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A police cruiser is driving along a quiet country road and pulls to a stop at the shoulder. The deputy gets out of the vehicle, goes around to the trunk, and pulls out a gas tank. Already something might be up. I don’t want to be an alarmist, but why doesn’t he just go to a gas station like normal people? As he walks through the intersection, we see a minivan flipped over onto its roof, and an 18-wheeler jack-knifed in the road. Another truck comes into view, its insides all burned out and its chassis blackened by smoke. The cop doesn’t even seem to care. Uh, dude, that is NOT how cars usually are? They’re usually driving! With humans in them! Or parked respectfully. These cars are unusual! Something is definitely UP. The cop makes his way down a hill towards a gas station and there are cars everywhere, and tents, and oh also SUPER DEAD BODIES. Again, the cop is just like, whatever corpses, this gas tank isn’t going to fill itself! There’s a sign up at the gas station that says “No Gas.” Shoot! I’m no Survival Expert, but if I was in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse Wasteland looking desperately for gas and I walked up to a gas station with a sign on it that said “No Gas” and a lawn full of burned out cars filled with charred corpses, again, just speaking as me here, I’d turn on my heel and head right back to my car. “Hey, let’s wander around a little bit, see what this terrifying abandoned gas station with no gas is all about” is NOT something you would hear me mutter to myself because the sound of a human voice, even if it is just my own, keeps my tattered sanity from Total Collapse. The cop hears a noise. It’s a pair of tiny feet shuffling along in dirty slippers. Oh, I’m sure this is just a normal person in need of some assistance. “Little girl, don’t worry, I’m a cop, I want to help you,” the cop says to the little girl’s receding back. And AGAIN, this cop can do whatever he wants, OK? I’m not trying to tell him how to do his job. But if it’s me and the world has been ravaged by the Rage Virus I tell you this: no face no service. SHOW YOURSELF, ZOMBIES! The little girl turns around and not to say I told you so but I TOLD YOU SO. The cop is like, “so you DON’T need my help?” And then he shoots the little girl in the head.
BOOM! HELLO, THE WALKING DEAD!
The cop’s name is Rick Grimes and his marriage is NOT going well. In the squad car with his partner, Shane Walsh, he is like “my marriage is NOT going well.” His partner is like “some kind of sexist bullshit about lightbulbs, I don’t know, we’re cops!” Just then there is a call on the radio. 10-4!!! They drive out to a country road and lay down some spikes. Then they have some banter. Guys! Focus! The bad guys come up the road and hit the spikes and their car loses its shit. Bad guys crawl out and start shooting. Grimes is hit! The cops shoot the bad guys. Grimes is wheezing, but he’s OK. The bullet caught him in his bulletproof vest, he’s just winded. Do NOT tell his wi–OH SHIT, SECRET BAD GUY! Grimes is shot but for real this time. His partner goes all blurry face. Hang in there, buddy.
CUT TO: INT. HOSPITAL – LATER
Grimes is in the hospital and he looks rough. Apparently, the bullet badly ruptured his SKIN TONE. (Although, his beard is pretty well maintained.) His partner comes to visit him and brings him flowers, NO HOMO. He assures him that everyone is waiting for him to come back to work. Classic shot cop sick bed talk. And Shane is the only visitor? Cool wife. Cool son. Grimes makes some joke about the vase. You know how cops are: always ribbing each other about vases and other pottery. It’s called gallows humor, look it up. But Shane isn’t there. And the flowers are dead. How long has he been out? LONG ENOUGH, GET UP LAZYHEAD. Grimes gets up and immediately falls down. At which point, a zombie casually strolls in and takes its sweet time shuffling over to the dude with the atrophied legs and eats his face. JUST KIDDING. Grimes calls desperately for a nurse, at which point, a zombie nurse casually strolls in and EATS HIS FACE. Again, I am just kidding, but I think we can all agree that Grimes is very lucky there is not any zombies around because he cannot even walk. As he makes his way out of the hospital, he has a thought: “why aren’t there more haunted houses in hospitals? If you decorated a hospital like a haunted house for a couple weeks every October you could make fat bank.” Enough with the small business concepts, Grimes, GET OUT OF THERE. Needless to say, shit’s fucked up.
Grimes steals a zombie’s bike and goes home, but his wife and child are nowhere to be found. Maybe they’re on their way to the hospital to visit you for the first time? Wouldn’t that be funny? “I can’t believe we left for the hospital five minutes before you came home. Hahaha. Ships in the night!” Just kidding, THEY’RE DEAD. Grimes cries. Grimes gets hit in the head with a shovel by our generation’s Walt. WALLLLLLLLLLT!
When he wakes up, Grimes is tied to a bed about 2 get raped. Just kidding. He is tied to the bed because a man and his son want to make sure they are not about to rape a zombie. Just kidding. NO RAPE! Why do people keep saying Grimes is about to get raped? He’s not going to get raped, you guys, stop saying that. Morgan (the father) shows him a knife. Oh wait, is he about to get raped? No. Morgan tells him that if he tries anything he will get raped I MEAN KILLED. Then Morgan tells him to get dressed and come down to dinner. Haha. “See how sharp this knife is? If you try anything, it’s dinner time.” ANYWAY. Dinner. Prayers. Explanations. In case anyone is still curious as to what is going on out there, it is DEFINITELY a Zombie Apocalypse. I CALLED IT! I’M A GENIUS! Morgan gives Grimes some fun facts: the zombies are attracted to light and noise. They’re manageable in small numbers, but look out for zombie flash mobs. Then there is a pretty sad and scary scene in which it becomes clear that Duane’s mom is still alive/undead and that she loves coming up onto the porch and turning the doorknob. Yikes. Oh well, let her in. JUST KIDDING DON’T LET HER IN SHE IS A ZOMBIE SHE WILL EAT YOUR FACE!
The next morning, zombies are just passed out everywhere.
Grimes feels kind of weird about killing zombies because of how they used to be people. Totally. That would be weird! Grimes shows just how hesitant and uncomfortable he is by taking a baseball bat and hitting a zombie in the head ONE MILLION TIMES AS HARD AS HE CAN. “It’s just so hard, you know, POP POP CRUNCH POP BLAM DIE FUCK DIE POP because of how they were people, you know?” Totally, Grimes. Totally. (I’m worried about Grimes, you guys.) Grimes explains to Morgan that his wife and kid are still alive because there aren’t any framed photos on the wall. Encyclopedia Grimes over here. (P.S. Zombie Apocalypse Pro-Tip: frames are bulky and unwieldy. Fucking leave them behind.) Morgan remembers that one time his wife had a photograph. More crying. “Hey little buddy,” Grimes says, “I know what would turn that frown upside down! How about a group shower and then a trip to the Gun Store?! Hold on, let me get my keys!” Grimes is a total keyhead.
Duane loves a group shower.
Guns.
Morgan and Grimes go their separate ways, for now. Oh wait, hold on, Grimes just has to shoot this dude in the head.
OK, now they can go their separate ways. But they make plans to meet later. “Hit me up on my two way pager CHIRP CHIRP,” etc. Back home, Morgan goes upstairs with his new rifle and tests it out on some zombies. Yup, it works! He tells Duane to stay downstairs. He also tells him “earmuffs.” Daddy and mommy are just talking. They are not shooting each other in the zombie head because of anything you did. They both love you very much. Well, one of them does not love you because she is a zombie. Anyway, Morgan can’t do it. Whoops. House is totally surrounded by zombies now and you used up some much-needed bullets. Oh well. Marriage is compromise.
Meanwhile, Grimes goes to the park to see his girlfriend.
He heads to Atlanta to see if it is true that there is a huge, military-protected refugee center and also his wife and child. Something tells me none of those things are there. It’s interesting that zombie movies (and TV shows) take place in an alternate universe where the zombie virus is real and where no one has ever actually seen a zombie movie. Anyway, Grimes is cruising along making I Am Legend announcements on the bandwidth. There is a group of humans who hear him, but they can’t get the radio to work. Also, one of those humans is his former partner and two of those people are his wife and kid. I know that the Zombie Apocalypse is going to be very stressful, or whatever, but you would think that perhaps one of the THREE CLOSEST PEOPLE in Grimes’s life might recognize his voice. Most notably, his partner, Shane, whose professional life involved lots of radio discussions with Grimes would recognize his voice. Oh well, whatever, no biggie. I’m sure they’ll all laugh about it later, right after they’re done laughing about how Shane has straight moved in on Grimes’s wife two days after the Zombie Apocalypse started. “I thought you were dead. It’s been hours!”
Grimes gets a horse (long story) and makes it to Altanta (surprisingly short story). Seems like a good idea. What better place to be during an apocalyptic Zombie Crisis than a major city? “I was top of my class in Common Sense at boot camp,” is what Grimes always tells everyone. “I’m going to visit Zombie Coke World!” At first everything seems pretty chill. Just a couple of zombies on a crosstown bus. But then Grimes turns a corner and WHOOOOOOPS, looks like all the zombies heard about the new Improv Everywhere mission but Agent Grimes didn’t get the text blast.
The zombies get the horse. Yum. “We’re gonna need a bigger horsebag!” Grimes crawls under a tank, but these are Crouching Zombies, so that’s no good. They’re all crawling after him. Fuck. He’s definitely going to turn into a zombie and I did not realize this show was only one episode long. Oh well! It was pretty good, though, right guys? Grimes pulls out a gun and is about to shoot himself in the head, at which point he casually looks up and sees that there is a doorway into the tank. Phew. He crawls into the tank and closes the door. Easy enough. Oh shoot, there’s a zombie in the tank.
Grimes shoots the zombie. But now he is deaf. Yoops. Oh well, if you had to either be deaf or be a zombie, I guess I’d choose deaf. Although, to be completely honest, I’m not really clear on the appeal of staying alive after the Zombie Apocalypse? Definitely looks like a never ending nightmare of existential terror, maddening loneliness, and canned beans. The human instinct for survival is strong, sure, but perhaps it is too strong? Anyway, Grimes looks up again just in time to see another doorway, which he gets closed just before the zombies get him again. It’s just like Alec Baldwin said in Glengarry Glen Zombies: Always Be Looking Up For Secret Doorways. Just then there is a voice over the intercom. The voice is talking to Grimes. “Hey dumbass, yeah, you. In the tank. How you doing in there? Comfy?” Whoa.
There are other survivors! AND THEY’RE SARCASTIC ASSHOLES!
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My thoughts:
*The ‘waking up from a coma after the zombies took over’ thing was kinda dumb. Let’s be real. I understand it from a dramatic point-of-view, but it’s so crazy improbable. And why wasn’t he covered in foulness? Why weren’t his muscles so atrophied that he couldn’t walk? Why is he healthy enough after a GUNSHOT WOUND + COMA to walk around town, kill zombies, and ride a horse? Silly. I would also rant how the “waking up from a coma in the middle of a zombie apocalypse” was stolen from 28 Days Later, but I’m told that the original Walking Dead graphic novel came up with that independent of the film.
*I like how there were more lines spoken by African-Americans in this premiere then in the entire last season of Mad Men. Speaking of, weren’t those two actors great? Like, really great? The scene where Morgan was trying to work up the courage to shoot his zombie wife? And failed? Wow. Or when the mother was fiddling with the doorknob and Duane was wracked with grief?? That was great. More scenes like those, please. Actually, can we make the whole show mostly about those two? Call it The Road 2: Z-Town?
*It was genuinely scary? I didn’t expect that. I was also taken aback by how gory it was. I think it took guts (horse guts! LOL!) and I like it. I hope it’s not like smoking in Mad Men, which was also bold but have you noticed how rarely they smoke anymore, compared to the first season?
*I have a penchant for zombie movies, especially early Romero. I’d rank this premiere with the top five zombie films I’ve ever seen. Even with the silly coma thing.
*Why a zombie outbreak would fail: http://www.cracked.com/article_18683_7-scientific-reasons-zombie-outbreak-would-fail-quickly.html
Werttrew is wearing this tshirt while writing from a playground.
I understand how the “waking up from a coma holyshitthere’szombies” thing might seem cliche, but I love it so much. I love how the scenery and set have to convey information and start telling the story. If it was used all the time I think it might get old, but both 28 Days Later and this pilot did it so so well.
One thing I thought was irritating before giving up on this show: after waking up from the coma, the guy walks around, sees the zombie hands coming through the chained door and then walks to a stairwell. He goes inside and shuts the door. It’s pitch black so he lights some matches. WHERE DID HE GET THE MATCHES!?? Was this explained earlier? (I missed the scenes between the opening where he shoots the girl and when he wakes up from the coma). That really irritated me, the whole “Oh I just woke up from a coma and there are these zombie hands clawing at me from a chained door, here let me just go to this pitch black stair well and shut the door behind me even though its pitch black, good thing I have these matches on my person which is what anyone who has been in a coma would happen to have on them at all times.” Yawn. Let’s see what Andy Rooney is talking about, was what my thought process was like.
I think he grabbed them from the nurses’ station, but I didn’t really understand why they were at the nurses’ station (although if I was a nurse working in a hospital during a zombie apocalypse I’d probably be smoking a hella cigarettes)
Those were the “I’m walking downstairs” matches. You have to sign them out when you’re gonna take a look outside and see what all the commotion’s about.
did we see him stop at a nurses station and pick up some matches and be all like, “I will need these when I enter a dark staircase and shut the door behind myself to augment the darkness.”????? No we did not. This is terrible story telling which is supposed to matter here
I dunno, I think “Things seem pretty fucked up right now, I might need some fire” is a totally reasonable though process.
did we see him stop at a nurses station and pick up some matches and be all like, “I will need these when I enter a dark staircase and shut the door behind myself to augment the darkness.”????? No we did not.
Yes, we did. That was shown. He got to a nurse’s station, checked the phone for a dial tone, pawed around from over the counter, pulled up a book of matches and lit one to see what all the nurse’s stationing was about.
Then they went to a tight shot where he held the book of matches up to his lips, he kissed them and said quietly, “Hello, stairwell matches. You’re my new best friend.”
Everything but that last bit where he talks to the matches is true.
He picked them up in the hallway when he first leaves his hospital room. agreed that walking into a pitch black hallway was fucking SCARY. how bout scooping out the whole end of society from the roof first? good vantage point right? check out all the destruction, make a game plan look for obstacles/ your whole town walking around undead? yawn all cops are bastards blahblahblah
that guide to why a zombie outbreak would fail is amazing
Amazingly WRONG.
It has all these things about stuff that would shut zombies down over the course of weeks, ignoring the models that have been constructed showing that a large-scale outbreak would take MAYBE DAYS. It makes a few valid points, but most of what it says is irrelevant and dumb.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Is it really a spoiler that someone wouldn’t be much fun a year into the zombie apocalypse?
What about this: why are there no zombie movies in wintertime settings? It is always a beautiful spring, or summer season. I always wondered if the survivors wait until winter wouldn’t the zombies freeze up? Am I thinking too much about this?
Only Nazi Zombies are allowed in the winter:
That’s what the survivors count on in Stephen King’s Cell, that most of the “phoners” (zombies) will die of exposure when winter comes.
There will be winter in this. Also most movies wouldn’t show a zombie winter for exactly your reason, the zombies are frozen.
I’m the only nerd in nerdtown who hates horror (zombie stuff especially) so I appreciate that cracked link! Maybe next time my nightmares about the zombie apocalypse will remember some of these facts!
He woke up in the hospital like that in the graphic novels though, so it’s really mot surprising that they would do it in the adapted for television version, to me anyway.
I’m not a medical professional, but I totally agree with you RE: covered in foulness. If he was in a coma for weeks, he would have a colostomy bag (which would be completely full and he would die before waking up) and a catheter, neither of which he would have any idea how to remove. Human waste aside, I totally loved the episode!! It was great!
“Waking up from a coma in the middle of a apocalypse was stolen from 28 Days Later…”
Which was stolen from This Quiet Earth. Which was stolen from Day of the Triffids. Which was stolen from… (repeat as needed)
“And why wasn’t he covered in foulness? Why weren’t his muscles so atrophied that he couldn’t walk? Why is he healthy enough after a GUNSHOT WOUND + COMA to walk around town, kill zombies, and ride a horse? Silly.”
the hospital didn’t shut down on day 1 of the zombie outbreak because: locked zombie room & body bags neatly lined up in rows outside. he was taken care of while the zombie outbreak was still taking place. he had trouble walking & speaking, he fell down & couldn’t yell for a nurse. also, zombie apocalypse didn’t take months. i’m told people’s wounds heal in hospitals, they could be wrong though.
Did anyone else think that Shane (Grime’s partner) kind of looks Gabe? Because me and the people I was watching it with thought that Shane kind of looked like Gabe.
I’ve always thought Gabe bears a striking resemblence to Sufjan Stevens, but mybe I’m wrong.
Grimes reminds me so much of Andrew Lincoln.
http://tinypic.com/r/2q15usg/7
I think you mean this
I just want to say that if I am Grimes and I am in a tank surrounded by Zombies, it is time to put the gun in mouth. Shit just got too real, and I am not down-*GUNSHOT*
Anyway, I love the dude that plays Morgan. He basically played the same character on Jericho, which is a PIMP. He actually plays a real pimp on Hung. I am starting to sense a pattern here.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this show and will continue to watch even though I am a scared little baby.
I agree. I told my roommate throughout “Now would be when I just killed myself like ‘I am not down with trying to survive the zombie apocalypse! Please enjoy my flesh! Good night!’ ”
I love the graphic novel and I look forward to meeting the voice from the tank. A lot. Because he’s my favourite character.
*sigh* I think it should be mandatory to put your TV on the Internet, so I get to watch it too.
On a side note, do we think this would be worth the iTunes subscription?
For those of you without amc
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=MT6H9VRR
So I was watching this with my roommate’s girlfriend (No Shane-O) and she was not getting it, kept calling it a “monster movie” and asking dumb questions. But despite the environment, I really enjoyed it! Especially the bonus half hour!
Well, most of that bonus half hour could have been cut by editing out Grimes’ long walk to find the half zombie lady just to shoot her and then casually stroll back to his car because of course there aren’t any other zombies around, right?
The zombies went where the people went, the city. Nobody realizes because plot needs to happen, but if you just chill in a suburban/rural area and raid for supplies you’ll be fine(er). I may have read World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide twice each.
zombies want to be where the people are.
they want to see, want to see ‘em dancin’…
shuffling around on those, what do you call them?
…brrraaaaaaaainssss…?
You know who else didn’t get it and asked dumb questions? Duane’s mom.
if all the videogum monster commentators end up liking it then it really is a monster movie
And how about that city, ehhhhhhhh???? Beautiful downtown Atlanta in that final shot! And they didn’t even have to slum it up — that’s what it looks like after five.
On a related note, the gas station where Grimes shot that little girl zombie is in walking distance from where I touched my first boob. Memories.
That reminds me, i need to acquire that couch in my parents basement.
I haven’t seen this and won’t be able to until is on the internet or on a DVD, at which time I will watch it. I have read the comics, and while I continue to read them because I like zombies, there are some serious deficiencies in the characters/sexism department which I hope the televisions show improves upon–because I really want to watch and enjoy this show.
I read only the first issue of the comics, for that reason, but it looks hopeful that the show will fix those issues!
I’m in your boat too, Mans. I am an avid reader of the comics, but have no TV service and so can’t watch this. However, I heard through the grapevine that the show is going to develop its own story lines and not necessarily adhere to what the comics have already done? And skimming Gabe’s recap above, it seems like they are already straying pretty far from how the comics started (I’m trying not to spoil anything so I don’t read too much about it). Maybe your dreams will come true!
I just wonder if they are really going to make a TV series as bleak as the comics are. Those can seriously get Jimmy Corrigan levels of depressing.
you people keep calling them comics when in fact they are “graphic novels” LOL!!!!!!
They get published monthly and are collected into trade paperbacks as most COMICS are.
.: Us people are correct.
“you can call it a ‘graphic novel,’ but comic books are still incredibly stupid”
- Bill Watterson.
what episode of Law and Order is that line from?
To save money, rather than make a Jimmy Corrigan series, they are just going to air unedited footage of my day to day existence.
I liked that Jimmy Corkly boy when he was in Smash Pumpkins the rock band
“there are some serious deficiencies in the characters/sexism department”– yes: http://mindlessones.com/2010/10/28/notcomics-walking-dead-episode-1/ — the show is still misogynistic but will it get as bad as…
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57306 (?)
the tone was established early on and sustained throughout enough that i knew i’d be putting up with the he-man-woman-hater’s-club if i were to continue. this fact relegates it to the type of show that’s on if i have to get shit done and not watch TV, but hey, the noise helps me look up once in a while to keep track of the time– thanks, TV!
When i was watching this, I got sad when I could tell the episode was ending. Then I realized this was a TV series and it would keep churning out episodes as long as people were interested. MLITWD
Are they just going to leave the timeline ambiguous?
It’s pretty clear that more than 2 days has passed since he was in the hospital. Are there any experts in determining how long it takes flowers to look that dead that read this site? WE NEED YOUR HELP!
One more thing: did anyone else see what looked to be a new red mustang being driven in the “coming this season” preview they showed afterwards? I Am Legend tribute? Totally irrelevant detail that I thought about for more than a minute? Maybe, and YES!
At one point they mentions really quickly that it had been about a month (i.e. gas has been out for about a month). But that really makes me wonder how coma guy survived for so long without food or water.
Exactly.
Just rewatched and they definitely said Gas Lines had been down for maybe a month at the beginning of the shower scene.
SHOWER DANCE!
In the comics the hospital stayed open for a while after Zombie Apocalypse. When his wife and son went to Atlanta the hospital was still running. It’s not really clear when the hospital was abandoned,, but it was much less than a month before he woke up.
I really loved this. The INCREDIBLE acting more than made up for the plot holes. My favorite part though? How they subtly hint that zombies might still be somewhat human inside- like the zombie girl getting her teddy bear, or Duane’s mother trying to come in the house.
Yeah, that didn’t really happen in the 10 trades that I own (NERD!), but I really like how they’re doing that. Kind of reminds me of “Land of the Dead” when zombie gas station attendant went back to his gas station attendant duties because he didn’t have any human persons to be eating.
Yeah, adding this will make the scenes with Carol later, WAY MORE AWESOME.
This guy knows what you’re talking about:
That was my favorite part as well. Maybe they aren’t as brain dead as everyone thinks. They also kept cutting to this one zombie who really seemed to be working something out…and I’m like, is he a villain? Or maybe they just thought his makeup was done REALLY well. and also, good thing you didn’t kill your wife Morgan! Maybe she could live in your shed and you could play x-box with your kid!
but what REALLY, REALLY bothered me was that they didn’t ever say the word ‘Zombie’. I mean, for crap’s sake, does this not take place on OUR WORLD? Did this version of earth not have the musical sensation ‘The Cranberries’!? No shovelmo but call a spade a spade. A ‘walker’ is something an old person uses to hold their tennis balls.
Here is how the plot exposition should have gone down:
“What was that thing?” – Grimes who apparently is dumb
“uhh.. it’s a Zombie. DOY!” – Morgan
They could easily have sidestepped it too:
“They are walkers, blah blah, they aren’t alive anymore.” – Morgan
“So, they are Zombies?”
“DON’T CALL THE MOTHER OF MY CHILD A ZOMBIE!”
“ok…a ‘walker.’ Sure. Sorry, guy I just met who has a knife.”
That, however, is my only gripe…SO FAR. ♥
i like your points and i also like your shaun of the dead reference. good job!
I pooped my pants when the tank zombie woke up. Love the show but it’s affecting my sleep. I had bad dreams about zombies all night.
Must have been nice. I’ve seen so many previews for the show that i saw half that shit coming. Except for the really tense intro where he’s getting gas, that was awesome.
My favorite part was the zombie Tommy Wiseau getting off the bus in Hotlanta. I hope his death scene involves someone tearing him apart.
You had me at “my bike”.
Also this was all great minus Jon Bernthal, his face is just so big, I’m hoping he gets turned into a zombie adulterer.
A word of advice: if you text your boyfriend “My bike!” assuming that he has already read this recap he might call you in a panic thinking that your bike was just stolen.
Yes, this could happen to YOU! (Me.)
That was like, goddamn. It’s a fixed gear! Stupid zombie hipsters! I don’t want to have to pedal ALL THE TIME during the zombie apocalypse.
Only thing that disappointed me was the opening credits, simply because it wasn’t the super amazing fan-made one.
I am with you 100%. They should have just bought those credits and used them
Link?
http://vimeo.com/15266890
Wow…somebody hire that guy for EVERYTHING.
I was really waiting for Rick & his partner to hop on their police bike & get distracted on their way to the scene.
Aren’t the leaves beautiful this time of year?
P.S. I watched “Please Give” (directed by Nicole Holofcener) this weekend which also has a subplot about seeing the leaves. Coincidence or conspiracy?
My favorite zombie movie has to be the original Dawn of the Dead. I think it’s because that movie focused a lot more on the day to day lives of the survivors and less on escaping zombies. Luckily, it looks like this show is going in the same direction. With a lot of character development and focus on the survivors. Plus they haven’t killed off any of the main characters yet!
This was a really good start to an adaptation of a comic series that I’ve kinda grown a little tired of (i know i know), but it’s only slated for an initial run of just 6(!) episodes. Definitely not a whole lot of time to fully develop these characters or flesh out (forgive me) the story. Especially for a series that’s been on stands for years now. The question becomes, is AMC really trying to make a quality ongoing post apocalyptic zombie show or are they just jumping on the horror money train?
There’s so much room on the horror money train, though! And come on, it’s AMC!
Hopefully we’ll read an article in the future about how huge the premiere was and how the ratings are staying strong in the next few weeks.
Good news!
Loved last night’s episode. Zombies looked great, gore looked great. I could have used less CGI blood when people got shot. Looking forward to more Morgan and Duane. Also, I miss Mad Men. Maybe they could do a crossover episode where current day old Dick Whitman guest stars?
I am definitely looking forward to watching more episodes of this television series. Thank you, AMC, for providing more quality Sunday night programming for those of us who don’t have HBO!
I like this series a lot, so far. I want it to be my boyfriend, and we could do all the things we enjoy together, and it will be magical I tell you. I am nervous about introducing it to my parents, what with the whole horse guts thing, but all relationships are about compromise, right?
That being said, I personally thought the horse thing was a little silly, but I am also a wet blanket.
I was surprised how great this show was. Frank Daradont is no first class director in my eyes but it shows what qualities a second tier (respected) guy can bring to cable.
I also could not stop fantasizing about a Michael/Walt/Lost/Isand/Lost storyline. I was very distracted for about 75 minutes. God I miss that show.
SPOILER PREDICTION?!?!
Duane is probably going to kill his zombie mom. That whole spill they gave him when they were handing out guns, “shoot when you know you are ready to” or something like that. Also, when I watch shows like this, I always try to pay close attention to minute details in dialogue, and after the ending, I couldn’t help but think that this entire zombie apocalypse could have been avoided if best friend cop’s girlfriend would have turned the lights off.
Fuckin’ women, right? Always turning on lights and never turning them off and taking photos and mementos when they should be gathering guns and ammo! LADIES! WE ARE SO LIKE THAT, RIGHT?
BTW, Gabe. This is pretty much the best thing ever:
No doubt. Also, the “Zombie Apocalypse Pro-Tip” was amazing.
I wonder how closely they are going to stick to the comic. Not because I think the comic is some great piece of storytelling that needs to be transferred to television to be fully realized (duh, different forms with their own merits, duh), but because this episode (and maybe even the early parts of the comic book) seem less bleak than the things that eventually happen.
I will just say that the reason that the three people closest to Rick in life didn’t recognize his voice was that they didn’t hear it. His signal had dropped out by the time Shane got to the radio. #nitpickgum
More like The Walking GREAT.
So great. One weird thing though is Andrew Lincoln who plays Grimes is known for playing a fairly iconic character in the UK, that characters name? Egg.
And it is so weird to see Egg trying to pull of a southern accent guys.
My strongest impression:
(Gangy, did you rip that off your own Twitter? Yep)
Also something similarly weird and great, Andrew Lincoln’s real name? Andrew James Clutterbuck.
I read that as “Buttercluck”, and now I want so badly for it to be so.
You know, I ALSO wondered why characters in Zombie Apocalypse movies don’t ever seem to have seen Zombie Apocalypse movies. And maybe I’ve not seen enough Zombie Apocalypse movies, but nobody even thinks to call them Zombies! You’d think that you’d want to compact the knowledge that we’ve collected from these Zombie Apocalypse movies!
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I was really not into Rick Grimes as a character. Talking to a little girl who is (even from behind it’s pretty clear with that zombie shuffle) a zombie? Apologizing to a motherfucking zombie in the park before kililng it? Talking to a fucking horse?? No. No thank you.
I mean, I know he has no reason to be vindictive yet, beside zombies taking over his world and forcing his family and closest friends to flee/alienating him from everything he’s ever known…
I don’t think it’s weird for his character to be a little behind in the “jaded inhabitant of zombie hellscape” department at all.
Also, I’ve never seen anyone interact with a horse, especially an unfamiliar one, without talking to it. It’s kind of part of the whole, “You don’t know me but I’m about to climb on you and ride you around thing”. (please don’t remind me that horses don’t understand English). Also, I think the fact that no one
*ahem*
……Also, I think the fact that no one is really anyone around to talk, to or provide any of the mundane little comforts that a living, human population would provide would be more than enough reason to talk to an animal as familiar as a horse. A dog even more so. (that’s next episode, though.)
Yes, I agree on the talking to the horse thing. Because horses can be skittish and freak out if they haven’t been ridden for a while, and it’s a good idea to calm them down by talking to them (even if they can’t understand, the voice soothes them, or something).
I was completely convinced that it would turn around and be ZOMBIE HORSE but sadly horses appear to be immune in this zombieverse.
Yeah I really hoped there would be some David Mamet-style word-jousting from these characters who have just recently lost everything and are probably in the throes of PTSD. Stop crying kid!
Is it really “ripping off” something that basically started the genre in the first place? When do you stop ripping off a series (that is really only loosely a series) that started 42 years ago and start ripping off other stuff?
I believe that they have already renewed it for the second season. This show will be so epic
First post, done.
I can’t wait until they introduce the aliens that show up later in the book.
People, I’m joking. It’s actually an ongoing joke Robert Kirkman propagated in the letters column for 75 issues of the comic.
Whoops…
Btw, Fun Fact Time: The logo on Rick’s son Carl’s shirt— The paw print with the atomic stuff circling around it— is the logo for Kirkman’s pet project (no pun intended) ‘SCIENCE DOG!’
This marks the first time I’ve ever downvoted you, KajusX. I really do apologize, and it’s nothing personal. I think you’re hilarious and I greatly appreciate your particular insight into genre fare. I’ve even visited your website and I have to say, your work is fantastic.
You have such a passion for comics, so it’s understandable that you would assume most people have taken in the media that you have. Hell, when I talk about editing techniques and recurring thematic motifs in early 60s Truffaut films, everyone close to me just nods and ughs to themselves.
But MOTHERFUCKER I HAD NO IDEA ALIENS WOULD BE TURNING UP IN THIS THING AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN AWESOME SURPRISE AND YOU FUCKING RUINED IT ARGHHH!!!
Again, much iRespect and eLove.
No Hobbeso.
Oh, That One. SO MANY UPVOTES ARE WHAT I WANT TO GIVE YOU FOR THESE TWO POSTS!!!
In all seriousness, I am so excited for this show. I’m up to date on the comics and issue 80 in December is going to be insane. Spoiler alert – EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS AWESOME.
Also,
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What are you even going on about? The feedback in the comments is, as a whole, pretty fucking positive. But good luck on your future google searches.
late to the party (like grimes) but quick shout out to my school’s logo/whatever thing being shown NATIONWIDE. it’s surprising and sad to know how happy i was to yell out “hey thats my school. oh shit i was at that place the other day.”
Romero would be jelous
http://www.colopuredetox.net/