Walking Dead fans have got so much and yet so little coming their way. This Sunday, we get our season finale with the crew making their way to some kind of lab base. This seems to be where the biggest divergence from the comic series begins. Since this lab appears to be occupied by someone working on determining the causes of the zombie endemic. Unfortunately, AMC seems to have underestimated the popularity of The Walking Dead (which is the most watched show the network has ever had with later episodes showing stronger ratings than the series premiere). So, while we only get 6 episodes of the first season, which will likely end on a massive cliffhanger, the first season will be released on dvd and blu-ray in the spring of 2011. That’s the good news. And more good news is that the second season is going to be 13 episodes. The bad news? We won’t be getting it until October of 2011. This means a massive time jump between seasons. Apparently their belief is that their October Horrorthon will cause another jump in ratings, which sounds like a terrible idea to me. If anything, the gap will cause viewers to forget about the series or lose interest in it.
When Hollywood Reporter did an interview with Michael Rooker, he confirmed that his characters’s hand amputation and disappearance from the rooftop will not be dealt with in the season finale and it’s something that will probably come back into play in the second season. For those who don’t remember, Merle cut his handoff after Rick cuffed him to a rooftop, leaving his hand behind but with no trace of himself. I’m going to bet that he comes back as a vengeful person who returns to pick off the survivors one by one. His idea for what Merle should have done with his hand is pretty genius too.
THR: Like 127 Hours did you want to show the cutting scene?
Rooker: The way they did it was great. Any more would have spoiled it. My idea was to leave my hand with the middle finger up in a pool of blood in rigor mortis defiance. They passed on that.
I’m really enjoying the tv show, especially since I find myself trying to predict events based on the comic and find myself surprised by the events that are changed, such as them removing the shooting of Shane by Carl which happens very early on in the comic series. Granted that may be due to them wanting to hold onto actors for as long as possible instead of having a continually rotating cast of characters like in the comic books.
