The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 11 - "The Distance"

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

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

Trivia: Into the Woods was filmed entirely in Andrew Lincoln's beard

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 11, "The Distance"

ISN'T IT PRETTY TO THINK SO?

Well at least there was some action...in this episode we find Rick has trust issues, Glenn is a damn good driver, high speed, stays on the road, all despite his windshield being totally covered, we find out Abercrombie prefers Fitch, and walker heads make poor lamps.

There were two things about this episode that I really liked. The first was the palpable tension amongst Rick’s group about trusting this hope of a new haven and the dynamics of how they dealt with it. You really feel like they’ve been together long enough that they knew how to disagree and communicate constructively. Michonne has slowly become co-leader of the group and when she simply states “we’re going,” Rick begrudgingly but respectfully consents (albeit with a few conditions of his own). It felt like everyone trusted each other to do what was best for the group and if they had concerns, they would be heard. The potential to generate interpersonal conflict was there but would have been unnecessary and tiresome and I was thankful we got to see them work it out without any contrived drama. After being burned time and time again, the prospect of safety, of success, has to take a lot of courage to open themselves up to. Hope makes you vulnerable, something that can get you killed in this world, or at least make you want to die.


While Rick gets some push back from some the group he does have a few who are just as weary. Daryl is always on edge but down for whatever Rick decides. Glenn seemed to come back into a leadership/lieutenant role, taking point to look for the vehicles. Carol seemed to agree with Rick, although that isn't stated at all until the closing line from her. A few odd choices though, as Rick talks to Michonne (a fair share of relationship building in this episode between these two) about how he will make his decision based on what he hears when they get there, yet the whole plan was to go at night. What do you expect to hear at night Rick? Going along a walker infested road at night was also a poor choice. I'm also baffled at how the RV managed to get away from the walker road. It seemed to be a straight road, otherwise how would Glenn have been able to drive without being able to see. So my question is: where did the RV go? And if the car was clearing a path why not follow? 


The second thing I liked was the portrayal of the drive up the walker infested road. The aerial view of the path Glenn was clearing, along with the red of the car lights, flare and blood made for some tasty visuals. While the whole thing was a big chaotic and confusing, I didn’t really mind because it was pretty to look at.


The woods were a very confusing scene...I didn't much care for this part of the episode. How did they get separated so easily/quickly? How did Rick's revolver have so much ammo? Where did Glenn get an AK? How did they find the RV group so quick? The flare went off and I assume they followed that direction...that is if they didn't get all turned around in the woods, in the dark, while dealing with walkers.

Finally, we find out Aaron is gay and is in a relationship with his co-recruiter Eric. The scene where they reunite is both good and bad in a way. It is good because they allow these two new characters their own scene to show us their relationship and more about who they are. The introduction of the first gay relationship on the show could have easily been tentative before being quickly pushed to the side but thankfully it was acknowledged head on and given room to breathe. On the other hand, you could feel how big of deal the scene was supposed to be when it really isn’t be that big of a deal at all. It both should and shouldn't have been a big deal. Regardless, Aaron and Eric are already more interesting and fleshed out in one episode than a lot of past characters on this show ever were (Looking at you, T-Dogg).

The episode speeds up near the end. Group reunites, make camp, drive, pull up to the gate. Where is this place? In Washington? Was that Washington in the distance? How far from Washington are we? So what's the consensus? Do we trust Aaron? He seems to have come prepared, photos, peace offerings, honesty(?), jokes...too bad it's a tough crowd. However there were a few things that make you say "Hmmm".  

Personally, despite a few red flags, I think Aaron and Eric are good dudes. I would like to think that, after the way Woodbury and Terminus worked out, the writers wouldn’t put us through the same formula a third time. While the people-less photos are suspicious, I’m going to guess that while Aaron and Eric and good guys, their portrayal of the people of Alexandria is…less than accurate. Aaron describes a utopia, complete with Friday night dancing, but I’m guessing we’ll be looking at more of a safe but mostly empty stronghold. I think Aaron and Eric are lonely.

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-Another new name for the zombies: roamers.
-Rick's face when trying the apple sauce: 'damn, that is pretty good…'
-The apple sauce was likely the deciding factor in Rick’s decision.
-Shady Aaron: no people in the photos, lame excuse for not eating apple sauce.

-HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES!?

-All the past focus on the 3 questions, why did Rick not ask them right away?

-Do Rick and Michonne suck face before the end of the season? Fingers crossed!

-Good call on Rick hiding the gun? I would have been a little annoyed with Rick if I was there. They are broken down and Rick just sits there, they get the RV running and he decides to go for a stroll through the woods. Come on!!

-At first, I was like…Rick’s lost it! He’s trying to make a Gun Milkshake! But seriously, do we have another Chekhov’s Gun situation on our hands. No way they show us that and never revisit it, right?

-Andrew Lincoln can do magic with his face/eyes. 

-Andrew Lincoln’s beard was the rosebush in The Secret of NIMH.

Blair's Rating: B+

Steve's Rating: 3.7 jars of apple sauce out of 5

Blair's MVP: Aaron

Steve's MVP: Glenn

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Eric

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Tara

The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 10 - "Them

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

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

"Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I guess I'll go eat worms."

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 10, "Them"

DEAD INSIDE

Well...not a whole lot to talk about in this episode. I sure hope something interesting happens soon. I'm not sure I can take another forty minute walking montage. But let's try to open this up a bit.

Don't Open. Dead Inside. It's what was written on the chained-up doors in the hospital in the first episode of the entire series. Then, it meant there were literally dead beings inside the doors. Now, it's the characters who are dead inside. But I'll be gosh darned if they don't start opening up by the end of the episode anyway. Doesn't it just warm your cold, shrivelled, little heart? No. It doesn't. I get they have to address the impact of Beth and Tyreese's death, but it is so painful to watch these sad sacks drag their defeated selves down the road with metaphorical (and now literal) rain clouds hanging over them. Daryl is turning into more of a loner and has to resort to burning himself with a cigarette to actually feel something, Maggie is stoic and pessimistic, and Sasha is destructive and hostile. What a pleasant crew.

Sasha: broken. Maggie: broken. Noah: broken. Daryl: about to break. Preacher: losing faith. Everyone: thirsty (except Abe). This is getting ridiculous, it's so depressing, it hurts my soul to watch it. I have to hop on YouTube and watch adorable animal videos to get my spirits back up.

I may have spent more time on finding this video than on my part of the writeup.

I'm a little surprised it took so long to show wild dogs. I would imagine that packs of dogs would be a very real threat in a situation like this, mind you I would have thought that would have happened a lot sooner. Unless they were all in hiding and scavenging, but now are starting to get desperate. Which I suppose is what they were trying to depict. Add a little more desperation to the episode. As exciting as that scene could have been ol buzz kill Sasha buts an end to it before it can even begin. I wanted to see some "The Grey" style, circling pack hunter, showdown shit, not a stand off that caused about zero intensity.

When the zombie horde attacks the barn, the show lays it on pretty thick that only the power of teamwork miraculously saved them from both the zombies and the wrath of God. *rolls eyes*

That is one sturdy ass barn. Massive trees are uprooted in the storm yet they are all save and sound, cozy and dry(!?!) inside. That is craftsmanship!

The Walking Dead is at its worst when it gets too talky. For me, it didn't get any worse than Rick's little speech in the barn about his grandfather and how...wait for it...”We are the walking dead.” REALLY? How very meta of you, Rick. I can only imagine the lobbying in the writers room to take it one step further and for Rick to show Daryl the “From a friend” sheet of paper in the style of his character from Love Actually. Sheet one: HERE'S SOME WATER. Sheet two: TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT FRIENDS.

So what do we know? They've been wandering for three weeks. A quick Google maps check tells me it would take 200+ hours to walk from Atlanta to Washington. That's a long trek, even with driving portions of it. Let's do some math; If you assume 8 hours of walking a day, which they probably do more(as well as drove part way). Times 3 weeks since Atlanta, that is 168 hours. Which is good. Because that means they better be close and they better start doing something more interesting.

As for the water, "From a Friend'? Ok, I admit that would seem fishy, for a moment lets not focus on the fact that someone has been watching them for some time. Instead let's look at the clues here. Clean, crisp sheet of paper/card stock; so whoever left that is clean (no finger smudges or dirt), and have clean, storage/living spaces, so they are obviously in a better position than our group. They left about 20 liters of water; that is a lot of water to give as a handout in this situation, so again, this/these "friends" are much better off than our heroes who spend about 2 minutes collecting rain water before rushing off for cover. I thought they were in need of water? You can't just sit in the rain for a few minutes and boom there goes your dehydration. Then we meet our "friend". At least there was some tease at something exciting happening soon-ish...hopefully, because I was ready to give up like some of the members of the group. 

It isn't until the last minute that my interest is piqued, when Maggie and Sasha are about to Instagram the sunrise until some dude named Aaron wanders straight out of an L.L. Bean catalogue and into their field of view. We've seen this a bunch of times before, obviously, about trusting strangers claiming to be friendly (and it hasn't gone well yet) but I'm still interested, if only because it will mean things might start happening, instead of the entire freaking cast doing the Charlie Brown sad walk down the road.

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-Carole seems fine after being on life support a few weeks earlier. She really is the John McClane of this show.

-How does Daryl still have smokes? How did he open, clean and fix the music box? This is no ordinary man!

-So Gabriel seemed to be straying from his faith, at least until the rain came and he asked forgiveness

-Why didn't Michonne and Sasha wrestle in the rain? (If that had happened I might have brought it up more in the above write up)

-Where are we at on Rick's beard? Awesome? Too much? Ladies, your thoughts?

Blair's Rating: C-

Steve's Rating: 2 shitty music boxes out of 5

Blair's MVP: Judith

Steve's MVP: Judith (I've never seen such a quiet baby)

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Noah

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Maggie (I'm really rooting for her)

The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 9 - "What Happened and What's Going On"

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

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

I wish Tyreese was hallucinating E.T. in this screenshot.

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 9, "What Happened and What's Going On"

HEAVEN KNOWS I'M MISERABLE NOW

“My eyes can hardly believe this highly discolored garbage.” 

–Ignatius J. Reilly, A Confederacy of Dunces

*drinks a tall glass of Haterade*

So not super impressed with the episode. For jumping back into the second half of the season I was hoping for a little more than an episode full of depressed, beat down heroes.

I hate dream sequences. I’m sure they’re a blast to write but as a viewer, I find them incredibly frustrating and irritating. Knowing that, it will come as no surprise when I say that I hated this episode. It’s arguably the worst episode the show has ever done. I mean, I guess The Ghosts of Walking Dead Past were more hallucinations than a dream, but it felt like just lazy writing and a cheap way to bring back dead characters. If they were going to have ghosts talk to a character, they could have at least had it happen to Carole so the A Christmas Carol jokes land better.

We open with some foreshadowing, someone digging. Generally digging means someone died as they "don't burn their own.”

Not only did I hate the ghosts/hallucinations, they had to team them up with some choppy, out of order, slap-on-an-Instagram-filter editing in an ill-advised attempt at serving up artful existentialist musings that instead spewed out as pretentious, hackneyed navel gazing. I instantly hated the opening foreshadow montage but I assumed that was the end of the dabble into artsy editing.

His whole hallucination trip was a bit weird, that has never been explored before when others get bit, so why now?

Because…art?

Obviously Noah's home was going to be a bust. What hasn't been a bust lately? So we see Noah lose hope, Rick and Glenn are gloomy. Michonne and Tyreese were the only real hopeful ones. That ended poorly for the latter. But to be fair he let his guard down. He didn't fully sweep the house, he knew there was at least one walker present. What the hell T? You know better than that! This whole 'house of a few corpses' was a bit weird. I get the metaphor and what not but it was just weird and maybe even a bit contrived. I get they all had their wounds at first and once they were in the car telling him to let go they were clean and that was obvious. I just don't understand why Tyreese gets this whole letting go montage. Complete with musical back drop too. Fun fact, the voice on the radio was Andrew Lincoln in his native dialect.

What did this episode accomplish? 

1.       Lets us know everyone is struggling with Beth’s death.

2.       Shocks the audience by killing off another character right after Beth’s death.

3.       Developed Noah’s character a tiny bit, I guess

4.       Hinted at future plot points (see Questions and Observations below)

5.       Made me angry.

One of the reasons the first half of this season was so good was the growing sense of humour and occasional fun the characters were having amidst all the grimness. Now everyone is sad and grumpy. This is not what I want to watch. I get that they have to react to Beth’s death but now the pit of sadness they have to rise out of is twice as deep. I feel like this episode destroyed all the momentum the show had built as well as me looking forward to watching it. What happens now? The next episode has to be everyone just lying around super depressed or ugly crying, right?

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-The most interesting part of the episode for me was the strange, chopped up walkers scattered throughout the episode. Is someone building a Super Walker made from only the finest walker pieces?


-The torso truck was weird, considering it was so far from the dismembered parts that Rick and co came across. As stated we aren't the comic readers but the 'W' scored on the heads will probably be our next villain(s) at some point. If they are heading to D.C. I'm sure they will run into them sooner rather than later.

-I didn’t even notice the W’s.

-Does the 'W' stand for Warriors? Are we getting a crossover?

-It stands for…WASHINGTON! We’re going back!


-There's always an evil twin!

-For a split second I thought the pictures on the wall were of young Noah and a twin brother he didn’t mention. It was all a trap! His evil twin brother was alive and was going to capture Tyreese. Alas…nope.


-Where are the rest of the group? Where is their temporary base? Still in the city?

-I think they’re moping in a ditch somewhere being sad and listening to The Smiths.

Blair's Rating: D

Steve's Rating: 2 out of 5 model airplanes

Blair's MVP: The end credits

Steve's MVP: Michonne

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Noah

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Maggie

The Best Songs of 2014

THE BEST SONGS OF 2014

Rdio Playlist:

http://www.rdio.com/people/BlairFink86/playlists/8768349/Best_Songs_of_2014/

See the full list after the jump:

The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 8 - "Coda"

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

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

Maggie suddenly remembering she has a sister.

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 8, "Coda"

FEELINGS AND MISTAKES

Ain't nobody got time for that.

So there we have it everyone, I hope you're happy! You got your midseason finale and look what happened!

Let's play a little Good Cop, Bad Cop, which seems appropriate given the content of the episode. Steve liked this episode a lot so he can be Good Cop. I was less than impressed so I'll be Bad Cop.

So somehow Rick has discovered Bob has managed to slip out of the watchful grasp of Sasha. I'm assuming that he questioned where Sasha and Bob were, realized that Sasha going off alone with him was probably a stupid bad idea and went to investigate. Either way, he's in hot pursuit! We see Rick try to give Bob a second chance, he gives him ample opportunity to give up and come back, all is forgiven. A nicer, Rick, trying to play well with others. At the same time, can you blame Bob? He has no reason to trust Rick, his instinct is to survive, running seemed like a good idea. So do we see Rick shooting him as a mercy kill or a cold blooded Rick moment? Has Rick ever asked himself the three golden rules recently?

How did Rick find out? This is glossed over and, while pretty trivial, still bugged me a little. Bob didn't get far so Rick couldn't have been far away and Sasha was out cold. Doesn't quite add up. I'll let it slide. I guess.

Rick seems to have become emotionally exhausted with the burden of making the right and moral decision in so many situations that he just wants to take the easy and less risky way by being brutal and violent.

We find the Preacher is still wandering around aimlessly. Did he head to the school specifically to look for Gareth's camp or was it coincidence/subconscious? Either way, finding Bob's leg and coming to the realization that he is in a dark world that he can't handle alone came quickly. Back to the safety of the church! The most powerful part, to me, when he got back to the church and was banging on the door was what he was screaming. "LET ME LIVE WITH IT!!" Powerful! His desire to survive was far out weighed by his guilt for forsaking all of those people he was tasked to shepherd.

I found Father Gabriel's wanderings tedious. "Let me live with it!" is a great line, I will give you that, even if I'm not particularly invested in him as character at this point. Despite this, I am very excited at the opportunity here for a long, redemptive character arc where Father Gabriel starts as a guilt-ridden, helpless preacher and slowly becomes a capable, confident member of the group who maybe sacrifices himself in a final redeeming act in a season or two. The potential is there and I think Seth Gilliam is up to the acting task.

Back in ATL we see that everyone is on the same page and both parties just want this trade to go smoothly. "Bob got got by rotters. That's what I saw." Ya, totes what I saw too." I enjoyed the trade talks on the parkade. Rick "alone", the two cops, "Where are you people?" SNAP to the walker's head, "They're close." HOWEVER, from the angle that it showed their overwatch from the scope perspective I would think they should have been on the roof of the parkade behind Rick...clearly seen by the two cops as they drove up. But that might be nit picking. We also got a bit more back story with Dawn and the previous leader. After Dawn and Beth have their little heart to heart and team up on O'Donnell I was afraid that Beth was starting to turn team Dawn and would maybe refuse to go back with Rick. They had a bit of a bonding experience, although Beth did see it as she was doing all the dirty work.

I've never really bought Dawn as a character. The performance and dialogue always felt a little flat and one-note. I wish she could have been a little more charismatic or multi-dimensional. While I never like the hospital setting or the new characters it introduced, I did enjoy how it built up Beth's character.

I've noticed a lot of call backs to season one in this season, we get another mirror with the doors of the church, once Michonne, Carl and Preacher get outside. "DON'T DEAD OPEN INSIDE" And just when I think "Well shit, now they are going to be separated from Rick because there is no way they are going to wait here out in the open for Rick's team to come ba...OH LOOK WHO IT IS!!" Just in time! At least we FINALLY get to see some emotion from Maggie regarding Beth! I do kind of understand her not bringing Beth up a lot in the past as I'm sure it's something she tried not to think about, so it was good to see her react. As happy as we are were to look forward to them being reunited I suppose we should have seen the foreshadowing…

Don't even get me started. They're going to rescue Beth! "Beth who?" is basically what Maggie should have said. When she was separated from Glenn last season she was on an unwavering mission to find him. Beth disappears? Meh. She'll rescue her if we run into her and it's convenient. I have this feeling that they're going to play up Maggie's sadness in the back half of the season and it's going to ring a lot more false to me than if they'd just laid the tiniest bit of emotional groundwork in previous episodes.

I don't even...I can't. So I went into the last 15 minutes of this episode with high hopes. This is calm, everyone is calm, I'm calm. This is good. 15 minutes, what could happen? Ok, trades go, one at a time, very civilized. Calm. Dawn, why you gotta be greedy? Find a new ward! Ok, Noah takes the high road. Beth, I know you have those scissors, don't be silly...Everything from that stab on is amazing. I watched the scene twice actually. Dawn's base reaction is to shoot when stabbed but you see instantly that she didn't want this. Rick's shock and the look on his face as more of his sanity and hope dies a little. Daryl's unhesitating swift retribution, pain and anger. Carol's face and strength to stop Daryl from totally going AWOL. Rick and Shepherd defuse the situation quickly, making me think this might have been some what premeditated. Based on what Shepherd says. The final scene when Maggie is reunited with Beth is also pretty powerful. I mean you can go on thinking she is alive and not be affected by it but to go from learning that she is alive, to seeing Daryl carrying her out is crushing. I think she will be broken now, which works towards my comment last week of her being phased out.

Okay, I'm ready to go Good Cop on this part. The final scene involving the deal in the hospital corridors was very well executed. Everything that comes before it I'd probably grade a C+ while I'd give this part an A. The whole situation was very tense because you know it's going to go bad but when and how? It was so tense I forgot about the scissors Beth slipped into her cast earlier despite making a mental note to remember that it was going to come into play later based on the rule of Chekhov's Gun. And Beth…stabbing Dawn in the shoulder? Weird choice. Ultimately, I did appreciate the irony of Beth finally becoming strong and capable only to die because of this very development in her character.

That is it until February, time for Blair and I to get a well deserved break from each other!

I'm sending you an I (heart) Sasha t-shirt for Christmas, Steve.

All in all I thought the episode was damn good. Not in the barn scene intensity but it had weight, cliffhangers, questions.

I had high hopes after how great the show has been this season but alas, final scene excluded, this one landed with a clunk for me.

TIME FOR A NEW SEGMENT CALLED 

FIVE WHO WON'T SURVIVE!

We have each picked five characters who we think won't make it out of the season finale (episode 16) alive. We aren't allowed to revise this list and we'll be marking off names as appropriate going forward. At the end of the season, we'll see who got the most correct out of five. The loser has to make a video of themselves getting a pie to the face (which will be posted in the finale recap).

BLAIR'S PICKS
Noah
Tara
Abraham
Eugene
Sasha

STEVE'S PICKS
Noah
Tara
Abraham
Maggie
Father Gabriel

Our first three cancel out so it's basically down to Eugene and Sasha vs. Maggie and Father Gabriel.

In the event of a tie:
Eugene, Sasha, Maggie and Father Gabriel all survive. NO LOSER. Consequence carries over to next season.

One of Eugene/Sasha dies and one of Maggie/Father Gabriel dies. THE CHARACTER WHO DIES LAST LOSES. In the spirit of picking deaths, the earlier the death the more it's worth.

Both Eugene and Sasha die and both Maggie and Father Gabriel die. THE CHARACTER WHO DIES LAST LOSES. Same as above.

Let us know who you agree with in the comments.

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-How rough of shape is Carol in? Is this going to be a problem with the mobility of the group in the subsequent episodes?
-Does anyone from the hospital join them? Noah?
-Yeah, only Noah leaves with them. He's outside when they meet up with the G.R.E.A.T.M. gang.

-Where are they going now?
-It's really wide open headed into the back half, isn't it? The trailer for February has Michonne lobbying to go to a camp or something. So far, they haven't had the best of luck with camps and towns.

-Funny how we brought up Morgan last week, does he catch up?
-Well, he picks up the map with Rick's name on it but isn't that map showing the way to Washington? I was surprised how long this post-credits scene was. Maybe these scenes will get longer and longer until the show is only about Morgan wandering alone, Cast Away style.

-Blair, I know you don't watch this on cable but I assume you have checked out the Better Call Saul preview that we were blessed with at this commercial break. If not here it is;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds4FZmVG908
-Thanks for the link. Aw, a Meet Cute between Saul and Mike! Fun stuff. I'm looking forward to this show but am keeping my expectations at a reasonable level.
-The first half of the season was light on Michonne and Carl. Let's hope we get more of those two in the second half, but only Carl if it's with Michonne. They have great chemistry.
-How long before the group splits up again? An ensemble this big is going to be really tricky to write for.

Blair's Rating: B-

Steve's Rating: 5 out of 5 surgical scissors to the shoulder

Blair's MVP: Beth

Steve's MVP: Rick

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Noah

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Maggie

The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 7 - "Crossed"

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

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

"Pew! Pew!"

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 7, "Crossed"

G.R.E.A.T.M. EXPECTATIONS

With the penultimate midseason episode we were obviously going into it knowing that it would be mostly a set up episode. With that said things seem to be setting up nicely. Rick's group is next door ready to come a knocking. Dawn is undoubtedly now aware that they are there (nicely done there Sasha, you idiot). Glenn's group has mostly recouped from the crushing blow from Eugene. So let's dig deeper.

I don’t have a lot to say about this episode because you’re right, Steve, it’s basically a table setting episode for next week’s midseason finale. All the pieces (in Atlanta, at least) are moving into place for an explosive confrontation. As ready as I was to call Sasha an idiot, I couldn’t do it. I really appreciated how they laid some groundwork that explained, as ill-advised as it was, her dumb move. She’s reeling pretty hard after losing Bob and feels compelled to transfer Tyreese’s compassion onto the cop. As long as the characters aren’t making out of character stupid choices solely to create conflict or further the plot, I’m fine with them being dumb once in a while. People are dumb and flawed. I’m just glad they’re not the same group of assholes making terrible decision after terrible decision they were in earlier seasons. It made me feel angry when they did dumb things then. Now, I feel more sympathetic to their mistakes.

I found the start of this episode to be very solemn. While everyone was doing the prep work to fortify there was no music. Which always makes it creepy, all you hear are the sound effects. Sasha smashing a pew still trying to work her shit out over Bob. Nails being pounded, organ pipes being dismantled. Fingernails scratching! Keep scrubbing preacher, that blood isn't coming off. Not off the floor or your hands. You'll burn for this.

Maybe this is a stretch but I thought the dismantling of the church parallels the unravelling of Father Gabriel’s defenses a little bit. He seems to be easing off some of his protests against violence (as evidenced by actually fighting the walker) and at least entertaining notions of defending himself.

G.R.E.A.T.M. Is this supposed to be indicative as to the power structure in this new group? Glenn leads, Rosita seconds? I felt that Glenn and Rosita were getting a little close this episode. They shared a few moments together that may cause problems down the road with Maggie. 'E' is still out cold. 'A' is totally lost. Perhaps when Eugene is back to the world of the living (dead) they might have more words with each other. Tara has always been a tertiary character while Maggie seems to be taking a bit of a back seat as of late. The conversation Glenn, Rosita, and Tara had regarding Eugene using the only skills he had to stay alive was interesting. Glenn wasn't so convinced though. Will that cause problems moving forward for this group if he does take the leadership role.

I’m not reading into the order of the letters at all. I think the team name that Tara proposes is awesome. While I haven’t been the biggest Tara fan, she lightened the mood this episode and it was great. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the single focus episodes in recent weeks were you can really get invested in one story but it felt awkward jumping back and forth between storylines, mostly between the two converging Atlanta stories and then this stalled one. They weren’t going at the same pace and it was jarring to alternate between. That being said, it was nice to see Rosita get a little more backstory and development. She really needs it.

“I think we’d look super badass if we rolled our pant legs up to about…yay high.”

With Rick's group now in ATL we see some divide between the group. Rick hatches a plan to go the bloody route that he always does and gets static....by more than one person from the group. Maybe it's time to reconsider your tactics Rick, then again we'll see how the finale goes. Maybe Rick's way would have been better...time will tell. I think the cop trap was pretty well executed, other than the daring rescue. As they were driving away the first thing I thought was why doesn't anyone shoot out the tires? They unload on the car, it's only Sasha (who is actually a good shot) who takes out the tire at the last second.

It’s taken Rick longer to embrace the need to kill to survive but now that he has gotten more comfortable doing so, everyone else has gotten tired of it. I like how they haven’t been making a big deal of it this season but it keeps coming up here and there in minor confrontations.

Whatever happened at that FEMA camp was brutal, wether it was an explosion or a napalm strike, seeing those bodies burned up into the asphalt was pretty graphic. It did provide a hell of a fight scene for Daryl though, which I always enjoy seeing. Daryl gets him with the ol' zombie bowling ball head smash move. Classic. I was convinced Rick was going to blow him away, perhaps he is trying to turn a new leaf? Or maybe Daryl is his better side of judgement. Without Daryl would we have an even more brutal Rick? Daryl stops him from shooting the cop and seemed to be the one that convinced him to change the plan, Rick wasn't having any of Tyreese's subordination.

Outer turmoil! Inner turmoil! SO INTENSE! I get the feeling if Rick had to go solo he’d quickly devolve into a nasty piece of work. He stays sane with a little help from his friends.

I'm not sure where the preacher is going. I understand that he has too much blood tied to the church but where on Earth does he think he will go? He clearly isn't prepared for this world. I will say that the body slam he does to that walker was pretty impressive. We weren't sure about this next point in my house, but was there some significance to the preacher stepping on the nail? Some metaphor to Jesus and being nailed to the cross? Paying for his sins maybe? Either way is this the last we see of him? Or will Michonne and Carl go off on a (mis)adventure to go find him?

I have no idea what Gabriel’s plan is or if he even has one beyond getting away from these violent heathens who have invaded his sanctuary. I wasn’t sure about the nail (With his heart full of guilt and his foot full of nail, Gabe’s too unskilled to venture down any walker-filled trail) either. Was it just symbolism or do we see tetanus in his future? Better visit Grady Memorial. I hear they’re accepting new patients.

Everything these cops say to the group is shady....I don't know who to believe. One thing I do know for sure is that Sasha is probably the dumbest person in the world. Falling for that shit sob story. Helping this Bob isn't going to bring you peace with your Bob. Didn't that massive Tyreese big bear hug not make everything better? I'm pretty sure a bear hug from Tyreese would make anyone feel better. But really, how far is that cop going to get with his hands bound? Does he get out? Does he make it back to Dawn? Does the group catch him? From the preview for next week we see that Sasha is ok, which I hate when they do that.

Whoa. Whoa. WHOA. Cut Sasha some slack, man! People make mistakes and she’s having a tough time. Sure we saw it coming a mile away but Bob Lamson was a smooth talking, soft spoken, empathy inducing son of a gun. She’s also one of my favourite characters so we’re going to have a problem if you talk anymore trash about her.

Thanks for joining us and remember…

…with G.R.E.A.T.M. power comes G.R.E.A.T.M. responsibility.

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-I didn't touch on the hospital activity as I wasn't too enthralled by those scenes.
-I enjoyed the hospital stuff if only because I found Beth more captivating here than in her solo episode. It's as though since she got Noah out she realizes she is capable of a lot and is now getting. shit. done. Strawberry bribes!
-How are they going to get Carol out when she doesn't look like she is going anywhere soon?
-Carol is obviously faking it and will be going Rambo when the right moment presents itself.
-Abe's yoga game is strong! How long has he been in that pose? Perfect posture! That is discipline!
-I really enjoyed the performance of Maximiliano Hernandez as Sgt. Bob "Sasha Crasher" Lamson. It took me a while to place him: Agent Jasper Sitwell from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (he appeared briefly in multiple Marvel movies, in a few Marvel One Shot short films and in a few episodes of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
-Will the preacher come back? Or is he another one of those Morgan characters? Just gone…
-Gabriel will be back for sure. His arc isn't finished. He's been too one note so far: sweat, guilt, sweat, guilt. Let's see something else. Maybe he runs into the aforementioned Morgan? If not, when does Morgan show up?
-How will Glenn's group get in on the midseason finale episode?
-I have no idea. They seem so detached from the Atlanta narrative, both geographically and thematically. It's weird.

Blair's Rating: B+

Steve's Rating: 4 out of 5 zombie head bowling balls

Blair's MVP: Beth

Steve's MVP: Daryl

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Steve, for badmouthing Sasha Noah

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Maggie (bold call but I feel like they are phasing her out)

Steve is doing Movember again this year, so if you want to kick in a few shekels, head on over to his page: http://mobro.co/stevebethel121