Decisions Decisions - Why I'm Still Watching AMC's The Walking Dead

                           

Warning! Beyond the first section of this blog piece there are SPOILERS for the Walking Dead TV series up to Season 9 Episode 6.

Ah The Walking Dead, how could I possibly sum up all of my feeling about this TV series since it's release in 2010. We've had ups and downs, great characters and emotive performances that blew me away, also annoying characters and cringe inducing performances which failed to hit the mark. Despite brief moments of genius, often taken directly from the comic books, the writing for this show is really nothing special. So why would I, lover of well written drama, stay so attached to this series?
It's not the action and zombie gore, these are only compelling when there's a believable premise for the action and tension in the scene. It's not even the characters, while some of them are great, very few of them are as complex or as fleshed out as characters on some of my other favourite shows (Game of Thrones, Westworld, House of Cards), I actually think that the writers don't have a consistent idea of who their characters are and that damages the story. No, the things that keep me interested in the Walking Dead are all beneath the surface, in the subtext. The overarching themes are, in my opinion, the most compelling aspects of the series.

The Walking Dead may not have the strongest plot or characters or presentation, my main problem is that it often includes too much filler and could have easily trimmed much of its run-time to achieve the same narrative outcomes. However, the series is special in that it provokes the audience to consider some big questions: What would happen if law and order collapsed? In a lawless world, do you go it alone or find a group? Should you trust strangers and outsiders in this world? How would you rebuilt society after an apocalypse? Getting a (sort of) clean slate like this makes the Walking Dead a great setting for political and philosophical thought experiments. And yet, within these thought experiments, you have realistically flawed people, muddling through it and making plenty of mistakes along the way.

The Walking Dead universe is one which constantly asks the audience "what would you do in this situation?" Admit it, you've definitely theorised what your game plan would be given the event of a zombie apocalypse. Whether you're battering down the hatches at your local supermarket or looking for a boat to live at sea, your plan probably involves a lot of variables that might not go your way. As easy as it is to point at the stupid person on the screen, real life fight or flight situations cause people to behave in all manner of ways, few of them completely rational. As the story progresses, the next question that the audience is asked is: "How far would you be willing to go in order to survive?"

What and who do we survive for? Ourselves? Our family? Our allies? Or for the future of humanity itself? As in the real world we live in, it's never that easy to achieve everything we aim for without great costs. Characters are faced with difficult choices, having to sacrifice the lives of a few to save the many or having to do something morally reprehensible or self sacrificial in order to keep others safe. Even with one mind, decision making get complicated quickly in the world of TWD, when you throw multiple different factions and communities into the mix, it becomes apparent that you can rarely save everyone and keeping everyone happy is even rarer.

                         

A far cry from the noble police officer he once was, Rick Grimes has been forced to sacrifice his humanity many times over the series in order to protect himself and his group. 

Here's once last SPOILER WARNING for anyone who doesn't want to know major plot points for the TV series.

What made Rick Grimes such a compelling protagonist for the first five seasons of the Walking Dead was that we get to watch him transform over time. His code of ethics continually changes throughout the series but he still feels like the same person thanks to Andrew Lincoln's stellar performance that carried the show through its poorest episodes and seasons. More interestingly, Rick seems to be shaped by his adversaries. After defeating his former partner and rival for love and leadership, Shane, Rick begins to take on his kill or be killed mentality. Rick becomes even more vicious and loses his faith in the peaceful life set out for him by Herschel thanks to his battle with the Governor. Rick is at his most animalistic when attacked by the claimers, ultimately ripping a man's throat out with his bare teeth. Rick becomes more violent, wild, and distrustful of other groups when the quest to find safe haven in Terminus ends in a nightmare of devious cannibals that lure in unsuspecting survivors. The descent of Rick Grimes is just the appetiser in my opinion. Things get really interesting after season 5 episode 11 when Rick and the remaining survivors are brought into an insulated community which exists in a far more pre-apocalyptic manner; Alexandria.

                               

Alexandria Safe-Zone, Suburban Paradise sheltered from the Zombie apocalypse, for now... 

Just when I thought I was out, they pull be back in! I was really considering quitting the show before Alexandria but I'm glad I rode it out. Watching these characters reintegrate into a somewhat normal society was fascinating to me. Rick's group of traumatised survivors finally having a moment of quiet safety is a great opportunity to look at the psychological impacts of going through an apocalypse. Having seen all of the bad outside the Safe-zone, our protagonists can't accept the soft and unprepared hosts, they can't accept that the danger is gone. They are right.

If you are to break down a typical narrative of an early civilisation during its growing pains, it might go something like this: Community succeeds in unifying its members thanks to external adversity. Community meets other communities and begins to negotiate on trade. Community comes into conflict with a greater community is building an empire by subjugating smaller communities. Community forms alliances to combat the empire and a war is fought for their sovereignty. A new order is established where the allies and the defeated must live harmoniously. These events are a nutshell representation of The Walking Dead seasons 6, 7 and 8. The Sanctuary's dominion over Alexandria, Hilltop, Oceanside and the Kingdom and the subsequent uprising and all out war provoke new questions regarding isolationism, vassalage, prisoners of war, and cults of personality.

                               

All Out War - Negan, one of Television's most iconic antagonists shares similarities with other emperors and dictators from human history, forming a cult of personality among his followers. One thing that history has proven is that empires which try to expand indefinitely will eventually fall.

Like the introduction of Alexandria, the resolution of the war was the beginning of a new era for the narrative. The communities must make peace and try to live together but the defeated empire is in crisis and can't provide for itself. Old grudges exist and friends who fought shoulder to shoulder are beginning to disagree on how a leader should act. Season 9's injection of political intrigue adds tension and works particularly well because we have known a lot of these characters for a long time. They're struggling for more than survival now, but for a new world. Alexandria's leader and war hero is Rick, he brought the rebellion together and made peace with the saviours at the end. Rick represents the symbolic leader, like other symbolic leaders like Nelson Mandela, Rick was forced to fight for his community's freedom but sets an example through mercy and reconciliation. Maggie sets a different kind of example when she is betrayed and attacked the the Hilltop's former leader, she executes him. She helps the other communities but continues to distrust the Saviours and holds a deadly grudge against Negan, now imprisoned as a symbol of Rick and Michonne's own making. 

It's sad to see the departure of our original main protagonist but it comes at an excellent time in the story as we now understand a lot of power relationships between the communities and the stabilising figure in this new world order disappears. It opens up so many possibilities on where the writers want to go next with the remaining cast and change up the whole dynamic of the season. I hope the writers don't disappoint and go for something we've seen before, it's a brave new world! Let's see our heroes who had to struggle just to survive get a shot at rebuilding civilisation. It would have been too straightforward with Rick around.

Although much fairer and kinder than Negan, Rick Grimes has a cult of personality as well. When this key individual is removed, the power vacuum that ensues can lead to unpredictable outcomes.

Michonne's formulation of a sort of legal charter is super interesting and I wish the show dug deeper into the details on this, I would have loved a whole episode on it but that's probably just me. It appears in the latest episode that new rules have been decreed in Alexandria, the founding of a leaders council indicates a shift away from one ruler to an oligarchy. In this way, the progression of these post-apocalyptic societies is mirroring that of ancient societies yet in many ways they are presented as more socially advanced with a clear common agreement of the rules. The introduction of Judith Grimes as an older child gives us the opportunity to dig once again into the experience of a child in the apocalypse, the last time being with Carl Grimes. This time however, we view the perspective of the symbolic leader's daughter, a child who was born into the apocalypse and whose live will be spent living in an entirely new world. Communities that have held on and survived are now well established and there is potential for the whole story to become more complex. I hope that the writers take this opportunity, its them who really have decisions to make.

Side note. As a fictional universe with so many difficult scenarios and clashing interests among people, the Walking Dead lends itself to interactive experiences. A game developer named Telltale, known for its story based games in which the player is constantly making choices, began its short reign of success due to its access to Robert Kirkman's intellectual property. If you like Walking Dead or interactive stories then I recommend you try out Telltale's episodic game series: the Walking Dead. It may not come as a surprise that I picked up the show because I was such a big fan of the game! I even recorded a "let's play" of the game on Youtube many years ago! It's always been the tough decisions that gripped me in the Walking Dead.

Many people, especially those in the United States, believe we are living in a new golden age of television. Huge increases in funding, a shift toward serialised story telling, and the openness of streaming services to bold new ideas for the small screen are a few of the main reasons we have seen such a boom over the previous two decades. In 2004, I remember being blown away by ABC's LOST and being swept up in the cult of TV fandom for the first time. By today's standards, LOST would receive a much more mediocre reception from an audience which is used to ensemble casts and seeing big action set-pieces on TV. The Walking Dead shares the problems of other US network shows such as unnecessary padding of screen-time and inconsistent writing (not that I'm in any position to judge). However, the series' concept potential and the sub-textual questions the show asks its audience will always make it redeemable. Yes, even you, season 4.

Jack ♥️

Child of the Apocalypse - Judith Grimes never knew a world without the Walking Dead. It will be up to her generation to decide where humanity goes next.