Originally written December 1, 2013

The Walking Dead is an AMC Original Series, based off the comic book series by Robert Kirkman. These days it’d be surprising if you haven’t at least heard of The Walking Dead, as the show has many fans, as well as it appearing in other mediums such as a critically acclaimed video game. It’s a show I’ve always meant to get into, and I’m glad I finally did, because it really is pretty great.

Many people who might have some reluctance getting into the show seem to hesitate because they don’t think they’d be into “a show about zombies.” But the truth is, The Walking Dead is more than that. It’s a survivalist story at heart, and is very much a human drama as much as any other show. Rather, the show just uses the zombie apocalypse scenario as a backdrop to magnify stories and relationships of characters facing personal struggles and having to make tough choices in tense situations.

I found Season 1’s biggest downfall to also be its strongest point. What The Walking Dead excels in is its characters, as it centers around main protagonist Rick Grimes, who is a police officer that is shot in the line of duty and wakes up in a hospital only to find it abandoned and torn apart. Investigating further, he finds that while he was in a coma, the world went to hell, and somehow the dead have started coming back as dangerous, empty shells of what they once were. Rick becomes determined to find his wife and son, and will overcome any obstacle to survive. Rick is an exceptional character, and a great choice to focus on as a main protagonist. He is a leader and has a lot of depth, as he’s trying to hide his fears to protect himself and his loved ones in a time of peril.

There are a lot of other characters aside from Rick though, and this brings me back to the point of the season’s biggest downfall being its strongest point. There are a lot of characters in the show, and a lot of them are introduced to you all at once. This is the group of characters you follow around for the show, but it took me a while to learn a lot of their names even because they’re introduced all at once. There are a lot of very strong characters among the cast, but not all of them stand out, and so it’s hard to sympathize for some of their struggles or deaths when we’re not really given time to attach to them.

However, despite that, the big enjoyment of the show is the interactions between the characters. There’s a wide array of personalities and goals here, and when they clash it sometimes gets ugly. The scary part of this scenario is that there’s zombies roaming around trying to feed on people, yet sometimes the real threat are the people still living.

Season 1 only has trouble finding its footing at times. I find this in a show when some parts are simply just better than others. While all shows need their very memorable moments/episodes too, it’s important for it remain a consistently good quality throughout, and there were some moments where Season 1 did stumble a bit. It wasn’t a huge issue, but it made the season great when it could have been really amazing. Still, when it shines, it shines bright. Some moments in the show really stand out, whether it’s because it’s a highly emotional scene, or a scene involving a clever plan, or just an awesome action scene. I actually found the even numbered episodes (2, 4, 6) to be my favorites, with the season ending the right way with an exceptional season finale.

The first season is only six episodes long, so I honestly recommend it to anyone, because I think six episodes is the perfect amount of time to decide if it’s a show you’d be interested in investing yourself into. I loved the ride the first season took me on, so I know I will continue watching it. My mom is also very into it, and she was one of the people that was really hesitant to watch it because she’s not into zombie type of stuff. So, even if you’re not into the zombie craze a lot of people seem to be into, I say don’t let that stop you from giving The Walking Dead a chance. It really is a great show.

4/5