A few years ago, mythological sexed-up monsters, like the vampires and werewolves of Twilight, were all the rage. However, as of recently, another trend has infected not just the teenage world but the adult world as well. The stumbling, moaning, flesh-craving zombie apocalypse has taken over television and cinema.
AMC’s The Walking Dead, currently on its fifth season, hit mainstream popularity starting with its second season. The appealing part is that the series not only has gruesome, zombie-fighting action, a thrill-suspense factor, but also deals with psychological motives and the relationship dynamics between the characters.
(Warning: spoilers ahead.)
In earlier seasons, the main conflict was between the living group members and the encroaching hoards of zombies. The leader of the group, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), traveled with his group around Georgia, finding places of refuge and running from various encounters with zombie mobs.
At this point in the show, the most difficult decision was having to kill members of the group who got infected, such as Andrea’s sister Amy (Emma Bell) and main character Carol’s daughter Sophie (Madison Lintz).
However, the plot intensifies in later seasons, as the threat of other groups of survivors adds to the perils posed by flesh-eating freaks. Now Rick and his group must not only get along with each other but also find a way to coexist with the town of Woodbury, headed by the insane man dubbed “the Governor” (David Morrissey).
Now, in the fifth season, Rick and his group are fleeing from another group of survivors; however, these ones are cannibals combining the brains of humans with the appetite of zombies.
The Walking Dead comments on what makes people human and how dire situations, such as zombies, can test people to the point where we start to question which characters are actually the monsters.