Probably one of the most recognizable forms of zombie media, “The Walking Dead” initially originated as a series of comic books by Robert Kirkman. Wildly successful, Kirkman’s work went on to spawn a television series, multiple spin-offs and a choice-based video game produced by Telltale Studios.
The latter follows convicted felon Lee Everett (Dave Fennoy), who takes a young girl, Clementine (Melissa Hutchison), under his wing upon finding out she has no one else amidst the apocalypse. Though the game gives you the illusion of choice, it more or less follows a set plot, with the player’s choice building or destroying Lee’s moral code — a large theme throughout the story, seeing as he acts as an influence to Clementine.
Clem is thrust into a world that is not suitable for a child in the slightest and Lee is forced to make the decision of whether to keep her childlike innocence or prepare her for this new life, changing her as a person entirely. He does the latter, but comes to terms with this after a conversation with another survivor, realizing that if you treat a kid like a kid during the apocalypse, they’ll die as one.
Quickly, Clem learns to make tough decisions, contributing to her character development in Season 2 after nearly a two-year time jump. After witnessing numerous deaths and being on the road for so long, Clementine has become more accustomed to the world around her. Now acting as the protagonist, players get a chance to further her character.
A major critique of this game in particular is the rest of Clem’s group asking her to do every task while they sit back. Though this makes sense from a gameplay perspective, the concept of fully grown adults asking an 11-year-old girl to do their dirty work makes the other characters hateable, and paints Clem as a wronged character, making us sympathize with her even more.
Our choices towards these characters contribute to Clem becoming more jaded, and leads to numerous trust issues that impact her character throughout the course of the seasons. This pipeline is in tune with the state of the world, as trust runs scarce.
“The Walking Dead” franchise’s theme quickly moves from one of morality to one of trust, running into the third game as well, where Clem appears once again as a side character. Players are instead introduced to Javi (Jeff Schine), an entirely new character who we’re forced to become quickly accustomed to. Players’ typical choices largely lean in favor of Clementine as we know her, though this in turn makes Javi seem naive for trusting a girl he just met.
While the relationships within this game are muddled, the introduction of newfound civilizations is widely apparent, and is a highlight in an otherwise dull game. The writers follow a realistic, yet imaginable timeline of society’s collapse, with new ones sprouting amid the chaos.
The show follows the same plot, with walkers becoming more of a nuisance than an actual threat, given that survivors know how to take care of them after a while. Because of this, the series quickly becomes entrenched in the man vs. man aspect of the apocalypse, moving away from why viewers tuned in in the first place.
As viewership decreased as the seasons went on, the writers attempted to make a last-ditch effort to spice things up by introducing walker variations. This was a clear attempt to fill the plothole of sentient walkers that were introduced in the first season, only to be immediately dropped after the original showrunner left.
With 11 seasons to explain the outbreak and possible cures, “The Walking Dead” just didn’t deliver, and the initial cause of the zombie apocalypse still remains unknown. Along with this, the show failed to deliver on a fan favorite character that surely would have upped their ratings: Clementine.
Though the show technically takes place in a separate universe from the comic and game — which do exist in the same universe — there is some overlap of characters, such as Glenn, Hershel and Jesus, played in the show by Steven Yeun, Scott Wilson and Tom Payne, respectively. A live-action version of Clem would have surely boosted the ratings. With casting posing as a possible issue, a mere mention of her name would have sufficed.
Seeing as how Clementine is a 16-year-old sharp shooter who has travelled across multiple states — including Georgia and Virginia, where the show takes place — a mention of her as an urban legend to the series’ main character Rick (Andrew Lincoln) wouldn’t be too unbelievable.
The Telltale games quickly decided to end their series after realizing that they were already past their peak, while the show tried to milk their name-brand, ultimately ruining it. Trying to make up for it in spin-offs and shock value-esque plot points — such as a walker giving birth — they’re failing to see the cure that is laid out right in front of them: Clementine.
