'Walking Dead' exec defends shock twist
Published Oct 31 2011, 13:26 GMT | By Morgan Jeffery
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© AMC
'Save the Last One' saw Shane (Jon Bernthal) shoot Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince), sacrificing his ally to zombies so that he could escape.
"The Walking Dead is a world where you have to do what you have to do to get by," Kirkman told Entertainment Weekly. "Starting with [this] episode, we're going to see that Shane is appearing to be uniquely suited for this world."
The writer went on to defend Shane's actions, calling the shooting "a somewhat justifiable homicide".
"Otis was slowing him down, and Carl's life hangs in the balance," he reasoned. "We're existing in that gray area and we're really pushing the boundaries of that.
"But at the end of the day, Shane shot that guy and left him for dead and ran off. It's a pretty dark moment and it informs Shane's character and sets up a lot of things that are going to be happening moving forward."
Shane was killed off in an early issue of the original Walking Dead comic, but Kirkman argued that the new twist justifies the character's continued existence on television.
"This episode really does answer the question, 'Why is this guy still around?' very clearly," he said. "[Shane's] an integral part of the show."
The Walking Dead continues this Sunday at 9/8c on AMC in the US, and airs on Fridays at 10pm on FX in the UK.
> The Walking Dead renewed for third season by AMC
Watch the Walking Dead cast discuss season two below:
I Love the walking dead but think the last few episodes have been terrible and predictable! I watch it with such high expectations every week and am disappointed by the lack of action! they're dragging everything on for far too long! but I will of course be hopeful for next week!
November 7th 2011 at 9:29pm
Have the last 3 eps just been one very long day for the characters?
From what I can tell from this development it looks like they are going to deflect some of the more gruesome character moments that Rick goes through in the comics onto Shane so that Rick remains somewhat sympathetic to TV audiences who might be able to stomach that behaviour in a 'hero'.
November 5th 2011 at 9:22pm
This episode made me the angriest I have ever been with a tv show in my life, I had a feeling something was going to give, & when he arrived back alone I just knew it.
November 5th 2011 at 11:03am
It came out on sunday...
November 2nd 2011 at 6:58pm
Julia Cowley Well you need to look more closly because it was otis infront... Shane could hardly run thats why otis was pretty much dragging him ¬¬
November 2nd 2011 at 6:57pm