I Watch 'Em So You Don't Have To

THE WALKING DEAD: CHARACTERS WE LOVE AND HATE







Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln)



Rick Grimes is the main protagonist on the wildly popular series The Walking Dead. He also has gone through the most horrible of times of any of the other characters on the show.


In the beginning he is a deputy sheriff teamed up with his friend Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) who respond to a call during which he is severely wounded. He lies in a hospital in a coma, desperately clinging to life. He groggily remembers Shane bringing him flowers and talking to him, but when he answers him, the room is empty, the flowers are long dead, and there isn't a sound or soul to be found. It doesn't take him long to discover something is very very wrong.



Leaving the hospital confirms his fears and he faces the horrors of this new world he has awakened in. Not knowing if his family (Lori and Carl) is alive, if ANYBODY is alive, he wanders about looking for answers. Unfortunately, he finds them, fast. And his troubles spiral from there.


People both like and dislike the Rick Grimes character, partly because of his uneven sense of reason - at one point he seems perfectly rational and caring, another almost cruel and dictator-like. For a man who had his normal life ripped from him and faced now with the worst of scenarios, this can be totally understandable. Could we always be even-tempered, always logical and reasonable in the face of hoardes of the undead (called Walkers here, the term zombie is almost never actually used in a movie - well, until recently) and a family who doesn't seem to really appreciate him and his efforts to keep them alive.

In Season One, the character seems to always be at a disadvantage and fighting to keep order and the small group of survivors alive. In Season Two, his demeanor starts to slip as it becomes obvious that he isn't really getting the respect he's earned and others (especially Shane) undermine him at every turn. I am eager for Season Three, being faced with new adversaries how he will react and how his personality will develop - will he become more of the dictator type of leader, or will he realize that he needs every one of the survivors and become more even handed and logical?



My personal feelings toward the character is hey, give the guy a break. He's shot, he wakes to a nightmare of global proportions (we assume), his wife has taken up with his best friend, his son never listens to him, and the others seem to follow his directions grudgingly, instead of appreciating his leadership. And he had the horribly depressing task of dispatching young Sophia, when no one else would. Yes, he's made mistakes of course but he is only a man after all.

Andrew Lincoln is actually British. When he was called with the prospect of being given the role of a television series to take place in Georgia he must have had some hard thinking to do. His wife had just given birth to his son, and it would mean a totally different climate that what they were used to, not to mention a whole different country to live in.

He has a solid acting background, mostly in England of course. He has appeared in various television series, movies, and even performed in the theater. At 38 he is well established as a talented actor and happy family man, and I hope The Walking Dead keeps him busy for a long time.