WALKING DEAD
Wayyy back B.K. ( Before Kids ) when I was a manager
at a service station I was single, living rent free in a travel trailer behind
work, and pretty much had money falling out of my ass. Every night was take-out deli and a movie or
two. That was a few years after my first
tour in the military when video’s had first come out and me and a few squad mates
spent every off hour not spent drinking catching up on every movie ever made we
wanted to watch. In the Eighties, it
could safely be said, I watched a few hundred movies for every time I got
laid. Not that the ratio ever really
improved. Ever since then, I haven’t
really watched a whole lot of movies ( when I rented the 60 movies so as to
write my Apocalypse Movie Review book- now free at a Lulu.com near you- it was
more work than play ). Like beer, I
filled up for a lifetime prior to breeding.
Even today with lots of money free to spend and enough time, I only
watch a few movies a year. Which means I
really have very little reason to ever buy movies. So I only added the first season of Walking
Dead to my Amazon Wish List years back because it couldn’t hurt but I had
little reason to buy it ( yes, it is a cable TV series, not a movie- but it is
a DVD and five hours of commercial free entertainment so I classify it as a
movie ).
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Well, I eventually did order it, the sound of the
twelve dollars sliding out of my wallet a loud cry of anguish from a book
unbought and unread. But I’m really glad
I bought it. I spend half the day last
Saturday watching it end to end ( and what the hell, it is starting to get
summer levels of hot and after an hour with a sickle and a wet year’s crop of
weeds I didn’t mind staying downstairs underground ). Let me tell you, this is one kick butt
series. It doesn’t really dwell on the
zombies- thank you Baby Jesus!- but rather on the group dynamics. That was the reason I so loved the book No
Blade Of Grass, because that dynamic was written so well- thank you faceless
minion for pushing me to finally getting that book which instantly catapulted
to the Top Ten ( if not the Top Five, I’m disinclined to research that right
now ) Best Bison Post Apocalypse Books Of All Time. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that Zombie
Apocalypses suck as far as Teachable Moments for us survivalists. But at least this series tried a little
harder than normal to keep things somewhat realistic. They didn’t just wander aimlessly around
picking up supplies left behind but were out in the woods hunting and fishing. And it really did have a real movie feel to
it, not just a TV show vibe. Yes, it is
a bit on the pricy side. The first
season ( used ) was $12 after shipping but next season will be $18 and after
that it gets in the mid-$20 range.
Ouch. But personally, I’m going
for it. I think it is that good.
END
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ReplyDeleteAre you sure about this, Jim? When I click on the ad, in the URL you can see bisonpress but when I look something else up that does not show in the URL. Doubts have I.
Something is working okay-I've gotten a monthly payment without fail since 2007.
DeleteWell, I'll keep ordering that way and we'll just trust the man, eh?
DeleteI know it isn't normal, trusting any corporate entity. But Amazon is one of the few good ones.
DeleteThe Walking Dead is one of the few shows with survivalist trimmings that actually bothers with some of the nitty gritty issues survivalists think about for an extreme collapse, rather than just being a soap opera or superhero story. People look more genuinely dirty, sweaty, and like they are going through hell rather than other shows where they are completely made up with artfully weathered clothing and a smudge of dirt for style (actually filmed in Georgia in the summer with long days of shooting scenes- mostly it is real sweat). People die for all sorts of reasons on the show- it ain't about poetic justice. The main characters are not superhuman- they make good decisions and bad ones. It does venture into some story lines that seem a bit off to me for character development (I don't think I'd be staring at my navel and thinking about my childhood when I'm in the woods hiding from zombies and low on water and food- one might be a bit more task focused), but I can forgive that compared to the crap most shows have come up with.
ReplyDeleteYou look at past shows producers have done and you get all excited and then the new one is crap. These guys not only have a great resume, they've added to it.
DeleteAwesome series. A buddy of mine (cough cough) binge watched the whole thing for free on projectfreetv.com. It was annoying to deal with the ads but at least it was free.
ReplyDeleteYour, um, buddy- is he the one with a very small penis ( joke- microsoft was named after Bill Gates. Get it? Micro, and soft ). I actually don't mind spending the money, just to avoid the commercials. But then, these are the salad days of my finances. I can be picky.
DeleteGlad you like the series so far, Lord Bison. Here at Rottenclam Manor, it is one of our favorites.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people criticized the first season, calling it "the talking dead", because there was so much banter between survivors and not enough zombie slaying. As the years and seasons have gone by, hopefully the armchair critics have come to realize that it is the survivor group dynamic that makes a truly great zombie film (as evidenced by the greatest zombie of all time, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead).
Furthermore, there is the requisite zombie slaying (and survivor holocaust) in the Walking Dead from time to time, so I think the balancing act has been well done.
I don't want to spoil anything for you Lord Bison, but I will say that in coming seasons the groups do deal a LOT more with traditional survival subjects (finding food, working with other groups, disease, etc), which I think is great. Ammo and booze tends to get scooped up fast (as does canned food) when the few remaining survivors are scavenging in this zombie laden world...which all makes sense to me.
The BBC series (which is based on a book) "Survivors" is also pretty good when addressing these same types of scavenging themes. If you can find that series cheap, you'll probably find it worth your time (but only *maybe* worth your coin - depending on how much you spend on the set)
Damn- you make it sound good enough my might just go ahead NOW and order season 2. Oh, what the hell. The money won't be worth anything soon enough. I'll do it ( and it is tax deductable for me- hahaha )
DeleteFor sure , order season 2 and all the rest . When it returns in the fall , the group starts out locked in the box car the cannibal group locked them into from the end of last season . hasn't bored me yet .
ReplyDeleteWill they McGuiver it? Actually, now you really have me hooked. I ordered #2. I'm going to take it easy ordering the next two seasons, $25 a pop is going to hurt a bit. Everyone, order more crap through my Amazon ads!
DeleteI could be wrong ,but I really see this thing only having 1 or 2 more seasons in it . I believe that at the end of this last season they've covered 1.5 to 2 years time . At some point they will have to find an established group or settle into a permanent settlement of their own . Though canned foods can last beyond 2 years , in non-conditioned buildings I would think much beyond 2 years is a stretch . Or , they could become hunter , gatherers . Either option wouldn't hold viewers for long . I believe they will run out of fresh material and resorting to rehashing old stories would kill it fast . 2 more seasons max is what I believe .
ReplyDeleteHey, Seinfeld went out before he went stale. Remember the episode when George was told to leave the group with one joke, wanting more? Let's hope this folks leave before they start Jumping The Shark. If they do, no prob. I can't afford too many $30 seasons anyway
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