Some Thoughts on the The Walking Dead…
Just yesterday I sat down and watched the the final two episodes of last season’s The Walking Dead. I of course followed each episode by watching Talking Dead. I see Talking Dead as good therapy. I then went on to watch this season’s premier of both The Walking Dead and Talking Dead. It’s been a few days since the new season started and I don’t normally watch it until the season is over. All of this made me want to share some thoughts on The Walking Dead thus far.
I make it a habit to wait until the season is over and sometimes I wait until the next season has premiered before watching it. I do this for several reasons. One reason being that I hate commercials so I like being able to FF through them. The primary reason though is that I hate cliffhangers, I think they’re an insult to the audience. If I wait until the season is over, I can binge through them all and only suffer one cliffhanger at the very end of the season.
This has become increasingly difficult to do in a social media driven world. The past two seasons have been ruined by idiots on social media throwing huge graphics out there with massive spoilers. (Spoiler Alert). Last season at the mid-point before the show had even aired on the west coast AMC went and shouted out with a graphic announcing that Beth was dead. If I could have reached through the TV and slapped the living shit out of the people who thought that was a good idea, I would have.
I really, really enjoyed the last two episodes of The Walking Dead last season. Well, I enjoyed the whole season really. My anticipation of this season premier was over the top. There’s a certain sense of excitement in watching it along with everyone else. Sure I didn’t watch it live but close enough. The premier was well worth the wait and I look forward to seeing the season unwind with everyone else.
However, there were a few things that bothered me just a little with the season premier and a couple of episodes from last season that I just have to address. First, it’s just a small problem but the CGI effects are really starting to bother me. I understand the use of CGI effects to enhance the practical effects. I’m okay with that. However, some of the effects in the season premier were laughable. The effects of the zombies falling over the cliff were so cheesy looking. So cheesy that I actually thought, “This is like the B movie Syfi channel crap.” A lot of the rock quarry was just bad. Special note, I love Syfi’s cheesy crap. I just don’t want to see it on The Walking Dead.
There was earlier effect that was ruined by CGI effects from last season. The noose through the neck, last season, the CGI effect took me out of the scene completely. It should have stood out as powerful and gross. Instead, I was disappointed in it. I don’t care about budgets. It could have been better and when you start skimping on these things, it’s eventually going to turn into a joke if not corrected. Obvious clouds of dusts and zombies falling. Good enough, just isn’t good enough for the The Walking Dead.
I have no doubt that the digital experts on the show could have done an amazing job on these scenes and it either just came down to a lack of time or someone not wanting to spend the money to make sure the effects were done properly to perfection. I don’t blame the artists at all. Unless it truly was their fault. But, I seriously doubt it. The effects have to be every bit as good as the story and the acting. The effects are figuratively characters in the shows and if they aren’t done to their best, it brings the whole show down. The Walking Dead makes millions and millions of dollars. If the reality of the effects don’t match the acting and writing in the long, it will become an issue.
My critique is not to say that the show is now trash or is anywhere close to becoming trash. It’s just an observation because I’ve seen it happen in other shows. You let one aspect of quality go and soon it can become the norm and when that happens, the show always dies. I just feel that when I watch the show and think, “Not bad for TV.” it’s a failure on some levels by the producers.
This next critique goes back to last season and Rick’s fight scene with Porchdick. Sure it was a good fight scene but it was poorly thought out. First of all, Rick had become near animal like. He has literally fought off man and beast time and time again and come out on top. The mere thought that this fight would have lasted more than a few seconds is completely absurd. Let us not forget that Porchdick is a coward. He was also drunk or hungover and in no shape at all to fight someone like Rick. Rick would have beaten his ass in seconds, it would have been fast and brutal. It was absolutely unrealistic to have Porchdick dick be any king of challenge for Rick at all.
It never would have gone down like this.
As I wrote earlier, these are minor issues. I think the CGI effects is definitely a concern but hopefully will be corrected if enough people bring it to their attention. As for the fight scene. I think it was just a case of the writers wanting to create drama from the action instead of just letting the story create the drama. It’s going to happen I just hope it doesn’t become the norm. Sure the scene was talked about and popular but not everything talked about and popular are good things. The Kardashians would be a good example of that.
I look forward to this season, I think it’s off to a great start and overall I am thrilled with most of the character development. The story lines are compelling and certainly entertaining. I still think it’s one of the very best shows on TV.