‘The Walking Dead’ comes to life

Originally published in the Nov. 10, 2010 issue of the Coast Report
By James Vu, Coast Report Staff Writer
*Editor's note: "The Walking Dead" has been renewed for a 13-episode second season by AMC* 

Andrew Lincoln stars as Rick Grimes in "The Walking Dead"

Photo courtesy of AMC

From the director of “The Shawshank Redemption,” Frank Darabont, comes AMC’s newest drama series, “The Walking Dead,” an exploration of the human tensions and struggles in a zombie apocalypse.

The story, adapted from Robert Kirkman’s comic book series of the same name, is centered around County Sheriff Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln (“Love Actually”), who wakes up from a coma in an abandoned hospital.

In “28 Days Later” style, he soon realizes his world has gone through some dramatic changes.

As the pilot episode progresses, Grimes runs in to Morgan, played by Lennie James (“Jericho”) and his son Duane, who have holed themselves inside in an abandoned house to keep themselves safe from the walkers.

Morgan, whose wife had been turned into one of the walkers, debriefs Grimes on the zombie epidemic. After going on a supply and weapon run, Grimes departs from the father and son combo in search of his wife and son, Lori and Carl, played by Sarah Wayne Callies and Chandler Riggs respectively.

“The Walking Dead,” holds many zombie traditions. They are mindless but go into a frenzy if triggered, and to be bitten by one of them a person is reanimated into one of the walkers.

And of course, the only way to kill them is to blow off their head.

The show is beautifully shot on location in Atlanta. Near the end of the pilot, Grimes enters Atlanta, only to find it infested by the walkers. The transition from a small town to a major city causes some frightening realizations of human depopulation and failing civilization.

Many interesting side plots emerge from the pilot, with Morgan and Duane trying to cope with the loss of their wife and mother, and to survive during an apocalypse similar to “The Road.”

At the end of the pilot, the viewer finds out that Grimes’s wife and son are alive in a group of survivors where his former partner, Shane, played by Jon Bernthal, is acting as the interim husband and father.

The writing is good with some use of humor, and Grimes is a worthy hero to carry the show. The zombies are not overused and break the tension when necessary, and the plot is more about the psychological aspects of the survivors and their struggling society.

After all, not all the survivors are good people, and under extreme circumstances, human behavior can be much more frightening than frenzying zombies.

If the pilot and previews hold true, “The Walking Dead,” looks like another promising hit for the network.

Finally, an alternative to the recent vampire craze. And unlike those sexy vampires, these zombies will not only annihilate civilization, but drive the remaining survivors mad.