“Dead” On Predictions

Atlanta, GA

I watched last night’s episode of The Walking Dead expecting two things:  1) A perfect set-up for an explosive mid-season finale and 2) Clues about who might not make it out alive.  After seeing the episode, I’ve come up with some predictions that may or may not be stone cold locks.  If they prove to be true, they’ll make me seem really smart or psychic.  If I screw up these predictions royally then I’ll just look like a goofus.  I’m betting (and sorta hoping) that I look like a goofus.

NOTE:  POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD.  READ WITH CAUTION IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED MOST OF SEASON FIVE!!!

After the whole Terminus debacle at the beginning of this season, The Walkind Dead has featured episodes that have focused on Rick’s group at the church, Beth on her own, Abraham’s group on the road, and Daryl and Carol going after Beth.  What I’ve noticed throughout these episodes is that they have all built up key characters that I believe have the potential for not making it to the second half of season five.  Seeing this happen and then utilizing what has occurrred over the previous seasons, I’ve devised a hit list of who I think is going to bite it.  So, here goes:

There almost has to be at least one major death from the core cast of original survivors.  Of the ones that started it all, only Rick, Carl, Glenn, Daryl, and Carol remain.  You could toss Morgan in their as well, but he’s been more of a peripheral character since his introduction.  I do believe that he’ll be a factor in the mid-season finale, but I don’t see him dying just yet.  There was a hint of what’s to come for Glenn early on if you read the comics, but I don’t see him leaving yet.  So who will it be?  Sadly, I think Carol is going to die this time around.

Why will Carol die?  Just look at the growth of her character since last season.  She started the series as one of the group’s weakest links, and has slowly become an almost unstoppable force in the zombie apocalypse.  She is the strongest female character on the show and has become a fan favorite, possibly more popular than Rick.  She’s Daryl’s best friend on the show (with Rick a close second) and potentially his love interest.  In fact, her association with Daryl is what makes her a likely candidate for death since he is almost too popular to kill off.  I honestly believe that the producers and writers want to knock off a major character, and Carol’s growth, especially with the whole Terminus “Terminator” version of Carol we saw at the beginning of the season makes her the perfect candidate.  By killing her, other female cast members like Maggie and (possibly) Rosita can move into the alpha female role and fans lose a beloved character that isn’t Daryl.  I’d really hate to see Carol go, but I think her time is up.

Next on my list is one of the second season core members, Beth.  Beth has spent most of her time on the show as a background character whose only claim to fame up until she teamed up with Daryl was a failed suicide attempt.  When she did team up with Daryl, she became a bolder, bluntly honest woman who proved she could hold her own.  At the hospital she has proven herself to be an excellent trickster and quite the rebel, even standing up to Dawn and the rest of the po-po at the hospital.

So why is Beth a likely candidate for death?  Her character has experienced a surge in importance.  Since bonding with Daryl, fans have wanted to see either her or Carol form a romantic relationship with him.  While Carol has definitely risen above her “Daryl’s girl” status, Beth has not.  She hasn’t set herself apart quite enough yet, so I’m betting that she’ll do something very heroic and go out in a blaze of glory in order to save Daryl or possibly Noah.  Again, I’d hate to see Beth leave the show, but she has transformed too much to be kept alive much like Merle when he stood up to the Governor.

The next two candidates on my list are Rosita and Tara.  Of the two, I believe that Rosita has the best chance of surviving, but I still don’t know if she’ll make past the mid-season mark.

Why?  For starters, Rosita came into her own over the last couple of episodes.  Instead of being a background character, Rosita has proven that she knows how to take care of herself with our without Abraham and isn’t afraid to stand up to him.  She has shown that she can adapt to just about any situation (especially making fishnets out of utility worker jackets on last night’s episode) and seems to be forming some type of relationship with Glenn.  Now, as long as Maggie is in the picture, I don’t see Rosita moving in to take her place.  However, she could provide a potential plot device for Glenn and Maggie to fight over and then have Glenn die a dramatic death at the hands of someone while Maggie wishes she hadn’t had a fight with him in the first place.  So, that may or may not save Rosita’s skin, but the fact that she has been built up more and more over the last few episodes (much like poor Bob’s build up and then his relationship push just before dying) makes me think that her days are numbered.

My last potential death is Tara.  Poor, poor Tara.  She fell in with the Governor and then fell in with Rick’s group.  As this season has played out, we’ve seen her have brief moments with Rick, Glenn, and even Eugene.  Most of her moments have been lightly humorous (and very welcome), but I don’t see her as a necessary member of the group.  I mean, let’s be honest here, if I said, “Oh, no!  Tara died!”  I’m betting that a few fans of the show wouldn’t even know who she is!

Also, on last night’s episode, Tara had more visibility than she’s had on the entire show.  She made up a “team name” and cracked a joke about getting it tattooed on her knuckles.  She joked to the utility pole zombies about D.C.  She found a yo-yo and got excited about it.  All of this light and steady build up to me says that the writers are saying, “Hey, gang.  Remember Tara?  You know, the background girl who caught Eugene watching Abe and Rosita????  We’ve established her enough as a character that’s perfect for killing off.”

Now, here’s my breakdown of who will die out of this bunch:  1) Tara.  She’s a goner.  2) Carol.  She’s too important now to NOT kill off.  She’s a female Daryl, but I believe fans will take her death a bit easier than the death of Daryl if and when that ever occurs.  3) Beth.  If she goes, she’ll go in a big way.  4) Rosita.  The most likely of this group to live, only to die a major death later this season or at the beginning of season six.

Some of you might be wondering why I have only selected female characters as potential mid-season deaths.  Well, it’s not because I’m a male chauvinist.  It’s because three of the four women I’ve listed are the strongest female characters on the show.  As far as men go, Daryl is almost a golden child for the show.  If they kill him, I believe it will be in the show’s final season.  Rick is the leader (most of the time), and I only see him getting killed whenever Carl rises to the task of leading the group.  Tyreese has a ton of development left to do in my opinion.  He’ll probably go berserk on the cops at the hospital, and probably because of what happened to Sasha last night.  I think Sasha is safe for now, by the way.  Noah is a scrappy kid, much like Glenn, but he still needs to “man up” before I consider him worthy of killing off.  I believe that Glenn is safe until a certain baseball bat shows up.  Abraham and Eugene are sort of loose cannons right now.  I think Abraham will survive for a bit longer, and Eugene will be dead before the end of the season, but only after doing something heroic to help the others.

Oh, and don’t think that I’ve forgotten Michonne.  Despite not an original group survivor, I believe that she’ll be around for a long, long time.  I see her and Rick forming a deeper relationship, and I believe that she’s become the closest thing to a mother for Carl.

As far as the hospital people are concerned, a part of me believes that Dawn will join up with Rick’s group and pretty much all of the other cops are toast.  The cop I fear for the most is the guy who knocked out Sasha.  Tyreese will unleash the beast on him!

So, we’ll find out next week if I’m right or wrong.  Hopefully all four of these characters will make it, but I believe at least two of them are done for the show.

As always, thanks for reading and let me know if you think I’m right, wrong, or a blithering idiot in the comments section!