Most folks know that AMC's The Walking Dead is an adaptation of a series of graphic novels by Robert Kirkman. The television drama makes several departures from the story and draws in elements from different parts of the tale. That's the best way to do an adaptation, in my opinion. As much as we all want to see our individual imaginations up on the screen, a show where you knew exactly what was going to happen would be pretty boring. The Walking Dead, however, appears to be taking it a step further. With the addition of a character named Noah, viewers began to suspect that The Walking Dead was borrowing from its video game as well.
The two characters share a similar history. Noah has scenes with Daryl Dixon in the video game, and my money is on Noah being the one that Daryl had hidden in the woods at the end of the Oct. 26 episode. If the television show wanted to spice it up, it's interesting to think that they could use this as a resource, especially as the games are being released concurrently. Could more new characters come from the video game? Telltale Games' Walking Dead universe is vast and there are a few different games to consider. So let's break it down before we make any conclusions.
"Survival Instinct"
This is the First Person Shooter game that started the speculation, and is technically a prequel to the TV series. In the game, Noah is found in Cleburne Memorial Hospital. There, Daryl meets him and becomes involved in looking for a cure to the Walker virus. That's not too far off from what's going on with the show. It seems likely that Daryl will end up at Grady Memorial Hospital soon to rescue Carol and Beth. Could Grady Memorial be the stand in for Cleburne? This is interesting, because it appears that the video game has made more headway in the search for a Walker cure than the graphic novel. (Spoiler ahead) In the graphic novel, Abraham and Eugene are dead ends. No pun intended. If the show is following the video game in addition to the source material, that gives us two separate paths in the race for a cure with opposing viewpoints. That's certainly more dramatic.
We've seen the insides of the hospital now and it doesn't appear that they are doing any experimentation with the wards or looking for a cure. However, now that Dawn has had her world shook by Beth, she may turn to that next.
"The Walking Dead: Season One" & "Season Two"
These graphic adventure games, on the other hand, are unlikely to feature heavily in the series. They were released starting in 2012 and feature a whole host of characters that we have never met before on the page or on AMC. It would be cool to see Clementine, a hardcore young girl and playable protagonist mixing it up with Rick Grimes. I just don't think it's likely. Few of our heroes interact with the video game personalities, including Hershel Greene.
Much of the video game also takes place in settings that are too far for our televised heroes to reach. Sure, they make stops at Macon and Savannah in Georgia. But at one point, Clementine's gang visits a ski resort. I doubt that Rick Grimes would be into either going that far North or West to reach suitable snowy mountains. The video game characters ultimately reach Ohio, which actually makes me think that they could be using this as source material for The Walking Dead spinoff in the future.
So while the show may draw from the FPS game to strengthen a plot point, I wouldn't get too excited that your favorite characters and storylines from the game are going to show up on AMC.
Images: Gene Page/AMC; Giphy (2)
