Re: Let's talk about Carl. And okay, the Walking Dead finale itself too (spoilers, of course)
j-whitt987 Send a noteboard - 05/04/2013 09:09:32 PM
View original postCarl killed the kid from Woodbury. This is apparently a big deal, and yet I didn't see it that way. You see, Carl didn't simply shoot the kid in the head, he shot him after he told him to drop his weapon, and the kid started doing the weird maneuver where he was reaching to give his shotgun to Carl. How often do you recall seeing a criminal do that when the police tell him to freeze and drop his weapon? Or anyone else, in any situation, for that matter? Handing a thing over requires close proximity, and when a potential enemy is that close to you, things can go badly. That's in normal adult versus adult scenarios. Carl is a child, and his enemy is a teenager, considerably bigger and stronger than he is. What was to stop him from suddenly swinging his shotgun and striking Carl on the head, then making a desperate attempt to shoot Hershel? He's up against a child and an old man, after all, maybe he'll think he can get away with it. Maybe he thinks its better to take his chances than to be captured by the fiendish murderers the Governor described to him. The point is, Carl had no idea how the kid would act, but did see that his behavior was suspicious. And then he made the decision to be prudent rather than hope for the best.
My wife and I both agreed with Carl on this point. Whenever someone on TV is told to put down their weapon and they instead try to hand it to them it seems to always end up with someone being shot. The kid was far from an innocent bystander or an unarmed person. Him and a group of his friends had just attacked the prison and proved themselves to be very dangerous. Carl had a responsibility to take him down and protect his group of (more-or-less) helpless people.
View original postRick and Hershel might be worried about Carl's humanity, or lack thereof, and I have absolutely no doubt there will be plenty of painful bickering and worrying about the matter in season 4. But as far as I'm concerned, Carl has adjusted to post-apocalyptic life better than anyone. He saw someone suspicious and took action to put him down, protecting his group. He saw someone noble and worthy (Michonne), and spoke up for her, defending her. It is that ability to distinguish between friend and foe that tells me that Carl hasn't lost his humanity or become hardened to the extent Rick was for most of season 3. Instead, he's found a balance of some sort, and it's a better one than most.
View original postWhat do you think? Is Carl turning evil? Will the Governor be a major thorn in Rick's side next season, or will he be merely a minor nuisance/gone for good? And most importantly, will the next season be able to maintain the momentum of this one, given the greatly increased prison population?
Carl isn't turning evil. He has embraced the world he is now growing up in. While everyone else is trying to hold on to now out of date rules of engagement, Carl knows that people who have already attacked them aren't necessarily worth saving.
Kirk: Spock, you want to know something? Everybody’s human.
Spock: I find that remark…insulting.
Spock: I find that remark…insulting.
Let's talk about Carl. And okay, the Walking Dead finale itself too (spoilers, of course)
- 04/04/2013 08:12:07 AM
869 Views
Re: Let's talk about Carl. And okay, the Walking Dead finale itself too (spoilers, of course)
- 05/04/2013 09:09:32 PM
974 Views
It's more complex than that
- 07/04/2013 07:41:26 PM
642 Views