By Ed Diokno
Glenn Rhee’s devastating death on The Walking Dead created a lot of consternation among AAPI fans of the show set in the zombie dystopia. Glenn, as portrayed by actor Steven Yeun, was “our” hero, “our” leading man and killing him off seemed like the similar giving him the fate of many Asian characters because — you know — they don’t matter, they’re dispensible.
The Walking Dead writers surprised us this week (Season 7, episode 2) with the introduction of Jerry, played by Samoan American Cooper Andrews.
Jerry is a character that doesn’t exist in the comic book storyline of TWD but he became an instant fan favorite because in the dark, gloomy, heavy-hearted world of decaying zombies depicted on the TV show and especially after last week’s devastating episode Jerry was a breath of fresh air by providing a smile, a grin, fresh fruit and a pun.
He caught on quickly and #deuces trended on Twitter.
Jerry! ?????????#FruitTime #Deuces ✌?️@AMCTalkingDead pic.twitter.com/Gh7SFFNrx6
— S. Lalitha (@chaoticdance) October 31, 2016
Do you think the producers read our complaints about killing off Glenn, who we thought was the only AAPI survivor in the apocalyptic world of TWD?
Before showing up in TWD as King Ezekial’s right-hand man and apparent enforcer, Cooper Andrews has appeared in some roles in Hawaii 5-0 as Vance Pekelo and more recently, he was in Halt and Catch Fire as Yo-yo Engberk. (See GIF below)
In case you can’t tell, that’s a yo-yo he throws up the air, hence, his name. How can you not smile after that intro?
Andrews was born on March 10, 1985 in Smithtown, Long Island, New York. His father is Samoan.
As for the puns, dig this scene:
- King Ezekiel: “Drink from the well replenish the well.
- “Carol: “… All about the well.
- Jerry: “WELL said.”
That was as many puns as The Walking Dead has featured in its entire six seasons. Keep them coming!
A horrifying thought: As the sadistic writers are wont to do to TWD fans, as soon as a character shows an ounce of humanity, they make them meet a particularly grisly demise. Considering that the character is not in the comic books, are we fans getting set up for our hearts to be stomped on again?
Damn, The Walking Dead! Living in dread, always.
Ed Diokno writes a blog :Views From The Edge: news and analysis from an Asian American perspective.
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