thereadersmuse:

I think the point about Orange Backpack guy is that we should never stop talking about Orange Backpack guy. It was a distinct turning point for Rick’s character and a very negative one that impacted the audience – just as it was mean’t to. The thing about Orange Backpack guy – and what makes the entire thing all the more damning in a way – is that we knew literally nothing about him. He could have been good. He could have been bad. We just don’t know. He was never given the chance to prove either side of that equation true.

That was the point.

For the first time Rick Grimes didn’t take the chance.

I honestly don’t think it had anything to do with Carl being in the car, other than the usual parental worries. I think it was very clear to not only the audience, but Rick, Michonne, and Carl that regardless of who OBG actually was and what he was capable of, he was desperate. Desperate enough to be walking alone and without a firearm on a main road. He had no car. No true weapon. And he ran after them, twice, pleading for help. Bold move these days. It is pretty safe to say that he wasn’t much of a threat against three fully armed, rested, and well fed team family members.

They left him twice.

They listened to him yelling for them.

Can you imagine that?

Take a moment.

Now, take another to internalize the fact that the only time they stopped for him was to pick up what they considered to be the most valuable part of him. His stuff. Not him. But rather, his things. This was shown to the audience in stark, terrible detail.

That is why that orange backpack sticks around. 

It is a ghost.

Not just of the man who wore it.

But to Rick Grimes’ god damned conscience.

That part, in my mind, is simply not up for debate.