Are Environments Their Own Characters?

Settings are one of the more overlooked aspects of fiction, in any medium, it would seem. Most of the time, critics (including myself when I do reviews), or even teachers, will overlook the important elements of setting in a story. The setting is just meant to be where the characters exist to do their thing and it allows for the story to take place in a believable way. Many would present the story as just that: the presentation. Yet if setting, and in particular environments, are so unimportant, why do we remember so many of them?

The Walking Dead "The Last Day on Earth" Review

*major spoilers for The Walking Dead and this episode follow*

I've never really talked about The Walking Dead on this blog before outside of mentioning the show in my "Top 10 TV Shows" list. It's still there, trust me, but it hasn't left as large an impact on me as it did when I initially posted the list. Usually I'm busy doing either homework or other things right after The Walking Dead airs, or I just don't catch it when it does air, and can't give immediate thoughts. This episode? This episode needs my thoughts. In short: I really liked most of it. The Carol and Morgan bits were boring, but the drive to the Hilltop was insane and Negan is the best thing that's happened to The Walking Dead since the big prison battle in Season 4's "Too Far Gone" mid-season finale.