The Walking Dead wrapped up its first season tonight with another strong hour, packed with plenty of difficult scenes to watch.In a world of rotting corpses, head shots, and decapitations, how chilling was it that the most unsettling scene in the episode was watching a drunken Shane force himself on Lori? With as far as the show has taken so many other things, I was not at all sure how far it would go here. It made the scene absolutely stomach-churning to watch.
Another series of powerful moments came from the gradual realization that the doctor's "test subject" was his own wife, capped by thinking back to the earlier scene and realizing he'd had to shoot her himself.
And the climax was a real moral debate played out in a literal locked door setting. I imagine we'd all like to think that in a real life or death situation, we'd all go down fighting to the end. But the reality is, that won't be everybody. Who's to say that maybe the swift and painless end isn't better than risking a long, fruitless struggle only to likely end up facing an agonizing demise? And well done to the show for presenting several possibilities of facing that decision: calm surrender, the urge to fight, and someone coaxed from one position to the other.
I'd say the only misfire in the entire episode was really how many times the computer and the doctor had to tell us what was going to happen when the countdown expired. The first time around seemed completely unambiguous, but it seemed as though the characters had to hear it three or four times before it finally sunk in. Was this a deliberate bit of writing intended to show just how in denial these survivors would be about the news, after having struggled so much to reach "safety?" Or was it a rare moment of them assuming a dumb audience that needed to hear the stakes laid out concretely, step by step?
Either way, it's nothing to quibble about. The Walking Dead went out as it came in, as one of the best shows on television right now. Now a much longer countdown clock begins, waiting the better part of a year for season two.
2 comments:
I'm very glad they blew my expectations by "keeping it real" and not having the doctor be a mad scientist sacrificing patients for the greater good. I would like to have thought that a few more doctors would have been noble enough to stick around and try to figure out the zombie disease puzzle, but then we wouldn't have a show, would we?
it was cool to see that Shane "saved" Rick by blocking the door but is it nitpicky to wonder why the military guy didn't shoot Rick in the head "double-tap"-style? (probably to save ammo?)
they mentioned a few important details: zombification can take 3 minutes or 8 hours. this brings back the tension that was squashed when the sister took all night to turn. and the CDC lost communications almost right away. which means there is hope other scientists survived and are working on a plan.
did anybody else get a Battlestar Galactica feeling at the end when all the cars were driving off? a rag-tag group of survivors looking for a home? :-P
the mole
I thought this was the weakest of the season. Still very good, don't take me wrong. But big chunks of exposition that, I think, could have been handled better.
(And I'm usually real dumb about plot twists and get caught almost every single time; but here I saw the "doctor's wife" twist from a mile away. Now if that couldn't get ME, how lame was it? :)
It'll be a painful wait until next year...
FKL
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