“Look. The world is just shit sometimes. You live with it. Sometimes that’s all you can do.” ~ Daryl to Henry (a young boy learning some hard truths about reality vs. idealism in a hard world).

I mean, most of us will never have to survive in a zombie apocalypse, but we will all have to confront hard decisions. The hard part is knowing that we’re doing it not because it’s right, but because it’s right under a certain set of circumstances.

God, grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

That’s what it comes down to.

You might think I’m spending in inordinate amount of time on analysis of The Walking Dead, but that would be you missing the point. If you’re going to watch 9 seasons of a show then that’s a lot of time invested. If you’re not taking something away from all that, then you’ve just lost time. The Zombie Genre, as stated earlier, is the perfect context within which to pose moral and ethical questions about what we’re doing here on this rock. Like, if you want to test heat resistant materials, see if it will survive a rocket takeoff and re-entry into the atmosphere. Zombie apocalypse settings are the moonshot for humanity. COVID-19 or any such pandemic can teach us a few lessons, but up the ante a bit and make dead people walk the infection around. Stretch the imagination a bit.

That said, The Walking Dead is wearing thin. Any zombie film jumps the shark in the first couple minutes with the first bite, if you want the truth of it, but you do the willing suspension of disbelief thing and move on. Ask yourself, what if this did happen? Tell yourself this could happen. Wade into the gore. Have a blast. Nine seasons of mostly 16 episodes each (the 10th isn’t available on Netflix yet) and there’s not a lot of new stuff happening. It’s just new people learning old lessons. It’s new innocents losing their innocence that the post-innocents had tried to protect them from. Its the post-innocents learning over and over that a pickle can never again be a cucumber. Maybe they’re learning that lesson in a broader context. Maybe they’re learning the true value of pickles, and I will expound upon that one day. There’s a reason that cultures around the world developed pickled vegetables separately. It’s a curious taste.

“You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but who likes flies?” Can’t remember if that was from The Walking Dead but if not it should have been. Just saying, if you’ve been pickled, know the value of being a pickle. Learn it. And accept that some people just don’t dig pickles at all. That’s okay too.

And I guess I’m answering the remaining question here, because I don’t know that I have or not. Can you come back? See above: A pickle can never again be a cucumber. What you do with that is another story. There’s always a place for pickles that want a place at the table. Some people can come back. Some people can’t. Some people won’t. Some people are just born to be pricks and will remain pricks because they’re either unable or unwilling to try. You have to accept that too.

And you have to accept that you can be a part of something good, if you want to come back. You have to believe that you deserve it. Not that you’re entitled to it, but that you deserve a shot. There’s a difference. You’re still going to be a pickle though.

My confession here is that I never had to live through and survive through a Zombie Apocalypse. The Dysfunctional Abusive Family Apocalypse was enough (DAFA – I’m coining that phrase right here!). It took me until my late 40s to decide to try to come back. It took me until my mid-50s to realize beyond any doubt that I wasn’t going to be a cucumber and that I probably never was anyway). It’s only recently that I’ve embraced being a pickle. So listen to me. I’ve got some experience with this shit. Trust me when I say that there are seen things that can’t be unseen and deeds that can’t be undone. It’s all got to be new, except for you. You will never again be new. The good news is that like virginity, you can only lose your innocence once.

Enough for now. I may to a TWD post-script but I’m not sure yet. Maybe one last wrap-up. We’ll see.