The Walking Dead: 6 Things "Slabtown" Did Right (And 4 It Didn't)
3. Survival Above Transcendence
One of the better-written scenes in this weeks episode, meanwhile, was Dr Edwards little speech about the Caravaggio painting he found dumped out amongst the trash once everything started going to hell. Hes a smart guy, he knows that art isnt the most important thing when the human race is barely hanging on by a thread - as he points out, art should be about transcendence, not simply survival. Then theres some waffle about The Bible which wasnt quite as good or interesting, but never mind. Thing is, that whole treatise read like a critique of The Walking Dead itself. Either the writers knew exactly what they were doing by putting that little meta-comparison in there, and have an inflated idea of themselves, or the irony was totally lost on them. The Walking Dead is an entertaining, thrilling, pulpy show, but it rarely rises above that. The series is entirely about survival (both in the story and in the ratings) rather than transcendence, being driven by surprising deaths and plot twists than theme, character, or anything like that. Which is fine, but itd be nice for it to reach higher, or else not remind those watching that it doesnt.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
