As Season 3 begins Rick and the gang have become an efficient zombie killing machine, which makes sense since its clearly been a few months since the end of last season judging by the size of Lori's baby bump. First and foremost its important to note that it seems at least with this first episode that Season 3 is a direct response to fans complaints of last season. With a higher zombie kill-count than 8 total episodes of last season. But zombie action isn't what I come for the show for, its the characters and their interaction with this apocalyptic wasteland, the zombies are just the icing on the cake of dwindling humanity. Every single character seems to have evolved in response to last years criticisms, Carl is not an annoying kid who runs off every second he is given a chance, he is now a battle hardened survivor. Lori is now actually sympathetic, acknowledging that she instigated and even edged on Rick's confrontation with the now deceased Shane. Even T-Dog gets some speaking lines, thoughtful too, rare I know. But it really seems like the showrunners have realized their mistakes from last season and intend to deliver high-caliber content deserving of the programs highest rated cable show status.
The prison, finally we have arrived to the much requested location from the comic books, the infamous prison where all manner of fucked up shit is lurking around every dusty darkened corner. This episode takes the action first approach to a season opener, with zombie deaths aplenty with just enough characters stuff to reestablish everyone and their standings with each other and the state of the world. There are some great character interactions and some well intentioned bad ones, like singing around a campfire or the weird pseudo-romance between Darryl and Carol. An example of a great moment between two characters is Lori's panicked talk to Herschel in which she imagines delivering a still born baby with the implications of it coming back to life or tearing itself out of her.
The Walking Dead Season 3 premier episode "Seed" is a phenomenal start for this season and sets a high bar for future episodes. I can't imagine the show will maintain this level of action for its entire run since there need to be human stakes and drama as well, but the showrunners clearly took criticisms to heart. Characters, pacing everything has been tweaked for the better and it shows promise for a program that seems to be finally coming into its own. We still haven't gotten into the shows newest and possibly vilest character The Governor or where and what Michonne and Andre have been up to, who we only got a sneak peak of this week. But if this first episode is any indication we are in for a high octane intense season which seems to have finally cemented this show as a phenomenon worthy of its huge success.
(5 out of 5)
No comments:
Post a Comment