Charlie Dorf
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Imagine if you woke up in a hospital bed after being in a coma for several weeks. There are no doctors, no nurses, no other patients. Only dead bodies. As you exit, you find no other people, only the decaying remains of society. Your family is gone, your friends are dead or worse, and the world you knew has collapsed in the biggest way possible. No more internet, no more electricity, hot water, or grocery stores. However, these are the least of your worries, as the world you once knew is now populated by the shambling corpses of your friends, family and co-workers, who only exist to attack and kill the living including you, known typically as “Zombies.” Enter the world of Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, the protagonist of the recently finished series “The Walking Dead.”
Based on the comic series by Robert Kirkman, “The Walking Dead” provides a short (this first season was only 6 episodes) yet viscerally sweet series that is wincingly violent yet strikingly dramatic and worthy of its acclaim. With director and writer Frank Darabont (Director of The Shawshank Redemption), how could it not be? With believable characters thrown into an unbelievable situation, “Dead” doesn’t devolve to simple gore entertainment, and uses the violence within the story to develop the characters. Like the film, Romero’s 1976 “Dawn of the Dead,” the show focus on the characters, with the zombies working as a device to mold and ultimately move the characters forward.
The story follows Georgian deputy-sheriff Rick Grimes, who, after being wounded in a shoot-up, wakes up to find the world populated by the dead. However, he is determined to find his family, who he discovers in a survivor camp outside of Atlanta. The majority of the season follows Rick, his family, and the group of survivors as they try to live in a world ruled by the dead. With guest stars like Norman Reedus, Michael Rooker, and Noah Emmerich, as well as stellar performances from the whole cast, “Dead” invests you in the lives of the whole group, not just the main protagonists. I found myself moved to tears when a woman, who’s sister has been killed, waits for her to “come back” as a zombie so that she can say I love you before shooting her animated corpse in the head. The violence throughout the series is used to provoke deep emotions more than simple gag-inducing gore. The excellent cinematography rams the bleakness of the apocalypse home, with sweeping visuals like a highway leading to Atlanta, with all the abandoned cars in the out-bound lane while Rick rides a horse in the empty lane going into the city. You’d think he’d take the hint…
With a solid finale that sets up the next season (13 episodes, thank god) of the series in October of next year, “The Walking Dead” is a enjoyable action-drama that appeals to anyone who can appreciate good, dramatic television (Available on iTunes).
