After over 5 long years, the return of Rick Grimes is finally here. And I'm glad to say that so far it's off to a great start.
I've been watching TWD for nearly a decade now, and as a fan I'm just happy that we can still celebrate this universe with 2 of its best characters after all this time. But unlike the other spin-offs, this show has the real stakes and has much more pressure on it to deliver. And in the opening episode there was 0 time wasted.
It's very impressive how grand they made the CRM feel in this small sample size, making them feel larger than life from the jump. And I think a large part of that is the fact that Rick tried multiple times to escape but always failed and had no out, so he was trapped in this world with no choice of his own in regards to being there.
And a decision that was excellent to start off this series was making Rick's desperation apparent to the audience, and having Rick chop off his own hand in the opening minutes is exactly how you show that eagerness. And the fact that he STILL didn't get away shows the viewers how much Rick is really drowning in this pit with no way out.
I also want to take a moment to applaud Craig Tate's performance as Okafor in this episode. I'm honestly a little sad that his character arc ends with this episode considering how great his performance was, and I think a lot of the great that comes from TWD is getting believable characters who can be portrayed well. Especially considering the fact that we're in the spin-off era and getting new characters that can stand on their own two legs is a necessity, and a new character that really fit the bill getting written off that quickly is underwhelming for me. But I can't really complain about it yet without knowing where it goes first.
Also, the Terry O'Quinn casting was EXCELLENT. The moment I saw it I was really excited, and even though we haven't seen much of him yet, I'm looking forward to potentially getting more.
In terms of the final moments of this episode, it was hard to see Rick eventually let go and try to move forward with the CRM. Writing his last note to Michonne that she'd never see, burning the notes and the phones, and officially give in. But considering how long it's been and how much he's tried, it's makes sense that he'd give in because he's only human.
But above all the final scene of the episode is what threw me off the most as I didn't see it coming from miles away. I was positive that it would come much later in the season, and I thought there was even a chance it'd be held off for season 2. But in terms of the execution, I'm not really a fan of how they used Michonne and Rick's reunion as a cliffhanger in the very first episode. Considering how powerful of a moment that's supposed to be, it's like the 5 year build up was being paid off in episode 1 but yanked away just to reel you in next week. I simply think that moment should've been treated with more care and given more room to breathe instead of it being cut off so you could tune in next week, when in reality you really don't need a cliff hanger like that to get people to watch.
But in conclusion I'm really glad that we've finally reached this point, and that the first episode delivered and showed a bright future not only for this series, but this entire universe. It's only 1 episode, but with Danai and Andy working closely on this show along with Scott Gimple, I have hope that this show will work in the long run.
When Rick's final episode in 2018 came to a close and the trilogy of Rick movies was announced, I can't remember being more excited for this universe than I was then. But after Covid sadly that dream went to die, and I honestly I think it was for the best since that gives more time for this story to flesh out in an episodic format, and potentially build to a grand final season of TWD with all of the characters coming to a head.
I've been watching TWD for nearly a decade now, and as a fan I'm just happy that we can still celebrate this universe with 2 of its best characters after all this time. But unlike the other spin-offs, this show has the real stakes and has much more pressure on it to deliver. And in the opening episode there was 0 time wasted.
It's very impressive how grand they made the CRM feel in this small sample size, making them feel larger than life from the jump. And I think a large part of that is the fact that Rick tried multiple times to escape but always failed and had no out, so he was trapped in this world with no choice of his own in regards to being there.
And a decision that was excellent to start off this series was making Rick's desperation apparent to the audience, and having Rick chop off his own hand in the opening minutes is exactly how you show that eagerness. And the fact that he STILL didn't get away shows the viewers how much Rick is really drowning in this pit with no way out.
I also want to take a moment to applaud Craig Tate's performance as Okafor in this episode. I'm honestly a little sad that his character arc ends with this episode considering how great his performance was, and I think a lot of the great that comes from TWD is getting believable characters who can be portrayed well. Especially considering the fact that we're in the spin-off era and getting new characters that can stand on their own two legs is a necessity, and a new character that really fit the bill getting written off that quickly is underwhelming for me. But I can't really complain about it yet without knowing where it goes first.
Also, the Terry O'Quinn casting was EXCELLENT. The moment I saw it I was really excited, and even though we haven't seen much of him yet, I'm looking forward to potentially getting more.
In terms of the final moments of this episode, it was hard to see Rick eventually let go and try to move forward with the CRM. Writing his last note to Michonne that she'd never see, burning the notes and the phones, and officially give in. But considering how long it's been and how much he's tried, it's makes sense that he'd give in because he's only human.
But above all the final scene of the episode is what threw me off the most as I didn't see it coming from miles away. I was positive that it would come much later in the season, and I thought there was even a chance it'd be held off for season 2. But in terms of the execution, I'm not really a fan of how they used Michonne and Rick's reunion as a cliffhanger in the very first episode. Considering how powerful of a moment that's supposed to be, it's like the 5 year build up was being paid off in episode 1 but yanked away just to reel you in next week. I simply think that moment should've been treated with more care and given more room to breathe instead of it being cut off so you could tune in next week, when in reality you really don't need a cliff hanger like that to get people to watch.
But in conclusion I'm really glad that we've finally reached this point, and that the first episode delivered and showed a bright future not only for this series, but this entire universe. It's only 1 episode, but with Danai and Andy working closely on this show along with Scott Gimple, I have hope that this show will work in the long run.
When Rick's final episode in 2018 came to a close and the trilogy of Rick movies was announced, I can't remember being more excited for this universe than I was then. But after Covid sadly that dream went to die, and I honestly I think it was for the best since that gives more time for this story to flesh out in an episodic format, and potentially build to a grand final season of TWD with all of the characters coming to a head.