Walking Dead

We caught up on The Walking Dead tonight (although we did not yet see tonight's episode, since I don't particularly like watching the show late at night).  What a great show.  I thought it was going to be a super-scary horror show and was a little worried about watching the pilot, but I thought the pilot was fantastic.  It was so sad and devastating.  I don't watch many shows that don't have some element of humor (not anymore, anyway, I need something to lighten my day!) but I added this dark show to my watch list.  Tonight, watching the second and third shows, I felt the same way as I did about the pilot.  Just such a good show.  I'm happy to see that it's been doing well in the ratings and will be returning for another season.

If you haven't watched The Walking Dead, here's why I watch:

1.  It's a devastating picture of a post-apocalyptic world.  Something bad has clearly happened in this world and turned everyone into zombies (walkers) except for a few survivors.  The immeasurable sense of loss and fear really make me think about what things would be like if we were faced with such a catastrophe.  In the pilot, the scenes where (spoiler) the husband contemplates shooting his wife because she is now a zombie and just can't do it were utterly heartbreaking.

2.  It's more about how people cope with survival than how to beat the zombies.  It's really a relationship drama at its heart but set in a bleak world where people are trying to survive.  It's like Independence Day, the movie I've seen about 100 times.  Once there is some larger enemy uniting us, we have to realize we're really all the same.  Yet we still have our differences and it's fascinating how people deal with them.  Granted, this is much deeper than that movie, but still the same type of thing.  (OK, it's a relationship drama that has a lot of gore.  Let's not forget that zombies eat anything alive.  There are many times that I watch through my fingers.)

3.  Glenn.  I love this character.  I felt so invested in him and knowing whether or not he survives that I went to go read the plot of the book.  

4.  The quality of the show is excellent.  If you feel like there's a lot of trash on TV, I would suggest checking this out for a show that's really well-made with good story, good pacing (my problem with Rubicon and why I stopped watching), good characters and just good filmmaking.

Can't wait to see tonight's.  But I definitely don't want it to be the last thing I see tonight.  Especially if they tear into another human or animal and there's blood and guts everywhere.