This entire post is a spoiler for the episode of The Walking Dead which aired last night
It’s been well established that The Walking Dead has a bad habit of killing off characters of color, particularly men. This has been happening for years, although producers have redeemed themselves somewhat by allowing more equal character development. Last month, fan favorite Tyreese was bitten by a walker and succumbed.
In this latest episode, we got to know more of relative newcomer Noah, who expressed an interest in learning about architecture and building. So, in true Walking Dead fashion, Noah got eaten. This pisses me off so much. There are no other prominent black men on the show apart from that horrible excuse for a preacher, Gabriel. On the bright side, maybe this means that Morgan is closer to finding the group. US Magazine has more on how Noah’s death went down during a run to find a part to repair the power grid. Things went south after Noah and Glenn tried to save Aiden, that douche from the compound. Nicholas double crossed everyone and got Noah killed.
Although Glenn, Noah, Nicholas, and Tara wrote off Aiden as a goner when he was struck with shrapnel while fighting off a walker during the group’s supply run, the d-bag son of Deanna was actually alive. But when Nicholas refused to help rescue his friend, Aiden succumbed to the walkers headed his way.
The second, far more affecting death of the episode was also the fault of Nicholas. Eugene manned up and carried an injured Tara back to the van the group took to the warehouse while Glenn, Noah, and Nicholas tried to save Aiden.
After that rescue attempt turned out to be fruitless, they made a break for it and became trapped in a revolving glass door. Again, Nicholas wasn’t a team player and instead of helping Glenn rescue them all, he made a break for it, opening the door enough for a walker to reach in and pull Noah out — then proceed to tear him apart (literally).
This episode revealed a couple of times that the a*holes in Alexandria regularly sacrifice people in order to escape dangerous situations. Tobin, the construction crew head, stated that their “system” for escaping walkers involves leaving people behind. He stepped down from his position as head of construction after Abraham saved a female worker by single handedly killing dozens of walkers. This was particularly ironic in light of Gabriel’s speech to the head of Alexandria, Deanna, claiming that Rick and his group would sacrifice the others to save themselves.
Why couldn’t they have killed off Gabriel if there can be only one black guy at a time? (Also Eugene needs to go despite his sort-of heroics this episode. I kept thinking he was already dead until he resurfaced.) I’m glad that Aiden is dead, but I really liked Noah and wanted him to stick around.
US also points us to The Hollywood Reporter’s interview with the actor who plays Noah, Tyler James Williams. Williams has a new gig on the CSI spinoff with Gary Sinese. He was nothing but gracious about his exit and said that it will set up some incredible acting for his former co-stars. He said “In a way, these are my brothers and sisters of acting. So for me, Noah’s death was beautiful because I know what it’s going to do for Steven [Yeun] (Glenn). I know he’s going to crush what ever is coming next. I knew I’d get another gig but this is going to set up some awesome acting for these people. I’d love to have worked on it for the rest of my life but I love these people and what they do. It’s going to set up some great stuff for them.” Glenn of course witnessed Noah getting eaten alive. It was horrible. Naoh’s death was one of the most brutal and graphic I’ve seen on Walking Dead and that’s really saying something. There are two episodes of Walking Dead left this season.
photo credit: AMC
This show loves killing black people.
Hell, I’m surprised the latina has lasted this long.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Yeah, but in all fairness, they haven’t really done much for other races either. Glenn is STILL the only prominent Asian character, and has been since the very beginning. Other than Rosita, do we have (or have we) any other Latino/a characters? I keep waiting for the show to diversify in other ways as well, and keep things that way. We now have openly gay characters in Aaron and Eric (although I think Tara is gay as well?), some older folks in the Alexandria community, and maybe we’ll see more from the teen perspective in the people Carl has befriended, and the boy who constantly badgers Carol about cookies. I hope they keep it up.
WD is not perfect, but it certainly has done more with diversity of its cast than so many other shows. I just binge watched Game of Thrones and House of Cards—and comparatively, TWD is frickin Sesame Street for diversity against a lot of other shows. I give credit to them.
Eh, the TV show has introduced several black characters that don’t exist in the comic. Sasha, T-Bone, Bob and Noah do not exist in the comic. Tyrese had a daughter that was never used on the show. So everybody keep griping about this subject. If the world were to go the way of the Walking dead I would probably wind up with people mostly of my own race because that is what I know.
This group happened upon each other. If they stick more to the comic Sasha will have a long life (she is taking the place of Andrea who became the best shot of the group) and so will father Gabriel although after what he did last night (I had forgotten he did this in the comic) I would love for him to be killed. We will see people of other races but the story will always center on Rick and those that are in his group (or those that become close to Rick).
As far as Noah’s death, it was ghastly. He had a great death as far as acting goes though. This is my second favorite death, Lori’s was the first.
Morgan will come in but he will also die. Eugene and Rosita will be long time survivors. Maggie, Rick, Carl, Michionne, are the only original characters still alive. I know the show doesn’t always stick to the comic but I hope they do. Sometimes the show has ruined the storyline. I still watch I still love it, but wish they would stop messing with the great source material.
I realized Alexandria doesn’t have any people of color.
Maybe it means that Morgan is actually coming to Alexandria?
Poor Noah. 🙁 Carol is more amazing every episode.
Yes she is! Gone is the door mat she was at the beginning of the show. Watching Rick shoot her ‘walker’ daughter was a bit hard to take. Scare-ol is rocking every nerve.
The actress playing Carol deserved an Emmy for her performance when she had to kill Little Psycho Girl. She is amazing.
Noah and Aiden’s deaths were SO gruesome!
Tyler James Williams looked really disturbed to be sitting next to his dummy on the talking dead aftershow.
I’m sad about Noah but I’m ready for Morgan to show up and get rid of Gabriel. What an a-hole!
I’m assuming all these black men are dying to make room for Morgan?
There can be only one………
Yeah Black Men in TWD are like Highlanders
Like red-shirts on Star Trek!
here is my thing with this group: If you hate it so much, cant behave with any semblance of gratefulness or relief or anything passing decent what and or Who is preventing you from grabbing your dirty clothes and your guns and leaving.. I frankly don’t know why are we supposed to like more than a few of them (when they aren’t busy being cardboard people), Like seriously ever since they GOT to Alexandia they King Midas of Sh!t over there ( Rick) has all but been looking for an excuse to rob these poor fools of their lives and piece of mind
I Mean FFS!!
Ditto this: Are Alexandrians Mentally deficient?: what have Rick and Co done to be “trusted” by Aaron like Deanna said they were? Why is Deanna handing out power to people that are at best rude at worst openly plotting
That said I think Writers Finally got the Memo about writing women with some edges and dimensions cause Carol has been playing it Like GoT
also Gabriel is the worst But in this ONE instance… well.. he wasn’t even slightly wrong
I have a theory that may answer your question; I think the Alexandria people are the “wolves” who ravaged the neighborhood in which Noah’s family lived. They take what they need, and to hell with whomever gets hurt – including their own community members. There have subtle clues since the original group arrived – magazines with wolves on the cover – and I think Alexandria leader Deanna sees that Rick’s group have a battle hardened, ruthless streak that may fit right in with their survive at any cost mentality. Giving Rick’s group (seemingly) positions of authority is an attempt to win them over – but notice, they always seemed to be watched by an original Alexandria resident. IMO, Rick’s group will wind up either massacring the original Alexanderians – with the exception of Jessie, of course – and take over the compound, or they will have to flee for their lives. Either way, Rick’s paranoia and cynicism will only intensify.
yeah Epiphany, Pajiba was floating a theory about Rick’s people actually being the Wolves as well but I like yours better .. either way I don’t see anything particularly likeable about our putative heroes who have been practically begging for a chance to f*ck things up in his place since they walked in, like.. what kind of sense does it make for them to accept generosity and then act like utter bastards about it the whole time
Oops, sorry, forgot to say – I think when Gabriel was using the analogy of Satan disguising himself as a being of light to describe Rick’s group, he was, in fact, describing the Alexandria group, without knowing it of course, because he’s an idiot. There was a moment when the look on Deanna’s face said, ‘oh crap, he’s figured us out!’, until Gabriel kept talking, and she, too, knew he was an idiot.
Muy interesante, but I think the wolves will be the Scavengers from the comic and that’s how sh-t is going to play out with the series finale. Plus I think main character _____ will be killed off (sorry).
Also, Deanna bugs. The End.
Okay, I will admit before hand that this may sound twisted… but I love Rick’s group for this. To me, I see their ruthlessness as damage done by the life they have led for the past few years. I think it makes the characters more realistic. In a scene with Michonne (who I worship), Carl says something to her about his fear that he has a lot of darkness in him as a result of what he has experienced and done to survive. This is why i love the show. I do believe there is a lot of goodness in the rick group, but just as much ruthlessness. They don’t believe Alexandria could really be what it claims and I think they lack respect and trust in Alexandria because they have been so sheltered inside the walls. I could write about this forever so I will stop. Yes, I realize I am way too into this :(.
noah’s death sucked. I actually yelled “NOOOOO” at the tv. Man, am I sad? Oh well, at least I don’t watch that show that will not be named on the E channel (starts with a K) :).
I totally get you – I left the room with my hands over my ears when the revolving door scene started – too much stress!
@QQ….try reading the first comment @Cindy made. IMO, she perfectly explained why Rick’s group is behaving the way they are. She hit the nail on the head and will probably help clear up your confusion about the basic psychology behind Rick & Co.’s actions in Alexandria.
Yeah but look at the group’s history; they seriously f-ck up everything they touch, starting with the farm, then Woodbury & the prison, and soon to be Alexandria. They’re like a bad casserole that keeps repeating.
I did not like the graphic, extended death scenes last night. I felt it was unnecessary and gratuitous. Like producers are trying to come up with ways to top the most recent over the top gross scene. Noah’s death would have been much more emotionally effective without all the fake blood and seeing him literally ripped apart and disemboweled. It was like a bad scifi horror movie. Not a comparison AMC should appreciate. The shows goal has never been “campy” and the two death scenes last night were campy.
I have always been team Carol. I’m the president of team Carol. But how do you get from he’s beating her to you have to kill him??? Deanna appointed constables, meaning she knows human nature and that the potential for crime exists. Therefore, she must anticipate some type of justice system to deal with lawbreakers. If they were smart, Rick would discuss it with Deanna and try to come up with a solution. She’s already admitted to exiling people. I would think if porch dick can’t stay away from his wife, she’d be okay with that. Unless he’s the only doctor they have. That just occurred to me. Okay, I take back what I just said. If he’s the only doctor (which I’m guessing he is as he keeps bringing it up), I can see Deanna wanting to keep him there for the good of the community despite his crimes.
Lol- yep, he has to die now. Whatttt?
I was disappointed when Carol said that too and I really do love her. This town is kind of bringing out the worst in some of the characters 🙁
I think Carol’s reaction of “you need to kill him” was just a knee-jerk reaction, after having been someone who suffered at the hands of her husband all the years prior to the ZA and up until her husband was killed. She most likely still suffers PTSD from her experiences with her husband.
As for Gabriel, he seems to be projecting HIS actions on to the group. Yes, they’ve killed people in order to survive, but how quickly he forgot that he locked up his church and left people outside to be killed, too. Remember the messages scribbled on the walls? Anyway, I’ve distrusted the Gabriel character from the get-go and he proved himself to be untrustworthy last night. The group could have easily left him, but they didn’t. My 2 cents.
Have a good day, everyone. 🙂
So after all this death and killing and just eking out a life – you have to accept a wife beater? Kill him. Waste of skin.
Can’t wait to see Gabriel get his just desserts.
Only part disappointing is Carol not doing it herself.
A-town is in a bubble where they believe laws and social norms still apply. Carol and Rick know that the world has turned into a no bull**** place. Nobody has time for domestic violence when u have zombies
@pandy
I don’t think you have to accept it, but why not exile him from the group? It seems kind of extreme to jump straight to killing him. This is a group of people who are supposed to have morals still and try to keep thier humanity. They think killing other people is wrong unless they are a threat to them. This guy isn’t a threat, he’s just an asshole. I just found it to be a strange reaction for them. Like when Rick pointed his gun at him just because he likes the dudes wife.
I also don’t like Gabriel and can’t wait for him to get what’s coming to him. He is a coward who basically killed his own and has now betrayed the people who saved him. He’s a doosh.
I don’t know. Sometimes it goes for camp, especially in death scenes. Quite a few of them have been homages to past zombie films. Nicotero loves to work in those easter eggs.
Yes, those two deaths were homages. Nicotero started his work with Romero and did special effects for Day of the Dead. Also, that riot gear walker was a tribute to the riot gear walker in TellTale Game’s Walking Dead Video Game. Lee comes across him in the pharmacy.
No, *I* am the president of team Carol. 🙂
This may be the most interesting season yet….how will they handle “porch dick” (LOLOL).
Do they give him a trial? Exhile him? Execute him to send a message about wife and child abuse? What about the fact he is the only doctor, a skill that they need to survive?
Am I the only one who wondered if Jessie is the abuser, and porch dick the abusee?
I got that vibe – Jessie coming off so smooth and charming and confident, and openly warm to Rick, while porch dick is a sad mess.
Oh wow. I didn’t think about that. Interesting analysis.
Deedee: THAT would be brilliant! It makes perfect sense. Her son wrecked her owl sculpture out of anger…at her?
I didn’t even think about that. And you may be right. If you look at the dynamic, it makes sense. I doubt she’d be so willing to spend time with Rick, knowing her husband may find out and “punish” her for it later. That’s why I love these posts. So many ideas.
I’m so pissed. I hope that Nicholas dude gets the most slow, painful and agonizing death ever to be seen on the show. I can’t believe Glenn didn’t shoot him in the knees and let the walkers get him. I was so angry last night, hell I stll am.
Me TOO!!!! And I’m taking a break from the show because I was so pissed and so was my bf who is a die hard WD fan and the one who got me into the show.
Noah death was OVERKILL. just gross. My mom got so mad she said she was done with the show.. they kill off all the black people ASAP.. I had to agree..
I know that Tyler has a new show lined up. So I was expecting Noah to go.. but that was just too much.
The people of Alexandria are idiots. They have no idea of what the world is like. Living in a fantasy land. But the thing that is most creepy is how dysfunctional it all is. They run at the first sign of danger and will sacrifice each other to live.. there is an abusive husband in the mist of all that Suburban Perfection. So even though it looks “safe” it has the same dangers of the world before and after the Zombie Uprising.
People as Rick said are the most dangerous. Gabriel is going to get it good. He used Rick and Company to stay safe, now he is throwing them under the bus. It will not end will for him.
I forced myself to watch Noah’s death but if I wasn’t covering this episode I would have turned away. It was horrible, like the wax faces melting at the end of Indiana Jones but worse. It did not need to be so gratuitous. Also I agree with you about the people of Alexandria being idiots. I think Rick is just doing what he has to do, as he’s done all along, to keep his people alive.
It was so over the top and horrible :-(. I had to watch Talking Dead afterwards to feel better by watching a very alive Noah, lol. I am seriously taking a break from the show though, don’t like the way it makes me feel after watching.
Me either Cali. It used to be a show about heroes and overcoming tremendous odds but now it’s so dark and disturbing I can’t even fantasize about hot Rick. Plus some folks are predicting Judith’s death and that is definitely a show I don’t want to watch. I think I’m done for a while too and I have watched since episode 1. I just don’t see the appeal anymore. 🙁
Yup. Alexandria is full of chicken sh*ts.
I cheered, loudly, when Glenn punched that douche in the mouth.
Carol’s interaction with Sam is KILLING IT. So good.
But my main point – Abraham fanned my ladylusts last night, he killed it in this episode also. *fans self*
Ohhhh, yeah. I love that big orange-haired monster (as “Eugene” referred to him on “Talking Dead” last night). Best part was when the rest of the crew realized he was still alive after dashing under the vehicle, then one moved forward with a gun to help him – “What are you doing??” “Making sure he stays that way!”
Ever since Dale died a few seasons back. I have learned not to get to emotionally attached to any of the characters on this show because you never knew who was going to be next.
When Lori was killed off I knew then that you shouldn’t get attached. I’ve never read the books so I’m assuming whoever dies in the books will die on the show too.
If they hadn’t killed Lori I would have quit watching. She was the worst.
I hid my eyes when Noah was eaten. I would have given walkers a fork to eat Lori.
Nope the commic books and show do not have the same deaths. Example would be Andrea makes it to Alexandria but Judith dies with her mother courtesy of the govenor. There is a website you can Google that lists how the character deaths differ if you want to know just how much they differ. Also Darryl and Merrill were not in the comic books so there are some major differences between the two.
I’m attached to Carol, can’t help it. Even though we know Carl is probably the only safe one, according to Kirkman. When she goes I will enter a TV depression.
I hope Gabriel gets ripped apart!! Hate that guy!!!! Carol used to bug me but kinda love her now. I really do love Rick and his group but everywhere they go, things go to hell. They are like bad luck or something. Remember when they made it to the CDC thinking they found a safe place? Then it blows up. Herschel’s farm, the prison, now Alexandria. Not saying it’s their fault, but everything they touch turns to shit!
I love the Walking Dead, but damn, do they love to kill off black people or what? Seriously though, I’ve been reading the comics for ages and no one is safe in the comics. I will lose it if Glen (foreshadowing) or Carol or Michonne gets killed off.
No. They are not allowed to kill off Carol, Michonne, Glen or Daryl. It says so in the Geneva Conventions.
*adjusts tinfoil hat*
I just got your message. Check.
Yeah, I do am disappointed in the predictability of the black character being killed off. I also am frustrated that they don’t much to develop some of these characters at all, either. I think that you can argue that Michone had the potential to be one of the most interesting black character on TV, period. Period. Ever. But they have neutered her and made her into some sort of gray backdrop for Rick’s sweaty primacy.
Personally, I think last night’s gruesome deaths were to get some energy back into what has been a rambling, dull story about a bunch of people wandering around.
Even your headline was a spoiler.
I know right? I feel like it should be (with all shows, movies, books, etc.) simply Recap:
**SPOILERS** and leave it at that.
Anyone who watches the show knows that all kinds of characters – major and minor – are killed off constantly, so saying someone was killed off isn’t a spoiler at this point.
Seriously. Someone got mad at me once for saying that TWD was over its black male character quota. I’m like… you’re a fan and that is news to you?!? That’s not even a spoiler, because you know it’s going to happen. Plus the whole “so many characters I can’t remember their names” thing makes character death spoilers ambiguous enough too IMO.
This show is not about race folks! Chill on the race card. If it’s time to go, its just time to go..there aren’t any race card WD is pulling. They are doing a great job mixing up race in this show…I like that this pack has a mixed group of people.