Haha, glad you finally joined the, TWD Club. Good stuff bro. This show is really a masterpiece in itself. The writing. The characters. The actors that have been casted & the overlaying atmosphere through out the seasons. They all fit together like a beautifully crafted jigsaw puzzle.
Now for my response to your points:
1) Shane was sort of a badass, yeah. But he was a super douche bag at the same time. He wanted to kill off Rick acouple times if I remember correctly, and never went through with it. Always seemingly against Rick and whatever plan he had, he was just annoying. As for killing him off too early, I disagree. You see, you watched all the episodes quickly. His reign may seem short lived to you because of that, but take into account say, my perspective on the matter. We all watched the show on a weekly basis as each new episode came out. I've waited like, literally a year give or take, to watch someone put a bullet in Shane's head. I wanted to shoot him right after he tried pulling that rapist like poop with Lori, when they were all at the CDC in Season 1 lol.
2) Speaking of Lori. Yeah. duck Lori lol. I don't know why, I just found Lori as a character to be annoying. I didn't like her personality at all.
3)
Enough said. [/badass]
4) You mean Dale? The older fella. Yeah, I miss him the most. <3