A Different Type of Dead

Episode Commentary: Tell it to the Frogs

With each passing episode, “The Walking Dead” manages to stray farther and farther from the material it’s based on. While the end result is still a great show, it’s puzzling why the show’s plot and characters would be played with so much when the original one was strong enough to inspire its own television show.

The biggest change so far has been the addition of so many extra characters. The comic already had a nice amount of faces, some might say just enough to keep your head from spinning and stay emotionally attached and invested. With this show, there are so many faces that unless there is a big zombie attack soon, there will be too many faces to follow.

Over the past decade or so, many shows, such as “Lost” and “Heroes” have had success with this type of formula, and it seems a safe bet that this show will continue to utilize a huge cast. The question remains if all the tinkering done with the cast of characters will help the series in the long run however.

Some of the casting decisions have been weird as well, particularly the role of Carol. While is a good actress, she seems far too old, especially considering the importance she has later in the series and the situations she will most likely find herself in. Again, it’s just another situation worth watching to see how it turns out.

While these elements aren’t necessarily bad things, as they are just ways for the creative team behind the show to put their own stamp on things, some of the dialogue in this episode was poor. For example, when the younger Dixon brother is told by T-Dog that his brother may still be alive because the door to the roof where he was handcuffed was chained and padlocked, Ray looks him in the eyes and says, “That’s got to count for something.”

It’s fitting that there wasn’t any pause afterward because if there were, the crickets going off in millions of homes around the country could have been loud enough to wake the dead.

That line had to be the most inorganic of the series so far and one that both the comic character would never say and one that this Ray just sounded weird saying. This guy is a cop and a problem solver and why he’s looking to keep everyone on the same page, he doesn’t, or hadn’t up to this point, minced words. That scene was pure melodramatic rubbish and did nothing to advance the next scene. That waste of time was something the comic never does. While these are two different mediums, it just feels like the more this show tries to deviate from its source material, the more it hurts itself.

In spite of all of this however, the third episode of “Walking Dead” was still scary and fun. Sure, they’ve managed to encapsulate the first book of the graphic novels into three episodes, but the bottom line is its still engaging in the end.

Once the show begins to develop its own sense of style, comic book fans will either appreciate it for its differences or wait for the next surprise.

Right now however, they have reason to feel weary, as the show is beginning to take a life of its own, looking less like its source material after every passing scene.