My "I don't have pneumonia just a terrible chest cold" television review

I had nothing to write about over the last few days. I have been recovering from that hellish chest cold...

{Terrance: Please go to the doctor. You sound like you have pneumonia
Dawn: I don't have pneumonia, because I have had pneumonia and while I am coughing, I can still breathe. It just sounds like hell as I cough all this shit UP, so stop telling me to go to the doctor. Because I am not going}

So I have been sitting in bed, catching up on all my shows - Season 8 into Season 9 of Spooks, a BBC spy  show I just adore.

Dawns Thoughts:
Excellent choice of adorable British Men that I have fan-girl crushes on. Lots of fun Geo-political information.  Made me remember that Russia is a "threat" - as well as laugh at my own American-centric view of the terrorist threats of the world that go far above and beyond what has captured USA Today's attention. But stop killing the Awesome Female leads.

(P.S. Spooks producers? That person playing the American Spy? She has an accent out of 1930's New York.  I mean, seriously. It bugs me)

First 4 episodes of Supernatural...

Dawns Thoughts:

Well Played writers of Supernatural. I was really uncertain how you were going to dig yourself out of that Season Closer. I mean, it did seem pretty final and all. And thanks for bringing  back Castiel. His smolder is distinctly different from My beloved Dean. Also, Sam has clearly been hitting the gym. I am curious as to how you explore the new family dynamic there.

First episode of Sanctuary:

Ok....Not so impressed. You are going to have to step up your game here - cause that Kali story was just too, well, ridiculous. And that is coming from a show which has at its premise that there are special places for the "ab Normals" run by a couple hundred year old Doctor who had a (test tube) baby with Jack the Ripper and made some kind of cabal with Nikola Tesla and the other guy I can't remember right now. So pick it up.

And for the piece de resistance today I watched the 1 hour and 7 minute glory that was the premiere episode of AMC's The Walking Dead

Now, given my serious, serious love of the comic, I had very high expectations. However, I also understand that a comic can never be fully realized as a television show. The mediums can reference one another, but you can never achieve the detail and nuance conveyed in a graphic form when making a television show.

There are so many reasons I love this comic - the stark writing, the black and white format. The unapologetic killing of characters. Its just so unsentimental.  Of course, in the comics - now well into 70 plus issues, Kirkman develops characters in a way which is both spare and full. The comic emphasizes that it doesn't have time to fully vet every member you meet. You don't get rich back stories to understand how people ended up making every decision  you witness.  Kirkman also never makes the story morally easy - and it gets more and more difficult as the comic progresses. No character is allowed to remain wholly likeable - NO ONE.

So what did I think of the premiere episode?

Brilliant.  They could have made the beginning scenes too rushed - or somehow cut out the way Rick wakes up after being shot in a police operation (He's a deputy sheriff) - after the zombie apocalypse has occurred only to wander out to a world in which the dead are walking and there is no explanation. They could have rushed him starting the search for his family, or cut out the meeting of the first survivors that he encounters who teach him what they know about what has happened.

They could have cut out the small nuances, like Rick walking up to the farmhouse to find the corpses of the farmer and wife, victims of murder suicide rather than face the word changes ( although the comic scene had children lined up on the couch, but I will forgive that)

And while the initial approach into Atlanta was a little too "I am Legend"ish, I forgive it for the scene when he corners the street and into the horde of dead. That was brilliant. Hold back until the end. Give him the full scope of the hell that has been opened.

And kudos for making the zombies both terrible and gruesome, but not silly. These zombies are as serious as a heart attack.

So Kudos, AMC. I can't wait to see the next episode.