No Linking Allowed!
No Linking Allowed!
If there’s one word to describe the 13 episode season two, The Walking Dead Box Set is “farm.” Yes folks, Rick, Daryl, Carl, Shane, Lori, Glenn, Andrea, Dale, T-Dog, and Carol spend most of the season on a farm (Hershel’s Farm to be exact). You can expect lots of bickering, whining, arguing, and Rick and Hershel clashing over ideologies on said farm. There’s also a few subplots involving Carol’s daughter Sophia missing, medical supplies, a pregnancy, Shane going nuts, secrets, human baddies, the death of major characters, and the introduction of new characters (namely Maggie and Hershel).
After an intense season premiere featuring a stand-out sequence involving a zombie herd on an abandoned car filled highway,went downhill from there until the final moments of the season finale (I’ll get to that soon). Aside from the fact that characters were on the farm for far too long doing nothing, there are several reasons why this season was a complete failure.
For one, former showrunner Frank Darabont is sorely missed here. The real reason the show worked was because of him. No Linking Allowed! His style and vision made the first season a smash TV hit (not Robert Kirkman’s story). Without him, there’s a big hole in this show visually and creatively and it shows.
Secondly, the absence of Merle (aside from a vision cameo) also hurts the show. Despite the fact that his character is an ass, he brought a certain presence to the show that was needed. He created conflict and tension. To put simply, he shook things up.
Last, but not least, the show’s budget cuts were the true killer of Smash Box Set. Without the bigger budget the first season had, the writers had to stall thereby creating many uneventful episodes. The writing also seemed to take a hit here with some truly idiotic character actions (see Carl taunting a zombie and letting him escape).
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