The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 16 - "Conquer"

Blair Fink (Twitter: @BlairMFink, Instagram: @BlairFink)

Steve Bethel (Twitter: @the_lazy_gamer, Website: steveisthelazygamer.blogspot.ca)

“You know, there's like a butt-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I'm pretty good with a bo staff.”

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 16, "Conquer"

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

It's a trap!

Good afternoon. I cracked open my gourde to consider implications maybe you hadn't. I will remark about those at this time.

So here we are. Season finale. Another season done and time for Blair and myself to not talk to each for another half year. As much as I complain to my wife about writing these things I do usually miss them over the break. But enough of that, let’s get to it!

Nothing in this episode was as good as the opening scene. I can’t help but wonder if a show with only Morgan (The Walking Morgan? Staff Appreciation? Bo Money Bo Problems?) would be more interesting than the current narrative or the upcoming spinoff show. I am so intrigued by his character and what they do with him next season. I do, however, have my concerns about him thriving in a larger cast. He’s in his element being alone and quiet.

Morgan!! Finally, some screen time for a character we all like! Morgan and creepy wolf guy's friendly chit chat scene was excellent. It had everything you could want, action, suspense, banter, surprises. Who knew he was such a bad ass with the bo staff! I feel like he should be wearing some purple on him somewhere just as an homage to Donatello. 

Never bring a knife to a bo fight. Once the fight broke out I was really confused why creepy wolf was fighting with a knife and didn't just pick up the gun and shoot him. It makes sense once Morgan picks it up and has that shit-I-should-have-just-called-his-bluff-and-jumped-him look. I wonder if that is a bit of foreshadowing that these wolves are not as well off as they would hope. Which is not a good sign for Alexandria, when wolves are desperate they do some crazy things…

“It's the closest thing to movies now.” I enjoyed that line a lot.

Then a bunch of stuff in the middle happened. There is a lot to this episode so I'm going to skip or lightly touch on some of this filler stuff. 

When Rick first talked about his plan, if it came to that, I was a little worried. Everyone seems to be happy in Alexandria. My fear was that Rick would go through with his plan and no one else would stand up to help. He would be left all alone, being forced out and abandoned by his group.

Rick out in the wild on his own might be interesting (if only for an episode or two). A little soul searching walkabout? Actually, they’d probably make him hallucinate Lori or something so…maybe not.

I feel like Maggie's warning wasn't received with the same weight that she was intending. She could have just said not to kick him out or else, but I understand not wanting to have Deanna think the worst and get spooked. 

Sasha is balls to the wall crazy. Yet I still don't care.

I enjoyed the visual of her lying down on the pile of zombies but other than that, her story is not hitting the emotional mark it’s aiming for (shooting analogy for a sharpshooter!). The whole thing had a very melancholy Garden State vibe to it.

By now it's pretty clear that Daryl and Aaron will be the ones to find Morgan. At first I thought red poncho was Morgan. Lone survivor, knows what he's doing, able to lose tracker extraordinaire Daryl. 

Daryl and Aaron are great together. I’m really enjoying their chemistry. Aaron sees through Daryl’s gruff exterior and into that heart of gold. Is it too early to start shipping Daaron? Aaryl? Hopefully next season is just gooey with romance and budding relationships. Daryl and Aaron. Enid and Carl. Rick and Michonne (NOT YOU, JESSIE). Tara and Eugene. Abraham and Rosita. Carol and the armory. Sam and cookies. How about it guys? The Loving Dead? I’m not kidding. That would be amazing terrible.

The tension and suspicion built up around these "wolves" has reached a fever pitch. The more that is revealed about them (which still isn't that much) makes me think they work/act in more of a pack animal psyche rather than as a democracy lead model a la Rick. This could lead to some very dynamic action. I'm starting to envision them as a pack, alpha hierarchy, pack mentality, pack hunters, they have their den, ruthless killers.

They obviously have a strong, shared philosophy and are organized. Are they (or are they led by) the three people Aaron mentioned that were exiled from Alexandria? Do they have a grudge against Alexandria? They have photos, that’s for sure? How did they get those photos? Some were of Rick and Carl. IS THERE A SPY!? Potential blog post title for next season: “Biter, Roamer, Walker, Spy”.

I don't know how believable it was that Daryl couldn't see this as a trap. Granted it turned out to be way worse than I expected but it did show him noting the scraps on the doors. Why wouldn't he investigate the door more? Did Aaron's drivel about licence plates and community throw him off?

There were cans on strings hanging EVERYWHERE. How did they not wonder what those were for? Admiral Ackbar would be so disappointed in Aaron and Daryl.

Good guy Daryl, trying to be the hero. As if people don't love you enough as it is. Too bad an even more beloved character beat you to it D! At this point I was racking my brain, does Daryl know Morgan? Does he know OF Morgan? Will they meet and disperse again? I was so worried right up until he handed over the map, and then pure joy!

This week on Carol’s Casseroles for Asserholes:

So Carol scares the shit out of me. She turns Pete into soft putty in her hand in a few calm choice words. I would rather meet a Walker in an alley rather than Carol!

Carol's embracing her darker, manipulating, intimidating side in a very Walter White-esque fashion (Carol is the one who knocks. With a casserole. And threats.). It's very thrilling to watch. My question is, somewhere down the line, does she turn darker than Rick (if she hasn't already), and try to take Rick's leadership because she thinks he's too weak or won't go far enough.

Add Glenn to that list too. I don't know if I agree with Glenn's choice of not completely destroying Nick. Perhaps it is to juxtapose Rick and his constant decision to kill anyone for any reason. What a battle! I like bad ass Glenn.

Glenn doesn’t give in to The Dark Side. Also, I was actually a bit worried for Glenn, especially after Maggie said “I’ll see you there” when they were talking about the meeting earlier in the episode. That was a huge red flag that something was going to happen to one of them.

Eugene & Abe have a moment. The only thing that I really enjoyed about this scene was Abe trying not to wake Eugene and Rosita "helping". Abe turning to Eugene's blank face also brought a smile.

Rejoice Blair! We get a very personal and intimate Richonne moment.

OH MY GOSH, JUST KISS ALREADY.

Is it enough to remind Rick of who his people are and why they are all still together? Through everything that has happened they are still a family. Still have each others backs. And most importantly, they all still have absolute faith in Rick.

I'm not so sure they have absolute faith in Rick but he's family to them and they have his back.

Rick sees the open gate and Rick does what Rick does best. (I think of Wolverine's motto when I think of Rick. "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice.")

“THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS!”

The final like 45 seconds (not Michonne's scene) gave me the same rush and excitement and sadness, all in that order, as the barn scene. It was great, to have that iconic Walking Dead adrenaline rush.

I missed the post-credits scenes so had to go find them online. Red poncho man, we barely knew ya.

Push, slash, shock, sadness, anger, vengeance. To watch Deanna go from her way of doing it, to seeing Rick with the Walker and hearing his speech to instructing Rick to be executioner was fantastic! Rick watching her as she tries to save her husband, just waiting, not acting, but showing Deanna that she IS still in control was a good move. From her words, to Rick, turn, fire, no hesitation, no remorse, just getting the job done. I was cheering! And then, to see the look of shock and almost disappointment on Morgan's face brought me crashing back down.

Morgan and Rick have switched places a little bit it seems. Didn't Rick find a crazy Morgan ready to kill anything that moved a few seasons back? Rick talked him out of crazytown? We might see the reverse of that next season. All life is precious, Rick. All life is precious.

Michonne's final scene is probably a bit of foreshadowing too. That or maybe she realized that leaving a 4 foot Blade out in the open for any one to grab might not have been such a good idea. I'm a little curious as to how Pete found it though.

R.I.P. Porchdick.

How did everyone else enjoy the episode? Or the commercials? Being that this was a fairly major television event there were quite a few quality ones. Halo 5, both variations, Jurassic World, a whole lot of new series to maybe check out.

So what can we expect next season, besides a buttload of romance? How The Katana Incident changes Deanna as a leader. If Alexandria embraces Rick's way, how does Rick handle the power? Will Alexandria be ready for the Wolves? Will Gabriel and Sasha get their heads on straight and become more interesting, likable characters that do sensical things? And most importantly, WILL CARL GET A FREAKING HAIRCUT!?

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-will preacher be reprimanded for his actions? Or will the power of prayer at the end with Sasha and Maggie change his mind...again?

-I hate the preacher’s storyline. It’s so jumbled and awkward and almost pretentious. I get that he is struggling with his faith and his sins but he is the least self-aware character on the show. It’s annoying to watch. He just needs to exhibit a little bit of reason on occasion.

-will Deanna and Rick work together?

-Deanna is well on her way to being on Rick’s gang’s level in terms of personal loss. I hope next season starts out with Deanna lying on a pile of zombies with Sasha.

-all that build up to the wolves and we still don't really know anything about them.

-We know that one of them looks like Andrew WK.

-will Nick change his ways and be more cooperative with Glenn now?-Nick and Glenn will be best buds now, with the potential for a real Good Cop, Douche Cop dynamic.-how will Morgan react to Rick's cold blooded killing? Everything has a return.

Blair’s Rating: A-

Steve's Rating: 5 bo staffs out of 5

Blair’s MVP: Morgan

Steve's MVP: This is a tough one, everyone had fairly equal screen time with much bad assery, but I'll say Morgan


Blair’s Deadpool Pick: Enid

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Maybe we should start the Deadpool sooner next season.

FIVE WHO WON'T SURVIVE

Tie. Carry over to next season.