending things either on a cliffhanger or on a surprising (at least for those who haven’t read the comic book) development. Tonight wasn’t a cliffhanger, but instead we have Lori finding out that she is pregnant. Now whether the baby is Shane’s or Rick’s will be a question that show will not be able to answer for quite awhile yet but still another wrinkle in the growing love triangle that is Rick-Lori-Shane.

Notes

  • For the first time since we were introduced to Hershel Greene there’s now a bit of tension occurring between Rick and his gracious host. Now that Carl is safe and on his way back to recovery the show looks to be setting up something big between Rick’s group and those of the Greene’s.
  • The episode did many lingering camera shots of the Greene’s barn.
  • I know that many will think the scene with the well zombie was mostly filler and not needed I wouldn’t be a zombie fan if I didn’t admit that it was still a cool scene. Plus, it more than filled tonight’s gross quotient as the water-logged zombie literally turned into a bloody pinata.
  • Maggie’s reaction as T-Dog put to rest the well zombie was an interesting one. It seemed like that was the very first time she ever saw a zombie killed.
  • Once again, outside of Daryl, it would be up to Glenn to always do the hard lifting on the show. He’s not just the group’s expert “going into town” guy, but now he’s also it’s best zombie wrangler and live bait.
  • While it differed from how it played out in the book, how Maggie and Glenn finally got together was a nice and funny scene. Love Maggie’s incredulous reaction to Glenn’s questioning of her proposition. Lauren Cohan as Maggie was a really nice choice by the casting director for the show.
  • One final Glenn moment would be his huge grin as he and Maggie rode into the farm with supplies in hand and how his glee was just as quickly shot down as Maggie went all business once again. Poor Glenn.
  • If female fans of this show wasn’t already in love with Daryl they are now after his awkward, but heartfelt speech about the Cherokee Rose he just gave Carol.

Review: The Walking Dead S2E3 “Save the Last One”

Posted on by Arleigh

“Got bit. Fever hit. World turned to shit. Might as well quit.” — note from unnamed hanged man turned zombie

[some spoilers within]

The first two episodes of the newest season of The Walking Dead sees Rick and his group of survivors on the move after the events at the CDC which ended season 1. Their convoy to reach what they think as the safe haven of the US Army base at Fort Benning doesn’t get them very far as they come across traffic snarl of abandoned vehicles and wrecks on the main highway. Its during these first two episodes that the group begins to show signs of cracks in the group dynamic which could lead to a permanent splintering of factions. It doesn’t help that two young kids in the group have either gone missing or gets accidentally shot by a deer hunter’s bullet.

We also meet a new group of survivors in the form of the Greene family led by it’s country vet doctor in Hershel Greene, his eldest daughter Maggie, their ranch hand Otis and a few others. Its from the Greene farm that the previous spent most of it’s time though it did show some choice scenes back at the RV and the group searching for Sophia in the forest. We see another cliffhanger end the second episode with Shane and his new partner in Otis as they make their way to the local high school where a FEMA camp had been set up as a refugee center before it became overrun. While they got the necessary supplies needed to save Carl they soon find themselves besieged by a horde of zombies with just a security gate and a lose bolt keeping them at bay.

“Save the Last One” marks the third episode of this 13-episode season 2. Except for a brief pre-credits scene of Shane shaving his head and looking intensely at his reflection off of a steamed up bathroom mirror, the episode takes up right after the cliffhanger ending of the previous episode. Shane and Otis are running through the hallways of the high school they’ve gone into for safety only to have the zombies outside chasing in after them. This part of the episode is just one of four parallel subplots which includes Daryl and Andrea continuing into the night in their search for Sophia in the woods, Dale and Carol back in the RV and the rest of the group over at the Greene farm waiting to see if Carl will get the necessary he needs to survive.

The decision to cover all four threads in this episode was an interesting decision which doesn’t pay off for all. It would be the Shane and Otis section which would get the most action during the episode, but it would be at the Greene farm that we get some soul searching from the Grimes about whether its the best if Carl was just to die if just to save him the horror of having to try and survive in a world where something is always around the corner to tear into him. Andrea and Daryl has a conversation during their search that sounds just as similar though not as depressing and downbeat as Rick and Lori with theirs. We get more personal musings about faith, God and the need to live instead of just surviving.

Some of these dialogue-heavy scenes work like the ones between Andrea and Daryl. With each passing episode Reedus continues to make Daryl Dixon a well-rounded character beyond the racist redneck his initial introduction made him out to be. His Daryl shows much more than just being a badass in the show but also one who is more observant about those around him than he lets on. He sees how much Andrea is still hurting from Amy’s death from season 1 and understands the feeling of just ending it all though he doesn’t see it as the best option. The same goes with how Rick still remains optimistic about the world as it stands now and gives a wonderful speech to Lori about why Carl should have the chance to live instead of letting him die. Both Rick and Daryl seem to have much more in common than we realize though they each go about their optimistic viewpoint in their own particular way.

“Save the Last One” weaves too many concurrent subplots that at times they break some of the stronger scenes between Andrea and Daryl and those between Rick and Lori. Then there’s Shane and Otis in their attempt to escape the horde of zombies after them as they try to make it back to the Greene farm with their medical supplies. the episode tonight could easily have saved some of the scenes with Carol and Dale for the next episode since it looks like Sophia will remain missing. But all in all, tonight’s episode still moved the series forward despite the series still remaining static in terms of location for the group. While it didn’t hit on every note the show did bring up some of the more interesting themes from the comic book.

Despite the episode tonight having been uneven due to the juggling of several subplots to the main story it was fully redeemed by the ending which did a major deviate from the comic book source material and do so in a truly shocking way. I understand why the character in question made the decision that he made, but it still was one that sends this particular character past through the looking glass, shattering it and coming out changed on the other side and most likely not for the better. Plus, it was quite ballsy of Kirkman and the rest of the show’s writer to take out a character sooner than expected if one followed the book. If any episode really hammered in the point that the show will be going very far off the beaten path created by the comic book source material then it would be this one. “Save the Last One” is definitely one of the episodes in this show’s brief span, so far, that will be talked about for months to come.

Notes

  • It’s interesting to note that both Andrea and Dale has so far been written quite differently for the show than in the comic book. Will the writers continue to make them different from their comic book counterparts or will they gradually work them into finally becoming the characters fans ended up loving.
  • So far, the rules as to who can and who doesn’t become a zombie has remained vague outside of the survivors thinking it’s a virus transmitted by bites and injuries caused directly by the zombies. The comic book followed the Romero rules that any sort of death will result in the body returning to life as zombie as long as the brain is intact.
  • The episode being set mostly at night really made some of the scenes at the high school and at the RV look very dark that at times it was hard difficult to figure out what was going on.
  • Glenn got a bit more screen time in this episode and his interaction with Maggie Greene was good to see as these two would become quite integral in the group moving forward.
  • Lauren Cohan also got a bit more time during the episode to help flesh out her character as someone who seemed more well-adjusted to the new world than either Lori, Andrea or Carol. Though after finding out what had happened to one of her and her family’s oldest friends showed that deep down she’s as damaged by the zombie apocalypse as the other ladies.
  • I’m all for Sophia being found alive and all, but this season has put too much energy on this particular part of the storyline for far too long. They need to figure out a way to end this part of the show’s second season soon and do so in a way that makes sense or it would’ve been a wasted exercise in storytelling that took up almost a third of the season if not more.
  • Even with the episode set at night with minimal lighting the zombie make-up effects by co-executive producer Greg Nicotero and his band of make-up wizards at KNB EFX remain one of the highlight’s of the show. Example in point: legless zombie in the high school gym.
  • It’s been awhile since we’ve seen someone shown getting torn apart by zombies on this series, but tonight did a great job at showing how savage and brutal a death at the hands of a horde of zombies could be especially if the person in question being torn apart was still alive to experience it.
  • Some may think the season has been slow-going so far, but I like how it’s not all action. If there was ever one thing which always made zombie apocalypse stories very fun to read and watch is how they don’t just show gore and death, but also explore some heavy themes and ideas about faith, living versus survival and whether allowing the most helpless to remain surviving in such a terrifying world is such a good idea to begin with.
  • The episode’s title definitely played on the idea of saving the last bullet. Whether the episode means saving it for oneself as the final option out or to use it for a darker purpose to continue surviving would be up to the each individual to decide.

Review: The Walking Dead S2E2 “Bloodletting”

Posted on by Arleigh

“It’s nature correcting itself…restoring some balance.” – Hershel Greene

[slight spoilers]

The new season of AMC’s The Walking Dead arrived with a major bang. The season 2 premiere episode, “What Lies Ahead”, was seen by over 7.3 million viewers which more than eclipsed the show’s own high-ratings pilot premiere from 2010. It’s no surprise that the episode would do so well with the network having pushed the new season through most of the summer. With fans of the showing growing with every passing month (DVD and Blu-Ray sales of the first season also helping keep the show in the public’s consciousness) there was really no doubt on whether the new season would come back firing.

“What Lies Ahead” saw Rick and his group fight through their very first experience of a zombie “herd” and how this event led to the two kids in the group in extreme danger as Sophia goes missing after the herd encounter on the highway and Carl getting himself accidentally shot to end the episode. While I would think that the writers would begin episode 2, “Bloodletting”, soon after the events of the premiere episode we instead get a flashback moment. A moment in time before the zombie apocalypse arrived and Lori waiting for Carl outside his school and confiding to a friend about her and Rick’s relationship. The emotional impact of this scene is not that Lori and Rick were having marital problems, but its from the arrival of Shane to inform her that Rick has been shot (seen in the pilot episode “Days Gone Bye”) and now she has to tell Carl. We see in this sequence the look of anguish on Shane and, most likely, the seed of his love not just for Lori but Carl as well.

This flashback will segue into Rick running desperately with an unconscious and bleeding Carl in his arms with Shane and Carl’s shooter, Otis, right behind them. For those who have read the comic book shouldn’t be surprised how this scene plays out, but I know that many who have not and only been following the show will be hoping for the worst for the youngest of the Grimes. Soon enough Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vance) leads them to the farm, the Greene family farm, where it’s patriarch might be able to help Carl survive the gunshot. We get to meet Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson) and his family, from the eldest daughter Maggie (Lauren Cohan) to the youngest Beth (Emily Kinney) and, for the moment, we only see how this family will be able to help Rick and Carl. For fans of the book this family will prove to be integral to the continued survival of Rick and the original group.

“Bloodletting” continues the theme established with the premiere episode in that this new world is going to be about slim chances even if logic says there’s none to be had. There’s only the slimmest chance that a country veterinarian doctor will be able to save Carl. It’s the slimmest of chances that T-Dog may survive the wound he suffered from the previous episode. Only the slimmest of chance that they will ever find Sophia. Finally, the episode ends in another cliffhanger which gives Shane and Otis the slimmest of chances to survive their trip to an overrun FEMA station for much needed medical supplies and equipment.

This episode’s title also makes for a proper description for Rick and what he’s been going through since he woke up from his coma in the hospital. It’s not just the literal bloodletting he must endure to help save Carl’s life, but just every waking moment since the pilot episode. Rick has been trying to remain the bedrock of optimism and provide the sort of calm leadership his group of survivors need in this new world. Yet, we see how much every moment has cost him even before leading up to Carl’s incident with a wayward bullet. he’s being bled not just literally in this episode but figuratively. It helps that Andrew Lincoln’s performance during the first two episode of this new season has been great, so far. We get to see some genuine emotion as Rick must watch someone else try to save his son. The look of utter grief and impotence in Lincoln’s face as he tries to do anything and everything to save Carl continues to make Lincoln’s work in this show one of the reason to continue watching it.

The Walking Dead wouldn’t be the fan-favorite it has become if it skimped on any sort of zombie action. While it doesn’t have the high gore quotient that the previous episode had it still had enough zombies to sate the show’s fans until next week’s episode. Most of the zombies appear close at the end of the episode at the FEMA camp and it’s also in this sequence where we get the show’s heart-thumping moments as Shane and Otis must figure out a way to get out of their predicament which ends the episode on another cliffhanger.

“Bloodletting” doesn’t do much in terms of finding Sophia or even whether Carl gets to live. It does make a good job of introducing a new set of characters without making them feel extraneous. While we only got to know a few of these new additions there’s a sense that they will (at least some of them) become important ones during this first half of the season. Finally, those who have been fans of the comic books should accept the reality now and admit to themselves that this show has become it’s own growing tale. While still remaining on the basic path Kirkman set for them through the comic book the show has taken on a life of it’s own and it’s unpredicatability and changes in that path should make things interesting moving forward.

Notes

  • Once again Norman Reedus continues to make Daryl Dixon a badass. He also has done a great job in making what happened been a stereotypical redneck role into a character with hidden complexities and layers. I was reticent on this character being added specifically for the show, but each new episode has made me a believer and thankful to the writers for doing it.
  • Liked how Daryl nonchalantly tells the zombie that had been attacking Andrea in the woods to “shut up” before sending a crossbow bolt through the side of it’s head.
  • One final great moment with Daryl is his surprise to the rest of the group concerning the hidden stash of “meds” that was Merle’s stash. He may be a Southern good ol’ boy, but Daryl continues to prove just how much more of a survivor and team player he has been to this group despite first appearances.
  • One of the changes made from book to show has been the physical casting of veteran genre actor Pruitt Taylor Vance as the Greene ranch hand Otis. It’s an interesting choice, ut having Vance as part of the cast overrides any fanboy reaction to having a much larger actor portray the slimmer Otis from the book.
  • Lori continues to become a stronger character this season and Sarah Wayne Callies does some very good work in this episode by becoming the steel to talk some sense to a grief-stricken Rick.
  • I think the show’s didn’t need the brief, fever-induced paranoid rant from T-Dog about how he being the only black person in a group of Southern good ol’ boys. While part of me hopes all that talk from T-Dog was due to the fever from his injury I have a feeling he won’t be with the show for long. The way he’s talking makes him this season’s “Dead Man Walking” role.
  • There was a positive, albeit very disturbing, moment involving T-Dog in this episode and that was when he noticed the baby seat in the back of the car he was looting for supplies. His growing expression of horror at seeing the bloody baby seat with bits of flesh on it was one of this episode’s best moments. I’m sure I wasn’t the only viewer who wondered what happened to the baby in that seat.
  • It was a nice bit of detail work on the writers of this episode to populate the FEMA camp with zombies from the soldiers, FEMA workers and refugees who were overrun prior to Shane and Otis arriving. Rarely do we see such detail in zombie films and stories. What else but the very people who were suppose to be in the camp would become zombies once they’ve been overrun.
  • Can’t end this without mentioning Glenn’s look at seeing Maggie come riding in like Arwen from The Fellowship of the Ring. I do believe the boy’s been struck by cupid.

Review: The Walking Dead S2E1 “What Lies Ahead”

Posted on by Arleigh

“It’s all about slim chances now.” – Rick Grimes

The first season of AMC’s The Walking Dead was a runaway hit for the network. Despite the inaugural season being a a truncated 6-episode long one the series gained a huge following that included long-time fans of the Robert Kirkman long-running zombie comic book series, but also new ones. The Walking Dead would have it’s showrunner and tv series creator Frank Darabont to thank for bringing it to a wider audience which is why this second season premiere brings with it a sense of bittersweet to the proceedings. This past summer saw Darabont fired from the very show he had helped create due to creative and financial differences with the show’s parent network in AMC.

Does this mean the show will suffer as it moves forward without it’s leader at the helm? If the premiere episode of season two is any clue then the show has hit the ground running and doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to stop to mourn the firing of it’s leader.

“What Lies Ahead” begins with the survivors soon after their narrow escape from the destruction of the CDC in Atlanta. The group’s number is now one less and any chances of a cure to what has caused the zombie apocalypse and a hopeful future seems slim at best and a hopeless exercise in futility at it’s worst. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) continues to be the group’s de facto leader which seems to wear on him now that he doesn’t just have his wife and son to think about but others as well. The episode does show that Rick’s acceptance of leadership in the group might be more out of necessity and less about him wanting to lead. No one, from his partner Shane (Jon Bernthal) to the wise, old Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) seem to want the job and everyone seems willing to blame Rick for every instance of danger the group finds itself in.

Just like the pilot episode of the first season this new season doesn’t skimp on the tension. Frank Darabont wrote this first episode and his handling of the group’s first encounter with a moving “herd” of zombies show’s that he hasn’t lost the ability to create tension and just build it past the point of unbearable. This entire sequence with the group hiding beneath abandoned cars on the interstate with countless zombies walking past just inches away has to be one of the signature scenes of this season and more than a match for Rick’s solitary walk through the empty hospital in the pilot episode.

The bulk of the episode doesn’t come down too much from the tension and dread built up during this “herd” scene. It continues to keep the tension level at a fever pitch as the group must now search for one of their own who has gone missing during the “herd” march. The tension doesn’t just come from the situation Rick and the group find themselves in, but from the cracks and fractures that has begun to appear within the collective group. It’s these fractures which becomes the impetus for some character building that the first season rarely seem to have time for.

We still see repercussions from decisions made in the last season continue to make itself known. Whether it’s Shane wallowing in self-pity for losing what he thought was a ready-made family he had created for himself once Rick reappeared right up to Andrea’s bitterness towards Dale for having saved her from her choice to commit suicide in the last episode of the first season. It’s through the interaction between some of the factions being created through these particular characters that we begin to see the stress of this new world beginning to wear on them. Not to mention how they all seem to blame Rick for the situation they find themselves in. Which made it a suprising turn of events when was left to Lori to defend her husband and put everyone in their place. Her little speech near the end of the episode went a long way in establishing her character as one who sought redemption not in self-pity but in supporting the one person she understand to be the most qualified to see them through alive.

The episode wasn’t all positive. What hampered the first season was still quite evident in this season two premiere. While most of the writing was much improved from the first season there was still some parts in the episode when the dialogue seemed forced and not something which came about organically. It’s a testament to the performances by the whole cast that most people watching the show wouldn’t notice it much. Some stand out performances has to be the husband and wife team of Andrew Lincoln and Sarah Wayne Callies. Then there’s Norman Reedus as Daryl who continues to grow as a character beyond the typical redneck many thought him to be during the first season. With Reedus’s portrayal of Daryl one could see that he might not agree with some of Rick’s moral choices and decisions but he respects the man for actually making a decision instead of being wishy-washy. Daryl knows and understand, just as Lori does, that Rick is their best chance at surviving.

“What Lies Ahead” is a great start to a new season of The Walking Dead. While the firing of Darabont as showrunner from the show (replaced by a more than qualified Glen Mazzara) does hang like a dark cloud over the premiere that still shouldn’t detract from this episode’s quality. It’s an episode that really doesn’t dwell on allowing the rest of the world to catch it’s breath from start to finish while at the same time still allowing for characters to grow. This episode even ends in a cliffhanger that should be quite familiar for fans of the comic book, but should be quite a shock to the system for those who haven’t read a page of Kirkman’s comic.

Rick said in the beginning of the episode, after seeing the destruction of the CDC and getting the news that there’s really no more way to turn back the clock on this apocalypse, that it was all about “slim chances” now and from what this episode showed even slim might be too hopeful a word. These are people living on borrowed time and one can say that they’re already the walking dead. Time to see if Rick’s word’s will be rewarded with safety and salvation or just new levels of hell they must navigate through.

Notes

  • Chandler Riggs as Carl looks to be getting more and more comfortable in the role. His line delivery don’t seem as flat as they were in the first season.
  • Steven Yeun didn’t get as much time on the screen, but his gleeful reaction at being handed one of the bladed weapons was priceless. Like a kid in a candy store.
  • I noticed that while Frank Darabont wrote this episode the name shown during the beginning of the film was the name Ardeth Bay. For genre geek fans that name should sound familiar. It was a nice touch and better than just using the usual Alan Smithee.
  • We see more clues as to zombie behavior in this episode as Daryl once again proves that the stink of the dead bodies will hide living humans from zombies as he drapes corpses over himself and T-Dog during the “herd” march.
  • Love the line reading by Norman Reedus as his Daryl looks up at the large crucifix in the abandoned chapel and says “Hey J.C….taking requests”.
  • Gore content in this episode still continues the series trademark of being quite high for a network tv series. I’m still surprised at how much the show has gotten away with. Tonight’s signature gore scene has to be the impromptu zombie autopsy and trying to find out if their missing group member is in its stomach.
  • This episode deviated very much from the comic book, but when it mattered most it used one of the early shockers in the comic book series to end the episode on a huge note.

SDCC 2011: The Walking Dead Season 2 Trailer

Posted on by Arleigh

The day before AMC released new production photos from the set of the second season of The Walking Dead series. Another bonus was their reveal of the Comic-Con exclusive poster for the show painted by comic book illustrator and cover artist extraordinaire Tim Bradstreet. Today was the big panel for the show’s season 2 at San Diego Comic-Con. Robert Kirkman was in attendance as was showrunner Frank Darabont and producer Gale Anne Hurd. The cast was also in attendance. Questions about their initial experience on the truncated first season were asked and answered. But the one thing people wanted to see the panel showed quite early and again as the panel concluded.

The Walking Dead season 2 has been given a definitely premiere date of October 16, 2011 just in time for AMC’s Fear Fest leading up to Halloween. It was the unveiling of the new season’s trailer which got the audience cheering loudly and from reactions to the trailer one thing is set to be sure and that’s this season looks to be even more bleak and with more forward momentum than the first season.

The show is less than 3 months away and it cannot come any sooner.