In the zombie genre, whether it’s television or film, the standard for heroism and leadership will always be Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) from AMC’s The Walking Dead. Fans were emotionally invested in his character for almost a decade, to the point many haven’t felt the same attraction to the show since he left. Rick cut one of the bravest, most endearing figures when it comes to avoiding the undead, but while she’s a much different person, Season 2 of Netflix’s BlackSummer confirms Rose (Jaime King) is better than Rick in times of a zombie apocalypse.
Now, this isn’t to knock Rick as he did a great job uniting Alexandria, Hilltop and Kingdom, working deals out with Oceanside and whatnot. However, he trusted way too much and came off naive at times. And he wasn’t as proactive as he could have been, which is why threats like the Governor, Negan, the Saviors and down the line, the Whisperers, would claim many lives.
Rick should have been a bit more militant and accepted that with the old world gone, his identity needed to change to be more alpha. We’re not saying he had to be cruel, but his ways led to so many slip-ups from the camp, infiltrators and a whole lot of drama when, had he adopted more of Carol’s apex ways, they might have been protected a bit more.
Black Summer’s Rose, though, knows how to pull all this off, and it’s why she consolidates everything, planning and calculating ten steps ahead. Season 1 had her in ruthless mode, killing and willing to sacrifice anyone to find the military camp with her daughter, Anna. But come Season 2, she’s a bit more controlled and tempered with the girl in tow, and the way she goes about things shows she’s mature but still predicting everyone’s moves.
The way she ends up at a lodge with Anna, defending the girl when all hell breaks loose and people start turning, killing each other, shows how prepared Rose is. She trained for this scenario for a while, leveling up her teenage daughter, Anna, for emergencies like this to the point they’re the only ones left. In fact, Rose’s instruction has Anna on an elite level with a gun, way ahead of what Rick accomplished. Had Rick possessed this mentality, Carl may have lived.
Rose also turns Spears, Sun and Anna into a makeshift robbery team, which isn’t condoned, but as they jack places and scavenge, it shows how efficient they are in a world where survivors are murdering each other for resources. Rose keeps them mobile, alert and safe, reducing the probability of traitors by not taking on new blood. In fact, she’s not about dead weight, ergo why she cuts and runs with Anna when Sun and Spears get injured and straggle.
It’s not too altruistic, but again, her daughter is number one. It leads to them finding Boone, trusting him and working the angles so he gets them to a resort filled with hot water, food and relative luxury. And this journey is due to Rose knowing when to be nice and when to be hard. Rose still has heart, understanding when to be sympathetic and when to manage her load. And this mindset, coupled with her genius in the wilderness, gets Anna to an airstrip to escape. She couldn’t do that with a full squad like Rick had, especially as her zombies move like Olympic sprinters. Rose just adapts better, and in so doing, she doesn’t let the undead get close to her inner-circle, all due to elite traps and an eagle’s eye that not even Rick had.
Co-created by John Hyams and Karl Schaefer, Black Summer stars Jaime King, Justin Chu Cary, Kelsey Flower, Bobby Naderi and Christine Lee. Season 2 is now available on Netflix.
