Season 2, Episode 1: What Lies Ahead

After almost a year of waiting, we are finally here. For those of you that don't know, The Walking Dead had a somewhat rocky off-season. First came news of the writers shake-ups. Details were limited, we didn't know if the writers were all going to be axed, if it were just a few, or what was going to happen. There were even rumors that Frank Darabont and Robert Kirkman would be taking on sole writing duties. Then came the bombshell, Frank Darabont had left the series (reports are still vague on whether he left or had been fired). This was a big let down for me, simply because I'm a fan of most of Darabont's work and I felt the series premiere, "Days Gone Bye" (which Darabont wrote and directed) was far and away the best episode of The Walking Dead yet.

How will this affect the show? Only one way to find out...

But on to the second season's premiere episode "What Lies Ahead." This episode picks up exactly where the first season ended with our group hitting the road after the destruction of the CDC in Atlanta. They don't exactly know where they are headed, simply traveling looking for food and trying to survive, in hopes that they will one day find shelter.

We learned a few things about the nature of zombies this episode. For one thing they travel in ultra-large packs called herds. Their sense of smell is not as keen as we perhaps thought that it was. Early on in the first season it was suggested that the zombies could smell living things. At first, I couldn't figure out how hiding under a car would help our group out. My initial thoughts were that the stench of all of the rotting corpses in the cars must be masking the smell of our group. Yet, as Robert Kirkman informed us on the talk show The Talking Dead, the zombies can sense that you are alive, "but they are not bloodhounds." They do not sniff out live flesh with their noses, therefore if a zombie has no idea that you are around, it has no reason to think that anything is up. Makes sense to me, even though I still like my initial thoughts.

Another thing that we learned about the zombies is that they do not get winded. Rick says this as he is trying to lure the zombies away from little Sophia. This makes sense, and also makes them extremely dangerous, because once they are on your trail, they are not stopping unless you barricade them out or give them a nice, clean, headshot (something that we got a lot of this week). As Rick goes and bashes the zombies brains in with rocks Sophia runs away. We have no idea where she goes or what has happened to her.

There were several interesting character developments this week, as well. Andrea is still angry with Dale for forcing her to not commit suicide back at the CDC. I am glad that Andrea did not let this go. It was a very nobel thing for Dale to do, and we all know it was the right thing. But let's face it, Dale basically said that he was going to kill himself unless she left the CDC with him, which is some pretty heavy stuff. Andrea of course says the only reason that she is alive today is because she didn't want Dale's blood on her hands. Because of this Dale takes away Andrea's gun, as he doesn't trust her quite yet. She decides to talk to Shane about leaving with him after she overheard him tell Lori that it is too difficult for him to stay with the group

Of course the big moment came at the very end with what has to be the most shocking moment in the series yet. As Rick, Carl, and Shane are out in the woods they see something the immediately fills them with a glimmer of hope. A beautiful buck. Carl is immediately bewildered and begins to slowly walk towards it, and to everone's surprise the buck doesn't move. Then it happens, a shot rings out and a bullet pierces through the body of the deer...and into young Carl.

This is a critical moment for two reasons. The first is obviously it leaves Carl clinging to life.The second, is that someone is out there, and they are armed. Chances are that they were just hunting and the shot to Carl was an accident. But it still is a mystery. I guess we will find out next week.

A few stray observations:
-How exactly does T-Dog (I still can't believe that's his name) slice open his arm so badly that he nearly passes out, only to be seen moments later walking around with a bandage on it afterwards?
-The gutting of the zombie was the most gnarly thing since, well, the last time a zombie was gutted in the season one episode, "Guts." Only this time the zombie was a little bit more, ::ahem:: rotten. I loved it.
- Part of me wondered if the zombies knew that when the church bell rang that humans might come to the church. Are they that intelligent? Or is it more like the zombies going to the mall in Dawn of the Dead, where they go because it was an important place in their lives so they are naturally drawn there.
-The SS insignia on Darryl's ape-hanger was a nice touch. I love how gloriously un-PC this guy is.

Zombie Kill of the Week: It's gotta be the long haired zombie who Darryl shot with his cross-bow and was then gutted, having all of it's disgusting innards shown in all of their glory.

Final Verdict: 7 out of 10 Headshots. This week's episode, while having some really awesome moments felt more like an episode in the middle of a season rather than a season premiere. Will the show ever be able to reach the epic heights of the series premiere? Maybe. With this season given 13 episodes it should have more room to breathe, thus allowing more depth. I thoroughly enjoyed this weeks episode, but I can't say that I wasn't slightly disappointed after waiting almost a year.