The phenomenon is not new, but it does seem to be more prevalent right now. Fans of a show such as Game of Thrones are usually divided into ‘show watchers’ and ‘book readers’ and while there is no tangible disadvantage show watchers incur not having read the books it’s never as simple as that. Book readers will occasionally get up in arms if a character is badly realised, or jettisoned altogether, or even if a line is reworked (I, like many others, saw the absence of Littlefinger’s ‘Only Cat’ line a misstep).
But to AMC’s The Walking Dead and the ending of Season Four. If you’re reading this then you’ll know what befell Rick and his unmerry band of survivors, and that as the season draw to a close there was a particular line which was changed. Just one word in fact, but it changed the urgency and the anger of the moment and felt like a diluted version of what could have been a geniunely stirring moment.
Well now, thanks to the internet (and perhaps a special edition on Blu-ray waiting around the corner) we can see the ending as it really should have been. It is a small change, but man does it give the scene just the right kick.
So here it is, it’s NSFW but then – you already knew that…
