With TV shows becoming a popular pastime for folks of all ages, there are quite a few shows that rose to fairly quickly to fame, from the highly popular high fantasy, epic show Game of Thrones, to the critically acclaimed crime world of Breaking Bad. Alongside those, another television series stood tall and proud among the rest, namely, The Walking Dead. Vastly popular, engaging and vividly written, this zombie show can arguably be called the best of its genre.
Synopsis
A local town sheriff “Rick Grimes” in the line of duty is shot, and goes into a coma from blood loss. When he wakes up, he finds himself in an abandoned hospital. Slowly he gets up and walks around only to find the place littered with corpses; to his horror, one starts to move! Quickly he leaves the hospital to find that the whole area is filled with corpses. Confused, he walks on in search of people, and particularly his family, whom he finds missing. So, he goes in search of them until he happens to stumble upon a father and his son, who are locked up in their house. He stays with them for a while and there he learns that in the period he was in the coma, most of the world population had turned to zombies. The probable cause: a virus. And just like that, you find yourself deeply immersed into AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
Popularity
Throughout the years, there have been many good zombie TV series shows released. Incognito Cinema Warriors XP (2008), Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997), High School of the Dead (2010), and Gungrave (2003), are the names of a few. But among all of them, The Walking Dead (2010) happens to be the most popular.
Released in 2010 and with a 5th season in production, this show remains among all other zombie shows, the best. As a matter of fact, if you want, you can verify that for yourself in IMDb. If you search “zombie series”, the first that will show-up is The Walking Dead, with a rating of 8.7, followed by Incognito and then Buffy.
How It Compares
So, what makes this show so much better than the other zombies TV shows? A number of the reasons have been stated below:
- Characters: To begin with, Walking Dead has a very strong cast of memorable characters, particularly Rick Grimes, Michonne and Daryl Dixon. A deputy sheriff, a samurai and a country-side hunter, in that order. Next to them, we have side-characters, who are quite memorable too. The only other zombie show with such a memorable set of characters around is the Gungrave, with protagonist Brandon Heat’s undying loyalty to the criminal empire Millenium, and his best friend Harry McDowell’s development, from secondary protagonist to primary antagonist.
- Music: This in particular, may not appeal to many people. However, if you like a good soundtrack in your shows, the soundtracks from Walking Dead are what you’d call “amazing” and then the music they use to build up the scenes, will leave you at the edge of your seat.
- Story Premise: The name speaks a lot for the story premise at first. But as you watch on you soon realize that it’s not all about. The very concept of a post-apocalyptic world filled with dead people who’re trying to feed on any and all living things, is a terrifying concept. And then, the drastic changes in personality that the characters undergo while trying to survive. There have been other series with similar development: High School of the Dead. Unfortunately for a 12-episode series, the development doesn’t exactly strike you as hard. And this is especially evident in Carl Grimes’ character. Carl Grimes is Rick’s 12-year old son, a survivor and a secondary character, but if you were to compare, his development is what is the most drastic. I’ll leave it here, as delving any further would be spoiling.
- Enjoyment: A totally engaging show, each episode consists of 40-45 minutes. Once you start on it, you’ll find you’ve watched, the better part of the season in one go. Many people enjoy the show, and are eagerly waiting for the new episodes of the 5th
Final Verdict on The Walking Dead
With a more or less common theme, like a zombie apocalypse, it does seem quite hard to pull off a good show, without being called a rip-off. Although, The Walking Dead seem to do that perfectly without much effort. So if you’re looking for a good show to sit down with and don’t mind a lot of gore and blood, mixed with amazing characters, sound and a well-developed story premise, this is the show for you!
