That was a pretty damned good first episode. For the most part, straight out of the comics, right up until the tank. Really looking forward to this series.

Wow... that was awesome. Very well done pilot. You could really feel the anticipation and fear in several scenes. Well acted all around.

I'm pumped for this...

It's not often that I go into a show expecting it to be good and then having my expectations not met but exceeded. That was an amazing premiere episode. And while I am a science fiction and fantasy guy, I am not a horror or zombie guy. At all. But that was a hell of an hour and a half of drama.

That's what impressed me the most. The genre has not been known for great acting performances and so far this show's seem on par with some of the better HBO dramas.

yeah, i liked it...i hope they keep the same kind of slow tempo...

I don't like horror movies very much, and I thought the zombie thing was kind of played out a long time ago, but goddamn.....that was great TV.

Is this online anywhere?

LOL, n00b.

The first 10 minutes of the show was not in the comics (the little girl at the gas station and the talk between Shane and Rick in the car). And a lot of that shit with Morgan (stuff about his wife) wasn't in the comics.

I really enjoyed it. i just wish Directv had AMC in HD. I might just start downloading the HD torrent each Monday.

Because I know that you guys love it when I spam you with cultural criticism from salon.com

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/t...1/walking_dead
Walking Dead": Zombies for a recession-age America
AMC's new series uses apocalyptic imagery -- and the undead -- to tap into the economic anxieties of our time
BY MATT ZOLLER SEITZ

A still from "The Walking Dead"
Zombie films are never really about zombies; they're disaster films about how people behave when society is collapsing and there's no government looking over their shoulders. As an aficionado of the genre -- which I've written about in a Salon slide show and summed up in a video essay -- I was intrigued to find out if AMC, filmmaker Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption") and producer Gale Anne Hurd ("Terminator") could add anything new to the blood, guts and ethical quandaries formula while adapting Robert Kirkman and illustrator Tony Moore's comic book series "The Walking Dead" (which debuted last night). Ghoul-crazy storylines are by nature mythic (albeit in a goofy way), and as such, they tend to be fun, at times sensationally effective, in concentrated, feature-length bursts. Beyond that, you run into the problem of repetition. When the energy level is cranked up into the red zone (no pun intended), the way most recent zombie films like it, over time the shocks are almost guaranteed to become less shocking, the dark comedy less amusing, the emotions less affecting. The too-muchness hard-wired into the genre might become too much.

Can "The Walking Dead" beat the odds? Based on last night's pilot and next week's episode (which AMC provided in advance for critics), I'd answer with a qualified yes, thanks mainly to the naturalistic way the series foregrounds the notion that the zombie film is a popcorn Gothic variation on the "End of the World as We Know It" story. From "Earthquake" and "Deep Impact" to "War of the Worlds" and Cormac McCarthy's apocalyptic parable "The Road" (the film version of which appears to have influenced Darabont), these stories all ask similar questions: When most of what you knew and loved is gone, is there any advantage in being kind -- or any difference between rational self-interest and flat-out selfishness? In a post-catastrophe landscape, utilitarianism becomes the go-to philosophical framework for every debate. "If my survival caused another to perish, then death would be sweeter and more beloved," wrote Khalil Gibran, a noble sentiment if you're not angling for the last seat on the last plane out of Zombieville.

This is certainly the best of times for zombie films generally, and for this series in particular. With the economy still mired in a four-year slump, social services deteriorating, and the country locked in what amounts to a seemingly permanent and thus far largely bloodless civil war, ever-larger numbers of Americans are grappling with basic questions of survival, making priority lists of which creditors to pay and which to string along, encouraging unemployed friends and sick relatives to find someplace else to crash, and thinking of skirting or breaking laws they would have honored in less dire times. The moral dilemmas presented in zombie movies are more outrageously colorful, and much more exciting, but similar in spirit. The slow pace and meticulous dramatics of "The Walking Dead" infuse the mundane into the fantastic, and connect what happens on-screen with what's happening in post-employment America. It's a kitchen-sink drama; the sink is full of bloody bats, hammers and hacksaws.

The ethics-debating-to-flesh-ripping ratio is probably higher here than in any zombie film that inspired "The Walking Dead," including the granddaddy of the modern zombie picture, George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968). Anybody that tuned in expecting kinetic action along the lines of "28 Days Later" or the 2004 remake of Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" -- wherein the monsters sprinted like Olympic track-and-field stars -- was likely disappointed. By my stopwatch, at least two-thirds of the extended pilot, titled "Days Gone By," was zombie-free, concentrating on the plight of former small-town Kentucky cop Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). This Gary Cooper-esque, strong-silent hero (like so many cable TV actors, a Brit doing a generic "regional" accent) was rendered comatose after a high-speed chase and shootout -- one that provided the premiere's only wholly gratuitous burst of mayhem. He woke up, rather like the hero of "28 Days," in a hospital after the pandemic had begun, released himself on his own recognizance, surveyed the extent of the disaster, then swore to locate his wife, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), and his son Carl (Chandler Riggs), who had apparently fled their house in a hurry (and in one piece).

And that's when the premiere of "The Walking Dead" started to hit its preferred stride: a laid-back shamble not unlike that of Romero's black-and-white founding fiends. The opening episode took Rick out of the countryside and into the suburbs and then onto a major city (Atlanta, although the series seems inclined to go for an Anytown, USA sense of place) letting scenes play out as long as the filmmakers thought necessary. In Darabont's case, that can be quite a while; luckily the pacing here struck me as nearly always just about right, with the exception of the ghastly zombie-girl prologue (a glorified tease that also made Rick's post-awakening incredulity a bit weird; what, he didn't remember shooting the rotting-faced girl? What was that sequence supposed to be, anyway, seeing as how it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the episode's chronology?) and the aforementioned "Dukes of Hazzard"-with-blood-squibs sequence. Both could have been trimmed or deleted without damaging the episode.

Elsewhere, Darabont and company were on surprisingly solid ground. The peak for me was the long section in the middle in which Rick takes refuge with a surviving father and son, Morgan (Lenny Moore) and Duane (Adrian Kali Turner). They hole up in their house while zombies shuffle around on the street outside, occasionally driven into a pathetic flurry of motion by gunshots or car alarms. The mortals draw the blinds to prevent the undead from detecting movement and talk softly, their voices always teetering on the edge of fright. "I never should have fired that gun today," Morgan tells Rick, referring to the shot he fired earlier that knocked out a flesh-eater and saved the former cop's life. "The sound draws 'em. Now they're all over the street." Duane knows how to shoot, just like Mel Gibson's boys in "The Patriot." When the streets are overrun with rotting monstrosities -- including a corpse that was once Morgan's wife and Duane's mama -- the kumbaya thing doesn't cut it.

"She died in the other room on that bed," Morgan says of his formerly warm-blooded wife. "I should have put her down. I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child." The scene of Morgan staring through his rifle scope, trying to muster the gumption to pull the trigger and perform a mercy killing, brought the episode to a peak of emotion that the remainder couldn't match. After that, the lone cowboy vs. zombie injuns action in the city couldn't help but feel routine (even though Darabont's elegantly clean sense of screen space made it a grim pleasure to watch). Ditto the intimations of "But I thought you were dead!" partner-switching on the part of Lori, who's hiding out in the countryside with Rick's former partner, Shane (John Bernthal); that business felt too daytime soap on first glance.

Luckily episode two, which I'll avoid discussing in detail here, fills the picture in with more nuance than you might expect -- particularly in its delineation of Shane's "every man for himself" philosophy, a far cry from Rick's matter-of-fact decency. (I'm skeptical of this, too, though; making Shane less likable than Rick is too easy, and sets Shane up to be eaten with a clear conscience.) Next Sunday's installment also clears up a mystery created by a clumsy bit of climactic offscreen dialogue near the end -- I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that the voice that crackles over the radio of the tank that Rick has crawled into does not belong to a zombie, and that where there's a downtown, there are retail stores, and where there are retail stores and zombies, there are allusions to "Dawn of the Dead," complete with bloody hands paddling plate glass. (Here endeth the not-quite-spoilers.)

The premiere's second most engrossing thread -- for me, at least -- was Rick's interaction with that mangled, paraplegic, crawling zombie woman. His decision to seek her out and put her out of her misery (at least that seemed to be his thinking, based on what we've seen of Rick) was noble, to be sure -- a mercy killing. (In addition to the "Lord of the Flies" aspect, zombie films are also coded arguments in favor of euthanasia, treating death as a gift bestowed on those who are alive but no longer truly living.) But it also hinted at tendencies that Rick will have to suppress, perhaps lose altogether, if he's going to survive long-term. On the plus side, he did for that wretched former mortal what he probably wishes somebody would do for him in the same circumstance. But on the minus side, he wasted a perfectly good bullet that might have come in handy later. In the end, which scenario is preferable? Keep your pulse but lose your soul, or vice versa? There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

"DON'T OPEN," read a sign on a barricaded double-door back at the hospital. "DEAD INSIDE." That statement does double-duty as a truth-in-advertising proclamation and as an allusion to the series' real agenda. As the pandemic goes on, things will only get worse, and people will only act worse, and eventually it'll get to the point where there won't be any discernible difference between zombies and non-zombies other than the temperature of their bodies and their preference in nourishment (and maybe not even that). "DEAD INSIDE" is what Rick and his family and any other survivors will be, and "DON'T OPEN" will be the watchword for protecting what's left of your feelings, the imperative to look out for No. 1 and not get too attached to anything or anybody for fear of being exploited, manipulated, robbed or killed. "Walking Dead," indeed.

Matt Zoller Seitz is a freelance critic and film editor and the founder of the online publication The House Next Door. He has written for The New York Times, New York Press and other publications. His video essays on films and filmmakers appear regularly on the web sites of The L Magazine and the Museum of the Moving Image. More Matt Zoller Seitz

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment...d_ratings.html

The Walking Dead Is AMC’s Highest-Rated Show Ever

Don Draper: The Undead Years? Probably not going to happen, but maybe it should. Ratings are in for Sunday's debut of AMC's new zombie drama The Walking Dead, and they were, well, monstrous. Nielsen says 5.3 million people watched the 90-minute bow at 10 p.m. on Halloween, giving AMC its biggest audience ever for an original series, and far surpassing the numbers for network staples such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad. (The network's all-time draw remains the mini-series Broken Trail, which premiered to nearly 10 million viewers back in 2006.) Add in same-night repeats of Dead, and the show's premiere audience rises to just over 8 million viewers. What's more, Dead was particularly big with viewers under 50: Around 3.6 million in that demo watched, making the show the biggest cable-series premiere among the young folks this year. So does this mean Dead will be back for a second season?

Most likely, yes. Dead more than doubled the audience of past AMC series premieres, and the demos are simply stunning (particularly for a channel that has tended to skew a bit older). That said, AMC may wait to make sure viewers stick around in coming weeks for future zombie adventures. After all, earlier this year the network's Rubicon bowed to a then-record 2 million viewers; by the time the show wrapped its first season last month, it was down to barely 1 million. That said, even if Dead loses half of its audience, it'll still be in the same league as other successful AMC series. As AMC president Charlie Collier put it in the network's press release touting the show's ratings, "It's a good day to be dead."

5.3 Million Viewers is a lot

For comparisons sake, the most people to ever watch a single episode of Breaking Bad on its airdate was 2 million.

Mad Men's highest number of viewers for a single episode was 2.92 million.

The highest amount of viewers for a single Rubicon episode was 2 million, but I'm pretty sure that it piggybacked either Breaking Bad or Mad Men that night.

All AMC shows are like that. It's also why they're ratings suck usually. People (mostly anyway) can't stand slow burns. (See: The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, etc)

Aside from Neilsen being a joke of all jokes, that's impressive. And I loved every minute of it.

Also, I was no off-put by the accent. Yes, it's crappy but I didn't find it distracting.

Where is Will Smith?

Don't even start with I Am Legend. Epic failure. There has not (to my knowledge) been a worse adaptation ever made.

That is a gigantic rating. I think that may be more than True Blood has ever had. We're probably talking ratings in the same hemisphere as the current cable kings, bullshit MTV shows like Jersey Shore.

True Bloods highest ever rating was 5.38 million, a mere 80,000 more people.

The very first episode of The Walking Dead had more viewers than every single episode of True Blood, except for the Season 3 finale.

True Blood Debuted to 1.44 million people.

What happened to AMC? I miss my John Wayne and Clark Gable flicks!!

As a matter of fact I just found an article on that. These are the 18-49 ratings for the show, compared to the rest of last night. It beat network programs in that demo:

Sundays, Aug. 1 – Oct. 31, 2010

Sunday 18-49 overnights

7.0 NBC Football
3.8 MLB Baseball
3.5 Desperate Housewives
3.3 The Walking Dead
2.9 Undercover Boss
2.6 CSI Miami
2.5 Amazing Race
2.3 Brothers & Sisters

I have a feeling that the ratings will only jump. The word of mouth on this show is going to be batshit crazy. All the review sites and other TV web forums that I have read, everyone loved it. This has the potential to blow up into the biggest Cable TV show since The Sopranos.

I love the books True Blood is based on. I've watched virtually every episode the night it premiered. So I hope people don't take this as some kind of anti-True Blood bias...

I really hope Walking Dead maintains that audience, because their premeire episode was exponentially better than any episode True Blood has ever had.

My favorite part was easily the crawling zombie/sniping incident, it had good music background and made me feel sorry for the zombie.

As far as particular elements of the show go, I didn't even notice his accent. And I loved the way they used silence for atmosphere, and used background music sparingly. I thought it was the complete antithesis of hackneyed melodramatic film scoring.

(Which I realize is a characteristic of AMC shows, or rather it's been a characteristic of the ones I've watched)

Yeah, I didn't notice the accent being "bad" at all. I think in the brief 1 minute clips that I saw, I was just not hearing enough to know that it was a good accent. I'm not disappointed at all. The first episode was almost perfect, IMO. The only gripes I had were the CG Blood, and in the tank when he shoots the soldier zombie, the camera angle changes, then changes back to showing the zombie, and the blood spatter is just not there.

Oh wow, I didn't realize Bear McCreary did the scoring for The Walking Dead. No wonder I liked the way it was scored. (He did Battlestar Galactica, for people who don't know him).

He has a really sweet run-down on his blog: http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=4964

Can't seem to find this online(and by that I mean, free, legal method of viewing online). That stinks.

Absolutely. When he was in the pitch black stairwell, and only had light between matches, with nothing but quiet...

Man, not a single zombie in that scene, and it was still scary and suspenseful as ****...

Okay, each week after the episode airs, I will update the OP with TV Critic Reviews and AMC videos and pictures about that specific episode.

It's also a choice made in No Country for Old Men which, coincidentally, won best sound editing.

Did you ever see the original? It's flat terrible.

Ok, just finished watching it. Can't wait for the next episode, so far so good.

cool link


and their makeup guy did Evil Dead II, which has been on cable all week....

love it

Loved it...lived up my expectations and then some.

Already watched it twice...probably will watch it again tonight.

Easily my new favorite show and I can't wait to see where this season goes.

Only a matter of time before we get a Season 2 after those monster ratings.

The audience will grow after I let a few guys at work how good it was. A couple of them don't even seem to know it ever existed...

Keep in mind that it aired on Halloween.

Not a night people young enough to enjoy it would stay home. People taking the kids out for candy, hitting parties/clubs/bars, etc.

Male priorities 101:
1) Sports
2) Hot chicks
3) Zombies

LMAO

I also know a few guys who had no idea it existed, and I think they're all going to like it. This thing could be huge.

I pray for the zombie apocalypse every night before going to bed, I have tons of weapons and precautions for it if it ever happens.

Zombies
Sex
Sports


This show is flawless even though it strays a bit from the comics, sometimes that is a good thing, in this case it is.

Bull-****ing-shit

Bonfire of the Vanities

As one review I read said, zombie stories are right up guys' allies. Since zombies can't drive, look for the protagonist to have a car. Although Rick strayed a bit and rode a horse, he quickly rectified that by getting in a tank.

Second, zombies don't talk, so there's not going to be any emo dialogue or falling in love with the zombies, and the protagonist certainly won't equivocate over whether to remain a human or be turned.

Third, like you said, guns are essential in any zombie story, so look for the protagonist to have lots of guns and ammo, and there will likely be plenty of head shots.

I got the feeling the one zombie will become a somewhat recurring character. He was in the bus and then was one of the ones at the tank. They focused on his face for a moment and had him give an actual expression.

No, we just get a crappy love triangle between him, his wife, and his ex-partner. This love-triangle is already stale for me, and I'm sure I'm going to be annoyed every time they 'develop' it (much like the love-triangles/polygons on Lost).

It's a good thing everything else about the show was top-notch. By far the best zombie make up and special effects I've ever seen. I really hope the guy and his son come back into the story. That guy rocked in Jericho, and he did an awesome job in this one.

Watched this last night. Really enjoyed it. Very well made. The only knock against it IMO is that its pretty well covered and familiar territory (The Zombie genre)

Darabont once again hits a homerun. So far ive liked everything hes done. I noticed he had one of his "stable" of actors in there he likes to use. The older guy in the camp outside Atlanta.

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that. He and his wife will eventually meet up and there will be tension with the partner and betrayal. You can see where it's going, too. They had a few lines with the partner giving orders, and others saying stuff like, "Yes sir" in a kind of sarcastic way, as if he wants to be the leader. That's going to lead to some kind of power struggle as to who's the alpha male. I guess they feel like they need human villains.

I liked the guy and his kid, too. I think the casting of those two is good. Usually when you see a kid at that age in a show they make him some bratty looking kid with a Justin Bieber kind of haircut, who looks like his name should be Dakota. The kid they chose didn't come across as whiny or lame.

If they handle it like they do in the comics... it's something to behold.

I haven't read the comics, so I guess that's good. I'll be surprised when whatever happens happens. They tipped their hand a little bit regarding that group with the wife and partner in one of the promos they ran.

HEY **** YOU IT WAS ALL IN THERE!!!! except the parts you taked about.....


I heard/read that the show starts taking its turns away from the story in earnest next episode (as if it wasn't obvious from the previews). Think True Blood vs. The Adventures of Sookie Stackhouse.

Yeah, stay tuned. There's nothing run of the mill going on here, if they stay true to the source material.

if anyone wants to start on the comics, here is a compendium of the first 48 issues. Regularly sells for around $60 I'm told.

http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Dead-C...8753003&sr=8-1

Damn thats a good ****ing price.

I spent around $120 on the equivalent of that in Trade Paperbacks (6 issue books).

When is the normal broadcast date/time for this show? Stupid AMC doesn't want their shows streamed online eh? Bah humbug.

pssst....

http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/video

Hmm, says they are only streaming the premiere online for free, no following episodes.

The Actress who plays Andrea seems about 10 years too old. I don't know why but that is really bugging me.

Edit: Just looked it up. Laurie Holden (the actress) is 38. Andrea is 25 when this whole thing starts. That really pisses me off. For those of you who don't know, her age plays a huge factor in the comics.

Is Andrea the blonde that he meets at the dept store?
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I haven't read the comic, but maybe they could be combining two characters? They sometimes do that with adaptations- take some traits from one and some from another. Is there maybe a missing character that they could be merging with her?

Yes. And I agree with Buck. It doesn't ruin it, but it's annoying in some not clearly definable way. The show is already deviating from the comic, so I'm willing to wait and see where this goes before getting worked up about it.

No thats not the case.

I'm going to put in spoiler tags why its annoying, and then if you have a response (anybody) please put them in spoiler tags too.

Excellent News. I don't know if this has been posted, but due to the high ratings AMC has already approved a second season of The Walking Dead.

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/11/08...second-season/

Given the overwhelmingly positive, record-breaking reception to the first few episodes of "The Walking Dead" television series, it comes as no surprise that AMC has given the go-ahead for a second season — but now it's official.

The network gave audiences the good news today, just a week removed from the series' wildly successful premiere. According to the announcement, the post-apocalyptic saga based on Robert Kirkman's long-running comic book will receive another 13 episodes for its second season.

Read on for the full text of the announcement from AMC.
AMC RESURRECTS “THE WALKING DEAD” FOR A SECOND SEASON

(New York, NY – November 8, 2010) AMC announced today the renewal of “The Walking Dead” for a 13-episode second season. Since debuting Sunday, October 31, “The Walking Dead” has broken ratings records, with the series reaching more Adults 18-49 than any other show in the history of cable television.

Today’s announcement also includes Fox International Channels’ (FIC) global renewal for a second season, following record-breaking premiere ratings in 120 countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. “The Walking Dead” was the highest-rated original series premiere ever to air on FIC simultaneously worldwide.

“The ‘Dead’ has spread!” said Charlie Collier, President, AMC. “No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as ‘The Walking Dead.’ This reaffirms viewers’ hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back ‘The Walking Dead’ again, across the globe.”

Ratings Highlights for The Walking Dead - Episode 2, which premiered on AMC Sunday, 11/7:

• 10pm airing – 3.1 HH rating with over 4.7 million viewers;
• Adults 18-49 – 3.3 million viewers;
• Adults 25-54 – 2.8 million viewers;
• Men 18-49 – 2.1 million viewers.

Ratings Highlights for the The Walking Dead - Episode 1, which premiered on AMC Sunday, 10/31:

• 10pm airing - 3.7 HH rating with over 5.3 million total viewers;
• Adults 18-49 - 3.6 million viewers;
• Adults 25-54 - 3.1 million viewers;
• Men 18-49 - 2.0 million viewers.

“I wish all programming decisions were no brainers like this one,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, SVP Scripted Programming. “‘The Walking Dead’ is a TV masterpiece on so many levels. We want at least 10 seasons, if not more. Kudos to AMC!”

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Kirkman serves as an executive producer on the project and three-time Academy Award-nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) serves as writer, director and executive producer. Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk), chairman of Valhalla Motion Pictures, serves as Executive Producer. David Alpert from Circle of Confusion and Charles “Chic” Eglee (Dexter, The Shield, Dark Angel) serve as Executive Producers.

“The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The comic goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies who take a toll on the survivors, and sometimes the interpersonal conflicts present a greater danger to their continuing survival than the zombies that roam the country. Over time, the characters are changed by the constant exposure to death and some grow willing to do anything to survive.

Shot on location in Atlanta, “The Walking Dead” is led by a cast that includes Lincoln (“Teachers,” Love Actually) as Rick Grimes, Jon Bernthal (“The Pacific,” The Ghost Writer) as Shane Walsh, Sarah Wayne Callies (“Prison Break”) as Lori Grimes, Laurie Holden (“The Shield,” Stephen King’s The Mist) as Andrea, Jeffrey DeMunn (Stephen King’s The Mist, The Green Mile) as Dale, Steven Yeun (“The Big Bang Theory”) as Glen, Emma Bell (The Bedford Diaries) as Amy and Chandler Riggs (Get Low) as Carl Grimes.

"The Walking Dead" airs Sundays at 10 PM Eastern on AMC.

Just watched my DVR'd episode 2. Hell yes, good stuff. Very happy so far. What's really cool? My girlfriend immediately jumped online to watch the extra sneak peek. So, she's into it. REALLY didn't think he'd make it to "camp" by the 3rd episode, kind of takes the "gotta find my family" rooting for the badass guy thing right out of it.

I'm loving this show so far. I don't know what it is, but I can't get enough zombie action, whether its in movies, tv shows, or video games.

For those complaining it is deviating from the comics, all tv adaptations of books/comics/etc change things, that's just life. Don't expect an exact duplicate of the comics, you'll just be disappointed.

So one thing I really don't get, I'm assuming it is ok to talk about episodes after they air without spoiler tags, if I'm wrong, and you haven't seen epi 2, don't read on.
So, these people came into the city to this specific department store that the one guy had visited multiple times already. Why would they go that far into the city? It looked like from episode one that they were pretty much in downtown Atlanta. Certainly if people were looking for supplies, a suburb would make more sense.

If you haven't already, you need to read World War Z by Max Brooks. Awesome book.

In the books, that's actually a source of conflict. One of the characters wants to move away from Atlanta. The other one thinks that they need to stay close to Atlanta because that's where they have the best chance of being "rescued" by the government (because the government had encouraged people to congregate in the cities).

I'm not watching the shows, but that's the way the book presented it.

I haven't read the books, but I wonder if homeboy's partner was nailing his wife before all the shit went down. I have a feeling he was.

Also, do we know how long he was in a coma? I don't remember them saying.
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In KC terms, I think he's saying, if you needed supplies and were out in the wilderness, why wouldn't you go to the Wal-Mart in Blue Springs instead of going all the way downtown to the Sprint Center.

In KC terms, why the **** isn't he seeing josh Grobin at the sprint center on july 11th? It's josh ****ing grobin!

Because you could play all day at the college basketball experience and there wouldn't be any lines.
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Yeah, you'd have to go through a lot of populated areas in Atlanta in order to get downtown. They showed him going down the highway, maybe the idea the zombies weren't bothering with the highway? I don't know.

When the guy was talking about sneaking in and out for supplies, I don't think he meant that he went to downtown Atlanta specifically for supplies.

I was thinking that they had gone downtown at the beginning of the outbreak, when there weren't as many zombies, because the feds were telling people there was a safe zone there. As the outbreak continued to spiral out of control, they found themselves stuck there. And he was sneaking into other buildings trying to find supplies, but for whatever reason didn't think that he could make it out of downtown.

Well they made it pretty obvious that the group went there from the camp. They showed people in the camp starting to worry that they haven't heard from the expeditionary group in a while. I don't think they've been stuck downtown since the outbreak. They also talk how they try to sneak in and out of the area without grabbing the zombies' attention.

Ah, gotcha. I didn't pick that up during the episode, but now I remember it from next week's preview. In that case, it does seem stupid that they would have gone all the way into downtown.

Something else I noticed was that a few of the zombies seemed to show some sort of intelligence. Specifically, the guy that picked up the rock to smash at the door and the guy that climbed over the fence. Not sure if these were just methods of ratcheting up the tension, but they go against the norm of most zombie movies, so it may have a deeper implication.

Good point.

One thing I don't like about the show is the lack of any sort of time frame. I want to know how long it's been since the outbreak, how fast it spread, etc. It seems they're hiding it on purpose to (unsuccessfully) avoid potholes.

I think what they've done is kind of modeled their fictional Atlanta as a bigger version of a frontier town, kind of how there's the 'thoroughfare' and there's the surrounding wilderness with nothing in between. Picture the view of the highway leading into town with nothing on the sidelines and expand it to, no matter which way you approached, that's what it was like going into town.

Not realistic, but a way to set their tale where they wanted, depending on the scene.

heh, Laurie Holden is another Darabont regular from The Majestic and The Mist.

Great 2nd episode.....im positively shocked how they are pushing the boundarys of what can be shown on basic cable. Pretty nasty stuff

No kidding. The scene was easily as gruesome as anything I've seen in a rated "R" movie.

I literally got a little nauseous watching it. Not necessarily because

/gag

Exactly. Just the thought of it is brutal.