Fanboys Anonymous

The time is nearly upon us, once again, to face the second half of the latest season of AMC's The Walking Dead. After so much happened up to the mid-season finale last year (so damned much), I put down my own predictions not only for the rest of season four, but also for the foreseeable future. Of course, I did that on Facebook, where none of you can see what I wrote, but then I asked myself: why not share these thoughts with the fans out there and see what they make of it?

So without further ado, I am happy to introduce Fanboys Anonymous's own The Walking Dead Seasons Four and Five Predictions. (WARNING: Some of the predictions ahead are based on comparisons between the graphic novels and the TV show, so beware of MAJOR possible plot spoilers ahead if you haven't read the series!)

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!

The makers of The Walking Dead have been throwing us curve balls and chucking spanners aplenty into the works since day one. It's what television producers and creators do to keep things original, especially if you watch this show because you love the comic series. Where's the fun in ruining everyone else's fun?

Don't answer that, I'm trying to appeal to the majority, here…

However, along with the occasional unexpected event (Frank Darabont being fired, Jeffrey DeMunn's character being killed off because he quit to show solidarity for Darabont), we've not only seen one character's dynamic change to replace another, we've also seen some of our favorite characters introduced long after they were supposed to have been killed off; characters who weren't supposed to die being killed off; and characters who weren't even in the comics becoming long-lasting favorites.

Love it or hate it for deviating from the source material, you have to hand it to these folks—they know how to keep you watching. Yet what of the surviving characters of season four? Where will they likely go from here?

The following are my predictions for the characters, based on speculation, the show thus far, and the path the comics have taken.

Poor Rick has been through the meat-grinder ever since the opening scenes of this show, but even taking a back seat when things become too much for him doesn't make him any less the lead star of the show. However, just because he's the longest-enduring character doesn't mean he'll be able to endure what he's just been through.

Losing Lori was bad enough to make Rick go a bit crazy; after now most likely having lost Judith, being beaten to a pulp, and losing the prison, he may be prone to another round of insanity. He was a sorry mess in season three, and he won't have as many distractions this time to keep him occupied. As far as he's concerned, he and Carl are on their own. Rick will very likely remain a broken man for a long time just as Abraham Ford comes in to take the reigns for a while. Expect a more passive yet unpredictable Rick from now on!

Having gone from a kid to a teen so quickly, we all saw Carl grow over some years unlike in the comics. He was troubled but still childlike then, but in the mid-season finale we saw him suddenly broken, as he too lost another defenseless member of the family and his livelihood, rendering him similarly helpless and broken. Carl will likely harbor resentment toward his dad for falling apart and being unable to keep his act together. As Rick gets weaker, Carl will not only grow stronger but also colder and more calculating.

Let's not forget that Carl's known for a long time that he will one day have to take over for his dad, or that at least he's expected to. That sense of responsibility keeps him level-headed and has done so ever since he killed Shane (or Shane's walking corpse, at least) and the boy from Woodbury. However, having already become accustomed to killing, it's inevitable that he will do so once again, and in the name of justice. I doubt he'll be much of a lead character over the next season or two, but he certainly won't remain in the background!

As the most significant original character who never existed in the comic series, Daryl's part in the show has been a phenomenal success, so it would be pretty stupid to kill him off. It's safe to say that a large number of viewers would actually stop watching if he bit the dust (and fan favorite Norman Reedus thus left the show). That's not going to happen, surely, because although his character's actions don't depend on anyone else, the other characters do depend on Daryl. He's also become a very strong moral center for the group despite being very (what's the word I'm looking for…) liberal?!

Expect most of the survivors to count on Daryl until Rick returns and Abraham Ford shows up. I also expect him to do a fair bit of traveling around until then, trying to band everybody together again!

Carol really has to return to the show, and for so many reasons:

1.) I believe it will be revealed that she didn't murder anybody after all.

2.) She slowly took Andrea's place as the hardy survivor with nerves of steel, while Andrea strayed from the source material and became everybody's bitch before biting the bullet, and could very likely take Andrea's place permanently (Andrea is currently one of the most enduring lead characters in the comic, and the show lacks her awesomeness).

3.) Melissa McBride has flourished over the space of two seasons, going from abused wife and mourning mother to a popular, strong female character and an unlikely hero. Getting rid of her was not a dumb idea, it was just another way for her to have realistically survived recent events and an excuse to bring her back when she's most needed.

Expect Carol to return, is all I will say!

After surviving the nasty killer disease of season four and just barely surviving the Governor's last-ditch invasion, Glenn could be the primary source of family drama over the next season, and much of that will very likely come down to Maggie distancing herself after losing almost everything.

The Walking Dead has had its ups and downs in consistency over the past two seasons, and part of that is due to characters being killed off just as soon as they become our favorites. There's going to be a false sense of finality about season four, I think, because if you think you know misery now, you haven't seen anything yet. Glenn, for one, will have his hands full. Weakened by his illness, he's going to have some very helpless moments. However, I think we may see him taking up leadership responsibilities as Rick comes back a broken man.

Not only does Maggie count on Glenn more than ever, let's not forget the more recent young additions to Team Rick that will require his attention: Introduced to us over the last season, Lizzie and Mika Samuels (below, left) are not your average kid sisters!

(Duh, would you be normal if you were living in a disease-ridden prison while the dead were trying to break in and eat you? Well, shut your face, that's not the point.)

It was very easy for Lizzie to pick up a gun and shoot somebody during the mid-season finale, and it was even before then that I realized she and her younger sister were introduced to portray what would have been "Ben" and "Billy," Allan and Donna's kids in the comics—one of whom later became a psychopath and killed the other. I mean, who do you think was feeding rats to the zombies at the fence? Who do you think crucified the rabbit? What was with Carol's suggestive final pep-talk with Lizzie? If you read the comics, you know how it went down, and you know that Lizzie is a li'l psycho girl. Remember her casually tiptoeing in Glenn's blood and lung-butter near the end of "Internment"?

I think Carol took the blame for Lizzie murdering the sick couple at the prison. In the coming seasons we'll see Lizzie kill Mika as part of one of her psycho zombie experiments and Carl will blow Lizzie away—because nobody believes in abandoning or executing children in the Walking Dead-verse, even if they're murderers!

As adorable as Maggie Greene is, she is going to have a tough ride moving forward. I hope you still think she's cute when she looks like burned-out emotionless shit!

She's just lost Hershel, and it's a miracle that Beth survived, but that's only part of the problem. Maggie's going to be angry and lost after the events of "Too Far Gone," when she isn't hating on Rick, but there is some huge news coming, not this season but maybe the next, and it will be a secret that could push her over the edge.

Maggie may likely develop a complex about losing people who are close to her, while at the same time adopting the mentalist twins mentioned above. That'll give her something to hide behind for a while, but eventually nothing will hide the fact that she used to be the problem child of the Greene family, because that might come flooding back now that all but her and Beth are gone!

Nobody wants to lose Beth, we just want her to stop singing those songs, right?

A peculiar thing occurred to me a short while back. When Sophia Peletier became one of Hershel's barn family, it left Carl with no cute blonde girl to hug once in a while and to keep him becoming a detached, Shane-killing loon! Looking at his relationship with Beth, who is also quite an outsider for someone who is virtually carried through the show, it appears to me that Beth has become Sophia in her own strange way.

Apart from the fact that she's a bit too old to replace a child, Beth was virtually the only other kid in the group before Lizzie and rest came along. Sophia always stayed with Maggie throughout the comic series, so it would make sense—not be as depressing—to keep Beth around. In that case, I hope they do keep her, because otherwise she would just become another Amy!

Next, get ready for some Michonne-type crazy!

In season three of The Walking Dead, the sword-wielding ex-lawyer spent her hot summer days near Rick, wondering what was going on in his head when he was seeing and talking to Lori's ghost. A while later when he was feeling better, they talked it out and decided that it wasn't a bad thing, seeing visions and such. Why the hell not, right?

Well, what you haven't seen in the show was Michonne being weird (in the comics) and talking to herself, just like Rick. Only she started it. Michonne may soon start having doubts about the future and may want to hang her sword up for good. On the other hand, some potentially bad decisions on her behalf may force her back into cold killer bitch-mode, instead. Michonne hasn't really had the chance to open up yet, and we've haven't seen the woman she was before the zombie apocalypse. I'm expecting season five to be the beginning of that personal journey!

As for Morgan, the time will come to try to accept the past and lay it to rest. He will be back, that's a certainty. He'll still be chock full of nuts, though; maybe not stark-raving batshit loony nuts, but nuts all the same!

The survivors are going to be taking a huge road trip soon, and Rick, being a man of conscience, isn't going to leave Morgan to survive on his own when he has it on good word that a better life is within reach. Of course, despite his knack for being mad as a shithouse rat, this may help Morgan reintegrate into what currently remains of society. The question is, how quickly or how slowly is it going to kill him?

Tyreese is a tough one, because by all means, his character should have been dead by now. The events of the last episode saw Hershel Greene hacked to death by the Governor instead, and the guy who should have been in the show since season two has yet to really flourish as a main character!

What can we expect from Tyreese now? It's possible he might find and kill Carol, but I doubt it. I will even go so far as to say he'll figure out that the weird animal sacrifices are continuing even with Carol gone and whenever Lizzie winds up in the same camp, because psychos on telly eventually do it for the attention and not the learning experience.

Otherwise, he has so much potential, yet his time may be more limited than any of us expect. Perhaps he will finally renounce his anger and try to become a more peaceful man, which would probably get him or Sasha killed. If he got with Carol, however, initiating the relationship they had in the comics, that might spell some harsh times for everybody involved!

Poor Bob Stookey is between a rock and a hard place and has been ever since he showed up. Who hasn't, right? Those useless Woodbury refugees seem to pile up like Star Trek redshirts at a bargain basement TV character sale!

Not only does Bob have alcoholism to contend with, he also has Daryl's respect to earn after almost costing lives for a bottle of bourbon. He has also yet to really glue with any other members of the group, meaning that either his days are numbered, or he finds religion to combat his inner demons and eventually replaces the need for a certain Father Gabriel.

Look at it this way: with The Walking Dead TV series taking place over a matter of years, as opposed to the comic series' two brief winters or so, how the hell would a guy like Father Gabriel only now step out into the world looking for food without any understanding of what has happened? If Stookey is in for the long run, replacing the unrealistic and unnecessary Father Gabriel would be the way forward. They have quite a few similarities in personality, after all. So don't expect that we'll lose Stookey in the next season or so. He might even become the next original mainstay next to Daryl, for all we know!


Eeshhhh! Nobody wants to talk about Judith, am I right?


Finally, what will become of the aforementioned Woodbury refugees we last saw carted out of the prison on a school bus?

Snack food is my guess.

Sound off, Fanboys and Fangirls! Do you think I hit the nail on the head? Do you think Team Rick even stands a chance after the mid-season four finale? Comments below and thanks for reading!