The Walking Dead: Season 2!

[Pessimeister]

Except the dead don't whine.

Personally I think people expecting an extravagant blast-o-rama fest should look for their entertainment elsewhere. If the show goes down this route, it'll become even more generic than it already is. So to be honest I'm glad that they're choosing to explore the more raw, emotional, dramatic and human side rather than the overdone visceral action stuff which is common and dime a dozen really.

Having said that, it's a 13 episode season. I'm sure there are going to be numerous amounts of entertaining action-set pieces to come.

 

[figment]

They are definitely going for more drama than action. I think they have basically stated as much in interviews since the first season. First AMC is cheap and doesn't have the budget of HBO or Showtime and second it fits more closely with their existing brand I think.

Having said that I'm not really interested in the drama they are creating at the moment. Way too much whining going on. I'm ok with them focusing on old fashion suspense horror than gore but feels too contrived at the moment. I will definitely continue to tune in for the rest of the season anyway but hope this doesn't end up like heroes where it had a great premise but was pretty much a dud after the first season.

 

[Tragos]

So far it is boring , i just hope they lose the kids and start killing some zombies.

 

[figment]

Well AMC has announced its been picked up for a third season already.

AMC Renews The Walking Dead for a Third Season

 

[vurt]

Personally I think people expecting an extravagant blast-o-rama fest

That's a really lame argument that i've seen on some other forums too.. no one has said they're expecting that. Personally i really liked the previous season, and it wasnt just some mindless zombie blast-o-rama.

The drama in this series is rather weak however, the first season did a good job of not overdoing it like they are now. They need far better actors, characters and story/intrigues if they want the pure drama to be the main attraction of the show.

 

[Pessimeister]

@Vurt
It's not an argument mate, it's a statement of precaution. And read my post again - I didn't say anyone was expecting anything. I was simply making the point that people should check their reasons for wanting to watch this show; as it may not necessarily always deliver what they're after.

Also, I think the enormity of the situations that these characters find themselves in naturally lend themselves to drama and tension; if that's not really apparent then I'm not sure anything I could say could emphasise otherwise.

Incidentally, has anyone read the original comics? I was interested to know how well they compare, how well the themes correlate between each other and what changes have been made to the screen transition.

 

[Carnifex]

The show is decent, but in no way does it come even close to rivaling the comic. If you enjoy the show, take a monent to lay your hands on some of the graphic novel compliations, you won't be disappointed!


-Carn

 

[dteowner]

Finally caught up with episode 2. Agree with everyone that the contrived drama is just overdone. Seems to me like an attempt to broaden the viewership with more "sensitive types". I think part of their problem is that shows like this don't have characters that connect with the audience emotionally. It's hard to enjoy all the drama when you don't particularly have any deep connections with the characters.

Not sure how they get around this one, though. They need to focus on their characters to build the connection, but they don't have any characters that merit focus. I found myself, on several occasions during the episode, thinking that they need to "shuffle the cast"--killing off a few characters that have no new stories to offer (the Asian guy, the suicidal blonde) and bringing in some fresh blood. Doesn't help that I personally find RV Guy tremendously annoying (and not in an entertaining or even constructive manner).

 

[xSamhainx]

Dont even diss Dale!

I wouldnt lose any sleep if all 3 main women on the show got devoured alive tomorrow - theyre all just such annoying bitches, first and foremost Lorrie. God i hate her character, the very sight of her…. And Rick's "falling apart" thing is just getting to be too much. Just sit there, stfu, and give the kid blood because youre the only known donor.

Now I'm not saying that the entire thing has to be an action-fest, far from it. My favorite of Romero's "Dead" films is "Day of the Dead", probably the most talky of them. I just dont find the drama here to be particularly riveting - i feel nothing for this kid that should have been parked on top of that RV w/ a pair of binoculars the moment the RV stopped, I hate the mother, and theyre taking badass Sherriff Rick who was cool as a cucumber and turning him into a blithering idiot. Shane was ready to fill him full of buckshot last season and almost raped his wife, and now he's risking everything for him. The kid lost in the woods thing has been drug out far too long, like an episode too far.

It's just been a series of arguments, petty bickering, and crying between characters that have less and less redeeming qualities as the series progresses.

 

[dteowner]

When you get down to it, the only character they've got right now that's worth a crap is the redneck (sorry, I can't remember any of the characters' names, probably a bad sign), and that's a supporting role so they can't hang the series on that.

Sheriff #1 is a decent lead, but they're really screwing up his "badass briefly cracks under the pressure" moment by both misplacing it and dragging it out too long.

Sheriff #2 is a bastard and his episode 2 heroics are totally out of character. He's got no reason to "seek redemption" at this point.

RV Guy just annoys the piss out of me. Not sure why.

Asian Guy is wallpaper. Haven't noticed him since last season.

Black Guy has potential, particularly with some of the events late last season, but they haven't done anything with him yet for whatever reason.

Sheriff Wife has glimmers of potential, but so far she's just a boat anchor dragging all the characters around her to a screeching halt.

Sheriff Kid and Girl Kid are just plot devices. Kids are a necessary complication in shows like this, but ultimately they have no depth of their own--they're just vehicles for plots involving adult characters.

Baldie Mom is cardboard these days. Actually, that's fairly reasonable given her background story, but her story arc was pretty much completed last season. She's just baggage these days.

Blondie is just not getting it done. They can't decide whether they want her to be a suicidal quitter or a tough broad. The repeated swing between those roles has made her a pointless mish-mash desperately in need of becoming Zombie Chow.

Redneck is by far the best character they've got, but that "category of role" (the obnoixious but resourceful anti-hero) only works as a supporting character, so there's only so much they can do with him.

I have hopes for the vet's daughter, but we'll see.

 

[figment]

@dteowner, I totally agree with your analysis except RV guy is only mildly annoying and at least has a unique personality. Totally love Daryl (the redneck) and wouldn't mind having Merle (redneck from last season) back.

I've not read the comics but the summary on wikipedia made me wish they were following that story more.

 

[vurt]

I wouldnt lose any sleep if all 3 main women on the show got devoured alive tomorrow - theyre all just such annoying bitches, first and foremost Lorrie. God i hate her character, the very sight of her….

Couldn't have said it better.

Imo Daryl is the only one which has become more likeable.

 

[xSamhainx]

i have a feeling the show is going to get better, they just need to space things out a bit. There's some new chars, and a cliffhanger for next episode so hopefully things will get more interesting.

I still kinda chuckle about the exit plan on the medical supply trailer, entry all sneaky then "oh hai, lol" on the way out :lol:

Between Walking Dead and Stronghold 3 scathing reviews, I've been cracking up all night!

 

[blatantninja]

I'd like to see more flashbacks ala lost. The current story isn't going to be a non-stop zombie smashing fest, but they could advance that story, while feeding our zombie needs by showing how each of the group survived the original outbreak. They've started sort of with the two Shane flashbacks.

 

[skavenhorde]

The wife can die now. She's annoying as hell. She didn't seem so annoying in the comic.

Also T-dog can pretty much become zombie chow as far as I'm concerned. The dude is a whiny bitch. At first I thought that T-dog might be Tyrone from the comic, but Tyrone is a bad ass zombie killing machine. This guy is a pale shadow of Tyrone.

About it getting better….well if they follow the comic it will soon get to my favorite part.

Daryl is the one character that surprised me by how much I'm starting to like him. They got some good writers for Daryl. He isn't even in the original comic, but he should be. At least they didn't make him out to be a typical redneck idiot. The actor who plays him is pretty good.

Dale is quite likable as well. They haven't fleshed him out yet, but you'll start to understand the drama with the girl a little later. At least if they try to stick to the comic a little bit.

 

[JDR13]

Also T-dog can pretty much become zombie chow as far as I'm concerned.

Spoiler: …

I have a strong feeling he's going to. They've been pretty spoilerish in some of the commercials I've seen.

On a side note: Anyone else recognize Andrea as the cop in Silent Hill?

 

[EvilManagedCare]

@dteowner, I totally agree with your analysis except RV guy is only mildly annoying and at least has a unique personality. Totally love Daryl (the redneck) and wouldn't mind having Merle (redneck from last season) back.

I've not read the comics but the summary on wikipedia made me wish they were following that story more.

I'm hoping Merle comes back in an effort to exact his revenge, we shall see. I was disappointed with the second episode as well. The ending was pretty cool, though my wife made the same observation about them just opening that door as though they were going out for a leisurely stroll.

I have a question about the comic series (that's right, I referred to them as comics ZOMG!): do the episodes follow the books? I didn't want to risk opening one to see and then get spoiled if it was the case.

 

[blatantninja]

I'm hoping Merle comes back in an effort to exact his revenge, we shall see. I was disappointed with the second episode as well. The ending was pretty cool, though my wife made the same observation about them just opening that door as though they were going out for a leisurely stroll.

Yeah, they've definitely done some stupid stuff in the show. They should have saved a few flares, then peaked out the door, once they saw the zombies looking their way, light a few and toss them again to pull the zombies away.

On another board, one of the posters was saying that he thought pretty much everything bad that happened to the group had had Merle's hand print on it. Basically that he herded the zombies to both the quarry and on the highway. Exacting revenge. Not sure I believe that, but would be kind of cool.

 

[JDR13]

one of the posters was saying that he thought pretty much everything bad that happened to the group had had Merle's hand print on it.

I'm still trying to decide if that was an intentional pun.

 

[skavenhorde]

I have a question about the comic series (that's right, I referred to them as comics ZOMG!): do the episodes follow the books? I didn't want to risk opening one to see and then get spoiled if it was the case.

Nothing wrong with calling it a comic. It's shorter to write than graphical novel

About it following the comic….well yes, and no.

It's gone sideways for awhile now. There was no CDC scenes in the novel - they weren't that stupid to go there - and there was no highway scene either. No girl getting lost, no idiotic single file search party, no church, pretty much nothing that has been in the comic has been in season 2 UNTIL the boy got shot.

They had that and they have that farm and the new characters, but again there is no going to the hospital to get supplies, idiotic escape or them getting stuck in a store. I could spoil it even further, but the show is now barely following the comic. Too bad too I really like the first few episodes of season 1 where it followed it pretty closely.

@JDR I still don't recognize her. Maybe it's been too long since I've seen Silent Hill. Thanks for the info, btw