By Ed Diokno
Well, whaddaya know? The Asian American population in The Walking Dead just doubled.
Up to this season, the seventh, of the Walking Dead, it was believed that Glenn Rhee played by Steven Yeun was the only Asian American to survive the zombie apocalypse in the popular television show. With the grisley death of Glenn in the premiere of Season 7, we thought that was the end of Asian America, the last model minority and the death of all those awful Asian American stereotypes.
In the latest episode last night (Nov. 27), we are introduced to Cyndie played by Korean American actress Sydney Park. She is a member of the secluded all-woman beachside community of Oceanside discovered by Tara (Alanna Masterson), who is part of the core band of survivors.
Of course, we don’t know yet if the character Cyndie is Asian American, but it is reassuring to see another Asian face on the show that takes place on Georgia.
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Park, 19, already has 10 years of professional acting on her resume. She is probably best known for her role in Nickelodeon’s Instant Mom. She just signed on for a horror feature, Wish Upon but it’s not unusual for TWD cast members to find work when they are not working on the series.
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Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll see a whole lot more of Cyndie and her secret Oceanside colony. Tara leaves the beach with
a vow that she wouldn’t reveal its location. But, in The Walking Dead, you never really know what to expect.
In the second episode this season, we were introduced to The Kingdom where we meet Jerry, who appears to be King Ezekiel’s right-hand man. We instantly fell in love with the pun-loving character with an infectious smile portrayed by Samoan American Cooper Andrews.
It appears that The Kingdom will play a larger role as this present story arc develops, perhaps as allies with Alexandria, where the bulk of the core group resides.
