After a long spring/summer break, hit T.V. show The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Oct. 14th. I, for one, am incredibly excited for the Season Three premiere this Sunday. The wild, gut-wrenching Season Two finale has kept me excited for the new season for the past six months.
When the final camera shot of Season Two panned out, main character and leader of a surviving group of humans, Rick, was attempting to control a group that was lost, broken, and desperate. After being attacked by a seemingly endless herd of zombies (walkers), the group has lost not only their place of residence and shelter, but also many of their friends and family.
As Season Two progressed, more and more humans were killed. With the disappearance of Sophia, a child in the group, early in the season, the stage was set for many deaths to arise. While the first half of Season Two was rather boring and featured very few exciting events, the segment of the season ended with the infamous massacre at the barn. When Sheriff Shane opened up the barn door and released the horde of walkers, it changed so much. Shane not only asserted himself as a leader but also stirred up bad feelings with the owner of the barn, Hershell Greene.
After the massacre at the barn, the atmosphere was tense going into the second half of season two. Hershell went back to his drinking ways and was found at a bar in the abandoned town just a few miles from his cherished farm. When Rick and Glenn find him, a group of humans make an unwelcomed visit and a fire-fight ensues. Rather than leaving an injured foe to be ravaged by the flesh eating walkers, Rick makes the decision to bring the teenage boy back with them and give him medical care before they send him on his way again. To their astonishment, their prisoner not only knew went to school with Hershell’s daughter, but knew exactly where the farm was located and claimed that the gang he was a part of was full of dangerous unpredictable men. Upon learning this, Rick was faced with a difficult decision: kill their prisoner, or let him live. This caused trouble for the rest of the season. Faced with such a difficult decision, the group argued amongst each other. Just before fan favorite, Dale, was viciously attacked by a walker during a late night stroll, he uttered arguably the most famous quote of the season. Just before storming out of the “trial” deciding their prisoner’s fate, Dale proclaimed, “This group is broken.”
After Dale’s death, the group tried to regain their sanity but some people still fell short. The biggest enemy of the group no longer seemed to be the human-eating corpses, but rather Shane Walsh, the small town sheriff who had made a number of bad choices. In the second to last episode of the season, Shane took the fate of their prisoner into his own hands and murdered him in the woods. While searching for the “runaway prisoner” with Rick, Shane attempted his second murder of the night, but lost his own life in the process. To everyone’s surprise, Shane came back to life as a zombie without a bite or scratch on him. The shot that rang out from officially ending Shane’s life drew an entire herd of walkers to the farm and started the largest battle in the show’s history.
In the season finale alone, Patricia and Jimmy were killed by walkers, followed closely by the disappearance of Andrea. Surprisingly, she was found by the much anticipated character of Michone, who until now had only appeared in the comic book series of Walking Dead. In the last scene of the season, Rick finally reveals what was told to him at the CDC in Atlanta; everyone is infected, and everyone who dies will definitely become a mindless savage.
After last season’s nail-biting finale, I can’t wait for Season Three to start this Sunday night. In the past few weeks I have been watching as many sneak-peek and making-of videos as I can find. After watching all the videos I could possibly find, I must say that I have a very good feeling about this season. The characters appear deeper than ever and the zombies seem air in plentiful supply. With characters such as Michone and The Governor being added into the show this season, the tension seems to be growing at an alarming rate. And in case you were missing him, the infamous Merle Dixon will most definitely be returning in season three looking for revenge on the man who handcuffed him to roof early in the first season.
Although we only have a few more days until the season three premiere, if you’re itching for some Walking Dead just like me, visit http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead to see interviews and sneak-peaks for the upcoming season.
