The Walking Dead Season Premiere Review “Seed” (Season 3, Episode 1)

Now, if I may, I must geek out for a moment and give kudos to this first episode for providing a slew of instances at which self-professed zombie fanatic couldn’t help but internally squeal. Simply put, not only I have been waiting all my life to see live action riot police zombies, but The Walking Dead even goes so far as to present the rather obvious fact that while intimidating, with their helmets on, they are unable to bite and actually less harmless that their unarmored counterparts.

At another point Rick leads a small pack of walkers around the prison perimeter to test for weaknesses in the fence. It’s a simple, organic scene that truly shows the survivors have embraced this world and no longer view the undead as people but only as threats or tools.

The show also forwards the ramifications of bringing a baby into the zombie apocalypse. In season two they addressed the possibility that a crying infant has the great chance of alerting walkers, but now we have the more fascinating and unsettling questions asked in this opener – it takes Dawn of the Dead, zombie new born baby syndrome to even more disturbing levels. What if the baby becomes stillborn and rips her apart from the inside? What if she dies during child birth and attacks the baby, or someone else? It takes a creative and twisted mind to fathom such things, and I loved it.

The fourth instance of grisly awesomeness comes in the form of the episode’s biggest shock when Hershel is bitten by a seemingly dispatched walker. In a bit of quick (albeit narrow-sited) thinking, Rick applies a tourniquet and hacks off the lower part of the limb. At which juncture, Rick moronically remarks “he’s bleeding out” as if expecting the shoddy removal of the lower part of a man’s leg would result in an out-flooding of rainbows.

That aside, and though initially infuriated that they would off Hershel just to rack up another name to the deceased list, that quick turn of events caught me off guard. I’ve always fathomed if quickly amputating a bitten appendage would halt the spread of the infection. I don’t know why I’ve thought of it, but I have. Needless to say if Hershel survives he could join a potentially long list of limbless/appendage-less cast members.

Though I have already applauded the time jump, my biggest qualm with this season so far does stem from that decision. The show made a point in season two of questioning what effect winter would have on walkers. Likely due to a monetary decision, they skipped over the season entirely, which is unfortunate as I was quite looking forward to the increased hardships (or perhaps period of relief) that the coldest months of the year would bring.

What will ultimately make or break season three of The Walking Dead is if they begin to answer some of the questions posed, be they overt or otherwise. How has the news that they are all infected ultimately weighed upon them psychologically? Will the fact that Lorie is carrying Shane’s baby ultimately tear the group apart, a nugget we least one can assume judging by Rick’s growing indifference and a remark by Daryl. Can the Rick-tatorship last forever and why does Carl get a gun and T-Dog get a fire poker?

With the reveal of The Governor, Merle Dixon and more screen time for Michonne still to come, season three of The Walking Dead is looking like a winner. And from the carnage showcased during the prison raid, this third round should be looking quite tantalizing to anyone thinking the show was skimping on gore.