After seeing the first four hours of AMC's The Walking Dead, I'm able to confidently recommend it to others. Please set your DVRs accordingly - you'll want to catch the all but certain mini marathon which will run soon to get new fans current.I had mixed emotions after the 2 hour premiere. It was beautifully shot and scored, with the perfect "slow burn" storytelling I was hoping to see. The only thing that was holding me back from instant acceptance were all the damn zombies. For someone who is not a horror movie watcher, let alone lover, giving this show a test might have been asking a lot.
The show's second episode was a turn in that wrong direction. Although I grew tighter with its characters, it was a very "zombies are chasing us, run run run" kind of an episode. I really needed the show to present itself for what it was going to be after that. Choose a lane.
Tonight's episode is what I hope to see tons more of. It was back to the slow burn and set the stage for what this show is really about: humans trying to survive and cope with a new reality, morals and decisions.
Fellow fans of Lost will find that a familiar, and warm, feeling. But here's the great spin on The Walking Dead. They are up front with their unbelievable flavors: Zombies and the Apocalypse. It won't lure you into a "what would you do after a plane crash?" mindset only to unleash smoke monsters, movable islands, time travel and a church-of-farting-rainbows-that-looks-a-lot-like-purgatory-but-isn't-purgatory.
Also, the show's already been picked up for another season after this one concludes. It's a show you can feel safe picking up knowing that it's going to continue. (In a related note, those of you with unwatched Rubicon episodes on your DVR can go ahead and delete those because that show was put out of its mercy earlier this week.)
Will The Walking Dead be the show that restores my faith in dramatic television? I hope so.
