The Walking Dead | Where Pen Meets Paper

Television Show Review: The Walking Dead: Season 6

The Walking Dead: Season 6 created by Frank Darabont (AMC, Circle of Confusion, Valhalla Motion Pictures) Starring Andrew Lincoln, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Emily Kinney, Danai Gurira, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Chad L. Coleman. *Spoiler Alert for Previous Seasons* Execution You can have the greatest ideas in the world but if you can’t execute, what’s the point? Millions of businesses start with a great idea. The ones that last are the ones that follow through on it. The dreamers need a balanced team capable of filling in the details of the plan. The Walking Dead has always suffered from this fateful issue. Season after season, the writers attempt to balance violence and action with the… Read More →

Television Show Review: Fear the Walking Dead: Season 1

Fear the Walking Dead: Season 1 created by Dave Erickson and Robert Kirkman (AMC, Circle of Confusion, Symbound, Valhalla Entertainment) Starring Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Mercedes Mason, Lorenzo James Henrie, Rubén Blades, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Sandrine Holt, and Colman Domingo. I Know Too Much It’s odd to know more about a show’s universe than the characters do. Structurally, most stories—whether on the page or on the screen—provide the rules for engagement. These cues let the reader/viewer understand the kind of story they are perceiving and they set expectations for what lies ahead. These rules point out the hero and the villain. They suggest what you should find funny and what should be serious. And, they dictate expectations… Read More →

Television Show Review: The Walking Dead: Season 5

The Walking Dead: Season 5 created by Frank Darabont (AMC, Circle of Confusion, Valhalla Motion Pictures) Starring Andrew Lincoln, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Emily Kinney, Danai Gurira, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Chad L. Coleman. *Spoiler Alert for Previous Seasons* Execution You can have the greatest ideas in the world but if you can’t execute, what’s the point? Millions of businesses start with a great idea. The ones that last are the ones that follow through on it. The dreamers need a balanced team capable of filling in the details of the plan. The Walking Dead has always suffered from this fateful issue. Season after season, the writers attempt to balance violence and action with the… Read More →

Television Show Review: The Walking Dead: Season 4

The Walking Dead: Season 4 created by Frank Darabont (American Movie Classics, Circle of Confusion, Valhalla Motion Pictures) Starring Andrew Lincoln, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Emily Kinney, Scott Wilson, Danai Gurira, Sonequa Martin-Green, Chad L. Coleman, David Morrissey, and Lawrence Gilliard, Jr. *Spoiler Alert for Previous Seasons* Characters Wanted In previous reviews on The Walking Dead, I’ve worried about the fine line between compelling television and “death pornography”—the tendency for the writers to navigate the show from death to death where the only thing in between that matters is building the tension before the next kill. The inherent danger in such a strategy is its desensitization of the characters. What’s the point in pulling… Read More →

Television Show Review: The Walking Dead: Season 3 Part 2

The Walking Dead: Season 3, Part 2 created by Frank Darabont (American Movie Classics, Circle of Confusion, Valhalla Motion Pictures) Starring Andrew Lincoln, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Sarah Wayne Callies, and Scott Wilson. Warning: Spoilers ahead for earlier seasons. Memento Mori Recently, the AV Club published a piece on how The Walking Dead succeeds at making death a character. Todd Van Der Werff offered sound reasoning for the artistic concept of the memento mori, the subtly inserted reminder to viewers that someday they might die. For me, this article offered the framework for understanding why I remain so invested in this series. I’ve mentioned it before in reviews of previous seasons, and… Read More →

Television Show Review: The Walking Dead: Season 3

The Walking Dead: Season 3 created by Frank Darabont (American Movie Classics, Circle of Confusion, Valhalla Motion Pictures) Starring Andrew Lincoln, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Sarah Wayne Callies, and Scott Wilson. Setting Standards Since its initial airing in 2010, I’ve held The Walking Dead to a higher standard than most television shows. For starters, the series airs on AMC, a network branded as a place for high quality acting and writing. With such sterling dramas such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead airs among the best shows on television. Second, the genre is groundbreaking. We’ve all seen our fair share of post-apocalyptic zombie films. But the nature of a… Read More →