AMC’s The Walking Dead is officially a hit, and fans no doubt went into the season finale, “TS-19″, with an equal mix of anticipation and frustration; Anticipation to see what Rick Grimes and his fellow survivors uncover in the mysterious bunker at the Center for Disease Control –
- frustration at the fact that this sixth episode of The Walking Dead is the last in what now feels like a first season cut painfully short, just as a promising new show is hitting its stride.
“TS-19″ was a fairly good season finale episode. First and foremost, the episode dangled some new plot points to drive storylines for season 2 forward on both the over-arching and subplot levels. What was it that Dr. Jenner (Noah Emmerich) whispered in Rick’s ear just before the explosion? That question will likely keep fans on chat forms for the next year pitching speculation. (Was it a word of hope or a warning of doom ?)
There’s also the bubbling, soon-to-be-boiling subplot of the Rick-Lori-Shane love triangle, which took a pretty drastic turn this week during Shane’s drunken assault/attempted rape of Lori. Flashback to one of the first scenes of the pilot – Rick and Shane’s talk about how to deal with women – and the Lori/Shane confrontation becomes an even more poignant foreshadow of what’s to come. We know Shane isn’t a man who gives up what he sees as his territory – and when Rick finds out that his best friend left him for dead (a great scene that kicked off this episode), slept with his wife, and has since tried to sleep with her again since his return… needless to say, the fallout is going to be epic, and bloody.
This season 1 finale also touched on a fantastic theme that I hope becomes the undercurrent of this show: how one sustains the will to live in the midst of hell. As much as I care about these characters, Dr. Jenner’s argument about how and when one chooses to die was deep enough to make me totally understand if Rick’s group just decided to end it all there in the CDC, rather than once again face the hell waiting outside. Total head trip. When Andrea stayed behind to die, broken by tragedy and hopelessness, and Dale plopped himself down in a chair committed to die with her, for a second I thought that Darabont and Co. might actually do the unthinkable and kill off two of the best characters, just as they were beginning to develop. Thankfully that was not the case.
Finally, the computer image of “Test Subject 19″ (Doctor Jenner’s scientist wife turned zombie) and Jenner’s speeches about the nature of humanity – while equally hammy and syrupy – made for some compelling television that at least tried to say more about the world than most other zombie tales do.
The Walking Dead actor Michael Rooker has teased when fans can expect to see his controversial character Merle Dixon return to the series. The actor suggested that when Merle returns in a future season of the show he may have changed slightly, due to the discussion that viewers say Merle has with God just before he disappeared.
The Walking Dead season 2 premieres in Fall 2011
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'Dexter' to return for sixth season
Showtime drama Dexter will return for a sixth season in late 2011.
The show's most recent episode, 'In The Beginning', attracted a season high of 2.5m viewers, up 43 per cent from the fifth season premiere.
In 2008, Showtime renewed the drama for two additional seasons. However, this year's renewal is expected to be for a single run, since cast contracts will expire at the conclusion of a sixth season.
The fifth season of Dexter concludes on December 12.
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