MovieChat Forums > The Walking Dead (2010) Discussion > I still miss Merle

I still miss Merle

posted 5 years ago by Mister Babadook (2664)
18 replies | jump to latest

I've never gotten over his death, he was such a great character and added a bit of edge in the group, ya know someone who's not really a good guy and doesn't get along with others. It was so entertaining in the middle of season 3 when he joined Rick's group and had solo scenes with Carol, Rick and the others.

I loved his car ride with Michonne when he was taking her to The Governor but then let her go and went alone as a one man army to take The Governor down.

God it would have been so cool to have a Merle and Negan scene, i could only imagine the dialogue between them.

Theres not been a character's death who has upset me more than his.

[–] ghostboy (652) 5 years ago

I'm actually glad he died when he did, otherwise he'd just be a background character now

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Merle would've laid the smackdown on Beta!

[–] Natalie0903 (13) 5 years ago

Thanks for posting this! I’m late to the party so to speak with this show and have been watching all the past seasons on Netflix. I liked Merle a lot and was sorry to see him go; it was also hard to watch Daryl’s reaction to his death- so sad.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Just as you were starting to see that there was more to him than the attitude, he was killed off. And Daryl being the one to find him was tragic. That scene was like Sophia coming out of the barn, a real punch in the gut. I don't know how many seasons you've watched so I won't spoil anything that came after season 3. But I'd put the final scene between Merle and Daryl on a short list of the show's most emotional deaths.

I agree with Mister Babadook, Merle and Negan trying to out-smartass each other would be fun to watch!

[–] Keelai (34148) 5 years ago

I never liked Merle, but the Walker Merle was kind of sad to watch. I think a Shane and Negan scene or how Shane would handle the Whisperers would be interesting.

It's a shame they prematurely kill off good characters.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Shane was on a self-destructive spiral throughout season 2. I don't see how you'd make him a sustainable character after that. First he started thinking of Lori and Carl as his family before Rick came back and took that away from him, then there was the incident with Otis. He portrayed himself as strong but was actually weak. In the end it was almost like Shane was begging his old friend to put him out of his misery; if he was going to shoot, he had ample opportunity - but he didn't.

We saw from his behavior with Randall that he'd gone full Jack Nicholson: all work and no play makes Shane a crazy boy. What could the rest of them have done, raided a pharmacy for Haldol and kept him medicated? His disintegrating mental state (which was a major source of tension that season) meant that either Shane or Rick was going to die. And the group would never have followed Shane. Especially after he killed Rick.

Merle was a dick most of the time, but at least he was entertaining. Toward the end we started to see that there was an actual person under the bad attitude, that maybe he could go the same way as Daryl given more time. His interactions with Michonne revealed a lot. They did that on purpose of course. So we'd feel something when Daryl found him at the end.

[–] Keelai (34148) 5 years ago

I hated Shane. I never thought of Shane as being self-destructive, but he probably was. He was untrustworthy, selfish and unethical, but he would've killed off the Whisperers after they killed Jesus knowing that they would continue to be a threat. Like Rick, he also had law enforcement which could've come in handy. Shane would've been sneaky about killing Rick so nobody would've known - at least for sure.

His daughter appears to have his strength and ability without the bad characteristics.

[–] LordBAElish (2015) 5 years ago

Its always fun to think about how characters in the beginning of the show would handle situations after they passed. How would have Dale handled the Governor? Imagine Shane with Negan?

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Shane was unstable and getting worse. Early in the season he could still keep it together, but it became more and more of a struggle, he was full of rage all the time and very impulsive. Toward the end he really was taking a dive off the deep end. I can't imagine any set of circumstances where he could've killed Rick and had people believe him. Lori would've known. So would Hershel, and Daryl never bought his BS story about Otis in the first place.

Rick came close to losing it himself during the third season. When he was seeing Lori dressed in white, and getting phone calls at the prison. I don't think Shane would've pulled out of his nosedive though. This is a situation where the differences in their personalities made all the difference. At his worst Rick was like a mountain man living alone in the hills. He withdrew from his friends, but except for that one incident with Glenn none of them were afraid Rick was going to kill them. Shane's decline was in the direction of becoming violent and dangerous. More members of the group would've died at his hands, until somebody took him down.

[–] Keelai (34148) 5 years ago

I had the impression Rick was having a nervous breakdown. I didn't get the impression Shane was having mental issues. Shane was just a jerk. Maybe the circumstances brought it out more.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Really? He got to the point where was always angry and struggling to contain it. He was obsessed with Lori in the stalker sense, seeming to forget how he tried to force himself on her. He'd lose his temper at the drop of a hat and do something impulsive. Later on, that scene where he took Randall out and eventually snapped his neck, he was definitely sliding down the rabbit hole at that point. The way he was with Rick in their final scene - not someone who's firing on all cylinders.

Binge watch season 2 sometime and you can see Shane's gradual decline during their stay at the farm. From his fairly calm and collected (not to mention loyal) demeanor when Carl got shot, to the midpoint where he'd turned against Rick, and the second half when he was actively trying to get rid of him. Jon Bernthal is a talented actor. He covered the whole spectrum from mostly decent guy to total psycho and did a convincing job of it.

[–] Keelai (34148) 5 years ago

Early on when Rick showed up, Shane pointed his gun at Rick in the woods while looking for Walkers which Dale saw. Agreed Shane unraveled, but he appeared to have issues from the beginning. I'm surprise he didn't kill witness Dale. He saw Carl as his own son.

[–] chrisjdel (2714) 5 years ago

Exactly. He started to lose it right away when Rick got back. Pointing the gun at him. Venting his rage beating Ed (Carol's husband) into a bloody pulp. Being a big tough thug who can push people around isn't enough in this world though, I think that was the implication of Shane's downward spiral. He had the physical skills and willingness to use them but not the inner mental toughness. Everyone else had to deal with horrible trauma and loss; they had their low moments, but managed to stay on a more or less even keel while he couldn't.

The reason he didn't kill Dale, I think, is that he realized there was no threat there. The guy was not going to shoot him in cold blood. It wasn't in his nature. Dale was all talk, and would never actually do anything - so why bother? That's why he just took the guns and walked away.

[–] winslow (1318) 5 years ago

That's what the whole head shaving scene was about. He had just killed Otis, and that was him crossing a point of no return. He found a way to justify killing by saying it was to protect his friends/family. But taking that to the extreme would eventually make him see threats that weren't really there.

[–] EvilPinata (1186) 5 years ago

Well from a comic reader standpoint, Shane was around on the show longer than he was in the book so I wouldn't say he was prematurely killed.

[–] Keelai (34148) 5 years ago

I meant other good characters, not Shane. I really despised him. But, I think he would've handled The Whisperers much better than the present characters.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (76084) 5 years ago

Merle was cool in a lot of ways
Fun character

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Merle vs. Beta would've been the Fight of the Century!