After a long wait, budget cuts and the departure of creator Frank Darabont, The Walking Dead returned last night with a 90 minute opener, What Lies Ahead. The episode picked up where season 1 left off, with the survivors departing the CDC and hitting the road. It also delivered on the same goodness that the initial run did--good acting, intensity, zombie action and probably the best zombie makeup effects seen anywhere.
The Walking Dead is probably the best zombie-ness yet put to film, and puts other survival-y TV shows to shame. Unlike say Falling Skies, the actions of the characters in The Walking Dead make sense. They are believable. Some are likable, some are less-so, but they are all good, solid characters. Daryl, the crossbow wielding hillbilly is probably my favorite, and he had some good moments in last night's episode. I'm also a fan of Rick.
The Walking Dead is a pretty bleak, grim show--the survivors are low on hope, and that translates through to the viewer--at least it does to me. They're living a nightmare, and you can relate to characters like Andrea, who want to "opt out." It's pretty brutal and no one is really safe--the ending of last night's episode was a certainly major kick in the guts. Combined with the level of gore, the Walking Dead can be a bit tough to watch at times--definitely not for the squeamish or sensitive.The highway "herd" did a good job of reinforcing the need for silent zombie dispatching tools--screw drivers work, but they aren't an ideal tool. Interesting to see the later appearance (and subsequent use of) the Gerber machetes and hatchets in last night's episode--I wonder if the Gerber zombie kit will be a hot seller this Christmas?
Another interesting aside was the men in the group basically confiscating Andrea's pistol. What do you guys think about that?
