Walking with The Walking Dead

Well, here we are at the last "Walking With the Walking Dead" post I'll be writing until October 2011. Maybe it's just me, but I don't know how good of an idea it is to wait that long before airing new episodes. I understand that there aren't any now, but surely at least something new could be finished before then. I worry about the attention span of joe tv-watcher, who will likely have found other things to occupy their tivo long before next fall. With having season 2 start a whole year later, AMC will almost have to "re-introduce" the entire world to the show. Unless of course there are plans to re-run the six episodes from this season over the summer or something.

Well then, the finale didn't waste much time in answering my question as to whether or not we would be staying in the CDC for a while, now did it? There be SPOILERS ahead kids, as per usual.

Episode 6: TS-19

This episode begins with a flashback with Shane and Rick at the hospital while Rick was still in a coma after being shot. I'm guessing this is maybe during the beginning of the outbreak, as the military is on the scene doing a little "clean-up". It was kinda hard for me to decide whether Shane was simply scared out of his mind, or just a complete moron, but there's an explosion that rocks the hospital and all of Rick's monitors lose power. Shane gives Rick a look, listens on his chest for a heartbeat, decides that he's probably dead, and leaves the room. Rick isn't hooked up to any sort of life-support, in fact he doesn't really appear to have much going on other than an IV and some heart monitors, but the screen turned off and Shane got the hell out of there. But hey, at least he pushed a stretcher in front of the door, what a pal! 

Back in the present, Rick and company enter the CDC and that's where we're basically spending the rest of the episode. They're greeted by Dr. Jenner and his assault rifle. After giving everyone blood tests, and doing introductions, the group gets some much needed downtime, with dinner and wine flowing freely, followed by the first hot shower that most of them have had in a while. We also get more proof that Shane is going to continue to be a bit of a problem for Rick and Lori, as he confronts her about their relationship, telling her that he loves her. He grabs her, and gets some nasty scratches across his face and neck for it. I was waiting for Rick to show up here, but he doesn't.

The next morning, the group has some questions for Jenner, who really doesn't appear to know much more than they do about the outbreak. All he really does is go over the different possibilities for what is going on, but there's no definite answer. He explains that he is the only one who stayed behind, as the other doctors and people who worked there either left, or couldn't handle what was going on and ended their own lives. He shows them the research done at his facility on one particular test subject though, TS-19, who was bitten there and volunteered to have the doctors  experiment and record her during the process of death. The demonstration ends when we see a bullet enter the brain on the screen seconds after re-animation.  I thought this was a pretty cool scene, I liked watching the zombification process occur through MRI. It's different, and not something that we usually get in zombie movies, as they tend to be more about surviving the undead than actually studying them or the science behind it. 

Of course all is not well at the facility, and our little band of survivors have arrived just a few hours before the generators will be running out of fuel, and the building will go into full decontamination, which being that this is a Center for Disease Control, dealing with weaponized viruses and the like, means fire and lots of it. With just 30 minutes until ignition, Jenner locks everyone inside. His motive for doing this being that outside there is nothing waiting for them but eventual agonizing death, and dying inside the facility by incineration is a much better alternative. Of course there is a bit of disagreement here, and after a bit of persuasion (including Shane going apeshit and blowing several monitors and such to shit, and threatening to blow the doctor's head off with a shotgun before he's wrestled to the ground by Rick), he re-opens the door of the room they're in. He wishes them luck, and tells them that there's nothing he can do about the main doors to the facility, as it's in complete lockdown. 

They arrive at the front door with just over 3 minutes left until decontamination. As expected, they have some trouble getting the glass to break, as axes, a chair, and a shotgun all prove to be useless. Luckily though, Rick is the kind of guy that walks around with grenades in his pocket, and Carol just so happens to have found one there while washing his uniform the first morning after he arrived at camp. Apparently this woman, who has two small children with her at almost all times, has been carrying a live hand grenade in her purse. Wow. Anyway, so Rick places the grenade by one of the windows, it does it's job and the group head outside with not much time left to spare. We lose another "tv-only" cast member here, as Jacqui decides she doesn't want to end up like Jim and Amy, and stays behind with Jenner. Andrea also wants to stay behind, but Dale refuses to leave without her, so she reluctantly escapes with him. Once outside, the group dispatches a few roamers between them and their vehicles, they all board up and drive away from the burning pile of rubble. 

End season one! Overall I'm pretty pleased with the show so far. I hate that it was only 6 episodes, but I get why. I am glad that it's been so popular though, I even have people who I never would've thought would be into something like this come up to me at work and ask me about it. There are still a few things we're left hanging on, like Daryl's brother Merl, still no idea where he is or what he's up to with the van, the whole Rick/Lori/Shane thing is nowhere near over, and just as in the comic, Andrea and Dale are showing signs of becoming an item. Lots to work off of beginning next season, bring it on.