The Walking Dead and True Detective Crossover

Secret: I’ve never seen an episode of The Walking Dead.

Secret: I’ve never seen True Detective.

These were the tweets between Reuben from Fansided’s True Detectives Rumors account and me one day. This prompted us to make a little pact to try each other’s shows and see What’s the hype? So now, a few weeks later, we have each viewed the premiere/pilot episode of the Twitter pal’s show.

I was drawn in enough to continue with the rest of the season. Much like The Walking Dead it left me with more questions than answers. I will outline the similarities and differences here.

Similarities:

Great acting is the starting point of similarities. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are both superb and do not distract or bring you out of the story because of their star power. The supporting cast is also strong.
Deliberate and restrained use of music and ambient sound.
Deadpan delivery and seriousness. Not a lot of smiling or joking. The humor comes sparingly and without fanfare.
Slow, character driven, not plot driven.
Ends with a question or mini-cliffhanger.
Two cops.

Differences:

No action to break up the dialogue and character development.
Doesn’t feel like the time flies by–not necessarily a bad thing. (It’s a full hour, no commercials)
Slow, drawn out curious tension rather than jaw dropping, chilling, excited tension.
For me, I needed a rest afterwards. Doesn’t seem as binge-watchable as The Walking Dead. Again, not necessarily a bad thing.

Something that I realized about The Walking Dead that I never thought about before is that the walkers are the real key. We always say it’s about the people, not the zombies, but the threat of a walker at any time brings a sense of excitement and urgency even when the scenes are walker-less. It really is the combination of the action and the drama that make it unique.

I’m very excited to have a new show to watch. I love shows and movies that are lots of talk! After today, I will watch without thinking about similarities and differences. They are very different shows. I may become a True Detective fan. But nothing in my life has ever compared to the feeling I have for The Walking Dead. It’s much more than a show. It’s everything the memes and tweets have said before–It’s a family.

P.S. It is fun knowing someone else is watching the show you love for the first time. I imagine Reuben felt the same way, I hope he becomes part of #twdfamily and loved the show enough to continue watching.

Next: Walking Dead 50 most shocking moments and deaths

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