A few years ago while I was back on the east coast over the winter, J drove me into Boston to hang out with Greg and all those kids. I remember being in Evan Dean’s house when I found this stack of books sitting over his mantle for The Walking Dead. With my affinity for zombies and all, I had to take a peek at something with this kind of a title. It looked amazing, and soon Evan wandered over explained how awesome the series was, that I needed to read it… alas, I never did--
--and for good reason, too. I’m an American. I don’t read. I watch. And what I’ve seen with series so far is absolutely great television. I mean, what is it with AMC? (Breaking Bad, from what little I’ve seen while in Guatemala it, is gripping as hell. It just doesn’t stop with the recommendations for Mad Men – it’s on Netflix now; I’ll give it a shot soon.) It’s like these guys have the Midas touch. Regardless, these guys clearly have another classic on their hands.
What’s really interesting, though, is despite it being a compelling watch and all, it’s really not that original. I mean, zombie shows have been done to death (ha!), so it’s difficult to really sprout any originality from it – unless it’s Shaun of the Dead. However, this show actually seems to flourish by exploring every possible zombie-scenario that’s been put out there. Our main character wakes up from a coma in a hospital post-apocalypse – this was done in 28 Days Later. Or finding the military base stationed underground – done in the original Day of the Dead. It would seem the next place they’ll hit will be a mall or something.
Easily, the best aspect to this is the acting. All actors, from what I can tell, are (were) basically no-names that exhibit outstanding performances. On top of that, it’s their interpersonal drama that keeps you hooked… well, that and it’s just fun as hell to see a mob of the dead swarming through desolate cities. Plus all the make-up effects are done by KNB studios. These guys originally got their start on Evil Dead II, so you know I love 'em.
I might be the last person here to have seen this, but if I’m not, I highly recommend this show. It’s only six hour-long episodes, so just do it already.
I have to admit, I wasn't nearly as big a fan as it seems like you were. Part of that may be that I've seen all of Mad Men and Breaking Bad and can justifiably consider them to be much better than this show has been so far, but then, maybe part of it is just because I don't like zombies as much as you do. Now, I don't hate this show or anything. I just think it's a tier (or even two) below BB/MM status. I'm looking forward to this coming thirteen-episode season because I think the first one showed plenty of potential but that six episodes isn't enough of a sample size to judge. In other words, the jury's still out for me.
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