The Walking Dead: Backstories for the Characters?

I’m a big fan of the television show Walking Dead. I loved Season One, and enjoyed Season Two, but in Season Three, something is missing. It’s still a good show, and I enjoy watching on my Sunday nights, but yesterday while watching I think I figured out what would take the Walking Dead from “really good” to “OMG amazing.”

Along with being action-packed, the Walking Dead focuses on the development of the characters. Which is great, but we are missing a huge part of the characters: Who they were before the zombie apocalypse. 

Why don’t they give us flashback scenes about who these people were in the real world? They did that on Lost, and it’s part of why Lost is, in my opinion, one of the best shows ever on television. Last night, it came out that the Governor and Milton (the Governor’s advisor who does scientific experiments on the zombies) knew each other before the zombie apocalypse. Viewers know that the Governor bosses (bullies?) Milton around, and Milton takes it. Then I remembered that the Governor spoke with Andrea earlier this season about working a job he hated before the apocalypse. So I thought: What if Milton was the Governor’s boss before the apocalypse? There could be great flashbacks of Milton bossing the Governor around and the Governor taking it, juxtaposed with the Governor bossing Milton around in present day. Done right, it would be extremely powerful.

If the writers applied this technique to a different character in every episode, I think the Walking Dead would become truly amazing. It would show how the apocalypse has changed these characters for better or worse, and make the viewers feel more emotionally connected to them.

What’s your opinion? Do you like this idea, or do you prefer the show as is? (Of course the writers won’t actually use my idea, but it could be fun to discuss.)

xoxo,
Michelle

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