All of these elements particularly allow the series to shine in its fourth episode, titled “Alone.” No, they don’t look even half as cool as the zombies on “The Walking Dead” – they’re newly infected humans rather than full-on monsters, bleeding from the eyes and mouth but otherwise looking quite human – but they pose a credible threat that brings genuine suspense and terror to “Black Summer.” And at its best, the Netflix series is nothing if not TENSE.įrom the immediately mad opening sequence to the equally insane final moments, the first season of “Black Summer” frequently delivers intense, immersive chaos that’s sustained across entire episodes, and that’s primarily because the *running* zombies are actually fearsome foes it doesn’t hurt that the show begins at the start of the zombie apocalypse, ensuring that the characters aren’t very well equipped at dispatching the flesh-eaters. In “Black Summer,” however, each and every zombie is presented as a vicious killing machine who’s almost impossible to escape from, even if you’ve only got *one* on your tail. Often, it’s as if the zombies are made of a gelatinous goo, which makes for some gruesome bits of mayhem but also ensures that the zombies on “The Walking Dead” never feel like much of a threat. Even when several of them are approaching our heroes, a few quick slices from Michonne’s katana separates their heads from their bodies with ease. Especially at this point in the show’s run, nine seasons deep, the characters have become so adept at dispatching zombies that the gut-munchers have become an afterthought. Point being, the zombies on “The Walking Dead” are incredibly cool looking, but they’re very rarely… scary. Many of the show’s zombies have been iconic enough that they were turned into action figures by McFarlane Toys, and many of them even pay direct tribute to zombies from classic horror movies. Makeup master Greg Nicotero and his team are constantly upping their game to create truly memorable walkers, from the half-corpse zombie seen in the pilot episode to “Winslow” the scrap metal zombie from Season 7. Whether you love “The Walking Dead” or you hate it, one thing you cannot deny is that the zombies the series has brought to the small screen are some of the downright coolest in the sub-genre’s history. And while the stellar first season of “The Walking Dead” was no doubt far superior to the debut season of Netflix’s brand new “Black Summer,” the latter zombie series has impressed me by excelling in a couple areas that the AMC series has been having trouble with of late.Īnd now that I’ve got your attention, I’ll explain what the hell I’m talking about. My point is, I love “The Walking Dead,” which will go down in history not simply as one of the best but also one of the most important horror television shows of all time. Mind you, the recent ninth season fired on cylinders the series hadn’t in a couple years, but I digress. And I suppose that’s precisely what I’ve done with the above headline, but those who read my weekly recaps of “The Walking Dead” know that I’ve always been a big time supporter and fan of AMC’s series, even when it hasn’t been so hot. What did you think? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.The truth is, I’m not a big fan of comparing one piece of entertainment to another piece of unrelated entertainment, which is often done to boost up the one thing while taking a crap on the other. The final episode of Season 1 was shockingly good so if they can just tap into that energy for Season 2 we should be alright. We have so few episodes in this show and so many of them have been slow and boring. So yeah, mostly good acting and the dialogue is mostly pretty well-written (except the bit where the Perimeter matriarch asks them “What do you live for?”) and the production value is great, but it’s all just a little slow and boring for my taste. Meanwhile, Silas and Elton were nowhere to be found. Felix is alright-and his emotional breakdown with Will was a nice touch people are so rarely emotionally vulnerable in The Walking Dead universe-but he’s just sort of a flat character in spite of his sad backstory and dogged loyalty. I like Hope and Huck, but I just can’t get into Iris’s character.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |