4. All The Obvious Characters Have Died
A common criticism of TWD is that the characters are too lazily drawn and the plot conclusions are far too obvious. For my part, I can totally understand these concerns. Hanging over season two was a damning sense of inevitability; we all knew that certain characters were going to kick the bucket- it was just a question of when, where and how. Shane had been far too bonkers to survive the season, and had fallen foul of the golden rule of television drama; you dont cross the main character and expect to live. Similarly, Dale had also violated the rules; he had stood for something, so had to die for poignancys sake. Finally, storm-clouds had been hanging over Sophia for a long time; one of the children was going to have to die for the writers to make a point, and it sure as hell wasnt going to be Carl. Enter season three, and the presence of an interesting conundrum - the convenient well of dramatic deaths has been well and truly tapped out. The herd has been vastly trimmed down since the campsite of season one, and all were left with now is the MVPs. In turn, this raises the stakes- the writers can no longer sacrifice a minor character to the god of dramatic tension, as there are no minor characters left. Were left with just the major players, and their deaths would pack a narrative punch in a way the death of Greene Family member #2 simply couldnt. Up until this point, the inner circle always felt safe, but now all bets are off- nobody is the obvious fall-guy, creating a more acute sense of danger that has thus far been lacking in previous seasons. After all, who wants to see Daryl die? Nobody, thats who.