Anyone else catch the premiere? It was better than I thought it would be and it was cool to see life begin to change. I'm glad they didn't dive right into the chaos in the pilot, it seems like things falling apart will be more of a slow burn. It's a different but refreshing perspective see normal people react to the walkers in the beginning before they turn into survivalist psychopaths. I didn't like the angsty teenage nonsense. That doesn't really have a place in a show where the stakes are astronomically high. Overall, the casting was good and Cliff Curtis is usually pretty good in whatever he's in. The teenage son was impossibly greasy. Also, another Wire cast sighting - the daughter's boyfriend was Randy Wagstaff.
I'm going to agree that the show is starting of slowly but to see the beginning of the change is really cool. I will say though, the older son is a liability and I can't wait to see him die a horrible death. I have a feeling they are going for a redemption arc with him though and that just isn't realistic.
Did anyone else think the junkie son looks like Johnny Depp? I do like what they're doing with this as apposed to jumping right into the apocalypse. Spoiler: Spoiler I would really like to hear more about how the government is dealing with it. It seems like this has been going on for a little while because during the scene where the old dude codes in the hospital they seemed very anxious to get him out of the room and "downstairs".
That was all intentional, from the interviews I've read. The point being, the world didn't crumble in 5 minutes. It took awhile. So the non-zombie survival parts of people's lives, that were in the middle of being messy, with divorce, bankruptcy, teen angst, didn't suddenly go away. When the zombie apocalypse happens, at what point does it not matter if you mail your house payment anymore? When does it become okay to smash in a pharmacy window to get bandages and medicine? How long before you won't be prosecuted for shooting your neighbor? On the original series, we'd already made that jump of acceptance with the characters and as viewers. Since teen angst is such a typical, universal occurrence, that was an easy thing to show. The sister eye-rolling and pouting and all that was an easy device to put the viewer into "normal" life. I loved the constant background of helicopters and sirens while the characters seem oblivious. LA is the perfect setting for that. The fact that the viewers already know more than the characters about what's to come is a unique way to lay the ground work. Even though this is taking place before TWD's timeline, I read that the plan is eventually for FTWD to catch up so they're on the same timeline, but in different locations.
I liked that too. I kept thinking "OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU NOT FREAKING OUT?" And then I realized they have no concept of what's coming, which is really cool. I think Kirkman said the characters don't have any kind of zombie fiction in their universe, which is why they never say "zombie" or just shoot them in the head off the bat. I'm trying to think who might make cameos from the other series and Atlanta is so far away from LA I doubt they would ever meet. Maybe the CDC guy would pop up at some point?
Yeah, you'd think at some point in time before Rick & Company met up with him, there'd have been interviews with him on CNN, Fox News, etc. before the world fell apart. That may just end up being background stuff, but it would be a pretty cool connection.
I guess I'm wondering how much earlier this show starts than when the original show started. So far, lot of people are generally aware that something is wrong, or at the very least, weird. That kid with the knife in his jacket seems to have more fear in him than anyone else. Could it already be the apocalyptic scenario in other places but LA hasn't gotten it yet? If so, how would they not have been aware?
That kid is already the smartest character in The Walking Dead universe. AFAIK, Rick was in a coma for a month in the pilot. So I guess this show takes place shortly after he was shot.
In that case, this show will pick up the pace rather quickly. I imagine shit will start getting serious by the 3rd episode. The other thing I think someone mentioned earlier was that they don't know anything about these things. If they only knew that a substantial head wound stopped them, there would be no show.
He did directly say something about hearing/reading reports of strange things going on elsewhere, when he was confronted/questioned for having that little knife. I'm used to thinking of zombie shows and survival horror games as more utilitarian, so leaving the dealer's gun behind kept striking me as foolish. Then I reminded myself this is SoCal and no one's thinking "zombies", so the legal hassles of having a murder gun might be weighing on them. Or, y'know, they just didn't bother considering it, because again, they're not genre-savvy at this point. EDIT: Nett, I don't see any reason to hold off, it's not like this will spoil the other show or anything. You're at the point in TWD where there's zombies, right?
I liked the opening, and have always got a kick out of the fact that they live in a definite alternate universe where no one has ever imagined a zombie. I really did like the kid thinking he was going insane, because what other explanation was there really after a drug bender that seemed to go wrong.......right until he has to run over his dealer. HA HA HA. Not commuted but certainly on board for giving it a solid chance.
Decent second episode. The shot of the cop hoarding the water and then glancing at Travis was especially good. Also the crowd of people that start protesting around the homeless guy getting shot was pretty well done. I almost expected someone to scream "WORLD STAR."
Agree. TWD creators didn't do themselves any favors, though, as far as the Spoiler: Dead Again criticism they get about always killing off "the black guy." Poor Matt.
I just realized that Kim Dickens, the mom / guidance counselor, was the cop in Gone Girl. Looks totally different.
This show is a goddamn Republican PSA. This must be what it feels like to be a Republican watching any other show on television. Edit: Oh, and that actress was also Matt Saracen's mom. Which is weird because I think the junkie son kind of looks like Riggins.
They are surprisingly heavy handed with the pro-gun stuff in this series. Is that what you mean, or was it the blatant use of torture to get the information from that soldier? I thought that was a little silly and completely unnecessary. On the gun thing though, to be fair, it didnt make a ton of sense for Travis to not let his son learn about a shot gun when that shot gun saved his life five minutes earlier. Everything seems so sudden in this series. In one episode they are running from the chaos and hunkering down in their house. In the very next episode, its a week later and the National Guard has set up a safe zone compound? What? Another thing thats driving me crazy is where are all the zombies? They are everywhere in the original series, and that takes place in rural Georgia. These people are in suburban LA and theres no walkers roaming the streets in a city of 12 million people?