The Walking Dead: 10 Ways To Make The Show Great Again

3. Bring In A Dale-like Character

Oh Dale. How I miss you. Far and away, my favoruite part of The Walking Dead isn€™t the walkers, or the apocalyptic world, or the disease. It€™s the underlying theme of humans trying to retain their humanity in spite of a world that€™s done everything to undermine it. Perhaps more than anyone, Dale understood this. He understood that once the survivors start to concede parts of what made them human, all is lost€”and they become no better than the walkers they seek to kill. In earlier seasons, even Rick understood this. He used to have a saying, €œWe don€™t kill the living.€ He realised that at the core of the matter lay a numbers game. Humans versus walkers. Humanity is not only a minority on the show, it€™s a dying breed. Banding together is the only way to truly survive this apocalypse, and at least early on, Rick got this concept. This all went out the window when he started killing bad guys, and subsequently became jaded at the condition of the world itself. He even allowed his young son Carl to become this way, surrendering to the thought that this was the best way for him to survive. But Dale understood that simply surviving isn€™t enough. What makes us human is stripped away if we€™re simply content to survive. Dale tried to teach Andrea about ethics, he tried to instil morality in several members of the group, and he tried to offer a voice of reason when tides of emotion swept over the camp. His pleas and words of wisdom often fell on deaf ears, and that€™s okay. It wouldn€™t be believable if everyone simply acquiesced to his thoughts each and every time. But since the passing of Herschel (notice how I didn€™t say €˜beheading€™€I€™m respectful like that), who was the last character to possess Dale-like qualities, there€™s a clear void left for a character with a clear conscience and voice of reason. This serves three purposes. One, it acts as a counterbalance to all the overwhelming emotional decisions made by characters€”often immoral ones. Two, it shows the ability for humans to think critically during trying times, which is something lost on our current group of survivors. And three, it brings back into the fold a much needed reminder of how good humanity can be. For the longest time, we€™ve been so focused on the bad that we€™ve forgotten that people can actually be good. Oh, here€™s more on that.