Walking Dead Episode Guide

Now that it's behind me, I don't mind saying - this strip kicked my ass. Half the reason I decided to take last week off was because I'd already spend a couple sessions working on this one and I couldn't bear to look at it anymore.

Anyway, for the actual Walking Dead readers out there, here's how I'd generally like to see things go from here, now that the series' future seems assured for the time being (heavy spoilers, obviously) - I figured Season Two would primarily be Hershel and Tyrese, with the prison discovery happening at the end, but with only one episode left in Season One I'm starting to wonder if they'll even get to the end of the Shane plotline before next season. I can't imagine Darabont could resist more than one more season without the prison, though, so I still say that's how Two ends - they could easily lose Wiltshire Estates if they had to, especially since there's no Allen and Donna. As tempting as it'll probably be to get Michonne in there, she didn't really have much to do until Woodbury, so her arrival is pretty much a crapshoot. Once they get settled into the prison a bit, though, there's nothing pre-Woodbury that screams "season finale", so I don't see how they could end Season Three earlier than them spotting the helicopter and heading off with Michonne.

By this point, though, the aging of the kid who plays Carl will probably have to be addressed, so I wouldn't be surprised if they worked in a big time jump shortly before Woodbury happens - even as much as a year or two. The way it's been paced so far, I could see them doing an entire season of just Rick's time in Woodbury, maybe even delaying the escape until the fourth finale, and then leaving Martinez and the assault for Season Five. I'll be very interested to see what they do about Rick's hand. If a character isn't going to be around for a lot longer, it's not a huge deal to CG off an extremity or shoot around it, but considering how much further the comic has gone, with Rick still alive and kicking, there's no way in hell they'd have the balls to maim him in any way that's overly noticeable. A foot, maybe, or even just a finger. One thing's for sure - whomever plays Michonne will be showing signs of the Governor's abuse for a good long time; maybe even permanent scars like Locke's eye on Lost.

*achem*

Well, that's enough masturbation for the time being. Obviously, I'm very thrilled with the show so far, and I'm dying to see all the ways they'll prove my speculation wrong.