So who will be TAINTED MEAT now?

Spoilers for last Sunday’s episode of “The Walking Dead” come after the break.  In case you haven’t watched it yet:  SOMEBODY DIED!  Much sooner than they did in the comic too.

The person in question is Dale, who had a close encounter with a zombie that freed itself from being stuck in a swamp.  This was after Carl stole a gun and went down there to prove his courage, or something.  It was a brutal end for the character, and I found it pretty hard to watch after most of the episode had been devoted to him and his efforts to save the group’s captive from an execution.  Though his efforts could have come off as preachy and sanctimonious, actor Jeffrey DeMunn really sold me on the character’s commitment to upholding the ideals of civilization and his frustration rang true as well.  

That’s also because I happened to completely agree with everything he said.  Yes, the kid represents a potential danger to everyone, but Dale was the only person in the group who seemed to have made a decision on what kind of world he wanted to live in now that the old one is gone.  He wanted to live in a world where the best ideals of justice and civilization were still present where everyone else saw how bad this new one was and figured that was the way things had to be from now on.  I looked at their actions on Sunday and saw a complete failure of imagination in that regard.

I know it’s the height of class to armchair quarterback the emotional response of a group of fictional characters, but I’m going to do it anyway!  By continuing to live in this world, they’ve effectively chosen to have a hand rebuilding society whether they want to or not.  Putting things back together while deciding what to keep and what to discard, that’s the responsibility of everyone left in this world because you can’t live hand-to-mouth forever, and that’s something these people have yet to realize.  I can accept the fact that they’ve barely had any time to get used to their new surroundings, but that can’t last indefinitely.  Maybe Dale’s death will make him a martyr to his words and finally get everyone on the right track.  We shall see.

Of course, it’s surprising that the character was written out of the series this soon.  Not only did the man survive a zombie bite by having an emergency amputation of his leg, but he also survived another bite and a subsequent close encounter with cannibals before being mercifully put down by Andrea.  I liked his character as even though he was the oldest member of the cast the man still found new ways to go on living and enjoy life.  Primarily through his May-December romance with Andrea which was surprising at first, but grew to be genuinely believable as the series went on.

So why did he have to die, and not someone like T-dog who hardly has anything to do these days and whose presence on the show has slowly been drifting towards tokenism for some time now?  I’m betting that’s down to a rumor that I heard not long after Frank Darabont was fired from the show before the premiere of the second season.  One of the cast members had reportedly asked be let out of his contract and been initially rebuffed only to have his offer reconsidered some time later.  For the longest time, every story I read about this had Jon Bernthal pegged as the actor as no one, myself included, expected Shane to survive the end of the second season and he was also recently cast in the pilot of Darabont’s new series “L.A. Noire.”  He seemed the obvious choice, but with DeMunn’s sudden exit I’m thinking that the initial guesses may have been wrong.  

Were I a betting man, I’d say that Bernthal’s exit was planned from the beginning of the second season, which allowed the writers to set up the circumstances of Shane’s downward spiral VERY well throughout it.  Dale’s demise felt more spur-of-the-moment and would fit with an actor’s request to leave being accepted, though I doubt we’ll see the fallout of his death explored very well in these last two episodes.  That’s not the only reason, as the other will require you to take a look at DeMunn’s entry over at the IMDB.  While the man has a long history in TV and film, you’ll notice that the actor has worked with Darabont on all of the director’s feature films.  That indicates a good working relationship, and I’m also willing to bet that Darabont had a hand in getting DeMunn on the show.  I know it’s all speculation, but it’s fun to put the pieces of the behind-the-scenes puzzle together like this.

Though I enjoyed his presence as the group’s conscience, Dale’s absence won’t affect the show that much as his character arc had already been substantially altered as a result of his new, adversarial relationship with Andrea.  In addition to the already announced Governor, the next season will likely bring Michonne and (hopefully, finally) Tyrese so the group dynamics will hopefully get a nice change-up.  That said, the most interesting thing to watch will be seeing if Dale’s actually prompt the group to decide what kind of world they want to live in.  It’ll be a fitting legacy for the character, and the actor who brought him to life.