The Walking Dead, a truly great adaptation.

I watched the first episode with a friend who had also read some of the original comic series which made for an interesting experience. Throughout it I had someone to discuss similarities, the perfect replica of scenes and images, however because of this we were not hooked into it like a usual television show or film, but instead admired the effort to remain true to the comic we had read previously. I found myself feeling the same about it as I did the Watchmen film, I had watched it admiring the scenes that I recognised but when asked if it was a good film, I wasn't entirely sure. However at the end of The Walking Dead's first hour I would definitely be sure of the greatness.

The main thing that struck me as incredible was that the episode was able to extend pages of the comic book to last much longer on screen without making it dull. For example the first thirty minutes cover just fifteen pages of comic, the first two episodes cover just about thirty pages of comic (with elements taken from a later issue) averaging just over seven pages per thirty minutes. Now I'm unsure of everyone else, but seven pages to me is usually read in under five minutes, so they essentially extended five minutes of dialogue/plot into half an hour, impressive! The comic is surprisingly fast paced with what seems like a character death every couple of issues, and once we get to season two and the viewers are more invested in the characters I wouldn’t be too surprised if the series suddenly speeds up, which is possibly where these rumours of fired writers are coming from, a change of pace between season one and the later seasons.

In the opening episode, Rick leaves his car, and my friend who had also read the comics said to me “Oh yeah, I remember his next ‘vehicle’”, I was so confused, what vehicle? Then Rick comes across the horse, the reason I had almost forgotten was because the horse lasts for 6/7 pages of comic. Now bearing in mind a page of comic with barely any dialogue because it’s a lone man with a horse is usually read in seconds, compared to the episode in which the horse lasts long enough to make a presence (although the poor horse doesn’t last that long in the show either). It was little things like this that made the episode so enjoyable for me, the horse could quite easily have been written out, but they managed to keep such a unimportant fixture to retain the original plot and extend its screentime without being dull so the horse wasn't needlessly killed within seconds of its introduction.

Adaptations to me are best when they retain most of the original elements but also allow themselves to take a different route with the plot. If you try to keep the plot identical you can upset some of the original fans by missing out key scenes (see Harry Potter/LOTR), if you manage to keep the plot identical you can also isolate some of the original fans as there is no longer tension for them, they know where the plot is going. Whereas the ending to the first episode suddenly ramped up the tension for a fan who already knows the plot. The first episode had kept me happy enough for keeping true to the original, even the subtle things such as Rick returning to the half corpse to put it out of its misery were needed to honour the original creation from which this series was born. Then suddenly something happens to Rick that doesn’t happen in the book, rather than being instantly saved by Glen he ends the episode trapped in a tank surrounded by zombies. After allowing ourselves to feel safe watching the same plot we knew and loved, we were suddenly in an unknown situation a great cliffhanger for both new viewers and fans of the original. Perhaps this was a show that could still surprise us. By the second episode we knew that it could.

Rather than being instantly saved by Glen and reunited with his family, Rick is taken to another group of survivors hiding out within the city. The viewer also learns the true fate of Rick’s family before he does, this is extremely important for fans of the original comic as this secures the belief that the TV series will contain main elements of the story, however it will not be identical meaning there are still plenty of surprises for even those who know the story.

At the start of the series I was pretty confident that a main character who dies in issue six, would die in the sixth episode season finale but now I’m aware there is no guarantee that it will happen, even if it does it may not be the same way, and more importantly any other character is now in danger as they’re not following the same rules, which is much more exciting than a scene for scene re-enactment of the comic. The variation of the story I already know is what I feel is actually bringing the comic to life rather than actors recreating something I already enjoy. This is certainly one of the best adaptations I've experienced, if not the best, focused on the original while being original itself. Bring on the final episode and Season Two!