Week 1 media diary - review

The walking dead

The walking dead is a relatively new American series that has continued to shock and surprise me since i began to watch it. The show revolves around a group of survivors led by Rick grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, an ex-cop who after being injured on the job and falling into a coma, wakes up to the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Now all he must strive to do and lead others to do is survive in a world where zombies are not the inly threat and humans to can sometime be more dangerous.

At first i was reluctant to start this show as i was afraid it would just be another stereotypical zombie thrilling with hardly any plot, bad actors and awful special effects, it sounded a lot like films such as 28 days later or Resident Evil,  but i was wrong. From the very first episode i was hooked and couldn't stop watching. The variety of personalities and backgrounds of Rick's group of survivors meant that if they weren't killing zombies or finding shelter they were facing much deeper rooting problems. It is interesting to watch people from all different walks of life having to come together to survive and witnessing the emotion toll the zombie apocalypse takes on their lives.

The writing for the show is outstanding and the actors really bring that writing to life, so much so that you become emotionally attached to each of them in some way or another and prey each week that a 'walker' does not kill them or something bad doesn't happen to them, and when the writers do decide to tug on our heart strings (which is quite often) i feel a genuine sadness.

The show is full of constant twists and turns, it always keeps you on the edge of your seat with anticipation. It never drags out unnecessary story lines and always, somehow, makes the zombie apocalypse seam realistic and creates situations that you could believe, unlike TV shows like Lost. The walking dead challenges and over comes the stereotypical conventions of a zombie/horror series to create something spectacular that, like me, has you binge watching episodes for several hours at a time until you realise that it is becoming unhealthy.

I highly recommend The Walking Dead to not only those who are horror fans, but to everyone else as well. A highly original and entertaining series.