The Walking Dead On The Small Screen: The Debate!

Written By: David Pinckney

*WARNING – Spoilers*

Starting on Halloween, AMC aired their new original series, The Walking Dead. It was a six episode season that adapted Robert Kirkman's zombie epic. But how did it do?

In my opinion, the show did very well. I felt that the characters were all very well represented and I felt that they captured, what is to me, the most important aspect of the comic and that is, it's a drama first, action second. They added just the right amount of drama to give real gravity to the situations at had, as well as make us empathize with the characters.

There were some new characters in there, if my memory serves me correctly, that felt natural to the progression of the story. Every character had a point and every character had their moment to shine on the small screen. Each episode felt like an issue written by Kirkman himself. As a fan of the series, I appreciated that aspect fully. The team obviously has tremendous respect for the source material.

Speaking of source material, I feel the need to touch on the subject of "comic versus television". The show was obviously different in some respects then the comic, that said, it was a very good representation of The Walking Dead. A comic has much different needs then a movie or television show so a change should be expected, not frowned upon. The changes they made were good for the series. I know the season finale had some fans questioning, "Why is Shane still alive?". Well my answer to that is, Shane is an important character in the television show. Shane dies very early on in the comic book series, but in the show he is a lot more established, killing him off within six episodes would have felt very strange, like building up a character and then removing them before they needed to be removed. You need to look at it from a prospective of a viewer who has never read the comic. Only those who have read the story knows that Shane, within comic book continuity, should have died by now. What they did with him was great in the sense of creating an enormous amount of tension between him and Lori that will have viewers wondering what's gonna happen between them in season 2. They now have a hook that will get viewers to come back.

Now another part that may not have gone over to well with fans: The CDC. The move to the CDC was, in my opinion, logical. In the comic we know they move to a school and a jailhouse and other places, but why do they move to the CDC in the show? Because, they only have 6 episodes. To show the true spirit of the comic they needed to show three things: Rick taking control, Zombies killing large portions of their group, and them relocating in order to survive. They did all three. If the camp site was attacked the next logical step is to move, but when you have only 6 episodes you need to move somewhere that they can leave rather quickly. They are in Atlanta and they think the reanimation of the dead is a disease, so the CDC makes sense. It shows another important aspect of the comic which is finding themselves in a seemingly safe place only to find someone with a different view that presents a fairly dramatic problem.

We gotta look at the show as a representation of the comic, not a carbon copy. We have to also remember an ongoing series functions much differently then a television show.

Aside from the changes, I do believe that the cast was well picked and that the writing was top notch. Was it a perfect show? No, but it was a really really good show, a show that I cannot wait to see what they are going to do for the second season.

In the second season I expect there to be even more tension between Lori and Shane as well as more tension between Shane and Rick. We saw several instances of Shane and Rick butting heads, and after what Shane did to Lori, it's safe to say something is going to go down next season. One question that I am wondering is, where are they moving to now? I hope that it's to the school or jail because a lot of interesting things happen in the comic when they arrive at those places. All that said, the number one thing I hope to see in season two is Michonne. I really hope she shows up in the show sword and all. The sword aspect may be a little weird to some casual viewers, but that is part of what makes her so awesome. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Now what I want to know is: What do you think? How did you feel about the show? Speak your mind on the forums!