Barbara…this might help!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(TV_series)

I’m sort of uncultured. (hangs head)

I think I’m the only person alive who does not hate Lori. Yes, that was a TSTL moment when she got in the car to find Rick (and didn’t tell anyone….d’oh!). However, I thought she was pretty fierce fighting off the zombies. She is a fighter, too, just like her husband. And she has compassion for others. If she had to do something to save Shane, I think she would. At least I hope she would.

Bring on the zombies, baby!

In this trio of hunkitude, we have ourselves Rick the hero, Shane the villain and Darryl the anti-hero. All three men are interesting and none are quite to be trusted, which makes them especially interesting, because you can never be 100% certain about what they’ll do in any given situation. Except in one regard: Sacrifice.

See, Rick, being the hero, is self-sacrificing. It makes him stupid at times because he *wants* to be a good guy. He carries a self-image that he is a good guy, so he tries to make conscious decisions about right and wrong, best and worst. It made him a great cop, but not such a great Alpha male/leader. Because when he is faced with a moral decision, he has to *think* about it. Sometimes he can think quickly, and he’s actually at his best when he is forced to think quickly. When he has time to ponder, his “goodness” works against him and reveals he’s not a true Alpha. For instance, Lori’s confession about sleeping with Shane. A true Alpha male would have gone after Shane and kicked his ass into the next apocalypse. Rick’s good husband material, but in a zombie apocalypse, while he’ll save your ass in the middle of a fight, in the long run he’ll get you killed while he’s struggling with his good intentions.

Shane is the villain by virtue of the fact that he’s perfectly willing to sacrifice others. He’s got poor impulse control and no true moral compass. He doesn’t think about right and wrong, it’s always Me or Them. He is an Alpha male, but a dangerous one, mostly because he covets. His obsession with Lori is less about Lori herself (if he were a decent human being, he’d walk away–hell, Andrea is right there, ready and willing to take his bad boy self any way he wants to give it) and more about the fact that Lori belongs to Rick. Proof of that is Carl. He wants Carl, too. Not because he loves the kid. If he did, he wouldn’t do anything to interfere with the boy’s relationship with his father. He wants Carl because he’s Rick’s kid and Shane covets what Rick has. Sure, he’s a tough survivor and he’ll always land on his feet. I’d never trust him. I’d always be wondering who’d kill me first: the zombies or Shane.

Which brings me to my boy, Darryl, a true anti-hero. It’s not in his nature to sacrifice anybody, himself included (unless it’s for true love, in which case he will sacrifice himself along with as many bad guys as he can manage). The secret to loving anti-heroes is being able to see past their churlishness and disregard for societal niceties. Darryl doesn’t give a shit about social mores. He doesn’t waste brain cells on “right” and “wrong.” He sees no need to get along or be nice or make anyone comfortable. What he does have is a code. It’s deeply ingrained. It’s what sent him into the woods day after day looking for Sophia. Not because he likes kids or feels sentimental or even that he cares about Carol (and I think he’s madly in love with her). It’s because he’s Darryl and that’s what Darryl does. He’s also a hardass. Look at the situation with Merle. If Darryl were weaker, he’d waste his time trying to get revenge on Rick and the black guy for leaving Merle handcuffed to the pipe. Darryl knows Merle brought it on himself. Killing people for revenge out of brotherly love (especially given that Merle wasn’t all that loveable to begin with) isn’t going to help anybody. Earning his trust and loyalty is damned difficult, and for most people it’s too difficult (their loss), but worth it. He’s the kind of guy who’d battle gods for the woman he loves. He’s no Alpha male–it’s not in his nature to stoop to that kind of competitiveness–he’s pure Rogue, no more interested in leading than he is in following. If you’re surrounded by zombies, good old Rick would tell you to run while he holds them off, and we all know exactly what Shane would do, but Darryl would find some clever-assed way to get both of you to safety. Then he’d growl if you’re dumb enough to say thanks.

Go, Team Darryl.