Usually the comic book nerd in me refuses to enjoy things that stray from the books (kickass, any of the xmen movies, to a lesser extent game of thrones, LotR), but I've been able to accept the series as a separate entity. I agree, second season was too much human drama, not enough dead. But I have hopes for the third season to get darker. It's not gonna be as good as the books (or as messed up), but I'm still looking forward to it.