I don’t believe that any deaths (in the show) that are caused by walkers or comic-canon deaths are “shock value”. There’s a lot of people in this subreddit that throw around that every other death in the show is somehow someone killed off for “shock value”, which I’ve never vibed with, because THIS IS LITERALLY A SHOW ABOUT THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. There’s nothing shocking about someone suddenly being bit or torn apart, it comes with the genre and territory of the series. Like, I don’t even consider Glenn’s death to be a shock value kill, because it happened in the comics, therefore, not shocking. Unlike Abraham’s death, that would be more on the shock value side considering he died via arrow to the head in the comics as opposed to being smashed to death by Negan via Lucille. (It’s only half the shock value because, yes, Abraham still died in both the comics and the show, but in wildly different ways). Additionally, I don’t consider deaths like Sasha or Jesus to be shock value deaths at all. Sasha’s actress said that her death was planned (Like Rick’s “death” and Michonne’s departure), and Jesus’ actor asked to be killed off because he wasn’t satisfied that his character wasn’t being utilized at all. However, deaths like Carl’s are purely shock value due to everything we know about what CR had said about why his character was killed off for financial reasons, I believe. Sorry if this is long-winded, I’m a lover of paragraph explanations lol. Let me know your thoughts on supposed “shock value” deaths in the show, plz :)
I agree, to an extent. However, when the show runners set up plot lines with the character only to kill them off before said plots get fulfilled, it’s kind of annoying.
(Spoilers btw)
For example, I liked Noah’s death, but they just set up his interest in strengthening Alexandria’s walls and becoming an architect with Reg. Because of this, it feels like shock value.
But most of the time, I agree with Walker kills and don’t view them as shock value.
I feel like that having a character die and their potential be destroyed and unfulfilled also goes hand in hand with the theme as well. Like Andrea’s sister Amy was so young, bright and could be seen as a shining light in the darkness of the apocalypse, but she still ended up dying. And Lori never got to meet or raise Judith herself, Hershel was literally a wonderful moral compass that got snuffed out, Bob never got to have a long and loving relationship with Sasha, Tyrese protected Judith with his life and could have been an uncle to her, and Beth didn’t get an opportunity to reunite with Maggie. They all had potential in a very unforgiving world.
Yeah never fully understood the shock value thing. Like you're watching a gritty and gory TV show, do you not want to be shocked and on the edge of your seat watching this shit go down? That was always the best part watching this show on release night each week