Review: ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 2 Premiere

Spoiler warning! Contains season 2 premiere and print comic (issues 1-12) plot details.

Last October I, like many, was completely captivated by The Walking Dead when it premiered on AMC. When the first season ended after a mere 6 episodes, I was desperate for more, so I ran to my local comic shop and picked up the first 3 trade paperback volumes of the synonymous comic series the show was based off of. I had never read a single comic book before, but I fell in love and quickly finished reading all 14 trade paperback volumes that have been published to date. I noticed the obvious deviations from the plot of the comic straight away, but based on interviews with the creators I remained confident that the show would keep to the general plot lines and only make slight deviations here and there. The first season had some problems with the dialogue. Something got lost in the translation from page to screen. I hoped that would be resolved in the second season since there were so many staffing changes made in the interim.

Fast forward to this past Sunday when I eagerly tuned in to the season 2 premiere. After the whole CDC debacle, which was a serious divergence from the comic that I was not a fan of, I was pleased when the caravan stopped to clear cars from their path, which was true to the comic plot. While Sophia getting lost was not quite “accurate” I was on board and excited to see where it would take us. After plodding along for a while, the story reaches the abandoned church where we get to see some of Rick’s internal monologue through his prayer. Rick’s thought process, as the protagonist, is a vital element in the comic and seeing it start to emerge on the screen was very promising. At the end of the episode when Carl is shot when walking towards the deer, I appreciated that they were able to take so many deviations, but still bring it back to set things up for Hershel’s farm, which is a vital piece of the puzzle.

My biggest complaint about this premiere episode was that the pacing was very off. As much as a 90-minute format suits the premiere of a popular show, it was obvious that it was originally written as two episodes that were then pushed together. AMC’s commercial break intervals were also terribly placed. The first half had almost none while the second half had them so frequently that I found myself quickly losing focus. It didn’t help that the second half also had a lot of long stretches of walking through the woods and not quite as much action.

On the positive side, the show’s makeup effects were top notch, as always. I felt like it was even more detailed than last season. The zombie that was after Andrea in the camper was particularly gruesome looking. Additionally the cinematography continued to be excellent, and the settings looked like they were pulled right from the pages of the comic.

I can’t wait til next Sunday, because I really think that the Hershel farm plot line will make for a strong series of episodes. I just hope that the writers don’t take us so far off course from the comics, that we’ll lose some of the more exciting and memorable plots farther down the line.

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