One scene that struck me while watching The Walking Dead pilot is actually one of the first scenes of the show. Our first five minutes viewing the pilot is very different than the start of the original comic. The first five minutes consist of a clean-shaven, fully suited Rick running out of gas and then walking to a gas station where he encounters a little zombie girl in fuzzy slippers and braces and a robe. Rick then proceeds to shoot her square in the face. This opening is much different than the comics, in which Rick wakes up alone and emaciated in an empty (albeit zombie riddled) hospital. The pilots opening is so much more violent and brutal than the comics. It also has the viewers asking more questions than the readers of the comic would. At this point, the only alive human we see is Rick - which is like the comic - but instead of our first zombie that we see being an old patient or a doctor, the viewer is exposed to the image of a child. One thing that stood out to me, was how alive the zombie girl seems before we see her half-rotted face, picking up her toy bunny that she drops. This may be what leads Rick to call out to her and ask her if she is okay. The other thing that stood out to me, and also would leave the viewer asking questions, is Rick's complete lack of emotion he has when he shoots her between the eyes. This change makes me wonder if it is to show the immediate downward spiral that Rick undergoes - as this emotional response is far from the one we read in the comic - or if it is a ploy used to catch a new audience's attention, used for ratings.
Questions:
1). As a viewer, which opening did you prefer?
2). How do you think this opening differs from the original comics' in the way it portrays and sets the tone of Rick and the entire series?
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