directed by David Boyd
written by Corey Reed
After several episodes on the road, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his group of survivors still find themselves trying to settle into Alexandria. Community leader Deanna Monroe (Tovah Feldshuh) invites them all to a party. Aaron (Ross Marquand) reaches out to Daryl (Norman Reedus) the one member of the group who adamantly refuses to mingle, while the two of them are out hunting. Rick dispatches Carol (Melissa McBride), who has effectively packaged herself as harmless, to find out where the Alexandria folk have hidden their guns and sneak out a few, which she does, and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) who has lost both her boyfriend Bob (Lawrence Gilliard, Jr.) and her brother Tyreese (Chad Coleman) in the course of the season, still grapples with her grief and rage. There's a little bit of walker-slicing action here as Daryl and Aaron attempt to tame a wild horse, only to run afoul of several of the undead.
This episode had a slightly more relaxed vibe than the last one. There was none of the hostility that marked the last episode, such as the late scuffle between Glenn and the self-appointed alpha male Aiden Monroe (Daniel Bonjour), though Rick's secret "council of leaders" meeting with Daryl and Carol, and her consequent gun-retrieval errand shows that the group are far from relaxed.
The bigger surprise, actually was the sexual tension aspect that played out over the show.
The more overt manifestation was when a slightly inebriated Rick stealing a kiss on the cheek from the married Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge), who seems more than willing to reciprocate the brewing affection. This basically continues a narrative thread subtly opened during the last episode when the very-friendly Jessie greeted Rick with supplies and cut his hair. The somewhat frosty interaction between Rick and Jessie's husband Pete (Corey Brill) later that episode seemed to set the tone for things to come, and this episode takes things a bit further. Readers of the comic book series may recognize this particular plot thread and recall how it plays out, though of course the show is often pretty well-known from deviating substantially from the comics. What I found more interesting was that basically the show's writers seem to have no qualms about casting Rick as the wife-stealing bad guy in this scenario. While I'm willing to cut Rick some slack given what he's been through and the probable fact that he hasn't had any sex whatsoever since his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) was killed off several seasons ago, I can't help but wonder how far from grace the show's writers are willing to let him fall.
Perhaps even more interesting, however, is the dynamic between Daryl and, of all people, Aaron, with whom he spent majority of this episode. Aaron spends most of that time trying his best to connect with the distant, hostile Daryl. From his Aaron's openly expressed admiration for Daryl's skills as a tracker, to his act of inviting him to join him and his lover Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson) for spaghetti dinner, to his act of gifting Daryl with a motorcycle, to finally, his act of offering Daryl a job as Alexandria's new recruiter, it seems pretty clear that, at the very least, Aaron is interested in sparking a friendship with Daryl. Call me malicious, though, but I cannot help but wonder if there's something more to it than that, at least on Aaron's part. He would be the second new character apparently willing to two-time their longtime companion, though his union with Eric seems a rather happy one, in contrast to Jessie's somewhat strained marriage to Pete.
Romantic implications aside, though, Daryl's budding friendship with Aaron, platonic or otherwise, may nonetheless have a direct impact on how things unfold in the remainder of the season. Rick and Carol remain cautious as ever, and when the two of them and Daryl congregate outside the walls of Alexandria and Carol hands out the guns she has filched from storage, Daryl turns down the one offered to him. This represents a seismic shift in his character; from the least open, most suspicious member of the group, almost overnight Daryl has turned into the one of the most eager to embrace his new life without reservation. I'm not criticizing the writers for this; I think it's a bold move and I hope it pays off well. It really helps that Daryl does not exist in the comics because now there's no telling where his story could eventually go. I used to think that killing him was one of the most important things the show could do with his character but now that the show has opened up the possibility of him turning against his longtime traveling companions, I realize that there are so many other possibilities.
And then there's the mystery of the walker Carol shot outside Alexandria with the letter "w" carved into its forehead, something which will no doubt figure when the season reaches its climax.
As the fifth season nears its end I realize that the show has settled into a routine of sorts; every season-ender is punctuated by violent upheaval or something truly terrifying. Season one ended with the destruction of the center for disease control, season two ended with the destruction of Hershel's farm, season three ended with the destruction of the prison, and season four ended with the group being held captive by cannibals, and only because, at the time, the group didn't have a home or base of operations to destroy. What makes things interesting after all this time is observing the permutations and watching how things will play out once the climax rolls around.
The problem is, though, that time around, though, the show's writers have squandered quite a bit of the "shock value" of any of the deaths, with three important character deaths in the course of the season, two of which felt utterly pointless. This could blunt the impact of any lives that may be taken at the all-important season climax, unless some really important lives are taken.
Still, I must credit them for managing to build up some real tension for the finale in three weeks' time.
Dan dan daaaaaaan....
8.8/10
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