Is Rick Grimes Slowly Turning Into Shane On The Walking Dead?

The Walking Dead is an interesting show where the characters are are constantly changing and evolving.  One of the major character evolutions on the show has been former police officer and coma patient Rick Grimes.

Rick was the first character we were really introduced to on the show.  We saw him work hard to try to get back to his family, maintain order, and help everyone else survive.  He was thrust into a leadership role because of his former work as a police officer and often butted heads with his former partner Shane Walsh.

Shane always had a more “take no prisoners” type approach to survival.  He wanted to shoot first and ask questions later, while being willing to sacrifice anyone to help those close to him.  He was often criticized for being cold hearted and hot headed, resulting in Rick Grimes taking his life to protect the group in the show’s second season.

Strangely enough, Rick has slowly evolved over the course of the show to be almost exactly like the man he felt was putting the group in danger.

This was exemplified several times in season 5.  The most notable instance of this is when the group decided not to go with Rick’s ultra violent plan to take out the folks at the hospital and instead try to engineer a trade.  When the crew met several speed bumps in the new plan, Rick Grimes got frustrated, hitting a man with a stolen police car and then shooting him in the head.  After shooting him in the head, Rick delivered a line that you could easily imagine Shane saying, when he told the dead man to “shut up”.

That’s only one example of Rick’s slow fade out of lawfulness and nearing chaotic behavior.  He’s already murdered multiple humans this season, including people of Terminus, The Hunters, and Officer Bob.  Rick Grimes’ methods have changed from trying not to hurt anyone or get hurt to becoming an advocate for immediate violence.  He has changed a lot since he was deemed “Officer Friendly” back in season one of The Walking Dead.

If Rick Grimes continues down this slippery slope, will he reach the level where he becomes too dangerous to be a part of the group, just like Shane was?  If so, who in the group would be able to do what needed to be done?

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