The Walking Dead - Season 3, Episode 1 "Seed"

In watching "Seed", I couldn't help but be struck by far how television has come in the last decade or so.  These days, production values in The Walking Dead far exceed a lot of theatrical movies.  The makeup artists of this show continue to find a way to top themselves.  You would think after three seasons I would be accustomed to the high quality of the zombie effects in Walking Dead, but I continue to be newly blown away every episode.  I'm also consistently amazed by the level of violence and gore that this show is able to get away with.  I'm mostly unfazed by that sort of thing in television and movies, but the final scene with Hershel in this episode was truly cringe-worthy (in a good way).

Yes, say what you will about the sometime shaky plot or characterization of The Walking Dead, but the accomplishments of this show from a technical standpoint are undeniable.  The music, sound effects, makeup and prosthetic work are truly mind-blowing.  Additionally, while the show has struggled to maintain a consistent or intriguing storyline at times, the action scenes have always been impressive.  "Seed" was an encouraging start to the season, primarily because it gave us plenty of what fans were yearning for doing all those "stuck on the farm" episodes of season two: action.  Rick and the gang spend the majority of this episode on the move and being proactive, with lots of zombie slaying and a minimum of excessive jabbering or proselytizing. 

I don't know if Walking Dead can keep up this pace for the duration of season 3.  I know that, similar to Game of Thrones, budget concerns have prevented there from being more episodes like this in the past (although with the ratings this show has, I think the creators should have a blank check at this point).  But I hope that we can have more tense, action-driven episodes like this one.  And in between all that theoretical action, some character development.  Unfortunately, we are three seasons into this show, and the majority of the characters are, to me at least, still some unfortunate combination of undefined or unlikeable.  The formula should be to establish the characters not through the talky, preachy scenes that we saw too much of in season two, but via there actions and behavior, with the occasional timely bit of exposition via dialogue thrown in for good measure.  If Walking Dead can follow that formula, the show will start to get attention from me for more than all the impressive zombie-killing action it has perfected.