Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is a former-Deputy Sheriff who has been in a coma for many months after being shot in the call of duty. When he comes out of his coma, he sees that the world is much changed. He’s now in the thick of a zombie apocalypse and it seems he is the last man living. After returning home, he sees that his family are missing and then meets another survivor called Morgan (Lennie James).Morgan teaches Rick how to survive in this new world, and shows him that it’s “us or them.”

After reaching Atlanta in search for his family, he narrowly escapes death at the hands of zombies after when he is saved by Glenn (Steven Yeun) who takes him to this camp outside of town. Rick finds his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and his son Carl (Chandler Riggs) with his partner/best friend Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) and a small community of survivors struggling to survive in this new world.

As first seasons go, you have to ask yourself, did it deliver? In my opinion, yes it did. But as soon as I got invested in it, it was all over in a mere six episodes. In this six hour period, AMC delivered an awesome season and bucket loads of dramatic suspense. Episode two “Guts” introduces us to more characters such as Lori (Callies), Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Shane (Jon Bernthal). We’re also acquainted with Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker). He’s a drugged up attention-drawing motor mouth with many racist ideologies and knack to be violent.

In addition, we have Merle’s brother Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) who later develops a cult following because of his badass skills with a crossbow and his Aragorn-esque raggedy sex appeal. Other characters, include T-Dog and Andrea but they all fell flat in my opinion. Given a longer season, they might have been expanded upon. In “Vatos”, our characters have a run-in with a group of gangbangers in Atlanta. It’s instances like this that show that the zombies aren’t the real enemy. The real enemy are other living people; people who will do whatever it takes to survive.

With only six episodes, I found it very difficult not to feel like something was missing. I finished the season wanting more, but what we do get is a fantastic apocalyptic drama. The finale was engaging as many events took place, including zombies thinning out our heroes’ herd. While I was disappointed in the season’s length, the show’s first season worked very well. Season one was only but a sample of what was to come. And now the show is growing strong, having just started its seventh season.

The show is very realistic of the human psyche, capturing some of the despair and fright that we suffer when put into the most drastic of situations. These moments were entwined with moments of happiness which gave the characters glimpses of hope. It was an opening season designed to perk the interest of potential long-term viewers. It showed few storyarcs, out of fear of giving away too much too soon. It showed clear and coherent storylines with room to grow, and grow they did in future seasons.

Despite having only six episodes, season one of The Walking Dead checks out. Filled with wonderful performances, admirably simplistic set pieces and an opening theme that really sticks in your head, The Walking Dead is a keeper. It has to be said AMC, I am with you until the very end.

Quality not quantity