The Walking Dead, World Beyond, Season 1, Episode 1 is titled Brave. It is ten years after the initial Zombie Apocalypse has decimated the planet.
The world is reminiscent of the Hunger Games. There are several factions. Each acts on their own with little to no communication between them. This ties into the two main character’s background. Iris and Hope’s father was taken away from Campus Colony to help the Civic Republic.
It is very clear that Iris and Hope’s father was very important to the Campus Colony. It is also fairly clear that even though he left to help the Civic Republic, he doesn’t quite trust them. He set up a pager and a printer so he can send his daughters messages without the Civic Republic knowing.
After a long pause in messages, Iris and Hope’s father sends them a warning. Things aren’t going well. Safety is not guaranteed. This triggers the girls, and two of their friends to decide to walk over a thousand miles to get to New York, where the Civic Republic have the girl’s father.
Sneaking Away
The small group sneaks out of Campus Colony, followed by their guardian, who is essentially the town sheriff, and his female deputy. Which is just in time, because the Civic Republic decides its worth killing everyone at Campus Colony to find the girls.
The campus slaughter was actually a little vague. Or maybe I’m just dim. I wasn’t sure where they were killing people, even though Elizabeth, the Civic Republic Leader, asks if her men checked in several of the buildings.
Thus starts the Episode 1, Brave.
Overall I enjoyed it. There is a lot packed into the first episode, including some very heavy handed foreshadowing. The girls are both tortured by the memory of losing their mother, which leads to several flashbacks. In the process we find out that the woman who killed their mother, just happens to be the pregnant mother of one of their travelling companions, who of course remembers his mother and unborn sister fondly. I’m sure he doesn’t know that Hope shot his mom after his mom killed her mom. (I hated typing that many moms in such short order.)
The acting is okay, but some of the dialogue seems forced. Hopefully the cast will gel more with each other as the season goes on.
Brave Scoring
Brave earned a 70/100 and I am hoping it gets better, because I am looking forward to the next episode. What cost it points? The rough edges in the dialogue and some of the acting is a B-. The other item which cost some points is that Campus Community seems a little too clean and well fed for the apocalypse. I know its 10 years later and they have a secure campus, but still, it didn’t feel enough like the apocalypse for me.
| Season | Episode | Episode Name | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Brave | 70 |
| 1 | 2 | The Blaze Of Glory | 50 |
| 1 | 3 | The Tyger and the Lamb | 65 |
| 1 | 4 | The Wrong End of a Telescope | 71 |
| 1 | 5 | Madman Across the Water | 60 |
| 1 | 6 | Shadow Puppets | 60 |
| 1 | 7 | Truth Or Dare | 60 |
| 1 | 8 | The Sky Is a Graveyard | 62 |
| 1 | 9 | The Deepest Cut | 55 |
| 1 | 10 | In This Life | 50 |
