Thursday, April 11, 2013

This Is Your Life: Merle Dixon


Merle Dixon

What is he?:  Merle is a survivor of the zombie apocalypse on The Walking Dead and is the older brother of Darryl.

Biography: Merle was locked in prison when the dead rose and instantly made himself popular by shooting people - both Walker and otherwise. He was rescued by his brother Darryl, who nursed him back to health. They joined up with the group in Atlanta, intending to rob them. His plans failed when he met Rick, who handcuffed him to a rooftop when he attacked T-Dog. To escape, Merle cut off his own arm and eventually ended up joining the Governor in Woodbury, helping do the dirty work. When Woodbury clashed with the main group, his loyalty to his brother lead him to briefly rejoin the main group before finally sacrificing himself trying to kill the Governor

What We love about him: Not a damn thing. Seriously, everything about him was improved when he became a Walker.  The show did try to make him sympathetic before he died but this is like putting a flower on a shit heap, there is nothing to redeem there

What we hate about him: Wow, it’s so hard to even know where to begin with this simply because there is so much to hate about Merle. The man had zero conscience and only seemed to care about his young brother Darryl. His language was continually filled with racist, demeaning slurs. Merle was aggressive and hostile and clearly had a problem with authority figures (except for the Governor, possibly because they’re both vile). He beat Glenn to a pulp for information and stood with the Governor, despite knowing intimately what the man is capable of. He’s a vicious, bigoted, violent, selfish thug, what more is there to say? It continues to astound us how such a disgusting character became a fan favorite.

Television Series: The Walking Dead