“Haters gonna Hate”The Walking Dead’s Shane Walsh is not the villain. No doubt about it this show needs a villain, and it’s about to get one. However, it is not Shane Walsh.
Unlike it’s comic companion, The Walking Dead’s Shane Walsh is the super hero of the TV adaptation of the saga. I am not sure if that’s by design or …. some content not, but I do know it’s the inarguable truth. To explain why, I have to shine some light on Rick’s terrible decision making skills so far. I will do my best not to hammer him too hard. Of all the characters in the show, I identify with his character the most. Let’s start with Sophia and work our way up to Otis.
Sophia
Poor, poor Sophia who, when instructed by Rick not to stay with him while he easily offs two walkers, but to wander back through the walker infested forest being sure to “Keep the sun to her left shoulder”. I will grant you that Rick’s EBDM (emotion based decision maker) tendencies compelled him to run after Sophia when no one else would, but it was an empty hero move. The best case scenario now is that she slowly starves to death. Instead of needing a sun dial and 183 page survival instruction manual. Would Rick have asked Carl to walk back by himself? I think not.
Shane to Rick’s defense!
When Rick is full of self doubt and guilt about any horrible decision he makes, Shane is right there to comfort and defend him. Whether or not he agrees with it. Why? Because Shane’s a leader. Good or bad, his character is cool, calculated, and knows exactly what he is doing and why he is doing it.
Carl
The first rule of apocalypse parenting: If you have to hesitate, it’s a bad idea. The decision to let Carl stay with Rick and Shane was completely Rick and Lori’s. It was the wrong one. Being the EBDM that he is, Rick even stayed Shane’s weapon as Shane was about to shoot the deer. Otis’s bullet finds it’s way to Carl. BAM, Carl down, and Otis will be next.
The Farm
Rick has now (and will admit in episode 10) hurled himself into a whirlwind firestorm of self doubt and guilt over the incident. Who is there to hold him up? Our man Shane Walsh. Rick’s EBDM is even driving him to leave his dying son’s side to go tell Lori the grim news. Who is there to correct him? Shane Walsh! Telling Rick that
“I will break your legs if you try to get outside of 50 feet of this place, you know that right?”
-Shane Walsh to Rick Grimes
An empty, ball-less, shell of a friend would have told him to go for it. A real friend will tell you they will break your legs if you try and then solve the problem. +500 points Shane.
2.1.1 The Call to Adventure
Carl is dying next to you, Rick is crumbling in front of you, and Lori is nowhere to be found. Shane is once again faced with the “call to adventure”. But he doesn’t refuse it, rather he owns it and sets off to save his best friends son…for like the 5th time.
Otis had all the information.
Otis knew the facts about what he was committing to even if he refused to acknowledge them. They were:
- The world had gone to sh*t
- He wasn’t exactly the picture of health
- He was going on an impossibly difficult mission that had a higher probability of failure than success
- He was going because he had shot a child and felt obligated to redeem himself
- He was going with the best friend of the man who’s son he had shot
- This same man only an hour earlier had kicked him in the arse and degraded him.
- Otis knew that all of this made him completely expendable.
The mission: Get the supplies to save Carl’s life.
…because you shot him, Otis. Sure you would have liked to live through it, but that was not the objective of the mission.
The mission: SUCCESS!
Look on the bright side, not only will you not have to carry around the enormous emotional weight of inadvertently murdering a child, but you’ll always be remembered as a hero. Looks like a win win here!
Doing what needs to be done
Shane shot Otis in the leg. Keeping Otis alive stalled the geeks long enough to give Shane precious seconds to get back to the car. He did it, and right or wrong he saved Carl’s life. The thanks he gets? A 3 second hug from Rick and Lori said a word to him. No wonder he wants to roll out.
Your name is Otis FFS
I‘m really sorry but no character in the history of entertainment having the name “Otis” has ever lived, ever.
Conclusion:
Clearly, Shane Walsh is the glue binding the ever bursting seams of a leaderless group of strangers trying to survive in The Walking Dead TV series. I am no stranger to defending Shane’s position in the show. But that was season 1 where Shane did nothing but overtly hero it up. This season is picking up right where last season left off with one exception, the show and Shane’s character’s awesomeness have increased exponentially!! I don’t know what will happen next or if Shane will go off the deep end or not. Probably, you can’t carry around that kind of emotional baggage very long without some kind of release. Read the signs, Otis.
Hilarious Warning Sign by Michelle Muise
I’ve never been a big fan of Shane, if I’m honest, but the whole Otis thing really raised my opinion of him. Would I sacrifice the man who shot my best friend’s son to a bunch of zombies, to save the kid’s life? Hell yeah! It was totally the right, and only decision to make, albeit a damn hard one.
I can’t believe Rick wanted to leave Carl to get Lori. Classic case of not wanting to face what was happening and trying to find an ‘honourable’ reason to ship out! Lame Rick, lame …
Exactly, Shane shooting Otis was an improvisation on the original plan, not part of it to begin with.
If shane wanted the mission to succeed he could have just as easily told otis to go ahead and sacrificed himself. and before you say Otis was out of shape and wouldnt have made it shane was limping and wasnt any faster than otis. Shane shot Otis because he is a selfish arrogant man. Im not saying everything he does is wrong but a lot of it is IMHO
Dave, thank you for commenting! I respect and appreciate your sharing your opinion here. However, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re 100% wrong.
Shane wouldn’t sacrifice himself any more than you would sacrifice yourself. Shane’s mission was to save Carl, period. Look, Shane hates himself inside but unlike some people who hate themselves, he chooses to express that in other ways rather than self destruct. That much is clear. If he thought sacrificing himself for Lori and Carl would have saved Carl, he would have without a second thought. To say that Shane’s bum leg put him on Otis’s fitness level is ridiculous. Otis grew up on fried taters and steak. He may have been fit enough to haul hay to the barn but shit man, Shane was an athlete turned cop and had daily strenuous cardio work-outs for years. Clearly, he was the better choice even with the bum leg. Had Otis been some kind of Olympic sprinter, I am sure things would have worked out different for him. As it was, it was simple math given the situation.
I don’t agree with some parts like Carl. He wanted his son to experience happy things too. It has to do with being a good father too not just a good leader. What father shoots the thing that brings some light into his son’s eyes? Also, they haven’t seen another human in miles what in the world would make them think there would be hunters in the forest? You made it seem as though its his fault. Also, he would want to get his wife; he needs someone there and doesn’t think its right to not have her know. He is also suffering from severe emotions at that point so its obvious he wouldn’t be thinking straight. Though I don’t agree 100 percent with you I do agree that Rick isn’t an all-knowing-character and is flawed in many ways and that Shane does help the team out quite a bit. He doesn’t deserve to be characterized as the villain though I am surprised you didn’t mention how he nearly forced himself on his friend’s wife. that is not in ANY way shape or form ‘heroing it up’. Not cool in any world. Lori is a wonderful woman for forgiving him.
I thein eather way the walking dead is still really awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!
How was it Otis’s fault that Carl was shot? He is obviously on their land (or close to it) and trying to get food for his people, is it his fault that a kid walked right up to the animal he was shooting? Think from his point of view…
Was it Otis’ fault he shot Carl? Whether or not it was his intention, it was his bullet, and he owned up to it and took responsibility, as was pointed out in this post.
Forcing himself on Lori was obviously not a smart decision, but he was drunk and lonely and wanted to kill Rick – seems logical. That said, I still hate his character, but would follow him over Rick in a post-apocalyptic world. The first rule of staying alive in a zombie-fest is staying away from people who’ll get you killed, and Rick is one of those people, as he’s demonstrated (no matter how pure his intentions were).
Katie, I agree that Shane is smart when it comes to survival but I would hate to be around him if I was injured or lost. Then he’d either leave me to die or speed it up.