The Walking Dead And The Awesomeness It Could Be

Contrary to what these actors believe, accents do not equal acting.

 This Sunday marks the return of the second season of The Walking Dead, arguably one of the several shows AMC has to offer. It’s currently the best show featuring survivors of a zombie apocalypse on AMC right now. Possibly ever. It’s a bit of a bittersweet return, coming back after a brief midseason holiday hiatus. Fans of the show, this writer included, spend much of their time trying to either defend it, denounce it, or both. Its fan base could be considered one of the more loyal fan bases around, because the thing about the Walking Dead is not that it is necessarily good. Calling it that would be a bit of a stretch. Its fans stick around because they really, really want it to be good, and a couple pinpoints of shimmering hope show that it really does have the potential to be good, but it’s got a lot of work to do get there, and it’s very quickly running out of time. 

Accurate representation of the show's current status.

The debut episode of The Walking Dead was an incredible cinematic debut. It was something that almost could have worked as its own movie. It threw the main character and the viewers head first into the zombie-plagued world of the show with great moments, breathtaking cinematic views, and one of the most impressive displays of television make-up and special effects wizardry in the groaning, shambling undead themselves. It also focused almost solely on the protagonist, sheriff Rick Grimes, as he awakes from a coma into a whole new nightmare altogether. Fans of the comic book series who had been worried the show would not do the comics justice rejoiced, as they saw their beloved series come to life on a channel known for its reputation of high quality television series like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. 

Then the series continued, and as it did so, more characters were introduced. And herein lies one of The Walking Dead’s biggest problems, both in the book and the television show. There are so many characters. When the first season of the show is only six episodes, characters need to be introduced slowly. All the characters converged by the third episode, and were barely given screen time to do anything that could be remotely considered character development. With such little time, it’s hard to pull that off. Lost had tons of characters, but also started out with 24-episode seasons back when serialized dramas could get away with that. The second season was picked up for a much longer season, but the first half of it was wasted on a plot that really should have lasted only two or three episodes. 

However, all of this could have been fixed or improved if the writing had been better. Fans of the show probably know about the troubles plaguing the writing staff, with show runner Frank Darabont firing the entire writing staff after the first season and hiring freelance writers in their place, then ultimately leaving the show after creative and financial disputes with AMC. The results of this are evident in the show, due to the fact that virtually none of the characters are likeable, save for maybe two or three characters, and plots that stretch out far too long to maintain interest. The first half of season two would be the prime example of this, especially the latter. Even though the twist at the end of the last episode shows that the writers at least have an idea of what they’re doing, they’ve still got quite a few kinks to figure out. 

This.

There is one thing the writers do have going for themselves. From the outset, Darabont and Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman have stated they’re interested in straying from the comics plot-wise in order to explore some new possible plot lines in the show, but this hasn’t completely worked in their favor. Since the show has been picked up for a third season, it’s not too late to go back and stick to the source material. The books have some of their own flaws, but they’re never afraid to take risks with the plots and do some insane and dark stuff to prove that absolutely nobody in the comics is truly safe, which combined with decent character development, makes the comic book series that much more devastating. One setting in particular (and those who have read the books know what I’m taking about when I say “Bring on the prison and The Mayor”), could give the show writers more than enough awesome moments for an entire season. The third season has the potential to be great. All the writers need to do is just stick to the source material. But until then, only time and the rest of this second season will be able to tell if The Walking Dead can become the show its fans know it can be. 

Jimmy Fallon: All Around Nice Guy and Indy's New Bestest Buddy

The J-Man himself.

For those of you who may or may not know (and if you don’t, are you living under a rock? What’s wrong with you?), the Super Bowl has come to Indianapolis, which just so happens to be where this writer is from. Now the thing about the Super Bowl is that when it arrives at its destination (as sporting events anthropomorphized as a traveling being are wont to do), it brings with it the national spotlight, and if it’s one thing Indianapolis isn’t necessarily accustomed to, it’s the national spotlight. 

In the week leading up to the grand sporting event, part of the host city is transformed into party central. Since Downtown Indianapolis is a fairly small city, essentially the entire place is now one giant party. As I write this, visitors from all over the country are converging onto our fair city. And they’re not just football fanatics. Celebrities are hanging out like it’s some kind of miniature New York or something. In the last few days, werewolf/llama/human hybrid Taylor Lautner was sighted on IUPUI’s campus and Baby Goose himself, Ryan Gosling was seen perusing paintings at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. For the first time in, I assume ever, Indianapolis is in the national news for something other than Peyton Manning doing things, Ron Artest storming the stands, or the Indy 500 merely existing. 

One of the individuals who have decided to take on the role of Indianapolis’ temporary ambassador to the rest of the world is former Saturday Night Live star and current host of Late Night, Mr. Jimmy Fallon. He has brought the Late Night show, and his house band, The Roots, to the Circle City and has fully embraced it with open arms. His stage has not one, but two different Indianapolis skyline back drops, his opening theme montage is nothing but scenery of Downtown Indianapolis, and the show is being filmed in Hilbert Theater, home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, which was on hand to play music with The Roots for the episode. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to obtain free passes to the taping of Late Night’s first episode in Indianapolis. 

Jimmy seen Downtown in drag. Sexy.

I braved the traffic and pedestrian hell party that was downtown to make it to Hilbert Theater, procure my ticket, and get inside for the taping of the show. After everyone was seated and the douchey hype guy warmed the audience up, Jimmy Fallon finally took center stage with a fantastic opening shot of himself and the screaming audience in the background as he welcomed the rest of the world to Indianapolis for his show. The show featured guest appearances from Tracy Morgan (who was fantastically weird), Tim Tebow (who is…just Tim Tebow, I guess), and The All American Rejects (who dress like douchebags and whose first album was better than their first album).

During his admittedly mediocre opening monologue, he had one line where he stated “I promised I wouldn’t pander to the Indianapolis audience with a bunch of local references. I promised this while hanging at Larry Byrd’s house drinking a root beer from Mug N Bun to wash down my shrimp cocktail from St. Elmo’s Steakhouse.” The crowd roared, and continued to do so any time anyone made any reference to Indianapolis. The first sketch of the night was filmed in Indianapolis and featured Jimmy Fallon racing Marco Andretti in a Chevy Malibu at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (with Bob Costas tied up in the back seat as a ransom plot to get Super Bowl tickets. As a journalist, it tickles my funny bone greatly any time a famous news personality does a comedic cameo. See: any time Brian Williams appears on 30 Rock. Anyways, moving on). Later in the night he briefly mentions David Letterman, who is a Hoosier. Fallon’s also been seen filming another sketch in drag on Monument Circle. The man knows how to get as much out of Indianapolis as he can, and Hoosiers couldn’t be happier about it.

Just as citizens of any city should be, Hoosiers are ridiculously happy to have their hometown featured in the national spotlight, because like I said before, we don’t get a chance to stand in it as often as most other cities. The first time I ever visited Chicago, I was a little overwhelmed and star struck about the whole thing. I told my companion I felt like I was finally part of the rest of the world. After wandering the Super Bowl Village and seeing an amount of people Downtown Indy won’t see again for a very long time, I got that same feeling again, and I’m fairly certain a lot of other Hoosier also got this same feeling as well.

Indianapolis’s bid for the Super Bowl is ultimately a bid for more national attention. We’re essentially the main character from almost any 80’s high school movie. We’re throwing a giant party and inviting the rest of the country so we’ll gain more popularity with the popular kids like New York City and Los Angeles. If all goes according to plan, Indianapolis will hopefully become more likely to pop into someone’s brain as a potential travel destination for something other than a concert or sporting event. Jimmy Fallon, along with a handful of others, is like the cool kid that takes Indianapolis under his wing and helps him make that ragin’ party happen, and it’s for that, we salute you Mr. Fallon. You’re helping a great cause for a great city. Oh, and you helped me get on television. 

Look at this fuckin' asshole.

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