The Walking Dead Issue

October 31, 2010. I remember it like it was just yesterday. Okay, not really but I assume it was a Sunday night. Halloween had to be moved to Saturday.

AMC premiered The Walking Dead and the first scene was eerie and extremely memorable.

What went from there was nearly eight whole seasons of shocking deaths and incredible make-up effects. But what happened? Did the show get too wrapped up in its source content, the graphic novels? Or did it just try to top itself by pulling too much away from the original narrative?

I have to be honest. The show I’ve loved from that Halloween night in 2010 has started to lose me. Well, it’s lost me in frustration for the past two seasons. I still watch it on account it’s appointment television, but I question whether I really should invest in the stories anymore. And boy are there way too many stories!

Any story, bad or good, has to have a conflict or an obstacle that pushes its protagonists to overcome the bad and it hopefully pushes them to move forward. I’m not sure how forward the show has moved in the past few years. I think a lot of the exhaustion has to do with how many seasons we’ve come. After the fifth season, a show really needs something more than stunts to keep its avid audience coming back.

Here’s my complaint, Carl has not died yet in the graphic novels, yet the show took another route to shock viewers (by the way, why wait until the second half of the season’s first episode to have the death finally happen???) and frustrate comic fans. Simply put, actor Chandler Riggs is 18 and he’s ready to move on to maybe college and perhaps establish an identity and a career outside of Carl.

And I hate to be heartless, but Carl’s death didn’t really hit me in the feels. It should have been more devastating because he’s been there from the start. Is it because he got older? Is it because he became the voice of reason? Then the tired “no one is safe” trope creeps in and I have to sigh. Of course no one is safe, it’s a zombie apocalypse!

Another thing, so with Carl’s vision, is the show supposed to have a happy ending? It wouldn’t be the worst thing but it also would never really resolve the never ending hordes of zombies issue. Were we just manipulated into thinking the show will end with Negan working in harmony with Rick?!? <sigh>

The Walking Dead Finale: I Still Have Questions!

(They can never take away our–oops! Courtesy of amctv.com)

Well, I said I wasn’t going to write a blog follow last night’s “game changing” season 2 finale of The Walking Dead, but I still have a lot of burning questions. 

WHY CAN’T ANYONE KEEP AN EYE ON CARL?

Honestly, how hard can it be? If I was living in a post-apocalyptic world and if I had a child, that child would be attached to my hip! Survival is the key and keeping the youngest alive is essential, but the writers seem to think Carl has this “going rogue” streak in him, therefore he can slip away without any consequences. I think the writers are also setting up bigger responsibilities for Carl in season 3. So be it, but Lori, you are the worst mother ever.At least Rick has a little bit of sense. If only Baby Huey survived….

 NOW THAT ALL OF THE GROUP IS INFECTED, HOW LONG BEFORE THEY BECOME “THE WALKING DEAD”?

I tweeted this question to the after show–The Talking Dead— last night, but it’s only a 30 minute show; I was bumped and I’m pissed because I think it’s a great question that can be answered without giving anything anyway. And I’m wondering since Hershel wanted to believe the walkers were just “sick”. Did he know something? I agree it sucks Rick didn’t tell the group until the finale, but it’s a perfect cliffhanger. I just question how long does the virus lie dormant, because Randall and Shane turned very quickly, and everyone else, I assume, has been exposed for the same amount of time.

WILL RICK TURNOVER HIS LEADERSHIP?

I got the impression after Rick’s big speech at the end, the group wasn’t quite sold on continuing to trust him. So who steps up? I pray it’s Daryl! He’s fearless, he’s reckless, yet he’s practical. I don’t think the group has trusted Rick for a while and when they all find out he killed Shane, here comes the cold shoulder. Rick is just tired and is very crazy right now; he can’t imagine where the group can survive. So, now, a prison? This has been a big feature in the comic books, so fans are extra pumped for next season.

DID ANYONE ELSE THINK ANDREA WOULD FIND RANDALL’S GROUP?

I thought she would, but then this hooded figure saved her by slicing the head off a walker who was about to make Andrea meat. This new character, Michonne, is another big fan favorite who will finally appear next season. I figure Andrea needed to get away from the group, but will she be happy? I think so. She’s rogue for sure.

WILL GLEN AND MAGGIE EVER HOOK UP AGAIN?

Ha Ha! I still can’t get over how much Glen has matured. He finally told Maggie he loved her, but now they are both infected. Not very romantic. But isn’t prison sex supposed to be hot? Awkward maybe, hot, no.

AND, WILL LORI EVER NOT BE ANNOYING?

I think I can answer this: NO!

I guess we’ll all be left for dead until October, I cannot wait!

The Walking Dead Finally Gets Good, But There’s Only One Episode Left

**I’ll do my best to not spoil anything, but hell, I think everyone has seen or read about this last episode**

When season 2 of The Walking Dead premiered last October, I couldn’t wait! Season 1, though short, pretty much ruled. However, the first few episodes were devoid of any big “walker” attacks and they were devoid of any sustained suspense. Okay, I guess the search for Sophia counts, and when Carl got shot. Yeah, it was all about the kids for the first time. The term I heard and read a lot about concerning the first seven episodes of this season? Soap opera. Abort! Abort! Glen started to grow up, so boring and he eventually would lose his virginity to Maggie. I missed his “Short Round” look. In short, with the cap, Glen is cool, without it, he’s a sensitive wuss boy. The episodes began to focus more on morality than true survival. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Yes, Shane became as whack-a-doodle as ever, especially when he went to retrieve a respirator with Otis (part of a new group) and when a big group of walkers gained up on them, Shane sacrificed Otis, and he then shaved his head to hide a suspicious gash. And we all know when a character in anything shaves his/her head, it’s on! 

Part of the slow down was due to the original group unintentionally joining a new group led by veterinarian Hershel Greene and his family. See, when Carl got shot, Hershel’s farm just happened to be nearby, thus he jumped into action to save the boy. What followed were a succession of episodes where either Rick, Shane, or Glen and Maggie (Hershel’s daughter/Glen’s woman) leave the farm, or Daryl would leave to search for Sophia. Well, hell, I guess they all went and searched for Sophia at some point. A lot of critics viewed the search for Sophia as wasted time, until….it was discovered Hershel was keeping a barn full of walkers, which included members of his family, because he thought they were just sick (which technically, they are) and not just dead people aimlessly walking the landscape searching for fresh blood. The climax of the first set of episodes came when Shane let all the barn walkers loose and one by one, they were executed. But when one last walker emerged, it was a child, it was SOPHIA! That’s when my confidence in the show was sharply renewed. Her mother Carol is not the only one in shock, and Rick had no choice but to put a bullet through the young girl’s brain. Fans would have to wait until February to see what would happen next. 

What came next was the best episodes since the series began. Survival mode and walker rampages finally kicked in again. There was still that annoying moral conflict struggle, but it was mixed just right with some good old fashioned zombie kills, not to mention the guys pick up a hostage, Randall, who is part of yet another group, and we’re led to believe they are all reckless rednecks. Rick’s wife, Lori, who is the one character I cannot stand, finds out in the first set of episodes that she’s pregnant, and really, she’s no help at all this season. And would it kill her to pull back her hair just once? The only reason I can still sort of tolerate Andrea is because she didn’t become as heartless as she would seem by the time Dale bit the big one at the hands of a walker who Carl was supposed to kill. Do not get me started on Carl! If you are a fan, you know what I mean. If he survives the season finale or beyond, I’ll be shocked. 

I suppose the last few episodes were all about Shane’s demise into madness. I couldn’t believe he kept on living, and not just because of the dire circumstances of the world around him. He lost everything, all because Rick lived. And truly, I think Lori still loved Shane, but she came to her senses because of his questionable behavior. When Shane lets Randall go, he misleads him into thinking he wants to join Randall’s group, which I think would have made an interesting plot development. Damn. He just lied again and Rick had had enough. And Shane wanted to die, but did he want to become a walker? We’ll never know and I hope we find out why both Shane and Randall turned into walkers without getting bit. One theory out there is that the virus has become airborne and it apparently has a dormant period, but for how long? I probably should wait and write after Sunday’s season finale, but screw it, I love The Walking Dead again and I ain’t afraid to say it. Will there be a third season? You bet!

(Photo courtesy of AMCtv.com)

If You Happen to Google Kim…

The stories you’ll see are that Ms. Zolciak is in fact pregnant!  A fact she denied on Watch What Happens Live! last night on Bravo; well I don’t know if the clip made the broadcast, but you can find it in the bonus clips. Zolciak has been dating Atlanta Falcons’ star Kroy Biermann since May.  You saw them meet in the infamous, “Sheree dances” episode just last week.  I missed my favorite Housewives last night, due to way too many shows I keep up with: the American Music Awards–NKOTBSB!, Boardwalk Empire–dirty and naughty last night!, and The Walking Dead–what happened to the dude who sawed his hand off???  So I also missed the after show.  I’ll get to my DVR as soon as I can.  Oh and how can I forget, Adam Lambert’s E! True Hollywood Story debuted last night as well; I did watch it before I went to bed.  Um, I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know.  The only new information I got was the Parents Televsion Council’s complaint about Glambert’s racy performance at the American Music Awards LAST year is still in the process of being heard by the FCC–really?  And his simple battery case against a papparazo a few months ago in Miami is still pending.  The show as a whole was okay; and yes, the AMAs were controversy-free this time around; oh how could you ABC? 

Okay, well here’s Kim performing her new hit single (?) “Google Me” on Watch What Happens Live:

http://widget.bravotv.com/singleclip/singleclip_v1.swf?CXNID=1000004.10035NXC&WID=4657041ec2a2cf53&clipID=1261558

Zombies Are Cool! (Non-Gay Post)

I love zombies!  I’ve always been a fan of the original Night of the Living Dead series, especially the original Dawn of the Dead which stars a bunch of no-name actors escaping zombies whilst holed up in a mall, classic.  The new AMC hit series The Walking Dead is basically the same, no-name actors, with the exception of Michael Rooker–and he’s only appeared in small doses so far, they are holed up in Atlanta in a department store, again, only briefly.  In short, I love this show!  I guess the blood and guts appeal to me, I love horror movies and I love the tension and high drama.  Sure, the same zombie problems exist.

1. Zombies, for some reason, can’t climb…although this theory has been put to the test with the third episode…I’ll leave you hanging, since I don’t want to be blamed for any spoilers! 

2. Zombies now don’t die automatically…yes, the head shot, either by bullet or by axe still works but The Walking Dead shows a torso-only zombie crawling around in the first episode, and she’s still hungry!  It’s the first time I’ve seen half a zombie still roaming around in any film or tv show, brilliant.

3. Zombies will eat ANYTHING…again, spoilers…animals…ewwww!

I would describe the series as The Stand meets Planet Terror with a dash of the original Dawn of the Dead thrown in.  It’s based on a graphic comic series by Robert Kirkman; and this graphic comic works, some don’t.  I’m just saying Watchmen, the movie, was terrible!  The Walking Dead is executive produced by Academy Award nominee, Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile).  I think it’s interesting the main character, Sheriff Rick Grimes, hails from Kentucky in the comic.  And the series was shot in Atlanta, the production design is very well executed. 

Sadly, there are only 3 episodes left in the first season.  There are 13 volumes of the comic, so a second season is on tap, maybe a third, if the material can be stretched.  And who knows, Kirkman may write more material since the reception and the reviews for the series have been positive so far. 

So, if you want to check out The Walking Dead, you can see the pilot episode at AMC’s website, if not, I believe AMC reruns the last few episodes before the new one airs at 9pm central…
*I realize this blog isn’t my normal fare, but I assure you, I will continue to sound off about all things gay in pop culture, I was just so excited about this show, that’s all.*