The Season Three finale of The Walking Dead, which aired a little over two weeks ago, was the highest rated show in cable television history. Characters died (no shocker there), the Governor continued his descent into the dark side (still no surprise) and Rick and the gang ended up better off than before. Without giving away too much, the season finale was definitely one to remember, though not as good as last season’s. This season’s length of sixteen episodes was the longest the show has had, up from thirteen last season and six episodes in the inaugural season. Although, to some viewers, it still feels like there wasn’t enough of the show to go around.
Now that this season is over and season four doesn’t start until mid to late October, many fans of the show and of just the zombie genre in general don’t have a lot of options to fill the time. So what is there to do for the fans of Rick, Daryl, Carl and company? Well, as it turns out, there are quite a few things that zombie fans can partake in the coming months, including after the highly rated zombie thriller comes back on AMC.
The first such event that comes to mind is the Run For Your Lives Zombie 5K Race that will take place in Orlando on November 16th of this year. If you are a Walking Dead fan or just a fan, then this is definitely an event that you won’t want to miss.
The race is essentially an obstacle course in which the participants have to get through a hoard of zombies unscathed in order to reach the Safe Zone and ensuing Apocalypse Party (although why anyone would party while zombies rule the land is beyond comprehension). Participants can either run through the gauntlet themselves or become a zombie and attack other runners as they try to navigate the course.
Another thing that UT Walking Dead fans can enjoy are comic book conventions, also known as Comic Cons. Now, this does sound kind of nerdy, but these conventions have evolved from much more than just a whole bunch of dudes gathering around to discuss comic books. The Tampa Bay Comic Con, which happened last weekend, was host to Lauren Cohen (Maggie Greene) and Emily Kinney (Beth Greene), both of whom are integral parts of Rick Grimes’ (Andrew Lincoln) group in the Walking Dead.
The San Diego Comic Con, which is arguably the biggest in the world, has a Walking Dead panel almost every year now that includes the show’s top characters, producers and the creator of the series, Robert Kirkman. These conventions are also great places to get memorabilia from the show.
“I have a few zombie shirts, a walking dead poster, a game and bumper stickers that say ‘I love zombies,’ ‘zombie emergency response crew,’ and ‘support brains,’” communication major Diamante Sprull said.
Of course, the best way to pass the time is to just simply rewatch the old episodes. The first two seasons are on Netflix, and the third season will be on there soon enough if some of the fans don’t already have them on their iTunes or Amazon accounts. By the time the fourth season rolls around in six months, the first three seasons will have probably have been replayed at least a few times on AMC. Naturally, that is a positive thing.
“I like to occasionally watch episodes from the older seasons just to keep my mind refreshed,” Sprull said.
Despite the six month wait that has just started for the fans of this edge of your seat, apocalyptic thriller in which Rick and the crew are trying desperately to survive, the fans will definitely have things to do to keep their minds occupied. All they have to do is look around.
Theresa Stanton can be reached at theresa.stanton@spartans.ut.edu.
Jordan Llanes can be reached at jordan.llanes@spartans.ut.edu.