Jimmy (The Walking Dead)

Jimmy
The Walking Dead character
First appearance "Bloodletting"
Last appearance "Beside the Dying Fire"
Portrayed by James Allen McCune
Information
Occupation Assumed high school student
Significant other(s) Beth Greene

Jimmy is a fictional character from the American television series The Walking Dead portrayed by James Allen McCune. He is an original character and has no comic counterpart.

Television series

Fictional character biography

Jimmy is Beth's 17-year-old boyfriend, who resides at the Greene farm. In the episode "Bloodletting", Otis brings Rick, Shane, and Carl to Hershel's farm after Otis accidentally shot Carl. When Maggie witnesses Rick running towards the property, she calls everyone to the porch, and Jimmy comes outside wielding a baseball bat. Jimmy and Beth later watch as Hershel works to save Carl's life. In the episode "Cherokee Rose", Jimmy gathers rocks for Otis's funeral, and everyone places a rock on the grave in appreciation for what Otis did in life. In the episode "Chupacabra", Jimmy is eager to have a gun and attempts to get one from Rick without Hershel's permission. In the episode "Secrets", Jimmy, Carl, and the women of the farm begin gun training with Rick and Shane. In the episode "Pretty Much Dead Already", Jimmy and Hershel bring Rick to a forest swamp, where they find two walkers stuck in the mud, and bring them back to the farm to put them in the barn. When Shane observes them returning, he tells everyone that the walkers in the barn are not the friends and family they once knew, that they are no longer human. He breaks open the lock on the barn and lets the walkers out, and the armed members of the group shoot them all in the head. Jimmy comforts Beth as she cries. In the episode "Nebraska", Jimmy helps dig graves for Sophia Peletier, and members of the Greene family. In the episode "Triggerfinger", he notices that Lori had gone missing. In the episode "Judge, Jury, Executioner", Jimmy is with the group that finds Dale after he is attacked by a walker, and witnesses Daryl putting Dale out of his misery. In the episode "Better Angels", Jimmy helps board up the windows of Hershel's home, and helps the survivors from the Atlanta group move their things into the farmhouse. He later helps investigate the barn after Randall was set free. In the season finale "Beside the Dying Fire", walkers overrun the farm, and Jimmy drives the RV near the barn and successfully rescues Rick and Carl from the barn, but Jimmy is killed and devoured when walkers overrun the RV.

Development and reception

Aaron Rutkoff of The Wall Street Journal commented in his review of "Nebraska" that "Beth and her boyfriend Jimmy have been given so little to do in this series that is hard to get too worked up when her health appears in jeopardy.".[1] The second season finale, "Beside the Dying Fire", features the deaths of Jimmy and Patricia, who were both consumed by walkers. The episode's script initially called for the death of Hershel as well, but since Robert Kirkman felt that there was a lot of potential development in Hershel, his death was scrapped from the script.[2] When asked how their deaths would affect Hershel, Glen Mazzara responded: "Moving forward, he understands what it's like to live in this world and he's willing to just lock himself in a car and just wait for them to show up. He's already lost everything and he's interested in moving on."[2]

Writing for Paste, Josh Jackson felt that the "biggest surprises" of the episode were not the deaths of Patricia and Jimmy, but rather the survival of Hershel, "who seemed like a captain resigned to go down with his ship".[3] Time journalist Nate Rawlings called the deaths of Jimmy and Patricia "two of the most brutal zombie attacks we’ve seen in awhile [sic]", but added that "we didn’t care about Patricia and Jimmy; they were minor figures, and we won’t miss them".[4] Aaron Rutzkoff of The Wall Street Journal commented that "the survivors got away without too high a butcher’s bill. And from the perspective of the show, [Patricia and Jimmy] are extremely minor characters."[1] Digital Spy's Morgan Jeffery thought that the episode was lacking "a significant character death", noting that Jimmy and Patricia "were never anything more than background characters".[5] Zach Handlen of The A.V. Club said that "no one major" died, calling Patricia and Jimmy "the last of Hershel’s “I know he had more family than Maggie and Beth, but what were their names again?” brood".[6] The Huffington Post‍‍ '​‍s Maureen Ryan felt that "the show has finally gotten rid of a bunch of characters, some of whom were annoying, some of whom were merely unmemorable. So long, Jimmy! So long, Patricia! No idea who you were, but, er, happy trails in the afterlife!"[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rutkoff, Aaron (February 13, 2012). "‘The Walking Dead,’ Season 2, Episode 8, ‘Nebraska’: TV Recap". Wall Street Journal. Les Hinton. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Goldberg, Lesley (March 17, 2012). "'The Walking Dead' Dissection: Glen Mazzara and Robert Kirkman Spill on the Bloody Finale". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ Jackson, Josh (March 19, 2012). "The Walking Dead: Review Beside the Dying Fire". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  4. ↑ Rawlings, Nate (March 19, 2012). "The Walking Dead Watch: Beside the Dying Fire". Time. Time, Inc. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ Jeffrey, Morgan (March 19, 2012). "'The Walking Dead': 'Beside the Dying Fire' - Season two finale recap". Digital Spy. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ Handlen, Zack (March 19, 2012). "beside the Dying Fire". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  7. ↑ Ryan, Maureen (March 18, 2012). "'The Walking Dead' Finale Recap: The Best Episode Since The Pilot?". The Huffington Post. Arianna Huffington. Retrieved March 24, 2012.