Great Gunplay on "The Walking Dead"

Well I've already sounded off about a Hollywood peeve or two I have regarding firearms, but this time the intent is to cheer rather than chide.  I read a lot of the original comic and I had high expectations of this new series, but I never thought I would be praising it for its realism.

"The Walking Dead", for those of you who haven't been tuning in, is a show about the post-apocalypse world of a zombie outbreak.  These are traditional zombies who move fairly slowly and must be shot in the head or otherwise decapitated to be killed.  Surprisingly, they have remained very close to the original comic plot and the show is very, very good on a lot of levels.  If you've missed it, you can download episodes in HD from Amazon for a couple dollars.  Just click here.  

Now, usually you'll see firearms in any zombie movie and this show is no different.  What does set it apart is that the use of the weapons is very realistic, especially for Hollywood.  I have actually gotten to the point and relax without counting rounds fired between reloads.  They're that good.  Please feel free to comment below if you've seen any six-shooters turning into umpteen-shooters on this show, but I haven't seen it.  Maybe I'll go back and give the show a technical once-over.

The only scene that gave me reason to cringe involved to groups of armed humans who were getting very close to firing on each other.  In a big show of machismo on both sides, they all began yelling and working the actions on their respective firearms.  Several shotguns racked back and forth as their wielders foisted them menacingly in the faces of their opposing force, pistols were angrily cocked with trembling hands and waved about, and everyone was yelling.  Yes, I cringed for a good moment since this is my number one Hollywood gun peeve, but then I had a realization:  The writers were only being realistic.  See, the general public is so conditioned by TV and movies to think that this is the way to start a gunfight, it's only reasonable to assume that a bunch of normal, untrained individuals would probably react in this way.  It's just realism.

Sorry for the brief detour.  Back to range reports and product reviews in the very near future.

-Gun Guy out.