The Walking Dead (Season 2)

     The Walking Dead creates an atmosphere that forces viewers to tune in every week to catch the newest episode. It sets the perfect example for what a great zombie story should be.
     As I work on my zombie story, I have been watching every episode of the most popular zombie television show ever. Throughout the first season, the most important aspect of every episode was the shift in emotion and hope. The story was constantly on a cycle, first giving the survivors a a ray of hope, and then taking that away and making the worst of the situation happen. There was never any happy ending, and there was never anything so bad that it ended everything. It just kept cycling.
     However, in the first and second episode of Season 2, this cycle has been non-existent. In the season premier, the survivors spend all of their time searching for Sophia, a small 12 year old girl who was lost in the forest after being chased by two 'walkers.' The viewer is expecting something good to happen throughout the whole episode, but it never happens. The survivors are merely teased. First they come across a tent, which only has the corpse of a suicidal man. Next, they hear church bells, only to find out they're being played through a speaker on an automatic timer. The church has no sign of Sophia, only a couple of zombies sitting in a church service after death. All hope is lost. After being teased, the viewer doesn't know what to expect. There hasn't been anything that the survivors can look forward to. Nothing good has happened, only more pain and suffering.
     If the viewer thought things couldn't get any worse, they were wrong. When Shane and Rick agree to let Carl join them in the hunt for Sophia, you know things aren't going to be good. There is one small glimmer of hope; another tease that is quickly snatched away as Carl is shot after finding a deer.
     Season 1 was such a perfect zombie story. Whenever something good happened, the viewers had to expect something bad; something devastating and painful. This was different. The writers of The Walking Dead completely changed things up. There were no rays of hope, they were just merely teases that led to something painful and tragic. It kept everyone guessing. They sat waiting for something good, waiting for something that would never happen. People will continue to watch the rest of the season, waiting for that something; waiting for one ray of hope that will never happen. Because of this, The Walking Dead keeps bringing viewers back. It keeps making people tune in every weekend. After the emotional cycle of the first season, people could only expect more in Season 2, but were left completely stranded with these expectations. The Walking Dead keeps people guessing. Just when you think you've figured it out, the story makes you completely wrong. You keep checking back every week until you can figure it out again. The Walking Dead keeps you guessing, and it could very well change again for the rest of the season.
     A good zombie story is unpredictable. The reader/viewer has to think they understand it, but then be completely thrown off by something drastic later on in the plot. The Walking Dead has perfected this.