"People like you are supposed to be dead."
Rick's crew attempting to survive in Alexandria means we're not seeing quite as many zombies as we usually do. That's perfectly fine since this storyline has been producing some exciting and tense drama, but the opening shot of this episode is an amazing reminder of what lurks outside of Alexandria's tall walls. This story's giving us a spotlight on "the walking suburbanites," but man, that creepy zombie in the opening shot was a terrific way of pulling us back into this bloody and bleak universe. It was downright haunting and one hell of a way to start the episode.
The opening pretty much plays out how many of us thought it would. To no one's surprise, Nicholas is being a lying coward. Combine that with the loss Deanne just suffered and that of course means she's seriously questioning whether Rick's gang can be trusted. (See, this is all going to blow up without Gabriel's frustrating scene in the last episode!) It's basically going through the predictable motions early on, but it is a little baffling why didn't see anyone from Rick's crew talking to Deanne and giving their side of the story. I'd be curious to see her reaction to Glenn or Eugene explaining what went down. Unfortunately, we don't get that and we're just going to have to assume she somewhat believes Nicholas, the guy we hate and will probably never care about. That said, the scene of Glenn confronting Nicholas was top-notch. After Steven Yeun's performance in the last episode and now this scene, the guy is really winning me over. Here's hoping the Wolves don't say "hello" to his head with a bat in the near future.
As expected, a solid part of this episode is the growing tension between Rick and Pete. The handling of this buildup was majorly satisfying. Watching Rick, with half of his face covered in darkness, tell Pete to "keep walking" was one of those moments that reminds you just how formidable and frightening Rick can be. In that moment, we're reminded of all he's been through and what he's capable of, yet he's trying so hard to make this new situation work. And then when this conflict comes to a head, it's pretty awesome and explodes just the way it should. That said, I'm a little disappointed Rick wasn't doing better in the fight. After all that dude's been through, you'd think he'd fare a little better. Alexandria's making you soft, man! Rick isn't just building tension with Pete, though. He's also managed to avoid becoming best friends with Deanna and this is generating a good focus on morals. If you can build a society in this twisted word, can it truly be like the way things were? Will taking the moral high ground just result in destroying everything and everyone? Is sending someone into the world really a better (or even kinder) option than just killing them? There isn't much of an open debate here -- just two sides standing firmly behind what they believe -- but watching those completely different mentalities clash has been pretty engaging.
An unexpected treat was the focus on Rosita (you know, that person who occasionally stands next to Abraham and that's kind of it), Sasha, and Michonne. Rosita doesn't get much focus here -- some is better than none, though -- but the insight into Michonne and Sasha is great. Michonne's big scene was handled excellently and I love the moment of Sasha breaking down, pulling herself back together, and then moving on. That small bit was surprisingly powerful. Additionally, the focus on this trio brought about some pretty sweet zombie kills. Sasha's become a freaking terminator and Rosita kicking that one walker's knee was a brutal delight.
Daryl and Aaron's discovery was pretty stunning. We expect gore from this show, but what they found? Yeesh. Considering how the show is building and building the Wolves as these savage and extremely violent people, I'm pretty certain their debut will mean the death of a character. At this point, it would be weird to have them make an appearance and not slaughter one of the survivors if they spot them. With so many characters wandering the woods, this feels inevitable.
Does anyone else feel like the Carl and Enid sequence went a little too CW-ish for a minute? I don't mind the show building an attraction between the two, but the way it was handled was pretty predictable. It was weird to have them imply they need to bolt and then they went in the tree to hide. Like, right when that happened we all knew what the point of the scene was. That said, it was kind of interesting to see Carl has gone through so much, but at the end of the day, he's still just a kid who's nervous as hell when he's around a girl he likes. Also, was it just me or did they definitely not need to distract that one walker with the timer? If anything, that move made the walker come towards their direction. I get she likes the thrill of being out there, but it seemed like a waste of a device that could seriously save them one day.
So, let's talk about that cliffhanger for a minute. It's one of those, "wait, what?" kind of moments, but I'm pretty certain this is Michonne's way of saving the entire group. Rick screaming and waving a gun while his face is covered in blood isn't going to help the point he's attempting to make; it's just going to make this community trust them even less and it would most likely get them kicked out or lead to something much, much worse. So yeah, I view this as Michonne saving Rick from really messing things up. It's just a painful save and possibly prevented him from going full Shane. To be totally blunt, I wish we had a stronger Wolves teaser before the credits began to roll. I can't help but feel like that would have been more gripping than just ending it with that. It's a great episode, but it doesn't quite feel like a penultimate one. I guess it's a good thing the next episode is 90 minutes!
Minor criticisms: Did anyone else feel like the Nine Inch Nails song (or at least I think it was them) wasn't exactly fitting for the intro? I mean, this won't impact the score and I did enjoy the song, but it felt an odd match for Sasha's scene. Speaking of Sasha, does it slightly bother anyone else when a zombie gets the jump on a character and they suddenly become useless? The zombie shoved her away instead of grabbing or pulling. I guess that zombie was really into football? Lastly, I thought a couple of lines in the conversation between Carol and Rick were just there to spell out some plot point for the viewers and didn't feel like natural things they'd say to each other. I remember some lines which basically reminded us that yes, Rick likes Jessie and yes, Carol was in an abusive relationship. It's just surprising Rick would say "why do you care?" to Carol about a husband abusing his wife and child. He knows why, so the line just seemed like it was there to remind some people about her past.
Random thoughts: Does anyone else think zombies getting their eyes blown out could be a little bit of foreshadowing? After what Maggie went through and considering the position she's currently in, it's pretty surprising she doesn't have a bigger role in what's going on. Plus, I can't help but feel like they're teasing the Wolves so much that it won't be as shocking when they probably kill a main character as they make their big debut. I can see Daryl, Aaron, or even Sasha being on the receiving end of their brutal ways in the finale.
All of that suburban drama finally explodes in a very entertaining way. Despite reading the comic, I'm still left wondering what this means for the conflict between team Rick and team Deanne, and I'm absolutely thinking about whether Aaron and Daryl will be unfortunate enough to catch up with this infamous and elusive group called the Wolves. The bit with Carl and Erin felt like something we'd see on a CW show and there's a few other criticisms, but this episode did a pretty solid job offering interesting plot progression, strong character-driven scenes, and a good amount of excitement.
Log in to comment