Andrea : #11

Andrea

Favourite Quote

"The pain doesn't go away. You just make room for it." - Andrea

Actress biography

 Laurie Holden, was born December 17, 1969 in Los Angeles, California. She has had many acting jobs, but is best known for her roles as Marita Covarrubias in The X-Files, Adele Stanton on The Majestic, Cybil Bennett in Silent Hill, Amanda Dumfries in The Mist, and (as you can tell from this blog) Andrea in The Walking Dead.

Who was she before the Apocalypse?

Andrea (right) and her sister, Amy (left)

Before the Apocalypse, Andrea had been attending college to study law. During this time, she became distant from her family. After getting her degree, she became a successful civil rights attorney. Years later, in an attempt to reconnect with her family, Andrea went on a road trip with her sister, Amy.

As the sisters' trip came to a close and they were heading back to Amy's college, the Apocalypse was beginning. They were stuck in Atlanta when they met Dale Horvath and soon after, found a group of other survivors.

Personality and Progression

In the first season, Andrea was stubborn, opinionated and mainly interested in keeping herself and her sister, Amy, safe.When the camp got attacked by zombies and killed Amy, Andrea was devastated. She entered a state of depression and felt that she had nothing left to live for. The season ended with Andrea in a fragile state, still distraught over the death of her sister.

In the second season, Andrea began to become more independent, even considering leaving the group and surviving on her own. As this season progressed, Andrea made the transition from a depressed and emotionally unstable woman into a strong, independent survivor. At the start, she had no training with weapons and had no way to defend herself, forcing her to rely on others for safety. However, after she convinced Shane to teach her how to use a gun, she became quite efficient with firearms.
 Due to her desire to make an impact, Andrea began taking on a leadership role within the group. This is shown when she lead one of the search parties when they were looking for Sophia, who had gone missing.

By the end of season two, Andrea had become one of the best shooters in the group and was also taking on leadership role within the group.
We were left wondering what was going to happen to Andrea at the start of the next season, when the farm was attacked by zombies and Andrea became separated from the rest of the group.

In season three, after being separated from the group after the farm was overrun, Andrea was saved by a woman named Michonne. They two woman stick together, surviving the entire winter with each others' help. They formed a close bond with one another.
After surviving alone in the wild together, Michonne and Andrea are taken in by a man who goes by the name of the Governor, into a town called Woodbury.

Most people in Woodbury are content to act as if there isn't an Apocalypse.

Woodbury is a town of about 70 people. The town had been fortified by survivors to keep walkers out. Their leader is The Governor.

After being brought to Woodbury, Andrea was content, believing she had found a permanent and safe home. She and The Governor began a romantic relationship together, which eventually ends after Andrea began to realize that The Governor had a dark and sadistic nature.

Death

After learning about The Governors evil side, Andrea decided that he must be stopped. Before she was able to do anything, however, The Governor captured her and chained her to a chair in his torture room.

Andrea tied up by The Governor

The Governor brought in a man named Milton and told him to kill Andrea. Milton refused, so The Governor stabbed him in the stomach, with the intention of having Milton die come back as a zombie and eat the tied Andrea alive.

Before The Governor left the room he said, "In this life now, you kill or you die...Or you die and you kill".

As Andrea was trying to break free of her bindings, Milton died and began turning. Just as she got loose, Milton fully turned and attacked her, biting her on the neck before she was able to kill him.

Before dying, Andrea was found by Rick, Daryl, and Michonne, who had snuck into Woodbury to look for her. Andrea asked the group to allow her to kill herself so as not to turn after death, and Rick handed her his gun as a tearful Michonne stayed behind with Andrea one last time. 

Andrea died in the arms of her best friend surrounded by the people she loved. She wasn’t cannibalized. She didn’t turn. She was able to go out on her own terms, with a certain amount of dignity. Her last dying wish was to end it herself and she was granted that.

Morals

All Andrea ever wanted was peace. She was a woman who fought for the good of humanity and was willing to do anything and everything possible even if it meant sacrificing herself to preserve that humanity and keep the people alive. 

Before the Apocalypse ever began, Andrea was a human rights lawyer. She has never been a killer. She’s never killed a human being in her life. She has killed a lot of zombies, but no humans. When everyone around her was losing their humanity and killing each other, Andrea retained hers.

 There were some fans of the show who were unhappy with the fact that Andrea was unable to follow through on killing The Governor when she was standing over his bed with a knife. I, however, can understand why she didn't and am happy about it. She didn't kill him because of the raging moral dilemma within her. She believed in humanity. She believed that there is always a better solution than killing. Her goal was to make sure no one else died and she succeeded. By the end, she was the only casualty of war. She made the ultimate sacrifice.



- Ben Ferguson