The Positively Positive

The Walking Dead “Days Gone By” – Season 1 Episode 1 – I was lucky enough to go to The Walking Dead panel at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego (CLICK HERE to read my coverage of the panel at Daemon’s TV). I had never heard of the comic book series but I was intrigued by the description in the program so I thought I’d check it out. The first thing they did was show us an extended preview of the show and right then and there I knew I was hooked. Just a few minutes of this show and I knew I was going to love it. Heck, I actually sought out the AMC booth on the vendor’s floor specifically so I could watch the preview over and over. Is that weird?

Sometimes a preview doesn’t live up to the hype and I was really, really hoping that wouldn’t be the case with The Walking Dead. But after the first scene, I knew I had nothing to worry about. It was even better than I expected. What I liked when I saw the preview was that I could see how this show was going to be about more than just the horror and gore. It’s taking a very horrific situation, one that’s been done to death (if you’ll pardon the pun) in tons of movies, and is adding a human touch to it by letting us see what this would do to people and how it effects them emotionally.

Rick isn’t a super hero, he is affected by what he sees and I couldn’t help but to put myself in his place. How would I deal with the news that the world had gone to hell while I slept, everyone I knew was gone and there were creatures that ate people running around? I think Rick took it really well. I probably would have been a drooling mess.

People close to the characters turning into zombies is nothing new but while in most movies they make it a joke or just blow them away, in this show we really see what it’s like when a zombie is someone you used to love – a mother, a wife, a friend. I never thought the sight of a zombie could do anything except make me scream, but there were scenes in this episode where I cried for them. That is something I didn’t expect at all.

Another thing I liked about this show was how the lack of a soundtrack was used very effectively for setting the mood in a lot of scenes. Things were creepier and scarier when they happened in silence, like Rick shooting a little zombie girl in the head or waking up all alone in an abandoned hospital. So when they did pull out songs, like in the very end, it was a lot more powerful.

My favorite bits…

The first zombie being a little girl holding a stuffed animal. Nope, that’s not creepy at all.

Rick waking up in the hospital and talking to his partner as if he’d just dropped off the flowers, only to find that they were long dead.

Wondering if the lack of food and water was what eventually forced Rick’s body to wake up out of the coma.

Knowing for sure that AMC wasn’t going to hold back when I saw the first mutilated, zombie-eaten body. Wow.

Rick walking out of the hospital to see the massive destruction that had taken place while he was out. The helicopters especially blew me away.

That zombie on the ground near the bicycle reaching for Rick. Holy crap!!

Practically breaking into tears when Rick called for his wife and son and begged to wake up.

Morgan correcting his son from using the word “aint”. Because even in a zombie apocalypse, you should use correct grammar.

Knowing as soon as the boy said “she’s here” that the woman was his mother. How awful.

Rick spotting the clues in his house that told him his wife and son were on the run and not dead.

Everybody enjoying the simple pleasure of taking a hot shower. I’m sure it’s the little things like that which you would miss

Rick taking the time and ignoring the danger to put an ex co-worker out of his misery and then going so far as to find the woman who was crawling near the bicycle and do the same for her.

Crying as Morgan tried to get up the nerve to put a bullet in his wife’s head.

Finding out that Rick’s best friend is now with his wife and son. Whoa.

Rick making his proposal to the horse and it taking off on him after he asked it to “go easy”. LOL.

Thinking that Rick should have noticed it was a bad sign how many cars were on the freeway leaving Atlanta, since it was supposed to be a safe place.

Literally gasping out loud when Rick turned the corner and came face to face with thousands of zombies.

Fast-forwarding through the part after they got the horse. I’m a horse person and there’s no way I was gonna watch that.

Cracking up at the voice calling Rick “dumbass in the tank” and asking him if he was cozy in there. LOL.

Overall I came out of this episode even more excited for this series than I went into it. It fulfilled my expectations and then some.

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