Walking Dead: Seed

     Don't get me wrong, obviously I enjoy this show or I wouldn't be writing about it, it has moments of pure brilliance like the first scene of this season, which was the perfect scene, but when have we reached a point when the violence is just to much for standard cable TV?  The last scene of the episode, with Rick needing multiple whacks to chop off Hershel's leg, would have almost zero chance of making it into a PG-13 movie, yet there it was on my television.  I was in awe of how graphic and grotesque it was and then thought, wait... this is basic cable.  It rivaled 127 Hours for having the most graphically clunky severing of a limb scene I've watched.  As much as I enjoy the gore, it just isn't appropriate for basic cable and leaves the question, where does the show go from here gore wise?  How much higher can they raise the bar on what is allowed?  I'm sorry to sound like the old cantankerous nay sayer, but that scene was too much.
     On the positive side, holy crap that was a fantastic opening segment.  The amount of info they were able to convey without ever uttering a second of dialogue was amazing.  The desperation, the hardening, the skill, the pain, the suffering, the frustration, it was all there.  We were told that time has passed since we last saw these characters, that they have become cold efficient killers, that they are in desperate need of solace and food, that they are on the verge of breaking.  We were given all that info and never heard any of them make a sound other then a brief tisk.  It was a perfectly crafted and imagined piece of film that was a pure joy to watch.  What a great way to kick off a season!
     The other brilliant thing to take away from this episode is... Riot Gear Zombies!!  What an amazing idea.  What's more dangerous then a blood thirsty, brain hungering zombie?  One clothed in gear that makes it near impossible to pierce it's heart or puncture it's brain.  What could be scarier or more dangerous then zombies in riot gear?  The writer's abilities to up the ante is one of the things that has made this show so interesting, but where do you go from riot gear zombies?  I can't wait to find out.