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Home | Character Profiles: The Walking Dead: Lori and Carl Grimes

Character Profiles: The Walking Dead: Lori and Carl Grimes

In anticipation for Season 2 of The Walking Dead, each week I’ll be bringing you a special look at our beloved cast of characters. This week we will focus on Lori and Carl Grimes. Rick’s family is his priority. Let’s look at them.

Stepping into the shoes of Lori Grimes is Sarah Wayne Callies. Carl Grimes is portrayed by Chandler Riggs. Believing Rick to be dead, Lori takes Carl and follows Shane Walsh to Atlanta.This is true in the comic as well. She starts a relationship with Shane, although reluctantly. She looks to Shane to protect them but you could tell that she still loves Rick even though she believes that he is dead.

Lori is compassionate, empathetic, headstrong and very protective of her son. Lori serves as the emotional center of our group of survivors. She offers comfort to everyone as they face their individual tragedies. She also tries to preserve humanity by fighting to retain human decency and rituals. She clings to Shane at first because he puts his life on the line for Lori and Carl. She trusts him and when Rick comes back, that trust is broken automatically. So, she is quick to protect herself and her family from anyone that she sees putting them in harms way.

Carl Grimes, on the other hand, is a quiet, kind, intelligent and inquisitive boy. He has bonded with Shane. Shane has been taking the time to talk with him, teach him things and make Carl feel like he still has a father figure in his life. Carl worships his dad. In his eyes Rick is indestructible and that faith in him provides comfort to Lori. His closest friend is Sophia, Carol and Ed Peletier’s daughter. He plays with all the children in the survivor group camp, engrossing himself in a child’s world, but he is confronted with the harsh new realities of the world around him, witnessing shocking violence and having to say goodbye to many people he cares about.

Main Relationships

Rick Grimes: In the comic Rick and Lori meet at a party thrown by Rick’s younger brother. She found out that Rick was attending college for police administration. Although Lori was going off to college also they managed to keep in touch, eventually starting a relationship and marrying. She feels regret for believing Shane when he said Rick was dead, when in fact he survived. She puts her faith in Rick even though sometimes she disagrees with his decisions but she sees that he makes these decisions from his heart. Before Rick was comatose in the hospital there was some tension between them. Ricks hasty decisions to put himself on the line for others sometimes has Lori question whether or not he truly cares about them. She knows he does and now wants Rick to convince her of his decisions.

Carl Grimes: Carl is her son. She fights for him, she wants to keep his childhood alive as long as she can and will do anything for him.

Shane Walsh: Shane and Lori have a complicated relationship. Shane took care of Carl and Lori when the outbreak occurred. Shane and Lori also started an intimate relationship. She feels indebted to him for taking them under his wing and she turns to him during a hard time in her life. Their relationship started out primal, she just really wanted a warm body to turn to at such an insane time.  Once Rick comes back, Lori immediately turns her back on Shane. It turns out he told her that Rick was dead when in fact he was still alive, somehow untouched during the outbreak when he was comatose. Shane did go back and try to save Rick during the initial outbreak. Shane also lets his anger get the best of him, almost raping Lori when they reached the CDC.

Her relationships with the remaining survivors with the camp vary. She is very caring towards others, providing an emotional center in times of uncertainty and loss. There is a tension between her and Shane now that Rick is oblivious to. Only time will tell if the truth is fully revealed to him.

Carl on the other hand still looks up to Shane and is oblivious, like he should be, to the strain in the relationship between Lori and Shane.

What would you do in tough times like these? Would you abandon hope and survive however you can or would you carry on like a human being and press on with a hope that pushes you to continue living for a better world for your family?

Have I forgotten to mention anything else about Lori and Carl Grimes? Who is your favorite character in the series or comic? Please sound off in the comments section and look out next week for the next Character Profile: The Walking Dead: Glenn. Revisit the first season on DVD and Blu-ray and continue to read The Walking Dead comics. You’ll be glad that you did.

 Sources: The Walking Dead Wiki (Lori Grimes, Carl Grimes), ComicVine.com

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