Checking in On The Walking Dead

If you don't like/watch/care about/loathe "The Walking Dead," you may want to skip this post. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I wrote about "The Walking Dead" last week, but I guess I'm not totally done thinking about the stuff of the show that extends beyond the zombie kill(s) of the week. So, here we go again.

Last week I came to the conclusion that those who find their moral center — some piece of humanity in a world gone mad — are the ones who are freed. In terms of the show it means their characters are killed, but in a reality as bleak as the one in the show, is that really such a bad thing? I think what we saw in the follow-up to last week's bloodshed only confirmed that line of thinking.

That rang true for me when thinking about what Glenn (Steven Yeun) said about the departed T-Dogg (IronE Singleton), essentially calling him the best person he knew. When you think about that in conjunction with T-Dogg's amazing expression of faith last week and his selfless sacrifice, it really paints the picture that he had found his peace and humanity and was ready to be free of the shackles that bound him — in this case the world itself.

All the characters on the show seem to be presented with a central choice. There are two paths, and most are in some sort of position of trying to decide how to go. Others have made the choice.

The Governor seems all too at home in this visceral world. He's accepted it and even seems — in some sense at least — to revel in the depravity. How else to explain last night's gruesome fight sequence and the way he's trying to manipulate Andrea.

But perhaps the most interesting journey is that of Rick. The fearless group leader came into the show as an optimist. He knew he'd be reunited with his family. He knew he could make a difference. He believed that the rules that governed society before the fall were still important. But, slowly, that has ebbed away.

Last night we saw a different Rick. A man who has been broken by his surroundings and pushed to the point of abandoning his code completely. I'm not ready to shut the door on Rick, but it will certainly be interesting to see if he is able to, once again, find the common decency that used to govern his actions and inter-actions with others. Judging by last night, it seems unlikely.