Monday, October 14, 2013

The Walking Dead- "30 Days Without an Accident"


Welcome back to another season of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and out reviews here at God Can’t Fix Dumb. We’ll be here giving you our take week to week and at the end of the season have a full wrap up of arcs, characters, and whatever else we can think of. It will remain as spoiler free as possible for your enjoyment. Sit back, grab your axe, and get ready for Walker madness!
Last season saw ups and downs like previous seasons, but the last few episodes showed hope for a show that was having trouble finding the correct way to script a show of humans in a zombie apocalypse. The last episode especially was very strong, tying up some loose ends, killing off many characters, and ending with everyone now living at The Prison. We have jumped forward a few months here to start season 4 and the episode was pretty good.
The Walkers were really an integral part to the whole episode. After straying away from them being the main threat to life last season, it was a nice welcome back for the show to have them front and center. From the gathering of many at the fence of the prison to the ones who fell through the ceiling of the shopping center, it was beautiful. Not only were they around, but they looked great. The make-up team did a great job individualizing each walker, as well as their specific deaths. Hopefully the keep this up all season.
The story is taking place a few months after last season’s finale and it has been, as the title suggest, 30 days since the last incident with someone who has lived at the prison. It seems while on runs, the group we have come to know has brought more and more people back to the prison and now there is a thriving community. With all of these new people coming in, the leaders of the community are now known as the council and it is the core cast of characters. Daryl seems to be not be embracing his new fame that he is getting from all of the new people, which led to a couple of funny moments. This is a show that needs its little bits of humor from time to time.
Rick again is poorly used at points of the episode. Using a MP3 player while farming seemed a little silly as well as his willingness to follow this woman in the woods to her campsite when she clearly looked and acted crazy. She proved my assumption correct and brought out the super crazy. It seems a major theme for the season is going to be can humans reclaim themselves after living in this horrible world. The sacrifices that people have to make to survive are going to continue to take a toll on people’s psyche and the constant hope is that they do not completely lose it. Let’s hope none of our main players succumb to insanity like Rick almost did last season.
One aspect that was enjoyable was watching Carl interact with the other kids in the prison. Carl has seen and done some terrible things and doesn’t fit in with the other kids. There is a story time for all of them that he feels is beneath him so he doesn’t go at first, but Carol, who has been a beautiful character to watch develop, runs it and waits for the other adult to leave until she teaches them self-defense. This is right up Carl’s alley, but when he sees it he can’t believe what is going on so he runs away, like a child would. This dichotomy should be good for Carl throughout the season as he is trying to survive in this world as well as grow up.
Beth was the other big player this week. I think this is going to be her break out season. With her growing up, having a boyfriend, and then coming to terms with the accident that takes place very easily, I think she is really going to shine this season. Glenn and Maggie didn’t get too much screen time, but when they were on it was beautiful. Michonne and Tyreese also didn’t have too much to do, which was too bad. These three will definitely get more screen time as the season goes on. A big detail this week was that there might be a virus that is going to be going around that makes a person bleed from their eyes prior to dying. There was an eyeless zombie and when a new member of the prison also seems to have the same fate it brings up a great potential for a side story to follow this season.
This was a bright premier with some great effects and big scenes. If each episode this season can focus on the walkers as well as the relationships between the living, I think this season shows a lot of hope. It will also be interesting to see when The Governor decides to rear his ugly head back to the show. Bring on the dead AMC!

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