What comes next?
Ten years have passed the Night the Sky Fell and the young survivors living at the Campus Colony have grown up in a world of the dead walking the Earth. When Iris Bennett (Aliyah Royale) and her twin sister Hope Bennett (Alexa Mansour) learn that their father Leopold (Joe Holt) could be endangered as he works for the secretive survivor group known as the Civic Republic Military, they decide they have to find him…and set off into the wild with their friends Elton Ortiz (Nicolas Cantu) and Silas Plaskett (Hal Cumpston) with Campus Colony guards Felix Carlucci (Nico Tortorella) and Jennifer “Huck” Mallick (Annet Mahendru) in pursuit. CRM agent Elizabeth Kublek (Julia Ormond) is plotting something…and everyone is caught in the trap.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond—Season 1 is a zombie survival horror drama. The series had an internet release on October 1, 2020 for the premiere episode and aired on AMC from October 4, 2020 to November 29, 2020. It received mixed reviews.
I feel Julia Ormond is above this…I guess they just needed someone with an English accent…
I have always gone back and forth on The Walking Dead. The concept of a long running survival series dealing with a pandemic becoming endemic is something that is even more relevant now than when the series started. The Walking Dead: World Beyond takes that idea one step forward, and it takes a rocky step.
The series is largely world building. In the post-apocalyptic world, there are different factions, different goals for the future of humanity, and different ways to cope with the death and destruction. This movie has a world where all these meet and conflict. The whole series could be about these conflicts and how to bring a world back from the brink…but the series instead gets bogged down in The Walking Dead problems.
The series recognizes that the new world is the interesting part of series, but it tries to humanize it by following the first generation of survivors as they try to find their place in it. The series trudges along and shows that history repeats itself (even after halfway getting it together, they start to fall apart again…regardless of the zombies…sorry “Empties”). You get a lot of melodrama…and it feels like it is unnecessary.
I can’t wait to learn more about Scott Adsit’s character…oh…wait…nevermind
The cast is very young and sometimes it shows. That isn’t necessarily all their fault but the fault of series and its characters. Aliyah Royale and Alexa Mansour are almost compelling and as the series develops, they are shown to be a team…which seems to diminish each of their accomplishments instead of enhancing them. The rest of the group feels like almost stock characters. In typical Walking Dead format, the characters start to develop backstories, but it feels no different than a regular Walking Dead series…and redundant as a result.
There is a general lack of energy in the story. The dead have now been dead a long time and it feels like that also needs exploring. Granted, everyone that dies becomes a zombie, but do the zombies need to eat? How do they still have flesh since it has been rotting for ten years? There aren’t enough survivors and new zombies to continuously repopulate the zombie population, and the ten year old zombies should be falling apart…this is where the story could be different.
How are these things even still standing. The flesh started rotting probably ten years before and they still can walk around
It also feels like we’ve had the “unskilled killers” storyline. Characters like Carl in the original series had to change from kids into killers and these teens (though halfway sheltered in the Campus Colony) are also killing zombies for the first time…and that feels a bit unrealistic in a world where they are trained as warriors against the dead to even some extent. While they might not like killing zombies, it feels like at least getting past that initial “first kill” would have come sooner for the safety of the colony. A happy medium between the Campus Colony and the CRM feels more likely rather than an antagonistic relationship.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond is a series that isn’t awful, but it feels unnecessary in the bigger picture of all the Walking Dead series that have been made. It seems like there are a lot of missed opportunities with the series and that it could have been better. The characters are all a little too bland and the story is too slow paced (but thankfully only ten episodes). There is enough of a cliffhanger to get me back for The Walking Dead: World Beyond—Season 2…but it is a push.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond—Season 1 Complete Episode Guide:
“Brave”
1.1 Brave Airdate: 10/04/20
Sisters Iris Bennett (Aliyah Royale) and Hope Bennett (Alexa Mansour) live in the Campus Colony and get secret messages from her father who is working for the Civic Republic Military. It is Monument Day, and the Elizabeth Kublek (Julia Ormond) of the Civic Republic Military has come for the ceremony. When Iris and Hope get a message of warning from their father, they worry that the CRM isn’t telling the truth and debate trying to rescue him. Hope remembers the death of her mother (Christina Marie Karis), as she and Iris leave with Elton Ortiz (Nicolas Cantu) and Silas Plaskett (Hal Cumpston) in a desperate run for New York.
“The Blaze of Gory”
1.2 The Blaze of Gory Airdate: 10/11/20
Felix Carlucci (Nico Tortorella) remembers his father’s rejection before the outbreak as he and Jennifer “Huck” Mallick (Annet Mahendru) go after Iris and Hope without knowing the Campus Colony has fallen to the CRM. Silas is unable to kill an Empty, and the group finds inaction can come back to haunt them. As they approach the massive fire known as the Blaze of Gory, the group must make a decision.
“The Tyger and the Lamb”
1.3 The Tyger and the Lamb Airdate: 10/18/20
Hope goes on a deadly mission as Huck and Felix catch up to the Endlings. Silas remember how he ended up at the school and how it was a potential fresh start. As they fight to cross the Blaze of Gory, it could just be the first step of a bigger journey. Hope reveals to Iris what happened the day their mother died. Barca (Al Calderon) objects to the actions at the Campus Colony…and crossing Elizabeth is a problem.
“The Wrong End of a Telescope”
1.4 The Wrong End of a Telescope Airdate: 10/25/20
Huck and Felix have reluctantly joined the Endlings as they head to New York. When the Endlings find a school, they learn that they might not be alone inside the building, and the danger might not be Empties. Silas has a breakdown and questions if he belongs with the group.
“Madman Across the Water”
1.5 Madman Across the Water Airdate: 11/01/20
Huck and Felix try to slowly chip away at the Endlings and try to convince them to turn back to the Campus Colony. Crossing the Mississippi poses a problem, but a storm and an errant lightning strike at Daquiritown could be a bigger threat. Elton remembers his childhood and his parents Isaac (Reece Rios) and Amelia (Chrisina Brucato)…giving Hope a horrible realization.
“Shadow Puppets”
1.6 Shadow Puppets Airdate: 11/08/20
The Endlings encounter a young man named Percy (Ted Sutherland) on the other side of the Mississippi and learn Percy could have something that they need. Percy has a truck that could get the group to New York faster…if they can only get it back from the people who stole it.
“Truth or Dare”
1.7 Truth or Dare Airdate: 11/15/20
The search for the next CRM fuel station leads Iris to make a discovery about New York’s base of operation. Huck remembers her life before joining the Campus Colony. A night of relaxing leads to death.
“The Sky Is a Graveyard”
1.8 The Sky Is a Graveyard Airdate: 11/22/20
Tony (Scott Adsit) is dead, Percy is missing, and Silas is the suspect as Silas remembers what happened between him as his father (Kai Lennox). With Silas’s future in jeopardy among the group, Hope debates telling Elton about his mother. Huck’s actions away from the Endlings is revealed.
“The Deepest Cut”
1.9 The Deepest Cut Airdate: 11/29/20
Huck plots with her mother Elizabeth and is reminded that the ultimate goal is the asset with her. Elton searches for Silas but finds Percy instead…and learns who killed Tony. Felix finds himself injured and a potential liability for the group as he remembers the decision of Will (Jelani Alladin) to go with Leopold Bennett (Joe Holt) on the CRM security detail.
“In This Life”
1.10 In This Life Airdate: 11/29/20
Felix and Iris find Huck and Hope are gone and seek answers about Huck’s real motives. Percy’s revelation that Hope was responsible for the attack has Elton questioning his next move as he locates Silas. Hope has questions for Huck and is demanding answers.
