Feeble Gods and Flawed Bioheroes The Walking Dead's Fictional Dr. Edwin Jenner and the Real CDC

The so-called "CDC arc" that concluded the abbreviated first season of The Walking Dead received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. At the time of its airing (2010), this seemingly radical departure from the graphic novel series appeared to be a dead end. However, when revisited some six seasons later, the CDC arc provides a valuable laboratory in which to explore not only the original motivation of the writers and how this early arc ties in with the later series, but the depiction of the fictional CDC and its scientists (with an eye to comparing them to their real world counterparts). It will be shown that the CDC arc illustrates not only issues of medical and scientific ethics, but the scientific method itself. In addition, the CDC arc's main protagonist, Dr. Edwin Jenner, is a complex example of the fictional "biohero," painted as neither mad scientist nor world savior.