Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
And in part, frustrating though it can be at times, this is what makes this interesting. It's very very easy to go overboard with making characters unsympathetic & having audiences turn on them, something they'll have to be careful about. So far however, they've managed to keep enough people on the side of enough of the humans (even if not always the same ones) to keep you pulling for them. Narrow as some of them may be, there's also an onion layer or two to nearly every character and I think viewers have managed to connect with that. Flawed people in a brutal situation, trying to come to grips with it & maybe just doing the best they can at the moment, imperfect though it may often be.
And last night I was surprised to find myself actually pulling for the survival of even some characters that tend to annoy me.
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My problem with the writing is that too many characters are just caricatures or stereotypes to one extreme. I'm ok with flawed, I like flawed. I think Daryl (sp?) is a great character. He's rugged and cares first about survival, but there's a human element to him and an ability to do things for the good of the group even if they don't benefit him, but at the same time he can get frustrated and rebel against the idea of being Mr Helpful. Solid, layered character.
Shane and Dale were just too much of an extreme for my liking. Dale being incapable of even acknowledging the fact that letting Randall go posed a risk and going hardline "WE'RE LOSING OUR HUMANITY". Dale hiding the guns.. come on, these aren't flaws. This is a ridiculously overdone character. Its not even a character, its a viewpoint, an unwavering, unthinking point of view on the situation. I feel Shane was the same way. They tried to write a storyline in with Shane with Lori and Carl so I am more forgiving here but to me Shane was just the opposite of Dale, the "fuck everyone, survive at any cost" point of view and less of a character that I can find myself caring about.
I do think they've done well with Rick and Daryl and there is potential there for others, I can't wait to see what they do in season 3, and I think the show will be way better off without Shane and Dale.