Spoiler-filled "Walking Dead" TV series vs comic book debate

Read at your own risk!

Folks who have read the "Walking Dead" comic book series, you know we have departed from the established comic narrative in the TV series, and I am interested in discussing what you think lies ahead for Season 2 based upon what you have read in the comic series. What things have you seen in the TV series that you think will crop up in S2, whether they match or resemble anything in the comic books or not. And what direction you may think the comic series is heading in.

No spoiler tags allowed.

(1) I am inclined to believe that Merl (Merrill?), who left his hand up on the roof after being handcuffed to a stanchion by Rick, may end up being the Governor character from the comic books, which we see several months into the comic timeline. It would seem a natural fit for how we see Merl behave, he already has the ass against the characters; I don't really see Merl from the TV series having the kind of leadership that the Governor from the comics showed, though. But I'm sure we will see Merl again, and not as a Z. And as Rick had his hand severed by the Governor in the comics, it stands to reason that Merl would like to do the same to Rick in the TV show.

(2) The confrontation between Rick and Shane over Lori is not too far off. I believe that Jenner whispered the discovery of Lori's pregnancy into Rick's ear in the TV S1 finale. Whether or not Jenner also witnessed Shane and Lori's little tussle in the rec room via closed-circuit TV camera and whether or not he relayed that fact to Rick remains to be seen. As Rick, et al were racing the clock to get out of the CDC before it went all Hiroshima on us, he didn't exactly have time to ask Jenner further questions or challenge Shane about it. But I do believe Rick knows that Lori is pregnant.

(3) In the comic series, we don't know if Lori and Shane were screwing before Rick was shot and hospitalized, but in the TV show, Rick mentioned that he and Lori were having issues before the Rise; hence, it is possible that Shane and Lori were screwing before Rick was shot. In the comics, Lori has a baby named Judy sometime in issue 30-40 timeframe, and though Dale was the only one brave enough to bring up the timing of the delivery to Rick, Rick knows full well that it is unlikely that he is Judy's biofather and that in all likelihood it is the now-deceased Shane's baby. It will be interesting to see how the show handles this issue.

(4) It may very well be that Andrea is pregnant. In the comic series, she and Dale were intimate though she did not conceive before Dale died. However, she may be pregnant in the TV show, and this may be what Jenner whispered to Rick at the end. Andrea may suspect this as well, leading to the crying jag in the shower that we witnessed in the finale, as well as her initial choice to stay in the CDC when it was going to blow and not to bear a child in this zombie-filled wasteland. We shall see.

(5) The appearance of the helicopter over Atlanta in episode 2 (or was it 3?) might have been what led Rick to consider checking out the CDC, a recon avoided in the comic series. Realizing the importance of the CDC in the contagion, Rick may have assumed that the existence of the helicopter meant in all likelihood that the CDC was up and running. A similar helicopter appearance took place in the comic series, but the helicopter ran out of fuel and had to land, and the people inside were taken captive by the Governor, if I remember correctly. In both circumstances, TV and comic, it has been suggested that it was a nod to "Dawn Of The Dead", which is a nice touch.

(6) Fort Benning. In the comic series, they never sought out a military installation. In the TV show, it seems an acceptable choice. Getting the hell out of Atlanta is the smart choice; heading towards Fort Benning seems as good a direction as any. The chopper spoken of in (5) above was a civilian Jet Ranger, not a military helicopter, but that doesn't mean that the troops don't have Benning up and ready to receive civilian refugees.

Discuss.

 

I don't know that I agree with this analysis.

I think Lori's dialog with Shane in the comics makes it kinda clear that Lori and Shane had one little fling while Rick was in a coma (and they thought he was dead), and she felt it was a mistake.

 

I don't think Andrea is pregnant, simply because there's much more material for the show to mine from the Lori/Shane/Rick situation. We're definitely going to get that, so I think it's highly unlikely that the writers will want to have two pregnant characters at the same time. The "crying jag" in the shower was due to the combined loss of Amy, then finding what appeared to be a safe refuge such a short time later.

Merle taking the place of the Governor is a fine idea. He'd already feel antagonism for the group, and Daryl could be presented with a decision to make: back his brother's desire for revenge, or side with Rick and company? Unfortunately, it would lose the creepy-as-hell subplot about the zombie daughter, which would be a shame.

I think we'll hit the prison before the group makes it to Fort Benning, if they ever do make it there.

It was definitely a one-time thing. I don't understand where all the comments in the season one discussion thread about "we don't know" came from. The dialog doesn't make it just "kinda clear," it makes it very clear that Lori and Shane had sex due to combined loneliness and the stress of the situation as they were approaching Atlanta, that it was the first and last time.

 

I haven't read the comics (and I probably won't so spoilers don't bother me) but I really hope the TV series doesn't delve into soap territory by having Lori be pregnant and not know who the father is, or have Shane and Rick fight over it, or any kind of love triangle whatsoever. Ugh.

For Andrea to be pregnant is far more palatable, although I don't get the idea that she and Dale have been "intimate." I'd prefer the whispered message to be something entirely out of left field that will shock the hell out of us, not make us think the show is turning into Days of Our Lives.

I think she was still in shock that her sister died and didn't feel like it was worth the trouble to go on living. For Andrea to be pregnant wouldn't really have much purpose in the story other than complication, but the show seems more smartly written than that. They're not gonna just toss in crap for no reason at all.

Which is why I find it suspicious that Darabont decided to actually dramatize Shane discovering Rick in the hospital, checking for a heartbeat (with some gunfire in the background, just as he reported) and not hearing anything. We already knew that Shane was mistaken about Rick's death, probably because of the general panic and his concern over Lori and Carl. We really didn't need to be shown this scene - unless there's something new in that scene that we didn't know before, or couldn't figure out based on previous dialogue.

The only new elements are that Shane says he didn't hear Rick's heartbeat and that soldiers were slaughtering possibly uninfected doctors. The reasons there could be a) Rick really didn't have a heartbeat (he died); or b) the doctors created the plague or were responsible for it spreading.

And going to the CDC for help if you're near Atlanta during a medical catastrophe is such a no-brainer that I'm surprised the comic didn't include it, although I've read that the comic writer would have included the CDC if he'd realized it was based in Atlanta. When I first heard about this show, I assumed the story was based in Atlanta because that's where the CDC is!

That reminds me - Andrea threw up after that scene. I found that suspicious, too (I guess I find everything suspicious ) because of the too-obvious inference that she drank too much. But why do we need to see the results of her drinking too much? Everyone was drinking too much. So that's why I suspect that scene was misdirection and she's far along enough in her pregnancy to have morning sickness.

 

Darabont, Kirkman, and Hurd continually refer to the comics as a "roadmap" or a "blueprint," so they're going to follow that plot, especially since the affair has already been established. As I recall, though, the comics didn't dwell on it much. As SicOne mentioned, there's a brief discussion about the timing of Judith's conception between Dale and Rick, and there's a conversation between Rick and Lori in which he tells her that any confirmation beyond what he already "knows" would kill him, so the subject is dropped. As far as I can remember, those two conversations are pretty much it as far as the paternity issue goes.

They haven't been yet, but the series will go there as well. In the comics, Dale and Andrea took in two young boys, Ben and Billy, after their parents both died. Donna and Allen aren't in the television series (they were with the original Atlanta survivors in the comics), but we do have a young child in the form of Sophia who has already lost one parent and who became a surrogate child of another couple in the comics, so I'm betting that Carol will end up dying at some point here as well, resulting in Dale and Andrea taking charge of Sophia.

 

Since they changed the story to keep Shane alive (good move, I think he's important to the group dynamic), I hope they change it again to remove the pregnancy plotline because with Shane alive, it's going to be too soapy. If he were dead, then I could see it not being obnoxious - there's no way Rick and Shane can get into a fight, or Shane can be all bitter that he's not allowed to raise his daughter or whatever.

 

I predict that you'll be disappointed, Temis. I have a feeling that the comics are going to be followed a little more closely than you'd like.

That means that Rick's son Carl us going to kill Shane in the next season.

 

Since Shane and Rick are co-leaders of the group now, Shane will pretty much definitely have to go if Darabont and company want to bring Tyreese into the picture (and why wouldn't they? Tyreese rocked).

 

It makes Shane much more sympathetic. For all we knew, he never even went near the hospital and was hoping Rick would bite it so that he'd have Lori all to himself. As it turns out, he tried really hard to save Rick, really did think he was dead, and was sorry. That reflects in all his interactions with Rick (and Lori) afterward.

His recent actions were wrong and are probably going to get worse, but that scene will make his downward spiral more tragic. Without it, Shane is just a dick who'll get what's coming to him.

 

yup, him and Michonne cant wait til they show up

 

While I was reading the comics, I kept being struck by how the Governor and Rick both used the same words to describe themselves. As men who would do absolutely anything to help their people survive. They even both have kids. It made me speculate whether the comic was foreshadowing Rick and Carl's fate. Specifically that Carl would die and zombify, and that Rick would turn into a ruthless leader. Now that he has taken over as leader of the Washington community, and shown more than a little ruthlessness, I have to wonder if he will become a "Governor" himself. Maybe after losing the last thing he cares about (Carl)?

 

So I bit the bullet and bought the first four trade publications over the weekend and have enjoyed them immensely.. At $15 a pop, I won't be buying them more than one at a time for a while... Also, I found a new comic shop that has a treasure trove of used "Asterix the Gaul" comics, so I will be shelling out for those too...

After reading through them, I can totally see why they've strayed from the comic.. Some of the comic plotlines, while dramtic in print, might not have played out as well on screen and things happened just too quickly. So while there are some definete plots to pluck from (the farm, the prison), I think expanding into uncharted territory is a good call (especially the CDC story).

 

I found myself wondering briefly if T-Dog is meant to be Tyreese, but ultimately that ended up not making much sense.

 

I believe I read Kirkman has said T-Dog is not Tyreese. Given the modifications being made to the story, I wouldn't be surprised if Tyreese is leading a group of survivors, and not just his daughter and her boyfriend.

Donna and Allen, along with their kids, can come into play at that time. Seeing as Donna's big part came when they made it to the gated community, the timing would be perfect.

 

If Jenner whispered something like "Lori is pregnant" in Rick's ear I'm going to be really let down. I want something better than that.

 

Such as...?

 

Something about the zombies or the outbreak or the state of the world elsewhere. Not "your wife is pregnant" because you could kind of guess that twist would be coming as soon as you find out Shane and her slept together.

 

Unlikely, considering it's the exact opposite of the focus of the show. We've received all the info regarding the outbreak or the state of the world elsewhere that we're likely to get beyond more localized effects.

 

I don't know, we did have that possible aircraft sighting in the pilot and we did get clues as to what was going on elsewhere from Jenner. I'd be surprised if they weren't setting up some sort of mythology here.

 

I highly doubt those clues are indicative of a larger "mythology" beyond "the world is gone." No, the point of this series isn't larger ramifications of the zombie outbreak, but simply how small groups of survivors keep surviving in the face of it.