Whereas there was little communication during the season one premiere of The Walking Dead, there was certainly plenty of it in the season 2 opener.
With a terrifically seamless transition from the last time we saw our ragtag group of survivors, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is found walkie talkie-ing in a (possibly) vain attempt to contact Morgan Jones (Lennie James) and his son Duane (Adrian Kali Turner). With the CDC a dead end and now behind them (and with the group having lost yet another member while there), Rick reaches out to Morgan to let him know they’re head for Fort Benning with the hope there may be something or someone there.
One of the things Rick mentioned while messaging Morgan was what Jenner told him just before his escape from the CDC, prior to the place incinerating … but what was that? He hesitated in stating his thoughts before quashing them all together. Was it that Lori is pregnant? That every member of the group is infected? Something entirely different? The rumors swirl. We’ll find out down the line.
But things take a quick turn for the worse as the convoy immediately runs into problems from both mechanical (busted RV hose) and walker (Help! Walker herd!) standpoints. (And by the way: That interminable wait we had to endure between last year’s season finale and the present, 11 long months? With the thrills and chills received on viewing the herding walkers, all is forgiven.)
There’s a lot of pressure put on Rick as the de facto leader of the group. You can see it in his eyes, you can feel it weighing on him. And when he puts the blame on himself for the loss of Sophia (Madison Lintz) after the zombie swarm passes? Well … that doesn’t help matters, either.
It’s apparent we’ll get to explore many mental and relational situations this season. For example, Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) proved to be an exceptionally sly dog in discussing not only his silence but his modus operandi regarding the repair status of the RV. “I want to hold off on ‘the needs of the many versus the needs of the few’ arguments as long as I can” he told T-Dog (IronE Singleton). And it appears his crustiness harbors more than what is on the surface, too. While there’s a protective concern for Andrea (Laurie Holden) between all those nooks and crannies of his conduct, she just doesn’t see it that way. Not only were her “rights” violated in Dale refusing to leave her to die at the CDC, but the tables were turned with her ending up saving him, something he hadn’t consider until it was voiced out loud.
And there will assuredly be more cerebral conflict, too … something touched on in the interview I had with Norman Reedus (Daryl) last Friday. I’m looking forward to it immensely.
But wait … there’s more! Top that off with the interchange between Shane (Jon Bernthal) and Andrea (who overheard the little “chat” Lori and he had about him leaving the group) and the intrigue just keeps building. While the crux of the show is about survival under the pall of impossible odds, I’m thoroughly on board with the character interaction taking place.
Of great interest (and I hope we find out if there are any further ramifications from this) was the “talk with God” Rick had in the church the search party came across. Upon coming out, Shane asks Rick: “Get what you needed?”
“We’ll find out,” is his only response.
It didn’t take long for the answer. That “nudge” Rick requested? It sure took an interesting turn … with Carl (Chandler Riggs) getting shot when he, Carl and Shane came across that buck in the forest.
The tension at the conclusion of this episode — just like that of the season one premiere with the fade away from the tank Rick was trapped in — was riveting. There’s so much to look forward to in the coming weeks I can’t hardly stand it.
Tell me what you thought of the season opener in the comments section below.
Now … after you’ve heaved a big sigh of relief, I’ve offered up below a little TWD parody I came across the other day, The Walken Dead. I think you’ll enjoy it:
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Oct 16, 2011 @ 22:30 EST5EDT
INSANE! Just the way I like it. Cripes. It has me on the edge of my seat. I cannot wait for the next episode.
so … goood!
AWESOME! I wish all episodes could be 1 1/2 hours. I hope this week flies, can’t wait to episode 2!
I may need to go back and rewatch the first season again in more detail to answer this myself, but they seemed confused about it on Talking Dead last night too, so I’m gonna ask anyway, at the risk of sounding dumber than a zombie. Why aren’t they concerned about getting walker blood all over them, especially Andrea and all that blood on her face from her screwdriver incident? Rick and Daryl put on gloves for the gut bag (which, in all honestly, they definitely needed no matter the circumstances!) but she does nothing to clean away all that splatter from her sensitive areas? I mean, I know she didn’t have time to take any precautions and was in a state of shock afterwards, but in my head I’m thinking if a bite will do you in, certainly some blood in the eyes isn’t that great either. FANTASTIC episode tho! In complete shock at the ending. Wow. Can’t wait for next week!
I was thinking about the blood issue when Rick and Daryl were digging their way through the zombie that might have consumed Sophie. Daryl even wiped his brow with the zombie blood and guts all over his gloved hand and arm. Or suppose the zombie had a broken rib or something and Daryl cut open his arm on it?
But “the herd” was the best…
*POST AUTHOR*
. . . . .
Kallie and Randy H:
This has been one of my biggest contentions about the show, the “blood splatter” of the walkers. Even way back in episode 2 of last season it was dealt with when the then “new” group Rick ran into (with Glenn, Andrea, T-dog, et al) were chopping up one of the walkers before smearing its innards on them in order to escape through the mass outside the store they were hiding in covered in entrails. Gloves were worn, overcoats were worn, masks were worn. “Don’t get any on you” Rick admonished.
Certainly, walker tissue – especially that which is wet or containing blood – has infection coursing through it. But … maybe it’s like many things and in order to get infected by their blood or guts it needs to come in contact with an open sore or wound or through a cavity of some sort (eye, mouth, nose, etc.) There have certainly been enough instances where the gore of offing a walker has splattered in someone’s eyes at least.
A certain amount of suspension of belief needs to be maintained, something I do when I watch the program. In a way, “walker juice” and how it’s dealt with may be nothing more than picking nits in the grand scheme of things. I’m willing to forego being that picky …
I totally agree Michael, live a little bit in fantasy, afterall, there are zombie hoardes running most of civilization, if you can call it that, at this point. I was mostly asking because I feel like I missed something that everyone else knew, but I’m glad it’s a somewhat commom inconsistancy that everyone picks up on and goes “wait, I thought that…” right along with me.
I was thinking the same thing as Randy regarding zombie digestion. Clearly they’re more rotten than a bushel of bad apples on the inside, and we all know that they crave flesh, it’s the motivation to exist. Again, I ask this as someone who hasn’t read the comics, so apologies if this is known, but is the flesh craving just that, a craving with no necessity?
And since I’m on a “this is probably a stupid question” roll, how did all of the people in the traffic jam die? They didn’t appear to be shot or stabbed in any way, nor bitten. Various stages of decomp as well. Carl’s knife arsenal guy had a somewhat juicy looking arm, while his head and Daryl’s cover corpse both seemed near mummified. I’m probably getting too nit picky regarding the decomp, but if anyone knows how and why they are all dead on the road, that would answer a big one for me! (In my search for this answer in various forums last night, I did see one revelation from the comics regarding how the walkers become walkers, which in the spirit of not spoiling anything, I won’t repeat, but for those that know what I mean, it makes this question even more of a head scratcher)
I just got caught up on the whole series this week. My thoughts are on the rules for zombies as well. In particular, I’m wondering if they “die” by starvation…? Are their parts rotting off like leprosy…? If both of those things happen, then all the survivors need do is wait them out (not so easy, I’m sure).
I watch this show for everything but the blood, guts, and zombies. It’s well-made, suspenseful, and even has some good character development. It was another edge-of-the-seat episode. All that being said, I can’t wait for Shane to hit the road. Even Daryl the hick has a more subtle personality than him. Maybe it’s the actor, maybe the character, maybe both. But the bug-eyed, about-to-blow look he perpetually has on his face is just plain annoying. I was cheering when he talked about leaving. If only he would.
Are the digestive tracts working on the zombies? If so, do they sh*t in the woods? If not, why aren’t their bellies bloating with each additional thing they eat?
The inconsistencies on the show are reaching “Lost”-like proportions. I understand that many people are engrossed in a show that basically is “Awesome! Zombies! First time on TV!”.
But seriously… blood on the face, stabbing the Zombie with an open mouth shouting (and by that not attracting any other Zombies), the Zombie getting into the Winnebago on his own accord basically looking around, walking around in packs, not being able to spot the pack from the top of the Winnebago with friggin glasses that should give the guy visibility for at least a couple hundred yards if not a mile, especially considering how large the pack was, hiding under cars (which needed to be pickups because you can’t hide under a normal car), not shooting the two Zombies that followed the girl but later on the shot in the woods to kill the deer, the two Zombies basically _running_ after that girl (so much for the “walking” part), Kirkman not really being able to answer the “can Zombies smell their prey or not!?” question on “Talking Dead” – Quote “It’s not like they really smell their prey” – what the hell else is it then about the smell from Season 1?!?) and the Hippie Priest Zombie being filled with a rodent that is so quick that any Zombie worth his salt shouldn’t be able to catch one if he weren’t a Zombie but a human. I mean COME ON are you friggin kidding me? “He recently at”. So now Walkers are able to catch rodents with their bare hands or what?
On top of that the church-scene with the bells that didn’t attract Zombies from the outside but the Zombies inside not having escaped yet even though apparently they usually manage to get through every door even metal ones Remember the guy on the roof in Season 1? If a metal door… ah what the hell forget it, I give up. I won’t even mention the “driving past 10 miles of car pileup getting out of the city not getting gas on the way and later on not being able to drive around another pileup because they were out of gas” bit. Or the part where it’s just 120 miles to get there and that even with a Winnebago that’s 10 gallons at most that you need to get there. In three hours.
W00t! Zombies! So cool!
And all questions will be asked at the end of the whole Show when we all find out it was actually god who sent the plague to earth for all of our sins.
Dandy.
Oh and P.S.: I bet the kid is going to live, no matter how deadly a shot to the gut would be in a world without hospitals.
*POST AUTHOR*
. . . . .
Sebastian:
I beg to differ. The Walking Dead isn’t reaching “Lost-like proportions”. As mentioned above, there’s just the matter of one suspending belief a bit. And the majority of your notes can be explained.
The blood on the face I explained above. Walker in the Winnebago? Sure … why not. That’s not far-fetched at all. I don’t know about you, but I can certainly get under most cars with ease. Any 200 lb. person could easily hunker under your average vehicle. (But who really wants to? Unless, of course, you’re in grave danger of a walker herd.) And, speaking of herding, it completely makes sense with the way they “think”. One little noise heard, a walker can come a’runnin’. They’re pretty basic. Packing up in a herd isn’t a stretch in the least. Not being able to see the herd, even atop the Winnebago? Plausible … especially with the glut of vehicles that was crowding the road. Who says walkers can’t run at some sort of loping gate? I’d say that one wasn’t running, but lurching along at a pretty good clip.
Rick didn’t shoot the walkers while veering them away from Sophia because he was being cautious and didn’t want to attract others toward them. Whoever shot the deer? Let’s just say there’s a reason he/she isn’t so restrained. Lastly, the “hippie” walker who munched the woodchuck? Who says it didn’t find the woodchuck dead? Or pinned somehow if alive?
Oh, walkers in the church? Again, who says they didn’t get in an open door and it closed on them somehow or one of them managed to close a door? A certain suspension of belief.
Just a little bit and I’d be willing to bet you might like The Walking Dead a little bit more.
Oh don’t worry, I know that you are able to rationalize almost everything and suspend your disbelief almost infinitely.
There’s a certain amount of Zombie lore out there and a good way to believe the things that contradicted both that lore and the show’s first season as well as things that happened within this exact same episode is to be uninformed about that lore. Patton Oswalt and James Gunn had some good points on “The Talking Dead” and if you think that the guy who wrote “Zombie, Spaceship Wasteland” is off well then ok… then I didn’t say anything.
Most of that stuff I’m willing and able to suspend my disbelief upon. there are plenty of entries in the zombie cannon where the blood is not a contagion in and of itself… and recall (as mentioned above) they bathed in it in the first season to no ill effect.
I, however, was a bit flummoxed about the smelling thing though… if they had to bathe in zombie body parts and blood to get through the zombie crowd in season one I think it is incumbent upon the writers to have the people lying a couple feet from a hoard of zombies get sniffed out. In other words… that was the writers fault to me an inexcusable gaffe. I’m also not sure why everyone fleeing Atlanta thought it necessary to honor the traffic laws and stay on the right side of the road when the left side was completely empty because no one was coming into town… seems like there might have been fewer traffic jams if they has exited on both sides. Not a big deal… but a head scratcher.
Anyway… fussing and moaning aside, it was enjoyable and I agree the further attempts at character development were good. I think it could have been done in an hour… which is not a lobby for a shorter show, but rather for a touch more content in the 90 minutes we got.
In short there was nothing to turn me away and plenty to bring me back for more.
ps… if you are watching a zombie show, and having trouble accepting somethings that are a bit unrealistic… you might want to rethink your perspective… there is nothing realistic about any zombie show… ever. A zombie apocalypse will never really be allowed to happen… see the crazies (or whatever it was called) for something a little closer to how an outbreak would actually be handled if you want “reality.”