Welcome to Walking Dead Weekly! As the title implies, each week (bearing a new episode of course), we’ll be taking a look at the latest episode of the AMC series. I’ll let you know how I felt about each weekly offering, and will also compare it to what Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard were doing with the comic at the same time.

This week’s column is coming a little later than I had hoped, as I had quite a bit of catching up to do. See, I used to be a huge fan of the series, and then that damn farm came, which was a fantastic (and small) arc in the comic, but absolutely drawn out and boring as hell in the show. I gave up on Season 2 about halfway through. When I heard nothing but good things about the Season 3 premiere, I figured now was as good a time as any to catch up!

Needless to say, there will be spoilers ahead. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, I wouldn’t read any further! I’m sure most of you have however, based on the fact that over 10 million people tuned into the premiere!

Episode Thoughts – “Seed”

First off, I have to say how good it feels to be back in this universe. I remember how insanely excited I was for October 31st, 2010, when The Walking Dead would see its first episode. A serious drama about a world overrun with zombies, that would be based on Robert Kirkman’s fantastic ongoing adventure? Yes please! Then as quickly as it came, it would be over: after a fantastic premiere, a couple more great episodes, and a few more decent to mediocre ones, the first season would come to a close, and almost another year would pass before we’d get another look at Rick and the gang.

October of 2011 would host the premiere of the show’s second season, and honestly, I barely remember any of it. What I do recall is seeing the first few episodes before realizing that I simply didn’t care about what the show was offering at that point. I stuck with it for a couple more episodes before it dropped off my radar completely.

Season 3 premiered just this past Sunday, and it was Geekscape staffer Scott Alminiana’s thoughts on the episode that really made me consider giving it another shot:

The opportunity for a weekly column fell into my lap shortly afterwards, and I was in. I powered through the remaining episodes of Season 2 (seriously, how the hell did you all do it?), and after a few boring ass hours and a really intense one (damn that finale), it was premiere time (side note: finally Shane is gone, FINALLY)!

The premiere opened with an unsettling close up of an old-man walker and a pal, just seconds before being ended by Rick and friends. I instantly noticed just how much older Carl looked (growing up unfortunately does not follow production schedules), but the writers had it all covered, the farm went down ages ago, and the survivors have already been through a winter since we last saw them.

The group is weak and hungry: hunting is rarely successful due to the fact that it has been very cold, and any buildings found tend to have been raided long before the survivors’ arrival. Things look bleak, and seem to only be getting bleaker, as walkers are hot on their tail.

We’re not far from the moment that everyone had been waiting for at this point. After much anticipation, and a brief tease during the season two finale, our survivors finally come across a seemingly abandoned (well, by living things) prison. Sure, the place is full of walkers, but clear them out, and this could be the safe haven they’d been waiting for.

The rest of the episode is really action heavy, and that’s something I absolutely welcomed after last season. The yard and surrounding area need to be cleared of dead, and it’s up to the gang to do it. Of course, this is easier said than done, and once everything appears to be peachy, another wave of walkers pops out. The only thing that really bugged me here were the zombies clad in riot gear (ripped straight from Left 4 Dead 2). The group acts extremely scared of these guys, but beside the fact that they’d be harder to kill, they’re also basically harmless: thick gloves prevent them from scratching anyone, and they’re also wearing face shields, preventing anyone from being bitten.

Aside from a few moments that may surprise you after this point (and a rather disturbing idea from Lori), plotwise nothing more really happens until the episodes closing moments, when it’s revealed (unsurprisingly) that the West Georgia Correctional Facility was occupied long before Rick and the others arrived.

Overall, I thought the episode was a great return to form for the series, and I’m happy to say that once again I’m a fan of the show. I can’t wait for David Morrissey to pop up as The Governor and personally introduce the group to this season’s tagline: Fight the dead,  fear the living.

I have to point out just how amazing the show looks too: cinematography is very strong, and as usual the makeup/effects are freaking phenominal (I definitely had a couple “FUCKING SICK” moments throughout the course of the episode. As far as I’m aware, The Walking Dead offers simply the most disturbing (in a good way) zombies ever to appear on screen.

Comic Comparison

Well, the prison took a little longer to make it to the show than some of us would have hoped (it was introduced in Issue 13, but by my count this is episode 20). Now that it’s here though, it seems like so far we’ve got a pretty accurate representation of what was portrayed in the comics.

There of course are some differences between the show and its source material in this episode, mostly having to do with group members. Fan favorites Daryl and Glenn are thankfully still around, despite one never existing in paper form, and the other deciding to stay back on the farm (which never went to shit). Hershel manages to get himself bitten near the end of the episode (which leads to a moment akin to Episode Two of The Walking Dead game), while in the book of course, he never leaves the farm.

Another thing that was skipped over in the premiere (as mentioned above) is the entirety of the Winter season. Issue 9 had the group taking shelter within a gated community, having missed the warning of the fact that everyone inside was dead. This actually happened before the farm section in the book, but since we hadn’t seen it, I definitely hoped it would show up here as it was a fantastic issue and plot point.

Michonne looks to already be establishing herself in the series (after a quick introduction in last season’s finale), yet in the book she wouldn’t show up for another 6 issues. Also, her undead companions look absolutely disgusting (in a good way).

Again, this episode was very heavy on the action. That being said, there isn’t really a ton of things to compare! In both cases we get an introduction to a major set piece that is part of the most-loved story arc from the book, and if this episode is any indication, will be the same for the series.

In closing, all I can really say is that I can’t wait for more. If the rest of the season follows the source material as closely as this opening episode, we’ve got some absolutely fantastic television ahead of us.

See you next week!