The Walking Dead's new season continues to overcome its tired premise

[Administrator]

Telltale's take on The Walking Dead was always good in spite of its zombies, not because of them. Early in its first season we're given a none-too-subtle parable about how man is the real monster, a shrug-worthy observation that gets repeated umpteen times throughout the ongoing franchise. The titular walkers stopped being interesting ages ago: their purpose laid bare as a malleable plot device that could force our would be heroes into various uncompromising situations. With the gears of such a lazy, clichéd threat so readily transparent, it's a testament to Telltale that the developer manages to keep its human drama captivating among its resilient, war-torn leads.
This third season, subtitled A New Frontier, highlights the series' greatest assets and worst tendencies all in its opening scene. Offering a prologue to the undead plague, we watch new playable protagonist Javier squabble with his brother following the very recent passing of their father. Javier wasn't there there when it happened, and the tension of this mourning family drama is more intriguing than a thousand reanimated corpses shuffling through woods.
That's what makes it so dispiriting when (shocker!) their dad isn't dead after all. Sort of. Suddenly the end of times are upon us as decrepit clichés roam the earth. Rather than a rousing horror scene, this ludicrous sequence is an eye-rolling affair as the grieving family is forced into a situation we've seen countless times before. It's no stretch to say that the worst thing about The Walking Dead is the walking dead themselves.
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