Combat Jack Reviews "The Walking Dead": Season 1, Episode 3 "Tell It to the Frogs"

Written By Combat Jack

Ever since I watched George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead when I was four years old, frozen in terror as I viewed the black-and-white death tale unfolding on that Zenith screen, I've loved zombies (and been effed up in the head). I picked up the first black-and-white issue of The Walking Dead back in 2003, and it was nothing less than banana bread and horse meats, meaning very dope. I've been bigging it up since way before it became AMC's hottest show ever, and when the Complex boys—for whom I spilled true stories about classic rap songs—peeped my zombie swag on Twitter, they invited me to do a weekly review of the show. So here I am, getting all up in your brains. If you're not watching the series, go kill yourself, come back to life, then kill yourself again. Or just catch up and walk with me as I walk with The Walking Dead...

PLOT: The episode opens with Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) where we left him last: trapped and handcuffed on the roof of Jank's department store, sunburned, delirious, and desperate to be freed from his predicament. The survivors who were trapped in the janky department store make it back to the camp where the rest of the survivors are. Main character Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is reunited with his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and son Shane (Chandler Riggs). Shane, although happy at his buddy's miraculous survival, is none too pleased that he's losing sex privileges with Lori. Rick tells Merle's brother Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedsus) that they left Merle alive and handcuffed to the roof of Jank's department store. Daryl is not at all pleased. We learn that Daryl is nice with arrows as the group's hunter, and although he's not as over-the-top racist as brother Merle, dude has a bad attitude and harbors racist sentiments. Lori confronts Shane about his lying to her and claiming that Rick was dead. As we're introduced to a wider cast of characters at the campsite, we realize how effed up in the head humans really are, particularly with the abuse issues surrounding married couple Ed (Adam Minarovich) and Carol (Melissa Suzane McBride). Rick, Glenn (Steven Yeun), Daryl, and T-Dog (Robert "IronE" Singleton) decide to head back to Jank's to rescue Merle.

Last week's episode, "Guts," had some worried that the series had already lost steam, but this episode picks up nicely with the multiple layers of drama amongst the characters. We learn that Lori's decision to bang Shane had less to do with her being unfaithful and more to do with how Shane, although not fully, has some grimeball ways, like lying about Rick's death. We learn that Rick is a principled man, more concerned about keeping his word and his honor than he is about protecting his neck. We see just how batshit crazy Merle is and how he'll most likely be a problem as this series unfolds. That, and how badly he suntans. We also get introduced to an additional important character, Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), who seems to be the group's most practical member. Zombies played more of the background as the plot was more fleshed out. Like I said in last week's review, The Walking Dead is less about the horror that is a zombie apocalypse and more about how monstrous we as humans are. To paraphrase the late Notorious B.I.G., more people, more problems.

ACTION: Not as much as the first two episodes, as this one was more about the drama. There is a tense scene of a gang of zombies struggling to break through the chained door separating them from their intended lunch of Merle Dixon. A scene where a lone zombie gets ganged up on by humans was a bit funny, only because it reminded me of that Rodney King and cops ass-whupping video footage from years back. Said zombie gets to lose his head via an ax chop. Daryl then gets to shoot an arrow into that very same zombie's still-living head from close range. There's also a cool fight scene with Daryl vs. Rick and Shane. Best part is when Daryl throws a rack of dead squirrels at Rick, who ducks the squirrels and starts swinging. I never saw anyone throw a rack of dead squirrels in a fight scene before. Daryl plays Green Arrow some more, back at the department store, where he gets to unload an arrow into a chick zombie's domepiece. Did I mention how nice Daryl is with the arrows? If you're into it, we get a scene of Ed smacking his wife Carol. Shane gets to take out his frustration at losing Lori as he punishes Ed for the Carol smack. There's also some married action as Rick makes love to wife Lori. For the record, the Shane x Lori sex scene from last week's episode > the Rick x Lori love scene.

EFFECTS:  As there's less focus on zombies, we see less special effects, but the walking dead still look like they're really dead. The series also has this thing about realistically depicting how eating raw animals must look like in real life. The first episode we got to see horse meats, last episode it was rat meats—this one is all about the deer meats, baby.

GORE: Not as much as the last two. The sunburn on Merle's forehead was kind of gross. The severed head that remained alive was cool. Like I mentioned above, the killer grosser this week was the scene with the zombie eating all that deer meat. In the last shot we get to see Merle's severed hand, and while it's gory compared to most of what's on TV, it was just OK compared to the limbage we've enjoyed over the prior two episodes.

CHICKS: Meh. Lori looks less stressed out but is still a butterface. Andrea does look way better than she did in last week's episode, and just might be angling for hottest chick on the show, but that's not saying much. Her sister Amy (Emma Bell) isn't bad-looking, I just can't figure out who looks better. Carol, in her Judi Dench look, looks better than Judi Dench, but I don't think there's many cats lined up to tap Judi, nor Carol. Just saying.

SCARINESS: Not really. Other than the group of zombies trying to get at Merle, this episode was just about plot/character development. In a nutshell, Episode 1 > Episode 2 > Episode 3 in the scariness factor.

COMICS VS. SHOW The reunion between Rick, Lori, and Carl; the love triangle with Shane, Lori, and Rick; Dale; all of that is consistent with the book. The character of Daryl and the group having to go back to rescue his brother Merle thing, though? That's not in the book. Also, Carol's husband Ed is not in the book, so the whole thing about him 'domesticating' her is original to the series. As a matter of fact, in the book, Carol is pudgy and has blonde hair, while here Carol is rail-thin and sports a Judi Dench hairdo. Rick being the moral leader is very consistent with the book. And like the book, his constant feats of heroism can get a bit played. That being said, it is believable that he wants to risk his life by re-entering the city not solely to rescue Merle, but to regain the lost walkie-talkie in order to keep tabs on Morgan (Lennie James) from Episode 1.

COMBAT JACK'S FINAL ANALYSIS: "Tell It To The Frogs" was all about the characters. It played out better than last week's "Guts," as it was less over the top and more about demonstrating the cast's acting skills. As much as he's turning out to be a sleaze, Shane acted his ass off and was completely believable. I'm still stuck on this show and am looking forward to next Sunday. But with only 3 episodes left for this season, the show best bring back the heat that it did in the pilot.

Bonus: Because of its success, The Walking Dead has been picked up and renewed for a second season.

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• Combat Jack Reviews The Walking Dead Season 1, Episode 2 "Guts"
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