[Editors' note: check out our ongoing TVGA Roundtable wrapping The Walking Dead as well as Mike Proper's weekly episode reviews. We got TWD covered from both alive and undead levels is what we're saying basically.]
Hey there Mike, Samantha, and Lucas,
I was a little surprised that some of you were a bit disappointed with “Guts.” Admittedly the 90-minute pilot hooked me so deeply and well that it would have taken quite a lot to shake my confidence in the show, but I felt that the follow up effort did a great job in introducing a large new set of characters, broadening our understanding of what’s going on in the United States of Zombies, and most importantly kept the intensity level frightfully high.
That said, I understand some of the quibbles. Lucas, I was particularly impressed with your calling out the no frills costumes (which really does make Glenn look like Jonathan Ke Quan just returned from Goonies island) and not-so-spot on character names. And I get too that the racial tensions embodied by Michael Rooker’s as yet one dimensional meth-snorting a-hole character isn’t the most riveting thing about the show by far, though I would say that it goes a long way in showcasing that the remaining live humans on the planet are not going to get along harmoniously just because the zombie hordes have wiped out much of culture, society, and rules that used to exist.
While the gut-smearing stuff was certainly gross, I thought it was a pretty nifty plot device and I admired how far the direction went in “going there.” But where “Guts” goes to the next level is the full sequence in which Rick and Glenn must pass through a busy street full o’ zombies to reach an escape vehicle. I was wearing a zip up sweater, and realized that while watching the scene that I had unconsciously zipped the sweater up so that it was covering my mouth. I knew the rain was going to wash away the guts enough so that the zombies would “sniff” them out, I knew that there would be a mad scramble, and I knew it was nearly certain that Rick would make it at the least (Glenn, as a new character on a relatively new show, could have easily gotten snacked on up for all we knew), but I was still riveted and creeped out and scared all at once (and how awesome was the makeup, costumes, and acting of some of the zombies checking out our live heroes?).
I actually may be in the minority in thinking that things slowed down quite a bit when the action shifted to the rural campsite. But no doubt there will be plenty of payoff when our urban exiles return.
The preview for next week’s episode shows Merle’s kin all up in arms because there man was left on a rooftop by T-Dog. I don’t think that we saw any of those guys during the first two episodes, which might have been nice to help better set up the upcoming conflict on that front. Just a thought.
