Where do I begin with this, I like The Walking Dead, both the graphic novel and the TV show, but the TV show has been "The Walking Slow", a term my best friend Matt made for the show. Now to be fair it is difficult and maybe it is nitpicking to try and compare the two, but something has to be said. The Walking Dead has all the tools to be not only an awesome show, but an incredibly explosive TV series. The make-up and special effects on the zombies are awesome and very well created. The acting is top notch with great performances that brings out the emotions of the characters.
These things considered, there is a huge gap between the graphic novel and the TV series. This is of course is obvious because if you read the graphic novels, you would know what is going to happen and there are budget restraints to consider, yet I feel that the writing is starting to become subjugated to TV standards. What I mean by TV standards is that you have to write the story and plan on where to make the best episodes count.
The TV standard for a graphic novel such as The Walking Dead is a tall order because of what the graphic novel does to the various characters and it's almost sadistic nature, where people can be taken away from the reader in a second, it presents a world where morals are a luxury and how society in this world effects and changes people. The TV show has been able and not able to portray this at times yet the reason for the latter is because the TV show is not pushing the extremes that the graphic novel has. It will push for an episode or two, but then goes into a slow transition where there seems to be nothing going on, and with this the viewer cannot fully feel the anxiety, fear, and horror of death around every corner.
If the TV show is going to make a statement, then it has to start digging deep and unleash the nature of the beast. I'm perfectly fine with the TV not being 100% exactly like the graphic novels, but for the sake of TV and the novels it represents please commit to the full energy the graphic novels bring. Don't go half ass and give the view one big event, or scene once in 7 episodes, leave the viewer feeling that every episode counts and not just the mid-season and season finales.
I'm not sure the reasoning of AMC to have The Walking Dead return in February. This seems a little too late and too far away for people to remember what the hell happened. If I had to give a rating so far on Season 2 of The Walking Dead it would be about a 7/10. Some good things, but missing the massive potential.
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