FYI, spoilers below…
Prelude opens with a man packing in his garage, desperately grabbing what he can. He then heads out into the house with a baseball bat held at the ready. He doesn’t get far before he stumbles on his family, now Zombies, and runs upstairs instead of giving them mercy.
Outside the sirens blare and we see people running. It looks like we have once again taken a step back in time. The man slowly takes off his ring before heading out into the blood covered hallways of his home.
Out on the street we see the team reunited. Spears, Sun, Rose, and Anna are together at this point (which I believe is pre Episode 1 – those god damn tricky producers). As they move down the street, forced to walk after their car’s gas was siphoned off by unknown scavengers, we once again hear and then see the plane in the sky overhead.
Yep, that’s clearly a plane!
We then see the well armed group from Episode 1, and I’m guessing we are eventually going to find out how Sun became a prisoner, as well as why Rose asked Freddie if she “still smelled good”.
Team Rose runs as the well armed gang hunts them through the town. Spears gets his gunshot wound offscreen before Sun pushes him down the ravine – probably saving him. She gives up to save Spears.
So why are these heavily armed men hunting other survivors? They clearly have gas and guns, why put themselves in harms way hunting scavengers?
We then cut to two men in a pickup as they drive into an ambush, which is how we get introduced to the less well armed group we saw battling the gun crew in Episode 1.
The next scene opens with a man checking out a car as the wind and snow blow outside. It is very cold out. Is that Freddie? I think it is but its really dark out. No, I think its the two guys from the very beginning who end up in the chase before they both get sniped. I did like that Friend 1 straps wounded Friend 2 down before they go to sleep – because if he dies in his sleep and turns, you know, it would be bad. Unfortunately for Friend 2, it’s not long before his body dies, turns, and breaks free of his belt.
We then see Spears, wounded and breathing heavily as that pesky plane flies overhead again. As Spears takes a rest we see a shape coming ever closer, marching across the snow landscape. Spears gets up and starts walking, his wound clearly slowing him down as he watches the figure approaching from behind. It doesn’t look like a Zombie to me – but I guess anyone following you in that world would be a bad sign. Things only get worse for spears as he stands on an icy ledge that gives out, giving him yet another rough ride down a hill. At the bottom he finds a lot of bodies, frozen or killed by violence? Nope, just frozen Zombies. As Spears borrows a pair of gloves from one of the mostly frozen Undead, his stalker stops at the top of the hill and watches.
Meanwhile Rose and Anna have found the house, and begin to approach it when a Zombie comes snarling down the lane. Lucky for Rose and Anna, the Undead are pretty dumb. Rose and Anna want into the house, and Rose risks a shot, but misses.
Lucky for Rose and Anna, the missed shot distracted the Zombie long enough for them to run to the door. When it opens we find the less well armed group is already inside. Thus ends Episode 2.
Prelude Scoring
Prelude was full of suspense and had a lot of good plot and background. What it didn’t have is a lot of Zombie violence in it, or much violence at all, which was a huge switch up when compared to Episode 1, which is costing it some points, 20 to be exact. Prelude is still well Worth Your Time at 80/100.
| Season | Episode | Episode Name | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Human Flow | 85 |
| 1 | 2 | Drive | 80 |
| 1 | 3 | Summer School | 70 |
| 1 | 4 | Alone | 82 |
| 1 | 5 | Diner | 86 |
| 1 | 6 | Heist | 90 |
| 1 | 7 | The Tunnel | 83 |
| 1 | 8 | The Stadium | 91 |
| 2 | 1 | The Cold | 95 |
| 2 | 2 | Prelude | 80 |
| 2 | 3 | Card Game | 91 |
| 2 | 4 | Cold War | 83 |
| 2 | 5 | White Horse | 88 |
| 2 | 6 | Currency | 69 |
| 2 | 7 | The Lodge | 75 |
| 2 | 8 | The Plane | 99 |
If you are looking for a fix I’d suggest The Walking Dead!