As the first season of AMC’s new monster hit (pun intended), The Walking Dead, reaches its mid-point, we at MLD decided it was a good time to gather up some of our regulars to chat about what we’ve seen so far.

Some of what we discuss may be considered spoilers to some readers, so if you’re trying to avoid any particular details about the comic series or the show, consider yourselves warned.

KevinMLD: I guess it makes sense to put into context each of our familiarity with The Walking Dead comics. Personally I’m pretty much

up-to-date on the comics. Pete and Ryan, last time you guys both said you hadn’t read any of the comics. Is that still the case? What about you Kamila?

Kamila: I read some of the first issue but I’m torn because I want to read more – but at the same time I kind of want to be in the dark about the rest of the season. So, I am not that familiar with the comics at the moment.

PTB: I’ve actually decided to wait to read any of the comics until after the first season has aired. I’m really enjoying the TV series and want to keep my exposure to that world limited to one source for now. I’d rather not have anything creeping in from one medium to the other and alter my perceptions or expectations.

Ryan: I haven’t read a page. I did read Deathly Hallows again over the last ten days. It does have some zombies in it. Not the eat your brain zombies, but undead is undead.

KevinMLD: I would argue all undead are not created equal but whatever.

We’ve now seen three very different episodes of the television series. How did they play for each of you? Are you comfortable with the variety? Did you prefer any of the episodes in particular or is there one you’d like to see future episodes follow in terms of tone?

PTB: I enjoyed the variety, but couldn’t help but focus on the endings. After our last discussion, I was anticipating cliffhangers similar to the overrun tank, but then episode two ended with the great escape. It was a little surprising and far different from the other two episodes.

Kamila: I loved the ending of Episode 2, Glen in the red sports car, it was such a huge comic relief after a super tense episode. Of course I also kept thinking about how the alarm going off the entire time is not good and that it was going to have some implications in Episode 3 and it kind of did – and it looks like there will be more in the next episode as well. The beginning of Episode 3 was absolutely excruciating to watch, with Merril up on that roof. The ending was kind of what I expected, but not exactly how I expected it.

I like how the episodes vary in intensity. And so far I have not yelled at my TV for someone doing something stupid, for the most part the survivors have done a pretty good job of showing why they are still alive when so many others are not, even if it’s just fueled by selfishness at least they have something motivating them to stay alive.

Was anyone else bothered by the zombies using rocks to smash the glass doors? Maybe not bothered as much as surprised? That surprised me.

KevinMLD: I was wondering where they even found decent sized rocks in Atlanta.

Ryan: I liked the first episode quite a bit. I am slightly concerned that they are playing too much on stereotypes. You know each characters motivations not by what they do, but how they look. I hope that this can be attributed to the short season because it would become a problem if these characters remain as is for another ten episodes.

KevinMLD: Ten episodes? Who says any of these characters are going to survive ten episodes!?

I read a review of the series that described Rick’s reunion with his family as “long awaited.” I have to ask:

Can it really be long awaited when it is resolved at the beginning of the third episode?

PTB: Please. Even he didn’t have to wait very long!

Ryan: I think the reunion may have occurred too quickly. It makes sense, though, if the show is going to focus more on the human relationships and keep this whole zombie-thing in the background.

Kamila: I have to think of it as “mid-season” not episode 3. Because then it seems like it’s well placed in the scheme of things. And I thought the reunion itself was pretty well done. I was going insane waiting for Rick to get out of the truck and waiting to see how they would handle this. And it was not overdone, I thought, and Carl’s reaction it was great. Well acted for sure. Love that little kid.

KevinMLD: One of the major differences between the comics and TV show is the relationship between Shane and Lori. While it’s definitely there in the comics, there’s a much greater focus on it in the TV series than there was in the comics. This change makes me wonder if the TV series will choose to resolve it all differently than Kirkman did in the comics… I also wonder how long we’ll need to wait to find out how that will play out.

PTB: This is a pretty major change. Their relationship is a major factor in the dynamic of the show with Rick’s return. It’s hard to imagine how that wouldn’t have been a focal point in the comics, although it sounds like there was a lot of issues published before their reunion.

KevinMLD: Nah, the reunion happened pretty quickly in the comic as well. I was expecting the first season to cover roughly the first trade worth of content. In some ways things seem to be moving faster than the comics and in other ways much slower. I was looking forward to everyone seeing the first big climax, but now I’m not sure if that will happen this season or not.

I’m also curious about the fact that the TV series is introducing so many original characters. Are they just zombie bait or could they push the whole series in new directions? In addition, some elements of plots from later in the comics seem like they’re being repurposed already. For example, in the comics Rick rather than Shane actually has an encounter with a man who beats his wife and Rick beats him beyond reason. That story, however, didn’t occur until maybe six years into the series. I think such changes are interesting as they allow the writers to pilfer the best elements of the source material and reuse it as they see fit… Creating something surprising for everyone involved.

PTB: That’s an advantage to any adaptation like this. In the X-Men movies in particular, characters and histories are synthesized using the best elements from years of stories. I was not aware of this change obviously, but reading what you’ve said here I can’t help but think this may have been done push Rick as the protagonist and make him more of a white knight. Seeing him deliver a beat down the way Shane did would have fundamentally changed the character we’ve seen so far on the show.

Kamila: Agreed. Not even sure what to think of Shane right now.

KevinMLD: That’s very true, but the scene in the comics made a lot of sense in the context of the journey Rick has traveled.

Another element that’s new here is the whole oppressed role of women in the survivor camp. I’m not sure how I feel about this development as it taints the character of the men in the camp. We’ll see where they take it but I guess it could be an interesting new source of tension.

Kamila: Yea, that whole scene bothered me. I would definitely not be so quick to agree to wash the laundry at the river. I would definitely rather hunt or patrol the area or whatnot. Oh and where did they get those washboards? Silly observation but I haven’t seen one of those at Home Depot or anything, where did they come from?

PTB: This is a good point and may fit into lumping Shane in with the “other male characters that aren’t Rick.” Everyone seems to have their own selfish motivations or at least some dirt on them other than Rick at this point.

Ryan: I think that is a good thing, but they shouldn’t make all of the people dislikable. I think their good/bad sides should be based on their motivations. I’m afraid at this point much of their likability/dislikability are based on prejudices that existed prior to the zombies. There are plenty of hard choices that had to be made after the zombies. It is why the relationship between Shane and the rest of the group interests me so much. He is the “leader” of the group. He is enforcing a lot of the rules put in place. Some in the group resent him in some way, but it looks like without him the group would have quickly disintegrated.

Kamila: Rick is the new Jack Shephard… when he said something about sticking together or dying alone.. or something like that in the second episode, I died a little. If this series ends with them going into a white light i’m killing my tv.

PTB: One of the things I’ve liked most about the story is the way they’ve spent time doing relatively small things. This could never have been done justice in a movie. It reminds of the Left 4 Dead trailer where the characters fight their way through a horde of zombies and one exclaims “we made it!” only to be reminded that all they’ve done is cross the street.

KevinMLD: This is exactly why I’ve always believed a comics-to-tv translation should be stronger than the typical comics-to-film garbage.

Kamila: Yeah, zombie movies always end too quickly where it seems like things are just getting good. I am always left thinking AND THEN WHAT? This is awesome because there’s so much more time to explore that question.

KevinMLD: That’s funny because that’s exactly how Kirkman described the comics. It’s what happens after the zombie movie ends.

PTB: I’m interested to see if the series ever makes an attempt to address what caused the zombie apocalypse. That’s an element to a number of these stories, but I’m not sure I even need to know in this case.

Ryan: I don’t think it matters why it happened. They aren’t looking to find a cure. I hope they don’t dwell on it.

Kamila: I wouldn’t mind seeing some kind of a flashback. It would be intriguing but I agree that it’s not completely necessary.

AMC’s The Walking Dead continues this Sunday at 10PM. It’s not too late to get on board and catch up with previous episodes through AMC.com.

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