The Walking Wounded: Frank Darabont Talks About Leaving The Walking Dead

Those of us who are fans of AMC’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, and who attended the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, were shocked when, just a few days after the convention, showrunner Frank Darabont was fired from the show, after having been a big part of hyping the show at the con. Not only had Darabont’s involvement in the show been a big selling point for fans of the comic (many of who, like me, didn’t think any TV version of the book could capture the bleak near-hopelessness that the story sometimes carried), but giving Darabont the ick right after trotting him out to hype the show in Hall H just seemed crass. And sure, AMC and the production and Darabont himself all said at the time that the split was mutual, but the timing felt less like someone pursuing his future endeavors and more like some party threw some cash on Darabont’s nightstand and told him to clean himself up and watch so the door didn’t hit him on the ass on the way out.

But again, everyone, including Darabont, said at the time that the split was mutual… but that was 28 months ago. Now, The Walking Dead is on its fourth season and third showrunner, Darabont is getting ready to debut Mob City, a new crime show on TNT debuting in December, so… no hard feelings, right?

Yeah, not so much.

Darabont’s been making the rounds doing press for Mob City, and he has finally made some other comments about his split from The Walking Dead, and it’s not all sunshine and roses and happy zombies. When Entertainment Weekly asked Darabont if he still watches The Walking Dead, well…

No more than I would go to the wedding of somebody who broke my heart and left me for the Pilates instructor. One does become very emotionally attached to the things that one does. I get tremendously invested. Why would I do that? Absolutely not, I won’t.

And the phrase “making the rounds” means that Darabont has been talking to more people than Entertainment Weekly. He gave Variety the same “Pilates instructor” line… and one more choice quote about his experience leaving The Walking Dead:

There’s a deep commitment and emotional investment that happens when you create something that is very near and dear to you, and when that is torn asunder by sociopaths who don’t give a shit about your feelings or the feelings of your cast and crew because they have their own reasons to screw everybody, that doesn’t feel good.

Look, I’m not gonna bullshit: the second half of The Walking Dead’s second season was a vast improvement over the first half, and season three was also pretty solid (we have several episodes of the latest season stacked up on the TiVo, but we liked the premiere). And while Darabont’s departure from the show felt a little sordid and clearly left some hard feelings, well, we’re from Boston. And in 2004, the Red Sox front office traded fan favorite player Nomar Garciaparra away to everyone’s shock… and wound up winning this city our first World Series since 1918.

Sometimes an ugly trade winds up being a necessary trade. And considering the ratings on the show, maybe icking out Darabont was the right thing for the show… but it’s interesting to finally hear a behind-the-scenes perspective on what happened. Particularly if you’re someone who works – or wants to work – on the show whose name isn’t Kirkman.