Waking from a coma to a world overrun by zombies, policeman Rick Grimes must learn how to survive in this post apocalyptic nightmare. Armed with firearms and supplies, Rick sets out into this dangerous world, searching for his missing family, hoping to find them alive and well…this is The Walking Dead.
Title: The Walking Dead
Written by: Frank Darabont (teleplay), Robert Kirkman (graphic novels)
Director: Michelle Maxwell MacLaren
Company: Darwoods Productions
Original Air Date: November 7, 2010
Length: 60 min.
Rated: TV-14
Episode: “Guts”
*Spoilers*
Our continuing coverage of this “continuing story of survival”…continues. When last we left our protagonist, Rick had learned that his family may still be alive somewhere out there, most likely in Atlanta. Rick packed up some supplies and headed out in his police car, then later on a horse for Atlanta. Meanwhile a group of survivors, including Rick’s wife and son, heard him on his police radio calling out for any living people. Unaware that it was Rick and unable to communicate back with him, they were unable to warn him to stay away from the city. When Rick reached his destination he was quickly overrun by an army of zombies and took refuge in a tank. Just as it seemed that all hope was lost, a voice from over the radio called out to him.
Episode two begins with Rick escaping from the tank thanks to Glenn, the mysterious voice on the radio. Glenn and Rick soon make their way to a building where they meet up with some of Glenn’s friends. The group is not very welcoming of Rick at first, but considering that his rescue attracted a heard of zombies and pretty much trapped them, it’s understandable. A fight soon breaks out and Rick is forced to take down one of the guys in the group, Merle, after he gets out of control and attacks another member of the group, T-Dog. Rick handcuffs Merle to a pipe on the roof of the building and takes control of the situation. After a failed attempt to find a way out of the building, the gang spots some trucks that could be used to help them escape. The only problem is that to reach the trucks they have to get past a street filled with “walkers.” Rick comes up with an idea to make it past the zombies, that is equally gross and crazy. After convincing the others, he and Glenn set out to reach the vehicles through zombie central and hopefully come back to rescue the others.
While all this is going on, we also get a chance to meet the other half of the survivor group that are back at camp. The group is lead by Shane, Rick’s old partner, who doesn’t seem to be very popular with the others due to some of the decisions that he has made. When word reaches him that the others are trapped in the city, he pretty much decides to leave them for dead. This decision does not sit well with some of the others, especially Amy whose sister, Andrea, is part of said group. It is also revealed that Shane has stepped in to fill Rick’s shoes as a lover to Lorie, Rick’s wife, and a father to their son. How this drama unfolds should be interesting to see.
I found this episode to be more action oriented than the premier. While the episode lacked the strong emotional core of the first, it did give us a chance to see more of Rick’s character and hinted at what his role in this group could be. I think this episode also did a great job of demonstrating the realness factor of this series. One of the major appeals of The Walking Dead is its true to life depiction of what would happen if a zombie apocalypse actually did occur. Fans seem to relate and care more about these characters because of the plausibility of their situation.
With the episode title being “Guts,” it doesn’t disappoint in the gore factor, either. I have to give credit to the producers of the show and AMC for not pulling back when it comes to the gruesomeness of the show. The Walking Dead is definitely not for the faint of heart. One scene in particular is arguably the grossest thing you will see on TV this year, but not shying away from this stuff is what makes this series so darn good. When a story has such horrible things happening in it, and yet you can’t turn away, you know it’s something special.
Click here to read our review of the first episode!
Nick Zamora
nickz@comicattack.net
Not exactly thrilled at the addition of more people to the core group. (And I felt Glenn and Rick running through the city alone was an fantastic scene.) But…they’re probably all about to die anyway. 🙂
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Yeah, I like this show a lot…I am assuming an actor of Michael Rooker’s stature will not be dying in one episode…expect more bad assery!
Just finished watching it and I’m actually liking the story tweaks that keep it new and fresh for those of us that have been reading the books. I also think that maybe these were ideas Kirkman may have had in rough drafts for the original story but may have been cut out for whatever reasons. Either way I’m excited about this series and can’t wait for next Sunday!
I get the feeling that the extra people added in are going to end up as zombie chow.
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Sooooo yeah.
Just saw TWD season 1 was streaming on Netflix, and I haven’t seen beyond the first episode, so the wife and I cued up this one, “Guts,” to begin finishing out the series.
I didn’t make it to 20 minutes in before I turned it off. It was terrible. The acting was weak and the new characters were as stereotypical as they can get. And the opening scene? Preeeeetty gratuitous in an untasteful way.
Just bad.
@Andy You are INSANE!! It’s great, the acting is great, the characters are great! Give it more of a chance! Sheesh!