emunney wrote:I like that Rick's changing because it makes sense for him to change. His shifting moral code has been earned by the story. That he's becoming more amoral doesn't make him less human, imo. Everybody goes through these cognitive adaptations. They're just more pronounced with Rick because of the extreme nature of the scenarios he keeps facing. It's going to get so much crazier than it's been so far, and the characters that survive will have to keep adapting.
Moral judgments really don't interest me. He killed Tomas because Tomas had just tried to kill him twice. No brainer for Rick at this point. It would have been a major character betrayal if Rick had let him live.
Existential questions have been a big part of the show from the jump, and for the most part characters have to answer the "What's the point?" question for themselves (side note: I'm grateful that both the asking and the answering has been less explicit recently). Rick's motivation at this point is to survive and lead the group. That last scene was a great illustration: he still clearly has feelings for Lori, but the gratitude he expresses for saving Hershel is on behalf of the group as it's leader, not as Rick the individual, and certainly not as Lori's husband.
Excellent analysis, I agree with everything you said. I should note that I was not saying "what's the point" in response to Rick killing other human beings; he absolutely had to in this situation. It was more in response to him losing Lori, which you addressed.
I am also especially grateful that they've been less explicit in the whole "what's the point?" thing for each character. Personally, I enjoy watching shows for deeper meaning (assuming it exists), and there's certainly a lot of it in the Walking Dead. But I also understand that there's people who watch it simply because zombies are getting shot and such. So it really bothers me when shows sort of "dumb down" and throw the deep issues (in this case, the "who cares?") right in the viewers' face.