Survivors of Season 1
If you’re watching it, The Walking Dead is probably the most intense hour of your week. It’s sixty minutes of the bloodiest and emotionally trying horror soap opera on television. The first season (S1) of TWD had us in its grip from the first head-shot all the way through the end of its all too short six-episode run.
And then a full torturous year of waiting passed before we picked up again. It had been a painfully long break. I had my worries. The first season was just so intense and cutting edge that the pessimist in me feared S2 wouldn’t be able to live up to the anxiety-causing pace of its predecessor. Happily enough, I can tell my inner pessimist to shut the fuck up. S2 has been as intense and horrifying as I had only dared to dream it would be. And with the close of the mid season finale we have a whole six more episodes before we close out S2 and move into S3… But we have to wait until February 2012.
Season 2 brings painfully realistic situations.
The Mid Season Finale “Pretty Much Dead Already,” in classic TWD fashion, delivered a healthy helping of emotional traumatization. This season is really hitting home the emotional motivations of the characters and testing the boundaries of humanity and our understanding of ourselves… Daryl’s search for missing Sophia. The downward spiral of Shane. Lori’s ever-growing list of secrets. Rick’s struggle with leadership. And the newest addition of Hershel and his moral high ground. S2 has spent all fall lulling us into a false sense of security only to forcibly remind us that safety is an illusion and only so very temporary.
Highlights for me so far is the character development of Daryl and how he’s truly a “good guy.” I would want Daryl at my back. Infinitely practical without being a sociopath about it. His transition from a trailer park rat to a hero has been one of my favorite developments in S2. And what kind of bad-ass pulls a crossbow bolt from his side to use on the walker in front of him? Daryl is the kind of survivor I would want to be. Ruthless, driven, and yet, still a good person.
Shane will do ANYTHING to survive.
My largest complaint is that I honestly don’t like any of the women. Each have glaring flaws that keep me from really feeling for any of them. S2 has finally helped me understand Lori at her falling into the sack with Shane. She still makes these horrible demands of Rick and is completely unreasonable. Andrea makes some of the most gawd-awful decisions and I think she has a distinct lack of character, but at least she’s starting to step up to the surviving plate. The introduction of Maggie was a bit of an improvement. She’s vibrant and forthright, but also demanding and unyielding. What I wouldn’t give for a truly admirable female character to compliment the likes of Glenn, Rick, and Daryl.
S2 is also bringing up some moral questions that are bound to go with the zombie apocalypse. Are these people “sick”? Are they even people anymore? Is killing a zombie killing a person? I don’t think we’re ever going to have a straight black and white answer to this question. There’s an allegory for war in this. That these people are at war. This season is really forcing the audience to address how the loss of civilization and society makes it nay impossible to hold the ideals and beliefs of that structure intact.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
This is most clearly exemplified in the Shane ideal versus Hershel ideal. I swing wildly on Shane. I truly loathe him. While he’s a necessary asset to the group, his lack of compunction when dealing with a weak link makes me more than nervous. Shane has proved himself impulsive and morally ambiguous. He can be a very, very bad man. And then there are moments where I feel my heart turn over for him. He’s damaged goods. Shane is a survivor and he’s willing to sacrifice ideals and people to survive. Hershel, on the flip side, is an idealist. He wants to help his infected neighbors and family members to the detriment of the obviously living. I honestly can’t relate to Hershel on a more than superficial level. He’s a good man trying to hold this new world to the ideals and standards of his old one and in this he is willing to cast out his fellow humans (hypocrite much?).
Even though TWD is really about people, there are still amazing examples of horror.
Also, the practical in me wants to shake him senseless. Zombies are rotting man! Wounds that would kill a human don’t make them blink. And they want to eat you. Screw your ideals! Give me a gun, I want to survive! That being said, it was very difficult for me to watch the final scenes driving home how absolutely effective the creative team and the phenomenal actors of TWD really are. They really provided a stellar performance. I will be haunted by that entire final scene for quite some time.
The Walking Dead makes you question yourself. What would you do? What or who would you sacrifice? What kind of person would you be willing to become to survive and protect your family? And THAT is why I think S2 may actually surpass S1. I hope this is just the tip of the iceberg. TWD continues to push boundaries. Sure, there are predictable moments, but I don’t think that takes away from the intensity. In fact, I think the knowledge makes it worse. Knowing isn’t a smug satisfaction for figuring it out, but a deep-seated dread. This is only going to get worse and these people will suffer and lose their humanity (or find it), one fleshy piece at a time.
You said it perfectly! I share the same thoughts on Hershel, I understand the heart but dude, they will eat you! Being a mom, holy moley was that last scene hard to watch. I mean even for not being a parent it was hard. I feel for that woman so much. I agree on there needing to be a likeable female, so far I think my favorite is Glenn. Poor zombie bait..
Can’t wait for February!!
Did you catch Glenn’s Portal reference. It made me squee. Daryl is by far my favorite character and he’s not even cannon. I think TWD purists might need to relax.
I had a seriously hard time with the last scene. I teared up and had to take a few moments afterwards just to sort through my thoughts. When everything slowed down I KNEW what was coming and that made it so much worse. Rick stepping up to the plate while everyone froze really drove home that he is the leader they need. Even balls to the wall Shane couldn’t function when presented with that scenario. Fantastic mid season finale. If THAT is how it’s going to be, the S2 finale may just kill me.
YES Matt and I both laughed at that one. Awesome.
I really like Daryl too, he seems necessary to balance out the heavy of Shane and the light of everyone else. I can’t wait to see what happens
I’m honestly not all that impressed with what they’ve done with the show thus far– I mean, I’m a devout Walking Dead comics reader, and people are losing sight on what “the Walking Dead” really means. In the comics, there’s a discussion amongst the survivors, and they come to the conclusion that *they* are the walking dead, and that their survival is near meaningless.
Now, I’m no purist, by any means (hell, I love True Blood), but there is some importance to certain things that are within the comics, like Sophia and Shane. I won’t get into specifics, but I will say that Sophia was a foil for Carl, and getting rid of her before Carl even develops just killed me, let alone the gaping hole of a plot line.
And I love me some Daryl. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
And lastly, if you want a good female role model, Michonne is coming soon, and the fans LOVE Michonne. I’m just afraid what they’re going to do with her.
I will be horribly sad if Michonne or a strong female character doesn’t show up but quick.
It’s around this time frame (within the show and comics) that Andrea really starts showing her true colors– she becomes more self sufficient, upstanding, yet retains her femininity to some degree (as much as you can in post-zombie apocalypse).
Michonne is just a bad ass bitch– not so much a positive role model, but she’s a strong role model, non-the-less. She takes crap from NO-ONE. I hope Shane’s borrowed time runs across Michonne, and she kicks his sorry psycho ass. She’s the only reason why I keep watching.
No need to be sad.
That’s all I can say about that.
I’m guessing that Sophia was killed off because she’s a child actor.
She ages faster than her character. The chronological nature of the show disallows a jump to “one year later” to accommodate her inevitable growth spurt.
The same holds true for Carl. You can’t have a teenager playing a ten year old boy.
Although, they could recast when they get to that point…
It’s around this time frame (within the show and comics) that Andrea really starts showing her true colors– she becomes more self sufficient, upstanding, yet retains her femininity to some degree (as much as you can in post-zombie apocalypse).
Michonne is just a bad ass bitch– not so much a positive role model, but she’s a strong role model, non-the-less. She takes crap from NO-ONE. I hope Shane’s borrowed time runs across Michonne, and she kicks his sorry psycho ass. She’s the only reason why I keep watching.
What gawd-awful decisions of Andrea do you disagree with?
Quite a few of my gripes have since resolved themselves but they are in no particular order…
- From the beginning she has been fire arm crazy. Which I get. Her comic version becomes a sharp shooter, but she had very little experience or practice, but demanded that she have a gun. If you’re gonna have a gun, learn how to use it from the get go. she’s had one for MONTHS and she’s just learning how to fire? I’m an avid gun enthusiast and I would be more than a little nervous to have someone like her at my back. Thankfully she has since decided she needed training.
- She fucking SHOT DARYL! Even after specifically being told to hold fire she got cocky and the last thing you need is a cocky asshole with a gun.
Those are the two that are most glaring for me right now. There has been several instances where I just want to scream at her. Next time I’ll watch with a notepad so I can write them all down. But I don’t know if I will ever be an Andrea fan. She’s got too much attitude and not enough substance to back it up. Yhis is a “check your corners” kind of situation and she’s not at all prepared to take the responsibility she so desperately craves.
Both of those traits can be attributed to fear. These people are scared and their judgment is suspect.
Andrea’s decision to shoot Daryl, while flawed, reveals a desperate need to prove herself. A need grown out of fear to prove herself able and useful to the group.
If it were the apocalypse I’d demand a gun. I can’t shoot for shit, but I would certainly feel safer knowing a firearm is within reach.
Same. I find Andrea to be one of the most realistic portrayals of a “strong” woman in comics. Maybe ever. I love Michonne, but at the end of the day – she really is a bit of Dark Fantasy. I recognize her for what she is – the male writer’s IDEAL of the “perfect strong woman”. Whereas Andrea tries and fails and tries again until she becomes a strong person (woman or not).
I’m one of the ones who question the removal of Sophia so early. That surprised me. I understand the need for it as far as story-telling in the show goes and it was certainly terrific as far as drawing on the emotions going on. But… Sophia’s character was an important one in Carl’s progression as a character. It’s going to be make Carl’s story even MORE depressing now (hard to imagine, but it will) – among other things.
Curiosity about certain future events aside, i’m loving the show. They continue to nail the look/feel of one of my favorite graphic novels.
And someone, please just start handing Andrew Lincoln awards. The man is doing Oscar-worthy work on this show.
Agreed. I hope this cast gets a few Emmy nominations.
their loosing me. the comics had twice the charter progression in half the time with room to spare. they need to pic up the pace they are going to loose the contract before they ever get to the good stuff
Lose the contract? Not likely. AMC is beyond thrilled with the numbers that TWD is generating. Crazy-thrilled. You have to remember, this is a network that likes it’s shows dramatic and methodical. The Walking Dead is perfect for their network.
And the comic itself can sometimes take forever to get where it’s going. Think about the issues between Woodsbury and Alexandria didn’t have too much going on for quite a while (outside of those “hunters” and the horror they do). And heck – even the current events in the Alexandria “Safe-Zone” took a long while to lead to something.
The fact is – Kirkman is upfront about the pacing of the series: it can be slow, just like real life can be. This isn’t Resident Evil – it’s not about constant activity or problems with the zombies. TWD is about the people trying to survive, and sometimes that’s not going to be the jam-packed with action. It’s going to be monotonous stuff – learning how to farm & how to filter water, learning about plumbing and all that stuff we don’t think about in our daily lives because “It’s someone else’s job.”
It’s never going to be faced-paced.