WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of See, now streaming on Apple TV+.
AMC's The Walking Dead has taken the Image Comics title from Robert Kirkman and Co. to meteoric heights, detailing an America ravaged by a virus and the zombies spawned as a result. We've seen Rick Grimes' crew meeting various communities since 2010 and with Season 11 already in the works, it'll be intriguing to continue to see who remains friend and who's foe, especially after Rick's death.
However, as engaging as TWD has been, one show does a better job of building out a post-apocalyptic world that feels as deadly as ever, and it's something the AMC series honestly wishes it could be. This is none other than See, starring Jason Momoa.
SEE HAS A BETTER SETTING
See takes place in Alkenny, a village where Momoa's Baba Voss is leading a tribe of people, most of them without sight. Decades before, a virus struck the Earth which blinded almost everyone alive and since then, society has broken off into splinter cells, taking us back to primitive times. What's interesting is the Alkenny are hunters with skills similar to Daredevil but with medieval weapons such as spears and shields, acting as ninja-like cavemen tuning their senses to nature even more.
We've also got various evil communities such as the Payan Kingdom run by Sylvia Hoeks' Queen Kane and her Witchfinders, supposed necromancers-turned-soldiers to add a supernatural hook to the tale. There are other legions known as Shadows (aka people of the forest) to further build the mystical nature of the series and in just one season we get way better offshoots of society than what TWD achieved.
The AMC show has so many sects that feel the same, no surprise given it's set in modern society with someone such as Negan or the Governor always looking to assert dominance. But the different tribes in See are just more intriguing and show how humanity has adapted and evolved past guns, knives, barb-wired bats and bombs.
SEE HAS MORE INTERESTING VILLAINS
The villains on The Walking Dead are rather cut and dry. We're seeing it now with Alpha and the Whisperers in Season 10 who is simply jostling for territory. That's not to knock them, but Queen Kane wants the lands in See to search for immortality, as well as to find the Chosen Ones, Kofun and Haniwa. They're kids with sight raised by Baba Voss and Maghra, but it's soon revealed they were sired by Jerlamarel, the last remaining scholar with sight. To the queen, they're magical and a doorway to a new future.
As for Jerlamarel, it turns out he's sacrificing daughters to villains in this world so the various tribes act as his soldiers, striking deals with goods. Baba and Maghra are simpler, and only want to protect the twins as everyone thinks they're sacrifices. It's made even more complicated by the fact Maghra is Kane's sister and the one chosen by their dad to rule the kingdom. In short, you get a Game of Thrones vibe with siblings fighting for the throne and Jerlamarel's sinister motives, using his sight and offspring to become a secret king.
With General Edo Voss (to be played by Dave Bautista) now in possession of Haniwa, we've got another epic sibling battle to come and with such personal ties, it's way more emotional than seeing Negan and the Governor killing people at random just to say they run the town. This makes TWD feel cookie-cutter, whereas See has a personal and intimate spin to it where the theme is family, and not strangers, turning on each other. It has a more real-world take to it where we can't trust those close to us.
SEE'S CHOSEN ONES HAVE MORE PURPOSE
Baba Voss stands out as Momoa basically comes off as Conan without sight. The action sequences are way better than anything TWD throws out with brutal kills. It's really gory and amazing to see well-choreographed fight scenes with a lead who actually pulls off the resistance leader role better than Rick Grimes (not that Andrew Lincoln or the likes of Michonne, Carol and Daryl sucked at it). As you can tell, Rick had help but Baba is going it alone as his tribe believes the twins are cursed and a blight upon them.
Yet Kofun and Haniwa are learning their trade as archers and murderers themselves, all to protect their family. It's similar to Carl and Judith but again, there's way more gravity as they have so few people they can trust. It's not child's play as they're thrown to the wolves with their own people having a Judas complex. What also feels so powerful is how badly they wanted to meet Jerlamarel to discover why he abandoned them, not knowing what lay ahead.
It was all a test so he could receive strong kids returning to him to use in the human trafficking trade, and what's so special is this actually cultivates a sense of purpose for everyone like a video game. See is all about many journeys filled with ambition for everyone involved as opposed to TWD which feels like everyone's floating by with no end in sight. On AMC, the heroes are only concerned with boxing themselves into a haven rather than exploring the outside torn asunder, which is what See really capitalizes on: exploration of the dark unknown and a hopeless world rather than safety in comfort zones like Alexandria, Hilltop or the Kingdom.
See stars Jason Momoa, Alfre Woodard, Hera Hillary, Sylvia Hoeks, and Christian Camargo. Season 1 is now available on Apple TV+.