The Walking Dead (TV)

[thistlechaser]

The Walking Dead annoyed me this week. I knew it was coming, but still...



I knew that Shane was going to be killed before the season ended, so that meant this week or next. I know he was killed off in the comic book early on, but it still highly annoyed me that it happened in the show.

To me, Shane was the only interesting character in the whole cast. I like Glenn. Carl could be interesting maybe. But Shane was the only one who fully caught my interest.

Why do people like all black or all white characters? Rick puts me to sleep (and at the same time makes me frown at the screen). He's boring. White-knight Rick, always wants to do the right thing. Why do people like a "hero" like that? I don't get it.

Shane was about as grey as you could get. Was he good? Was he bad? Did he really care about the others? Those sorts of questions make a character interesting to me. I just don't get having any interest at all in someone pure white like Rick.

Sigh. I'll still keep watching the show of course, but I just don't get it. Viewers seemed to hate Shane. Last week's Talking Dead had a poll question, I'm not sure what the exact wording was, but it was something like:

Should Rick:
A) Kill Randall
B) Release Randall far away
C) Let Randall join the group
D) Kill Shane

D won by a landslide.

Comments

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I liked Shane as a character but not as a person, if that makes sense. He created conflict. Conflict fuels plot.

But Shane is, by far, not my favorite character. Daryl has that place. Watching him figure out long before he found the evidence that Shane had lied to them again was perfect, and then you could almost see the click in his head when he realized exactly what my friend ebonlock had predicted was the case since the first ep of Season 2: what the CDC doctor told Rick is that it doesn't matter, the human race is doomed, because everyone is infected and will turn into a Walker when they die, no matter how they die.

They hinted at it a couple episodes ago ("18 Miles") when Rick and Shane were puzzling over the lack of bite marks on the first two Walkers they killed at that FEMA station. Yesterday's episode, between Randall and Shane, just finally confirmed it for certain.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, for sure. If Shane were a real person, I'd never go for a walk alone with him. Ever. (I keep thinking what it would have been like if Shane had won the fight and killed Rick. Going back home to the farmhouse and trying to explain it sure would have been interesting. He could have blamed it on Randall, but who would have bought it?)

I wish Daryl had been seen more in the past couple eps, I actually kind of forgot about him while listing my favorites. His role seems to have shrunk to being Rick's enforcer. (Which does fit the character, but is less interesting to me.)

when he realized exactly what my friend [info]ebonlock had predicted was the case since the first ep of Season 2: what the CDC doctor told Rick is that it doesn't matter, the human race is doomed, because everyone is infected and will turn into a Walker when they die, no matter how they die.

I had a hard time sleeping last night, so I ended up spending a good amount of time thinking about the show (then when I did sleep, dreamed I was on horseback trying to escape walkers, but my GPS was broken so I kept running back at them...). How in the world is the series going to end? I haven't read the comics at all, but I don't think even they have reached the end? Even if a cure were found, how could they keep from getting re-infected? Or if the cure were permanent and they couldn't get re-infected, the zombies seem to outnumber the living thousands to one. The only thing I can see is that eventually the "food" will run out and so the zombies will starve to death (can they?), and so then humans and zombies will both be gone, so the world will start over? Maybe the humans will find some deep, safe hiding place and wait for the zombies to starve (again, if they even can)?

[tersa.livejournal.com]

His role seems to have shrunk to being Rick's enforcer.

I don't buy that at all. Daryl is figuring stuff out--he's smart.

I don't know what his role is, but he's not that.

I don't honestly know if the show has an 'ending'. What I get out of it isn't that it's going towards something, but the journey. What life would be like in a world full of zombies, a future where if you die, you become a zombie, and how you go on living in it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, for sure. He and Glenn knew what was going on last night. I don't think he's stupid, I just wish he'd do more than kill and beat people up for Rick. I suppose it makes sense he's a good beta male though, based on stuff with his brother.

Maybe it won't have any kind of an ending at all, it'd make sense to let the viewers think about it and guess it on their own.

[wow-hazmat.livejournal.com]

White-knight Rick, always wants to do the right thing. Why do people like a "hero" like that?

To me, the person who is a White Hat in a grey and black world is far more interesting than the person full of greys. Real Life is full of normal people like that. I'm one myself.

What's /not/ interesting is a White Hat who never has to struggle or sacrifice, of course. The best White Hats suffer for their principles, but they always keep up to them and manage to find the way forward that allows them to uphold their own ideals. The Doctor (Who), Superman, Captain America -- these are heroes, to me.

Funny to hear you describe Rick as a White Hat, though -- in the comic he's very very very grey.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I really need to read the comics. I have them, I just worry I won't be able to stop once I reach the TV timeline. I know it's backwards, but I'd rather not spoil the show.

I do think that Rick has had to struggle for it. See also: Killing the guy who was his best friend.

Maybe when the show goes on break I'll start reading the comic... Slowly! To make it last until the next season.