I’m watching the last hour AMC’s, “Walking Dead”. Today, the erstwhile “American Movie Channel” is blasting through the entire first season of this zombie series, leading into the 90 minute premiere of the new set of episodes.
The unfortunate word “Zombie” appears in that last paragraph, and most of you no doubt have no desire to read further, much less tune in for this year’s continuation, timed in the lead-up to Halloween. But reflect for a moment on other AMC shows, such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Killing. AMC has worked hard to solidify its brand of drama.
Central to all its shows is time. Time for character to unfold, for people to act like real, complex human beings. Time for a solid build-up to action, and time to wind down afterwards.
Set in the rural landscape of contemporary exurban Atlanta, Walking Dead follows an small band of survivors of the usual viral disaster endemic to the zombie genre. Get bit, you die, then are re-born as a shuffling, mumbling, drooling flesh eating caricature of a human being. Nothing new here.
But what is new, at least for television, is a willingness to tell a story about people as people, not just a few trapped souls desperate to put holes in the brains of every gore covered upright corpse they see. The details of the survivors response to the infestation takes center stage. Sister watches sister die, then re-animate. At which point, it’s kill or be killed. A battered wife protects her husband from the others living in her encampment: “We DON’T kill the living.” Then, he’s bit, and she takes out decades of fear and frustration on his skull with a pick axe.
All genre stories must follow certain codes. The western, space opera, detective story, gothic romance, those spaces are filled with junk, it’s true. But every now and then, a Zane Grey or Emily Bronte or John Le Carre gets a hold of the category, and raises it to an art form, by using the stress and constraints to set free a unique viewpoint on how humans live together.
The creators of Walking Dead clearly have that direction in mind. They are not interested in horror or gore for their own sake. They scare not us as much as the characters in their story, enabling their nobler or lesser traits to shine, and reflect our own humanity. They have a willingness to linger on the details of their people and their story.
The first episode appears SUnday evening at 9 PM on AMC. I’m sure repeats will be aired throughout the week, and then back again for a new round next Sunday evening. If you’ve enjoyed Mad Men, or The Sopranos, or The Wire, or Deadwood, you might just want to take a chance on this little gem. I know I’m hooked.