SEASON 4 TOP TEN WALKING DEAD CHARACTER COUNTDOWN
I have a confession… I am obsessed with the AMC TV series Walking Dead, so much in fact I’ve taken to the comics where the story was originally gleaned from.
I normally dislike zombie movies, and further don’t like “end of the world” scenarios because they usually lack the kind of writing and acting that draws me to the characters.
I feel no more for the “Alice” character in the Resident Evil series for example, than I would a stalk of celery. I have just enough interest to pay attention when the world comes crashing to an end in any of those cheesy movies or shows about some Mayan calender or solar flares..
Further, a lot of these kinds of movies and series just seem to go overboard with the gross-out factor, and when that’s the only trick your pony can do you’re just not going to make it too far.
But Walking Dead is much more than that ( as evidenced by last Sunday’s 9 million viewers ) because they do just enough to gross you out, while writing and expertly crafting characters you care about, love or hate.
And love some characters I do, Andrea, Daryl and Shane are just a handful of favorites ( was in Shane’s case ). Glenn’s asian so he gets points, AND he gets the girl to boot!
When’s the last time you saw an asian guy get some nookie in a series???
NEVER!!! that’s when!! lol
Which brings me to my current dilemma of choosing just who I hate the most out of the three Grimes’ family members. I make no small secret that I hate the Grimes Family in the series, every last one of them ( except for the unborn child in Lori’s womb ), but who exactly do I hate the most?
Where do I start? with the ridiculously stupid and inept Carl ( played by Chandler Riggs)? who is a bad actor ( yes, hes a kid, but he still stinks ) and never ceases to amaze me with his ridiculous stupidity.
I’d repeat “ridiculous” and “stupidity” again but then I’d be a lot like the writers in Season 2 of Walking Dead.
They fell in love with this kid in Season 2, constantly putting him in the way of danger and conveniently making surprise appearances during the worst moments. Luckily they screech to a grinding halt just before falling off the cliff and tumbling into a chasm of unbelievable.
While I can conceivably understand his appearance when Rick wanted to off Randall, I cannot fathom under any circumstance when Rick and Shane had their fateful stand under the moon.
The kid is terrified and indoors with adults one second, including Lori and the next second he somehow sneaks outdoors and finds the confrontation under the threat of having his face eaten off?
Please writers, lay off the Carl Kool-Aid.
Or is it Lori (played by Sarah Wayne Callies), with her hysterical ranting and bipolar personality? She is almost TOO easy to hate, with her questionable logic and callous attitude towards Shane. After telling Rick in no uncertain terms that Shane was dangerous and that Rick needed to kill him, she then acts SHOCKED when Rick tells her he was the one that killed Shane.
Let’s see.. the woman asks the man to do something and then gets PISSED when he actually does it! lmao.. Lori IS a woman! ( j/k!!!!!….. kinda.)
While I don’t blame her for finding comfort in the arms of another man ( Shane ) after the outbreak and her husbands apparent death, I blame her for everything else since then.
Giving Shane the cold shoulder, driving him over the edge, pitting Shane and Rick against one another, shutting Shane out of the baby that is possibly his, and jeopardizing her son by being an overall dumbass.
Simply put, Lori is a dumb $%## who just can’t keep her mouth shut or do the right thing to protect her son. In saying this however, she is just too easy to hate.
But no, sadly the winner just has to be Rick who is quite possibly the most confused protagonist in a TV series ever. In every classical sense of the word, Rick is a tragic figure caught up in the world’s events and without recourse for much of the season 1.
He is expected to lead, expected to protect and is a father who claims to care about his family and do the right thing.
Sadly, he fails in every aspect as he continues to blather about how much he cares about his family and yet does everything to put them in harm’s way. He’s an idiot who clings to the morals of a dead world and somehow expects to come out of the situation smelling like roses each and every time.
His stupidity and indecisive nature is the very soul of Shakespearean tragedy, like Hamlet or Othello, the direct inactions or failure to act results in a catastrophic chain of events that unravels before us.
However unlike those characters, Rick is shackled by his conscience and bound by his morals, steadfastly holding on to the values long dead in the post-breakout world and he seems to value his own morals over his family. His character is cast as a sheriff, a hero, an everyman who is “just-another-joe” trying to protect his family in a time of crisis.
Time after time he makes the wrong decisions, or tries to do the right thing only to be rebuked by his group, his wife and his best friend Shane.
As a father myself, I am not going to sit here and pretend that I would take the same high road should my family be in the line of fire. Make no mistake that I would be saying the same exact stuff Rick does about his family, only I’d actually mean it. I mean who wouldn’t?
Who in their right mind would make the same decisions as Rick in that world?
So in this, I understand that Rick is a very different character, one very complex and yet simple who I have yet to understand. He’s brave and fearless, but can’t pull together the stones to make the hard choice when his family is on the line. He’s compassionate and caring about others he doesn’t know, and yet doesn’t hesitate to blow away 2 drifters in the bar while chasing Herschel.
Rick is a good man, but a bad father and even worse husband. Shane and Lori clearly have more chemistry between them than Rick does with his own wife.
Rick was for all intents and purposes is “bitch-made” for lack of a better term. He shunned his responsibilities, didn’t make the hard calls and lacked the intestinal fortitude required to survive in his world.
The very same morals I would admire in a man and a father normally, makes me despise Rick in this series.
Until that is, he killed Shane, who was his partner and good friend for a long time before this whole ending of the world business came about. And in doing so, Rick’s character evolves by giving in to his baser self, he no longer cares about the “right thing” he now only cares about his self preservance.
It’s about time Rick.
Rick goes back to the group and basically gives them an ultimatum, challenging anyone who questions his authority to “leave and see how far you get” His final words to the group are ” I make the calls, and this isnt a democracy ”
He tells Lori simply “I wanted it over, I wanted Shane’s actions to stop, I wanted him to stop undermining me”
And guess what? I loved every bit of it! FINALLY you’ve become a man Rick! I love ya! So while I wait with baited breath for Season 3, Rick is still the “Most Hated Character”, but he can quickly resolve his standing by continuing on his current character evolution and quite frankly being a badass.
Should he revert back the spineless, weak coward in Season 1 however I reserve all right to hate him, once more. Good luck Rick, hope your wife dies and your son falls off a cliff.
Can’t wait for Season 3!
StockSpyder 