Not everyone wanted to make it out alive — RIP Dr. Jenner and Jacqui (Jeryl Prescott) — but most of the camp drove off into the distance as the story's first chapter ended. But the pit stop at the CDC, which was wholly a creation of executive producer Frank Darabont for the TV show, revealed for the first time that the outbreak was a global crisis and how a zombie's brain functions compared to a living human. And Jenner also planted some mysterious seeds for the future.
"I thought it was a great addition," Kirkman says. "I'm very much opposed to showing what the actual cause [for the zombies] is and explaining how things work, but teasing a little bit is a great thing. If it adds an extra layer to the drama, then I'm all for it. It also led up to the fantastic mystery of the whisper Jenner gives to Rick at the end of that scene. That's going to play into Season 2 quite a bit. I know where that's going and it's really a cool bit."
Another departure for the finale was the show's use of a flashback to the early days of the apocalypse. In the finale's opening scene, Shane (Jon Bernthal) is seen making the difficult choice to leave his best friend, Rick, behind, but only after he ascertains that Rick is dead. The scene sheds some interesting light on Shane, whose ensuing affair with Rick's wife, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), was a focus of the first season.
"It adds a certain level to the story to see that moment," Kirkman says. "Up until the sixth episode, you get the sense that Shane actually is a bad guy, that he lied to Lori and made her believe that he was dead in order to facilitate him moving in on her. The flashback does a great job of telling you that that's not true: He tried to save Rick, he wanted to save Rick. He was kind of up against the wall there and actually did believe that Rick was dead.
"I think it was extremely important to add that extra layer to the character so that you can see later in the episode, when [Shane] is losing it and actually getting somewhat violent with Lori, the transition he's gone through and how this world has changed him from being a loving, easygoing guy into this guy who is slowly devolving into a bit of a maniac."
"Nothing in the show is going to go down exactly the same way it does in the comic," Kirkman says. "I'm not ruling out that Shane could survive the entire length of this television show. Shane could meet a girl and calm down, and we wouldn't actually get to the scene that happens in the comic. ... One thing that's very important to me is that no one comes into this television show having read the comic knowing exactly what's going to happen. We're always going to change things up and keep people guessing."
Source: TV Guide
