The Walking Dead on AMC

[Rachel]

and the sex in the woods scene? During a zombie apocalypse? Unsafe and she didn't really look like she was enjoying herself, maybe grief or shame, maybe Shane's just not as desirable.

[Dana]

Rachel, I hope you're wrong about that, but I had the same feeling too.... but maybe she looked for comfort after being told Rick was dead. It's a tough call 'cause at the VERY least Shane has had the hots for her way back when...

The one thing I'll say in both Shane and Lori's defense is given a situation like a zombacalypse, people are gonna look for comfort, familiarity and sanity where they can. But I also got a squiggy feeling in episode two when they had sex in the forest. not a good squiggy feeling either.

[Fredstrong]

Love the show!!! Never has a genre been such fertile ground for the TV series, (done right, of course). The epic storyline fits perfectly with following such a survivor group's journey(s). The special effects do a great job of adapting the GN art to the screen. The story arcs are suspenseful, there are heroes to cheer for, villains to curse and lots of moments when you don't know which are which. So far, this may well be the very best zombie work to hit the big, or little, screen. How exciting!

[James]

I just seen the fourth episode. I love the twist with the gang - totally unexpected.

[Cameron]

Not sure how I feel about the government conspiracy that seems to be developing. The graphic novels (for as far as I've read) don't address the source of the outbreak at all, instead choosing to focus on the characters and their development. How they respond to the disaster rather than the disaster itself. I preferred it that way.

[Dana]

Cameron, I'm with you on the possible government conspiracy. I've been good with all the twists, additions and changes up until the CDC...I'm withholding judgment for the time being, but you hit the nail on the head re: what I also love about the graphic novels... That being said, I'm still loving the show.

[Girly]

I was waiting to see if anyone else had a problem with the direction the show went during the last episode.

I was okay with the small changes in the storyline and characters. I was a little bothered with the relationship between Lori and Shane but I got over it. Andrea, Carol, and the children's age discrepancies threw me at first but I got over it. I was SO excited to see these characters come to life after reading the books for the last few years. But after watching this last episode take such a drastic turn, I'm wondering why even bother basing it off of these books if you're not going to follow the story at all after the 5th episode?

***Possible Spoilers Ahead, Folks***
How long are the writers going to keep Shane alive? Shouldn't he be dead already? I was waiting for Carl to shoot him during the woods scene.

Is Tyreese going to show up? Because I just can't picture that relationship with the actress they chose to play Carol.

Are the writers going to hold off on Lori being pregnant or are they going to take it out of the storyline altogether?

Does this bother anyone else? Don't get me wrong. It's an awesome show but if the writers are going completely off the storyline then the show shouldn't have been based on the book. It's disappointing to fans of the books - at least to this fan.

[Dana]

I'm wondering if part of the reason they're making such drastic changes is to build some suspense for people who've read the books. I do think Shane is gonna die - he really has to in order to make the character arcs with Lori, Rick and Carl work, but I guess they're changing the location. A lot of times filmmakers take source material and deviate from it for various reasons (some good, some bad, some M. Night Shamaylan bad) and they might even have the comic book creator's blessing. I worked on a screenplay of Where the Chill Waits, which is an awesome horror novel, and the director attached wanted certain changes for cinematic reasons. Some we agreed with, some we didn't... but yeah, it's really hard when you're attached to a particular book or comic and the filmmakers start running off in a totally different direction.

I HOPE Tyreese shows up! But yeah, Carol is... well, an interesting casting choice. And I'm placing bets Lori will end up being pregnant at some point.

[Dana]

Oh, I know what I was gonna say... get me going on a tangent and my brain takes a holiday... Anyway, it's like in True Blood, keeping the character of LaFayette alive instead of killing him off pretty much right of the bat. Great character and works with what they're doing, and the show is pretty much true to the books in the essentials of Sookie/Bill/Eric, at least what I've watched so far... but then there's Tara and the weird voodoo subplot, which didn't work for me at all. Same type of issue, though, where they deviate from the original stories with varying degrees of success and audience approval.

Blah blah blah. I stop now. :-)

[Cameron]

***Possible Spoilers Ahead, Folks***

Abby wrote: "Shouldn't he be dead already? I was waiting for Carl to shoot him during the woods scene.

Is Tyreese going to show up? Because I just can't picture that relationship with the actress they chose to play Carol.

Are the writers going to hold off on Lori being pregnant or are they going to take it out of the storyline altogether?"


I read an interview with Kirkman that said he was under length constraints on the first volume (first 7 comics) due to how long he would have access to the illustrator, Tony Moore. That's why everything happens so quickly. He had the opportunity to stretch out the development of events with the AMC series, so he did so.

He also said that Tyreese and Michonne would show up, and that he was surprised and thought it was "interesting" that so many viewers (including myself) were guessing that Merle will be the Governor.

[Philip]

Keep in mind, they just fired the entire writing staff. The 2nd season should either jump the shark right off the bat (you could say it jumped the shark with the CDC scene) or it will get back on track with the comic books.

It is horrible when they take the #1 rated Cable TV show and cock it up after only a few episodes.

[Dana]

Cameron, I was thinking the same thing re: Merle = Governor...

[Steve]

I've been telling friends, who know I read WD, about the differences between comic & the show only when they ask. Basically, as the show now seems to have gone off in a completely different direction, I don't know what to tell them.

In a way it is now an alternate reality version of the story, "what if" Carl hadn't taken the shot or was even aware of the danger to his father. This will make Carl a much different character in the show (at least for the moment) than he is in the book.

I admit to being one of those who immediately thought he knew who "The Governor" was going to be. You know Merle will reappear, but not when.

Anyone else concerned about the firing of the writers?

[Cameron]

That's interesting that they're going to use a new wrting staff for the second season - I hadn't heard that.

I'd agree with you, Steve, that at this point it's such a different story (not to mention a completely different medium altogether) that it's better to view the series as a seperate piece of work entirely and enjoy it as such.

[Rachel]

I hadn't heard about the firing of the writing staff. The EW article has Frank Darabont saying that they kept Shane around until season 2 to increase the tension in that relationship and build on it. In way that's interesting but I'm annoyed by the actor who plays Shane and kinda want him dead already. The age changes don't really bother me. Making the kids older probably has to do with child labor laws, older kids can work longer. I actually think I'm more comfortable with Andrea/Dale's May-December romance with Andrea being a little older. But is it just me, or did they change the back story on Dale's wife?

I really hope the CDC is a stop over. The shot with the door opening at the end was straight from Close Encounters of The Third Kind and I looked and my friend and asked,"Where the hell is that bright light coming from?". I was kinda hoping the guy wouldn't open up and they'd be forced to move on. That'd be interesting. I know Darabont plans on introducing The Governor and Michonne. I doubt they would cut the pregnancy. It adds so much to Rick's character later on. I think, just like True Blood, which I don't watch and don't read the books, when you translate a book series to a tv series there has to be some deviation and added story lines because you don't want to just use up the story lines everyone knows. I like how sometimes I have to think if something that happened on the show happened in the comic. I do have to admit I read the first 9 volumes on a long car ride to VA so some details are lost on me.

[Girly]

Steve - I was thinking that myself. I wondered if they were taking the story in a "what if" direction; if there was an alternate storyline lying around that Kirkman wanted Darabont to follow. All I kept thinking as I watched the CDC scene was "Please, don't."

Rachel - Yes! Shane is totally skeevy. In the books, at least to me, he seemed attractive yet controlling and psycho. I also hope the CDC is just a stop-over, and they resume their original trek on the road. Like I mentioned before, I don't mind the small changes in characters and storyline but it will bother me if they go completely off track.

[James]

Ive heard that next season they'll be making it to the prison. Also the guy who sawed his hand off is rumored to be the governor. Hopefully its true, the prison and the governor are pivotal points in the story (for everyone who has read the graphic novel) I chalk the CDC up to them not knowing if it was going get picked up for another season and not wanting to leave it to open ended.

[Dana]

James, good point re: the CDC/not wanting to leave it open.

[Rachel]

I think that's the only reason they went to the CDC...although the episode didn't actually provide closure for anything.

[Jessy]

I am a little anxious about them firing the writers. I really hope it doesn't ruin anything.

****THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!***

In other news: I was reading an interview with Robert Kirkman, and he is actually really excited about Shane living longer. I didn't think that they were going to kill him off in the first season, that's just not good TV. They are trying to build the tension in the relationship between Lori, and Shane, and Rick and Shane. For Carl to come out and kill Shane so soon, it would've seemed so sudden. Just like in the comic book. But I understand Kirkman's need to kill him off sooner. And Darabont's need to keep him alive. I feel like keeping Shane alive this long, really works for the TV show.
As for Meryl being the governor... I really hope they don't take that route. I think it would take a lot of the dynamic of the governor out. In the comic, he seems like a nice enough guy at first. If Meryl is the governor, then you don't get that. Rick knows what kind of person Meryl is, and in the comic, he has no idea what kind of person the governor is.
Now, for the CDC... I really hated it. I don't think they should have done this at all. I mean, I understand why they would go that direction. It only seems logical for people in that situation to seek answers in that form. But I think that if the show lasts long enough to get to the when they meet the scientist later on, then going to the CDC ruins so much of what I feel Kirkman was trying to get at. Plus, when one of the girls dies in the prison, she comes back. Without being bit. That alone, goes against what the CDC was saying. So far, actually, a lot of things they are saying go against that scene alone. They are hinting more and more about this being a virus, that you can acquire through biting, and scratching. In the comic, I feel like it's going in a different direction. Maybe something airborne? Maybe something completely different? Who really knows?
As for Lori getting pregnant, it has to happen. If they pull that completely out of the show, then they are losing a lot of the story. Lori getting pregnant is is vital for Rick's character. Just like Carl killing Shane is vital. These things just have to happen for the show to be nearly as good as the comic.

In reply to Rachel: In the comic, they never really said what killed Dale's wife. Just says that they were traveling, and then the news hit them, and his wife never left that campsite. So, they are hinting at the fact that she was killed by the zombies. Nothing that had to do with cancer. So, there's that.

Ok. I'm going to stop rambling about all this. I get really worked up, and go off on tangents when I talk about the show and/or the comic.

[Steve]

I recall reading in an interview that Kirkman was surprised that so many thought that Meryl would be The Governor. I don't think he really was, since for fans of the book it was a pretty easy assumption.

I agree that keeping Shane alive longer makes sense for the show. In the comic it was shocking and Carl's development since then has been fascinating to watch. I don't know how TV viewers would have felt about something like that. I also don't recall Shane & Carl having the good relationship in the book as they appeared to have in the show.

I'm sure that eventually we'll be seeing many of the events from the book appear in later episodes of the show, but not necessarily in the same order.