I've been a
"Walking Dead" fan since Rick Grimes was popped by a candidate for
"World's Wildest Police Videos" and I've been stalling on this blog
for years. So now, to feed my passion for this gruesome, human and
creative show I've crafted a "Walking Dead" blog dubbed "Walker
Blogger." I can't take all the credit on the name...it was my
girlfriend's idea. I have roughly an hour before part two of Season Three
is underway so I will be prepping in the bullpen. Here goes nothing!
Can you recall the Rick Grimes from season one? Dignified, lawful, almost as he
symbolized the law that appeared to slip away in the post-zombie apocalypse. Remember his nicely-trimmed hair? Remember his trimmed beard? Remember him on his horse, galloping
about dead bodies gracefully? In season
one he was law and order, maintaining civility often through simple
negotiations and clearheaded thinking.
He was the pragmatic cowboy.
Now fast forward to Season 3 and ask yourself, what in God’s
name happen to Grimes? He’s done a
virtual-360 from the days of espousing the benefits to having a moral code in a
time of survival. Before he used
to weigh the pros and cons of killing uninfected humans. These days he kills without much
debate. Granted, the killings were
justified. But the old Rick
would at least think about killing someone before pulling the trigger.
Then there is the slight stone-cold twitch in Rick’s eyes, a
departure from the easygoing persona he once exemplified. Grimes clansmen used
to go to him to resolve problems.
These days they rather fix it themselves.
Here’s what happened: the living dead got to him. And fittingly, the pair who did him
dirty the most, wife Laurie and best frenemy Shane, are dead. His rage is now in a loop, deprived of
the release fueled by his feelings of betrayal caused by those who started
it.
So now Rick is on a path of self-destruction, with visions
of Shane and Laurie egging him on, taunting Rick to break his own code. His hallucinations started with fake
phone calls from those who’ve passed away. Now they’ve become full blown.
The problem is there was never any closure for Rick, unable
to properly say goodbye to anyone who died. It’s interesting to note that it was Carl, not Rick, who
killed Shane and Laurie respectively, depriving Rick of any revenge he may have
inflicted.
But Rick’s mental state has always been tested. Because he was the leader of the group
he was often challenged, prompting him to refine his leadership style but
compromising his own mental balance.
I first noticed his mind nearly compromise when he and his group came
close to death in “TS-19,” the penultimate Season One episode. Rick is screaming at the CDC facility
intercom, pleading ferociously for Dr. Edwin Jenner to open the doors.
His propensity to come through has also weighed him down, sometimes
resulting in Rick going against his own ethical grain. It certainly was tested in “Pretty Much
Dead Already,” the mid-season 2 finale where Rick shot a walker Sophia Peletier
dead, much to Carol’s disgust.
Then came his anticlimactic showdown with Shane in a moonlit
ravine. Having no mercy for Shane,
Rick takes a shot of him, killing him mercilessly. A new Rick emerged at that point and so did a new mantra:
“This isn’t a democracy anymore!” he shouted in the Season 2 finale.
So what’s in store for Rick in the second act of season
3? I would imagine the show cannot
go on without him, so I would imagine his hallucinations will carry on with
some consequences thrown into the mix.
Could he just ditch the group like Daryl did? Could he kill a member of his group? Could he exercise his demons?
No comments:
Post a Comment