There is pretty much only one television show that I follow
religiously, making sure I am home for all the new episodes, patiently waiting
every week for them to air. That show
is, of course, The Walking Dead. Being the self-proclaimed zombie aficionado
that I am, I have been a faithful ‘Dead’ fan since the series’ conception. The series always keeps me on the edge of my
seat, constantly applauding the writers [both of the graphic novel and of the
series]. However, there has always been
one constant in the series that I strongly disliked . . . and that would be the
character of Carl Grimes.
Now, I know I am going to lose a lot of people on this,
especially the young teenyboppers that adore him, but it needs to be said. I have never been a Carl fan. Recently I re-watched the series, so I got to
watch Carl grow as a person[1],
and I stand by my statement. I really
really really dislike that
child.
‘How can you dislike a child?’ Well for one, he is extremely
whiny. I understand that it’s the zombie
apocalypse and he is still a child, but really, it is the zombie apocalypse!
There is no time for conventional morality, social norms, love and
especially not childhood innocence. In
the zombie apocalypse it is kill or be killed; you do what you have to for
survival. That being said, Carl needs to
grow up fast. Sure, that sounds harsh, I
mean, after all he still has his parents around and they should be able to
protect him. But as the tale of Sophia can
attest, sometimes parents just cannot watch their kids and said children should
have some basic defense/survival skills.
SPOILER ALERT, Sophia had neither, so she died, and that was the day her
mother grew a backbone and became the BAMF[2]
she is today.
While Carl certainly has had his fair share of kills and
guts [ie: killing Lori, helping Rick clear the prison when the fences caved, etc.]
he has still continuously proven to be a child.
While I mainly want to focus on Season 4 of the series, we do need to
give Carl some character background. In
the first few seasons it is fair to say he is a child and we should put up with
his whining, because the gravity of the zombie apocalypse had yet to sink
in. Nevertheless, Carl’s naïve, careless
and childish actions not only endangered himself, but they got other people
killed as well. If it was not for Carl’s
carelessness around the mud pit near Hershel’s farm, Dale would not have
died. Sure, Dale was not a character
favorite, he was a ‘know it all’ and an unwanted moral compass, but he
did not deserve to get his innards ripped out by some mud riddled zombie. Additionally, it can be argued that he was
the cause of Otis’ death. If he did not
get enamored by a deer and consequently hit with the shotgun buckshot that
pierced the deer, Shane would not have killed Otis as revenge fueled murder. Also in this season, no one could ever find
Carl. Anyone who watches The Walking Dead knows to turn it into a
drinking game, ‘where is Carl’ became
the best one. The adults would say ‘stay
in the house, Carl’ when all hell was breaking lose with zombies, and then all
of a sudden everyone turns around and Carl is flirting with the jaws of death
somewhere! Kid is reckless!
Sure, Carl has gone through a lot, but that should make him
hard, not ridiculous. Every time the
camera pans over to him I want to get up and shake him. For instance, in this season Carl prides
himself on being an adult and being able to take care of himself . . . Let’s
discuss what he did when Rick was in a coma.
He told Rick (albeit an unconscious Rick) that he killed three
walkers. Well, is that true? Sure. Is it entirely true? No. He did not kill those three walker[3]s
heroically, he almost got himself killed several
times in the process, and he threw up afterwards. You see, Carl was smart in luring the two
walkers banging on the doorstep away from his house [I won’t even get started
about how they were drawn to the house because of his shouting, reckless!] but
in luring them away he encountered a third walker. This third walker was able to sneak up behind
him because he was walking backwards.
Sure, anyone sneaking up behind you is alarming, but during the apocalypse
in which the undead are trying to eat you alive, you probably should not be
walking a mile backwards luring these two flesh eating creatures with you.
He used too many bullets (they were supposed to be rationing
shots) and was able to take down all three, only by being pinned underneath
them. His main problems here, other than
walking backwards with murderous zombies in tow, he used a lot of bullets which
are a scarce resource and he also made such a commotion, any nearby zombies
would have been attracted to the noise.
After this ordeal, Carl then went on a supply run to a nearby house,
where he encountered a zombie. Every
time Carl comes into contact with a zombie he gets flustered and childish,
which is understandable. However it is
not understandable since he continuously says how he is not a child. After a lot of close calls with this
zombie, which result in him losing his shoe and almost getting his leg chewed
off, he was able to lock the zombie in a room and write a snarky note on the
door. Carl, how about you write ‘Do Not
Open: Dead Inside’ instead of ‘Got my shoe, didn’t get me.’ Way to go on the prose, Carl, it is obvious
schooling went out the window. What infuriated me most about this scene is that
he has zero hand to hand combat
skill. That is just as important as
knowing how to wield a gun! You should not be completely defenseless without
your weapon, and Carl is. In the house
scene he was grabbing at anything to hit this zombie with and even once he had
something, he had no idea how to use it.
Michonne once killed a zombie with twine, Andrea killed a zombie with
nothing but pliers while she was handcuffed to a chair; how can you have a
lamp, a set of golf clubs and a bat readily available and you still cannot kill it?
I just don’t get it.
Maybe instead of being mad Carol was teaching the children
how to defend themselves with knives instead of reading them stories during
story time, he should have paid attention.
Even then, he did not see the importance of what Carol was doing,
instead he just ran to his dad and tattled.
That was a childish move, Carl, but that was okay. What was not okay was the 15 minute rant he
went on to unconscious, dying Rick, about how he wishes he were dead. Then, of course, in true Carl fashion, when
he believes Rick comes back as a zombie, he starts crying and breaks down. You cannot have it both ways, Carl, either be
a man or be a child. When the going gets
tough, Carl gets to being a baby. That
really annoys me. I understand he is
stuck between a rock and a hard place, having to grow up quicker than he is
ready, but that still does not excuse that he is growing up to be a
hooligan.
The Walking Dead
has had several villains (I’m looking at you, Shane) and anti-heroes (hey,
Merle) that I have disliked or rooted for, but Carl is by far the worst. Shane went from being a good guy to a bad
guy, Michonne went from being a hard/stand-offish character to being lovable,
and even Merle had redeeming qualities; this is all character growth. Unfortunately
for Carl, the only ‘growth’ his character goes through is puberty and severe
teenage angst. We get it, Carl, life is
rough for you. You know who else it is
rough for? EVERYONE. Man up, shut up and quit your bellyaching! There
is no crying in the zombie apocalypse! So from now until however long it takes,
I will begrudgingly sit in front of my TV every Sunday night hoping this is the
night Carl gets bit.
Sorry, I’m not really sorry.
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