The Walking Dead: Who’s Deanna? Much more than just a funny line
By Susie Graham
“Who’s Deanna?
” This question has been added to the list of
Abraham- Ford-Walking-Dead-Zombie-Apocalypse-lexicon.
But this one is more than just a funny Abe line. And looking, or rather listening back, it has grown into much more than it was–similar to Robert DeNiro’s,
“Are you talking to me?”
Impressions of it are much more dramatic than the subtle nuances of the real thing! Take a
if you don’t remember!
Who’s Deanna?
And not only are the impressions much more than it really was, the question itself represented much more than it might seem on the surface.
The group was entering Alexandria as a group. Not small groups traveling together–a new group. A group that at that time included everyone standing at that gate.
Us
and
them
were big themes during season 5 and the gate was a literal separation between this particular
us
and
them
. And Aaron was part of the gate.
The group had been separated in so many different ways during seasons 4 and 5. On the way to Terminus, during the trip to the food bank. During the GreatM period and Beth’s rescue. Even during the trip to Noah’s home. Here they were all standing together. Us and them. Them the walkers. Them the Alexandrians.
By interjecting, “Who’s Deanna?” Abraham established his place as a member of us. Not as Mr. Bossy Pants in charge of Eugene and Rosita or attempting to take charge of GreatM, as a member of us. And his posture and booming voice let not only “them” know he was present, but “us” (our group and the audience) know that he had decided to be both a member and a leader in this new scenario!
He was coming back from the broken man Maggie threatened to put down. The man who started drinking and feeling sorry for himself, telling Sasha that she was with friends. He was on his way to becoming the lucky man we met. The happy man we would see with Michonne at the welcome party. The man who would begin to understand himself because of Francine, Rosita and Eugene.
He was on the way to becoming the man who would make beautiful, empassioned speeches like the ocean of shit speech he made in Alexandria the night of the finale–several notches more eloquent and from the heart than the more manipulative rinse and repeat speech in the church.
While I agree with Mr. Cudlitz that Abraham’s most defining moment on The Walking Dead is likely yet to come, he has had several smaller Cherokee Rose moments recently that have endeared me to Abraham the way Daryl had in season 2. (Most fans lie when they say they liked Daryl from the start!)
Who’s Deanna? could be a small defining moment for much more than humor!