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The Walking Dead was the break out hit of last year. Based on the Robert Kirkman comic books, the zombie apocalyptic tale already had an established, rabid fanbase: it’s a credit to its quality that it pleased the fanboys and everybody else, becoming a major critical and commercial success. Now, a year later, the second season is upon us.
Second seasons often make or break a show. They can take the show into brave new directions (The Wire) or implode under their own self-importance (Heroes). Things looked a bit shaky with The Walking Dead: if reports are to believed, behind-the-scenes bickering led to the resignation (or sacking) of show-runner Frank Darabont. Regardless if this is true or not, Dead's season première succeeds by keeping the core of the show intact, yet upping the stakes to alarming levels of intensity.
The second season picks up directly after the first: leaving the zombie-infested city of Atlanta, the group of survivors, led by Rick Grimes, make their way to Fort Benning. They are blocked by a traffic jam of abandoned vehicles on the highway, a delightfully creepy set-piece that is essentially a graveyard for those who desperately tried to escape the zombie onslaught. Soon enough, a herd of zombies descend on the group and, in the confusion, Sophia, a 12 year old survivor, goes missing. The rest of the episode focuses on finding her.
As expected, there's an obscene amount of violence on display. The make-up and sound team have once again done a fine job in making the zombies look as bloody and fractured as possible, and every gunshot and stab is accompanied by a satisfying 'squish.' Only once does the bloodiness become gratuitous - an unnecessarily long scene where a zombie's belly is cut open and its recent eating habits inspected.
Still, excessive violence has never been the main draw of The Walking Dead. At its heart, this is a story about the rag-tag group of survivors who have survived the apocalypse. The love/hate triangle continues between Grimes, his wife Lori, and Shane Walsh, Grimes' best friend and Lori's on/off lover. Walsh is the most interesting character, a good man gradually driven into murky moral waters, brilliantly played by Jon Berrnthal.
Dead isn't a show for everyone, but you probably know by now if you like it or not. For those who enjoyed the terrifying, claustrophobic desperation of the first season, you'll find plenty to love in this first episode, especially its jaw dropping cliffhanger.
The Walking Dead continues Friday 10pm FX.
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