College Football Player Church Van Driver Supply Runner for the Atlanta Camp
Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas is a fictional character from the horrordrama 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. He was created by series developer Frank Darabont and was portrayed by IronE Singleton. The character was introduced in the first season as a member of the group that series protagonist Rick Grimes encounters in Atlanta. T-Dog was portrayed as a well-intentioned and kindhearted man towards his fellow survivors, although he struggles to prove his worth in the group. The character eventually adapts to the group and becomes one of Rick's right-hand men.
T-Dog is an original character in the television series and has no counterpart in the graphic novels. Singleton made several recurring appearances as the character in the show's first through third seasons. The character was ultimately met with a mixed reception, with the criticisms of professional reviewers claiming that T-Dog lacked character development and dialogue (particularly in the show's second season), while praise was directed towards Singleton's performance, his increased dialogue in the third season, and the heroic nature of his death.
Character biography
Little background is given about T-Dog prior to the walker epidemic, but in the episode "Say the Word" Glenn states that T-Dog helped a local church, driving its van and helping the elderly members of its congregation.
Season 1
Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas is a muscular and well-intentioned man, yet somewhat clumsy. In the episode "Guts", T-Dog is one of a number of survivors who have come to Atlanta to scavenge for supplies. On the roof of the department store in which they have holed up, Merle Dixon, a virulent racist, attempts to assert his leadership over the group and beats T-Dog. Rick Grimes subdues Merle and handcuffs him to a pipe, leaving him under the watch of T-Dog while the rest of the group look for a way out. Rick and Glenn obtain a box truck, which Rick drives to one of the store's cargo doors. In the rush to escape, T-Dog accidentally drops the key to the handcuffs down a drainpipe, leaving Merle trapped on the roof. T-Dog tries to apologize to Merle but Merle insists that T-Dog did it on purpose. T-Dog does, however, in an attempt to keep walkers from killing him, padlock a heavy chain to the roof access door. The entire group (other than Merle) is able to escape the city in the box truck. In the episode "Tell It to the Frogs", T-Dog and the group return to the camp, where Merle's brother Daryl becomes enraged to hear that his brother was abandoned. Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog return to Atlanta to save Merle at Daryl's insistence, but find that Merle is gone, leaving his amputated hand behind. In the episode "Vatos", the four of them search for Merle and the bag of guns that Rick dropped, and Glenn is captured by another group of survivors, along with the bag of guns. Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog confront the other group, and after recovering Glenn they return to camp on the outskirts of Atlanta. That evening, at dinner, the camp is overrun by a horde of zombies. In the episode "Wildfire", T-Dog helps the group clean up after the attack, and the group agrees to seek shelter at the CDC. In the episode "TS-19", the group reaches the CDC facility and are allowed in by the only remaining scientist, Edwin Jenner. Jenner eventually reveals that the building will soon self-destruct; when it explodes, T-Dog barely manages to escape with the others.
Season 2
In the season premiere "What Lies Ahead", T-Dog and the remaining survivors begin travelling to Fort Benning when they encounter a blockade of abandoned vehicles, and Dale's RV breaks down. When a large herd of walkers approaches, T-Dog slices his arm on a car door, while some of the walkers chase after Sophia, who goes missing. In the episode "Bloodletting", he shows concern about being the only African-American member of the group and asks Dale to run away with him. Dale believes that T-Dog has contracted a blood infection from his wound, and Daryl later gives Dale some painkillers and doxycycline antibiotics that Merle had been carrying around. In the episode "Save the Last One", Glenn and T-Dog journey to Hershel's farm, where T-Dog receives medical treatment for blood poisoning. In the episode "Cherokee Rose", the group is allowed to stay at the farm while they search for Sophia. T-Dog helps extract a walker from one of the farm's wells, but when the walker bursts open it contaminates the water, and T-Dog kills it with an axe. In the episode "Chupacabra", when Daryl returns to camp after searching for Sophia, Andrea spots him in the distance but confuses him for a walker and shoots him. T-Dog finds Daryl wounded, and discovers that he had found Sophia's doll. In the episode "Secrets", T-Dog helps give firearm training to some of the others at the farm. In the episode "Pretty Much Dead Already", Shane Walsh breaks open Hershel's barn, where he had been sheltering walkers who had been his family, friends, and neighbors, and T-Dog helps shoot the walkers as they come out of the barn. In the episode "Nebraska", T-Dog helps burn the walker bodies. In the episode "Triggerfinger", T-Dog is seen with the group when Shane reveals that Lori is pregnant, and later when the group discusses what to do with Randall, who was captured some of the others after his group attacked them. In the episode "Judge, Jury, Executioner", T-Dog is seen attending the group debate over Randall's fate, and later witnesses Daryl mercy killing Dale after he had been ripped open by a walker. In the episode "Better Angels", Hershel allows the group to stay at his farm indefinitely following Dale's death. T-Dog helps the group move into Hershel's home, and he later notices that Randall is no longer in the barn where he was being held. In the season finale "Beside the Dying Fire", walkers overrun the farm, and he escapes with a few other survivors. He is keen on moving on and escaping, but Lori convinces him to turn back to get Rick and the others.
Season 3
In the season premiere "Seed", after several months on the road, the group discovers a prison complex and they clear out all the walkers there so they can settle in and make it their new home. T-Dog joins some others on a scouting mission to other parts of the prison, where they encounter a group of five surviving inmates. In the episode "Sick", Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog confront the prisoners, who claim rights to the prison because they were there first. Rick and his group argue that they cleared out the walkers, so they earned the prison. They initially compromise to share the prison, but when Tomas, one of the prisoners, tries to assassinate Rick, the group fights them; one inmate (Andrew) escapes, and only two are left alive, Oscar and Axel. They surrender and Rick spares their lives but locks them in another cell block. In the episode "Killer Within", Oscar and Axel plead to be part of the group, but Rick declines. T-Dog tries to convince Rick and Daryl to let the two surviving prisoners join their group, but he is overruled. Later, a horde of walkers somehow invades the prison courtyard, and T-Dog is bitten on the shoulder by a walker while securing the gate, and is then killed while sacrificing his life to allow Carol to escape when they run out of ammunition. Later in the episode, it is revealed that the escaped Andrew let the walkers in.
Development and reception
T-Dog was portrayed by recurring cast member IronE Singleton.
IronE Singleton, who played T-Dog, recalled: "when I was first cast in the show, I was told that I would do two, maybe three episodes, but I ended up staying on the show for three seasons. How miraculous is that? So, I'm very thankful for that."[1] Singleton found it liberating as an actor to be cast in a role that was not based on a character in the comics, because "you start with a clean slate. There's nothing more liberating about starting with something that is not written. You pretty much create the history of that character and that character's life story. Whatever you do, whatever you come up with, whatever you decide on, you can go with it and, if the director or the execs they like it, then you'll stick with it."[1] Singleton said that he didn't have any conversations with Robert Kirkman, Frank Darabont, or Glen Mazzara on how to develop his character, so "T-Dog basically had my life story. He grew up in the projects, in the city, and he was fortunate enough to get to college through a football scholarship and, eventually, academic scholarships. He majored in speech communications, the same as I did. I also majored in theater, but I did not attach that to T-Dog because it probably would've made him a little more dramatic, and we're already dramatic enough on TV. Then, he graduated from college, but didn't make it to the pros. He came close, but ended up getting a regular blue collar/white collar type of job."[1]
Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club commented in his review of "Guts" that IronE Singleton was "wildly overacting" and that T-Dog "isn't much more than a clown".[2]IGN's Eric Goldman called T-Dog one of the new additions to the show that were not in the comic books that were "either overdone or completely un-engaging" in the first season.[3]
IronE Singleton reprised his role as T-Dog in the second season premiere, "What Lies Ahead", and was promoted to the recurring cast.[4]The Hollywood Reporter writer Tim Goodman commented on T-Dog in the episode as feeling "antsy and vulnerable", a feeling which is "a key underlying element to The Walking Dead, because the group of human stragglers begins to run into ever larger packs of zombies. That feeling of being outnumbered, of struggling with futility, is ever-present."[5]Paste's Josh Jackson felt that the side-plot of T-Dog's injury takes a backseat to the events with Rick's family at the farmhouse in "Bloodletting".[6] Ology writer Josh Harrison commented that T-Dog finds the news that he might die of blood poisoning "morbidly funny",[7] and Nate Rowlings of Time added that "in a moment of meta-realization, he muses on how he’s the only black guy in the group—which typically means imminent death in most horror movies".[8]
Starlee Kine of New York commented in her review of "Secrets" that with the mid-season finale as the next episode, there was "One episode to go and T-Dog has barely spoken all season".[9] With "Pretty Much Dead Already", more reviewers began to comment on T-Dog not having a very prominent role on the show: Mark Maurer of The Star-Ledger noted that all the characters have "slim chances, even slimmer than T-Dog’s role this season";[10] Zack Halden of The A.V. Club quipped, "Oh hey, T-Dog is on this show! I forgot about him, much as the writers apparently did";[11]Time journalist Nate Rawlings said that he would "like to see T-Dog play a more active role in the next half season and perhaps learn a little bit about his past";[12] and Starlee Kine hoped that new writing staff on the show would bring "perhaps even a sentence or two for T-Dogg" [sic].[13] Nate Rawlings, in his review of "Judge, Jury, Executioner", added: "Until the writers give T-Dog something interesting to say, we’re going to track how long it’s been since he’s had anything but a throw away line. As of last night, the count stands at 7 episodes. The last time T-Dog said anything that remotely added to the plot was Episode 4 of this season, "Cherokee Rose" when he helped pull the disgustingly bloated walker out of the well."[14]Digital Spy's Morgan Jeffrey noted in his review of the season finale "Beside the Dying Fire" that each of the major characters "gets their moment to shine - even T-Dog (Irone Singleton), who's barely said a word for the past six weeks".[15]
Zack Handlen commented in his review of the third season premiere "Seed" that "T-Dog has lines, folks",[16] and in his review of the next episode "Sick" Handlen said that T-Dog "still is just "the black guy with that name," but at least he's getting more lines".[17] "Killer Within" signified the final appearance of IronE Singleton as a regular.[18] Singleton was informed about his character's fate before production of the third season began,[19] and received word of his character's imminent demise only a few weeks before filming his final episode, so he had to avoid arousing any suspicion from the public, particularly T-Dog's fans.[20] T-Dog's death was heroic by design and reflected his personal life; Glen Mazzara stated that T-Dog's stint as a football player became evident as "he just heroically acts as a linebacker and just clotheslines these walkers, even at his own expense."[21]Robert Kirkman commented that he and Mazzara decided to kill T-Dog because they "really wanted to put Rick and the group back on their heels. T-Dog had become a central part of Rick's strike team, so to speak. So, to have him go out in such a heroic way also shows the audience just how important and essential he was. Now they've lost this other key piece of their group. We really wanted to be coming out of this episode completely spent and unsure as to how to move forward. Losing T-Dog definitely helps that along. Plus: We definitely wanted to lose two people in this episode. We felt that having T-Dog die would make the audience think, "Oh my gosh, this is a crazy episode. We totally lost T-Dog!" It makes the death of Lori that much more unexpected."[21] Singleton said about his character's "heroic" death: "When I read [the script], I was thankful that he would go out as a hero. It made me feel really appreciated."[1]
The fate of T-Dog garnered favorable reviews from television commentators. Erik Kain from Forbes magazine found Lori's death especially difficult to watch, and was shocked by T-Dog's "sudden" death despite the fact that he "was never as prominent a figure" on the program. "As hard as these deaths were to watch," Kain wrote, "they also give me faith in the show."[22] Even though he stated that T-Dog died "a hero's death", Michael Rapoport of the Wall Street Journal concluded that Lori's "gut-churning" demise was the more memorable.[23] Ted Pigeon ofSlant Magazine felt that the episode's "strong emotional undercurrents" were "a result of the sacrifice in both T-Dog's (IronE Singleton) final stand and Lori's decision to give birth despite the certainty that she won't survive the delivery".[24]Time's Nate Rawlings called T-Dog's death "the most grusome[sic] human death in quite some time", after noting that "the only one willing to give the two inmates a chance was T-Dog. His character has been a frustrating part of the story. Last season, during the height of the languid days on the farm, T-Dog went entire episodes without speaking a line. He’s more than proven his worth as a loyal soldier, and he’s the only one who stands up to Rick and encourages him to bring the two inmates into the group.[25]
Some reviewers presented more negative critiques. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club in his review felt the episode "stumble[d]" in how T-Dog and Lori were eliminated and in how the Woodbury storyline repeated what was already known. Halden commented in his review that "killing T-Dog and Lori earned the show an immediate thrill, but it also meant crossing off two potential sources of drama, people who had a history on the series, however thin or poorly developed that history might have been."[26] According to HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall, T-Dog's sacrifice for Carol "didn't remotely have the same resonance as Lori's for the baby, because T-Dog has never been a character the writers have even pretended they wanted us to care about. When he started objecting to Rick's plans about the two remaining prisoners, it was shocking to simply hear him expressing an opinion of any kind."[27]The Washington Post entertainment journalist Jen Chaney commented on his death by saying, "T-Dog, we hardly knew ye. No. Really. We hardly, hardly did. And that makes your death a real shame",[28] and Bex Schwartz said farewell in her review for Rolling Stone magazine: "So long, T-dog. You were a good guy even if they forgot to write dialogue for you for the first two seasons."[29]
Related Research Articles
"Tell It To The Frogs" is the third episode of the first season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 14, 2010. The episode's teleplay was written by Charles H. Eglee, Jack LoGiudice and Frank Darabont, the creator of the series, from a story by Eglee and LoGiudice. It was directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton.
"Vatos" is the fourth episode of the first season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 21, 2010. The episode was written by Robert Kirkman and directed by Johan Renck. In the episode, Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas, and Glenn Rhee return to downtown Atlanta in search of Daryl's brother, Merle. The group are later targeted by a Latino gang, whose leader threatens to kill them if they do not relinquish their weapons. Meanwhile, Lori Grimes and Shane Walsh 's relationship begins to crumble.
"Bloodletting" is the second episode of the second season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, and the 8th overall episode of the series. It initially aired on AMC in the United States on October 23, 2011. The episode was written by Glen Mazzara and directed by Ernest Dickerson. In this episode, Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh rush to save the life of Rick's son, Carl, and discover a possible safe haven in the process.
"Save the Last One" is the third episode of the second season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, and the 9th episode overall of the series. It first aired on AMC in the United States on October 30, 2011. The episode was written by Scott M. Gimple and directed by Phil Abraham. In the episode, Shane Walsh and Otis desperately attempt to flee the walker-infested high school in order to deliver supplies to a dying Carl Grimes. Meanwhile, Daryl Dixon and Andrea continue to search for Sophia Peletier.
"Pretty Much Dead Already" is the seventh episode and mid-season finale of the second season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 27, 2011. In the episode, Glenn reveals to the group that there are walkers in the Greenes' barn, dividing the group on what to do. Hershel Greene sets a deadline for the group to leave, unless Rick Grimes does a difficult task. Meanwhile, Shane Walsh slowly loses his sanity after many secrets around him are revealed and Carol Peletier begins to question whether her daughter, Sophia will be found.
Lori Grimes is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and was portrayed by Sarah Wayne Callies in the American television series of the same name. Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, the character made her debut in The Walking Dead #2 in 2003. In both forms of media, she is married to Rick Grimes. They have two children Carl and Judith. The character escapes the zombie apocalypse with Carl, and Rick's partner Shane Walsh. Believing her husband to be dead, she starts a relationship with Shane. But then she finds her husband is alive and breaks it off with Shane.
Dale is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and was portrayed by Jeffrey DeMunn in the American television series of the same name. The character's death in the latter half of the second season of the show marks a significant departure from the comics, where Dale survived much longer. In both media, he is shown to be the group's primary moral center.
"Seed" is the third season premiere of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on October 14, 2012. The episode was written by showrunner Glen Mazzara and directed by Ernest Dickerson.
"Sick" is the second episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC in the United States on October 21, 2012.
"Walk with Me" is the third episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC in the United States on October 28, 2012. The episode primarily focuses on Andrea ; having been separated from the rest of the group at the end of the previous season, she and fellow katana-wielding survivor, Michonne find themselves in the company of Merle Dixon as they are captured and brought to The Governor in a small town called Woodbury. Merle Dixon, who was previously seen physically in season 1 and as a hallucination in season 2, returns in this episode as a series regular.
"Killer Within" is the fourth episode of the third season of the postapocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 4, 2012, and was written by Sang Kyu Kim and directed by Guy Ferland. The episode marked Sarah Wayne Callies and IronE Singleton's final appearances as Lori Grimes and Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas and as regular actors on the show. Most television critics positively reviewed the episode, applauding its bleak undertones and the performances, but some commentators criticized the narrative ploys and the direction taken in the program. "Killer Within" was viewed by 9.27 million viewers, including 4.9% of those in the 18 to 49 demographic upon its initial broadcast in the United States. The episode is often cited as one of the show’s best episodes.
"Say the Word" is the fifth episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It was written by Angela Kang and directed by Greg Nicotero, and originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 11, 2012.
"Hounded" is the sixth episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It was directed by Dan Attias and written by Scott M. Gimple, and originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 18, 2012.
"When the Dead Come Knocking" is the seventh episode of the third season of the postapocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It was directed by Dan Sackheim and written by Frank Renzulli, and originally aired on AMC in the United States on November 25, 2012.
Merle Dixon is a fictional character from the horror drama television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC in the United States. He was created by series developer Frank Darabont and was portrayed by Michael Rooker. The character was first introduced in the first season as a Southern redneck hunter who has a younger brother, Daryl. He is misogynistic and racist, which causes tensions between him and his group of survivors. Following an encounter with series protagonist Rick Grimes, Merle disappears and joins the community of Woodbury, Georgia, where he becomes the right-hand man of The Governor. He becomes caught in the conflict between the Governor and Rick, especially when nobody in Rick's group wants him in the group, except for Daryl.
Beth Greene is a fictional character from the American horror drama television series The Walking Dead, created by season two showrunner Glen Mazzara, and was portrayed by Emily Kinney. She is the daughter of veterinarian and farmer Hershel Greene and the younger half-sister of Maggie. Unlike the majority of the series' cast of characters, Beth has no specific counterpart in the comic book series on which the show is based.
"The Suicide King" is the ninth episode and mid-season premiere of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. It was directed by Lesli Linka Glatter and written by Evan Reilly, and aired on AMC in the United States on February 10, 2013. The episode's first airing was the most-watched episode of the series and beat several ratings records for a basic cable series.
"This Sorrowful Life" is the fifteenth and penultimate episode of the third season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which first aired on AMC in the United States on March 24, 2013.
Sophia Grimes is a fictional character from the comic series The Walking Dead and was portrayed by Madison Lintz in the television series of the same name. She is the daughter of Carol, who is fiercely protective of her, as is Carl Grimes, with whom she becomes close friends during the zombie outbreak. She becomes a major focal point in both media, despite her limited involvement in many of the central conflicts faced by the other characters.
The Prisoners are fictional characters from the comic book series The Walking Dead and the television series of the same name.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
