Shane & Rick are so tragic

TW: I don't hate Shane (don't hate me lol)

My boyfriend & I have one episode left in s2 of the Walking Dead & oh my goodness, I just feel so deeply about Rick & Shane so I had to write about them. I am a Shane defender, his character & his dynamic with Rick is soooo tragic to me.RIP to my man 💔 I just have such a soft spot for Shane, I think that Rick is so easy to love, he's our classic leading man! He's selfless, kind, & he goes out of his way for people, but Shane is so much more complex, we watch his downfall. (Someone needs to make a edit of them two with the TikTok audio "He is staabllleee you aarrrre deeeeeep" - Rick is stable & Shane is deep) I don't think he's just a villain like I've seen a lot of people paint him to be, I think he's morally grey & misunderstood. I know the show went on for a while so I know there's a lot of character development left for Rick & I wish we could've seen more of Shane. 

I'm sure everything I'm about to write has already been thought & said because how old this show is & I don't have really groundbreaking or thought provoking opinions but I just wanted to yap about it because I love them!!! They make my heart hurt. 

They had very real love for each other & that makes me so emotional, they were best friends, they grew up together, they were partners together & had each other's backs, they wanted deeply to help each other. 

"You think I'd shoot Rick? That is my best friend, that's a man that I love, I love him like he's my brother" 

From Shane visiting & talking to Rick in his coma & trying to get him out of the hospital bed to Rick giving Shane a chance to drop his gun & not kill him, they wanted to save each other. Neither one of them wanted to kill one another. 

Sure, maybe Shane did go crazy & lose the plot but I think that hurt him as well. Thinking about the way he looked at himself in the broken glass when he tried to kill Rick with the wrench, he looked scared of himself or like he had the awareness that what he was doing was not right.It seems like for a moment he kinda softens & maybe I'm misinterpreting the way that he looks here but it looks like he has a small moment of remorse but then can't really stop because in his head everyone is in danger because of Rick & on top of that, he's spiraling with envy. He's in an impossible position. 

Trying to kill someone who was like a brother to him must have weighed heavy on him & I do feel like even towards the end he still had a respect & love for Rick that conflicted with his bitter feelings towards him. And there's a bit of a parallel here I think, Shane must have been grappling with conflicting thoughts of loyalty & respect for Rick & this idea that he has to protect the ones he loves & to do that he must hurt his friend.Rick must have been grappling with something similar when he had to stare down the barrel of his friend's gun & hope that he would drop it so he wouldn't need to kill him, there must have been conflicting thoughts of loyalty & love & respect & the idea that he has to protect his family & to do that he must hurt his friend. 

They're literally 2 brothers hardened & turned against each other by circumstance & that is so heartbreaking. No more gentle touches, no more supporting each other, no more Shane reining himself in for the sake of his friend, no more patience, just betrayal, violence, & grief. 

I think Shane really did try, he tried to follow Rick's lead, he tried to get over Lori, he tried to do what he thought was best for everyone. I feel like at every turn he was just trying to protect people & sure, he went about it the wrong way but I can't sit here & pretend like Rick made all the right choices either. They're all in a terrifying situation, no one actually knows what to do, & Rick was doing exactly what Shane was! He was making choices that he thought was for the best, he was trying to be a good leader, be there for everyone, & keep everyone safe, the only difference is Shane was brutal & had a selfish streak (in that he only cared for himself, Lori, & Carl) Rick is not. 

Their last moment together was steeped in anger, betrayal, bitterness, & desperation. I could be misinterpreting the whole thing but this is what I think, they're just so tragic to me, I love them.