The Walking Dead Season 2 Review

Thoughts: After a strong critically and publicly acclaimed first season would you expect the executives to do? Fire the writers of the series. Yeah, no one expected that, which made fans skeptical for the show's return: did it live up to the hype? Both yes and no. While the series have more than twice as many episodes as the merger six of the first season, which is a plus, several of the episodes and one story arc were noticeably weaker than the previous season. However, that is not to say that season two is bad, in fact, season two has some truly amazing episodes and some truly disappointing ones that makes you wish the old writers were back. In the end, season two is still better than a lot of shows I have seen and certainly worthy of a viewing, even if it does not match the quality that the first season set.

Unlike viewers who watched the series from the beginning on a  week to week basis, my brother and I watched season two is a little less than two weeks, which is important to take into account for this review for several reason. For one, the lack of plot movement between episodes four and seven are not nearly as grueling when you can watch the next episode in less than a day. *Minor Spoiler* However, I can image many losing some interest in the Sophia story arc since even I felt those episodes dragged on unnecessarily. If you were watching them on a weekly basis, the arc lasted more than a month, but the conclusion was satisfying enough in the end even though it lose some impact due to the length of the arc. *End Spoiler* During those episodes, the weakest part of season two is displayed with some overly melodramatic moments. Don't get me wrong, the character interaction and drama is one of the things that makes the show great, but those episodes delved into "soap opera-y" bad. Despite those few weak episodes, the series takes off after episode seven and almost returns to its former glory with an excellent combination of action and character moments.

One thing to note about the accuracy of the setting is that one episode featured a Southern Baptist Church. For whatever reason there is a crucified Jesus statue, being a Southern Baptist myself, I know that Southern Baptist Churches do not have those in churches, or at least very few, if any, do. My thought is that it there to provide imagery for the scene, but it is an inaccurate representation of the region and the religion, however that minor thing will not be held against the show in the final rating.

The Good: More great character development, Epic zombie battle, Same great main theme, Several amazing episodes, Impactful deaths, Better zombie action, Characters struggling to survive, More Glenn, Likable new characters, Daryl Dixon is even more bada** than before, Better production value, Larger scale, More episodes, Epic finale and reveal, Shocking plot twists and moments, Fantastic premiere, Unexpected ending reveal,

The Bad: Sophia arc dragged on too long, A few noticeably weak episode, Some dumb moments, A few overly dramatic "soap opera-y" parts, Inconsistent character motivations,


Plot: 8.4/10- Season two has its ups and downs in terms of its plot. Some episodes have several dumb moments that take you out of an otherwise engrossing experience. Rick in particular goes through fantastic character development as he struggles with his morals in a world without morals. With the exception of T-Dog, all of the main characters receive more development and are fleshed out, along with several new characters that I liked a lot. Despite the generally well thought out character motivations and character actions, a few times a character's action were completely out of character. One of my favorite characters from season one, Glenn, is given a lot more screen time and I really liked his character. Daryl is another character that was fortunately given more screen time because he is a great character. My further analysis of the characters will come in a later post. Aside from a focus on the characters, the show had many utterly shocking moments that makes the show different from others. Additionally, the finale was actually what I wanted to see. *Major Spoilers* While I did know a few spoilers about who lives and dies, which are virtually unavoidable considering the popularity of the series, I was still shocked that Dale died and the way, in which Shaun died was also unexpected. Additionally, the big reveal about what Jenner told Rick at the end of season one was shocking and totally unexpected, but very original. *End Spoiler*

Action: 8.3/10- While the first season gave us a taste of the zombie action the series could deliver, season two took it to another level in a few episodes. Since the group learn different strategies to battle the zombie, the variety of the action is great and the more stealth oriented strategies that are utilized make things more interesting. The risk of the characters being infected by the Walkers makes for many suspenseful scenes, particularly during the close quarters combat scene. In addition to the Walker action scenes, there are some human vs. human shootouts to add more variety to the action. *Minor Spoiler* The battle in the finale is truly epic and equal to that of many movies, except with the added suspense of your favorite character possibly dying. *End Spoiler*

Acting: 9.4/10- Overall, the acting is top notch. While the material given the actors is not always that great, which makes the actors look bad, Andrew Lincoln as Rick was particularly excellent and portrayed his character's struggle perfectly.

Special effects/Productions Value: 9.9/10- Nothing matches The Walking Dead's special effects and production value. The Walkers are gruesome in appearance with believable prosthetics and attention to detail. The lack of CGI is applause worthy here with almost every effect being practical. Many movies are not this good (looking at you World War Z), and the lighting and directing is always spot on; shaky-cam is virtually nonexistent!

Soundtrack: 7.9/10- Although the eerie opening theme returns, the rest of the soundtrack is fitting but never memorable enough for me to listen to it on its own and recognize it.

Comedy: 4.5/10- While there are a few humorous comments like when Daryl hilariously refers to Glenn as "Short Round," Indy's sidekick in Temple of Doom, which is something that I thought of in season one, the series is mostly humorous-less but never dull or lifeless.

Overall: 8.4/10- Season two begins the show's biggest flaw, its overall inconsistency, which continues to plague the series today. However, if I were to take the best six episodes of season two and compare it to season one, season two is better in terms of character development, but when looking at both the strong and weak episodes of season two of The Walking Dead, it is not as good. Despite the dip in overall quality, The Walking Dead is still a very good TV series that I cannot recommend more since season three is far superior.

Closing comments: Even if you are not a zombie fan, The Walking Dead is a must watch show if you can handle the gore.

Note: With the exception of a few corrections and minor comments, this review was written by me directly after finishing season two and before season watching season three. I did this so that I could give an accurate opinion of the season without being influenced by the next season.

You can click on the link to read my review for The Walking Dead Season 1.
Recommended for *Mature*: Zombie fans, Survival fans, Drama fans, Action fans, Apocalypse fans, Fans of TV,

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