Throughout its first four seasons, The Walking Dead has explored themes of faith and redemption. Many major characters in the show have undergone personal dilemmas and had their faith tested, or they have given in to the worst of human nature and sought some kind of way back.
Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln): As the main 
character of The Walking Dead, we have followed his personal arc right from the TV show’s beginning. Having awakened from a coma, Rick found himself in a world turned upside down and overrun by the undead walkers. Almost immediately, Rick sets out to find his family even though the odds are he ever will see them again. From the first episode (“Days Gone Bye”) Rick’s faith is tested as he goes through hurdles to find his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and son. Despite the long odds, he is rewarded in the third episode of the show (“Tell It To The Frogs”) when he is reunited with them.
After that his faith in other matters has been largely crushed, that is in finding a safe haven for his family, an answer to what caused the walker outbreak, and most recently leaving behind his leadership role and assuming a peaceful life as a farmer. Still, the love he has for his son Carl (Chandler Riggs) and the responsibility he has for members of his survivor group keeps pushing Rick to find a way to better their lives. This was why he and his band headed for the supposed safety of the town called Terminus at the conclusion of the fourth season.
When Lori dies in the episode “Killer Within” Rick is visibly broken. All his hard work to keep his family safe were for naught. Rick sees himself as having failed the group, but he begins earning a measure of self-redemption when he meets Michonne and learns that members of his group are held prisoner by the Governor (David Morrissey) in the episode “When The Dead Come Knocking”. He reaffirms his leadership role in securing their release and dealing with the Governor. Yet, redemption is a slippery thing to have when it comes to Rick Grimes. After his group is split up after the episode “Too Far Gone”, Rick is nearly broken both physically and mentally. As before, his responsibility and love to his son and others are what keeps him going. This has led to him adopting a hard, vicious stance to successfully deal with the cruel world. This was evident with his vicious killing of a thug attempting to rape Carl and showing quiet resolve and confidence when he and his group are captured at the so-called sanctuary Terminus. His final line “They picked the wrong people to screw with.” exemplifies a steely determination that will save his group.
Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus): The stoic and rugged right-hand man to Rick has undergone his own crisis of faith and faced his own personal setbacks. In Daryl’s case, the faith that spurred him on was the vain search in season two for young Sophia Peletier (Madison Lintz) the pre-teen girl who got separated from the group in the second season opener “What Lies Ahead”. At first, everyone in the group desperately searched for the lost girl, but circumstances kept them from the search. As time went by, it was clear she was gone, even her mother had given up hope. But Daryl wouldn’t hear of it, he unrealistically kept the hope alive that she was fine. But cruel fate revealed that Sophia died and became a reanimated walker (“Pretty Much Dead Already”).
A more important arc for Daryl though has been about his own personal redemption. When he was first introduced in the episode “Tell It To The Frogs” Daryl came off as your typical ignorant redneck with a chip on his shoulder. Hardly someone who endeared himself to viewers. He even admitted in later episodes that he was just a criminal who followed his unlawful brother around, and there are hints that he was an abuse victim. His redeeming qualities were just his love and devotion for his older brother Merle (Michael Rooker). It seemed that after Merle was presumed dead, that Daryl would leave the group, but strangely enough he remained with them and very soon became someone who was dependable and handy in a fight. Rick and the others wisely saw this and cultivated relationships with Daryl. He developed a tender affair with Sophia’s mother Carole (Melissa McBride) and even became the de facto leader of the group after Rick had a mental breakdown after his wife died. Even after his brother turned up alive and working with the evil Governor, Daryl stayed by Rick’s side.
That’s why it was disheartening to see him fall in with a group of deadly marauders (“Alone”) in a recent fourth season episode. He was alone, despondent, and lost contact with the group when the marauders encountered him. Seeing he had no choice, Daryl accepted their leader’s offer to join the new group. Of course, he showed his true allegiance (“A”) when he turned against his new group to help Rick, Carl and Michonne (Danai Gurira). After that his redemption was complete, even Rick confided to him that he considered him a brother.
Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker): Daryl’s older brother, introduced in the first season episode “Guts” was clearly a 
racist thug who tried to bully everyone around him. Right away, he clashed with Rick and had to be abandoned in Atlanta when Rick’s group fled from a walker onslaught.
Given up for dead, Merle survived the abandonment and soon joined the notorious Governor and his community in Woodbury. In the third season episode “Walk With Me” he is re-introduced to the show and instantly shows he hasn’t changed his amoral ways when capturing Michonne and Andrea (Laurie Holden). As the Governor’s right-hand man, he was a dark, sadistic version of his younger brother who delighted in torturing prisoners.
He seemed someone who was unlikely to ever reform. But ironically it happened… somewhat. Merle was forced to join Rick’s group and he was most unwelcomed and only tolerated because of Daryl, who by now was held in high regard. After the Governor demanded that Michonne be handed over to him in return for a peace settlement with Rick’s group, Merle all too willingly takes Michonne to hand her to his former boss (“This Sorrowful Life”). However, when he is on the road with Michonne, Merle has a change of heart and releases her. Knowing that his fate is sealed, Merle goes on to try to kill the Governor in order to protect his brother and his friends. Even though he failed to kill the Governor, his final acts earned him a measure of redemption that in the end brought time for Rick’s group.
Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride): First seen as a somewhat weak person who endured an abusive husband, Carol has grown hard and callous to life. Having little faith in life as it was, she was devastated when Sophia turned into a walker. 
The only thing that kept Carol from just giving up altogether was the relationship she had with Daryl. The two began to grow close during the search for Sophia and the two learned they were kindred spirits of sorts. From her, Daryl learned about empathy, while she learned about fortitude from him. It was that resilience that allowed her to survive when she was separated from the group at their prison home (“Killer Within”) until she was found by Daryl (“Hounded”).
Even though she had her relationship with Daryl, Carol was still haunted by the death of her daughter and had developed an existentialist view of life. By the start of the fourth season, Carol secretly taught young children on how to kill walkers because she felt that weakness was no longer tolerated in the world. With her new kill-or-be-killed outlook, Carol coldly murdered Tyreese’s (Chad L. Coleman) girlfriend when she came down with a deadly flu. Rick banished her from the group after she confessed her crime, but she rejoined a group remnant led ironically enough by Tyreese. This group consisted of him, Rick’s infant daughter and two young sisters ( Brighton Sharbino and Kyla Kennedy).
Later, Carol and Tyreese learned that the older sister lost her grip with reality and naively killed her sister (“The Grove”). In this cruel, uncivilized world, Carol made the difficult choice of executing the girl since she was dangerous. Afterwards, feeling broken and exhausted, Carol confessed to Tyreese about killing his girlfriend. In doing so, she expected to be killed and simply accepted her fate. She was shocked to learn that Tyreese chose to forgive her, demonstrating incredible restraint and humanity. So, has Carol earned redemption at this point? That’s hard to decide and it’s left up to the viewers, perhaps her actions in future episodes of The Walking Dead will determine if she has earned it.
To Be Continued…
José Soto
Deadloggers 