While people have their gripes about the first season of The Walking Dead, some justified (the female characters get short shrift) and some not so fair (it’s boring and derivative) the overwhelming response from horror fans has been: BRING IT ON. Needless to say, you can count me amongst those who are chomping at the bit for second go ’round of gut chomping, head pick axing and post-apocalyptic action.

Lori Grimes aka Grumpy McBuzzkill

This new trailer for season two, isn’t helping my impatience either. If the trailer is any indication, season two is looking to be another nail biter. From Shane being chased down by a pack of zombies, to the scene of them scrambling under dead cars in hopes of hiding from approaching horde…epic! I can’t wait to see it all unfold in a few months.

But that being said, my enthusiasm is somewhat tempered by one ongoing problem: things are still looking grim for our lady survivors this time around. We have wifey/probably Shane’s baby-mama Lori Grimes still looking hard, bitter and weak—and utterly superfluous. I know we’re suposed to care that she’s struggling with her infidelity and (spoiler alert) being preggers—but shes just so completely unlikable I can’t bring myself to care—not even for Rick’s sake. And while admittedly the source material isn’t much kinder to the character I really hoped when they cast actor Sarah Wayne Calles she would infuse a little more charisma into Lori—and a lot less nagging and negativity—but them’s the breaks, I guess.

Now that’s what we’re talkin’ about

However, the character that I was really holding out the most hope for was Andrea. In the comics Andrea’s a crack shot and is seen as a major asset to the group. But so far we’ve only had hints of  her potential strength—standing up to Carol’s abusive hillbilly husband and popping a cap in her zombified sisters head—but then in the finale the writers seemed to betray the character with a sudden bout of suicidal tendencies. Granted she did just off her baby sister, but with the total vacuum of strong female characters in the series it was a bit of a slap in the face to see the one with the most potential come unglued.  And sadly it looks like she’s still boo hooing about being alive in season two. Plus, there’s a precedent here, actor Laurie Holden, played the female hero type in Silent Hill and I can’t help but hope we see her capitalize on her ability to project strength, courage and resourcefulness and leave the broken woman act behind—pronto. And can somebody please give the  girl a gun, some leather pants… and maybe a proclivity for smoking cigars—sorry, I do realize not everyone can be Starbuck, really, I do—but come on us female fans need a character to invest in, too.

You ‘ain’t ready for this.. actually yeah, we are.

Speaking of poplar zombie killing ladies, the word is we wont be seeing Michonne any time soon, either. If the first series needed anything they needed Michonne to show up, with jawless, armless zombies in tow and and armed with a samurai sword. But then, really what series wouldn’t be improved by adding that scenario, am I right?

The Walking Dead has succeeded in so many ways. Its brought the source material to life in a hauntingly believable way. Visually the cast is spot on and the characters they’ve tweaked or done away with has for the most part been successful. And the gore, well it’s glorious. Now they just need tune up those female characters, give us something to sink our teeth into (pun intended). Someone who doesn’t buckle under pressure, repeatedly make dumb nonsensical choices or do nothing but nag and kvetch (yeah Lori I’m looking at you)—and who doesn’t just seem like filler (Carol/Jacqui/Emma, now I’m looking at you).

But all in all, and despite my rant about the disappointing girlie side of the The Walking Dead,  for the horror fan in me the October return cannot come fast enough. From all indications from this season two preview, audiences are in for a terrifying ride. TV is proving to be a thrilling medium for horror, between The Walking Dead, Supernatural and Dexter the fall is looking like a pretty sweet time to be a horror fan.

Check out the trailer for season 2 of the Walking Dead below (like you haven’t already watched it 5 times).