Shane Walsh: # 8

Shane Walsh

Actor Biography

Shane Walsh is played by Jon Bernthal, who was born September 20th, 1977. Benthal was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He left the United States and went to study at The Moscow Art Theatre School which is (predictably) in Moscow, Russia. After spending some time at the school in Moscow, he attended the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at the American Repretory Theatre. He graduated from there in 2002 and after that, performed in over 30 plays.

Bernthal has also appeared in many tv shows and movies. He made appearances in shows such as "How I met your Mother" and "The Pacific".

Who was he before the Apocalypse?

Before the apocalypse began Shane was a police officer alongside Rick Grimes, his best friend. He and Rick grew up together in King County, Georgia. While Rick was a laid back guy, Shane was known more as a womanizer and never married, unlike Rick. After high school Shane and Rick signed up with the police force together and worked as local deputies in King County.

During this time, Shane became close with Rick's family. After the Apocalyptic outbreak and Rick's apperent death, Shane took it upon himself to take care of Lori and Carl. He led them out of King County and towards Atlanta, all the while keeping them from harm. After seeing Atlanta get bombed by military helicopters, Shane, along with some people met on the road, set up camp in a quarry on the outskirts of Atlanta.

During this time, Shane fell in love with Lori and Lori, feeling desperate and alone, seemed to fall in love with Shane. The two began to develop an intimate relationship.

The group stayed there for a little over a month. Rick eventually arrived out of the blue surprising everyone, most of all Shane, who had left Rick at the hospital thinking he was dead. His return brought mixed emotions for Shane. On the one hand, his lifelong best friend had returned but on the other hand, it left Shane as the odd man out in the love triangle that had formed. Being the great friend that he was, Shane backed off and let Lori and Rick be together. Shane and Lori kept their affair a secret.

Personality and Progression

At the start of the show, he is like the second protagonist. Before Rick returned to the group, Shane had been the leader. The group looked up to him and followed his lead. After Rick's return, Shane fell back and let him take control, becoming an effective "second-in-command". When Rick made a decision, Shane respected it and made sure the others followed his lead properly.

As the show progressed, Shane began to lose all feelings of guilt, shame and moral goodness. Instead, he began to care about nothing except the safety and survival of  himself and those he loved. 

He slowly turned into the Antagonist by losing his concept of guilt, shame and what is morally correct. Instead, he takes on the concept of survival for himself and those he cares about by any means, even if it includes murdering his allies, going against the beliefs of the group, and betraying his former best-friend. All of this leads to his death.

Shane loved Rick like a brother, but he also loved Lori, Rick's wife.

Life Changing experience

Killing Otis
A big turning point in Shane's character was when he murdered a man named Otis.

After Carl is accidentally shot by a man named Otis, he is rushed to a nearby farm when a man named Herschel lived. Herschel had once been a veterinarian and was willing to perform surgery to keep Carl alive. However, he needed the proper supplies. Shane volunteered to go find the supplies and is joined by Otis, who felt terrible about what he had done and wanted to redeem himself.

While on the trip, the two get into some trouble. As they found the supplies, Shane and Otis got surrounded and trapped in a building by Walkers. To escape, they had to jump out of a second story window. When Shane jumped, he badly injured his ankle. The pair begin running back to the farm, but Walkers are close behind. 

In an act of desperation Shane looked to Otis, said "I'm sorry", and shot Otis in the leg. Walkers swarmed onto the screaming Otis, leaving Shane free to make his escape. 

When Shane returned to the group with the supplies, but without Otis, he lied to the group and claimed that Otis had died a hero.

 Killing Otis to save himself and get the supplies to Carl was Shane's sole focus. He did not let morals get in the way. He decided that the best way to protect those he loved was to kill an innocent man, so that is what he did. This murderous act shows how Shane is beginning to possess any morals.

Shane was a good man at heart. He tried to convince himself that he had gotten over killing Otis but he NEVER did. He was so emotional over it that it slowly broke him down piece by piece. It showed that he wasn't a ruthless killer. He was a cop pretending to fit in with the new world when in reality the guilt of killing Otis made him become insane and ultimately led to his death.

  

Being emotionally tortured by Lori

Before Rick returned to the group, Shane and Lori began an intimate relationship. Lori was in pain, Shane was a good support system, and neither had any idea Rick was still alive.

After Rick returns, Lori becomes angry with Shane over the fact that he "lied" to her about Rick being dead and warns him to stay away from her family.

After Lori reveals that she is pregnant, she makes it clear to Shane that her baby is Rick’s no matter what. She tells Shane that they are over and that he meant nothing to her.  

Later in the day, feeling guilty over what she had said, Lori goes and talks to Shane again. This time, she thanks him for everything, talks about how much he means to her and Carl and  says how grateful she is.

These back and forth talks between the two continue to confuse Shane and help lead to his eventually demise. all of this just when he’s at the tipping point to dive into full-on crazy.

Death

Shane meets his doom when he is killed by his best friend, Rick. Shane brought his death upon himself.

Shane lures Rick out to a field in the middle of the forest by pretending to look for the escaped prisoner named Randell, who has been mentioned briefly earlier. In reality, Shane had already killed Randell and was only out in the wilderness with Rick because he is planning to kill him. Rick comes to this conclusion as well. Rick makes it seem as though he's handing Shane his weapon, as he refused to be armed. Once his gun is in Shane's hand, and Shane's guard is down, Rick pulls out his knife and stabs Shane in the chest.

Shane's ultimate demise came because of his tortured love for Lori and Carl, his loss of sanity and his frequent jealousy of Rick.

Strengths and Faults

 Strengths 

- Excellent leadership abilities

- Excels in combat

- Skill with firearms. As well as once being a police officer, Shane was also a gun instructor.

- Protective instincts

Faults

- Morally unstable. His only motive is to keep Lori, her unborn child who he thinks is his, Carl, and himself safe, no matter the cost.

- Believes his ideas are the best ones for the group and that he is the most suited to lead the group through the Apocalypse alive.

Shane is an interesting character. His actions make him easy to hate, but his reasoning behind his actions, as well as Jon Bernthals overall acting skills make him an amazing character.

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_laicy2o6c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHQ05K9fq_Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QL7FzYOWac