If you are not a fan of the 'zombie apocalypse' genre, you probably haven't watched AMC's new show, 'The Walking Dead'. I'm honestly not a huge fan of zombies, but my husband is and since the show is light on zombie feasts and heavier on the survivors, I have been sucked in. This week's episode was particularly good to me. *Spoiler Alert* The running plot line involves a married couple who were separated in the beginning of the show and the husband was presumed dead. The wife, lonely and scared, found solace in the arms of her husband's best friend until her husband suddenly shows up, alive and well. In the second season, she discovers that she is pregnant. She refuses to tell her husband about it and the viewer is led to assume that her reluctance is because she believes it is her husband's best friend's baby. In last night's episode, she sends the resident go-fer to town for some medical essentials,which I thought would be prenatal vitamins. She then talks to one of the older gentleman in their camp about the fate of this child in a post-apocalyptic world, her real reason for her reluctance. I expected a scene with a clothes hanger after that conversation. The go-fer comes back with both the morning after pill and prenatal vitamins and tells her not to make her 'choice' alone. She downs three morning after pills and promptly runs out of the camp to throw them up. Her husband finds the empty packages and goes to find her and 'the conversation' ensues. She still doesn't believe it is an ideal situation to bring a baby into, but he suggests that she doesn't know what the future will bring and that it's not fair not even giving the baby a chance.
It was a surprising message to find in a tv show. It was a pivotal point on whether I would keep watching the show or not. I think anyone would agree that a world infested with flesh-eating zombies in a horrible world to grow up in and the cries of a baby would put them in danger, but as the character pointed out, a new human should still be given a chance. Babies are born into less than ideal circumstances every day, but no matter what the situation, he or she still has the chance to triumph over it and thrive.
