The Walking Dead Episode 1 Review

Posted by Matt Arnold on Nov 4, 2010 in TV Review | 11 comments

Days Gone Bye

AMC’s The Walking Dead is the sort of event that geeks dream about. The right talent, budget and format is rarely provided for our beloved franchises. Yet here it is, Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman, AMC, a long form TV show, and a big budget. To top it all off, the gore is at ridiculous levels. However, the most surprising thing about the show, the thing that truly marks it as a landmark series, is how the pilot seems to ignore most TV conventions.

TV pilots are a very tough thing to write. They must hook the audience early, and set up all matters of plot and character for the entire season, while still providing an entertaining hour. Its incredibly difficult to balance that much exposition. Walking Dead says ” **** that”. The only thing it cares about is setting the tone and hitting emotional beats early.

Walking Dead starts with a strong tonal hook, Rick’s quiet trek through an abandoned street to find gas turns violent as he shoots a 8 year old zombie in the head; A rough way to introduce the main protagonist. Darabont shows his mastery of scene building here with his continual reveals. As opposed to starting with a wide establishing shot, the horror genre will often start tight, and widen as the scene goes. This creates tension as every shot promises something new, and perhaps terrifying. Darabont breaks this up in a series of shots that slowly reveal more awful details, culminating with the reveal of the dead girl. Darabont doesn’t play it simple. After a traditional reveal – Rick looks under a car to see feet walking – he plays with the audience expectations by having the small figure bend down and pick up a teddy bear. Us, like the hero have a moment of hope as this is no zombie, just a girl lost in this hell. A girl who now more than ever needs a teddy. That lasts for only a moment as she turns to reveal her dead self. She is but a memory of a girl, and so Rick puts a slug into her head.

If I spend so much time on this intro it is because it is the heart of The Walking Dead. Like the comics, it is less about WHY the zombie apocalypse happened, or HOW to survive it. Instead, it is about what the very act of survival does to our humanity. What it makes us become, and what it makes us do.

The plot itself is simple and well known thanks to its initial similarities to 28 Days Later. Rick is a police officer that is shot in the line of duty, only to awake in the hospital after Z-day has long gone. He sets off to find his wife and kid, Laurie and Carl. Even the early expository moments between him and his best friend, Shane, emphasize the simple human moments. Rick is upset because his wife’s last words to him as he walked out the door were “Sometimes I don’t even know if you care about us”. Add insult to injury, she said it in front of their son. This moment is obviously meant to inform the audience of that Rick is married, their marriage is in conflict, that he has a son, etc. However, since we know that those truly are the last words she said, it becomes a moment of poignancy rather than simple exposition. Context is everything, and in the world of the dead, simple moments and actions take on new meanings.

That sense of regret is fitting of a pilot called “days gone by”.  Like Kirkman, Darabont understands that Zombies are so effective because they are shells of humans. Reflections of ourselves. They can represent anything. Like a photograph, or an empty house, they represent what was. Past lives, regrets and memories are found in simple moments like Rick commenting on the previous owners of the house they now use as shelter, or the imagery of the photograph of a woman before she was dead juxtaposed with the same woman – now a zombie – through a cross hair. The title sequence reinforces this as a montage of the last remaining artifacts of civilization and the lives of our characters.

I cannot think of any pilot, especially one that is 90 minutes long, that is essentially a mood piece. Besides a scene discussing the “walkers” and the single scene showing us Laurie, Carl and Shane’s situation, there is essentially no story building. Even the pilot’s movement into its third act is a simple good-bye, followed by a tour-de-force sequence cross cutting between Rick and Morgan Jones. Both are coming to terms with their lost wives (one now a zombie, one lost) in similar ways. Both decide to kill a zombie out of sympathy. Morgan decides to finally put down his wife, and Rick decides to kill the first zombie he ever saw, a pathetic torso of a woman – featuring arguably the best zombie make up seen. The sequence is oddly beautifully and heart wrenching, and Morgan’s inability to let go of that memory of his wife – even in zombie form – is the sort of emotional punch that will hopefully define this series.

There is much more to say about The Walking Dead, and I look forward to following the six episode first season. It is probably early to say, but this will be landmark TV. It is a show that seems to throw away the normal formula of TV. Whether or not the show will fall into a more traditional structure will be seen. For fans of the comic, we have an idea of what is to come. It will be devastating, tough to watch, but we will love every minute.

Watch It

Special Note: Not sure what we will use for rating TV shows or movies. If you have any ideas, go ahead and comment! But, I can’t wait to review this series. The reviews will be coming out the day after from now on.

Random Thoughts

• The digital blood is done well because it is mixed with a lot of practical. All in all, the gore and make up is pretty much the best in the industry, tv or film.
• The show looks absolutely gorgeous
• The cast looks insanely close to the drawings.
• The acting is stellar through and through. Andrew Lincoln IS Rick.
• The opening shows how cold, and logistical 28 Days Later’s was. Here, the terror is real, and it builds to near insanity at Rick’s thought of losing his family.
• This is the first time ever I have seen “am I sleeping” followed by a slap and “wake up” that I didn’t want to giggle. More than that, it was incredibly effective.
• Speaking of giggling. Darabont is old school, and some of his techniques are charmingly outdated. The ghosting effect in the hospital is the prime example, and it goes for..ever…
• Is it just me, or did the final moment with Rick need another beat. You know what I mean – under the tank. From gun to head, to seeing the opening, just played odd for me.