My problems with "The Walking Dead"

This Monday, I’d like to talk about another show I'm watching...the popular new AMC zombie hit, The Walking Dead.  I watched Season 1 (along with a few million other people) but I’m not really feeling like watching Season 2.  Maybe I’m in the minority on this, but I just felt something lacking with the characters, like I have no sense of who these people are.  Maybe this isn’t a problem if you’ve read the graphic novels, but I haven't.

Granted, we’ve only gotten 6 episodes, but as of now, I couldn't tell you much about these people other than their races, genders, and an identifying aspect like: “that guy is the racist” “that guy slept with that guy’s wife,” and “that guy wears a hat.”  While there are other cool things about the show like the action and awesome make up effects, I just didn’t get invested in these people.  Why should I care if they all get munched by a bunch of zombies…er, walkers? 

I think Lost did “a bunch of people get thrown together in a terrible situation” way better.  By using flashbacks in each episode, Lost was able to give backstory on their characters and show their lives leading up to this point where they had to fight to survive.  By episode 6 I felt invested in several characters (especially those who got flashbacks like Jack, Kate, Charlie, Locke, and Sun).  I especially remember Locke’s GREAT episode “Walkabout” … that was only the 4^th episode of the series!  Likewise, I wanted to keep watching because I was curious to see more cool and juicy flashbacks about characters who hadn't gotten flashbacks yet (like Sawyer, Sayid,  and Hurley).  The flashbacks made me care about who these people were before the island, so I started to care what they did on the island, and if they would get off the island.

Along those same lines, I think having a big fat goal from day 1, like “gotta get off the island,” or “gotta find Earth,” (Battlestar Galactica) is really important to maintaining a serialized genre "event" show.  I’m not saying every episode has to be about that goal.  Getting sidetracked or having to deal with other problems like “gotta find food” and “gotta keep jumping away from the cylons” are great, but the big goal is gonna root your series and keep it from getting old, and give you a point to work towards.  Right now, I’m not sure what that goal is for The Walking Dead (if there IS a goal).  Is it: "gotta find a cure,"  "gotta kill all the walkers,"  "gotta rescue all survivors," or simply, “gotta survive?” If it’s “gotta survive,” I think that might be too vague since everyone is already surviving.  Survival is just the status quo...I want to see these people GO somewhere DO something or NEED something more.

So yeah, The Walking Dead, I think you have potential (you certainly offer something people want) and I want to like your characters, I really do.  You don't have to copy Lost or do flashbacks, but please find ways to give character backstory, and perhaps a bigger goal so I will continue watching (not that you care about little old Z, what with your high ratings, but I just thought I’d ask).