My Experience With The Walking Dead Season 1

• Written by Mossy

Welcome to my experience watching season 1 of The Walking Dead for the first time

The thoughts here are all based on my recent time with the show, I may well get details of the world or names of the characters wrong. This blogpost contains pretty heavy spoilers for season 1, so proceed with caution

I have been told by many people, friends both online and off, to give TWD a watch. After ignoring them for a bit too long, here I am. I have told a few zombie stories myself (the Project Zomboid videos on Five Exes), so I probably owe it to the genre to check out one of it’s defining works

Episode 1

In which Rick gets shot, spends a long time in a coma, and wakes up to find he missed the end of the world. He meets some nice living people, a lot of not-so-nice dead people, and a horse. Then he goes to Antlanta (big mistake)

I loved this opening. I was worried going into this that the intro would be too drawn-out, full of needless and tiring exposition. Thankfully the show understands that we all pretty much know what a zombie is. The time Rick spends closing the gap between his and the audience’s understanding of the apocalypse is refreshingly short

Beyond that, Rick’s first walker kill was great - him tearing into that zombie, and probably also tearing apart his stitches

I also liked the scene where he puts down the legless crawler, it was a nice moment, and also the point where I officially stopped questioning how zombie biology is meant to work

But damn, riding around on a horse in the apocalypse is so cool. Rick is a massive asshole for getting it eaten. Oh and I hope Morgan and his son end up ok, they deserve all the warm showers they need take

Episode 2

In which Rick escapes out of his tank, meets a group of survivors, and handcuffs a racist to a roof. Antics ensue

I absolutely adore Glenn. I hope nothing bad happens to him ever, he’s just the best. And he’s the first one we hear call the undead “geeks”, which I very much suspect is a name of his invention

Back at the tank, why’d you stick your neck out for me?

Call if foolish, naive hope that if I’m ever that far up shit creak, somebody might do the same for me
Guess I’m an even bigger dumb-ass than you

And then we get introduced to the opposite of Glenn, we have the utter displeasure of meeting Merle. I’m sorry, but this is, what, months into the apocalypse? And you’re using it as an excuse to beat people up and get away with being racist? I am leaving you on chained to that roof and swallowing the key

There are some things the end of the world does provide a good excuse for though. Andrea did not get that memo. Call it “trying to preserve a sense of normalcy” all you want, if you’re getting fussed about shoplifting laws in the middle of the apocalypse, I’m asking you what your favourite flavour of boot polish is

Would it be considered looting?

And the episode ends with Glenn barrelling down the highway in his new car. Awesome

Episode 3

In which, after fighting through his own injuries and the many a horde of geeks, Rick finally reunites with his family. He then immediately decides to leave and go find Merle

Aw I like Dale. He’s sweet and he obviously cares about the others at camp. And he’s probably the reason most of them are still alive, what with all his camping gear and him acting as look-out

They got Glenn’s car! Unbelievable

Look at em'
Vultures

Daryl is probably right here with the crossbow. It’s near silent, easily maintainable and it’s ammo is reusable, where it’s even possible to make more if absolutely necessary. Guns may be better if you’re surrounded, but to that I say - just don’t get surrounded

And then Merle cuts his hand off. I’m sorry but I can’t imagine a scenario where it’d be easier to saw through your own wrist than through one of the thinner sections of handcuff steel. Maybe Merle’s just an idiot. Probably just that

Episode 4

In which the search for Merle continues, and those searching are split up when they meet another group of survivors. Also Jim goes crazy and digs some graves?

You know, it would have been easy to make Daryl psychotically single-minded in trying to save his brother from where the others trapped him. The fact he isn’t, and acts downright reasonable at times, makes him a whole lot more sympathetic

I can do that

THEY TOOK GLENN! NO!

The reveal of who the gang was protecting was a fantastic twist. What can I say, I find apocalypse fiction showcasing mutual aid far more interesting than that fixated on violence. The conversation Rick has with the ex-custodian, now gang leader was particularly warm. This show keeps giving me people to care about and root for

I knew it wouldn’t last but the attack on camp and disruption of the little bit of peace the survivors had carved out for themselves was nevertheless upsetting. Whilst I didn’t have a particular attachment to any character that died, I was hoping the woods would be safe for at least a little while longer

Episode 5

In which the friends they lost leave this world, everyone alive leaves camp and Jim is left by a tree to die. Then they all finally get to see the CDC

This was a strange scene, not sure watching a dead relative’s corpse reanimate would make their loss any easier for me, but I digress. What I don’t digress about however, is Andrea firing her gun right next to hear head without even a flinch. I thought being able to hear was imporant in this apocalypse

Criticise Jim for hiding his bite all you want, you can’t say he had any delusions as to it’s outcome. He did what he could for camp and saw his way out with dignity

That’s god laughing whilst you make plans

I hope Morgan gets Rick’s message. Or at the very least, finds his map. If we don’t get to see him and Duane happy and healthy next Season, I won’t be happy and the writers won’t be healthy for much longer

This shot looked great, one of the standouts this season. Rick’s pleading to the security camera, too tired to genuinely hope for a rescue, is what let the silence that followed speak for itself

Episode 6

In which the the survivors enjoy a moment of peace and quite a lot of wine. Then it all goes south when they lose control of the Centre for Disease Control

Again, it’s the hot running water that people appreciate most. If I knew the end of the world was nigh, I aught to use my time in learning to be a plumber

Dr Edwin Jenner, who has a very fitting name, is shown to be a little crazy. Kind of understandable if you’ve spent months underground single-handedly attempting to save the world. I think he really does still care though, but admitting that to himself is probably dangerous given his situation

Where’d all this come from?

Jenner
He thought we could use them

The doctor’s recount of the lost labs is probably the saddest scene yet. Just to think there were people fighting to end this, but for reasons outside their control, their fight was cut short

It was the French

What?

They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know
While out people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs until the end
They thought they were close to a solution

Wow those fuel-air explosives really were quite high-impact. Still, Jenner had a point, I’d certainly take that over “weaponized smallpox” any day. If humanity stands any hope of beating this infection, we need hold on to the legends of our previous victories. See the second word on that virus' Wikipedia article

Conclusion

I loved this season, I will definitely be continuing the show into the next. If I had to pick a favourite episode, that would definitely be the fourth. It’s a reminder of all the dangers that armageddon brings and how we’ll do best when we stay together through it all

As for the characters I had a specific affinity for, I still think Glenn is the absolute best, I’d stick with him to the end of the earth (or more accurately here, for as long as I can beyond that). I also like Dale and heck, even Jenner. The former is just plain old kind and caring, and the latter aught to admit he might be just a little bit too

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