I hardly watch TV shows these days (just sometimes “The Office”) but was lured into watching AMC’s hit zombie show, “The Walking Dead,” and got a bit hooked. Who knew zombies could come out during the day, and move faster than they appeared to in the ’70s. These zombies are mobile, menacing and very hungry for human flesh. And if they bite you, you can kiss it goodbye because you’ll soon become part of the walking dead. The show is not for the lighthearted, or for young kids with vivid dreams; it’s quite graphic, blood-spurting and violent with zombie heads being blown off and limbs being dismembered (it’s on cable after all).
It takes place around Atlanta after the apocalypse, where a small group of human survivors are trying to avoid becoming mincemeat of the zombies, and to find help, notably from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, which they heard might be a refuge from the zombie epidemic. But alas, on the season finale the group finds just one scientist left at the CDC, and he doesn’t have a solution. What’s more, the complex is set to explode after its power conks out. Our human friends only have enough time to get the heck out of there before a shattering kaboom ends Season 1.
Whoosh it was a short season, just six episodes long. But apparently it attracted the biggest audience ever for a cable drama series in the 18 to 49 demographic. No kidding, scary zombies are cool with these folks. It helps that the human survivors are led by sheriff deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who admittedly makes a pretty tasty hero amid the array of characters. Moreover, the special effects and zombie appearances are creepily convincing, enough to make you want to run for cover.
The show has a bit of the allure of “Lost”: mysterious, scary and suspenseful. But comparably it has a much simpler storyline. I’m sure to watch it next season, too. It’s good. As for the best sci-fi series, it probably can’t compete with the great “Planet of the Apes” of my youth … with Charlton Heston, Cornelius and the ruling apes, there’s just no way.
