Development and reception T-Dog (The Walking Dead)

t-dog portrayed recurring cast member irone singleton.

irone singleton, played t-dog, recalled: when first cast in show, told two, maybe 3 episodes, ended staying on show 3 seasons. how miraculous that? so, m thankful that. singleton found liberating actor cast in role not based on character in comics, because start clean slate. there s nothing more liberating starting not written. pretty create history of character , character s life story. whatever do, whatever come with, whatever decide on, can go and, if director or execs it, ll stick it. singleton said didn t have conversations robert kirkman, frank darabont, or glen mazzara on how develop character, t-dog had life story. grew in projects, in city, , fortunate enough college through football scholarship and, eventually, academic scholarships. majored in speech communications, same did. majored in theater, did not attach t-dog because ve made him little more dramatic, , re dramatic enough on tv. then, graduated college, didn t make pros. came close, ended getting regular blue collar/white collar type of job.

leonard pierce of a.v. club commented in review of guts irone singleton wildly overacting , t-dog isn t more clown . ign s eric goldman called t-dog 1 of new additions show not in comic books either overdone or un-engaging in first season.

irone singleton reprised role t-dog in second season premiere, lies ahead , , promoted recurring cast. hollywood reporter writer tim goodman commented on t-dog in episode feeling antsy , vulnerable , feeling key underlying element walking dead, because group of human stragglers begins run ever larger packs of zombies. feeling of being outnumbered, of struggling futility, ever-present. paste s josh jackson felt side-plot of t-dog s injury takes backseat events rick s family @ farmhouse in bloodletting . ology writer josh harrison commented t-dog finds news might die of blood poisoning morbidly funny , , nate rowlings of time added in moment of meta-realization, muses on how he’s black guy in group—which typically means imminent death in horror movies .

starlee kine of new york commented in review of secrets mid-season finale next episode, there 1 episode go , t-dog has barely spoken season . pretty dead , more reviewers began comment on t-dog not having prominent role on show: mark maurer of star-ledger noted characters have slim chances, slimmer t-dog’s role season ; zack halden of a.v. club quipped, oh hey, t-dog on show! forgot him, writers apparently did ; time journalist nate rawlings said see t-dog play more active role in next half season , perhaps learn little bit past ; , starlee kine hoped new writing staff on show bring perhaps sentence or 2 t-dogg [sic]. nate rawlings, in review of judge, jury, executioner , added: until writers give t-dog interesting say, we’re going track how long it’s been since he’s had throw away line. of last night, count stands @ 7 episodes. last time t-dog said remotely added plot episode 4 of season, cherokee rose when helped pull disgustingly bloated walker out of well. digital spy s morgan jeffrey noted in review of season finale beside dying fire each of major characters gets moment shine - t-dog (irone singleton), s barely said word past 6 weeks .

zack handlen commented in review of third season premiere seed t-dog has lines, folks , , in review of next episode sick handlen said t-dog still black guy name, @ least s getting more lines . killer within signified final appearance of irone singleton regular. singleton informed character s fate before production of third season began, , received word of character s imminent demise few weeks before filming final episode, had avoid arousing suspicion public, particularly t-dog s fans. t-dog s death heroic design , reflected personal life; glen mazzara stated t-dog s stint football player became evident heroically acts linebacker , clotheslines these walkers, @ own expense. robert kirkman commented , mazzara decided kill t-dog because wanted put rick , group on heels. t-dog had become central part of rick s strike team, speak. so, have him go out in such heroic way shows audience how important , essential was. ve lost other key piece of group. wanted coming out of episode spent , unsure how move forward. losing t-dog helps along. plus: wanted lose 2 people in episode. felt having t-dog die make audience think, oh gosh, crazy episode. totally lost t-dog! makes death of lori more unexpected. singleton said character s heroic death: when read [the script], thankful go out hero. made me feel appreciated.

the fate of t-dog garnered favorable reviews television commentators. erik kain forbes magazine found lori s death difficult watch, , shocked t-dog s sudden death despite fact never prominent figure on program. hard these deaths watch, kain wrote, give me faith in show. though stated t-dog died hero s death , michael rapoport of wall street journal concluded lori s gut-churning demise more memorable. ted pigeon of slant magazine felt episode s strong emotional undercurrents result of sacrifice in both t-dog s (irone singleton) final stand , lori s decision give birth despite certainty won t survive delivery . time s nate rawlings called t-dog s death grusome [sic] human death in quite time , after noting 1 willing give 2 inmates chance t-dog. character has been frustrating part of story. last season, during height of languid days on farm, t-dog went entire episodes without speaking line. he’s more proven worth loyal soldier, , he’s 1 stands rick , encourages him bring 2 inmates group.

some reviewers presented more negative critiques. zack handlen of a.v. club in review felt episode stumble[d] in how t-dog , lori eliminated , in how woodbury storyline repeated known. halden commented in review killing t-dog , lori earned show immediate thrill, meant crossing off 2 potential sources of drama, people had history on series, thin or poorly developed history might have been. according hitfix writer alan sepinwall, t-dog s sacrifice carol didn t remotely have same resonance lori s baby, because t-dog has never been character writers have pretended wanted care about. when started objecting rick s plans 2 remaining prisoners, shocking hear him expressing opinion of kind. washington post entertainment journalist jen chaney commented on death saying, t-dog, hardly knew ye. no. really. hardly, hardly did. , makes death real shame , , bex schwartz said farewell in review rolling stone magazine: long, t-dog. guy if forgot write dialogue first 2 seasons.