Season One - What Happened?

[Snowdog]

I've just finished watching the first series of 6 episodes (not sure if that's a season or half-season). This show started off really promisingly but has steadily deteriorated.

Ep 1 - 5 out of 5, excellent start

Ep 2 - 5, still great

Ep 3 - 3, oh, oh, now we're headed toward soap opera land. I saw the Rick-Shane-Lori (sp) triangle before it appeared and my heart sank.

Ep 4 - 2, now it's getting daft, everyone pointing guns at each other and shouting threats, but they're all friends really. And that gang turning out to be care home attendants? So no bad people escape the zombies? Finally, we lose the most promising character in the show. Was it because she could act?

Ep 5 - 1, The show has descended into sentimentality and histrionics. Another interesting character dies, leaving all the annoying ones intact. Nothing happens in this episode apart from emotional hand-wringing.

Ep 6 - 1, By the end, I was hoping they'd all suffer a fiery death. Again, apart from some nice CGI and 5 minutes of exposition that didn't tell us anything, nothing happened in this episode except for a lot of over-acting. They can't all be that bad, so I put it down to the ham-fisted director. Has anyone ever seen Dale blink?

I know this show is quite popular but I can't think why. Is it just all the zombie-shooting and good makeup? It's not the story because there's barely a story and it's not the acting because that's mostly awful. The decision, which seems to be common these days for US shows, to centre the action around an established family, is the death of romance, one of the cornerstones of any good adventure. But it is a staple of soap operas, and that seems to be what they're trying for.

Finally, (actually there's a lot more, but it'd take too long to list them all) how come they're all expert marksmen? Never miss a headshot, from any distance. Also (OK I lied), how come they smash and smash and smash the zombies into smithereens but never get so much as a splatter on them?

That's enough. Most people reading this forum are likely to be fans but I just had to register my disappointment

 

[No One]

May I just say, the second season is definitely not for you Snowdog

I find myself walking a bit of a fine line with the show now, after what I thought was a very promising first season. Of course there'll be a focus on human drama as influenced indirectly by the zombie apocalypse, but I just wish it wasn't quite so...formulaic.

That's not to say the second season doesn't have some superb scenes, but I have to wonder if 13 episode seasons aren't just demanding a lot of filler that isn't needed. It's earned enough credit so far to keep me going, but the third season will be crucial in deciding whether or not I persist with the show. It's certainly got me wanting to read the highly rated comics, if nothing else.

It's a shame really, because so many tv series nowadays have meticulously planned and executed first seasons (or at least a handful of the first episodes) before the reality of keeping it going kicks in and standards decline - Heroes is a prime example of that imo.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Been a while since I watched this, but I was also disappointed when the lovely lady ended up zombiefied. And the love triangle was not to my taste.

Can't say whether season 2 is an improvement, as it migrated to pay TV.

 

[Dave]

I've changed the thread title to Season One, since we don't have any Season One threads and the other general threads have gone way beyond the first Seasons. Can there still be anyone out there apart from me who is still watching Season One?

I'm up to Episode 3. I did find it a little derivative to begin with, and some of the Zombies do appear to be college student extras having a fun time of it, but I think Snowdog is being a bit harsh. I also saw the love triangle immediately, and there is a whole host of other social issues such as wife-beating, but a 'soap opera'? I think not. Character driven - yes.

The looting the department store and the whole waking up in a hospital were both very old chestnuts. Rather unlikely too. Hospitals are the worst places for catching infections - and he was surrounded by dead bodies there.

Riding the horse into Atlanta to find the emergency centre - if he believed that government propaganda then there isn't much hope for him. And how did the rest of the group get to Atlanta? (Maybe that will be explained to me in future episodes.)

I really liked the BBC Survivors and was disappointed when it was cancelled. I'd like to see what happens 28 Months Later not just the immediate aftermath, so it is good that it is getting such a long run. I'm watching it on BT Vision so I can see the first and second seasons for free. I'm enjoying it so I will probably watch them back to back. I'll be disappointed if the quality drops as much as No One thinks.

 

[HanaBi]

Apologies for resurrecting a very old thread, but I have finally forced myself to watch this show, and am still struggling to get through the first season.

The pilot was exceptional, but then again I guess writer/director Frank Darabont, is the reasoning behind that.

But it all went very pear-shaped thereafter with cliche after cliche after cliche, to the point where I just gave up by episode 4. No suspense, no decent story and predictable characters just don't interest me at all.

I shall try season 2 at some point, because I know with some shows it does take time to get into a stride (or zombie-shuffle in this case). But this show really hasn't caught my imagination, but I guess I am in the minority, and therefore doesn't matter.

 

[Mister_Oy]

It's all in the character development - and takes a while.

 

[J Riff]

Takes a while to believe how dim they are. The soap opera is what makes it watchable, the SFF content is near zero.