The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye

Rick: “I’m sorry this happened to you.”

I love this show. There is nothing like waking up in a hospital room and finding out the world has ended. I know it’s been used before, but it is such a great way to move from everything’s okay to complete disaster without all the icky bits in between.

So there is our protagonist, still recovering from his gunshot wound, staggering through complete horror. It is only pure dumb luck that gets Rick to his home without being attacked, and it is luck again that he finds just the right people to help him survive long enough to get his wits about him. You can be the best shot and the most well-trained survivalist, but it is luck more than anything that determines who lives and who dies when the world goes to hell.

However, if you want to give luck a chance, you have to start using your brain and thinking things through. Rick starts to do that. He realizes that his family may still be alive. He listens and learns from Morgan. He goes for the guns and hits the road. I love that Rick continues to wear his uniform even though being a cop doesn’t have any meaning anymore, because this show isn’t just about survival, it's about what makes us human. The point is not just how can we survive, but why we should bother.

End of the world shows are also good for getting us to ask ourselves important questions. What would I do on the edge? What do I take for granted every day? What is really important to me? It is interesting to see the characters struggling with these things. I can tell you that I’m not sure I would make it past the first zombie attack. I might just stay in that hospital room forever.

As a first episode, this one did its job. It sets the scene, introduces us to the main characters and let us know a little bit about them. The scene is complete devastation. Atlanta is not the safe haven it was advertised to be (even I know that in a zombie apocalypse the city is not the best place to go, and an even bigger hint was that all the cars were trying to drive out of the city). There must be some kind of civilization somewhere, though, because we do see a helicopter.

The characters are in various pockets. We have a band of survivors on the way to Atlanta, a father and son on the outskirts and Rick. Morgan and his son are holed up in the suburbs of Atlanta next door to where Rick used to live. Morgan is a much more realistic portrayal of how one might react in this situation. He is paralyzed by the loss of his wife. The scene where he tries to shoot his now-zombie wife was heartbreaking. I really hope his being frozen in place doesn’t end up killing him and Duane.

We also get to meet the ubiquitous ragtag group of survivors hunkered down just outside of Atlanta. Even these characters have some depth though and this group includes Rick’s wife Lori, his son Carl, and his best friend and partner, Shane. Unfortunately Shane has something going with Lori. Not the greatest thing to find out after you’ve battled zombies to find your family. Rick is the lone traveller trying to get from one group to the other, although he doesn’t know it yet.

Bits and Pieces

I really am not a fan of the gooey bits of this show and I find some things really disturbing. The zombie kids creep me out and Rick shooting the little girl was awful.

Okay, the conversation about women never turning off the lights was sexist, but my daughter and I looked at each other and laughed. Her dad was always after me to turn off the lights, and now her partner does the same thing. I would like to see a little more action from women in the show though. The big male protector thing can get a bit wearing.

Why exactly was Rick standing out in the open to shoot at the suspects in the car when he already knew they had shot at police officers. I wasn’t surprised when he got hit.

The half-woman zombie that Rick sees and eventually shoots out of mercy is an awesome product of special effects. You can see the process of creating her in the short clip “Bicycle Girl” which is available on the show’s website.

A horse is a good idea since they don’t need gas, but riding them into a zombie crowd is just nasty. My least favourite bit of the show.

Note to self - don’t use a gun in a tank.

Quotes

Rick: “Is this real? Am I here? Wake, wake-up!”

Rick: “Gunshot ain’t enough.”

Morgan: “I guess we just froze in place.”

Rick: “You pull the trigger, you have to mean it.”

Voice over the radio: “Hey you, dumbass. Ya you in the tank. Cosy in there?”

Song at the end: “Welcome to my world, welcome to my only world.”