In the first scene of AMC’s new zombie series, “The Walking Dead,” Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is driving around an undefined town when his gas runs out. He gets out of the car but can’t find any signs of life. Finally, at a gas station, he spies a little girl wandering around, holding her doll. He calls out to her, but when she turns around, he sees that she is 100 percent dead. The girl starts walking toward Rick, and he, with a knowing expression, shoots her straight in the head.

The next scene shows the last normal moments of Rick’s life. We open on Rick and his partner Shane listening to a shoot-out over the police radio. They arrive quickly on the scene, but Rick gets shot. He goes into a coma. We see Shane presenting him with flowers in the hospital room, and the next thing we know, Rick wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world. The flowers are dead, and there’s blood on the walls.

Rick explores the lifeless world for the next few minutes, stumbling upon many dead bodies, some of which are still walking. Eventually, a man and a boy come across Rick, and they quickly realize that they are all still human. It seems that he is not alone. There is a colony of survivors in Atlanta.

The rest of the episode explains the rules—zombies have taken over. Those who are bitten endure an incurable and deadly fever, only to reawaken as the “walking dead.”

The show explores an interesting theme: the imminent end of the world. Rick is in a coma when the zombies take over, so the show does not provide an explanation of what has happened. Rick longs for his old world. He has a wife and son who he believes are still alive. It’s the only motivation he has to keep him from giving in to the biting zombies.

Lincoln makes Rick relatable, even as he spends much of his screen time alone. He does a great job exploring Rick’s emotions with his facial expressions and nothing more. The show, considering that it’s on AMC, probably has a more profound meaning than a mere horror series would. It seems that “The Walking Dead” will focus on isolation and recovery from the loss of what was, but it’s too early to tell.

It will be interesting to see how the show takes on its heavier themes as the hours pass. “The Walking Dead” is worth a shot, and that’s coming from a self-proclaimed zombie-despiser!