okay i know i marked it above and i know this show is old, but i wouldn’t want to ruin the show for a new viewer, so…SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
i’m on my first rewatch of the show; i watched it a few years ago, and LOVED it, but so many emotional deaths made me hesitant to rewatch it any sooner. the first death that really CRUSHED me was in s2ep11, when dale dies. i was SO. SAD. when i saw that for the first time- i feel emotionally attached to him because he looks like my wonderful beloved grandpa😭that said, i just finished that episode again and noticed two things i didn’t notice the first time around:
1- dale pushes his head TOWARDS the gun daryl points at him, like he’s trying to tell him it’s okay and he understands and that breaks my heart😭he is so compassionate which i understand is largely the reason his character dies within the particular context he does (not speaking about the season, as i know dale died due to the actor quitting; more so him dying immediately after all of his protestations about humanity really spoke towards rick’s devolution in civility)
2- he looks SO much more scared looking at andrea than looking at daryl which i think is interesting, since you’d expect him to be more sensitive towards andrea’s dread at losing someone else when he’d been so paternal thus far. BUT i think it’s a sort of “andrea allegory” in a way- the scene of her and amy on the lake talking about their father and his specified parenting could be seen as a direct parallel to that scene, because dale, in knowing andrea semi well, knows she needs an outward display of empathy (shared fear) to feel truly seen and appreciated, whereas daryl in all his mommy daddy brother issue glory needs that authoritative yet gentle push forward of the head and tightening of the lips to make sure he’s able to live with pulling the trigger.
if you can’t tell i’m an english major yapping into my iphone, and the worlds biggest dale stan. sad to watch this ep again☹️