I literally just found out (due to a mixture of my own low attention span when it comes to television and blind hope) that this first season of the best comic book adaptation across any medium was only six episodes long, which adds a ton of weight to reviewing this particular episode as its end marks the halfway point of the season. Sure, we know Season #2 was green lit after last episode (and possibly Seasons 3 through 10 as well), so the situation is no longer as dire as we used to think. Having the future of the show secure only makes watching Episode #3 that much more of a pleasure.
SPOILERS ARE ABOUND.
This episode starts off where episode 2 left off, with “new-to-the-show” character Merle Dixon still hand-cuffed to the abandoned department store vacated by the survivors last episode. We catch a brief glimpse into his dehydrated hysteria with walkers bearing down on top of him before cutting back to the other survivors as they make their way back to camp. Once they arrive we finally get the reunion between Rick, Carl and Lori that long time fans knew was coming before the series began and new fans knew since the first episode. The scene itself was handled with requisite emotion required of the father/son reunion, but the tension going though Shane and Lori’s minds as the reality of their tryst in the wake of Rick’s survival occurs to them. We’re then slowly introduced to life in camp including fleshed out introductions for Dale, Amy, Caroll and Sophia as well as some other “new-to-the-show” characters. After an extremely awkward “thought you were dead” sex scene between Rick and Lori, Rick reveals the next day that he plans to go back to Atlanta not only for Dixon, but for his bag of guns and ammunition as well. At this point we’re introduced to the “new-to-the-show” main character, Dixon’s pissed as hell off brother Daryl and witness the first walker sighting anywhere close to the camp (which was foreshadowing if I ever did see it, of course.)
Rick, Daryl, Glen and T-Dog then leave for Atlanta, much to chagrin of Shane and Lori. Following that are three rapid fire scenes that will ensure this show season after season to come. First we have a scene lifted directly from the comics of Amy, Andrea, Carol and an as yet unnamed new-to-the-showbie washing the group’s laundry by hand and commenting on the backwards ass gender roles in play following the outbreak. Following this, Lori makes her feelings very clear to Shane that whatever happened between she and him before Rick arrived was over and that he was to keep away from her family. It’s at this point that we learn that it was Shane himself that convinced Lori that Rick was dead. We then see the extreme domestic abuse taking place between Carol and her husband boil to the surface as well as Shane’s reaction to it. The episode ends with Rick and crew back on the roof with some very familiar imagery to fans of the book (that I won’t spoil since it’s just that great) and no Merle to be found.
I’m not sure where to start with the actual review portion of this review. There are way too many things this show is doing right to pick a place to begin, but if I had to I have to unquestionably echo all of the praise the actors on this show are getting. Portraying stress and grief is difficult for any actor to do convincingly, even more so when the entire world they inhabit is all stress and grief for anyone that doesn’t have a powerful hankering for human flesh. The sheer emotion being put forth by these actors is absolutely palpable, which makes the situations they find themselves in that much more gripping and tense for the viewer. Andrew Lincoln once again shines as the uber-confident, “no time to be scared” Rick Grimes and Sarah Wayne Callies comes across as commanding and in control as Lori. Then complete heartbreak behind Shane’s eyes speaks volumes Jon Bernthal’s However, the character I believe shined the most this episode has to be Dale, channeling the beloved character from the book so well that it makes you wonder if Kirkman wasn’t originally writing it with Jeffery DeMunn in mind.
Continued belowAnd of course, this show would be nothing without the superb production quality that turns a TV budget into gold. Not only the extremely convincing make-up and prosthetics used to bring the Walkers to life, but the high tension shooting and editing style used throughout. The show is certainly fond of both the close-up shot as well as the extremely wide long shot, both of which result in an extreme feeling of dread as both result in two very different “what are we not seeing?” reactions. Given what we know of the world these characters inhabit, what we don’t see is often a lot scarier than what we do, and the show manages to portray that impeccably.
Simply put: I am on the edge of my seat and cannot wait for the next episode. Unlike other members of this site, I haven’t been what one would call a “TV person” for many years now. A combination of interests in other media plus longer than usual work days/weeks have prevented me from really digging into any one serial TV show since I was 17 or so (except Heroes (which ultimately let me down) and Metalocalypse (which has yet to let me down)), but I can honestly say I will be glued to my TV over the next three Sundays as I watch one of my favorite comics continue to come to life with just as much tension, dread, excitement and emotion that made me invest in these characters in the first place.
Final Verdict: 9.1
