The Walking Dead: 6 Things "Slabtown" Did Right (And 4 It Didn't)
2. Weird Character Motivations
Another place where the writing on The Walking Dead falls down is in the characters, and specifically their motivations. The determination of Hershel to remain on his farm and deny that zombies were even a thing despite all evidence pointing to the contrary didn't really make a whole lot of sense, Dales attempts to control the lives of everyone around him without their consent was supremely irritating. These are traits that were ripe for creating drama within the group, but they didnt really work in context. Hershels stubbornness and Dales meddling could have been explained with some back story, or else handled differently, but they weren't. Thats a problem too in Slabtown, with Officer Dawn - who runs the settlement with a shaky iron fist - never seeming quite like a fully fleshed-out character, and more of an obvious enemy for Beth to rail against. The rules of staying until youve paid your debt for having your life saved makes sense in the eye-for-an-eye world of The Walking Dead, but her frequent outbursts towards Beth are shocking not because of their violence, but because they seem totally random. Whys she taking it out on her? Its never explained, and she never does it to anyone else. Weird.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
