The Walking Dead season 2 continues with its third episode "Save the Last One," but how does it hold up to the comic book continuity? The group is still split as Shane and Otis fight off walkers at the high school desperately trying to retrieve medical supplies for Carl, while Rick, Lori, Hershel, Maggie and Glenn hold things down at the farm and the other survivors continue the search for Sophia. So what's next for The Walking Dead?
As AMC's incarnation weaves in and out of storylines from the books and adds its own original characters and development, we've compiled an in-depth guide for fans of the comic as well as AMC's The Walking Dead to enjoy. Check it out, and let us know your opinions of The Walking Dead's "Save the Last One" in the comments below!
OTIS’ DEATH
AMC: Ah, poor Otis. Despite his valiant mission and heroic rescues, Otis takes a bullet to the leg courtesy of Shane, who wrestles away the medical supplies and leaves him to the hungry walkers rather than risk being slowed down. Pruitt Taylor Vince, we shall miss thee.
THE COMICS: The Otis of the comics lasted far longer than his AMC counterpart, though we never actually saw his comic book death on paper. At some point during Rick, Michonne, and Glenn’s time in Woodbury, walkers overran the survivors back at the prison, Otis being one of the casualties. Rick discovered Otis’ zombified remains upon their return to the prison, and promptly put the former farmhand out of his misery. Somehow, we doubt the AMC zombies left enough of Otis for a return appearance.
WHO WEEPS FOR OTIS?
AMC: Having known him since childhood, Maggie weeps for Otis' fate almost as much as Patricia, whom they wouldn’t even tell of his demise before Carl’s surgery.
THE COMICS: Not too many bat an eye at the loss of Otis, and even he and Patricia had been broken up long enough that her sadness was somewhat brief-lived. Maggie didn’t say word one about it.
A LOW DOWN DIRTY SHANE
Granted Shane surviving past the first season places us in an entirely new ballgame already, “Save the Last One” has shown us even more of the former police officer’s dark side. Comic Shane went off the rails and attempted to kill Rick out of his desire for Lori, but AMC Shane was willing to condemn the noble Otis to a brutal zombie death if it meant his own, or Carl’s survival.
Plus, psycho head-shave. Always fun.
Man, I really liked Otis. I tired pretty quickly of the "he deserved to die because he was fat" blog posts and comments, elsewhere. He's a hunter and EMT and managed to survive where better-fit characters hadn't — not to mention saved Shane twice. ;) It's interesting that it's such a drastic divergence from the comics.
I'd love to read the comic book series but am finding getting all 88(?) a bit cost-prohibitive right now. Maybe Santa will be nice this year?
The Otis of the show was certainly much more likeable and sympathetic than his comic counterpart, but it made sense from a TV storytelling standpoint to kill him off.
A), the character never added much to the stories in the book despite surviving much longer, B) No one had (or could have) died in the TV series yet this season, because we're down to so few core characters, all of which are likely contracted to stay. So here we have an expendable comic character doing a guest role…shirt might as well have been red.
Want to read the books? Do what I did! Spend a day in a B&N reading through the collected volumes! Courteously!
I've read the comics and I'm loving the show. I like the fact that although they are following the story of the comics, its still radically different, therefore there are lots of surprises and I don't know what will happen next. I've heard people complaining about how it's got off to a slow start, well this obviously isn't the show for you. It's not about big action sequences and things blowing up, that's what Transformers is for.
I love the show, but admittedly I wouldn't mind a few more zombie sequences, or at least a resolution to this Sophia stuff. But it is great the way fans of the comics can be re-vitalized to the mythology by not knowing what changes are in store for the TV show!