AMC's The Walking Dead

I like that there are different terms for the zombies, even if it's silly that zombies -- a term that's been in use for centuries -- isn't one of them.
I mean, we have 20 different regional colloquialisms for soft drinks in this country. Why wouldn't there be several for zombies? If they ever do "Walking Dead: California," they ought to come up with another new term.

 

"Voters?"

 

http://screenrant.com/walking-dead-companion-series-tv-show-spinoff-amc-2013/

In case you are wondering what this "Walking Dead: California" could mean.

 

If you are creating a fictional world about a zombie apocalypse, you want the characters in that world to be unfamiliar with the concept of a zombie apocalypse. That way the characters don't have a point of reference. The threats are new to the characters. The problems and solutions are new to the characters. They are discovering and learning as they go, as opposed to knowingly mimicking what a character did in '28 Days Later' or 'Dawn of the Dead.'

Of course, the next logical step is to create a post-modern zombie universe in which the characters are aware of how things work - like the 'Scream' zombie movies.

 

Zombieland sort of did that. The Walking Dead could really use a layer of meta humor.

 

I always find it interesting when the latest popular take on a genre says that, "Oh, well, in our show's universe, no one has heard of zombies. No zombie movies, no books, no comics, no other TV shows. No one on the planet, in our show's universe, has conceived of zombies."

I like meta humor at times. I was watching "From Dusk Till Dawn" the other night, and the conversation among the leads was hilarious.
Preacher: "What do we really know about vampires? Just a bunch of stuff we've seen in movies? Has anyone read a real book on vampires?"
Sex Machine: "You mean like a Time-Life book?"

And the meta humor in "Supernatural" makes sense and is hilarious.

 

True, but it really wouldn't fit in with the tone of the show.

The show is at its best with the action pieces and the darker moments, often mixed together. I happened to catch what I thought was one of the better scenes while watching part of the Walking Dead Marathon on AMC this week, when Shane lets the zombies out of Herschel's barn and the survivors gun them all down. Just the reactions when Sophia comes shuffling out of the barn were outstanding. Even Shane, after going on about how the walkers aren't alive any more, could barely look at her. It was Rick who had to step forward and stop her.

I really can't think of a good funny moment in the show.

 

Darly: "Glenn, you comin'?"
Glenn: "..."

 

And that's a major problem. The Wire and Breaking Bad had some comic relief amid their (much more well-done) dystopias. Glenn had the potential to provide some humor early on, but they've forgone that.

No, it wouldn't make sense to suddenly make the show funny now. But it could have been done differently and better with a bit of a sense of humor. Now the funniest scenes come via the zombies.

 

To be fair, they've had a good bit of success without being funny. Though they change details and the stories diverge quite a bit, they do stick mostly to the overall direction and tone of the comic and I can't imagine them changing.

The show is relentlessly dark, with occasional good moments thrown in. That seems to be the idea, to see how people react when things get so bad, to watch it bring out the best and worst in them. Mostly the worst.

 

Man, after watching Breaking Bad for the last few weeks, Walking Dead is quite a comedown.

 

Couldn't agree more. I enjoyed tonight's episode but, I don't know, I'm not really all that excited about things right now.
I think the main reason is I've learned not to give a crap about any of the throw-away new characters. They're obviously there as walker bait and, more likely than not, will be the majority of the people killed this season save for a big main character death or two at some point.
That being said, anyone else a bit bored with the prison?
I know living in a place like the prison is the only conceivable way a group like this could last any substantial time in a zombie apocalypse but I really feel like this show is at its weakest when it pins everyone down in one location (Herschell's farm, the prison) instead of having them deal with some sort of actual task in the overun world.
That being said, I liked some of the aspects of tonight's episode. I'm especially liking the hints that there's something wrong. My guess is there is a viral problem in the world they're living in. I'm guessing the water is tainted because of all the death in the air and the probable lack of filtration. It would make sense as to why the animals are getting sick and sick animals would make the zombies deteriorate faster right?
Just seems like that's where we're going here and I'm on board. My only real problem is the nonchalant nature in which everyone seems totally cool with hordes upon hordes of walkers coming to the prison every day. They're a little bit too casual about how close those things are IMO.