Do not read any further if you are not caught up to the mid-season finale of the Walking Dead.

They really screwed the pooch because some producer or writer does not know how to utilize foreshadowing.

  But first I need to talk about screenwriting – mainly the use of foreshadowing.

HOW TO USE FORESHADOWING:

Act 1- open a drawer.  See a gun.
 Act 3- Run into room to escape bad guy. See desk. Open desk and use gun on bad guy. 

Tada! Foreshadowing worked because the audience saw the gun in the 1st act so they were not taken completely by surprise when the gun was used in the 3rd act. But the audience is pleasantly satisfied that the good guy beat the bad guy because the gun was in the drawer.

Conversely, if the gun was NOT foreshadowed in the 1st act, then the audience would feel cheated that a gun just happened to be in the desk drawer in the 3rd act. Without foreshadowing, then the gun is a “deus ex machina” like the T-Rex breaking into the room and fighting off the raptors. The T-Rex just appears like a gift from God.

HOW NOT TO USE FORESHADOWING:

1st Act- See gun in drawer. 

2nd Act- talk to your wife about the gun in the drawer.

Then you talk to your son about the gun in the drawer. Then you come in and stare at the gun for fifteen minutes. Then the mailman comes and you go get the mail and you tell the mailman that there is a gun in the drawer. Then you call your mom and you talk for an hour about the gun that is in the drawer. Then you buy some paint and an easel and you make a painting about the gun in the drawer. Then you take the gun and practice drawing it out and you mutter to yourself in front of a mirror (”Are you talking to me?”).  Then you take a red ribbon and you wrap it around the gun in the drawer.

 3rd Act- the bad guy chases you into the room and you use the gun the drawer FINALLY GEEEZ ABOUT TIME!!!!!

See, the audience is unsatisfied because they had already guessed that the gun in the drawer will be used on the bad guy.

TOO MUCH FORESHADOWING IS AS BAD AS NONE:

How does this relate to the Walking Dead?

Episode 1 – Sophia is chased away by zombies and can’t be found.

 Episode 2 – While trying to find Sophia, they find a farm where the people in the farm all look at each other “knowingly” when told that they are looking for a little girl chased by zombies and who can’t be found.

  Episode 3 – Sophia, the little girl, can’t be found. The people at the farm look at each other “knowingly” whenever Sophia is mentioned.

Episode 4 – Cherokee Rose episode. A beautiful scene between Daryl and Carol, where Daryl gives her a Cherokee rose signifying the dead children of the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears.  Is Sophia dead?  The farm owner, Hershel, wants the people looking for Sophia off his land.  

Episode 5 – Glenn finds that Hershel has been keeping zombies in the barn.  Sophia can’t be found.  GEE I WONDER IF SHE IS A ZOMBIE IN THE BARN??????

Episode 6- Sophia can’t be found. Hershel wants them off his farm. Zombies are in the barn.  CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE LOOK TO SEE IF SOPHIA IS IN THE BARN???  No.  Instead, we have to have Lori talk about her pregnancy with 4 different people.  Andrea and Dale have to talk about how Dale is not her father.  Shane has to talk to Lori about how they used to be lovers.  We have seen these conversations in just about every episode.  But we have to endure them again for some ungodly reason.

  Episode 7- mid-season finale (whatever that is) – Sophia can’t be found.  Zombies are in the barn.  Hershel wants everybody off his land.  SOMETHING IS SCREAMING AT ME THAT SOPHIA IS A ZOMBIE IN THE BARN.

But do we find out right away?  No.  First we have to recreate the Cherokee rose scene from episode 4 and ruin the original scene with the unnecessary recreation.  AND WAIT -  Lori tells ANOTHER person she is pregnant.  Rick tells Hershel Lori is pregnant.  I wish somebody would just punch Lori in her pregnant stomach but then we might get relegated to MORE interminable talks about how she got punched in the stomach.

AND WAIT – Andrea talks to Dale about WHAAAAAT???? Dale, you are not my father so don’t treat me like that.  Dale has the THIRD talk with Shane about how Shane is “bad.” Shane has the FIFTH interaction with Carl where Shane acts like a father-figure.  And just about when you feel like throwing the TV out the window because they keep having the SAME CONVERSATIONS they have been having for the last 7 episodes, suddenly THEY ENCOUNTER TWO ZOMBIES in the woods.

YES FINALLY ZOMBIES!!!!  ZOMBIES HAVE APPEARED in a show called THE WALKING DEAD which is supposed to be about ZOMBIES, imagine that!!!!

  And what happens?  While trying to get the zombies in the barn, they find that Sophia is a zombie in the barn.

  I was actually really mad that I was not surprised.  I was actually really really mad that they milked the foreshadowing for so looooooong throughout 7 episodes, that a great reveal like finding Sophia and having to put her down as a zombie was not more of a dramatic moment because it was so OBVIOUS that it was going to happen.

The moment was a beautiful moment RUINED by the bad foreshadowing.

  Gale Anne Hurd, how do you manage to put your finger of SUCK on everything you touch?

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Angel Uriel Perales is a poet and journalist currently watching too much television in Studio City, California. You can find his poetry at RUMRAZOR PRESS.