The Walking Dead (TV series): Difference between revisions

* [[Aborted Arc]]: Andrea and Dale were originally set to become lovers as it was in the comics. {{spoiler|This changed when Dale was killed in the ante-penultimate episode of Season 2}}.

* [[Absentee Actor]]: A fair chunk of the male beta cast seems to have the day off in "18 Miles Out". Glenn, Dale, Daryl, T-Dog, and Herschel are all completely absent, the action at the farm focusing on the women and Rick and Shane dealing with the prisoner.

* [[Action Girl]]: Andrea, Maggie, Carol, and Michonne.

* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: The series only follows the comic in [[Broad Strokes]], so those who have read the comic don't assume the outcome of the series is a foregone conclusion, introducing new characters and scenes in addition to the ones that showed up in the comics.

** After Glenn comes up with a strategy of military efficiency to get Rick's bag of guns off the swarmed street, Daryl asks him what he used to do for a living. He says he used to deliver pizza.

** The leader of the Vatos used to be a custodian.

* [[An Arm and a Leg]]: Hershel is bitten on the leg by a walker, but cutting off the leg saves him.

** Unfortunately, cutting off Tyreese's arm does ''not'' save him. Not because the fever had already gotten to him, but because of the blood loss.

* [[Audience Surrogate]]: As Rick had been unconscious during the beginning stages of the apocalypse, Morgan explains to him and the audience what's going on. Of course, the audience already knows at some level what's going on considering what the title of the show is.

** Ironically enough, Rick later explains to the audience as well as his fellow survivors that a walker bite isn't required to become a walker. As long as you meet your maker (unless, of course, you've been stabbed in the brain or your corpse has been immolated), you become a zombie.

* [[Auto Erotica]]: The episode "Secrets" includes a scene where {{spoiler|Shane and Andrea}} get busy in the car they're in, [["Glad to Be Alive" Sex|just after they've escaped a housing development that was full of walkers]].

* [[Automaton Horses]]: Real horses don't even take well to ''living'' crowds without special training, yet the one Rick rides into a city crawling with walkers barely snorts in nervousness. When attacked, it just stands there whinnying hopelessly and gets eaten alive rather than kicking, bucking or fleeing. Justified since it ''was'' running until it got cornered. On the practical side, realistic bucking/kicking would need a ''very'' skilled stunt rider. It would also be dangerous for the extras playing walkers.

* [[Ax-Crazy]]: Negan, though he does apologize before killing Glenn.

** The Governor, the zombie apocalypse has driven him off the deep end.

<!-- * [[The Baby of the Bunch]]: Judith joins the group during Season 3. MOD: No such trope. -->

* [[Badass Boast]]:

* [[Camera Abuse]]: Blood and/or brains are often splattered onto the camera, usually resulting from a gunshot, blunt object, or axe to the head.

* [[Canon Foreigner]]: Quite a few - Merle, Daryl, Ed, the Morales family, Jacqui, Jenner, the Vatos...

* [[Can't Get Away with Nuthin']]: Shane. Every time {{spoiler|[[Murder the Hypotenuse|he tries to kill Rick]]}}, someone gets in the way. First time it was Dale, second time it was a horde of walkers. And the third time {{spoiler|Rick just goes ahead and stabs him in the stomach, not wanting to take any chances. Finally}}.

* [[The Cavalry]]:

* [[Cruel and Unusual Death]]: Noah and Otis are devoured by walkers, due to the actions of their own comrades. Other survivors though don't experience such horrible deaths.

** Jessie and Sam also share the same fate. They tried to disguise themselves as walkers, but the walkers ended up seeing through their disguises in the end.

* [[Cute Little Fangs]]: Accidentally revealed if you're paying attention to teeth in "Vatos" while Amy is in the boat.

* [[Cute Monster Girl]]:

* [[Daylight Horror]]: Frequently. Noah in particular is eaten by walkers in broad daylight in front of Glenn, though they're not quite outdoors when it happens.

* [[Death by Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Sophia}}, who (compared to {{spoiler|her continuing presence in the comic}}) is killed after {{spoiler|the group finds her in the barn, having been turned into a walker}} and also {{spoiler|Dale, as of "Judge, Jury, Executioner". In the source material, he survived all the way past the prison arc (which is the plot of the third season) until the "Fear The Hunters" arc}}.

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]:

** Hershel and Beth, after {{spoiler|the massacre of all the zombies in the barn}}, which included Hershel's wife.

** Daryl too. He's so determined to find Sophia, that when he {{spoiler|falls down a small cliff and gets impaled on one of his own bolts}}, he manages to climb out and walk back to the farm, killing two walkers on the way, as a hallucination of Merle haunts him. [[Lamarck Was Right|Must run in the family]], along with 'Big No's.

** Andrea as well, as of "Beside the Dying Fire". {{spoiler|On her own against a horde of walkers, she runs and fights her way through the forest for the better part of ''twelve hours''. She only gets overwhelmed when she loses her knife}}.

* [[Diabolus Ex Machina]]: On every episode. [[It Got Worse|Things get worse]] as the series progresses, and when something [[Yank the Dog's Chain|good happens, it doesn't last]].

* [[Dirty Business]]: "Save the Last One"—Shane and Otis are injured and trying to escape a mob, each with one bullet left. {{spoiler|Shane shoots Otis to give the mob something to eat so he can escape with the medical equipment for the injured Carl}}.

* [[Disaster Democracy]]: Rick is never elected, but essentially trusted as the leader of the group because of his former position and natural abilities. This trope is darkly invoked at the end of Season 2 though, when Rick makes the ultimatum that if anyone doesn't have confidence in his ability to lead the group, they should just go their own way. Essentially, he forces everyone to vote with their feet, and they vote to stick with him... mostly out of fear of everything else.

* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: Jocelyn is this to Shane. Both were friends to Michonne and Rick respectively before the zombie apocalypse began, before they eventually became evil and tried to kill them. Jocelyn is far worse than Shane, however...she brainwashed children of all people into becoming psychotic killers.

* [[Dressing as the Enemy]]: Carol has dressed as a walker and a member of the psychotic Wolves.

** Rick has dressed as a walker twice. The first time, his disguise is thwarted by a sudden downpour. The second time is more successful for him.

** Jessie and Sam also dress as walkers, but they end up blowing their cover, with grisly results. Seems the walkers aren't as dumb as they thought they were.

* [[The Dragon]]: Martinez serves as this to the Governor. However, he eventually starts his own group of survivors and becomes their leader. Unfortunately, the Governor decides to kill him so that he can be the one in charge, even though Martinez offered to allow him to be the leader alongside him.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Obviously, given the nature of the series, the characters have frequently come across the remains of survivors who resorted to this.

** In "What Lies Ahead", T-Dog finds the... aftermath of what was a baby in a child seat.

** Jimmy and Patricia in "Beside the Dying Fire".

* [[Eiffel Tower Effect]]

** In "Guts", the Georgia Dome is seen in the background.

** The zombie that attacks (and ultimately kills) Dale seems smarter than a normal walker. Not only does he sneak up on him, but instead of simply trying to bite him, he also tears out his guts, which would make devouring him much easier as it made him much more unlikely to resist. It still got stuck in the mud though.

** Generally, a walker that has recently been turned is more dangerous than a walker who hasn't been turned recently, as they are shown to exhibit signs of intelligence.

* [[Establishing Character Moment]]: Merle has his in his very first scene, when he calls T-Dog a nigger and threatens to put the group at risk with his violence.

** The Governor's establishing character moment is when he massacres a group of soldiers who survived the outbreak accompanied by Woodbury's soldiers. He then lies to his community that the soldiers had fallen victim to the walkers, but he had managed to salvage their equipment. No wonder Michonne didn't trust him.

** Ironically, Carl later wears one after he is shot in the right eye, making him resemble him.

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Merle eventually becomes one of the Governor's soldiers. Given that he had already shown to be racist, it didn't come out of nowhere. But eventually Merle has a change of heart and attempts to kill the Governor, at the cost of his own death.

* [[Failed a Spot Check]]:

** In the second season premiere, Dale is on lookout duty atop his RV while the gang searches the massive gridlock on the freeway. He doesn't notice a massive herd of walkers until they are right on top of the group, {{spoiler|leading ultimately to Sophia's death}}.

* [["Glad to Be Alive" Sex]]: The reason {{spoiler|Andrea and Shane}} get busy on the [[Auto Erotica|ride back to the farm]] after surviving the walker herd while out searching for Sophia. Shane still wishes to be with Lori though...unfortunately for Rick.

* [[Gonna Need More Trope]]: After painting himself and Glenn with walker gore, Rick gives their [[Pretend We're Dead|disguise]] a critical eye and concludes "We need more guts."

* [[Goodbye, Cruel World]]: The suicide note that Daryl and Andrea find with a hanging walker who failed to kill himself in "Save the Last One". Could count as a Death Poem.

{{quote|'''Daryl:''' (reading note) "Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit."}}

** Alexandria is this to Terminus. They don't practice cannibalism at Alexandria, for one. Both of them eventually are attacked by hostile survivors, though it ends better for Alexandria than it does for Terminus. (The Terminus survivors eventually overcome their attackers, but they're forever altered for the worse by the experience).

** The Kingdom is this for the Saviors. While the Saviors are generally evil, the Kingdom's citizens are usually good.

** Abraham is this to Negan. Both are fun-loving, but Negan's idea of fun is much nastier. Abraham won't kill his fellow survivors (at least unless you provoke him), but Negan has a much more bloodthirsty streak.

* [[Gory Discretion Shot]]: As Rick and Carl jump down from the RV in "Beside the Dying Fire", they see the front windshield being sprayed with blood while Jimmy's screams are heard from within.

** Justified as a necessity to make sure everyone who has died does not get up and start shambling.

** In the intro for episode "TS-19", it's shown in flashback that Shane didn't just automatically assume Rick was dead before leaving him. He did check for a heartbeat after the power failed for the instruments monitoring Rick, and didn't hear one, then barricaded his room with a gurney before leaving him.

* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: Shane seemed to be evolving into an [[Anti-Villain]]/[[Anti-Hero]] (based on survival instincts) or a [[Fallen Hero]] (based on Rick's reappearance) {{spoiler|until his death in "Better Angels"}}. Or [[Take a Third Option|both]].

* [[Hidden Depths]]: Daryl Dixon. Also, his brother Merle. He actually ''does'' the right thing in the end.

* [[Hollywood Darkness]]: Averted - even without many streetlights, the characters can still see well enough in the dark or at night.

* [[Hope Spot]]:

** After Shane and the group kill all the walkers {{spoiler|in Hershel's barn}}, the music becomes triumphant, and the group looks understandably relieved that their problem has been taken care of... until they hear another low growl, and look over to see {{spoiler|the undead Sophia}} shambling out of the barn.

** At the beginning of the second season, the convoy decides to set out for Fort Benning, which they believe gives them the best shot at permanent shelter, food and ammunition. In "Nebraska", Rick gets his hopes dashed when he asks Dave about the fort. Dave responds that the whole place was overrun, and there's no way anyone could have survived there. Then again, Dave's an [[Unreliable Narrator]].

* [[Hot Mom]]: Lori Grimes. Hannah to some, before becoming the Bicycle Girl walker. Judy, before she got her face chewed off.

* [[I Choose to Stay]]: In "TS-19", {{spoiler|Jacqui}} and {{spoiler|Andrea}} choose to stay in a building about to explode because they have lost hope and don't want to run any more. However, {{spoiler|Andrea}} is convinced to leave when {{spoiler|Dale}} threatens to do the same if Andrea doesn't accompany him out of the laboratory.

** Rick's during-the-hospitalization view of Shane before he responds months later in the now long empty hospital.

** Daryl as he falls down a riverbank.

* [[Important Haircut]]: Shane, after {{spoiler|killing Otis}}. This signifies that he's losing his sanity.

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]:

* [[It's the Only Way to Be Sure]]: If you kept a collection of {{spoiler|[[The Plague|potentially world-ending pathogens]]}} in your basement, you would set up a {{spoiler|[[Kill It with Fire|high-impulse thermobaric device]]}} to prevent them from escaping too.

* [[It's Personal]]: After Negan finds out that the community of Alexandria has been killing his followers, he decides to pay them back for all the trouble they caused by killing one of them...which changes to two when they still refuse to respect his authority.

* [[Jacob Marley Warning]]: Gregory represents what would happen if Rick continued to kneel to the Saviors and he refused to stand up for his people. Ezekiel also paid his Savior tax but at least was willing to stand up for his people.

* [[Jerkass]]es: Both Merle and at first, [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Daryl]] Dixon.

* [[Lady Macbeth]]: Lori has a moment of this at the end of "Triggerfinger".

* [[The Lancer]]: Michonne becomes this to Rick.

* [[The Law of Inverse Recoil]]: When Carl fires a gun late in Season Two, he suffers almost no recoil... {{spoiler|because this would distract the audience from the impact of the fact that he's shooting walker!Shane}}.

* [[Leave No Survivors]]: In a flashback from Shane, it shows {{spoiler|the army lining civilians up against a wall and executing them then shooting them in the head to be sure}}.

** In "Triggerfinger", they consider doing this to Randall to free him from the fence his leg is impaled on, but when a mob of walkers show up and leave them with no time, {{spoiler|Rick ends up just yanking it free instead}}, which lucky for him doesn't cause him to bleed out.

** Hershel is bitten on the leg by a walker, but it turns out he can be saved if they amputate his leg...which they do.

* [[The Load]]:

** Carl generally needs protecting and sometimes does stupid things that put others in danger. His parents have a bit of a struggle trying to balance keeping him out of danger and getting him to learn to defend himself. This decreases as time goes on, if only due to the fact that Dale was killed by a walker he ''didn't'' shoot.

* [[Love Triangle]]: A [[Triang Relations|type 4]] between Shane/Lori/Rick—now that Lori's husband whom Shane and Lori thought was dead has returned and the affair with Shane ended. Unfortunately, it seems that the zombie apocalypse has driven Shane crazy.

* [[Made of Plasticine]]: From the start of the second season the survivors have little trouble driving any kind of implement right through a zombie's skull with simple muscle power alone.

* [[Meaningful Echo]]: When Rick is shot by criminals in the first episode, Shane comforts and shushes him while he blacks out. In "Better Angels", {{spoiler|Rick stabs Shane and comforts ''him'' in the same manner}}.

* [[Men Are the Expendable Gender]]:

** In "Pretty Much Dead Already", {{spoiler|zombified Sophia}} is on the receiving end of a mercy kill courtesy of {{spoiler|Rick}}.

** At the end of "Judge, Jury, Executioner", {{spoiler|Daryl}} does this to {{spoiler|Dale after he is mauled by a walker}}.

* [[Mexican Standoff]]:

** Between Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, and the Vatos when arguing over the gun bag.

** He does it again in the second episode to Andrea after she apologizes for pointing a pistol at Rick. After {{spoiler|Amy dies}}, Rick tries to talk to Andrea about her coming back, but she points a gun at him and tells him that she knows how the safety works.

* [[No Zombie Cannibals]]: Explained as the walkers only being attracted to the smell of the living. This is why they never raid a survivor's food supplies...they want fresh meat.

* [[Off the Wagon]]: Hershel in "Nebraska".

* [[Off with His Head!]]: The Governor has a habit of decapitating his victims and putting their heads in fish tanks, watching their reanimated heads in his personal chambers. Inevitably, he does this to Hershel.

** From Dale's perspective {{spoiler|just before Daryl shoots him}} in "Judge, Jury, Executioner".

* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: While the overall story is the same, there are a number of differences from the comic, including specific events and completely new characters. [[Word of God]] says that this was to prevent readers of the comics from thinking the whole series was a [[Foregone Conclusion]].

* [[Pretend We're Dead]]: [[Played for Drama]].

** This is how Glenn and Rick get everyone out of the store in the first season. The two cover themselves in zombie gore then make their way through the undead crowd toward a parking lot with the scent masking their presence. It works, [[Oh Crap|until it starts to rain]]. Justified, in that [[Atlanta]] summertime weather does go from hot and dry to sudden thundershowers just like that. There was also a bit of foreshadowing earlier with storm clouds. Also something of a [[Deconstruction]], since they first have to [[Squick|smear themselves in dismembered zombie bits]] to get the proper scent going.

* [[Rare Guns]]: Rick's Colt Python is fairly rare and well sought-after by gun collectors, driving its price beyond a thousand dollars, easily. Not exactly the kind of gun a police officer would carry day-to-day, especially since many police departments have retired their revolvers for semi-auto pistols.

* [[Reality Ensues]]: In "Days Gone Bye", Rick fires a gun in a tank and spends about the next minute stunned with a loud ringing in his ears.

* [[Reckless Gun Usage]]: Dave and Tony, the Philly survivors in "Nebraska", set Rick up by bracketing him. Had they actually managed to get off a shot, they would have almost certainly hit each other.

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: Played straight for Merle. He goes down trying to kill the Governor. He later reanimates and is put down by his younger brother.

* [[Red Herring]]: The helicopter in the pilot episode doesn't show up again until the Season 2 finale and still has not been explained.

* [[Relax-O-Vision]]:

{{quote|"Picture something nice. Puppies and kittens."

** Also, in Season Four, {{spoiler|Hershel Greene}} was beheaded by {{spoiler|The Governor}}, which started the battle on the prison.

** In Season Five, at the mid-season finale, {{spoiler|Beth Greene}} was killed during the hostage exchange.

* [[Safe Zone Hope Spot]]: A recurring theme in the show as well as the comic it's based on, having happened twice in the shortened first season alone.

* [[Samus Is A Girl]]: Rick's adoptive newborn baby turns out to be a girl.

** Dr. Jenner apparently didn't cope well with shooting his patient ({{spoiler|who was also his wife}}) and then was cooped up with only an AI for company for two months.

** T-Dog shows signs of this as well during the fever caused by a "regular" bacterial infection.

* [[Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere]]:

** Merle, with a rooftop instead of a room.

** In "Pretty Much Dead Already", Rick steps up and {{spoiler|shoots the undead Sophia}} because everyone else is too shocked to raise their weapons (even Shane, who was {{spoiler|rather pointedly suggesting the group give up the search for Sophia}}, and also gung-ho just a couple minutes earlier about {{spoiler|massacring the walkers in the barn}} until he saw {{spoiler|one of the group's own had died}}).

** Rick takes responsibility for the execution of Randall, but ultimately backs down.

* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: After searching for nearly half a season, hoping against hope that she's still alive, {{spoiler|the group finally locates Sophia... as she walks out of Hershel's barn. She had been zombified sometime after Rick left her in her hiding place}}.

* [[Shout-Out]]:

** And again by Shane when dispatching a group of walkers on the farm.

* [[Sink or Swim Mentor]]: Shane to Andrea, when teaching her how to shoot moving targets. When they're surrounded by walkers, and Shane's doing all the legwork in keeping them at bay, Andrea can't land a single head-shot. When one walker gets close to her, Shane aims at it, then lowers his weapon to force her to defend herself. Her initial response is an angry and incredulous, "Seriously?!"

* [[Soft Glass]]: Averted in the season finale when they try to break open the {{spoiler|glass windows of the CDC}}. They spend about a minute trying to break it {{spoiler|until they use a grenade to blow it up}}.

** Also averted when Glenn attempts to break the glass of a revolving door. Glenn assures Nicholas that the glass will eventually break, but Nicholas just doesn't listen to him and he leaves both Noah and Glenn to die.

* [[Spared by the Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Shane}}, though it turns out to be simply delayed. {{spoiler|He survives past where he was killed in the comic, only to die toward the end of Season 2}}.

* [[Spoiler]]: The details of the Blu-Ray release of the second season were released before Season Two was over. The blurb said that the release included {{spoiler|Shane's last episode}}. [http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/03/01/amc-website-runs-walking-dead-spoiler-by-mistake/?hpt=hp_t3 Non spoiler news story here.]

* [[Spotting the Thread]]: Daryl figures out that {{spoiler|it isn't really his brother Merle}} talking to him because {{spoiler|he still has [[Life or Limb Decision|both his hands]]}}.

* [[Sugar Bowl]]: Subverted with Alexandria. There turns out to be a huge amount of walkers not far from the city, which threaten to overrun the city even when it seems to be peaceful. One should never take peace for granted on the show.

* [[Tanks, But No Tanks]]: Anyone familiar with tank warfare might spot that the tanks are not only the wrong nationality - British Chieftains in Atlanta? - but that their tracks are surprisingly clean. Tanks can kill soldiers with machine guns, super sized buckshot, or simply by driving forwards. The tracks would miss the heads more often than not, but not arms, legs, and spines. It would be simple for soldiers to follow behind to finish the job, and this is one of the first things tankers would think of.

* [[Team Dad]]: Rick is the leader and authoritarian of the group, while Dale is the more nurturing example.

* [[The Teaser]]: Each episode opens with one of these. It's usually either a [[Flash Back]] to past events or a moment [[In Medias Res]], with the rest of the episode depicting [[How We Got Here]].

* [[Tempting Fate]]:

* [[Thicker Than Water]]: Merle and Daryl Dixon, especially Daryl's attitude towards Merle.

* [[Token Good Teammate]]: Axel is a better person than most of the other prisoners at the high-security prison Rick and his friends go to in Season 3.

* [[Throw-Away Guns]]: Averted most of the time. However, there are some exceptions:

** Merle's rifle and handgun don't appear after the episode "Guts".

** In "Nebraska" and "Triggerfinger", the "Philadelphia boys" (on two separate occasions) believe that Rick, Glenn, and Hershel will roll over and give them what they want. In the first case, it was two guys who underestimated the sheriff with plenty of experience in head-shots (not to mention putting their weapons down), and in the second, Hershel proves to be a capable shot as well.

** In "Better Angels", {{spoiler|Shane}} takes {{spoiler|Rick}} out onto a moonlit field in order to kill him because he believes that he is too soft and cannot protect his family. {{spoiler|Rick}} keeps insisting that he won't defend himself and that all will be forgiven if they can both put their weapons down. However, he's just using the conciliatory talk as a ruse to get in close and put his knife to good use, saying he'll protect his family at all cost.

* [[The Virus]]: They went so far as to indicate "it infects the brain like meningitis." Note that meningitis [[You Fail Biology Forever|doesn't involve the brain]], but the meninges (the membrane around the brain and spinal cord).

* [[Vomit Discretion Shot]]:

** Andrea in the second season, courtesy of Daryl seeking payback for her laughing over a mishap he had as a child.

** Also, Lori throwing up {{spoiler|her morning after pills}}.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]: Daryl's hunting crossbow, though he will readily use any other weapon that comes to hand. This may be a choice more from practicality than preference - crossbows are quieter than guns and arrows are easily recovered and reused so ammunition is less of a concern. However, he still brings it along when expecting confrontations with armed humans, when it would be much less useful than a real gun.

* [[Webcomic Time]]: After two full seasons, they're ''just'' moving into autumn.

* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: Shane attempts this in order to get Rick out of the way so he could have Lori all to himself. He fails.

* [[Xenafication]]: It's pretty impressive how many zombies Deanna manages to kill to protect Alexandria. Before, she wasn't a fighter. But Rick Grimes changed her for the better.

* [[Yank the Dog's Chain]]: Happens once an episode, with the most notorious one being {{spoiler|the CDC event}}.

* [[You Are Already Dead|You Are Already Infected:]] Rick reveals the big secret in which Dr. Jenner told him in the Season 1 finale to the others in the Season 2 finale. {{spoiler|Everyone is infected and will turn into a walker regardless upon death... unless you die by head-shot or your body is burned}}.

* [[You Don't Want to Die a Virgin, Do You?]]: Glenn and Maggie. Their relationship is entirely consensual, though.

* [[Zombie Advocate]]: {{spoiler|Hershel has a barn full of walkers locked up}}.

* [[Zombie Gait]]: Some of the walkers do this. And {{spoiler|Daryl too, due to his injuries and the ordeal he endured to get back to the farm}}. It results in him being mistaken for a zombie by Andrea.