By Tressa Eckermann, Senior Staff Writer
“It’s all about slim chances now and a slim chance is better than none,” Rick Grimes tells his not-so-merry band of Zombie Apocalypse survivors in the new season of the hit AMC drama “The Walking Dead.”
The newest season, picking up where the last season left off, takes the survivors in what could be an even darker direction than the first season. Last season Grimes woke up after being shot and thrown into a coma to find that the world has basically ended and is overrun with “walkers.” He flees to Atlanta where he meets back up with his wife, Lori, their young son Carl, and his former partner Shane, as well as a small group of survivors who have banded together in the woods. He’s unaware of the fact that Lori and Shane have been carrying on a relationship.
Sometimes too gruesome for its own good, “The Walking Dead,” which is actually based on a series of graphic novels, is more of a commentary on society than anything else. Grimes (British actor Andrew Lincoln) is the typical anti-hero who grows more cynical as they carry on. The default leader tries hard to do the right thing, and tries even harder to lead his group in the right direction.
Given what the show’s about, you can expect gruesome gore but there are moments when I wonder if the show writers are just being gross to be gross. And for all its great acting—particularly by Lincoln and Norman Reedus as Daryl, one of the survivors—”The Walking Dead” isn’t the most perfect show on television. One of its biggest flaws is how slowly it can move. For every good episode, there is one episode that moves as slow as one of its walkers.
There are also those moments of complete suspense. I actually held my breath during its brilliant 90-minute season premiere, which began with a deserted highway, a hide and seek with a bunch of walkers and ended with a missing child and a potentially life-changing event for Grimes.
Though “The Walking Dead,” isn’t an uplifting show, it is refreshing to see a show that has quality and something to say.
