[HockeyMike24]

I know that Rick and Shane are cops, Andrea was a lawyer and Glenn was a pizza boy. But who was T-Dog? Was his profession ever mentioned in the story? Or did he ever talk about where he came from? I feel like I need to know more about this character even with his lack of dialog in season two.

[Maka523]

A poor stand in for Tyreese.

[Matt]

The writers have never brought it up. Until it is in fact brought up, I'll just go along with the theory that he was a gangbanger lol

[HockeyMike24]

Maka523, on 09 May 2012 - 09:24 PM, said:

A poor stand in for Tyreese.

I never read the comics.. I assume that's where Tyreese is from.

[Goat]

He's never really been developed by the writers.  I think he'll get his moment in the sun in season 3.

[Ansceniiiic]

He was a homeless man.

[Babs Bladdyblah]

^^

I heard he was a bell hop...

Edited by Babs Bladdyblah, 09 May 2012 - 09:40 PM.

[CynicalVision]

I thought this was going to be a joke thread about how little screen time he's had in season 2.

[CreepMeOut]

They never mentioned what professions  other characters had like Daryl and Dale who have/ had bigger roles on the show. I'm guessing Lori and Carol where housewives and Hershel and his family where farmers. What I always wonder is why there is no mention of their family members. I remember in Season 1 Andrea and Amy talked about their parents in Florida and hoping the ZA didnt hit as hard over there but no one else ever mentioned any concern of thier parents or siblings etc. I could be wrong but I can also understand that the producers wouldn't want to waste screentime on that.

[gracie lou]

I think they either know or assume they are dead. Rick mentioned that Lori's parents lived in Atlanta and Glenn mentioned having a mother and sisters...

[Melquiades Estrada]

The need to tell the story of how the got toguether , the original crew i mean.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[backwoodsroamer]

To answer the op truthfully, we really have no idea who T-Dog is. At this point he's just part of the set. Which is a shame. How long did the Shane-Lori-Rick story drag on. I like drama not "Days of Our F***ing Lives."

[Maka523]

HockeyMike24, on 09 May 2012 - 09:29 PM, said:

I never read the comics.. I assume that's where Tyreese is from.

Yep.

Really, T-Dog only exists as a poor stand in for Tyreese.  He's there because Darabont needed a black man to get his ass kicked by racist Merle so Rick could come to the rescue.  And Tyreese, written properly, would never have let that slide.  Tyreese would have broken Merle in half when he tried that shit and then staved his head in with a claw hammer.  And because that was T-Dog's only purpose, come Season 2 with Merle off alone with a hand cut off, the guys in the writers room looked at T-Dog and collectively went "Shit, what do we do with him now?"


And, really, it's a damn shame.  That Darabont made these changes, throwing away this incredibly kind and loving person of color character, who was utterly badass and responsible and the hero's right hand man and best friend and a leader, and replacing him with a cipher, content to stand in the background who, in the bare seconds where an actual character shines through, turns out to be weak and panicky and a coward, doesn't speak very well of Darabont.

I'm over T-Dog.  I don't care that he gets a spotlight next season, I want him to be killed off, and for Mazzara to bring in Tyreese and do it right.

Edited by Maka523, 10 May 2012 - 11:48 PM.

[Major Tom]

Didn't someone say he mentioned that he was a locksmith. I read that here and I don't recall it from any episode.

There was one poster around here that kind of insinuated that we should at least allow for the strong possibility that he was a literature professor at a community college.

To do less would brand us as racist pigs.

[CreepMeOut]

gracie lou, on 10 May 2012 - 09:11 PM, said:

I think they either know or assume they are dead. Rick mentioned that Lori's parents lived in Atlanta and Glenn mentioned having a mother and sisters...

Oh kk missed out on hearing that

[HockeyMike24]

Major Tom, on 11 May 2012 - 12:07 AM, said:

Didn't someone say he mentioned that he was a locksmith. I read that here and I don't recall it from any episode.

I think I seen that somewhere too. It's only assumed that he is a locksmith because he knew so much about the door he locked on the roof, he was explaining that the walkers couldn't break it.

[Trillian]

CynicalVision, on 09 May 2012 - 10:45 PM, said:

I thought this was going to be a joke thread about how little screen time he's had in season 2.

Me, too!!

[Ciren]

I compared T-Dog's character to a character in the film Crash who was a locksmith, if that's what you're referring to, Major Tom.

I picture T-Dog as just another blue collared, hard working American male striving to provide best for his family in a not-so-friendly environment who just happens to get unjustly stereotyped as "just another thug brother" because he's black. This is what Michael Pena's character in Crash was basically, except Mexican, and he was a locksmith.

[Major Tom]

Ciren, on 13 May 2012 - 12:14 AM, said:

I compared T-Dog's character to a character in the film Crash who was a locksmith, if that's what you're referring to, Major Tom.

I picture T-Dog as just another blue collared, hard working American male striving to provide best for his family in a not-so-friendly environment who just happens to get unjustly stereotyped as "just another thug brother" because he's black. This is what Michael Pena's character in Crash was basically, except Mexican, and he was a locksmith.

That may be where I got the idea. I thought someone said he actually was a locksmith but I must be misremembering,

I was a youth football coach for several years when my son was playing and I supervised the local park program for several years after that. T-Dog is very much like  the black guys I coached with. They dress a little different and talk a little different but otherwise they are no different from white guys who aren't doctors, lawyers and captains of industry.

Actually, there has never been anything about T-Dog that reminds me of a thug. I have known enough of those to know the difference. The only people that I can imagine stereotyping T-Dog as a thug would be someone from an area where seeing a black person is an event so unusual it is worth mentioning at the dinner table. Try living in Vermont for a while and you will know what I mean.

[Ciren]

Major Tom said:

Try living in Vermont for a while and you will know what I mean.

I'd imagine Wyoming is illuminated fairly bright as well

[Akhet]

Maka523, on 10 May 2012 - 11:47 PM, said:

Yep.

Really, T-Dog only exists as a poor stand in for Tyreese.  He's there because Darabont needed a black man to get his ass kicked by racist Merle so Rick could come to the rescue.  And Tyreese, written properly, would never have let that slide.  Tyreese would have broken Merle in half when he tried that shit and then staved his head in with a claw hammer.  And because that was T-Dog's only purpose, come Season 2 with Merle off alone with a hand cut off, the guys in the writers room looked at T-Dog and collectively went "Shit, what do we do with him now?"


And, really, it's a damn shame.  That Darabont made these changes, throwing away this incredibly kind and loving person of color character, who was utterly badass and responsible and the hero's right hand man and best friend and a leader, and replacing him with a cipher, content to stand in the background who, in the bare seconds where an actual character shines through, turns out to be weak and panicky and a coward, doesn't speak very well of Darabont.

I'm over T-Dog.  I don't care that he gets a spotlight next season, I want him to be killed off, and for Mazzara to bring in Tyreese and do it right.

I agree 100%. And if Darryl hooks up with Michionne, im done with the show. Iv never stopped watching a show, or reading a comic because of its lack of non white characters. Im a supernatural, sci fi, comic book, video game fan. If I did that I would have no entertainment. But to errase one of the very few powerful balanced non white characters to appear in comic books to replace him with a family of racist, then turn around an replace his relationship with a re do of monsters ball is just insulting. Interracial relationships is great. Find love where you find love. But the tired monster ball b!got fantasy is insulting. That black women have so little self respect that they fall for b!gots. That would make her and t-dog just plot devices to show that Darryl isnt that bad. See he keeps saving the sorry black guy that cant seem to do anything for himself and his love of a black women made him rebel aginst his family. Insulting. Maybe his love of her would make him do that, but why exactly would she love a man riding around on a motorcycle with ss insignia on it? Why would she even give him the time of day? More then likly she would avoid him, there is no law, he would be a potential threat.
If Tyreese dosnt show up, and Darryl  and Michionne hook up im done with the show and the books for that matter.

[Luke Schimmel]

He was a dummy, but he was fired.

[WalkerBaitress]

Akhet, on 15 May 2012 - 05:32 PM, said:

Maybe his love of her would make him do that, but why exactly would she love a man riding around on a motorcycle with ss insignia on it? Why would she even give him the time of day? More then likly she would avoid him, there is no law, he would be a potential threat.

As the resident Jewish woman here, I'm constantly bothered by that SS branding and wish that Daryl would find a way to strip it off somehow. Not to make excuses for him, though, but the bike did belong to his brother (Merle), who himself wasn't an original comic-book character. (Not sure why Darabont felt it necessary to introduce the characters of Merle and Daryl to begin with, along with T-Dog and Randall and all of the rest.) Maybe Daryl doesn't like the SS branding, either, but has no effective way to remove them (turpentine, a sandblaster). He only uses the motorbike because it's a practical, lightweight means of travel that doesn't consume a lot of gas--if he had his druthers, maybe he would remove those damned things. (Hell, if I were in that camp, I'd steal some nail-polish remover from that pharmacy Maggie likes to frequent, and strip the damned SS things myself. )

[Goat]

Not to make excuses for him either (I have friends and family through marriage who are Jewish), but the SS lightning bolts have been adopted as a symbol by a few outlaw biker clubs that don't have a primary agenda of white supremacy.  In those cases, I think the shock of the symbol is the primary end.  

That said, I think the symbol is a good representation that Daryl has not fully emerged out of the shadow of Merle -- I don't think his transformation into an emotionally mature person is quite complete.  I also think that stripping away the symbol would probably show that he's given up on Merle being alive, and while he knows full well that Merle is not a nice guy -- he's still family, and he probably holds out some kind of weird hope that he could have his brother back.  I dunno, maybe I'm psychoanalyzing Daryl too much.  All I was trying to say was, I think the symbol's gotten adopted even outside of white supremacist groups because of its shock value.

[I_Follow_You_Axel]

WalkerBaitress, on 04 June 2012 - 03:09 AM, said:

As the resident Jewish woman here, I'm constantly bothered by that SS branding and wish that Daryl would find a way to strip it off somehow. Not to make excuses for him, though, but the bike did belong to his brother (Merle), who himself wasn't an original comic-book character. (Not sure why Darabont felt it necessary to introduce the characters of Merle and Daryl to begin with, along with T-Dog and Randall and all of the rest.) Maybe Daryl doesn't like the SS branding, either, but has no effective way to remove them (turpentine, a sandblaster). He only uses the motorbike because it's a practical, lightweight means of travel that doesn't consume a lot of gas--if he had his druthers, maybe he would remove those damned things. (Hell, if I were in that camp, I'd steal some nail-polish remover from that pharmacy Maggie likes to frequent, and strip the damned SS things myself. )

I don't know if a motorcycle is really all that practical. Have you heard the motor on that thing? Any walkers nearby would be drawn in by the noise. Not to mention, if you get caught in a herd, you have zero protection from getting pulled off the bike.

But it adds +1 to your fangirl appeal...hmm...