I’m one of those fans who hates The Walking Dead TV show. Passionately. At least, I did anyway. Most people are quick to accuse me of hating it simply because it’s different from the comic, which is erroneous. During Season 1, I was delighted to see the show veering from the comic. I liked guessing what was next, rather than knowing what was coming, and the CDC Lab finale was riveting and unpredictable television for me. I found myself entranced that the show was set to stand on its own legs, and take chances with its source material, and do new, daring, exciting things with the show that hadn’t been done on the comic.
Then season 2 came along, and was singlehandedly one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. Suddenly every character acted in a way that seemed forced, and reeked of writers scrambling for character motivation. Nobody talked or acted naturally, everybody did stupid things constantly, and worst of all, nobody was likable.
There’s been plenty of hate on Lori for season 2, and rightfully so. Her character was singlehandedly one of the worst changes to the series from the books, since the show’s writers decided to make her an insufferable, illogical, stupid shrew-woman who was righteously hypocritical, and defiantly indignant at the same time. [Ed. Note – I hated her in comics too.] It was maddening as each week the show I watched that was adapted from a thrilling, human drama that involves an apocalyptic survival scenario, was turned into an overly melodramatic soap opera that occasionally had zombies in it. My problem wasn’t that the show was “different” from the comic, I mean it was, but it was “different” from the show it had been. Which is a good one. It was now just a terrible show, in and of itself, and when compared with the comic it became impossible to imagine how insanely dumb the writers were for taking such a brilliant story, and screwing it up that badly.
When it came around to hearing about season 3, I had no interest in watching it. I wasn’t even angry the show had adapted the comic poorly, I just was angry the show had gotten so bad. However, by the time the fifth episode of the third season had aired, everybody and their mother was talking about the most recent episode. My disdain for the series notwithstanding, I decided to relent my hatred and give the show a second chance to get better. While it didn’t immediately convince me, sure enough by the time I got to the 5th episode, the show had redeemed itself. Suddenly characters were acting like people again, and not struggling writers trying to shoehorn in exposition. Suddenly the acting had improved, stakes had been raised, and it was back to being a human drama about survival rather than some horror/zombie knockoff of All My Children.
What bodes even better for the show, is the fact that with the recent losses the characters of the show have sustained, we’re getting a new addition, to complement and enhance the show.
via [EW]
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In an interview with EW.com Kirkman stated the December 2 fall finale of the AMC drama will feature a new character straight from The Walking Dead comic.
“There’s a new character added,” Kirkman told EW. “A big deal fan favorite from the comic book is introduced into the show in this episode, so be on the lookout for that.”
EW speculates that it might be Tyreese, a fan-favorite character from early in the comic series — and Kirkman could neither confirm nor deny.
“I don’t know, man!” he said. “I don’t know. I got no clue!”
While Kirkman is playing coy, rumors have swirled that actor Chad Coleman (best known from The Wire and I Hate My Teenage Daughter) has been spotted in the Atlanta area where the show films and could be playing the comic book fave. Whomever it is — be it Tyreese, or another character entirely, like, say, friendly scout Aaron or Fu Manchu mustache rocking Abraham — he (or she) will be appearing on Dec. 2
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Fans of the comic will no doubt be excited to hear that Tyreese could be making his way to the show. I’ve long though it was going to be Tyreese, as I could have sworn I saw a stocky black guy of the right build to play Tyreese in one of the background scenes at Woodbury this season. At this point, I find it necessary to warn any readers who aren’t up to date on the comics, or the show, to beware that the next section has comic SPOILERS in it (click the + below to read anyway).
[toggle_simple title=”SPOILERS” width=”640″]Fans of the comic know that Tyreese’s death is probably one of the more brutal from the book, but even more interesting is his relationship with Michonne. Considering Michonne has left Woodbury, if Tyreese is already in Woodbury this leads to an interesting divide in storylines and relationships that will contrast interestingly with the established relationships in the book. Does this mean Tyreese could end up with Andrea? It could be the case, since Dale already died a long time ago.
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So if it does turn out that Chad Coleman plays Tyreese, I gotta say that’s pretty good casting. I gotta say, the shows quality has done a hard about-face in quality from one of the worst shows on television, back to being one of the best. It’s pretty wild, but unless everyone takes another trip back into stupid town like season 2, I’ll be sticking with the show.
Grizzly Bomb 