1) Morgan
Despite the huge variance in his character between formats, Morgan remains a pivotal member of The Walking Dead universe for several reasons. Both he and his son Duane were the first still-living humans that Rick encountered, following his emergence from a coma-inducing gunshot wound, and in that regard, Morgan’s expository role in the series’ earliest days remain incredibly important and memorable, but it’s also his relative absence throughout the overarching story that contributes to the character’s mystery.
As of now, neither the comic book or TV versions of the character share much in common – the former has been dead and buried for a long time, while the latter still lives and breathes – but despite that, Morgan has, and continues to serve, as a pseudo alternate version of Rick, a ‘what could have been’ outcome, if you will, had Rick also lost his entire family and been isolated from the remainder of humanity to suffer alone.
The metaphor is no more evident than in the scene where Rick returns to his hometown, only to discover a crazed Morgan, unable to retain his sanity, following the death of his son, a situation that he could oh so easily have found himself in had events been slightly different.
No other integral recurring has had as much of an impact on the series’ wider narrative with so little screen time, and it’s about time those gaping holes in Morgan’s story got filled.
Published: Aug 9, 2017 08:58 pm