The Walking Dead: Season 1

How does a show about the zombie apocalypse turn out to be one of the highest rated TV shows in America? It really is kind of fascinating how the idea of zombies really became mainstream in the past 5 to 10 years.

There were zombie movies long before The Walking Dead got popular. Zombie movies have been a thing for a long time. But suddenly this show on AMC shows up and suddenly zombies became the most popular thing since sliced bread.

I'm not totally sure if the zombie phase has passed yet, but what I do know is that The Walking Dead continues to run with more and more seasons coming on, and it even has its own spinoff series that is doing alright. I watched the first 2 seasons a while back but stopped for one reason or another. And for whatever reason, I decided to pick it back up. So I'm having myself a zombie phase in the middle of May, as far from October as it can be. However, it doesn't negate what this show has to offer and I'm gonna finally give you a full review of at least the first season. More seasons will depend on how much time I have and if I continue to watch the show in the frenzy that I have recently. But for now, I will give you the review of the first season of The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead follows the story of former Sheriff’s Deputy, Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) as he wakes up from a coma he was induced into from a gunshot wound he received on duty. Rick finds himself alone in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Zombies, or Walkers as they call them, are flooding the streets of Georgia and tearing apart any living thing in their way.

Rick must find his way through the zombie apocalypse in a search for his wife Lori (played by Sarah Wayne Callies) and his son Carl (played by Chandler Riggs) who have joined up with a group of survivors with Rick’s partner Shane (played by Jon Bernthal).

Honestly, I foresee that this might be a short review due to the fact that there are only 6 episodes in this season. I read something that stated that they essentially were making a 6 hour long movie instead of a 6 episode season and I don’t know if you really get that feeling in any of the other seasons. That’s not to say the other seasons aren’t good, but there is such a great feeling that you get throughout this Season and it ends on such a good note that you could potentially watch this season on its own as its own miniseries and get a pretty decent experience.

The great part about this show is the relationships that are developed between characters. Rick and his wife, Rick and his son, Rick and Shane, and that’s just the connections with Rick. Everyone else has their own personal connections. Maybe it’s with the people they love, maybe its people that they just met, maybe it’s with people that they really hate but the overall point is, this show is really well acted.

Andrew Lincoln kills it as Rick because Rick is a man of honor and a natural born leader. So when the zombie apocalypse happens, he jumps into his leadership role and he’s good at it. But you can feel the weight thrown onto him and you can tell his philosophy is different than those around him. This delves into future seasons, but Rick has a line in Season two where he says, there are no rules in this world we live in, things are totally different, and you can see that play out and shape his outlook on the world.

This works in tandem with the outlook his partner Shane has. Shane is built up as Rick’s rival in this show, for a multitude of reasons, but I absolutely love Jon Bernthal in this role. I haven’t seen the second season of Daredevil, but watching The Walking Dead has made me want to watch it even more because of how much I enjoy Jon Bernthal in this show. He a great example of a character you know is wrong, but you understand his methods and his thought process. So while you hate him because he’s the rival, you really like him because you wonder if you’d have the same mindset if you were in the zombie apocalypse.

And that’s the interesting part about this movie, there are differing view points of how humanity should behave, and how they should survive but those views are only important if you care about the characters involved. And the first season of The Walking Dead does a really great job at not only introducing characters, but creating interesting backstories for them and making you care a very early point in the show. 

If you have the time, binge watch as much of the first season as you can because it really is like a 6 hour long movie with a lot of great characters and a fresh backdrop that will make you guess every move these people make because danger is around the corner. If you're worried about jump scares or not being interested in zombies, I will refer you to my sister who is not a fan of zombie movies or anything zombie related who absolutely loves this show and loves the suspense that is created by the zombies. 

But even if you don't watch any more seasons, I recommend the first season of The Walking Dead mainly because the its a solid 6 hours of television and I definitely recommend it. I watched the first season in a matter of two days and I'm still going strong, trying to binge watch all of what is on Netflix because I think it is really a solid show. 

Like I said, its a short review. What did you think of the first season of The Walking Dead? Without giving away spoilers, how does it compare with the later seasons? Comment and Discuss below. You can also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me requests for future movies, and TV Shows I should review on this blog. I will make them my priority. If you follow me on Twitter, you can also send me your thoughts as well as get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog. 

I'll leave you with this. Norma Reedus has really gotten a lot of attention from this show and I personally really enjoy Reedus. Here's a fun interview of him on Kimmel. Enjoy!