Thoughts on the First Season of ‘The Walking Dead’

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” started out as a show that was incredibly faithful to the comic book series it was based on, but over the last five episodes, has turned into something completely different.

While it’s an entertaining show that has become a hit, with millions watching every Sunday, questions remain as to why the writers and creative team behind it have deviated so much from the source material.

Comic book fans that enjoy the written version of “The Walking Dead” will see so many differences that they’ll find it hard to recognize some of their favorite characters.

As a matter of fact, it’s suggested that if you really want to enjoy this show, don’t read the comic.

For one, Andrea’s actions in the last episode are the complete opposite of the character in the comic. Andrea [Laurie Holden] is supposed to be the tough, yet cute chick, the one that keeps it together, who isn’t scared to speak her mind. She’s also an excellent shot. On the show, she’s shown an inability to make decisions and is a novice with guns [take the safety off please]. While she wasn’t always a good marksman, she picks it up quickly. Again, on the show, she’s this scared woman, who is far from the leader the group needs her to be.

It’s also strange why Carol [Melissa Suzanne McBride] was made to be so much older. While her personality is a close match, it’s going to be strange once she begins to interact with the other characters more. The best thing about the last two episodes of the season was that many of the extra characters that weren’t in the comic left the show. Because of that, maybe characters like Carol will begin to get more attention.

The biggest wonder however is why Shane Walsh [Jon Bernthal] is still alive. By the end of the first trade paperback, Walsh meets his demise in one of the most controversial endings to a comic in the history of the medium. While the show has plenty of gore and a nice amount of drama, that level of edge and grit hasn’t been present since the first episode of the season. Again, that’s probably because the first episode was the one closest to the source material.

Regardless, you know a show is good when in spite of your hatred of some of the decisions made by the creative team, you can’t wait for Sunday night to come. It’s a different type of adventure granted and it may not be as cool as the comic it’s based on, but it’s still a great show.

Andrew Lincoln and Steven Yeun’s portrayals of Rick Grimes and Aaron are proof that the creative team, while taking some license with the story, wanted to get a big part of the show right. Lincoln is a great fit for Grimes in the fact that we can see him starting to change the same way the character does in the comic. With undeniable skill as an actor, Lincoln has the ability to grow in this role and make the most out of the character. The same thing goes for Yeun, who nails the young delivery boy/car thief to a T. Just like the comic we see Aaron learning more about himself in the face of apocalypse than he ever did in normality.

It is because of these two actors, and the solid supporting roles of Sarah Wayne Callies and Jeffrey DeMunn as Laurie Grimes and Dale that “The Walking Dead” is a hit show and not because of any magical writing by the creative team. While keeping with many of the motifs that made the comic series a huge hit, they are treading in deep water once season two begins. In spite of excellent production values and even better acting, the writing of this show will be under the microscope even more.

The jury is out if they are up to the task or not.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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