The Walking Dead Strays into Cliche Territory

For those of you that know me, it should come as no surprise that I’m a huge walking dead fan. Post apocalyptic survival, an ever-present threat and the complete breakdown of societal structures is a fascinating home for the imagination. I’ve also been an avid reader of the comic book (or graphic novel for the pretentious among us) for years. So it is with some disappointment that I gently suggest the most recent episode, Arrowhead on the Doorpost, wandered into some obvious cliches. The show was not without it’s strong points though. The Walking Dead has been masterful in it’s ability to create tension in the viewer and this episode was no different. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Andrea gets Rick and the Governor to sit down and discuss a possible truce between their two warring camps, but largely this discussion is useless and goes no where. Meanwhile, each groups supporting cast sits outside and basically shoots the breeze. This leads to the first and largest cliche. Martinez and Darryl (resounding fan favorite) kill some zombies and begin to chat about how they know they’ll have to try and kill each other soon. The exchange boiled down to a ‘Yup, we’re soldiers, that’s what we do when the man tells us to fight.’ This is, of course, nonsense. Either one could easily walk into the meeting with Rick and the Governor and suggest that perhaps they don’t have to kill each other. Further, the two warriors seem to be totally at ease with not having any control over their future. It struck a predictable note.

Similarly, the Governor’s demand for Michonne as the price of peace was all too obvious. Even more obvious was his plan to double-cross Rick and his group. Rick even suggests in a conversation with Herschel that the Governor will most likely double-cross them and then proceeds to lean towards handing over Michonne. This is absurd. Everyone, including apparently Rick, knows the Governor is not a man of his word and yet he’s willing to pursue a policy of appeasement. Ask Neville Chamberlain how that worked out Rick.

Throughout the episode, the viewer was continually led to feel tension. The first source of tension came from the knowledge that the Governor was secretly armed in his discussions with Rick. The second came from the brash bravado between Darryl and Martinez (also a smaller cliche) and the third was the general unease that came with seeing Glenn and Maggie abandon their post to hook-up while in view of walkers. However, no resolution to any of this tension came. No zombies killed anyone and Rick made no final decision. The entire episode was designed to stress out the audience in preparation for the final three episodes that should be largely bloody. All in all, that’s not a bad thing for storytelling.