[TV] The Walking Dead - Page 105

This forum is depressing though, people would really just kill Hershel? That's what the show is about as far as I can tell, the difference between surviving and keeping one's humanity. Its not about killing or curing the zombies as far as I can tell, they're essentially part of the setting. The show is about examining human nature under circumstances of extreme danger or duress.

One aspect of this is Shane, the cold survivalist. He is tribal to the extreme, prizing the well being of "his people" above all else. Outsiders, ie Hershel and co., are treated with suspicion and hostility. He threatens Dale, nearly shoots Rick, and kills Otis to save himself. In normal society these would be inexcusable offenses, but since everything went to hell, the moral line is becoming blurred.

Another side is Hershel. Like Shane, he acts out of primal, tribal instinct. Unlike Shane he tries to lead his tribe with compassion and morality, seemingly based in religion. He keeps the walkers in the barn because he loves them, or who they were. They were a part of his group, and where Shane would cut his losses and move on, Hershel holds on despite all evidence. His compassion his family and walkers does not extend to outsiders though. He views Rick's group not with outright hostility perhaps but with suspicion. He does what he considers his duty to them but endeavors to do no more, attempting to evict them from his land.

It would be worthwhile to discuss all the characters in this vein, but for the sake of space the last one I'll do here is Rick. Rick comes closer than any other character, save perhaps Dale, to upholding the highest ideals of humanity. He is willing to put himself at risk for the well-being of others in a way Shane and Hershel are not, even if he has no particular bond to or affection for them, as he showed by going back into Atlanta for Meryll (sp?). At risk of rambling on too much, I'll limit myself to one other example. At the end of this episode, when the little girl walks out of the barn, he walks forward and shoots her. He had not taken part in the shooting of the other walkers, protesting vehemently against it, and working actively to bridge the divide between his group and Hershel's. However, the girl's appearance necessitates action. The others who participated in the shooting stand by and do nothing, revealing their own hypocrisy. When they were Hershel's zombies, they were walkers to be despised and shot. When it is one of their own facing them though, they cannot shoot. Their inability to see things this way earlier, from Hershel's perspective, reveals their unwillingness to engage with, and outright hostility towards, the other people (this is more true about Shane, it could be argued that the others shot because once the walkers were free there were no other options). Rick steps up and does the one thing most likely to allow reconciliation. He shows himself to be just in the application of the principles he has espoused and in doing so increased the possibilities of reconciliation. He brings people together, or tries to, in a way that no one else can. He leads in a principled and fair manner, and lifts those who he leads to be better, more human, rather than less.

Oh boy that was long :-/

This is longer dont worry ^^

I don't understand why people give Shane so much credit for what he did in the last scene. Honestly, the most adequate description for his actions honestly was "childish". He's completely out of control. And to all the people calling it cahones, this is not difficult for him at all. He's not worried about the zombies getting close cause he has all the guns. The only thing you can really say he's got cahones for is maybe offending the few people in the group he might be worried about, which isn't much.

Many or most of the people in that barn were Herschel's friends and family. Shane has absolutely zero regard for this. He kills every last one of them in hot blooded anger. At the very end of the scene suddenly the tables are turned when Sophia comes walking out. And all of a sudden Shane sobers up, and guess what? He can't bring himself to do it. He started this whole little massacre, and who comes in and finishes the job for him? Rick.

It really makes you question what the real difference was between Rick and Shane regarding the issue of looking for Sophia in the first place. Maybe they both knew what to expect, the only major difference being Rick was ready to deal with it and Shane wasn't. You could argue yes, Shane had a more pragmatic interest in the survival of the group, but recent events tell us there was more going on. Particularly with the barn, her coming out and him not owning up. But also the petty little quarrels he has with Daryl. Daryl goes out to search on his own and Shane seems to even have a problem with that. I'm sure Shane would be happy to find her if she's alive and well, but he really does not want to have to deal with finding her if she's been bit. Rick on the other hand really took one for the team with what he did. He steps forward, raises his sights, and looks her dead in the eye when he pulls the trigger. There's not even a hint of cowering. We just see a man who knows exactly what he needs to do and calmly does it (Shane can hardly bare to look at her). That takes a lot of guts. And then after all is said and done, we see Herschel with his head in the dust. Everything the group has just experienced with Sophia has just happened tenfold with Herschel, who wasn't even given the mercy of watching his loved ones die to someone who actually cared. Carol probably does not resent Rick in the slightest, but just think about how you would feel if you were Herschel. It's pretty evident Shane couldn't give two shits about those people.

I don't dislike Shane. He really does have his strong points. No one would have been able to do what he did to Otis at the school. There was no question in my mind that what he did was correct. If it were anyone else Carl would be dead for sure. What bothers me is that people don't realize how terribly he blundered in that last episode. He practically glorifies himself as this cold blooded pragmatist. But that last move of his was completely irrational and emotionally charged. And the way he does it just says a lot about himself as a leader. He doesn't try to rally any support from the group at all. He just dives in head first, opens the door, putting everyone in danger, and expects people to just grab the guns and help him do his dirty little deed. He does not wait for ANY group consensus whatsoever to carry out something that was not even urgent, and to top it off, he couldn't even finish what he started.