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A couple things about this show, first is that I DVR it because it is on at the same time as Game of Thrones and I have more time invested in that show. Second is that I am disappointed that we are already coming up to the halfway point in the 8 show season. It's hard for me to remember the characters names because we only see them for 8 shows a year. That being said, this show deserves a try.
The show starts out in LA at the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. The first season took some adjustment because the audience knew more than the characters. They are catching up quickly however. LA burned after a military strike in a failed attempt to contain the outbreak at the end of last season and our little group set off on a boat toward San Diego, or did they?
The show follows Madison and her boyfriend Travis and their combined kids Nick, a addict, his sister Alicia and Travis' son Chris. Along the way we picked up Daniel and his daughter Ofelia and the boat owner Victor Strand. Strand is an elusive character who is hard and worn and refuses to let anyone on his boat except the band of brothers he has chosen. Last week we leaned he is trying to return to his lover in Mexico and an apparent safe place behind walls and set far away from civilization. Somehow, I doubt the place is as he remembers but again, we know more than the little group, still.
So far the group has figured out that you have to cause a head injury to stop the walkers who they don't call walkers, by the way. Also, Nick figured out that if you cover yourself in the blood of the dead you can move freely among them.
The group is going back and forth from west coast town to west coast town on the high seas and they are experiencing a level of danger that is new and different from anything Rick and the Scooby gang experienced on the original show.
What I like about this show:
The zombies are still new and not so slow although they are a lot slower than people and it seems to me like a slow jog would still get you well away from them quickly.
The characters are experiencing things and learning and we are learning about what happened while Rick was sleeping beauty.
The characters are all adult aged. The youngest main character are Chris and Alicia and they are in high school. Where Carl aged dramatically compared to Judith who remains, much to my annoyance, still a toddler, in the 2-3 years that have passed on The Walking Dead, the age progression of these kids won't be noticed as the show progresses.
Things I still want to know or that drive me crazy:
Where is Tobias? He was my favorite character from season one and much like Morgan, he has just disappeared. He was a high school student in the school Maddie worked in and he was the only character completely aware and prepared for what was about to happen.
The characters seem completely oblivious to the danger around them. In week two they were on the beach collecting medicine and clothing from a plane crash. Instead of just taking a small bag that contained various medicine, Nick started shifting through it. Really? It was a very small carry on bag. Just grab it and go. Also, they sent a small dingy to shore with something like 4 people to collect supplies. How many supplies can you fit on a small dingy when you have it full of people? This became especially annoying when Chris spent the entire time on land in a portion of the wrecked plane killing walkers and a live man who begged him to put him out of his misery then dealing with the guilt. Deal with the guilt later, get a move on. Of course, walkers show up and they all make a mad dash for the dingy.
The latest turn of events is that the ship has been taken over by a band of, well, basically pirates. Alicia made the mistake of befriending one of the pirates on the ship radio and now we are experiencing our first bad guys of the show. So far I am not totally impressed but remember, these bad guys haven't had 2-3 years to learn how to be psycho yet.
Overall, I am hoping for a few things from this show, first that they don't follow a comic book script so closely like they do on the original show. Second, that these characters grow and develop at a natural rate, based on their experience, and finally, that Tobias shows back up soon and we don't have to wait 3-5 seasons to see what happened to him, because that kid is just awesome.
