Telltale's strengths and weaknesses in writing are all present here. Within minutes I felt I knew the boat crew and was already sad at the inevitable bad things that would happen to them.
At the same time, Norma and Randall, despite their protestations to the contrary, are one-dimensional douchebags who as a player you are just waiting to either kill or watch someone else kill.
The music for Episode 1 is excellent, First Aid Kit provide the credits track.
This series seems to be the most clear about Kirkman's nihilistic worldview and it is fun to have a protagonist who is a badass and is so alienated that she can actually credibly reflect the Nietzschen sense of hopeless and will.
The action sequences (QTEs) are probably amongst the best Telltale have done so far with things like slow-motion and odd perspectives to make them interesting. However they still aren't intuitive with two or three deaths due to fiddling with the interface (keys, argh! mouse!). I might try a controller for future episodes.