Since the advent ofcoronavirussygdomMany people have heard and seen the acronym CDC, which stands for Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, more than ever before. However, this is nothing new for fans of 'The Walking Dead'.
The CDC was at the center of one of the most controversial episodes of the AMC series. The first season of "The Walking Dead," which premiered in 2010, follows Georgia sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes after he awakens from a coma in the early stages of the zombie apocalypse.
Rick reunites with his wife, son and best friend Shane. Together they decide to lead a group of survivors to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
In the season 1 finale, "TS-19", Rick and the group finally arrive at the CDC. However, the feeling of finally being safe eventually gives way to something terrifying.
Even as “The Walking Dead” is well into its tenth season, “TS-19” remains one of the series' most polarizing episodes. But it is also one of the most important.
The episode begins by revealing how Shane left Rick in a secure room at the hospital at the beginning of the zombie pandemic. That flashback marks a turning point for Shane's character, who would move from protagonist to antagonist the following season.
In the present day, the group meets Dr. Edwin Emmerich, the only remaining scientist left at the CDC. Jenner has spent his time studying Subject 19, his wife who volunteered to have her body studied after being bitten by a zombie (or "walker" in the show's universe).
Jenner reveals to the group that although France was close to a cure, all other research facilities around the world have gone silent as humanity reaches rock bottom. The CDC headquarters is also running low on supplies and will self-destruct to prevent the spread of disease samples stored in the facility.
This leads to chaos. Shane threatens to kill Jenner, while members of Rick's group - Jacqui and Andrea - decide to stay behind and die with Jenner as the building is destroyed. Andrea changes her mind at the last minute. Rick and the group manage to escape the facility just before it explodes.
“TS-19” is a frustrating episode that serves as something of an anticlimax to the otherwise great first season of “The Walking Dead.” But therein lies a moment that changes the entire structure of the performance.
Just before Rick leaves the GGD, Jenner whispers something in his ear: Everyone is infected. Whether you get bit or scratched by a walker or not, you become a zombie when you die.
Rick doesn't reveal the news to the rest of the group until the season 2 finale. The idea that they're infected anyway takes some of the hope out of the series. It also focuses on the pregnancy of Rick's wife Laurie. Does a newborn baby get the virus after he is born?
Robert Kirkman, who created the comic on which the show is based, revealed a few years later that "TS-19" was one of his biggest regrets about the series.
“If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have done the CDC episode,” Kirkman sharedHollywood reporterin 2014. "It possibly gave away too much information and was such a big change very early in the series."
Kirkman also found it unfortunate that Jenner revealed that the French were close to recovery. “The Walking Dead,” both the comic book and the TV series, thrives by existing in an isolated universe with little or no knowledge of what is happening in the rest of the world.
There have been rumors that Jenner could eventually return to "The Walking Dead" universe, likely in the prequel series "Fear the Walking Dead." But that never happened.
You have to wonder if the team behind the TV series also regretted the CDC episode. Jenner's big reveal to Rick hasn't played a major role in the series since season 3.
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