A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.

I like the Walking Dead TV show. I also like the comic book.  I'm not the kind of person that feels the need to see every scene from my favorite book when it has been adapted into film. 'Book' and 'Film' are two completely different animals. Sure, you're gonna get more out of a book. Anybody would be hard-pressed to name a movie that was unquestionably better than the book. Things get changed; characters get cut (or expanded), and it just isn't the same, whether it’s due to censors or budget or the impossible task of trying recreate a scene or character that already exists in the public consciousness.

I'll get back to The Walking Dead, but let me, for a moment, talk about The Hunger Games: I have not read the book. I don't know the innermost thoughts of the heroine, Katniss Everdeen. Nor do I have insider information on the motivations of a character that will only see 5 minutes of screen time. I enjoyed the movie for what it was: A pretty darn good action movie. It swept me away for a couple of hours and what more can I ask for? I was not slighted in the least, I feel, for any changes that may have occurred. But then again, I didn't read the beloved book.

OK, back to the Dead. The point I’ve been trying to make, and probably not very well, is that sometimes it’s best that the page and the screen are different. There are things that loom on the horizon for the TV show that simply can’t be shown on TV. Not gonna happen. Since they’ve already happened, years ago, in the comic, I won’t consider them spoilers. But beware: Some variation will most likely happen on TV.

The creators of the TV show have already shown us that they aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Just look at the last couple episodes of season 2. But even these events were softened from the comic. Dale’s demise in the comics happened much later, but in a much more horrible way thanks to a group of cannibals. Shane’s death on TV was terrible, but Rick killed him, not Carl. Violence where kids are involved should probably be reserved for the living dead and not the living.

By the end of the next couple story arcs in the comic, so much tragedy had happened to the breathing living dead, that reading the printed page is difficult. I can’t imagine most of these things translating to film. There’s a character called the Governor who wreaks absolute havoc. We already know that David Morrissey will be playing him in the near future. Because of the Governor, Rick loses a few really important things: His hand, his wife and his child

As crazy and terrible as all this is, it pales visually to what eventually happens to Carl. Trust me, they are never, ever, ever gonna show this on TV.

All this being said, I’m really looking forward to the next season and sorry about the gore and the spoilers to my sensitive readers. Remember that both the written word and the visual word of the cinema are not mutually exclusive. Both have their charms and are worthy of your time.