Walking Dead "Days Gone Bye" Review

Today is Halloween and what better thing to review than a show about zombies?

Thoughts: The Walking Dead is a critically acclaimed and immensely popular zombie survival series on AMC. Virtually everyone has heard about it and millions of people watch it, making it the highest rated series on cable TV. Can a series with that much hype actually live up to the expectations?
While "Days Gone Bye," the first episode of the series, is not the most impressive thing I have ever seen on television, it was certainly a solid start and setup episode that got me intrigued enough to watch three more episodes before the day was done. Since many of the readers have yet watch the series, I will provide ample warning before any spoilers, although there is not a lot to spoiler about the first episode.
The episode starts by introducing the star of the series, Sheriff  Rick Grimes, and his backstory and how he ended up of his situation. As usual with most stories taking place in a world different than our own, there is a character that is new to this situation and he is used as a narrative device so that the audience will know what is happening. Rick is a likable and noble character in a world without laws. The only other character to note is Morgan Jones, however he has yet to reappear in the series and may be just a one time appearance like the comic. The pacing the episode is a tad slow, on the other hand the pacing is necessary since the show has a lot to setup for future episodes.
*Spoiler*
Even though the ending with Jones trying to kill his zombified wife was good, that scene tried a little too hard to "tug at heartstrings" and ended up a little overly dramatic, however the rest of the episode was done very well.
My favorite part of the entire episode though was when Rick traveled to Atlanta and ran into the huge wave of zombies.
*End Spoiler*

Another surprising part about the episode is that it was less gory than I was led to believe, although the series is certainly not recommended for the squeamish. There is obviously a lot of violence and gore in general because this is a show about zombies of course, but I really do not care either way about violence and gore. However, I do stress that the show is not recommended for younger audiences.

Something interesting to note, is that the series is filmed in my home state of Georgia, and while I have never seen the crew actually film, they have filmed in many places that I recognize and I have been, which is cool. Also few movies or TV series actually take place in Georgia and the setting, thus far, is represented fairly accurately.


Genre: Zombie, Survival, Drama, Horror,
Premiere Date: October 31, 2010
Running Time: 67 minutes
TV rating: TV14-TVMA

Action: Even though there was not a ton of zombie killing in "Days Gone Bye," there was enough to keep me entertained and the filming of it was done well.

Acting: Andrew Lincoln as Rick gave a fine performance in a very likeable role. Lennie James as Morgan Jones was excellent as well. Other than those two actors, there were not many others to note.

Production Value/Special Effects: The Walking Dead has a very cinematic feel to the episode and the effects for the zombies were mostly believable. Every Walker (zombie) had a unique look and personality. The only weak aspect from a technical perspective are a few backgrounds that are obviously computer generated.

Soundtrack: While the song at the end was slightly annoying and the rest of the actual soundtrack was forgettable, the main theme is great and perfectly compliments the series.


Overall: 8.2/10- Even though the pilot episode is not the best thing I have ever seen, "Days Gone Bye" introduces the main character and sets up an intriguing zombie apocalypse world.

Closing comments: Having now seen all of season one and part of season two, I have to say that I am hooked and will most certainly continue watching the Walking Dead because it is great thus far.

Note: I have several things to say about the series as a whole, however those thoughts will be reserved to my review of season one.

Recommended for: Zombie fans, Drama fans, Horror fans,

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Top 35 TV Shows: Part 2: 35-31.

Here is the second part of my Top 35 TV Shows post series. If you watch any of the shows on this list, please comment and let me know. Maybe I will discover that there are some fans of a certain series and I might write full posts about the shows Also note that the list only includes scripted series that originated on TV. Please enjoy and tell me what you think of the list thus far. 

   

At Number 35: Elementary

CBS's recent American adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes has the fans outraged and general audiences captivated, ranking in the top 10 most watched shows of the year. Despite its flaws, Elementary bought something fresh to the crime genre, giving us mostly solid mysteries every week with surprisingly likeable characters. What surprised me most was Lucy Liu as Watson, despite my original skepticism, she turned out to be one of the best aspects of the series. The first season had its ups and downs, but season two is rather impressive and I hope it will continue its quality of storytelling.

Elementary (Sherlock Holmes) Season 1 Review.

At Number 34: The Andy Griffith Show

Its The Andy Griffith Show, what more needs to be said? Almost everyone has seen it at some point, it is classic television. Sure, the seasons after Don Knotts left never came close to matching the early ones, but the show was hilarious when he was on it. 

At Number 33: Falling Skies

Despite its writing inconsistency, Falling Skies is undoubtedly has the highest production value and special effects of any sci-fi show on television. Seriously, some of the effects are better than some movies, particularly season three's effects. At times the series can feel as though it is moving at a glacial pace, especially the first season, but it is worth it in the end. Aside from the impressive effects, the show is a well made alien invasion drama and one of the better examples of the alien invasion genre. 

  

At Number 32: Justice League Unlimited/Justice League

Both Justice League and the expansion of the series, Justice League Unlimited, take place in the same universe as Bruce Timm's Batman: the Animated Series. Justice League Unlimited is currently the only adaptation to actually bring the JL to life and the way WB is going with the film adaptation, it will be only one for a long time. Since I have not seen it in a while, it ranks a little low, but if I re-watch it would probably rank higher. Plus the opening theme is severely underrated, it is absolutely awesome! 

At Number 31: Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes

At first Avengers looked like any other animated comic book series, but it soon became surprisingly mature and focused on excellent character development. Earth's Mightiest Heroes adapted many of the classic comic book storylines with surprising accurately and with a few more seasons the series could have lead to the Civil War storyline the way the story was going. Unfortunately the heavily serialized nature of its great story and Disney's acquisition of Marvel was the show's downfall when it was cancelled after only two seasons.

Have you seen any of these shows? Do you like any of them? Please comment below.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.