The Walking Dead S2E1 “What Lies Ahead”
Much like its title suggests, this episode tried to do everything a good premiere should do, and it pretty much did that. There are a few new mysteries, a new purpose, and some smaller character plotlines put into action.
However, I can’t help but read into a lot of the underlying themes. There’s talk of moving on, and fresh starts, and the new direction the group is heading in. This should be the last episode that credits Frank Darabont as showrunner, as he was fired (or quit, depending on what you believe) shortly into the production cycle. The writing staff was fired (or changed, depending on what you believe) over the summer as well; plus, there’s the whole business with the mini-seasons the actual full S2 production order is split into. Really, there’s a lot going on in the writer’s room, and I’m not surprised in this episode they wanted to get right down to zombie business and get new conflicts.
But let’s talk about that last shot first.
As soon as you saw the church, you knew there would be a praying scene, right? What I didn’t expect was dueling scenes, requiring an awkward commercial break. Carol, the believer, says the usual stuff, but she lets slip she prayed for death. Rick, the non-believer, also says the usual stuff, and just wants some affirmation he’s doing the right thing. (Which his wife, speaking to the group, gives him. Except Rick doesn’t hear it.)
And then his son gets shot. It’s a beautiful little scene and works right up until the actual bullet. It’s completely on-the-nose thematically. As much as it works as a cliffhanger, it fails on the more important character level. Yeah, I get that Rick wanted a sign and then his son was randomly shot. I get it. I thought the deer was pretty cool - it’s a nice little moment, and shows him connecting with his son. It’s still pretty obvious, but it’s not painfully obvious.
This type of scene exemplifies what The Walking Dead is right now, and what it can become. Right now, the entire scene is undermined by shoddy character work in the truncated first season and on-the-nose storytelling. But everything looks real nice, and the cliffhanger worked.
I did like this episode, but with two big caveats. I talked a little in my Breaking Bad recap about how early episodes work better or worse when considered in context of the rest of the season, and it is especially true of this show, which is less thematic and more HOLY GOD ZOMBIES. It’s like watching Lost S2. You can really enjoy everything, especially the introduction of Ben, and get lost in some of the mysteries you forgot about. But the entire Walt storyline is tough to care about knowing it goes almost nowhere.
Thus, Carl getting shot could be a catalyst for new and exciting things, or it could just be a zombie accidentally stepping on a gun and a waste. Consider the start of the episode: Rick desperately talking into the walkie-talkie, hoping Morgan can hear him. There’s a strong montage under him saying they’re trying to go the 128 miles to Ft. Benning. And then Sophia goes missing. And then she runs off. And now the son is shot. Suddenly, the 128 miles is nowhere near the focus and purpose the beginning of the episode led the audience to believe. If this is a place worth discovering, then it’ll be worth it. If it’s not, it’s another narrative dead-(sorry) end like going back for Merle The Racist in S1.
Right now, Carl getting shot does not work for me. Sophia running off is less objectionable. It’s another mystery for the moment - Rick was very clear in his instructions, and the way her trail is lost seems like she was picked up by another group of people. If the show’s reason for this is dumb, like she got lost and scared, then this will be a rough season.
The importance of a strong narrative is even more important since this season is divided into two chunks. S1 wasn’t as bad as most people were making it out to be, but since there was so much hype for six episodes, the forgettable ones seem like a bigger waste than they really were. The Walking Dead will have to deal with this with each of S2’s chunks - no clunkers.
Part of me is just scared of another CDC. The idea was really cool - when Rick & Co. stepped into the light at the end of “Wildfire,” I thought the show had found purpose. Then the finale devolved into a lot of hackneyed dialogue and yet another narrative dead-end. Another thing brought up in this episode is the radio message - broadcasting within 50 miles, apparently. There are seeds planted, and I’m okay with them for now. But everything’s tenuous because of the show’s history.
One thing “What Lies Ahead” did I enjoyed was not introduce new characters. It should allow the show (and the new writers) to start with a strong base. Instead, it really only had one strong character scene, where Andrea stood up to Dale. It raised a consistent thematic question in the series in a different way. Getting the same job done but in a bad way was Lori bringing up the attempted rape - by literally saying it, it was a little too much, and their perpetual bickering is terrible and doesn’t even seem consistent from scene-to-scene. Meanwhile, Carol’s grieving wasn’t anything too special. Andrea’s plan to run away with Shane seems ill-fated and dumb anyway. And every other character is just background right now. Dale’s trick with the radiator was nice, but it reflected nothing about T-Dog (is that his name?). (By the way, what happened to his arm? He cut an artery or something, and bleeds for 5 minutes, and then he’s fine later? No dialogue about any of this? This, more so than anything else in the premiere, was just obviously a lazy mistake.)
If there were stronger characters, then the narrative stops and starts wouldn’t really matter. It would also make the episodes that aren’t as zombie-filled more manageable. Instead, everything is kind of mired in this muck, and we get people talking to a crucifix, saying exactly what they’re thinking.
With or without characters, though, The Walking Dead can succeed if it has more scenes like the one that dominated the first act - the prolonged highway scene. It seemed like it lasted forever, and I mean that in a good way. (It also did last a really long time, judging by all of the quick commercial breaks the rest of the episode.) I don’t really buy that Dale wouldn’t see that coming, but splitting the characters up and letting them deal with a bunch of different things, while needing to remain quiet, was genius. It was a different type of zombie scene, one that kept the tension due to its silence. It was just fun to watch, and I let out a big breath once it was over.
Similarly, opening up the walker was fun as well. It was darkly comic but still dark, since they were looking for a digested child in there after all. The Walking Dead seems competent enough to execute these types of scenes well, and this might be able to keep the series going until the writers can give the characters a better footing.
A lot of this post is just me wanting to like the show, but remembering how S1 consistently failed on these fronts. I just don’t want to be hurt again by ramshackle plotting and thin characterization. Still, I’m a big believer S1 wasn’t a failure - it was just six episodes, and this promises to be a long, popular series. Who knows what it will grow in to.
It’s a little unfair this is filling the Breaking Bad spot on Sunday, as these are different types of shows. The Walking Dead will never hit the narrative, thematic, or character highs Breaking Bad S4 just did. But it can give some gory fun, and maybe ask a question or two and have some fun on the way. That type of stuff is worth watching, too.
