Where Should ‘The Walking Dead’ Go From Here?
Warning! This post contains spoilers for the midseason finale of The Walking Dead.
Rick (Andrew Lincoln) has his big, big gun back and it’s smiles all around at the Hilltop. After a rough first half of the season for The Walking Dead’s core characters, fans and ratings, all the show’s pieces are finally moving across the board in ways that could lead to some real payoff. Here are a few things TWD needs to do to keep some momentum and possibly reanimate some of those fallen viewership numbers when it returns for the second half of the season in February.
Get Everyone Together
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) had the major players lined up in the spotlight during the season premiere, but from there The Walking Dead sprawled out to the point that each episode could only catch up with a few characters at a time. Now that Rick has reunited with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Daryl (Norman Reedus), and the teaser for February’s episodes indicates that they’ll be going to the Kingdom together, the show seems to be on track to refocus its storytelling.
RELATED: The Walking Dead: Bigger World, Smaller Episodes
Bring on More Ezekiel
Speaking of the Kingdom, where has it been all this time? In the season’s second episode, Carol (Melissa McBride) and Morgan (Lennie James) were introduced to the idyllic community and its flamboyant yet refreshingly reasonable leader, Ezekiel. Khary Payton’s performance provided a much-needed infusion of self-awareness and unreserved goodness after the violence of the premiere, and it’s a shame the front half of the season never made its way back around to him. Hopefully the midseason premiere will remedy this issue.
Give Carol and Morgan Something—Anything—to Do
Carol and Morgan are almost certainly the two characters who have changed the most during their time in the apocalypse, but for the past season, their development has halted and in some cases completely reversed. The battle of wits the two have been engaged in over killing or not killing, community or isolation, has gone on far too long, and it’s time for at least one of them to do something that matters again.
Focus Less on Sanctuary and Negan
Daryl’s detainment in the Sanctuary gave viewers a new perspective of Negan’s home base, but little if any information actually came to light as a result. Everything viewers needed to know about the community’s inner workings could have been saved for Carl’s (Chandler Riggs) excursion in Episode 7, and following Daryl’s imprisonment distracted from the emotional impact of other characters’ reactions to the season opener’s high-profile deaths.
Now that the “good guys” are coming together, it would make sense for the show to emphasize their perspective while returning Negan to the shadows for a bit. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s swaggering interpretation of Negan is, after all, much more intimidating, and less annoying, in smaller doses. Negan’s torture and subjugation greatest hits have all been played and replayed, and now it’s time to follow the heroes as they build up resources for an all out war.
RELATED: The Walking Dead: How Rick and Company Are Living in Negan’s World
Keep Richonne Strong
Even characters who weren’t separated by geography in these early episodes of the season were divided ideologically over the decision to serve instead of fight. The romance between Rick and Michonne is one of the few positive things going on in the post-apocalyptic D.C. area, and with everything else that’s been built up, there’s no need for the writers to continue to waste dramatic capital on relationship melodrama. If Michonne is meant to take the place of Andrea from the comics, this relationship should remain a pillar of stability in an unstable world.
Cool It with the New Communities, Please
There are plenty of characters to keep track of as things stand now. Thinning out some B-stringers like Spencer (Austin Nichols) and Olivia (Ann Mahoney) helps, but that tactic can only be taken so far. If we could also just forget about Tara’s completely unnecessary tribe of warrior women by the sea, that would be great.
The Walking Dead returns Sunday, Feb. 12, 9/8c, AMC
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I agree about Richonne staying strong, but I don't think Michonne is meant to be Andrea. She is taking the romantic angle sure, but Michonne is still Michonne, a far different personality than comic Andrea. We must continue to make this distinction. No one is calling Carol comic Michonne, even though it is clear that she is taking some aspects of that character arc. It was also barely melodrama. They disagreed on what to immediately do after Negan, but it wasn't like there were all these arguments, it was one conversation, rectified pretty quickly.
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Not true, Michonne is comic Andrea and she'll be displaying that in 7b. There's more to come but I will not spoil it here, except to say I expect to see a remixed version of Andrea's belltower comic panel... TV Michonne is nothing like her comic namesake. Also, you're wrong, some people are calling Carol comic Michonne! Carol's had Michonne's arc for a while; she's become the lone warrior which is why she's living apart from the main group on the outskirts of The Kingdom. It's why she's developed a friendship with Morgan and will have a relationship with Ezekiel. Frankly, I believe it's also why Carol's signature weapon has become the knife! They can not give her the Katana (TV Michonne is her comic namesake's visual representation) but Carol owns that storyline.
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No I'm not wrong. Yes I know the spoilers yes I read the comics and again just because Michonne is given comic Andreas arc she is not Andrea. They have completely different backstories, completely different personalities, they are two completely different entities. So again no, TV Michonne is not comic Andrea. Sasha was not comic Andrea because she took her ptsd storyline. Carol is not comic Carl when she killed Lizzie. Carol is not Comic Michonne just because she is at the Kingdom and has interacted with Morgan and Ezekiel. Is she taking comic Michonne's storyline, yes but she's not like comic Michonne in personality or otherwise. She's an entity of herself. Just because the show are forcing comic plot points does not erase character development.
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If you want to talk about backstories, TV Michonne is nothing like her comic namesake. Comic Michonne had 2 daughters and show Michonne had a son. She's also had none of the post apocalyptic relationships of her comic counterpart nor did she endure a brutal rape at the hands of The Governor. She's a character who is meant to visually represent her comic namesake, but beyond that they are completely different and I think it's great because the show needs to separate itself from the comic. However, the comic is the source material for the vast majority of what they do on the show. No one should be offended if a TV character is referred to as "comic" anyone. It's merely a way of associating a comic arc with a TV character.
TV Michonne is not comic Michonne.
Most importantly, the showrunner and comic creator have both commented that Michonne has taken over Andrea's storyline... There's a real possibility something else happens, in the second half of the season, to further cement the role... If you're prvy to spoilers you know what 2 things I'm talking about.
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They specifically said she is taking the romantic aspect. That is not taking her character. I didn't say TvMichonne is comicMichonne they are very different. It is an insult to reduce Michonne's character to just comic Andrea because she is with Rick. So no she is not comic Andrea. She is her own entity.
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This isn't a show on an island. It has source material. As such, they are taking parts from the source and applying it on the show. TV Michonne is not her own entity; she's a hybrid who is partially a show creation and partially comic Andrea related (In S3 and early S4 there was an argument to be made about her being more similar to comic Michonne but that's changed. Gimple became showrunner in S4 and he wanted to pair Rick and Michonne but, her character needed to be changed before it could happen). Like I said, there are events coming that change the argument of she's only "taking the romantic aspect." Not only will she be taking other parts of Andrea's storyline, that have nothing directly to do with romance, something else will happen that will allow her to take a trait that was previously given to another character...
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You are talking in circles and completely missing the point. This has nothing to do with source material. It is a natural progression and journey that TVMichonne went through. Both Rick and Michonne went through a journey to get to where they are now in the show. He character did not even change rather than evolve its called development, we are telling a story. Just because the tower scene happens, or Rick thinks she is dead or any of that sort it does not change the fact that tvMICHONNE is not comicAndrea. Her reaction to Negan is a the same fight back mentality that Andrea had except her personality is completely different, smarter and more tactiful than comic Andrea could had ever been, if she is a hybrid she is still not one or the other so what are you saying? TVMichonne is TVMichonne and she is never going to be comicAndrea no matter how much people need to use that to justify her existence.
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I should also add that Gimple had a huge hand in crafting who Michonne has evolved into because he wrote Clear (S3, Ep 12) and it's one of the earliest episodes that began the evolution of her character and set her on the path to inherit Andrea's comic storyline (it's still evolving but by the end of the season there will be more than just a romantic link).
http://www.businessinsider.com/walking-dead-richonne-season-3-2016-7
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None of the TV characters are their own entities. They're all taking on comic material. Even Daryl, who is obviously not in the comics, is a Dwight hybrid. Sasha has traits from Brianna, Holly, Andrea and Michonne. There are no stand alone characters because there's a source. You fail to understand my point, and the many others who refer to TV characters as "comic_____." Besides, you're contradicting yourself. The OP made reference to Michonne being Andrea and in the example given, it was clearly based on romance and allowing their connection to be strong rather than having some assumed drama between them... There should be no argument about Michonne having Andrea's comic relationship with Rick. When she also becomes the sniper and starts taking non-romantic parts of the storyline no one will be able to argue she isn't comic Andrea.
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Im done with this conversation because it is going nowhere. You fail to understand that being a hybrid isnt one thing. Michonne can snipe all she wants but until she reacts, talks, has the same history as comicAndrea would she be comicAndrea end of story.
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Michonne is comic Andrea. End of story.
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