Review

Andrew decides enough is enough they need to get to a major city, Atlanta apparently. Only problem is they are going to need transport as this is the only family in North America without at least one car. Jamie, the daughter, helpfully points out Mr Palmer's truck is parked next door outside the house. While Hannah asks if Andrew has indulged in carjacking, Andrew knows where the keys are, on Mr Palmer's body in the basement next door. Andrew heads on over and finds he forgot about the zombie ankle biters, oops!

With Andrew missing Hannah decides to take the kids and get out of Dodge. Luckily there's a helicopter overhead informing anyone left alive that they should make their way to the green concession stand at the local park. Helicopters are nearly always an awesomely good idea in The Walking Dead universe, and Hannah pays the price of not checking where she sticks her arm. A remarkably poignant episode ensues to round out Torn Apart.

First up Everything Dies runs for just under four minutes (3:54) which is pretty much the correct length for a webisode in my blood splattered opinion. Any longer and you run the risk of padding things out, any shorter and you have the viewer wondering why they bothered watching a fleeting few frames. So full marks to the Producers here, they round out the series with just the right touch for mine. Writer John Esposito nails it, we all knew where this was heading, and Esposito gets there without too many sidetracks into problematic territory.

I would like to thank John Esposito for getting the continuity between this series and the television show spot on. In both cases the focal characters are planning to head to Atlanta, which would indicate both are in small town America. Equally I was impressed with Director Greg Nicotero's decision to cut off proceedings when he did. Okay I was half expecting Rick Grimes to resolve Torn Apart, but that transition from zombie Hannah to the expected "bicycle girl" was awesomely conceived with Nicotero rounding things out on just the right sombre note. End of day Torn Apart is a traditional tragedy, the Director and Writer freaking nailed it.

Excellent and poignant ending to a well above average webisode series

Bare with me yo, just another bit of kudos for writer John Esposito. The first line of dialogue in this series included the phrase "everything dies" as Hannah tries to explain to her son Billy why his gold fish has shrugged off the mortal coil. The last line of dialogue in the final episode also includes "everything dies" as Jamie and Billy realise Mom isn't going on with them as they make their final dash for the dubious safety of the concession stand in the Park. While the statement is pretty much the truth, until someone makes the mistake of finding a serum giving eternal life, it also points to the nihilism that The Walking Dead is being very careful with. As we now know everyone carries the virus and will rise once they are dead, hence there's not a lot of hope. Esposito stands firm on that knife edge, doesn't offer any rosy glow futures, but equally doesn't descend into "nobody gets out of here alive". "Everything dies" works wonders as bookends to Torn Apart and it was actually quite poignant when used in this episode, which is just as well as the title of the episode was also Everything Dies.

Naturally I had a problem with the episode, as you would expect, and am calling Director Nicotero out on it right here and right now! When Andrew goes into the next door house's basement he discovers a trail of blood, as if the body of Mr Palmer has been dragged deeper into the murky depths. Nicotero is trying his best to wrench some tension from this scene, but to be honest anyone who has seen a couple of horror flicks knows exactly what is coming next. Warning spoiler, skip to the next paragraph. Andrew retrieves the truck keys from the partially devoured Palmer, and then turns around to discover two growling zombies behind him. Did he not notice them as he walked past them? Did they not smell, being dead and all? Why didn't Andrew open a cupboard only to have a cat leap out at him? Talk about your retreaded cheap fright attempt.

One of the things I haven't talked about in these guides to Torn Apart up to now is the score being ladled on by composer Kevin Blumenfeld. The dude fully understands the visuals of the show and adds some awesomely good depth with his soundscape. Blumenfeld really notches up the poignancy of the conclusion of this episode with his music, two thumbs up for this aspect.

Not to deviate from this above average webisode but just a note of the wider Walking Dead universe. While the television show continues to break records and turn into a phenomenon, we are still getting the webisode series each year to back it up. News to hand is Kirkman is working on a spin off television series involving entirely new characters. And of course the graphic novels continue to grow at a fairly alarming rate. We'll try and keep up, a full episode guide to season three of the television series is coming at us, but lordy there is a lot of material to get through. Can hardly wait to plough into new Walking Dead to be honest, to state the obvious the best is probably yet to come.

I rocked out to the final episode of Torn Apart, Everything Dies came full circle to the first episode, and have to say the show producers nailed the requirements. The episode went as nihilistic as expected but didn't conclude in quite the fashion I had expected. The transformation of zombie Hannah was awesome, the overall tone of the show was suitable dark, and besides the issue noted above everything worked solidly to hit the final few frames in solid fashion. I dug this episode and the whole series, if a Walking Dead fan then dive on in, fully recommended and besides it's free to view online. Watching Torn Apart is just a short Google search away folks, have a fun time yo.