Review – The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye
When I heard of the new show The Walking Dead I was pretty excited. An actual zombie tv show which looked like it had quite a budget to go with it. It was also a serious looking show but I wanted to be reserved about it too as sometimes a show seem’s cool in concept but then in execution it comes off as cheesy and not well done. Be warned before continuing reading as I go in depth on the scenes so it will for sure spoil if you have not seen the show. Of you are ready then click more for the rest 
Episode 1: Days Gone Bye introduces us to the world of The Walking Dead right from the get go. The opening scene was of a police officer looking for gas, destruction everywhere and encountering a little girl who was dead. He shoots…and we see it. Often in shows just that scene alone would never be allowed. It was direct, in your face and made you feel uncomfortable.
We then get a flashback to how we reached this point. How did a normal everyday life turn into a horror. We start following our main character Rick Grimes on the job as the deputy sheriff. During a shootout things turn for the worst for our deputy as he is critically wounded. We then shift to the hospital where he is on the edge of recovery. We have a haze of his friend and partner Shane Walsh who visits leaving flowers. Rick seems to pull through waking to full consciousness but the flowers are dead. Time has passed and your really getting into the confusion he must be feeling. Rick goes through a torn apart hospital which has long since been abandoned and discovers a door locked and blocked with a warning the dead were behind.
As things progress were introduced more into the world now with abandoned vehicles, helicopters in the field, bodies on the ground. You cannot help but wonder which one will move if any. You can feel Ricks overwhelming fear and confusion as he makes his way home. Is he asleep, is he going crazy, how could all this be happening. It’s a feeling of pure isolation.
Finally we follow him back to his empty home and it looks like his wife and child managed to get out. We then are introduced to some other living characters named Dwayne and Morgan. They were wanting to escape to the city but shit happened and they were floundering around. By shit it would be his daughter or wife (I didn’t catch which) was undead. Her reanimated body even ended up visiting the home and we learn that zombies have a capability to try and open doors. So there is overall a thin basic intelligence with them. We also basically get the gist of things like a shot to the head kills them, bites seems to spread the infection by causing a fever and then zombification.
Rick and his new companions revisit his home followed by the police station where he provides a weapon and ammo but also takes quite a lot for himself as well. Hell who wouldn’t right. The split at this point which is a bit odd from a survivor perspective but what follows again brings a human element to all that has happened. Morgan attempts to put down his daughter or wife but can’t. You feel the conflict. You want to put your loved one to some sense of rest however you have to get over that your about to shoot that loved one but yet they move. It’s a strange conflict as they seem to have a certain emotion that passes through the zombies eyes. They just don’t seem mindless.
Finally we have Rick who has a similar encounter with a zombie he encountered on his way home after his escape from the hospital. The zombie reaches for him but with the look and the dialogue it is almost like there is an unspoken conversation going between two people who knew each other.
Rick is then on his way to the city and we get a brief glimpse that his wife and child are still alive but with his police partner. There is also a intimate relationship building between Ricks wife and his partner. I am not sure how long Rick spent in recovery so part of me wonders about this relationship that is kind of thrown in your face. It is hard to make sense of it but it will have a future impact no doubt. And as a final scene we have Rick who makes it to the city to encounter a mob of zombies.
In all Days Gone Bye is an awesome introduction to the series. Where I was once worried about how much emotion can come through via a zombie tv series I am now relieved that this show takes itself very seriously. Zombies are very dynamic as they seem to have an intelligence to them yet they are zombies who will tear you apart and eat your flesh if they can. I like the isolated feeling at times. The cinematography is also extremely well done giving us some iconic shots like Rick riding on a horse into the city, the road leading in is empty except for him while the exit lanes are full of abandoned cars.
I for one cannot wait for episode 2.
