"We can live here. We can live here for the rest of our lives." -Beth
"We're back in fantasy land." -Shane
The scene where Andrea and Amy fish in a small boat in the quarry near where they were camping in season one’s Vatos is one of my favorite scenes from the season, and it’s not because the conversation stands out as anything above the ordinary. It’s because the background scenery is so breathtaking.
In rewatching The Walking Dead this summer, one of the things that struck me about season one is that it had a summer camping trip feel to it. Dale was in his RV, they’d dine around the campfire, and the mountainous scenery was really beautiful. This was when they still had hope and believed they could find a safe refuge.
The natural environment on The Walking Dead often mirrors the mood of the characters. Their emotional journey has been a long tug-of-war between hope and the stark reality of their situation. One thing I noticed in a rewatch was how often a period of hope (or denial if you see it that way) is accompanied by lots of light and lush greenery. In contrast, their periods of realism are usually set in stark industrial settings and periods of low light. There are exceptions to this. Sophia was discovered in the light of day, and the Governor attacked the prison, killing Hershel, also during the day. But events such the season one walker raid that killed Amy, the overrun of Hershel’s farm, the walker games at Woodbury – these were all set at night.
A show about zombies could have been filmed anywhere, but the story was set in Georgia, with its lush greenery. And over four seasons, the natural environment has becoming almost as big of a supporting character as the walkers. At this point, I can’t imagine this story being in an area that didn’t have the same environmental richness.
This second article in a three-part series, looking at themes and visual elements in the show, is set up as a picture article, illustrating the presence of flowers and plant life during periods of optimism - or escapism, depending on how you look at it. This article will be followed by the final article tomorrow, which will continue looking at the natural landscape, but focused on its associations to walkers and death.
Hershel's Farm
Season 2 was a long experiment in denial. Everything from the search for Sophia (tied to hope in happy endings), to Lori's pregnancy, and finally Hershel's farm, fed the survivors' need to believe in a safe refuge. The season was filled with gorgeous shots of Hershel's farmland, with the fences successful for a while in keeping the dead out – or so the group thought.
Hershel's Garden
After they the group was driven out of the farm, they found themselves at the prison. While the inside was stark and depressing (with part nicknamed "The Tombs"), Hershel tried to recreate a little bit of his farm outside. In the first half of season 4 especially - after the group brought in the Woodbury survivers and were trying to find some normalcy - the episodes were filled with closeups of Hershel's garden at key moments. Rick meanwhile had buried had gun and replaced it with a farmer's hoe.
The first picture above was taken from the season's opening scenes. The camera focused on plants before it turned to people. Another key scene which was set against Hershel's garden is when Rick and Hershel have a discussion about the virus overtaking the prison, with Hershel telling Rick that everything that they tried to keep out has found its way in, and Rick responding that it's always been there. The second picture above is a closeup of Hershel's garden getting shot up during the raid in Too Far Gone. And this leads me to the next point, and that is that these heavily landscaped escapism periods usually end badly.
Welcome to Woodbury
Andrea's introduction to Woodbury was set against scenes of the townsfolk participating in gardening-related activities in the background. The ultimate garden, however, was found on the Governor's patio. Is that sunflowers I see toward the back?
Realism
In the picture above we see a different side of Woodbury. In this image, Michonne discovers and slays a collection of walkers – hinting at a darker side of the town. Note how stark and plantless this area is. We see other uses of similar settings throughout the series at darker times for the characters. For example, when Sasha decides to close herself off and break from the group in Alone, she picks an abandoned mill building similar to the one in this picture.
Terminus
And we have more sunflowers. This was our first glimpse of Terminus, i.e., "Sanctuary for All." And we have an idea where that leads.
The Grove
Right when you'd think that our characters should have seen enough to not get pulled back into fantasy land again, we arrive at The Grove - an idyllic out-of-the-way home that Tyreese and Carol find. While there, they start to consider staying there and making a new life for themselves. The home was set in a pastoral setting with lots of gardens and greenery to look it, including a patch of flowers for Lizzy to focus on as Carol kills her. In the picture above, a deer taunts Carol after their happy home is destroyed.
As for interpretations of what this means, I'll leave to you to fill in in the comments section.
To read other parts of this series:
Part 1 - Dead Man Walking
Part 3 - Dead Flowers
Screencaps from Screencapped.net.
