You know what I’m getting tired of on “The Walking Dead?” Rick not trusting anyone outside of his group. When this group originally formed, they were just random people who intuitively clumped together in the face of an unknown disaster. Now his time as a leader has gone to his head — in the sense that he’s losing it.
Lost leadership
Rick was a good leader for a while. He often did things that needed to be done, but that the others couldn’t, such as killing Zombie Sophia when she emerges from the barn in Season 2. Rick and the Governor — who put a bullet to the head of a walker-bitten Woodbury citizen in Sunday’s midseason premiere — have this in common: They do what they think needs to be done to maintain order.
But just as we (unlike the characters) saw that the Guvna had lost it — keeping walker heads in fish tanks and storing his zombie daughter in a closet — Rick is losing it, too. On Sunday, he saw a vision of his dead wife, pulled out his gun and had everyone worried that he was going to snap and start shooting.
“The Walking Dead” Season 3 (2012-13)
AMC, 16 episodes
Creator: Frank Darabont
Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride
Last season when Rick (admittedly, with the help of fellow alpha males Shane and Daryl) had Randall tied up in a barn, I kept yelling at my screen like C-3PO in “The Empire Strikes Back”: “Trust him! Trust him!” But at least Randall was at least sort of shifty. (We never found out for sure if he was a good guy or bad guy, since Shane snapped and killed him.)
In Season 3, a foursome has found its way into the prison — Tyrese, his wife and a couple of other guys. Tyrese has none of the shiftiness of Randall; he’s a rock-solid and genuine person who would obviously be a great ally, if only for his muscle. He and his wife are clearly worthy of joining the group, especially now that they’ve lost Daryl.
One of the other guys is a big question mark; he proposes killing Carl and Carol. But this is arguably in reaction to the way he and his friends have been rejected and caged in one part of the building by Rick’s group. Basically, Tyrese’s group is seeking the same thing Rick’s group did in Season 2 when they came upon Hershel’s barn — an alliance of mutual benefit: We get the safety of a larger group, you get the benefit of more contributors.
Bad listener
Also, consider Rick’s relationship with Michonne. He wants to kick her out of the prison, too, but a simple conversation would probably be enough to tell him that not only is she trustworthy, she’d actually be an outstanding asset to their little community. I mean, even Andrea can see the value of Michonne, and when “The Walking Dead” started, Andrea was unstable compared to Rick’s stability.
In the early days, there were loose cannons in Rick’s group (think of Carol’s husband). Heck, even current group member Axel, who we’ve seen put the moves on teenage Beth, is deserving of wariness. But Rick let these people onto his team. Ideally, he should use the good character judgment he must’ve had in his days as a lawman and bring Tyrese’s gang into the group, too.
What’s the worst that could happen? I guess it’s theoretically possible that Tyrese’s group is just playing nice so they can rape, murder and eat Rick’s group for sustenance. But: No. 1, bring it on — an armed Carl and Carol alone could probably take them. And No. 2, if you go through life not trusting anyone and only worrying about survival, you might as well be dead anyway.
Of course, it’s been clearly chronicled — from the phantom phone calls to the visions of Lori — that Rick is losing his mind, and that his treatment of people like Tyrese and Michonne and Daryl (who he doesn’t trust to keep an eye on brother Merle within the prison) is not meant to represent level-headedness.
Now it’s time for someone to step up and take over, if only so Rick isn’t the one in charge anymore. I think the writers moved Daryl — who struck out on his own with Merle — out of the equation in part to set up a more complicated question of who will be the next leader. Michonne? Tyrese? Glenn? Upcoming episodes should be interesting, but in the meantime, I for one am tired of Rick’s s**t.
Comments
I agree. New to watching TWD, but am already tired of Rick# Posted By Tired of Rick, too | 9/6/13 6:29 PM
totally agree on Rick. Self-righteous to an extreme; guess it helps to be a southern sheriff to survive a zombie apocalypse but it doesn’t mean I have to like him. I’m hoping Morgan is the counterpart, a survivalist with some introspection.# Posted By mark | 10/12/15 11:43 PM
It seems like already in Season 6 Morgan is a tempering influence on Rick. And Glenn is the flat-out anti-Rick. Rick doesn’t take chances because he places survival above all else. Glenn does take chances because he places his humanity above all else.# Posted By John Hansen | 10/13/15 12:14 PM
rick is a dick who i would beat the shit out of! biotch punk!# Posted By lenny | 10/27/15 9:13 PM