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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: Adam Fierro, Frank Darabont (developer), Robert Kirkman (graphic novels)
Director: Guy Ferland
Company: Darwoods Productions
Original Air Date: December 5, 2010
Length: 60 min.
Rated: TV-14
Episode: “TS-19”

*Spoilers*

Our continuing coverage (episode 1) (episode 2) ( episode 3) ( episode 4) (episode 5) of this “continuing story of survival”…continues….

The finale begins with a flashback of Shane at the hospital just as the zombie thing is really getting started. Shane is trying  to get a still comatose Rick out of the hospital without being killed by the zombies or by the soldiers who are there to kill everyone at the hospital, living or dead. While all this chaos is going on, Shane is trying to figure out how to disconnect Rick from all the hospital machines and get him out of there alive. Just then the power goes out at the hospital and it seems like Shane believes that Rick has died. This fact is in question, however, because before Shane leaves the hospital he closes and barricades the door to Rick’s room. It seems unlikely he would do this unless he thought Rick might still be alive.

Back in the present, Rick convinced the man at the CDC to open the doors and let them in the building. Once inside, the gentleman, Dr. Edmund Jenner, insists that they all take a blood test to prove that they are not infected. Dr. Jenner takes the group to the main computer control center and sadly informs them that he is the only person left in the facility. They all take the blood tests and afterward have a meal together with real food, wine, and other assorted adult beverages. For the first time in a long while everyone seems to be having a good time, that is until Shane starts grilling Dr. Jenner with questions about how he ended up the lone man at the CDC. Jenner reveals to them that most of the people left to be with their families, others split when things got worse, and the rest eventually took their own lives.

Besides having a nice meal the group also gets a chance to take a shower, with hot water even! During an odd montage scene where they individually (for the most part) take a shower, we get to go into their heads a bit and see where each character is at mentally. Later, an inebriated Rick goes to Jenner to thank him for everything, but ends up telling him how hard things have been and that he has kind of lost hope. Meanwhile Shane, who is also a bit drunk, confronts Lori about his true feelings and gets a bit sexually aggressive with her. Lori finally has to scratch up his neck and face to get him to stop. The next morning the group all have breakfast together with most of them dealing with their hangovers from too much drinking the night before.

It’s not long after their meal that Dr. Jenner shows the group a scan of a brain and what happens to it as a person transforms into a zombie. He also reveals to them that this apocalyptic nightmare is a wold wide event and that he hasn’t had contact with anyone else in months. Dale notices that there is some kind of countdown clock on the wall and questions Jenner about it. Dr. Jenner tells them that the clock is counting down the time left until the power supply runs out and some kind of final containment begins. With not much time left on the clock , the guys go down to investigate the power supply, only to find that there really are no other fuel sources left.

They all regroup in the main computer control center where Rick tells them to go get their stuff so they can leave. Unfortunately, before any of them can get out the door, Jenner seals off all the exits. They soon realize that the entire building has a fail safe that destroys every living thing inside to prevent any kind of contamination from going to the outside world. Frantically the guys try to break the doors down until finally Shane gets his gun and threatens to kill Jenner if he doesn’t open the doors. Jenner still refuses and Rick is forced to take Shane down to prevent him from killing Dr. Jenner. In an effort to convince them that he is right in his actions, Jenner tells the others that even Rick believes there is no hope, so they might as well die here and now rather than suffer a horrible death on the outside. Just as all hope seems lost, Rick gives one of his great speeches that gives everyone a little bit of hope and even gets Jenner to open the doors. While the others try to break out of the main lobby, Jacqui and Andrea decide to stay behind and die with Jenner. When Dale hears this, he goes back for Andrea but is unable to make her change her mind until he tells her that if she is intent on staying, then he will stay and die with her. Everyone manages to get away just in time to witness the massive explosion that destroys the building and takes the lives of Dr. Jenner and Jacqui.

This finale was a great ending to what has already been an amazing, albeit short season. Many people speculated that Shane would be killed off in this episode, but since that did not happen, it has opened up some major drama for next season, especially if the secret Jenner whispered to Rick is what I think it is. Also Darabont has hinted that Tyreese and one of my favorite characters, Michonne, might be joining the cast as soon as next season. Although this all seems like great stuff for the second season, there is some recent news that has got people a bit worried about next season. It seems that writer and executive producer Frank Darabont has fired the entire writing staff from the first season. Darabont wants to have the show set up in a way that freelance writers can come in and script the episodes. Robert Kirkman has since come out in support of Darbont and AMC and says he doesn’t believe this action will have a negative impact on the show. I will admit that this makes me a bit nervous, but i guess only time will tell how this will effect the show. In any event, I think it’s safe to say that we will all be here patiently waiting for season two (or trying to be patient anyways).

Nick Zamora
nickz@comicattack.net