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The Walking Dead Series 3 On DVD. But Is It Redemption After S2?

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The sea-change that has affected television over the last few years has been felt in unexpected places. From the homes of you the viewer, all the way to the pockets of the people who run the networks (Who I can’t feel sorry for because they are idiots who seem hell bent on dragging the rest of us down to their level. Want an example? OK; you know that “Honey Boo-Boo” calamity? The one about that could probably have passed for a Gritty HBO remake of “The Beverly Hillbillies” were it not terrifyingly, depressingly real? Yeah, that’s on “The Learning Channel.”)

But this change has affected social interaction on a grassroots level too. Time was folks would have watercooler chats about the previous nights X-files cliffhanger, and be safe in the knowledge that everyone was at the same point in the shows timeline, and if you missed an episode you were grateful to your pal for filling you in on the details so that next week you weren’t left floundering and wondering what the hell was going on. That wasn’t a spoiler; that was a courtesy.

Now though; revealing a plot detail to a friend who missed your mutual favourite show is as likely as not going to get you a kick in the cobblestones. People are now able to watch shows at their own pace, and the gap between cheaply made bad television (See above) and high quality “good” television has become very wide, and as such people latch onto the higher quality shows with fierce devotion only hinted at five or ten years ago.

I’ve been in company where the subject of, for example, “Game of Thrones” has come up only for someone to hush everyone into silence in order to gauge how far along everyone is with the show. This has become a fairly common thing now that TV has reached the standard where it is no longer Films backward cousin. A-list actors, writers and directors are becoming frequent contributors to higher-end shows, and for me this first really hit home when I caught the Frank Darabont – directed adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s acclaimed “The Walking Dead” comics.

 

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It was truly gripping stuff and I hadn’t found myself experiencing this level of anticipation for a show since the days of “The Real Ghostbusters” as a youngster. It had extremely high production values; twisting storylines, strong (If not terribly likeable) characters, and best of all, it had mainstream appeal; which equals financial success and therefore possible longevity.

Then Season Two began, and with it a slide into mediocrity which became so pronounced that by its mid-season break, I wasn’t bothered anymore. The story had become stagnant and the characters had gone from spirited but un-likeable to dull and fucking loathsome. The Rick – Shane – Lori Love triangle began to grate, The Farmhouse and its family of owners, who I’m sure were supposed to hint at ambiguity and have us speculating as to their motivations felt like half assed utility characters, there to step into whichever the first hole in the group dynamic that appeared was, and even everyones favourite bad-ass Daryl Dixon seemed to have precious little to do.

I had given up on the show, until a conversation with a learned colleague a few months later convinced me that things had turned around and I should probably go back to it, because after all; season 3 was on the horizon… and you know what THAT means…

 

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I didn’t know what that meant, but took him at his word regardless and found that my buddy had been right. It did indeed pick up. The long awaited showdown between Rick and Shane was near enough worth the wait (By this stage Shane had become a complete ball-ache of a character and I was glad to see the back of him if I’m honest) and finally the dam broke and we were treated to a long overdue shakeup by new showrunner Glenn Mazarra in the season finale; culminating in the promise of a ‘Ricktatorship’ with a closing shot of a prison in the distance…

 

 

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Sure enough, season 3 turns out to be all that. The Governor, played by English actor David Morrisey; (So that’s both lead protagonist and antagonist played as Americans by English actors then…) makes his debut as the leader of the fortified town of Woodbury, and with him he brings a sense of tension and conflict that had been sorely missing in the previous season; and possibly even the one before that. Suddenly Ricks group has a real enemy. A charismatic, cunning and increasingly unhinged foil who brings a completely new sense of menace worse than any zombie.


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