Episode 1: Days Gone Bye



I am a HUGE fan of Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile) and really, he was the sole reason why I first got interested in checking out the episode. I wanted to see if there would be hallmark shots in the episode that would clearly be marked as "Darabont-esques'. There are a few noticeable shots.

As for Days Gone Bye, I thought they set it up perfectly by having Deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) waking up in a hospital after being shot, during which time something infected and changed the majority of the Earth's population into "Walkers" (Zombies). We the viewer are kept in the dark along with Rick, which makes his confusion all the more real since we are in the same boat. Anytime you can get Lennie James (Jericho, Human Target) in your show, it's an automatic win. I hope to see more of him because they guy just exudes so much cool. Overall, this episode is nicely paced in spite of there really not being a whole lot of Walkers. That is till the very end. Nice cliffhanger with the voice in the radio mocking Rick inside of the Tank.

Episode 3: Tell It to the Frogs



I now get why there was some grumblings about the lack of Zombies in Season 1, at least in the first 3 episodes anyway. Personally it doesn't bother me because I enjoy the time it takes to build up characters and their relationships with the others. When you get to know them, it will ramp up the fear factor for them when they come into harms way when they inevitably come across Walkers.

As for this episode, I knew that by the time Rick and his posse, including Darryl went back for Merle, that he would have sawed off his hand to escape from the cuffs. I know Rick is a good guy and is willing to "do the right thing" in going back for him. But Merle is without any redeeming qualities to justify keeping him around when you know he is going to make trouble for the group that puts their lives in danger.

I never did like Shane from the very first scene he was in. And now I think he is a total douche bag for lying to Lori, telling her that Rick was dead, all so that he could get into her pants. But I did like it when the women fought back against Ed, culminating with Shane layingthe smack down on his candy ass. Taking out all that aggression of losing Lori, onto Ed's face is like a kick to the nuts.


So far, really digging the series.

Episode 5: Wildfire



Okay, now I get why some people (namely Zombie fans) were a little bit ****ed off at the lack of Zombies in the series, especially in Wildfire. Two, count 'em two Zombies: Amy and the Walker in front of the CDC. This episode deals strictly with moving base camp and heading 100 miles to the Center For Disease Control. Not a whole lot happens other than transporting Jim who was bitten in the camp raid in an effort to save him in the hopes the CDC has a cure waiting for them. But that was not meant to be. Jim request that he be left on the side of the road rather than put the group at risk when he eventually turns. Kinda sad to see them just drive off like that. But they gotta do what they gotta do.

The ending of the episode when the shudders roll up at the CDC looked like it was right out of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. This may have been the slowest episode of the series so far, but it was still close to top notch in my book.

FYI, I think it blows that Season 1 is all of 6 episodes. What the hell......

FYI, I think it blows that Season 1 is all of 6 episodes. What the hell......

They were testing the waters... to see if this had any potential.
Bhwaaaaaa-haaaaaaa-haaaaaa... fooled them.

Now that it's a certified hit, let's see how they mangle it up.