Watching Dead: A Wishlist

The key to a good adaptation between incongruent mediums isn't slavish accuracy to the source material, but knowing what to keep, what to cut and what to change entirely. A poor adaptation isn't necessarily the fault of a bad writer, but perfectly competent writer who couldn't pull off the balancing act. In terms of adapting the comic into the television series, the Walking Dead was all over the map, mostly to its benefit. The first episode was almost verbatim to the first few issues, beyond that it bounced between following some aspects of the comic and it's own unique series of events and characters. As such, it's pretty hard to guess how closely the series is going to stick to the comic in the following seasons, and even harder to guess what's in store for the characters. When dealing with the wholly-fictional characters in the comic, they come and go with alarming frequency and no guarantee of any particular lifespan. With actors contracted and making a living, we're probably going to see less of a revolving, expendable cast. I'm sure there'll be deaths, but I can't imagine it'll be quite the same revolving-door roster as the books; prime example being how Shane's role has already been substantially expanded and we're promised to see more of him in the second season.

As I'm writing this, some news of the second season has already been revealed, including that part of the season will take place at the Hershel's farm. Not knowing how closely they're going to keep to the books, or at what pace, I'm taking a look at some of the other things I'd like to see make it from the comics to the screen in the upcoming season(s). I'll be looking at things from throughout the comic run, so anyone catching up beware of potential spoilers.

Michonne

This is a gimme, Kirkman's already said in interviews that Darabont will probably work Michonne into the series,  possibly this coming season. The immediate appeal of her is obvious: a badass chick with a sword killing zombies. I could be wrong, but I believe that compromises about 30% of Japanese cinema (the rest of course being 30% Kurosawa, 30% Godzilla and 10% Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh films). Although after over sixty issues since she showed up, we don't know terribly much about Michonne, but from what we've seen she and Rick are two sides of the same coin. Both somewhat naturally inclined to take charge, both moved to do what's just and willing to do what they need to do accomplish it, even to the point of their butting heads maintaining law in Alexandria. Both even deal with their grief and loss in a similar, rather eccentric way. However, where Rick has more obvious motivation in protecting his family, Michonne has remained more stoic and silent and more often than not keeps to herself, even when interacting or connecting with others she keeps herself safely detatched. The downside of her silent nature is that she's always stayed more in the background of the more narrative-based stretches, mostly coming out for the action sequences. With the presumably smaller, more intimate cast of the show, we could possibly get to know the character better, acting as a foil to Rick and opening up more chances for her as a dramatic character, especially if/when the show heads to Woodbury.

Woodbury/The Prison

Speaking of Woodbury, the domain of the dictatorial Governor, and the nearby prison where the majority of the series has taken place at this point, this also seems like something of a guarantee if they're keeping to the comics' story. The Governor has also been promised in some form, and has been the closest thing to a real over-the-top villain the series has had so far. In the prison, Rick's group and the prisoners still inside give their best go at maintaining some form of civility and every-day life while enjoying some relative safety. Woodbury, on the other hand, gives us a glimpse at survivors at their worst, a makeshift community huddled together in a mockery of society while remaining essentially lawless and their leader literally rapes, pillages and takes as much advantage of the situation and others' suffering as he can. The two offered a contrasting look at the post-apocalyptic world, and the brief glimpse of hope the prison provided for the main characters only made when everything inevitably went wrong that much worse. And all this went down all but ostensibly isolated from the zombie outbreak, exclusively looking at the horrors humanity inflicts upon itself.

The Hunters

Encountered as the survivors head towards Washington D.C., but really a kind of one-off tale that could be worked in anywhere. Like the Governor, the Hunters are another group showing how the remaining living humans are as much of a threat as the roaming dead ones. Another group of survivors, they had settled down into an abandoned neighborhood and attempted to live off the land rather than keep moving. Ironically proving to be poor hunters, the group instead resorted to cannibalism. After eating their own children, they had taken to finding other survivors, hunting small groups or single travelers and living off them. After attempting to terrorize Rick's group by picking them off one by one, Rick eventually turned the table on them and showed just how brutal his group could be to protect their loved ones.

The Herd

Walking Dead is primarily a human story, when all's said and done the zombies are more of an afterthought. When in need of a reminder of how big a threat they can be, however, a mile-wide shuffling mass of hunger and death is just fuckin' beautiful. The two-page spreads have always been one of the comic's strongest features, but it'd be amazing to see down in live-action, especially with the beautiful make-up effects of the show.

Mental breakdowns

Providing some of the most touching, depressing and even humorous scenes of the comic, as the story progresses we see the strain this existence is taking on some of the main characters. The reason Walking Dead has always worked so much better than your average zombie film has been it's long-form presentation. Not only are we seeing the story of these people rather than the story of the zombies, we're seeing it over a long period of time, and how everything can weigh these people down. Rick is dealing with rage issues and is very clearly losing his mind, Carl is exhibiting numerous sociopathic tendencies, and Morgan, who I hope comes back to the show period, is having trouble adjusting after being alone with his dead son for so long. I don't know if the folks making the show would even be willing to put Rick through half as much as he's gone through, physically and mentally, or if they'd want to show a murderous little kid who isn't possessed or voiced by Seth MacFarlane, but that's where a lot of the emotional impact and tension in the latter half of the books is stemming from.

These are just a few of the elements of the books I've loved so far, and wouldn't mind seeing show up in the next season or hopefully the many after it. After the first season really turning the story into it's own beast, though, I'd love just as much to see them take it in a completely different direction just to see what they do with it.