As I said in my preview post a while back, this episode is where the TV show diverges quite a bit from the books. This isn’t a surprise, really, given that producer Frank Darabont said early on that he was going to make some changes to keep the story fresh. Since I thought there was a possibility of their being a problem with the likability of the characters from the books, a change for them, for me, is most welcome.
In this episode, the changes to the overall plot are more along the lines of being extended than changed. The biggest change, though, is the introduction of Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) and T-Dog (IronE Singleton), who were not present in the books at all. Another bit of casting that has been mentioned is Norman Reedus as Merle’s brother, Daryl. I’m not sure if he’s back at the camp amongst the others or we haven’t seen him yet, but I think it’s safe to say he’s not going to be all that happy with what went down with his brother.
What’s cool about Merle Dixon not being in the books is that it really does make things fresh for us book readers. I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to assume he’ll be back, despite the situation he was left in. He was left up there on the roof, relatively safe (since the door was left chained shut, though not for the purpose of helping Dixon any), and the close-up of the bag of tools dumping over wasn’t for nothing. The bag appeared to be quite a ways away from Dixon where it fell, but noting there was a saw and a bunch of other tools that could help him hack through that chained door and a few dozen zombies, count on him showing up again … and angry as hell.
The amount of time spent in downtown Atlanta was very little in the books, and it only involved Rick and Glenn — who, by the way, looked just as he did in the books, right down to the clothes he wore. There was no long hold-up in the store and no others were with them, though the trick of rubbing guts all over oneself to attempt to trick the undead was at least mentioned once, but much later in the series. These are good things, though. The amount of set-up for the characters here is essential, and having the show-down in downtown was a great change brought in to accomplish that.
The other significant change from the books has been the relationship between Lori and Shane. Right there it’s quite a distraction from the original story, since calling what Lori and Shane had a “relationship” wasn’t really on the table then. Yes, Lori and Shane had a fling, but it was short-lived and done in an extremely vulnerable time in Lori’s life. She always felt guilty and rather uncomfortable about what she was doing. It’s going to make for quite a different reaction in the camp once Lori is snug back in the arms of her no-longer-dead husband.
If you’re watching Walking Dead, are you still digging it after this episode?
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Nov 07, 2010 @ 23:00 EST5EDT
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“If you’re watching Walking Dead, are you still digging it after this episode?”
Absolutely …
The guts thing wasn’t just mentioned, they did it when Rick and Glenn went back into the city to get guns for everyone. it was the 4th issue.
As someone who hasn’t read the comics the 1st thing I thought of watching them shuffle around pretending to be zombies was Shaun of the Dead. Up until the rain came I found it just as amusing too. It was still a smart-ish plan. Just as the pessimist I am I just kept expecting it to result in Glen’s death. After all the last person to listen to one of Rick’s plans was that horse.
I’m happy that as the show goes on that they are not toning anything down in terms of the violence. Being on basic cable I wondered how the show would get away with showing all the gore that usually comes with the zombie territory. Well so far AMC appears to not care about toning things down and thank God for that.
Also props to Dodge for finding a way to have product placement in a world where everything is pretty much flaming wreckage. I liked that even in death, humans can’t resist the sound of a nice loud V8 sports car.
One thing I kept thinking the whole episode is how that grenade is Chekhov’s gun. I kept waiting for it to go off the whole episode. I expected rick to lure the zombies with it, but the car alarm was smarter. Much like with the box of tools, they didn’t focus on it for no reason and I can’t wait for it to come into play.
I’m glad they are straying from the comic, it’s much more fun when I don’t know exactly what is going to happen.
Norman Reedus was in the preview for next week’s episode.
I like it. I like it a lot.I’m glad my 16 year old son was showering at the time Lori and Shane were getting it on. That would have been a little unsettling.
I liked the episode but I had a few issues with it. I have never read the graphic novels so I may be wrong but in the episode there was a zombie using a rock to break the window to the store. Would that not take some sort of intelligence to figure out? I hope they do not do a Land of the Dead thing and have them start discussing a zombie plan to take over.
I do not like Shane and I am not sure I like Lori much either.
I thought the walk through the zombies was funny but kept thinking that there is no way that they can cover up whatever smell they are giving off that they are alive. It would be like spraying perfume after being sprayed by a skunk. The underlying smell is still there. Besides, their faces, where the zombies looked and had to smell were fully exposed.
Sorry, I know it is fiction and just go with it but just thoughts that come up.
One more thing, there lone zombies here and there that I feel sorry for,is that weird or what?
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Deb:
That one rather cool looking haggard zombie who originally came off the bus in episode #1 … the one with the reddish, severely blood-shot eyes in the suit jacket? If you’ll recall, he was one of the few who sidled up to Rick and gave him an up and down looksee, obviously confused at what Rick actually was when he and Glenn shambled down the street. He could smell the ‘alive-ness’ underneath all the blood and entrails.
The zombies have some intelligence … but it’s pretty basic and dim-witted. I’m of the opinion their overwhelming blood lust is what drives them – primal stuff, indeed. So, hefting a nearby rock to punctuate a purpose and drive it through glass to get to a victim? I’m not having a problem with that.
Even the original zombie in “Night Of The Living Dead” in the graveyard scene at the beginning did that, trying to get to Barbara through her car window …
So true Michael, I didn’t remember the little girl in the original either, didn’t she stab her mom or something like that? Unfortunately for me, it is so hard to compare Romero’s zombies with any other type of zombie movie although I did love most of them, and I have seen a lot of them over the years. After all, he is the king… I remember seeing 28 Days Later and being angry because the zombies were fast (even though they were not true zombies)
I wonder if I would be able to survive the Zombie Apocalypse.
I have not read the book(s) but I sure am enjoying the show so far. Great work. And if some of these characters were created for TV, a noob like me can’t tell the difference between them and the originals. Although maybe it means they will die sooner.