The Walking Dead
During Spring Break in April, I started working on my new
WIP and wrote 15k in that week alone. I
might have written more … if I hadn’t spent so many hours watching The Walking Dead on Netflix and Amazon
streaming.
It wasn’t wasted time, though, as far as my writing
went. I learned a lesson – something I probably
should have known already, but it was a good reminder.
If you want your
audience to root for an unlikely character, set their expectations low … and
then surprise them.
Daryl Dixon is definitely not the type of character that I
would normally like. I can’t call him a
diamond-in-the-rough, because I doubt there’s diamond quality there. He’s such a marble-mouth, you can barely
understand him when he speaks. He’s a loner and not particularly good-looking –
although it’s pretty cool when he shoots that crossbow. So, why did he become my favorite character on
the show?
Because he was a surprise.
The audience was set up to hate him.
We meet his brother Merle first – a drug dealing, foul-mouthed, racist
maniac who is such a loose cannon that the other characters are forced to leave
him handcuffed on a rooftop when they flee from the walking dead. (Merle saws
off his own hand to escape, and it gives me shivers to think he’s still out
there somewhere.) When Rick (the main
protagonist) expresses regret about leaving Merle behind, he’s told no one will
miss the guy … except his brother Daryl.
Click here
To watch online.
The Walking Dead “Nebraska” Review
(First published for the site simplytv.blogspot.com)
Well The Walking Dead is back from its hiatus and it picks up just at the moment it left us several weeks ago.
Trouble is, people. This episode stunk like the disembodied rotting zombie arm that fell off the stinking pile of dead barn zombies.
Trouble is, people. This episode stunk like the disembodied rotting zombie arm that fell off the stinking pile of dead barn zombies.
Don’t hold back, you say? I embody all of the perfect frustration of
Daryl. I have been injured on my adventure with trying to locate Sophia
and now you’re asking me commit to an episode where we ONCE AGAIN have
to chase down another character to bring them back to the group? We just
did this! Fine. Just fine. Let’s go after Hershel this time. You know,
cause Beth went into shock. Though fever spells infection of some kind,
not shock, but I’m no doctor (or vet). Once again we must chase a
character (Hershel) into peril (zombie ridden town) because he or she
(he) is having some sort of hissy fit (pity party in the local bar).
Lucky for Rick, this will be a character development experience for him
as he will open fire on two (not-zombie) strangers that refuse to leave
their group alone. And really if Rick had ever seen True Blood he
would know that he had been correct in his decision making process. But
if there was any doubt as to who the leader was (and really all the
doubt laid solely with Rick) then we now know that Rick is the man in
charge.
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