5 reasons you need to watch The Walking Dead

I’m always wary of something that has SO much hype surrounding it. But you guys. YOU GUYS. The Walking Dead was so awesome I’m having trouble even thinking about how to describe it—so I whittled it down to the 5 best reasons:

1. Andrew Lincoln (as Rick Grimes): This guy is kicking all kinds of acting ass, ranging from his initial breakdown to his necessary, but still reluctant, Zombie killing. I can’t wait to see what he does in the next episode!
2. Utter despair: Main character Rick is missing his wife and kid, and thinks they might be dead. Little does he know they’re alive…but wifey appears to have hooked up with his best friend (yikes).  Still, that’s even not as bad as the father & son he meets who have to deal with seeing Mom as a zombie every night.
3. The Zombies: Hoards and hoards of ‘em! They’re more traditional zombies, but they’re not exactly super slow either. Every close-up in the Pilot episode showed a near-flawless execution of makeup and special F/X. They all looked TERRIFYING. Especially the little girl at the beginning, and the crawling half-corpse that tries to eat Rick.
4. The Directing: Oh, Frank Darabont. You rule so hard. So many beautiful shots, but the one that got to me the most was when Rick leaves the hospital and stumbles upon body after body after body. That, and the aerial shot at the end pretty much took my breath away.
5. The Splatter: MOST importantly, the splatter! Gunshot splatter, baseball bat splatter, crowbar splatter – so. much. awesome. splatter. The blood sprays were almost beautiful in their execution and the sheer amount of gore is impressive. I’m in love, AMC. Thank you for treating this mini-series like a quality film, and not mid-season filler.