THE WALKING DEAD ( review )

Name : The Walking Dead
Status : currently airing Season 3
Number of seasons/episodes : three (so far)
Year : 2010 - present
Genre : horror, drama, action
Director: Frank Darabont
Main Cast : Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus
Based on : comic book
Warnings : flesh-chewing zombies, blood and guts, might give you nightmares!!!

Review :  WARNING! MIGHT CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS! What would you do if a deadly virus turned everyone around you into flesh-eating zombies: your family, your friends, your whole nation and even the residents of the other continents on Earth? Where would you go when only death and devastation await you everywhere you run? How would you defend yourself when the dead want to eat you the moment they lay their unseeing eyes on you? Who would you trust if someone out there turns out to be alive and scared just like you? And, finally, what kind of person would you be ready to become in order to survive? These are the questions that the TV series The Walking Dead tries to place before each viewer! And, in my opinion, it does not fail to deliver!


The series follows the fight for survival of police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and little son Carl (Chandlerr Riggs), along with a group of people with various backgrounds, each with his or her personal drama and own believes. Chased by zombies on every turn, the group headed by Rick tries to find a safe place where to start a new life after the apocalypse, hoping that the human society will somehow recover from the virus and restore things back to normal. Little by little, however, their hope dies as they face the horrible death of their loved onces and friends and as they realize that zombies are not the only danger in a world without laws and control....

What do I like about this series? Most of all, I like the character development! For the first time we have a zombie TV series, not a two-hour zombie movie, which gives the director the possibility to develop the main characters, to show how each of them deals with the crazy apocalyptic situation and how the latter changes them to the better or the worse. We see how Rick, as the leader of a small group of survivors, has to change his believes in order to keep these people alive: at the start of the series we see him struggle even when it comes to killing a zombie, by the third season we see him pointing a gun at his best friend, whose behaviour threatens the group's safety. Each character changes into a different person as the story progresses and we get to see how that happens and what the consequences of it are. That is, if the character does not get eaten by a zombie in the process ;)

I also fell in love with the atmosphere in the series: although the production got a significant budget cut after the first season, it still manages to transport its viewers into a devastated land, where all hope for a normal life is gone and it all comes down to finding food and not becoming food yourself! It's creepy, it's scary and it's very realistic! When those half-rotten zombies head your way, you can only pray they won't catch you in your sofa with just a cushion as a weapon!

Add good acting, unexpected twists of the plot and cool camera work to the mixture and you get a great TV series that will not disappoint the fans of zombie movies and people who appreciate a smart, scary drama!


I recommend it to : zombie lovers, horror fans, those who like an apocalypse-type drama
I do NOT recommend it to : faint-hearted people, people who like watching TV series while eating ;)

Favorite Scenes : the opening of Season 2's last episode, where we see hundreds of zombies gathering in a mass group and moving together in their zombie manner towards the countryside in search of a fresh dinner. The way they move and the camera shots are just cool!
Favorite Characters : Rick, Glenn, Daryl
Favorite Quote : "Fight the dead. Fear the living."
What I liked the most : The character development and the very realistic apocalyptic atmosphere
What I liked the least : Some scenes with zombies tearing up living people's flesh or with people chopping zombies into bits :)

photos from adweek.com  , walkingdeadlocations.com , eventingnation.com

review by DeeDee