I returned to AMCs The Walking Dead this year after rage quitting the show back in 2016 after watching the season six finale, Last Day on Earth.
Knowing that season 11 will wrap the show and after investing six years of my life in it, I thought I’d give it another go. I’m happy to say I’m glad I did. All the things I enjoyed about the show are still there. I still find the characters, their bonds with each other and their fight to survive in this crazy dystopian world interesting.
Going into season 7 I was a bit worried as the Saviours storyline initially pissed me off in season 6 but I maintained my composure throughout and didn’t rage quit once.
Having entered The Walking Dead from Rick’s point of view from the very first episode in season 1, it’s easy to see him and his group as the good guys. Under his Ricktatorship people are more inclined to protect each other and to fight and die for each other if necessary. Although they operate in some grey areas and aren’t averse to killing people in their sleep, I’m invested in seeing these people survive.
The Saviours
In contrast, Negan and his Saviours were a cult of savages who basically bullied, murdered and enslaved entire communities. In 2016, my head would have exploded at some of the things Negan did to people, but in 2021, it felt believable. I put that down to the current and ever-present covid pandemic that we find ourselves in.
As a Star Trek fan, I like to believe in the best of humanity and that together we can overcome the bad in any situation. Many of the storylines in The Walking Dead go against my views. The cannibal storyline in season 5 was another instance where I quit the show, not wanting to imagine a world where people would stoop to that. But why wouldn’t they?
Why wouldn’t a group of people hellbent on surviving by any means necessary lure other people into a trap that would guarantee there was always meat on the table? Season 5 of The 100, also showed us how far people would be willing to go to ensure their survival.
Negan believed people were a resource and by governing them by fear and force, he was saving them. He seems to care about children and doesn’t condone rape but that didn’t stop him from coercing women into his bed or the bed of his top lieutenants. When someone resisted his fear and bullying, he tortured them, as he did with Daryl. I wasn’t even shocked when Eugene willingly joined the Saviours. He has always been about self-preservation and being protected by others.
The pandemic has shown me that humanity is far more flawed than I want to recognise and people are capable of anything. A world-ending event would not see all of humanity pulling together trying to make a better future. There would, in fact, be people selfishly focussed on their own survival whilst others pull together and try to serve the needs of the many. Tribalism is human nature, it’s in our DNA and so there will always be occasions where we will be split along “them” and “us” lines.
The Whisperers
The most fascinating arc of the series was the season 9 introduction of the Whisperers, another cult but more akin to religious fanatics. Having watched the world split along the lines of those who believe covid is real and those who don’t, I found the Whisperers very believable.
The Whisperers were a group of survivors led by Alpha, a woman who claimed to have her emotions under control and built her cult on the belief that humanity must return to its roots, living in the wild like animals. As a villain, I found her to be much better than Negan and the Governor simply because of the parallel to religious fanaticism.
Alpha built her “almost religion” around the dead. Bathing in their blood and walking amongst them for safety. She offered her cult life in this way. As long as they walked amongst the dead, they were safe and if they died, that was okay too as it was an honour to become one of them. Her downfall came because despite claiming to eschew emotion, she was very emotionally invested in the survival of her daughter. A bit like some religious leaders in the real world who preach one thing and practice another behind closed doors.
Another parallel would be the discovery that whilst the UK government had us in lockdown in 2020, unable to meet with our friends and family members for Christmas, they themselves were partying and breaking the rules that they set out for us. This blatant middle finger to the people they are meant to serve means many people no longer wish to take covid advice from the government.
Negan is right about one thing; people are a resource and we’ve seen how the government have struggled to protect us whilst at the same time pleading for us to get back to work to keep the economy going. With such mixed messages, it’s no wonder people are divided. With the new Omicron variant sweeping across the world and as we enter the second full year of covid, it looks like we are going to have to rely on herd immunity after all as humanity is split between those who continue to protect themselves and others and those who don’t.
The second half of season 11 of The Walking Dead returns on 20 February 2022. I am looking forward to seeing how the series wraps up the dangling threads of the Reapers and the shady Commonwealth. I have hopes that at least some of my favourite characters survive. It will also be interesting to see if this redemptive arc that Negan is on holds to the end of the series.
As for real life? As thousands sleepwalk to their deaths this will also come down to the survival of the fittest.
Leave a Reply