The Walking Dead has been an unprecedented hit for comic fans, zombie movie fans, and most importantly, a hit for AMC. The Walking Dead has gone from a relatively cult-status comic book into a massive hit in just a few years. However, things weren’t always as good as they are now from a quality stand-point. With a strong premiere episode that debuted on Halloween 2010, the later episodes of the first season struggled to maintain the same quality.
The second season was almost an unwatchable mess due to several contributing factors (the show was still trying to find its way, producers left the project etc.), yet you kept watching because you knew the source material was so good, it was only a matter of time before they knocked it out of the park.
The third season is that home run we’d all been waiting for. As we gear up for the second half of season 3, I’d like to look back and commend The Walking Dead for all that it has done right (so far) this season. The show has not only become appointment television, it’s also one of the most fun shows to talk about with friends and co-workers due to the unpredictability. The show has finally found its stride so it’s only fair that we countdown the top 6 things the Walking Dead is doing right this season. And be warned: spoilers follow, so lower your crossbows!
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11 Comments
Great article. Glad to see The Death of Lori at #1. God, I h8ed that b!tch.
I think what separates The Walking Dead from other zombie apocalypse movies, shows, etc. is the focus on human interaction and trying to get back those parts of life that were lost when the zombies showed up. Because of that, I don’t really mind season 2. I’ll freely admit that the first half was pretty slow, but the mid-season finale (probably one of my favorite episodes in the whole series) and the second half was quite good.
I also share your concern for the show being turned into a zombie-blasting action romp. That is not what The Walking Dead is.
I agree bro.
I didnt hate the character of Lori as i thought she made a good antagonist within the group but i agree that her death was necessary and essential to the progress of the show. Andrew Lincoln’s performance as Rick, reacting to the reveal of Lori’s death in the prison courtyard, was nothing short of heart breaking. It blew me away and even made me mist up and im a 35 yr old man. I even proclaimed out loud to myself “This show is UNBELIEVABLE!” Lol! Cant wait for the new episodes next month.
Completely agree with number 4, very glad they added the Governor in. Didn’t think they were going to kill Lori off in this season to be honest but she wasn’t the best character anyway.
The show is racist, kill of T-Dog just because another black character has been introduced, and T-Dog rarely got screen time, no lines, no development etc.
Then a couple of episodes later, kill off the black prisoner.
Overrated show
If that really was the case, than why is Glenn allowed to survive? Or why could T-Dogg be on the show at the same time as the black prisoner and Michonne? I swear, people will go to great lengths just to find racism in anything.
If you’re worried about the color of people that die on a fictional zombie show, perhaps you are the one blinded by race.
Lori was a necessary annoyance for the show. As was Carl’s previous attitude. Carl’s a little bad ass in the book, I’m glad to see them embrace this.
I’m starting to get a bit sick of everyone jumping on the ‘I hate Season 2′ bandwagon. It wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone seems to remember/think it was.
Season 3 isn’t nearly as good as everyone is making out either. It’s been all out action, with very little character development, outside of The Governor.
Season 2 had 2, maybe 3 slow episodes in the first half, that’s it. Pretty much all of the best episodes the show has done so far, were from Season 2. The Premiere, ‘Bloodletting’, ‘Save the last one’ and ‘Pretty much dead already’ are all decent episodes from the first 7 of the Season. ‘Pretty much dead already’ being arguably the best episode of the entire series so far. Then the last 6 of the season are all good-excellent. ’18 Miles Out’ is especially good.
It’s amazing how a few slow episodes taint an otherwise perfectly good season for some people. Go back and watch it and see how many slow episodes there are. 3 at the most, out of 13. An ‘unwatchable mess’ indeed.
Also, contrary to popular belief, very little time was actually spent showing the much maligned ‘search for Sophia’.
TWD is a terrific show. I agree with Ben that Season 2 wasn’t as bad as depicted here. One of the things that hasn’t been mentioned that I find one of the more fascinating storylines is the development of Carl and what his moral compass is turning out to be. The main thing that separated Rick from Shane was a bedrock of humanism and morality whereas Shane was so pragmatic as to be almost totally amoral. With Carl growing up in a world without a surplus of good memories from before (as the much-hated Lori discussed on the farm), Carl has a coldbloodedness that more resembles Shane than Rick from Seasons 1 and 2. And with Rick going into “Ricktator” mode as well as dealing with Lori’s death and slowly losing his grip on his own sanity, he’s not providing the guidance for Carl that he did before. So this kid is growing up with little to no guidance in a world gone awry. He has the potential to become a good leader or a stone cold killer. I think the actor is doing a great job reflecting this ambiguity
One thing the TWD is NOT doing well this season is dealing with the psychological aspects of the characters. I’m sorry, but if the Governor is so nuts at this point that all he writes in his journal are lines, that he’s unable to compose coherent thoughts and put them on paper, then there’s no wayhe would be as rational and composed as he is.the denizens of woodberry and andrea and merle would all be aware of his emotional and intellectual instability if his psychologocal state were that tenuous. They should have portrayed him as more sociopath than psychopath if they were at all interested in a plausible sense of realism. Same is true, to some degree, of Rick’s auditory hallucinations with the phone call. If he’s having a breakdown to the extent that he’s having auditory hallucinations, 1) he wouldn’t be able to interact that rationally with Herschel 2) I don’t think he could “snap out of it” that quickly.
I mean, he had a visual hallucination too (Shane at Woodberry) so if he’s that deranged I doubt that he could function at as high a level and lead in the way that he has been.