The Walking Dead: The Walking Redemption

Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC, The Walking Dead /

Redemption. The act of making right where one had once done wrong. Frankly, it’s an idea I can really appreciate. Why? Because, I like the idea of being able to, in some way, try to repair the damage done by mistakes, misdeeds, and all-around screw-ups.

Luckily, I don’t seem to be alone in my appreciation of this idea, because, it seems to be all over The Walking Dead. Don’t believe me? Think about it for a second, Merle, Daryl, Carol, Eugene, Martinez, hell, even Allen to a lesser extent, have all done bad things at one point or another during their time in the show, and each of them at some point turned things around and made good (Or, in Allen’s case, tried): Merle sacrificed himself to disrupt The Governor’s ambush, Daryl doggedly tried to find Sophia, Carol heroically launched an assault on Terminus and helped free the group, Eugene overcame his fears and rescued an injured Tara in “Spend”, Martinez successfully ran his own camp of survivors until The Governor ~~removed~~ murdered him, and even Allen turned on The Governor when Woodbury’s assault on The Prison failed. All of them, in one way or another, at least tried to make good.

Which brings me to my first point: Will Nicholas and/or Father Gabriel be able to redeem themselves this season?

Michael Traynor as Nicholas – The Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC /

When we last left Alexandria, Nicholas in some sort of jealous(?) rage, attempted to attack Glenn and leave him to be eaten by walkers outside of Alexandria’s walls, only to have Glenn eventually turn things around and be within an inch of blowing him away, with only Nicholas’ pitiful cries of how he didn’t belong out there and Glenn’s own unwillingness to kill another human being (He hasn’t done so yet in the series, actually) staying his hand and giving Nicholas a second chance.

In the flashback scenes of last Sunday’s episode “First Time Again”, you see Glenn cover his and Nicholas’ wounds by saying that they were attacked by walkers. While Maggie doesn’t actually believe that, the fact Glenn covers for Nicholas speaks volumes about his willingness to give Nicholas a chance to redeem himself.

And, it certainly seems like his decision may prove to be the correct one. In the present, we see Nicholas volunteer to help Glenn and Heath clear out the store along the “parade route”, though Glenn questions his ability to be able to assist. Throughout their mission, he professes to Glenn how much he wants to help, and despite Glenn’s reservations, he takes the initiative and even manages to save Heath from a walker. While, as Glenn tells him, he has a long way to go before making things right, the fact Nicholas is both willing to help and attempting to overcome his fear of the walkers shows promise.

Gabriel and Carl. The Walking Dead – AMC /

As for Father Gabriel…the jury’s still out. On a few occasions, we see Gabriel attempt to volunteer for things, only to get shot down by Rick for his trouble (Although, to be fair, Rick didn’t want anyone burying Pete within the walls), and, in the preview for this Sunday’s episode, “JSS”, we see Gabriel gingerly approach Carl about learning how to defend himself (And, by extension, learn to defend others in the community). He also makes a point of explaining to Carl that his denunciation of the group to Deanna was really about him, not them, to which Carl suggests he explain that to the rest of the group, Gabriel agrees it’s best thing for him to do.

The question is, though: Will he be able to redeem himself? Is it even possible? And, even if it is, will he get a chance to…or will he die before he gets the opportunity, like Carter? Fans of the comics (Like me) already know the answer, but, will events on the show follow the comics? Only time will tell.

Thanks for reading! If you liked this, why not try checking out some of my other articles? And, if you really liked this, you can find a whole collection of my wisdom on how to survive a zombie apocalypse in my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse

You can also find on Kindle here. And on iTunes here.

Next: Season 5:All Named Character Deaths

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