Recently I’ve been bemoaning the fact that The Walking Dead had become little more than an undead soap opera. Well, as of this past Sunday, the undead horde went Ozzy Osbourne on that drama and bit its head off. It was ugly. it was fierce. It was necessary.
As always, no spoilers will be given in this post — so even if you haven’t seen the episode, it is safe to read on. What I want to focus on is something that was brought up in the episode — death. Big surprise coming from the King of Zombies, but death if a fairly common topic in my work and world. But with the apocalypse, death gains many new meanings and layers. This was illustrated brilliantly in the latest episode of TWD. Death is not just all around, it’s burrowing it’s way under the skin of the living. It’s palpable, it’s menacing, and it’s never going away.
But what was even more powerful than the death of the ever-growing number of walkers, was the realization that no one was immune from the Grim Reaper’s cold clutches. And just as no one is immune from dying, so too is no one immune from being the cause of death. We will be killed and we will be killers.
I was pretty shocked at what transpired in sunday’s episode of TWD. Along with that shock came a question: Should the moment arise, could I do what was necessary? Could I pull the trigger? The answer is simple — yes. What becomes more complicated is the consequence of those actions. In the moment, I’m certain anyone could pull the trigger to protect their loved ones. But not anyone could live with the results of that hammer firing.
That is a tougher question to answer. But a sound one to ponder. And I’m sure we’re going to see some soul crushing results after what we saw on The Walking Dead.
Everything (even the soap opera) was a build up to this gut wrenching season finale. If you thought, even for a second, that The Walking Dead had derailed, think again — it’s back and more powerful and frightening than ever.
What are your thoughts? Did The Walking Dead right its sinking ship for you? Did it get back on the undead track straight to Hell and have you sitting, precariously, on the edge of your deep green seat?
Sound off and let the killings (and the consequences therein) begin!
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