The Walking Dead Season 2

AMC

Now that enough time has passed since the season finale, it's time to talk about the show without (as much) worrying about spoiling people.  But still, *HUGE SPOILER WARNING FOR SEASON 2*

The expectations were high for this season going in.  After the intense six episodes from season one, they really had to continue this trend or fail and be devoured by the fanboys.  It didn't start well, with the unexpected absence of Frank Darabont, many wondered how the show would flow.  Overall, it was a good season.  They showed that they could properly convert the atmosphere of the comics, where there are many scenes of just talking and no zombie, and still have it be very interesting.  It may not have pleased people who had just watched the first season, but it was overall good.  The longer season also showed what a talented cast they had, with many scenes being Emmy worthy in my mind.  Even when the writers made some questionable calls with character development, these actors gave it their all.  As a long time fan of the comics, seeing the writers play around with things that are near and dear to my zombie heart were fun to see.  The big one being Shane.  Robert Kirkman (who created and writes The Walking Dead comic) killed him off very early in the comic, which I always viewed as mistake. It was great to see it play out here.  The writers even pay homage to how he dies when Carl ultimately kills shane.

Not all was good though.  Many character exhibited odd characteristics and did things that didn't flow with everything that we had seen thus far.  It gave this season a transition feel.  It's clear the writers now know what they are doing, but they had to do certain things to see how far they could get away with things.  Like the writing staff was growing a little.  Things like Maggie and Glenn's relationship took some rather bad turns, which seem to be over.  Many thought Dale was annoying, and the writers could have handled his role as the voice of reason a hell of a lot better.  Lori took the brunt of stupid decisions, namely the car crash and her reaction to Rick near the end of the season finale. The writers also need to figure out things for every character each episode.  It was a good idea to thin the cast out in the season finale, but they are bringing new characters in, so that problem isn't going to go away.  I'd say the writing was the only weak point of the season.

But the future looks very bright.  Michonne is going to be handled well, and the Governor story line is going to be teased or used next season.  The prison scene in the comic does bring up the problem of a lot of people standing around and talking, which was a big complaint about season two with Hershel's farm.  But the Governor might be brought in a little faster than in the comics, so this problem might not happen.  None the less, October 25th can't come fast enough.

The Walking Dead season 2 gets 4/5.