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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
The Walking Dead
Season 9, Episode 2
By Garrett Yoshitomi
We’re two episodes into season nine; and so far, The Walking Dead is making good on its promise of a “new world” for not only its characters, but the audience, as well. With new showrunner Angela Kang at the helm, it appears that the series is leaving behind the choppy, muddled storytelling that’s plagued the show for almost its entirety, in favor of a straightforward central plot driven by complex character development.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Remember how the beginning of season eight threw us right into several large battles with the Saviors, with no context whatsoever, and it took about a month’s worth of episodes to really understand what was going on? Eventually we learned that Rick’s plan was to take out all of the Savior outposts, so that when the group used a walker herd to trap the Saviors in the Sanctuary, Negan wouldn’t be able to rely on outside reinforcements to save his people.
But of course, at the last moment, Daryl conveniently went rogue on the plan, letting the walker herd into the Sanctuary, which the Saviors were eventually able to fight their way out of. This is a great, recent example of the way The Walking Dead typically constructs its seasons- with an action-focused midseason or season finale, and the seven episodes leading up to them that are forced to drag along a contrived plot and a cast of characters acting unrealistically stupid, or with poorly developed motivations.
However, if this week’s episode, “The Bridge,” is any indication, we could be in store for a new era of Walking Dead storytelling, with actual character development that organically drives the plot, rather than an episodically crafted season that shoehorns characters into certain situations, in order to culminate with a visually exciting, albeit conceptually shallow finale. For the first time, maybe ever, The Walking Dead is building its story around its characters, rather than some convoluted sequence of events that gets the season from point A to point B.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
And, for a large ensemble show like The Walking Dead, this all starts with developing out the characters that fans have not only grown accustomed to, but absolutely love. That’s what’s always baffled me about this show. The Walking Dead is a literal television phenomenon, with a level of fan engagement and success that other networks would kill for, if that was how ratings worked. Shows with high quality writing are constantly living under the fear of cancellation because they just can’t seem to find their footing within the pop cultural zeitgeist. And here The Walking Dead is, eight seasons of average, at best, writing later, with more fans than they can shake a walker leg at.
Getting a wide enough audience to fall in love with your show should be the hard part. The Walking Dead should have every advantage when it comes to creating engaging storylines because they’ve had an audience that will tune in regardless, pretty much since jump street. And yet, despite all of the fan support in the world, this show has squandered it with season after season of subpar content. But, that’s all about to change because with viewership dwindling precipitously, this show can no longer rely on fans tuning in religiously in spite of a weak product.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
One thing that you’ve probably noticed after these first two episodes, is how many small character interactions we’ve been getting, especially without Rick. We’re clearly being set-up for a post-Rick Grimes Walking Dead, and surprisingly enough, the show seems to be better off. Without the bulk of the screentime going to Rick (who, for the record, I’m a fan of) we get to spend more time with characters, whose presence have grown infrequent in recent seasons. Enid is transforming from lowly sidekick to badass field doctor, while Gabriel, after spending four seasons on the show, is finally getting some substantial character development outside of his usual “I used to be a coward” beat, through his budding relationship with Anne.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Last week, I wrote about how Maggie is being built-up to assume the “group leader” mantle from Rick, but it’s looking like that role might be divvied up between multiple characters. One character poised to step into the forefront is Daryl Dixon. Despite denying that he’ll be receiving a pay bump on track to make him one of the highest paid stars on television, Norman Reedus will still be receiving top billing once Andrew Lincoln steps down from the show. As one of The Walking Dead’s most popular characters by far, it makes sense for Daryl to feature more prominently, to help ease the transition for a show about to lose its main character. We get a lot of Daryl in this episode. And, while he still is and always will be a man of few words, his actions and relationships with other characters propel the A-plot in this episode, and figure to keep Daryl close to the narrative action for the first half of season nine.
Throughout his time on The Walking Dead, Daryl has always been portrayed as a defender of others- he famously spent days searching for Sophia back in season two, and he was the only one to stand up to Negan during the lineup scene (although this did indirectly lead to Glen’s death). Daryl’s willingness to protect and fight for his companions permeates this week’s episode, resulting in two separate run-ins with former Savior, Justin. When it’s all said and done, Justin will be nothing more than another footnote on The Walking Dead’s long list of antagonists, but he’s serving his role well so far- smug, brutish, and just menacing enough to make it really enjoyable when Daryl kicks his ass.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Because the Saviors’ coexistence with the rest of the survivors will be such a big focal point of season 9A, it seems likely that Daryl’s continued mistrust of them will only continue to bubble at the surface, and cause problems for Rick. While Rick is undoubtedly still in charge of the decision making, it’s Daryl’s relationships with the rest of the group that will ultimately make us care about this plotline. It was heartbreaking to see Aaron’s injury, but the real narrative impact to this storyline is when Daryl, fiercely loyal to his longtime scouting companion, attacks Justin for indirectly causing the lumber accident that takes Aaron’s arm. Aaron will surely be thrust into some unique character development of his own, but his injury serves as a graphic reminder of the cost of placing your trust in the wrong people, an idea that Daryl seems quite keen on defending.
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