‘The Walking Dead’ Retro Recap: ‘TS-19’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

When it comes to zombie stories as a whole, there’s one giant and glaring question that hangs over every single one of them…what caused the dead to return to life and attack the living? It is of course, an important question for the story to ask simply because it could have major bearing on the overall vibe of the story and the plot as a whole and over the years, we’ve received some fascinating answers as to what causes the zombiepocalypse. We’ve seen alien spores bring the dead back to life, and we’ve also seen viral infections somehow revive corpses and drive them to feed upon the flesh of everyday people.
 
But of the many reasons out there that cause the dead to resurrect from the grave, there’s one that is my personal favorite; when there is no logical explanation for this occurrence what so ever. Because a force of nature or an act of God, whichever you prefer, is downright terrifying to say the least since it means there is no controlling it or dealing with it, one simply has to hold out for as long as they possibly can and ride that proverbial storm and thankfully, the ‘why’ as to what created the zombie plague that Rick Grimes and his friends are trying to survive in The Walking Dead was addressed in fascinating and satisfying fashion in the season one finale, ‘TS-19’.
 
Of course, before we got to that all important moment, the series was kind enough to give the audience and the characters a moment to catch our collective breath because holy cow, the last episode and the opening moments of this one were downright intense. Because we didn’t have a clue if the mysterious doctor at the CDC was going to be gracious enough to let Rick and his group stay within the building’s secure walls, but thankfully, Doctor Edwin Jenner was kind enough to extend an olive branch and let everyone into the complex, and he even took the time to feed the group and give them some creature comforts to enjoy and while this break from the action was nice, it was also incredibly poignant.
 
Because one forgets just how nice the everyday things we take for granted really are and it was a humbling reminder to see this group enjoy the simple things in life, such as warm meals, good wine, a hot shower and a comfy bed for a change and well, it didn’t take long for the creature comforts of the world to clear the group’s head and focus their minds on why they came to the Centers for Disease Control in the first place; answers, and it was Dale who kicked off a grand exploration on Robert Kirkman’s brand of zombies and well, this sequence of the story ended up being one of the most fascinating explorations of living death that I’ve ever seen when it comes to the zombie genre. 

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​For starters, we got an up close and personal look at how the ‘virus’ infects the human body and how it attacks the brain before finally shutting down all cerebral activity and well, it was downright chilling to see the exact moment when that primal part of our brains comes back to life and how Jenner dealt with it. But while this was something new and exciting to see in the zombie universe as a whole, my favorite part of the story was revealed in this moment in that, Jenner and all the research he and others had performed in this place…yielded no scientific results. Sure, it seems to be a virus, or an infection, but the fact of the matter is, Jenner offered no real understanding as to what this is and how it came to be and I truly appreciated the fact that this was more or less a Romero-esque type plague of living death, the kind that is indeed an outright force of nature. 
 
But, while it was cool to more or less receive a big answer to a big question, this particular tale dove into more than just science. It also became quite the philosophical tale on mortality and what one might do when faced with insurmountable odds at the end of the world. Because the group was facing their own end when they discovered that once the generators ran out of gas at the CDC, the building would be consumed by fire to keep the various samples of lethal viruses and bacteria from being unleashed upon the world and it was just fascinating to see who was instantly ready to try anything and everything to escape and who was willing to stay inside the building and let the flames consume them. 
 
It made for a powerful sequence of events, where we watched Rick and his closest inner circle try to convince a man who had given up and held their fates in his hands that they could in fact do better than a quick and painless death and somehow, Rick convinced Jenner to let them go. But despite this gift, another member of the group decided to stay behind and they nearly lost Andrea as well since she too was ready to face the end without her family, that is until Dale showed her why she should escape with the group and fight and despite the fact that the group makes it out just in the nick of time, let’s be honest…this ending is bittersweet. Because the group truly does have a hard road ahead and the hope that I felt when I first watched this episode was replaced with worry when I remembered how their journey goes from this point on…
 
However, when all is said and done, I’m quite glad I took the time now to revisit season one and reflect upon where this wild and incredible journey began. Because we are headed into uncharted territory now, and a brave new world that Rick Grimes won’t be a part of and it was nice to be reminded of how good a man he truly is and that despite a few missteps along the way on his journey to Alexandria, that good never left him. Either way, our look back at season one of this magnificent series has come to its end, which means it’s time settle in and watch the season nine premiere of the show and let the story take us on a new emotional journey, but I do hope you enjoyed this little jaunt down walker memory lane with me, and I do hope, that this somehow prepares all of us just a little bit for Andrew Lincoln’s curtain call… 

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