The Walking Dead

Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Iron E. Singleton, & Melissa Suzanne McBride

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

I did not want to get into AMC's The Walking Dead, because it is what I like to call, addictive television. I try to avoid shows like this, but I was at a friends house the other week and there were a group of people watching it, so I really didn't have a choice and I got sucked into it's grip. The reason I don't like to watch shows like this is because it's based on a book, which usually means, the show is amazing and very well written until they reach the end of the book and have to come up with new stuff on their own. At that point, the quality of the story quickly diminishes and the show either gets boring or goes way over the top. As I watched the first two seasons of The Walking Dead over the course of a couple weeks, I found that the same was true for it. The first season was an absolute delight and I hated the fact that it was only six episodes. The second season started out pretty good also, but that's when the book must have ended and things changed. This powerful, exciting show became extremely predictable, with every episode featuring about forty minutes of talking and five minutes of action. So, if I was so turned off by it at that point, why am I watching the new episodes right now? Addictive television! Now that I know the characters and their stories I want answers to the same four questions as everyone else. Who is fighting with who, who is fucking who, how will the story end, and the big one, who lives and who dies. Similar to soap operas, shows like the Walking Dead, for the most part, aren't well written, are extremely predictable, and don't really develop much after the initial impact. I didn't see a single episode in the second or third season that I enjoyed as much as I did every episode from season 1. I am nevertheless invested in the show and what happens now, and to be honest it's not that it's a bad show. I really like Sarah Wayne Callies from Prison Break and Norman Reedus's character is the one guy who really evolved into someone who fascinates me. The action scenes, as well as the effects are terrific, and they do have a pretty talented cast. It's my hope that as it continues to gain popularity, that the writers turn to other sources, perhaps the author of the book or even some fan fiction for alternative ideas on how to keep things fresh and interesting, because right now, aside from the question of who lives and who dies, there isn't much there to attract new viewers to the show. If you like dark stories, horror, and end of the world type fiction, I'd give the show a try, but if you're a newbie whose thinking about getting into the Walking Dead, I warn you, the first season is amazing and will suck you in, but after that, as of yet, it hasn't gotten any better.