New Series The Walking Dead on AMC this Fall

I have to re-watch, but I seem to remember the sheriff figuring out he was in the hospital for . . a month? I thought he said something about four weeks. That doesn't explain when in that four weeks all hell broke loose. But I don't look for too much logic in a zombie apocalypse.

 

In the Sheriff's Office, it's clearly stated that the gas lines have been down for over a month, so we can safely assume maybe six weeks since the shooting, I also wondered how long he'd survive without any hydration, but I think we can assume he was still being cared for up until civilisation finally collapsed, perhaps just a few days before he awoke, would the drip have kept him alive?

 

With regard the power situation, the nuclear plants at least might still be generating power, but I'd guess the grid is what's gone down, though I was quite surprised that there was still water, meaning the pumping stations have power, unless things are significantly different in the States.

Personally I thoroughly enjoyed it and am happy to ignore the deeper questions of what would happen if it was real, can't wait for the next episode.

 

The time frame is ambiguous. I don't think the whole thing happened in just a few days. But it seems as if the situation went from humans fighting against the zombies and trying to contain it to being totally overrun. At least in the Georgia locale where this takes place. The military got involved and was trying to contain things and the hospital presumanly continued to operate and care for its patients as long as possible. But at some point they became overrun and everyone abandonded ship. Maybe it was weeks since Rick's partner put the flowers there, but that doesn't mean its been weeks since he's been attended to. A human probabaly couldn't live for more than a week without any fluids, though, so it may have been in the last few days that the hospital was abandonded and Rick (being in a coma) was just left behind.

I don't get some of the time frames you suggest though. My car can get that dirty within weeks, depending on the weather. Maybe there hasn't been rain. And it certainly doesn't take years for leaves to get strewn around my garage. Yeah, they may have over done the state of the hospital for dramatic effect - why were ceiling panels missing? Maybe people came there to strip wiring as that stuff can be valuable. But I don't see this as a big deal.

This isn't about that. Humans in this situation would probably never know as they don't have communication beyond who they can talk to and some short wave radio. It hasn't been explained in the comic series (I'm 60 issues in) and I don't expect it to be. I really don't care. You want a plausible explanation for zombies?

 

Looking forward to see this show. The trailer looked awesome, and I got a bit of a Dawn of the Dead vibe from it.
One of my favorite movies.

 

HA! No. Was done with a crooked grin, but I do tend to want some sort of explanation when something like this is not explained.

From the exterior there were several massive holes that look like a tank could have made them. A tank used when a gunshot is sufficient?

Cars that aren't used don't acquire that kind of film and dirt unless they've been unattended for years.
Jus' sayin'.

 

I understand that it probably won't be explained in the series and that an explanation isn't that important to the story being told, but I do like it when there's some attempt to do so as that could have some bearing on how I interpret the show. Like, are there some theological/supernatural elements at play, or are we in the real world as we know it, where something very strange but - in the broadest sense - empirically explainable is going on?

As I said in another zombie thread, that's why I was particularly engaged by 28 Days Later - it took the "zombie apocalypse" theme and gave it some sort of realistic underpinning to make it broadly plausible.

 

You're not gonna get an explanation. If that is what is important to you, than just give up now. The writer has never given one. He didn't come up with some novel way to justify the existence of zombies. He simply wanted an ongoing story of people surviving in this world. Call it an alternate reality if you want. But if they start spending time in this series on what CAUSED the zombie outbreak, it will be such a departure from the source written material, that it won't even be The Walking Dead anymore. Whatever did cause it - the characters wouldn't know.

Since these are people coming back to life after dying, it HAS to be somewhat supernatural. So go with that.

 

I think the entire first episode was a cheat. The birth and progression of the zombie apocalypse was skipped. We didn't see it. We were not able to enjoy the delicious, small details of the beginning. Why? Because our main character was in a hospital bed. How convenient for the writers and director! That's like filming a tidal wave movie after the wave has receded.

I want to see the shocking scene when the first zombie wakes up. Yes, that's the kind of man I am.

The deputy sheriff wakes up and the disaster has already happened. We missed it. This is a contrivance to make the storytelling less creative and taxing for the writers. They don't have to use their imagination. Again, this sadly points the way toward a cheaper, less thrilling bit of storytelling- something made for tv. I'm disappointed.

 

I didn't miss the collapse of civilisation at all, the series is about surviving in the aftermath, how it came about isn't relevant and to me would be a distraction, I don't want the back story, I want to see how people cope with the end of our world. The abandoned military hardware, including fully loaded heavy machine guns, tanks, vehicles and helicopters leaves little doubt that the military lost the battle, there was no organised withdrawal, they were overwhelmed, likewise there's no emergency broadcast network functioning. I'm not going to read the books until after season one finishes, so I don't know what the flying helicopter will lead to, but for now I see it as a nice nod to the Romero movies, where a functioning helicopter doesn't mean anything more organised than a handful of desperate survivors, rather than the remnants of a functioning state or military.

I've watched it twice now and could happily watch it again, I can't say that about too many programmes.

 

I dutifully respect your opinion. However, the best thing about the most intelligent horror films is the exposition, the small bits of data and information that comes over in the airwaves, among a huddled group in a dark, isolated farm house.

In the Walking Dead series, it seems we have gone straight past that into a human melodrama; the disaster we should have seen unfolding in the debut episode has instead already become the routine.

I feel I missed the best parts.

 

You know, if YOU want to see the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, that is fine. But I can't disagree more with the highlighted section. It's not a contrivance to make storytelling less creative. You have no idea where the story is going or what is going to happen. Its obvious you haven't read the stories, or you'd already know this. Robert Kirkman wasn't interested in this origin you feel is so important. He was interested in the challenges people would face trying to survive in this world. How do you get food? How do you deal with security? From zombies and from other people fighting over the same scarce resources.

And then you follow that up with this:

Exposition scenes are often the laziest methods of storytelling. Instead of letting information be discovered by the audience, you just have some people sit around and spell it out. Since what you are asking for doesn't exist in Kirkman's story, it would need to made up and tacked on by someone else. You might as well make up your own pro-logue.

 

I guess the only thing that didn't quite work for me is the lead character wasn't freaked out enough (at least he didn't wake up to a world being terrorized by flowers). I don't think an origin story is necessary - a similar story telling method certainly worked in the Road.

 

And he was just kind of accepting to what was going on.
If I were in that predicament and woke up to a world gone haywire, I'd have been asking a million questions. From him, next to none.

 

I didn't care for it much, the acting by the lead was dour, his scene crying at his house was some of the worst fake crying I've seen in a while, I'll give it another go this Sunday, the tank scene rocked! Poor horse

The show gets bonus points for the sheer number of flies ever seen on a TV show, I thought the sound quality was very well recorded.

 

This is an example of the great exposition in the original film from George Romero. This terryfying dialogue is from the character, Ben.

"You know a place back down the road called Beekman's? Beekman's Diner? Anyhow, that's where I found that truck I have out there. There's a radio in the truck. I jumped in to listen, when a big gasoline truck came screaming right across the road! There must've been ten, fifteen of those things chasing after it, grabbing and holding on. Now, I didn't see them at first. I could just see that the truck was moving in a funny way. Those things were catching up to it. Truck went right across the road. I slammed on my breaks to keep from hitting it myself. It went right through the guard rail! I guess - guess the driver must've cut off the road into that gas station by Beekman's Diner. It went right through the billboard, ripped over a gas pump, and never stopped moving! By now it was like a moving bonfire! Didn't know if the truck was going to explode or what. I still hear the man... screaming. These things, just backing away from it! I looked back at the diner to see if - if there was anyone there who could help me. That's when I noticed that the entire place had been encircled. There wasn't a sign of life left, except... by now, there were no more screams. I realized that I was alone, with fifty or sixty of those things just... standing there, staring at me! I started to drive, I - I just plowed right through them! They didn't move! They didn't run, or... they just stood there, staring at me! I just wanted to crush them! And they scattered through the air, like bugs."

 

That should have been spelled, "terrifying." I hate it when I seem illiterate.

 

I guess this is all subjective, but I always found that particular scene to be the clumsiest and most unintentionally-laughable part of Romero's film. Duane Jones' attempt to read the lines as if they're something from Eugene O'Neill doesn't help much.

 

Come on, O'Neill's a great writer, but he doesn't compare to George Romero.

 

Maybe we'll get flashbacks?

 

Did the 1st show explain how many days had passed since the lead character was in a coma and then woke up,
And nobody say 28 days either !

 

I refuse to watch AMC, even in HD, five minutes of commercials for every five minutes of programming is not for me, enjoy it, i'll gladly wait for the DVD/Blu-Ray.

 

In the Walking Dead books, how the zombies came to be isnt really even hinted at until around book 8 or 9 and then its just a hearsay line about folks in high places knowing something.

I'm up to book 10 and it still isnt known. You are in the dark as much as the characters which is kind of how it should be.

Plus if the origin of the zombies isnt in the books then why put it in. They will have to take enough stuff out to start with.

As for the possible "soap opera" aspect, well the show will have to cover the human aspect far more than the zombies. Otherwise it will be week on week of "Run! Zombies! Run!"

In the books it can go quite a few pages without any zombies but plenty of human interaction.

 

I've got to say that I find these slow moving zombies a lot scarier than the lightning fast one from 28 Day Later & Dead Set. Those one apparently turn into Olympic class sprinters when they die.

 

I don't think it was done to make the storytelling less creative or taxing for the writers. On the contrary, how this came to be is more of backstory at this point to allow us to see the emotional and physical impact on the characters. It's designed to allow us to identify with the characters as we push them into territory that will make them unlikeable at times.

I actually find the emotional impact of thepost-Zombie world for those who were out of it while it occurred far more interesting. They put us in the same boat as the character--we're learning as he is AND keep in mind we may find out more about it during the succeeding episodes.

There were some very eerie moments for example when our main character wakes up in the hospital and sees a door that is padlocked with "Don't Open--Dead Inside" as the fingers of a zombie push through the space.

Like anybody, he did ask questions but nobody knows exactly how it happened. In a show like this that type of exposition would be boring and its implied that he did ask questions (we did hear a couple and we heard reference to his questions in some answers by those he met) but, the reality is that we are as in the dark as the characters as it should be--we will discover as they do.

His big concern was how to find his family. While if I was in this situation, I would ask a couple of questions but be most concerned about IF my family was alive, where they were and trying to find them.