This is the second of two shows I admit I may have overrated slightly because I wrote these entries right after seeing them. AMC can just about do no wrong in its post-Mad Men original programming days (just about because of the “noble failure” Rubicon and the Prisoner remake miniseries which everyone seems to have tried to forget and mostly succeeded). From Mad Men to Breaking Bad to now Walking Dead and The Killing (well the start of The Killing), AMC has hit after hit on their hands. After the incredible success of the six episode season of the Walking Dead (six episode season, I know – what is this, the United Kingdom or something?), I read an interesting article concerned whether it was so successful that it would change AMC’s entire strategy. The first episode of the second season has been no exception rating-wise, as the show shattered all sorts of AMC rating records, especially in terms of younger, advertiser-attractive demographics.
Based on a graphic novel, with which I was not too familiar before the series started, it comes on top of a decade long zombie fascination, second only to the more broadly popular vampire trend – made up of the resurrection of the Night of the Living Dead franchise, Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, Planet Terror, 28 Days and Weeks Later, Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z and probably a couple of others. Like most zombie works, even though the zombies are the enemy, they have no personalities, they’re simply unthinking, unrelenting enemies who the humans have to strive against. The remaining humans, overtaken by the zombies have to figure out a plan to survive. The real personal conflict is between the different factions of humans who are a bunch of unlikely folk brought together due to the strange circumstances of zombie attack and must work together in tough scenarios or face inevitable doom.
The tension is palpable, and both the action scenes and the personal drama are handled extremely well. Finding the correct balance between out and out zombie action and relationship tension between the characters will continue to be an issue, but initial results are positive.
The season ended in a bit of a strange place, but due to the general strength of the season and the fact that the graphic novel is widely acclaimed, I’m more than willing to give the creators the benefit of the doubt. The show faced an unusual level of behind-the-scenes drama this summer, as show runner Frank Darabont left, and going forward, the fact that I’m not sure who exactly the writers and show runners are going to be gives me a great deal of pause, but there’s a really good start here that I sincerely hope doesn’t get messed up. They’ve started so well and have so much to work with, if they can just avoid a The Killing, it should be pretty promising.
What It’s This High: Dark zombie drama which is constantly on the move and changing the status quo, so far anyway
Why It’s not higher: The last episode was a little bit weak; I’m not sold on how it will continue to evolve just yet
Best episode of the most recent season: “Days Gone By” – the series remained pretty solid over the first six episodes but it was the pilot that won me over. The episode felt cinematic and was so gripping that I was in for the whole six episodes whether or not the next five were terrible.
Television, the Drug of the Nation 
The pilot was the second worst episode after the finale. Pretty solid show, but definitely my least favorite of the AMC stories. I miss Rubicon. Oh yeah, this shouldn’t be over Curb. (Had to get that in there somewhere!)