DEAR WALKING DEAD: PLEASE STOP DEVIATING IN MAJOR GIANT HUGE BIG WAYS, IT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA.

Oooooooooook. Here I go. It's been a hit or miss batch of episodes with this series. A series I want to succeed reeeeeeeal bad. And it has, given the numbers and second season green light. But it is not living up to its potential. I know it was taking a chance and a short season and nothing was guaranteed during shooting and the budget was limited - but that's all the more reason you shouldn't fuck around with an equation that's been slingin' the bestest zombie fiction in comicdom.

I've, for the most part, been fine with the minor deviations acquired during the comic to TV transition. New throw away characters are fine, so long as you toss them. And they have! A few new conflicts, like the "vatos" in the hospital thing, was no big deal and resolved itself. However. HOWEVER. Breaking canon by actually making it to the CDC and then developing a reason for the zombie plague itself is not cool. It's stupid and rushed.

This is the one thing the comics never ever reveal over 80 issues, leaving lots of questions and venues to explore. So, there's no damn need to reveal it here either. It adds nothing and only, honestly, detracts from the stories that did so well in the first place to land a TV show. This changes everything. So many plotlines from the source material can't be used anymore with this shit floating around out there. I'm cool with new adventures and what have you, but this isn't a side trip. It's the answer. The potential for fail is so great at this point. It's almost like they're chickening out on what needs to be done ie the killing what needs doing. Shedding light on the virus subject is a very bad move. Fuck, they even named it!

Isn't it better to have the charcaters guessing about how it spreads? Bites only? Scrapes? Can you get zombie juice in your mouth and become one? Or if the USA is alone in this? If it's just Georgia or the South? All that gets flushed tomorrow when the brother from The Truman Show ruins the surprise (how ironical!).

And Merle. The wacky, now one handed, racist dude is still out there. A loose string is cool, but this loose string is bad for a pair of reasons. One: the hand cutting. Given events that will transpire down the line (hopefully), this injury will become Seinfeldian and the retribution will actually be deserved. Two: If Merle follows the trajectory he appears ot be on, then one of the best villians in the comics has just been explained away and now isn't so scary. So Kirkman, take care of Merle now.

Basically, why mess with it at all really? Lighting in a bottle twice? Hard to do. Essentially, a small ass percentage of folks watchin the show have read the comics, so it's not like you're spoiling anything for them, in fact that's all we want is the stuff we love, but on TV. Is that so much to ask for? I guess so. Oh well.

All in all, it's a fine show. The gore levels are exceptional and I'm liking Dale a bunch, he's spot on. It is after all a friggin' TV show about zombies and swinging axes at zombie's heads so I should just calm down. But I can't! Maybe they'll fix it up tomorrow. Perhaps the dude in the CDC is full of shit and this is a red herring. I have faith in this Kirman guy, he's led the story down some questionable paths in the comics, but always pulled it off and managed to shock me along the way. So, here's to hopin'...