Lazy, lazy, lazy

The cold open for The Walking Dead's "18 Miles Out" was a lazy writer's trick.  By flash forwarding to some zombie lumbering goodness, the writers tease the action so that they could fall back on the talky talky again.  It was a promise to have some good stuff later on.  Again, I ask thee, why not just have it all be good stuff?  The flash forward technique worked better in the Shane and the Haircut episode because it was demonstrating his journey--here he is at point C, and he got there through points A and B.  But in "18," I can't see any other purpose than to grab attention.  Lazy.  After the cold open, we get Rick and Shane talking it out. As much as I love Jon Berenthal's sullen 14 year old act when Shane's getting talked at, that scene felt looong.

Like Christmas!

So I  basically got everything I asked for in my last blog post about The Walking Dead.  I didn't ask for more zombies, but got them too.  Essentially I asked for more tension within scenes, and the latest episode, "Triggerfinger," had that in spades. *Spoilers from here* Glen, Rick and Herschel being pinned down in the bar even had shades of the highway scene I referenced.  If I didn't know more about TV production I'd think someone out there was listening.

So Close and Yet So Far

The Walking Dead has been a disappointment.  Not in ratings-it's drawing tons of viewers.  However, the water cooler discussion after each episode, or at least the virtual one I follow on Twitter and the like, is about continual disappointment.  There seems to be an unfulfilled promise that is nagging at the amorphous crowd that is "the viewership."  Some complain it's the farm that stagnating the story, others complain about characters like Lori who don't demonstrate much agency, one camp is firmly in the "more zombies" category, and yet others are just mad that Frank Darabont is no longer part of the project.  If it were just a rotten show, people would quit watching it, and there wouldn't be so much sturm und drang about it.  But The Walking Dead has such a great concept, right-on production values, and moments of brilliance (hiding under the vehicles on the highway as the herd shuffles by, anyone?) that when the story drags, its a--well, drag.  You're rooting for it.  You want it to live up to the hype.  So when it doesn't, the let down has more impact.