Tara Chambler

Tara Chambler
The Walking Dead character
Tara Chambler, as portrayed by Alanna Masterson in the television series.
First appearance	"Live Bait" (episode 4.06)
Portrayed by	Alanna Masterson
Information
Occupation	Police Academy Student Supply runner (Alexandria)
Family	David Chambler (father) Lilly Chambler (sister) Meghan Chambler (niece)
Significant other(s)	Alisha

Tara Chambler is a fictional character from the horror drama television series The Walking Dead, which airs on AMC in the United States and is based on the comic book series of the same name. The character is based on Tara Chalmers from The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, a novel based on the comic book series and the past of The Governor. She is portrayed by Alanna Masterson. She is the first LGBT character to be introduced in the series.

Tara's family encounters The Governor, using an alias, and they invite him into their apartment complex. Later, Tara's sister, Lilly, formed a relationship with him, although Tara remained fiercely protective of her sister and her niece. Eventually, after her father dies, The Governor and Tara's family leave the apartment complex and find Martinez's camp. As The Governor coerces the people of the camp to attack the prison (a safe haven), Tara discovers the true brutality and vendetta he maintains, and is traumatized when he murders Hershel. After the downfall of the prison, Glenn Rhee comes to Tara for help in finding his wife, Maggie, Hershel's daughter, after she escaped during the gunfire. Tara reluctantly follows him on his quest, as they run into other survivors in search of a cure. The survivors, which include Sgt. Abraham Ford, Dr. Eugene Porter and Rosita Espinosa eventually run into the survivors of the prison community, including Maggie. Tara then becomes a member of Rick Grimes's group after he forgives they resolves her differences with Rick over the conflict with The Governor and remains close to Glenn and befriends Maggie, even after learning that Tara was part of The Governor's militia and remains an active part of the group when they reach the Alexandria Safe-Zone.

The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor

Tara Chalmers lives in Atlanta with her sister April and her father David in an apartment building that they have secured. April saves a group of people, including the man later known as The Governor, from a large herd of undead by calling the group to her building. The elderly David later dies and turns into a zombie without having been bitten. After Philip "kills" David, tension grows between him and Tara. Philip sexually assaults April. The morning afterwards, April is nowhere to be found, and Tara forced the group, at gunpoint, to leave the building.

Television series

Tara Chambler is Lilly's sister, David's daughter, and Meghan's aunt.

Season 4

Tara Chambler is introduced in the episode "Live Bait"; after welcoming The Governor into their apartment (addressing himself as "Brian Heriot"), Tara seems to trust him relatively sooner than her sister and quickly seems to see him as a friend. She is briefly disoriented by his bloody smashing of David's skull after David reanimates and tries to bite her; however, she later accepts and agrees with the decision, and realizes that all people who die turn, whether they have been bitten or not. She and the others leave the apartment after David's burial, in search of shelter elsewhere. While on the road, a group of walkers forces them to flee. They are stopped once again when "Brian" and Meghan fall into a pit full of walkers, all of which "Brian" successfully kills before any harm can come to himself or Meghan. In the episode "Dead Weight", Tara begins a romantic relationship with Alisha, at Martinez's camp. In the mid-season finale "Too Far Gone", Tara joins The Governor in attacking the prison using Hershel and Michonne as leverage and believing the prison occupants to be bad people as "Brian" tells them. However when there Rick Grimes tries to reason with The Governor for the sake of his people and Tara begins to question "Brian"'s plan especially when The Governor holds a sword to Hershel's neck, despite Rick offering to welcome them in. Rick, seeing that Tara doesn't want to be there, tries to personally reason with Tara but she is too conflicted to answer and finally The Governor decapitates Hershel and Tara tries to retreat from the battle in shock. Alisha tries to get her to fight back but Tara is disgusted with The Governor and ultimately walks off traumatized.

In mid-season premiere "Inmates", in the aftermath of the prison attack, Glenn finds Tara hiding in the gates still alive and tells her that he needs her help to escape the prison and find his wife, Maggie, Hershel's daughter. However Tara is too disgusted with herself for trusting The Governor and reveals that she saw Lilly die and questions why Glenn wants her help but he states that he doesn't want it but needs it. After fighting off walkers, Glenn collapses with fatigue and Tara is left to attack the walker who tried to bite him and is encountered by Sgt. Abraham Ford, Dr. Eugene Porter and Rosita Espinosa who are impressed by her skills and ask her to accompany them. In the episode "Claimed", she travels alongside the trio until Glenn forces them to stop the truck as Abraham explains that their mission is to get Eugene to Washington D.C. as he knows what caused the outbreak and how to cure it. However Glenn still insists on finding Maggie and Tara accompanies him, after Eugene accidentally rips the truck's fuel line after fending off walkers, and she begins to bond with Abraham. In the episode "Us", Tara and Abraham talk over the nature of what happens when one finishes a mission. Tara and Glenn enter a tunnel on the road to Terminus, where Glenn believes Maggie might be they find evidence of a fresh cave in, as well as many trapped walkers. Glenn insists he needs to see the faces of the walkers to ensure none of them are Maggie and Tara helps. When the two set a diversion with a flashlight to sneak around the swarm of walkers, Tara slips and gets her ankle stuck in the debris and tells Glenn to leave her. However Glenn, sick of losing people, fires on the walkers until he runs out of bullets and tries to commit suicide by telling them to get him but are then unexpectedly saved by Abraham, Eugene and Rosita who have found Maggie, Bob Stookey and Sasha and have become a joined group. Glenn introduces Tara to Maggie but says that he met Tara on the road and couldn't have made it without her and Maggie hugs Tara showing the start of a bond, but Tara doesn't tell her about the prison. Tara later agrees to join Abraham in going to Washington DC in hope for the cure after they reach Terminus. Once they do, they are greeted by a woman named Mary. In the episode "A", she is seen in the train car along with Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Bob, Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita after Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl Dixon are forced into the train car. Rick recognizes Tara from the prison but doesn't say anything and declares that the people of Terminus are "screwing with the wrong people".

Season 5

In the episode "No Sanctuary", Tara crafts a makeshift weapon to use in the escape attempt, but it fails and she is left inside. She encourages the group and is confident that they'll be able to survive their break-out. When Rick opens the boxcar for everyone to escape, Tara helps kill walkers on their way out and aids in protecting the group. In the episode "Strangers", Tara speaks to Rick about her involvement with The Governor, telling her that he was aware of her hesitation to be there and that is why he tried to talk to her. After they resolve their differences he accepts her as part of his family. Later, the group follow Fr. Gabriel Stokes to his church. She goes on a supply run with Glenn and Maggie, and forms a close bond with Maggie. Later, Tara reveals the truth to Maggie that she was with The Governor during her father's murder. After explaining herself, Maggie forgives her and they hug. In the episode "Four Walls and a Roof", When Bob, Daryl and Carol go missing Tara is present when Gabriel explains his survival story to an enraged Sasha who believes he is involved, and he admits that he left people to die. When Bob is left on the lawn of the church she helps carry him back into the church. Upon hearing of Gareth's return, Abraham demands that the group leave for Washington right away. As part of a bargain to make him stay and fight, Tara promises to go with him tomorrow regardless of what happens. She joins Rick's posse to help trap Gareth's group inside the church, and then watches as Rick, Michonne, Sasha and Abraham brutally murder the Terminus cannibals. The next day she is with the others bidding farewell to Bob before he dies from infection, and then following Abraham in the church short bus to Washington. In the episode "Self Help", she helps keep Eugene safe when the bus crashes and promises to keep his secret about sabotaging the bus. She is not happy when Eugene reveals he lied and doesn't know the cure but still defends him when an enraged Abraham nearly punches him to death. In the episode "Crossed", to keep morale up she nicknames the group 'GREATM' after their initials and then goes with Glenn and Rosita to find water, where she finds a yoyo. In the mid-season finale "Coda", the group heads back towards the church and finds only Michonne, Gabriel, Carl and Judith. They all then head into Atlanta to try and save Beth Greene, Maggie's sister, who has been confirmed alive, from Grady Memorial but they arrive too late and see Daryl carrying the now-dead corpse of Beth outside.

In the mid-season premiere "What Happened and What's Going On", Tara appears briefly at Tyreese's funeral. In the episode "Them", Tara is with the group on their long trek. When they take a break, Tara appears slightly worried about Abraham purely ingesting alcohol. She, along with the other survivors, took refuge inside the barn, and also helped her fellow survivors hold the barn doors to keep the walkers from getting inside. In the episode "The Distance, Tara is present when Aaron is brought to the barn and questioned. When Abraham and his group go out to scout Aaron's vehicles, Tara and the remaining survivors do a quick sweep of the area surrounding the barn. Later, she is among those travelling in the RV towards the Alexandria Safe-Zone. When the survivors arrive, they exit their vehicles and Tara waits to enter the community. Tara is also mentioned by Michonne as she shows Rick what kind a man he is, being the one who accepted a girl from the Governor's group that destroyed the prison. In the episode "Remember", Tara enters Alexandria and is assigned the job of a supply runner. On Rick's advice, they all decide to stay in the same house. She goes with Noah, Glenn, Nicholas and Aiden Monroe on a dry run. She does not approve of how they string up walkers and when they try to recapture one that gets loose, she is nearly bitten by a zombie that turns around and attacks her but Glenn kills it. When Aiden becomes angry at Glenn for disobeying his initial orders, Tara grows angry and frustrated by Aiden's incompetence outside the walls. She witnesses Aiden's attempt to punch Glenn, which fails as Glenn reflexes and punches him instead. In the episode "Spend, Tara is tasked with looting the warehouse for parts needed to restore power to Alexandria, along with Nicholas, Aiden, Glenn, Noah, and Eugene. Appearing settled into the community, she and Noah have become closer and she jokes about his interest in a girl named Holly in the community. Once they reach the warehouse, she engages in conversation with Eugene, who declares himself responsible for getting the group to Washington, in spite of his lies. However, Tara reminds him that the group takes credit for getting to Washington based on a chance for a safe haven in Noah's community. She is shocked by his claims, and asks, "Are you really that much of a coward?" as he responds: "Yes, I am". Inside the warehouse, Aiden accidentally shoots a grenade on a walker, leaving Tara to be knocked unconscious by the blast. Glenn, Noah, Eugene and Nicholas realize she has suffered from head trauma and is bleeding from her head due to Aiden's actions. They find Aiden, impaled by the blast and left for dead. Eugene voluntarily looks after Tara as she is unconscious, and when the walkers begin to close in he summons up the courage to carry her out to safety inside the van and Tara is taken back to Alexandria. In the season finale "Conquer", after days being unconscious and being tended to by Pete and Rosita, Tara wakes up with Rosita by her side.

Development and reception

Masterson was promoted to the main cast for the renewed fifth season.^[1]

Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club commented positively on the character saying: "Tara is pretty great."^[2]

References