In these episodes the group decides to head to the CDC center 100 miles out of Atlanta. While this did not happen in the books it does slightly resemble the ending of book 1 and beginning of book two, with some slight changes of course. In the books Rick takes a firm stand that the group needs to leave the camp and get as far away from the infected city of Atlanta as they can. Shane on the other hand is the opposite and thinks the group should stay close to the city because when the government comes to help them they will be there. I really liked this argument because it created a lot of tension between the two leaders of the camp. In the show Rick half hearted thinks it would be a good idea to go to the CDC center. Jim got bit by an infected and they think a cure to the infection might be in the CDC. There is a little bit of an argument but for the most part Shane agrees with Rick.
This was one of the biggest changes from the book that they have made thus far. In the book the argument gets very heated to the point that Shane pulls a gun on Rick. Right when Shane is about to shoot, Carl shoots Shane in the neck. I was really looking forward to seeing this in the show because when I read that in the books it was the moment I went, "Whoa, no games here." It's what really got me hooked on this series. Its the same thing that made me like "Lost" so much. Main characters get killed off in a second. It really adds to the feeling that the show is unpredictable and the characters on it are actually in danger. The show however does still have the scene. Instead of Shane getting shot though, he just puts the gun down. It kinda makes me feel like this series is a "what could have been" version of The Walking Dead.
What happened.
What was supposed to happen.
While this change does works on some level it also cuts out future story lines. That actually happens a few times in this episode. In the book after Shane gets shot he gets barred. Since he got shot in the neck is brain is still in one piece. In book 3 Rick realizes that its not just sick people who are getting infected, the dead are also rising. He than goes back to Shane's grave, digs it up, finds him infected and kills him for good. It was another scene from the book I thought was great. Since he didn't die at the camp site Rick won't go back there to do that. I guess the same thing could happen at a different location though.
On the way to the CDC Jim's infection gets worse and worse. Eventually Jim asks to be left behind on the side of the road. This is supposed to be a rather emotional thing. The show has done such a poor job with caricaturization that I straight up did not care. If it wasn't for the sad music playing I wouldn't have even known it was a sad scene. I think the show could really benefit by switching up the show formula and having it be sort of like "Lost." Every episode would tell one persons story. Each episode of the show right now has fallowed Rick who has become a rather shallow character. He is just your classic good guy. I find my self not caring because of that. In the books every choice that Rick makes weighs on him a lot. He is willing to do horrible things to survive. If he has to kill a living person he will. That is not the case in the show. It really is a shame.
The episode begins to get interesting when the doctor working in the CDC labs gets introduced. He has been in the research lab by himself for 104 weeks, he is a little crazy at this point. Everyday he records a video of him giving an update of his research. One day while running experiments he spills a chemical that is considered hazardous on "TS-19" and ruins it. With all of his research destroyed he decides to kill himself. That is when Rick and everyone shows up. He lets them all into the CDC and everyone is happy for a night or so. This is another thing that hurts future plots from the books. The doctor explains how the infection works. This never happened in the books. To be honest I really liked not knowing what the infection is and how it works. I liked whenever Rick met new people they would share theory's on infection. It seems like the writers sort of took away a big draw to the show by explaining this, especially so early on in the series.
The CDC is a government facility with super computers connected to all the over government bases. The Doctor talks about how every other base has shut down and he is the last person working on a cure. This destroys the whole future plot of Rick trying to get to D.C because the government is still alive there. Why go all the way when you already saw a strong evidence that says nothing else is operational? Just saying I think the writers should have read all of the books before starting this show.
At the end of the episode it is reveled that when the CDC's generators run out of fuel the whole station will decontaminate itself. Which actually means the whole place will blow itself up. Of coarse everyone freaks out. The Doctor explains that this is a good thing though. His point being, wouldn't you rather have your death be quick and painless than slow and horrible like living out in the post apocalyptic world? He makes a good enough point that Jackie stays behind with him and they both die. Once again though, not enough characterization. The only thing I took away from watching these people die was that the girls name was Jackie.
I know that all I did was shit on this series, but I really did enjoy the last two episodes. The Doctor was really well acted and brought a tension that the show had been missing the whole time. I can only hope that the show continues this type of quality in season two.
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