Hello everyone.
So first and foremost, I think this post might divide people but I think this view/concept of The Walking Dead has merit that - in this post - I will explore. First of all I need to pay homage to another TV series people here may or may not know to understand where I am coming from a bit better. However, so you get the gist of what this post is about. For me, the show ended in Season 5, Episode 11 "The Distance". Now, to my case.
TL;DR at bottom.
I want to start this post with saying that post S5E11 I enjoy the show for what it is, but think of it in a different way or like to enjoy the show with a different spin.
To understand a bit better where this small essay is going I want to briefly talk about TV show called Justified. For those who have never seen it, what it is about and what happens in it is not something you really need to know to get an idea of where I am coming from. So:
For Fans of just TWD, not Justified fans:
Justified ended with 6 seasons of gloriously crafted television and - in my opinion - is one of the best shows ever made. My main reason to make such a bold claim being that the show was handled in a very delicate way. While renewing the show for a 7th season was an option, and many fans wanted this, the show ended at Season 6 because the characters and all their arcs had run their natural course. The show was completed and the payoffs set up from season to season executed perfectly. In essence, the talented minds behind the show had the narrative intelligence to know when to end the show with its natural story conclusion.
For Fans of both shows (spoilers for Justified below):
Justified ended at the perfect conclusion of both Boyd and Raylan in a very satisfying way. What I found unique about the show was how Boyd's character arc was - in essence - about his change. Raylan's arc being about his resistance in the face of giving into criminal undertones he had been flirted with the whole show. They are both triumphant in their own arc completions; as are all the major characters to some degree. This narrative intelligence shown by the screen writers and producers of when to end the show was paramount to its success and critical acclaim. The show never experienced stagnant character arcs (for the mains at least) and had an end that fit the overall story of the show.
Now, I am fairly certain you may now know where this is going. To me, I want to make the case that Season 5, Episode 11 is the end of the show. I want to present an alternate way to view the show for some who may seem a little bit disillusioned by the current direction of not only the show but the TV fictional universe being developed.
To make this easier for my own sake, I want to use Justified as an example to create a checklist of sorts. This checklist is what I want to use to further illustrate my claim.
So, for a story to end in most mediums, we need the following (imo):
- The completion of a third and final act of the over-encompassing story themes
- A final huge character development for our main protagonist that is subjectively positive OR a final character stagnation that is subjectively negative
- In larger works with more content like novels and TV shows, the completion of a localized story arc
- Usually the completion of protagonist character arcs in line with their huge development change
- The completion or inferred completion of side character story's and arcs
Justified, in many respects, ticks all of those boxes. If you are not a fan I guess you will have to read past this next section for comparison (if you care about spoilers).
- Justified can be broken down into three acts that follows most westerns; lawman rides into town, cleans up the troublemakers, takes care of the biggest threat towards the end as a conclusion (usually with some kind of self sacrifice)
- Raylan rises above his inner instinct to kill Boyd; we say a microcosm of this with Dickie Bennet. Raylan has a somewhat contradictory and rare stagnant development in that everything he goes through doesn't change his worldview which is arguably for the better. However, this works for his character.
- The final season wrapped up the Boone/outsider coming in to rob Harlan storyline that was set up at the start of the Season. (which links into a theme that resonates with old westerns)
- Raylan, like stated above, doesn't change his world view and completes his arc by not giving into his inner outlaw ways while leaving Harlan alive. This makes sense for the way Raylan has been written.
- Most, if not all, of the side characters have some final moment or completion of their arcs or it is inferred via dialogue/actions (even if it means a final interaction that pays homage to their first interaction with the main protagonist)
Now this isn't all iron tight but it mostly adds up. Now, using this comparison, let's look at S5E11 and finally make the case.
- TWD can be broken down into three acts; each with very specific tones to match how the characters develop in this new world. Fear (S1-2). Perseverance (S3-4). Salvation (S5). From Seasons 1-2 we see a main focal point of fear in the episodes, characters, and new world they inhabit. In S1, the dead became the big, bad fear that threatens the survivors. In S2 this fear shifts to walkers and humans. By S3 we see the Perseverance act begin with the finding of the prison and Woodbury; in turn giving them hope and a greater threat. This is extended into S4 with the illness and the destruction of the prison. S5 becomes full circle to finding a place they can truly be safe or find salvation. These acts mimic the waves of emotions/states the war refugees go through (which funnily enough is referenced by Rick later in S5; just in reference to soldiers in war). The fear of the war. The perseverance of those involved on all sides. Then their salvation with the war's end. All reflected in the survivors' story. The over-encompassing arc, imo, is that TWD is a story about war at its core; a microcosm of it and everything people face during it.
- For our huge character develop for our main protagonist; Rick finally accepts that Alexandria is their salvation and finds a place his survivors can call home. The main driving force behind all three evolving themes of fear, perseverance, and salvation is paid off in the final scenes of children's laughter and sunlight illuminating their new home. He has found a place that his family can be safe in. Yet, the hidden gun is a stark reminder that history can repeat itself. Is is both a beacon of hope and tomb of the horrors they faced.
- Season 5 wrapped up the sub-plots of the Termites and bringing the group back together after S4; which ties into the localized season specific plotlines.
- Rick completes his own arc; not only finding a place for his family but paying homage to 'making it out alive' like his grand father did in WW2. Just as his grand father survived WW2, Rick survived his own war.
- All of the supporting/main characters that are with Rick complete their respective arcs (to a degree) with the over-encompassing arc to survive for salvation.
Watching TWD from S1-S5E11 gives a concise, sarin wrapped show that, had it finished where it had, I think would have been a perfect piece of cinema/TV for decades to come. A story told about multiple themes with a diverse cast that can teach us a lot about ourselves and our lives through their own war.
This leaves the question of the rest of the show. How do I think post-S5E11? I like to view it as Rick's PTSD in a sense. PTSD is, at its core, about reliving and exaggerating horrific trauma as your body's way of preparing for similar trauma in the future. The function of this being to keep you aware and ready for similar threats in the future (at least, that is how a Doctor explained it to me as I am not a mental health professional). So I like to think of the post-S5E11 episodes as Rick's PTSD exaggerating his trauma through dream sequences; much like soldiers suffer PTSD after conflict. While this is a loose way to think about it, it fits nicely when you see it from this perspective. That Rick, in his dreams and thoughts about what could be, experiences the bad (PTSD) (Negan and so on) and the good (the lighter themes later on about rebuilding a new world) just like real dreams in our own minds work and extend from our thought processes/sub-conscious.
Just a few thoughts? :)
TL;DR - Think about the show ending at S5E11, and the rest being a series of dreams/PTSD experiences that Rick experiences after the 'war' they went through from Season 1-5.
Just going to leave this here (think of this as the last collection of scenes TWD ever has): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJZOlzKjG6s
Submitted November 27, 2020 at 04:54AM by stewarts-media https://ift.tt/33jAPjo
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