‘The Walking Dead’ could learn a thing or two from Netflix’s best new show

There are many things about AMC The walking dead and its litany of spinoffs that bothers me, but one thing that bothers me like no other is the fact that so many of the characters on these shows seem so clean and put together.

Just look at Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in the photo above. She is wearing a nice clean denim jacket. Her hair is perfectly styled. If you saw that picture without knowing it was the walking dead you would have no idea she was in a zombie apocalypse.

Here’s Carol (Melissa McBride) from recently Daryl Dixon: The Book Of Carol:

Again, nice hair, brand new leather jacket. Some jewelry. This doesn’t look like a woman in a zombie apocalypse who just ran into a guy, locked him in her truck, and then drove away on a motorcycle. A normal person going about their day doesn’t look this put together.

Watch Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) on Those who live currently on the run from powerful CRM:

They sure look clean and well-groomed with those stylish outdoor clothes and perfect hair! And Rick’s beard is certainly nice and trimmed. I swear, Rick/Lincoln looks years younger in the spinoff than in season 5!

What all this does—along with the ease with which the characters happen upon electricity, fuel, and working vehicles and all the myriad conveniences of modern life—is to immerse viewers in repose. Yes, all the actors look good with their wavy hair, trimmed beards and designer clothes, but the audience is robbed of the one thing they did The walking dead so good at first: Realism.

I’m dirtier and more battered nursing after a few days of camping than these hardened survivors of a deadly world where civilization has completely collapsed and ravaged undead lurk around every corner. Absence matters in doomsday stories. Lack of water, food, security, supplies, gasoline. Living near a fire means you are covered in smoke. Living without running water makes it harder to wash as often. Living with the constant threat of death means that your priorities shift away from things like nice hairstyles and nice clothes.

Even Daryl (Norman Reedus) who is arguably the most dirty, ragged and tough of the bunch, always manages to make it look purposeful.

We’ll call this one “The Wanderer stylishAnd it’s probably Daryl at his worst in years. Normally he is more agile:

Of course, in the spinoffs there are many of the same or slightly different problems from the latter days The walking dead. IN dead city there are bars with neon signs. There is no shortage of energy there. IN Those who live our heroes come across a fully powered and secure apartment, completely by accident, still untouched by the end of the world a decade plus into the apocalypse. IN Daryl Dixon, all the French dress as in pre-war Europe, and all their fashionable, home-trimmed clothes are clean and pressed.

It wasn’t always like that. In previous seasons of the show, the characters were often dirty, covered in dirt and blood, with torn clothes. IN Fear of the walking dead, Frank Dillane’s character Nick often looked something like this:

By the end of that show, even at her lowest point, Nick’s sister Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) looked like a total smoke show, a little worse for wear on death’s door:

American primary

I recently reviewed the new Netflix Western limited series US Prime Minister and one of the things that blew me away in that show was how dirty everyone and everything was, from the costumes to the skin. A character (pictured above) who survives a scalping constantly has blood all over his dirty face. No one can escape dirt. All are wounded and ragged. The American frontier was a brutal place, but no more brutal than a zombie apocalypse. But just imagine if The walking dead paid so much attention to detail! Imagine if that translated into not just sets, costumes and makeup, but writing and story.

Makeup head in American primary told the Salt Lake Tribune some of the requests made by the show’s director, Peter Berg:

Howard Berger, head of makeup on “American Primeval,” a Netflix limited series, thought he had reached the optimal level of makeup. He prepared a make-up test – mud-smeared neck, blackened fingernails, dirt smeared inside an actor’s ears – and showed it to Peter Berg, the series’ director.

Berg was unhappy. “‘More! More!’” Berger recalled saying. “‘Come on, man. Cover it in dirt like it hasn’t been washed in a year.’

Berger did. “We went ahead,” Berger said, “and kept making it tougher and tougher.”

Berg himself noted the importance of realism in creating a powerful story. “It is important that we represent the world as it really was – the good, the bad, the indifferent, the ugly,” he said. “The moment you cheat, it’s not the same.”

The six-episode show built an exact replica of Fort Bridger. 1,300 garments were made along with hundreds of pairs of moccasins. Artisans cracked and painted the costumes over and over, relentlessly pursuing authenticity in all things. Over 3,500 indigenous items—including teepees—were built by Native Americans for the show. The effect is powerful. American primary it’s far from perfect, but what it does right it does amazingly well.

The residents of Fort Bridger are all covered in dirt and grime. Black spots spoil any look. From clothing to nails, everything is soot and mud, ashes and blood. What a welcome sight! If only The walking dead would pay so much attention to this level of gritty realism. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if AMC paid half as much attention to its writing and characters as it does to creating cool-looking zombies, it would be a masterpiece instead of sinking into mediocrity infinite.

You can read my review for American primary right here. If you are a Netflix subscriber, The Walking Dead: The Living hits the streaming service next Monday, January 13th.