“The Walking Dead” is a True American Horror Story

Much was made about the showamp8217s season six premiere which featured what appeared to be a cast of hundreds if not thousands of extras in full zombie makeup This massive group of walking dead had somehow ended up trapped in a quarry that was not all that far from the toogoodtobetrue Alexandria compound that is home to dozens of naamp239ve folks who thought they were safe behind their walls and by the end of last season to Rick Grimes and his band of hardscrabble survivorsBy the end of the episode the zombie hoard had escaped the quarry and Rick and most of what we might refer to as the primary warriors of the group including Daryl Michonne and Glenn were executing a plan to lead them away from the compound The episode ended with a cliffhanger The sudden sound of a horn blowing from the direction of the compound threatened to ruin Rickamp8217s plan It looked as though the hoard was shifting and heading right for the very location they were trying to protectIamp8217m sure I wasnamp8217t alone in thinking that episode two would pick up where episode one left off with the zombies approaching the compound and all hell breaking loose But that wasnamp8217t the case and thatamp8217s when amp8220The Walking Deadamp8221 won me over all over again This is something it has managed to do time and again throughout its first five seasons even after plot turns I didnamp8217t care for amp8211 like that lame prison virus story amp8211 but never with the same giant impact of last weekamp8217s episodeEpisode two took us back to the compound to check in on actionmom Carol played by Melissa McBride pictured at topamp160now and forever the most fascinating character on this showamp8217s canvasamp160young Carl who seems to be losing his edge potentially one of those plot turns that will turn me off and the rest There they were chatting strolling baking making plans amp8230 blissfully unaware of the horror that was about to descend on themBut wait There was no sound of a horn blaring anywhere in the compound That was the first clue that something was off or that the narrative had jumped back in time an hour or twoAfter a few quiet scenes with Carol and Co puttering about the end of their new life as they knew it began as the compound was suddenly under siege amp8230 not by mindless hungry zombies but by lunatic knife and axewielding fleshandblood humans known as the Wolves amp8211 crazed killers who had broken in and were determined to savagely butcher everyone they found In what may be the most startling scene in the series to date Carol was quietly looking out a kitchen window at a woman she had just criticized for smoking who had gone outside and lit a cigarette To her horror amp8211 and ours a man with an axe ran up behind the woman and killed her between puffsAt that moment and for the rest of the hour episode two of season six became what I believe to have been the scariest hour of television I have seen in longer than I can remember There is much talk about horror on television these days amp8211 usually involving FXamp8217s amp8220American Horror Storyamp8221 The CWamp8217s amp8220Supernaturalamp8221 Showtimeamp8217s amp8220Penny Dreadfulamp8221 or WGNamp8217s amp8220Salemamp8221 amp8211 but very little in those shows is ever genuinely frightening though amp8220Penny Dreadfulamp8221 certainly had its share of hairraising moments in its second season whenever those creepy witches were around They can be unnerving engrossing andor disturbing amp8230 but terrifying Not so muchIndeed even though I have often found amp8220Walking Deadamp8221 to be scary that episode put everything in a new perspective I havenamp8217t been so spooked by something I saw on television since I sat frozen on the couch watching that Zuni fetish doll terrorize Karen Black in the 1975 ABC movie of the week amp8220Trilogy of Terroramp8221amp160amp160amp160But amp8220Walking Deadamp8221 raised the bar on itself last Sunday What could be more horrifying than a violent invasion of oneamp8217s neighborhood or oneamp8217s home by people intent on slaughtering other people From the Clutter family terrorized and murdered one night in 1959 in their remote Holcomb Kansas home to the victims of the Manson murders killed over a period of two nights in 1969 in Los Angeles to the Petit family terrorized by two men who beat Mr Petit raped and strangled Mrs Petit sexually assaulted one of their daughters and then burned both daughters to death in their home in 2007 in the idyllic town of Cheshire Conn and so many monstrous murders in between few events have terrified people more than savage attacks in the places where people feel the most safe I canamp8217t help but think that amp8220Walking Deadamp8221 last week tapped into that particular fear one that people generally tamp down but which can come instantly to the surface by way of a simple unfamiliar sight or sound if not something much worseWatching that episode I realized that horror is a genre that television has really only tiptoed into mistaking lunacy and nasty allstar camp for actual terror amp8220American Horror Storyamp8221 is especially guilty of this it may be entertaining at times but that entertainment does not come in the form of genuine scares Unsurprisingly the one exception would be the home invasion episode in season one which was memorably chilling I hope one of the storylines in the current amp8220AHS Hotelamp8221 ties into it Mysterious Marcy the realtor who sold the Murder House to the Harmon family in season one has already made an appearance Can other connections be far behindSimilarly in its first season AMCamp8217s amp8220Fear the Walking Deadamp8221 was very much about terror in and around the home and the responses of parents to threats against their children Which has me thinking It was Carol the least likely hero on the canvas who ultimately took charge in last weekamp8217s episode of amp8220Walking Deadamp8221 and saved the day just as she has done at other times throughout the life of the series I never made the connection until now but I have to wonder if the fan response to Carol had anything to do with the decision to make the central character in amp8220Fear the Walking Deadamp8221 another heroic momThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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“The Walking Dead” is a True American Horror Story

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Ed Martin

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