'Days Gone Bye' - The Walking Dead, Season One

The Walking Dead

Season One

Episode One

'Days Gone Bye' - 7.5

'Days Gone Bye' goes through a lot of plot. We meet Sheriff Deputy Rick Grimes, he is shot, he wakes up from a coma an unknown amount of time later, discovers zombie invasion, is taken in by a father and son, leaves father and son, heads to Atlanta, gets stuck in a tank. Still, the one hour episode doesn't feel like it covers a lot of ground.

It is slow. Like, say, Lost, The Walking Dead spends a long time simply having its characters talking to one another. That is certainly not a bad thing - in order for a viewer to care for someone, we need to get to know them, and short of them doing a voice-over this is the easiest way. Rick Grimes is a nice guy, very honourable, he has a wife and a child, you know, pretty much the description of any main character ever. Of course that trope of the goody-goody hero is tried and true, but it does get old. Grimes spends a large amount of the episode making sure that we all know he won't kill the 'walkers' unless he's sure they are dead - the rotting flesh isn't proof enough, it seems - and that finding his wife and son are all that is important to him. Cause you know, that's different.

I will compliment the writing here though, because it is not that simple. Unlike that unbelievable irritating protagonist from Terra Nova (can't remember his name), Rick Grimes has flaws. He does seem to have some small marital issues, he seems to be seeing the best in people all the time and did actually come close to topping himself at the end there. I don't dislike him simply because he is not perfect, as well as the fact that his actor; Andrew Lincoln; does a pretty damn fine job depicting Grime's terror and confusion as he comes to understand what has happened while he was dead to the world. Hopefully in the future he can become much less of a role model, and more of a human being so we can truly count him as a deserving protagonist.

I should stress I know nothing of the graphic novels the series is based on, and don't really want to. This isn't anything against comics, it's just that I prefer to be shocked by the events of a television show than be shocked by how badly a twist is executed as compared to how it was done in the source material. I'm the same with Game of Thrones. Anyhow, my pure lack of knowledge of the comics means I don't know who dies, I don't know what happens and I can't comment on how well the show is adapted - all I can say is whether or not I find the show itself entertaining and rewarding. And yes, for the most part I do.

The other characters were less interesting than our deputy. Dwayne and Dwayne's father (can't remember, sorry) were effective, if only as a device to humanise a zombie invasion and explain the circumstances in layman's terms to Grimes, and thus to us. What was impressive in regards to them was the way in which the show managed to peak our sympathy for their un-dead mother/wife. She never got a line in, she was a zombie from the get-go and we were forced to embrace her as a character of worth nonetheless. Well played, the Walking Dead, well played. I shall remain aware of your tricks from now on.

Aesthetically, my guess is that a lot of what we are shown comes from filmed versions of the frames in the comic, but I can't prove anything. The point is that it looks great - the hospital scene being a prime example. It was bleak and beautiful, with the only bright colours being the red of the blood which appeared wonderfully sparsely. It was scary, and in a show like this fear is the perfect emotion to evoke. My only complaint is in the lack of music. Yes, silence adds weight and makes us create our own emotional response, but it only works when it is juxtaposed against scored scenes. Here, I felt the lack of a proper musical score was simply lazy.

Something else that catches your eye will be the violence. The effects of the zombies are first rate jobs, if a little over done; missing limbs, rotted faces, slow-motion head explodings and close ups of violent death. I believe the most sticking image is that of the torso-zombie, the one near the bike - it was gorgeously grotesque, being only half a human, with its insides dragging along behind it as it pulled itself along the ground. So slow it is harmless, sure, but immeasurably affecting.

So that is the first episode of the Walking Dead, and while I definitely enjoyed it, I feel there are improvements that need to be made. First, it needs a score, second we need to develop the role of Rick Grimes considerably more and third, move it along. Yeah, atmosphere, but there is only so many well-crafted visuals I can take in before I start wondering what my dog is doing right now.  Despite those issues, it was a top-notch job by the effects department, and the casting seemed pretty on the spot. I'll definitely be tuning in again.