This week's show is mostly about the parallel physical and emotional struggles within the group. There's no food and barely any water left. They've lost two members, long-time, well-loved members, in a space of days. They're 60 miles from Washington D.C., holding out the distant hope that lying Eugene was right about safe shelter there.
Don't you carry nothing that might be a load
Maggie, finally, is ripped apart with grief for her sister. Fleeing the prison and believing your sister dead is one thing. Being confronted with her bloody, head-shot body limp in Darryl's arms is another. Her zombie kills are rote by now, showing she's a badass even on autopilot. She even slaps Gabriel down with some tough love after he tries to minister to her. Maggie's detachment, and frustration with the way the zombiepocalypse can still horrify her, are evident when she opens that car trunk, hoping for water, and finds a zombie, bound and gagged. Was it an early infected patient, gagged for safety, that someone was trying to get help for? Was it a kidnapping plot gone bad, with the kidnappee left to die and turn? Glenn lovingly puts it down for her.
The show's setting has changed in that it's no longer clear what happened at any given travesty the group stumbles on. Was Shirewilt deliberately destroyed for some sicko's torso and head stash? Was the deer Darryl stumbles on partially consumed by a zombie who was then shot in the head? Or was that body a human killed for that deer? Did those frogs die of dehydration, like the group is at risk of doing? It's getting impossible to determine exactly how anything has died. It's getting futile, and even defeating, to even know how everything has died. If it's dead, truly dead, it's like the survivors have just lost all interest in it.
Maybe it's the starvation and dehydration and fatigue. Maybe it's Sasha's wish to kill everything the entire episode. Michonne saw this before, when Tyrese lost it during their trip to the veterinarian hospital. And now, despite Sasha proclaiming that she's not like her brother, she's resorting to the same angry desire to attack zombies when she doesn't really have the energy. When six or seven group members decide to deal with the zombie crowds trudging along behind them, they've chosen a small bridge over a ravine. They assemble with small gaps between people on both sides. And, as zombies approach, they simply step out of the way and let gravity do the hard work. The zombies fall, break something, and can't get back up, the group conserves energy, and the remaining zombies don't get worked up.
Just keep on keeping' on the road that you choose
Until Sasha ruins things by taking out her knife. It throws the whole game off, since now they need to cover each other in a brawl. Rick literally almost gets bitten, and my fondest wish for this show is almost fulfilled, but Abraham keeps the zombie away from his arm. Damn. Michonne tosses Sasha to the side, with an angry finger pointing at her. Sasha retreats into her own private world of anger, emerging only to quietly berate Noah for wondering if he's going to make it. Noah is wrapped up in himself, seeming to confirm everything Dawn thought of him, when Sasha reminds him that fear of death causes death in this world.
'Cause there may be times when you think you've lost your mind
Sasha doesn't seem to rejoin the group until a pack of feral dogs, including Dobermans and German Shepherds, emerges from the woods by the road, where the whole group has collapsed for a rest. Rick is readying his knives, Michonne looks ready to attack, but the group is tired and these dogs aren't. It's Sasha and her quick shooting that bring them down. The group is a little shocked at first, but Rick stumbles up and collects sticks for cooking. No one talks, no one complains about the food, eating it silently, wondering if their lives are now eating whatever they find on the road, and battling death from their own bodies.
Gabriel, perhaps having some time to digest Maggie's scolding, burns his priest's collar in the cooking fire. Has he given up on his faith, or just his priesthood, his position in life? Has he realized, finally, that he's got to survive just like everyone else?
Darryl is still bottling up all his grief for Beth. He's been obsessed with finding her for a season now, and his search was bitterly disappointing. Whenever Rick lets him scout around for water or food, Carol insists on following him, trying to coax some grief out of him. Darryl's finally had enough, and insists on a lone scout mission that yields a barn, and some alone time for smoking a cigarette. Nicotine must have lost its hold on Darryl, because he instead uses the butt for pain testing. He makes no sound, no expression, doesn't even gasp as he digs the burning, ashing, butt into his hand. He pokes his finger in the burn to scatter the remaining ashes. And, he finally has a good cry.
You wake one morning, just to find your courage gone
When Darryl returns, it's to find that the group has moved on slightly, encountering something truly inexplicable. Water. Bottles of water. In small 16 oz bottles. In gallon jugs. And a note offering it free of charge. "From A Friend". Rick doesn't buy it, and the water sits there, as if it's taunting the whole group. It's Eugene who decides he doesn't care, grabs a bottle and has just had the water hit his lips when Abraham, who's been drinking alcohol the whole episode, slaps the water bottle away. Eugene can only looked shocked, water still clinging to his face. Rick wants to hold out for rain. He only trusts the clouds at this point.
And, since Rick is the luckiest bastard still alive, it literally starts to rain before the group can fight over the water in the road. At first, everyone is happy to stand in the rain. Tara and Rosita even lay down in it. It's their first break since Tyrese died. But it's about to turn ugly, with thunder and lightning that will ruin the whole day. So, Darryl directs them to the barn from his alone time. Where they all settle down with a fire. And one of Rick's stories/lectures.
You just keep on stepping' and you'll be just fine
The scene totally reminds one of the finale of Season Two, where Rick outright demands to be in charge and doesn't want to hear any more bitching from anyone. There's a fire, and some hungry, tired people around it. But, no one's scared anymore. They're not afraid, just hopeless. So, Rick deduces that it's time to talk about his Grandpa's lack of war stories. His Grandpa literally survived WW2 by telling himself, every waking, that he was dead already. So, when he survived the war it was more like a pleasant relief to go home. Rick says that Grandpa's attitude should be their model. Just get through each day. Just do what you have to do. Just fake it 'til you make it. And before you know it, the Nazis will surrender and we can go home. Or survive somewhere worth living in, if that's the world's new standard now.
Rick then brings up something that's long been ignored from the book. While still at the prison, and recovering from fresh fight over something, Rick awakes to hear that Hershel and a few others have wrested control of the group from him. Which leads Rick to stand up, head out to the prison yard, and give his resignation speech. Which boils down to his next line in this week's episode: WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD. The book, and the series, isn't named for the zombies. It's named for the survivors, who know that they, too, can one day join the ranks of the zombies. It's named for people who can't count on surviving to tomorrow, and must treat every day as their last.
Darryl misunderstands and stalks off, presumably to take the watch for the night. It's not necessarily that he wants to fight with Rick over anything. He's just finally realizing that he's not dead yet. The group, though barely mustering a raised voice with anyone, seems at it's most torn apart. No one is willing to be counseled in their grief. No one is willing to think of anything more than their next drink of water. But that's okay. Because, during the night, as the storm blows through the barn, pushing the barn doors ajar despite the chain holding them together, Darryl can see that they're not alone. A mass of zombies has followed them here, finally finding them. Darryl can barely get the doors back together before the mass crashes into the doors. Darryl digs in at the doors, alone in his struggle.
Don't you give up walkin', 'cause you, gave up shoes
Until Maggie wakes up. And she automatically dashes to his aid. At first, it's just them, pushing against zombies and desperate that the undead not realize that it's living food pushing back against them. But, the group by the fire hears the commotion at the doors, and the whole group is gathered at the doors, silently working together, digging heels into dirt, pushing against the doors. The lighting flashes them as they get soaked together at the doors, and it starts to look more like a deranged game of Twister. And, if I'm not wrong, the group starts to re-bond over their very simple struggle at the door.
It's not clear how long it lasts, or how it ends. Only, that Maggie wakes up, daylight filtering into the barn, to find Darryl still on watch. She sends him to bed, waking Sasha up so they can survey the outside.
They did indeed struggle against about ten zombies last night. It must not have been a dream. But it ended when the storm sent a ginormous tree into the zombies. They are impaled and crushed and broken and reaching out to Maggie and Sasha. They look less like bloodthirsty monsters, and more like survivors, like themselves, reaching out for help. Maggie and Sasha creep past them, hoping that someone else has awoken and taken over their watch, I guess.
They don't stop until they find a clearing perfect for watching the clear sunrise. The storm has blown over, leaving creeks filled and no urgency to find water. Maggie has dragged Sasha out to show her an old girl's jewelry box, scavenged by Carl as a gift for Maggie, and fixed by Darryl sometime in the night. It still won't work, and Maggie chuckles at the thing, while Sasha confesses that she's not sure if she's going to make it. Maggie says they will, basically giving her the opposite of Rick's advice. Start each day glad to be alive. Ease on down the road.
Their bonding is interrupted by a clean, well-dressed guy appearing about twenty feet in front of them. He looks well taken care of and healthy. And he knows to keep his hands up and appear totally non-threatening. He introduces himself as Aaron, identifies himself as the leaver of the water, and asks to see their leader. He even knows (or thinks) their leader is named Rick. Using a real name freaks Maggie and Sasha out, but not enough that they really think Aaron is much of a threat. After all, when the ballerina starts whirling and chiming, that draws their attention from their next adventure.
Hi, here to save the day!
No comments:
Post a Comment