The Independent Critic reviews 'Ms Green & Other Lovely Beasts'...

Richard Propes of The Independent Critic has published a review of 'Ms Green & Other Lovely Beasts' - and you can check it out HERE.

Directed by Barnes from a script by Nick Thomson, Ms. Green is a deliciously dark delight, a dramatic short with a comedic gleam in its eye and a film that carries with it the spirit of a gothic poet's heart. Koster's Green is an unusual sort, though I'm hesitant to ruin any of it for those may eventually see the entertaining short. Koster makes us rather love Ms. Green, though perhaps from a distance. She's seductively psychotic, a wee bit fractured and yet possesses a sweetness that makes her endearing. Koster makes all of this believable and rather fun to watch.

Lensing by Will Middleton and Aaron Whitehead is effective throughout, and Veronika Koubova deserves immense credit for editing that makes Ms. Green work despite its slight 15-minute running time and an undeniable desire to spend more time with these characters. 

You can follow the film's progress on Facebook, visit the Oakhill Productions website, and visit the film's IMDb page.

FWOAN - My Statement of Intent...

#FWOAN Screenwriter Nick Thomson answers the important, ‘Why’s’ behind the motivation for creating the series of For Want Of A Nail...

#1 - to create a series that mixes drama and humour in a way that feels unusual and entertaining, introducing the audience to characters that they will care about and enjoy spending time with ... and

 

#2 - to finally represent Obsessive Compulsive Disorder on-screen as it has never been shown before... accurately and encompassing as many of the varied facets to the condition as possible.

 

“The series will allow the audience to learn more about the condition and gain a new appreciation of what OCD is and how it affects the 1-2% of the population who suffer from it. Importantly, never ‘wagging a finger’ at the audience (I hate that approach).

 

"For Want of a Nail" will be approachable, accessible, and entertaining - while never mocking the condition, or those (such as myself) who suffer from it..."

 

Continues after the jump...

That's TV Surrey - Report on FWOAN

"For Want Of A Nail" has just been covered in a video report by That's TV Surrey, featuring interviews with Producer Ali Causon and Director Lucy Joan Barnes. You can check it out via YouTube or on their Facebook page.

You can also view That's TV Surrey in the local area on Freeview channels 7 and 8.

Click "READ MORE" below for the Facebook embed...

Flavours of the Month: November 2016...

Deliciously dark techno-satire, an outback villain, and a fair bit of preparation - it's some of what's been setting the tone of my November 2016...

Click "READ MORE" below to continue...

Ash vs Evil Dead – Comic-Con Trailer Analysis

Watch the Official Trailer HERE and the Comic-Con Panel HERE.

Ash is back, baby! The trailer for the ten-part horror/comedy series from Starz premiered at Comic-Con 2015 and it's whipped up a bit of a fan frenzy – so let's dig into some of the highlights.

Boy Done Good:

So where's Ash gone since we last saw him? Not very far, it seems – if anything he's gone in reverse – living in a trailer hitched to the same car he's always had (just think of the time and money Ash must have spent restoring it after the events of the third film!), and now he's not even working at S-Mart. Now he has – so I presume – slid down the retail ladder to 'Value Stop' where he's still a Stockboy, re-living past glories as he tells his co-worker Pablo of his prior adventures: “I was the only one to escape, but now the evil has found me.” At least he's got himself a new prosthetic hand – a bit more fitting to 21^st Century life than that bulky steel contraption from the last movie … maybe whatever magic that made it function wore off? “You won't see that hand, but that's all I'll say,” teased Raimi in response to a fan question on the matter of Ash's substitute hand at the Comic-Con Panel.

“Ash, even in his prime, would be the wrong guy to save the world – now he's thirty years older and he has to save the world! I'm really worried for the world,” said Campbell of Ash's advancing years. “Crabby old man Ash.” Sam Raimi also noted some of Ash's continued (but loveable) foibles: that the character is “a heel, a coward, and a blow hard” but is also “a great monster hunter”. Still though, while he may be a bit down-at-heel (he's even revealed to be wearing dentures at one point – but could this just be a little joke only for the trailer?), Ash still knows how to wield a stump-mounted chainsaw – a moment in the trailer that pushed all the right buttons!

Click “READ MORE” below to continue this trailer analysis with more screenshots...

Walking Dead Debrief 3x08 "Made To Suffer"...

See last week's debrief here.

See memes for this episode here.

WARNING: EPISODE 3x08 SPOILERS AHEAD!

Click "READ MORE" below to get the full debrief and some best moments...

Walking Dead Debrief 3x07 "When The Dead Come Knocking"...

See last week's debrief here.

See memes for this episode here.

WARNING: EPISODE 3x07 SPOILERS AHEAD!

IN SUMMARY:

* Glenn took a hell of a beating in this episode, as dispensed by Merle - that glimpse of a soft side is long gone here. The bad guy you love to hate just got a lot more dangerous.

* Baby "Judith" - just like in the comics.

Click "READ MORE" below for more debriefing, the best gore moment, best twist on the comics, and the cliffhanger...

Walking Dead Debrief 3x05 "Say the Word"...

See last week's debrief here.

See memes for this episode here.

WARNING: EPISODE 3x05 SPOILERS AHEAD!

Click "READ MORE" below to read this week's episode debrief...

Walking Dead Debrief 3x04 "Killer Within"...

See last week's debrief here.

See memes for this episode here.

WARNING: EPISODE 3x04 SPOILERS AHEAD!



IN SUMMARY:

* In a welcome moment of levity, the show makers injected a little sauciness into proceedings. In the comics there was a running joke about Glenn and Maggie shacking up like a pair of rabbits, and here their guard-tower tryst brings a sense of fun to an otherwise harrowing episode.

* Axel fans got their wish - "You follow me?"

Click "READ MORE" to continue the debrief (spoilers ahead!)...

Walking Dead Debrief 3x03 "Walk With Me"...

See the debrief for the previous episode here.

See memes for this episode here.




WARNING: EPISODE 3x03 SPOILERS AHEAD!



WHAT WE LEARNED:

* As I'd thought, 3x03 focused purely on Andrea, Michonne, The Governor, Merle, and Woodbury. Back at the prison they have safety, shelter, food, medical supplies, and have dealt with the other survivors - they now have time to take a breather - so when you've got a whole bunch of new people and situations to introduce, you're going to require an entire episode to do so. The next episode will feature both the Prison and Woodbury though, so it seems.

* The people of Woodbury refer to walkers as "creepers", "biters" and "lurkers".

* Andrea and Michonne didn't know that anyone who dies becomes a walker - Rick only admitted the truth (as told to him by Dr Edwin Jenner in 1x06 "TS-19") after the herd of walkers had besieged the Greene farm, at which point Andrea had been left behind (apparently taken down by walkers as far as Rick & Co are concerned).

* Milton is the town's very own Dr Logan (Day of the Dead). Seeking to find reason amidst the chaos of the zombie apocalypse, he proffers his thesis regarding Michonne's undead bodyguards. Removed of the ability to eat the flesh of the living (arms and lower jaw severed), walkers will become docile and act as repellent to other geeks.

Click "READ MORE" below to continue the 3x03 debrief...

The Governor's TV, Milton's tea, and Ash who? - The Walking Dead 3x03 memes...

Find more Walking Dead memes here.

One of these gives away a tasty shock image at the cliffhanger of episode three, so just in case anyone has happened by that hasn't seen the episode yet, you can find it after the jump below.

Click "READ MORE" below for a spot of tea and some telly...

Walking Dead Debrief 3x02 "Sick"...

See the previous episode's debrief here.

See memes for this episode here.

WARNING: EPISODE 3x02 SPOILERS AHEAD!



WHAT WE LEARNED:
* Bear McCreary's music has taken a step up. It was always good, but the intense dramatic moments of these first two episodes have born witness to heart-pounding, driving pieces on the soundtrack.

* I forgot to mention last time, but the new opening sequence is great. Covering key images from the second season (such as the Cherokee Rose flower, Hershel's watch, the farmhouse and more), it looks forward to what's to come.

* T-Dog might have a bit of a naff weapon (a fire poker), but he sure knows how to wield it effectively.

* Hershel, in the intervening months, has taught Carol a thing or two about medicine.

* Rick's competitive side is unleashed. It's survival of the fittest now, and Rick is willing to stand his ground for the good of his group. He barters a trade with the five inmates - half their food in exchange for assisting them in clearing out another cellblock for them to live in separately.

Click "READ MORE" below to learn more...

Walking Dead Debrief 3x01 "Seed"...

Each week I'll be doing a run-down of each episode from season 3 - a sort of week-by-week episode-by-episode debrief, if you will - so with the triumphant return of AMC's superb zombie apocalypse drama, onwards to the 3x01 "Seed"...


WARNING: EPISODE 3x01 SPOILERS AHEAD!


WHAT WE LEARNED:
* After months on the road, surviving winter in the process, our merry band of walker bashers have developed into a team with a procedure for clearing a house and searching for survivors. However, while desperate, Rick won't allow them to stoop to eating dog food - a prospect that a much more hardened (and responsible) Carl doesn't take issue with.

* Michonne and Andrea have formed a tight duo (with accompanying chained zombies). This will be an interesting dynamic to follow as the season progresses, particularly when Woodbury is introduced (no doubt in 3x02 or at a push 3x03).

* The gang have developed their own tools - silencers made out of torches (or flashlights to our American friends), locks made out of chains and climbing gear that are ideal for chain link fences, and so on.

Click "READ MORE" below for more info, gore, twists, and cliffhangers...

The Walking Dead - more memes/lols...

Find more Walking Dead memes HERE.

A handful more memes/lols for The Walking Dead that I cobbled together a while ago (in this case, for a thread over on Homepage of the Dead), and as I hadn't posted them here yet, I figured it was about time I did as the last batch I posted (from the season two finale) proved quite popular. I'm also thinking of doing some more for the second season as a bit of fun, in advance of new episodes in October.

Click "READ MORE" below to see what else Dr Jenner could have been whispering to Rick...

Favourite TV show title sequences...

Television shows are often well known for their opening title sequences, indeed they clue you into the whole tone of the show in anywhere between 30 and 90 seconds. However, you don't always watch the intro sequence, oftentimes you might skip them entirely, but there are some that you find yourself watching every single time - and in this day-and-age when DVD boxsets are ever-so popular, that really shows true quality. Indeed, a really good title sequence makes you want to be a part of the world you're about to enter, whatever that world may be.

So without further ado, off the top of my head, some of the opening title sequences that I watch every single time without fail are:

The A-Team:
One of the greatest theme tunes for a television show ever, even people who have never watched a single episode know exactly how it goes and where it came from, but as someone who has poured over all five seasons on DVD (after watching the show as a child), you can't help but dig the fun-loving, boy's-own-adventure sense of fun this intro sequences inspires. Even the re-vamped season five intro grew on me.




The A-Team: Season 5 intro here.

Deadwood:
An excellent show that I came to very recently, but which sports an opening titles sequence that perfectly got me into the mood for a fresh episode. The choice of shots, almost all of which are in seductive slow motion, perfectly define the atmosphere of the setting of the show - a gold rush pioneer settlement where money, power, sex, corruption, gold, and booze run free and cross borders with each other routinely.




Continue reading after the jump...

The Walking Dead Episode Six "TS-19" thoughts...

And so the best thing to happen in the zombie genre since Romero's Day of the Dead comes to the end of its first season, and therefore I can't wait for the season season to begin (and for a full 13 episodes too).

This season closer though was rather good though. Last week's episode led us on the greatest departure from the source material yet, and this week's episode gave us the meat and potatoes of that departure.

TS-19 shared some vibes with Dawn, and Day of the Dead - the false sense of security of the former, and the dire realisation of the latter. Indeed, the exploration of the scientific approach to analysing the zombie outbreak featured in the episode felt like a modern update of Doc Logan's work from Day, so as a big fan of that flick it was great to see a 21st century take on it.

Similar to the fifth episode, this one again proved that TWD is about the people, not the zombies. It could be any world-ending cataclysm, or any monster, really - as it's all supposed to be about the people - indeed towards the end as everyone's facing their possible doom, we get some great moments thrown into the mix, such as Carol's desperate fear, and Jacqui's life changing decision.

TWD has always been a case of - who they were, how they deal with the horrors around them, and who they gradually become. As such it's a slower paced episode, but it's all to do with the characters - so for those into the human drama of the franchise, this was a spiffing season closer (but the action and zombie fans get a jolt towards the end appropriately enough).

Once TS-19 got into its second half it really became about the idea of giving up, and it was portrayed convincingly and chillingly. Jenner proved to be an interesting late addition to the show - and indeed an entirely new addition to the franchise - and his plight was dealt with in an interesting manner. He wasn't some wild eyed loon, or some totally shut-down doomsayer - he had different shades of his attitude throughout, which made him a much more believable character than he might have otherwise been in lesser hands.

In terms of it being a season closer, in addition to a tip-top scene between Andrea and Dale (Holden and DeMunn - both acting their arses off, and further cementing my love of both characters), it wasn't just a big tease for season two. Naturally I wanted to know what happens right after the big closing moment, but equally I wasn't left hanging in the wind - so it was a satisfying blend of the two.

To summarise the season as a whole, it hasn't been perfect - some scenes had wonky dialogue, or some elements didn't convince or intrigue ... such as the opening scene, and titular gang, of episode four "Vatos" ... and on occasion the pacing has been a bit off here and there during episodes, but I'm very pleased with the season over all.

Rick is a strong character, and having read the first four trade paperbacks (so far), it'll be interesting to see how Lincoln's take on the do-right law man will develop as Rick is faced with increasingly trying and complicated circumstances. The Rick/Shane plotline should also develop nicely during the second season, which should ultimately make for some good family drama with Lori and Carl.

Glenn has been a real treat throughout the season, but especially in his earlier episodes, and he remains one of my favourite characters in the show - however Andrea and particularly Dale have really stolen my interest most. I can't wait to see how their characters develop during the second season. Daryl Dixon has also been a pleasant surprise - after an initially underwhelming introduction that drew him as a generic redneck racist, he was allowed to grow in episode four (and beyond) to become a useful member of the group (albeit a hot headed and unpredictable one).

I could go on, but instead of rambling I'll re-confirm my assertion that The Walking Dead has been the best thing to happen to the zombie genre since Romero's Day of the Dead, and it's all the better for featuring zombies that don't effin' run!

Here's hoping the DVD/BR box set release will be a good one with plenty of extra content!

The Walking Dead Episode Five "Wildfire" thoughts...

The penultimate episode of the first season of the AMC/Darabont/Hurd/Kirkman show The Walking Dead has been and gone, and blimey was it a great episode - indeed I'd say it's the best episode of the season outside of the pilot (unless the finale steals the win at the last minute - time shall tell on that matter).

The opening of the episode was superb, with Andrea swamped by her grief while everyone else in the camp knows what will have to be done - not only is this whole portion of the episode very dramatic and moving, but it's tense - "when will they turn", you wonder to yourself. Furthermore, when the expected finally occurs, it's a wonderfully played scene that plays the 'resurrecting as a zombie' angle, which we've seen so many times before, in a new and fascinating way. Similar to the dispatching of the 'bicycle zombie' from the first episode, the scene is full of pathos.

Speaking of pathos, Dale's moment with Andrea was nothing short of truly moving, and establishes the pair's relationship, which - in the comics - was already thoroughly on-the-go by the time Rick showed up at camp. So once again the television adaptation is taking things in a slightly new direction along the same path - and in a way that feels more real, and ultimately more satisfying as a viewer.

Meanwhile, dealing with the bodies left over from the night before, we're treated to yet more awesome gory treats from KNB Effects, who have continually shown throughout this season that they are (and have been for some time) the current masters of the macabre.

This adaptation has taken some significantly different turns along the already established path from the comic books, and I was wondering how this would play out (after last week's preview of this fifth episode), but I'm pleased to say that it's working really well. The intelligent group dynamic of the comics continues to be expressed in the show - a real treat in itself when you've seen countless zombie movies where idiots make even dumber decisions as a matter of course.

There was a chillingly good moment where the Rick/Shane dynamic's crumbling is illustrated in very clear terms. Again, in the comics it's much quicker to appear, and somewhat comes as a surprise, but throughout the show the key players have taken quality themes that were already established, and explored them in different ways that make for very satisfying viewing. The moment where Dale discovers Shane in a less than favourable position was pitch perfect, and further established Dale (as expertly played by Jeffrey DeMunn) as one of my favourite characters on the show.

Speaking of the characters, there are some great beats littered throughout - most notably in connection to Jim, who (in a way direct from the source material) has to come to terms with a troubling realisation. Indeed that entire portion of the show really signalled the sort of tough drama we'll be in store for when the second season rolls around.

It was good to see, or rather hear, a track from the soundtrack for Danny Boyle's Sunshine, a piece of music that has always given me chills - but considering the context in which it is used in this episode, it was doubly chilling.

Moving into the second half of the episode, the part that I was most concerned about for this episode (based on last week's preview of this episode), was all the stuff centering on the CDC (which was established in the first episode). This is a significant change of direction from the source material, but fortunately it works out very well indeed - to see the 'science of the dead' examined in very realistic terms (as further evidenced by the online preview scene from episode six, "TS-19") was very, very cool.

Finally, outside the CDC, the sight of Rick's impassioned desperation as he pleads with a CCTV camera above the sealed-off doors of the CDC complex, was absolutely fantastic - and importantly further suggests the sort of dramatic treats we'll have in store for us come season two (when you consider what takes place over the next couple of volumes of the trade paperbacks). To say that the cliffhanger ending left me wanting more - immediately - is an understatement.

Roll on episode six - the season finale!

The Walking Dead Episode Four "Vatos" thoughts...

Straight out of the gate, episode four was a mixed bag for me - the opening scene was troublesome. The purpose of the scene was good, but the dialogue used to get there didn't work for me, it felt forced and convoluted and as if we'd joined a conversation half-way-done (in that perhaps we could have used some more time with Amy and Andrea to get to know them a bit better).

Later in the episode we have the titular gang, and again it didn't play particularly well for me. It didn't feel entirely necessary, and it felt undercooked. There was some interest provided by it, but the gang weren't awfully compelling and their segment of the episode generally seemed a bit weak.

Fortunately, being a mixed bag, there was plenty of good stuff too that allowed me to still enjoy the episode. While there isn't a huge amount of high pressure tension on offer with The Walking Dead (unlike other TV big hitters like 24 or Lost) - so far at least - we finally get some time with the character of Jim, in an impressive couple of scenes that developed the already impressive counterpart scenes from the graphic novel - indeed, this episode was written by franchise originator Robert Kirkman.

A nice touch was Glenn's intelligent approach to leading the gang through Atlanta - Glenn has been consistently entertaining throughout the season, and is one of my favourite characters. Furthermore it was good to see Daryl Dixon fleshed out a bit more as in previous episodes he was mostly the 'unpleasant redneck', but in this episode they were able to set him up as a useful member of the team - someone who is skilled at zombie hunting (when he's not having an impassioned wig-out, that is).

So after the first half which was a mixed bag, the second half - particularly the fourth act of the episode - really brought things up to standard. It illustrated exactly how enough shamblers can catch you off guard and provide a real threat - when you're dealing with one, all the others will continue to steadily advance, and you can easily find yourself overwhelmed and distracted.

This sequence provided some real treats for the gore hounds, and as I'd figured, some of the nameless potential cannon fodder lived up to their purpose and took it on the chin so-to-speak.

However, it wasn't just the background fodder who got it in the neck ... suffice to say, Laurie Holden got to act her arse off in a wonderfully performed moment that, for me, stole the entire show - but another nice character moment was provided by Dale talking at the campfire about his watch. DeMunn's intelligent and amiable performance continues to capture exactly who his comic book counterpart is.

So all-in-all it turned out to be a good episode, despite the wobbles of the first half, and it'll be interesting to see where they go with the two remaining episodes of this season - by the looks of the 'next time on' teaser they will be straying from the source material once again with a new side plot. As a reader of the graphic novels (I've done the first four trade paperback volumes so far) it's nice to not just have a direct translation, but at the same time I haven't fully made up my mind yet about how much they're working outside of the established box, but so far it's working quite well - it's not been perfect, but it's been good.

The Walking Dead Episode Three "Tell It To The Frogs" thoughts...

After the extended first episode which introduced us to the key characters (but specifically Rick Grimes), and the wider world of the zombie apocalypse, and after the second episode which gave us a jolt of zombie destruction writ large, comes the third episode which fully chows down on the meat of the character interplay that is so central to the source material.

Glenn continues to entertain and provide the voice of the average viewer, brandishing a pleasing mixture of wit, common sense, and moments of child-like wistfulness. The first two episodes were a bit light on several key characters, but episode three fleshes-out the likes of Lori, Shane, and Dale nicely. Jeffrey DeMunn brings an old school sense of class and intelligence to his role - a perfect match for his character in the comic books - while the whole Rick/Lori/Shane triangle is given a more satisfying angle here than in the original material.

The characters here really think things through, and so much is left appropriately unsaid - merely written in glances and body language - and it makes for a satisfying viewing experience. If someone is thinking of doing something stupid or dangerous, someone else will call them on it, but then the reasoning will come through. Decisions are nicely thought-through, specifically Rick's reasoning for going back to Atlanta, which calls back to both of the first two episodes.

Furthermore it's really starting to feel like The Walking Dead. The first couple of episodes do change things up quite a lot - perhaps more than some were expecting - but this third episode not only suggests why those changes were made, but it also gives us the vibe, that those of us who have read the first story in the comics, have already experienced. I'm talking about the sequence during the campfire - I really got a greater sense of this truly being The Walking Dead, after many differences along a similar path, as witnessed in the first two episodes.

A couple of smaller observations would be the performance of Carl (Chandler Riggs) - which is impressive and not at all annoying (something that can easily happen with child actors). Specifically I'm referring to the nicely played moment between Lori and Carl, with few words, when Carl is heartbroken to not see (initially anyway) his father amongst the returning members of the group. In a few strokes we get a glimpse into the mother-son relationship, and a nice grounding for Carl.

Furthermore the attack upon the zombie which is seen chowing down on a downed Deer was pretty damn cool. Lifted from the original material too was Dale getting to bring-the-awesome with a decapitation, and then the severed head still being alive and trying to get at them - a sight in the comics that was not only cool, but quite creepy.

Finally it was interesting to see how they handled the moment, again from the source material, in which the women address the fact that they're the ones washing up after, and cleaning the clothes of, the men in the camp. This reversion to stereotypes was more of a throw away gag on one page in the book, meanwhile here it is handled head-on with Carol's unreconstructed chauvinist husband Ed. As an interesting aside, Carol's partner was dead before we're introduced to her in the book, and seemingly the TV adaptation combines Carol and Donna. In the books Donna had twins and a husband, Allen, who was a bit of a scruffy middle aged slacker, but a nice enough guy. There are still others wandering around the camp who we haven't been introduced to yet, so I'm not sure if that's actually the case - but it seems to be the case.

Here, after some apparent fiddling around with the characters (Carol is pitched as older than her comic book counterpart, but still the mother of Sophia), Ed - a newly created character, seemingly de-evolved from generally-amiable Allen - is a right bastard. A perfect example of a male pig if ever there was one, whose overtly old school approach to gender roles is grotesque, but challenged by Andrea - as I've said, a throw away gag in the source material is here turned into a confrontation, and ultimately it's a better handling of the fact that the men and women have both regressed to their classic cave-man-era roles. The women look after the camp and the children, and the men do the hunter/gatherer/protector thing.

Finally - I really dug the little cliffhanger at the end of the show - clearly The Walking Dead is working nicely, because I really wanted to see the next episode when the credits rolled. Roll on episode four!

The Walking Dead: Episode Two "Guts" thoughts...

Week two of the rather spiffing television adaptation of The Walking Dead comic books delivers on the gore and the action in spades. Picking up where the first episode left off, with Rick trapped in a tank surrounded by walkers, we're immediately off to a thunderous start.

Within minutes we've seen the 'Hinzman hobbler' zombies pose a real, armchair-gripping threat, and been introduced properly to Glenn (played pitch-perfectly by Steven Yeun) - who goes on to provide the best lines and the most fun throughout this episode, which boasts an impressive mixture of serious issues, horror, humour and moments of gruesome gore (such as the titular scene, re-worked somewhat from the source material).

Similar to the first episode, some of the zombies - at times - can seem a bit too spry, but I guess these are the vagaries of wrangling a whole cast of zombie extras on a production. I'm sure over time they will really find their footing to create a consistent shambler for the series.

Branching out in a slightly different direction, character wise, from the source material, episode two introduces us to some new faces - such as Michael Rooker's racist redneck Dixon, who gets into a bit of a fuss with African American T-Dog, which establishes a story arc that we'll see play out in future episodes.

Speaking of these newly introduced characters, some of them feel a bit useless - only there to provide a piece of information and then just to become bystanders (I'm thinking along the lines of Jacqui and Morales, who don't do an awful lot here). Then again the comic books (in particular Volume 2 of the trade paperbacks) had their fair share of bystander characters who weren't of much use - perhaps we'll see these characters expand in future episodes, but with so many other characters at the camp site that we've not been introduced to yet, I do wonder if we really need this many side characters. It would be nice if some of these side characters actually had names, or had their names said more than once, so we could at least identify with, and refer to, them by more than just what they look like.

More impressive though is the sense of scale, as our protagonists desperately try to figure a way out of the zombie infested city, and the aforementioned titular scene in which Rick and Glenn have to make themselves smell like the zombies to avoid detection as they go in search of means of escape.

This is the sort of thing that The Walking Dead handles really well - the sort of situations and ideas that we zombie fans (or "zed heads") like to discuss on internet forums and chatrooms to the nth degree. To see these 'what if' and 'how would you' scenarios play out on screen is a real joy - speaking of which, Glenn zooming around in a brand new Dodge Challenger? So much fun!

So with a considerable amount of action, and future plotline establishing, handled in this episode, I'm looking forward to the next one, which will no doubt really get into the meat of the character interplay as we finally get to see everyone come together and really get to explore the camp site set-up and characters. Although that said, the main scene between Shane and Lori was impressively worked with a deft hand and sense of subtlety.

This is shaping up to be an excellent series.