by Editor’s note: this review of AMC’s The Walking Dead will contain some spoilers. I will try to keep them to a minimum, but they’re be there nonetheless. You’ve been warned.
Damn, Maggie, did you seriously not wash your hand before touching Aaron’s wound? Seriously?
Oh, sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself.
So we’re back in Alexandria. Rick makes it back, but he’s being pursued by, estimating conservatively, a few thousand zombies. The wolves are gone, at least for the time being, but the situation inside hasn’t really improved by any real metric. Sure, the immediate danger is lessened, but those zombies outside aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Oh yeah, and we’ve also got several characters who haven’t returned from their mission yet.
To be honest, it’s a lot of wheel spinning. I get what The Walking Dead is trying to do here. The tension is mounting, a lot of the ringers we’ve grown to count on aren’t here, and the people of Alexandria are struggling to come to terms with the new way of life that’s been trust on that.
The problem is, we totally get that. The Alexandrians are completely unprepared for reality, and they suck at survival and zombie defense. We get it, show, let’s move on already.
Okay, I’ve got all that out of my system now. We can carry on with our regularly scheduled review.
First up, we get to spend some time with Aaron and Maggie, which is easily the best part of the episode. We haven’t seen much of Glenn since he fell off the dumpster and… well, whatever happens next. Maggie, it seems, is just as anxious as the rest of us to find out what happened. So she comes up with a plan to go over the fence. Aaron thinks this plan is idiotic, and suggests they go through the sewer instead.
Maggie, while a little put off about the whole “they” thing, goes along. In the sewer they find some of the most disgustingly awesome zombies The Walking Dead has put forth so far, and that’s really saying something. Maggie actually reaches up through the horrible poop zombie’s rib cage in an effort to stab it in the head. Good stuff.
They make it through, but Maggie refuses to go any further. It’s over; she knows Glenn is dead. And also, she’s pregnant. But don’t worry, she changes her mind at the end of the episode, foreshadowing Glenn’s almost certain return, presumably from under the dumpster.
And then, a bunch of other stuff happens. Carl is worried about his missing girlfriend. That weird kid makes peace with Rick and gets a shooting lesson. Tara and the doctor make out a bit. Rick and the blonde girl make out a bit. And Deanna has a hell of a rough night.
“Now” is, frustratingly, all preamble. It’s buying time before the big payoff to the zombie quarry caper. That’s not really an issue; the problem is that it wastes a lot of time telling us stuff we already know. Yeah, we get some big moments, like Maggie’s pregnancy, but the episode itself is pretty lifeless.
And, no, that wasn’t a zombie pun.
Grade:
Much needed episode though.
We get to see where other characters are at. Aaron and Maggie was, as you said, the best and most useful part of the episode but overall, I think this episode should be evaluated with the next 2.
After a very strong first quarter of the season (ep. 1 to 4) we needed a “low tension builder” episode. It’s just setting the stage here. Alexandria people’s struggles is still great to see and I really love Deanna week after week. Becoming a very strong female character (if used correctly she could be the most interesting, over Carol IMO).
Once again showing all the characters we didn’t see the past 2 or 3 episodes was, for me, not much as a waste of time. But I think you know now that I’m a real optimistic when it comes to TWD…
Rating : 3+ Zombie Heads ( or 4-)
While I agree it was a slow episode and it had a few parts that missed the mark overall I still liked it and what it did in creating more tension and setting up the next few episodes.
My main thoughts:
1. Where was Carol? Was she the one in Jessies house behind the closed door where Jessie put the cookies and knocked? Is Carol struggling to cope with what has happened, or maybe missing Daryl?
2. Ron is coming across really odd, like he wants to help Rick and Carl all of a sudden… but I suspect it’s a ruse and he is going to “get trained” and then attack one of those two, maybe he shoots Carl?
3. I thought the zombie fight with Deanna summed it up, the Alexandrians are being toughened up and are starting to get the fight to survive come through in them, but they are still raw, hence the stabbing in the chest… IN THE HEAD DEANNA!
4. Maggie and Aaron scenes were all good, very nice work here and those sewer zombies were great!
What I have found with these sort of episodes, is when you watch week in, week out with seven day gaps they don’t seem to be great, but when you are watching many episodes in a row they make more sense and are a lot stronger. I watch week by week, and then when the seasons are released on the whole I re watch them a lot faster (an episode or two a night), and I have found that episodes I thought were slow or misplaced are actually great when viewed fresh from the last episode.
Just my 2c
Totally agree with you Mad.
This is an episode you’ll love to see in a TWD marathon! I myself also watch week after week and once released in BR I love to watch 4 at a time! Gives new perspectives indeed.
Carol was a no show in this episode, seems like she’s not as much important as in season 5.
Ron is going to be trouble, no-brainer to me. Come on Rick… Learning to shoot to a kid you shot the father? Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!
I kind of thought this episode was very good, three and a half or four stars worthy. The last few episodes have had a lot of tension and had quite some action, so it was nice to kick back and enjoy a more slow-paced episode. It’s true that it didn’t really advance the story in a whole lot of ways, but I’m sure that the next episodes are going to be great.