It has started! The return of The Walking Dead, which is only the best zombie series ever. It gives movies a good run for their money too, except for the 28 Days franchise, which is terribly difficult to surpass.
The thing with The Walking Dead is funny. It started out brilliantly, with great characterisation, non-stop action, fantastic special effects and strong subplots. Then, in Season 2, something went horribly wrong.
By now, the series had diverted significantly from the graphic novel series on which it was based. While the effects remained spot on, the characters developed clichéd traits and annoying habits.
The subplots became annoying. It felt like in every single episode, viewers were kept stringing along, waiting for something to happen. And something never did. It was only in the last few episodes that the action picked up, leaving us on one massive cliffhanger.
Eventually, Season 3 happened, and the good stuff came back. Forced out of the barn (spoilers ahead, though honestly, if you haven’t seen it yet you’re beyond hope) the group is lumped with a massively pregnant (and increasingly annoying) Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies).
A prison is converted into a fort. And finally, new characters are introduced – and with them, the new villian, The Governor (David Morrissey). The introduction of weaponry and combat wonder-girl Michonne (Danae Gurira), and her two ‘pet zombies’, as well as the return of Merle and Andrea (Laurie Holden) completed the circle.
Season 3 was pretty unbeatable, as series go. The characters suddenly re-acquired their previous depth. The ones we hated were killed off. I always felt sorry for the real-life Andrea – the hatred that viewers felt for her had spilled over to real life in the shape of death threats, in a classic case of nutjobs who can’t distinguish fact from fiction.
Given the spectacular ending of the season, I did wonder whether Season 4, which kicked off recently, would rise to the occasion. Two episodes in, I’m glad to report that it does, and rather spectacularly too. I was worried that after the resolution of the Governor issue, and the taking over of the new community of people, the storyline would settle once again in the routine it had acquired during Season 2.
Two episodes have packed more action than Mata Hari’s bedroom
Boy was I wrong. Two episodes have packed more action than Mata Hari’s bedroom. I’m particularly enjoying the current main slant, which has so far included one mysterious death, a rather heart-wrenching scene involving pigs, tons of gore (the way The Walking Dead viewers love it), and a shocker of an ending complete with two surprise corpses in Episode 2.
As D.Ream were fond of saying, things can only get better.
rdepares@timesofmalta.com