My Dear Marisa,

Couldn’t sleep last night thinking about Sunday’s “Walking Dead.” I loved Carol’s story arc — from abused wife to warrior. I know we knew most of her back story, but I thought the episode portrayed well how she would be feeling a year after the apocalypse. And I think for the first time, after she was banished from the main group and then running with Daryl to find Beth, she’s had time to contemplate and absorb what’s happening. I liked how she finally said out loud that basically everyone she has ever loved is now gone. It’s about time these people start talking about or reacting to all the death and destruction.

Loved seeing Atlanta and how the urbanites coped — like camping out in office buildings. Too bad no one survived.

But I also had a few problems. Why, oh why, did Carol and Daryl go look inside the ambulance teetering on the end of a bridge? And then they go inside, as if they had no idea it MAY fall off said bridge. Then when it did fall, it lands straight up. Come on, even in the mayhem of an apocalypse, the laws of physics don’t change (as everyone on Twitter reminded us last night). No way would that van have landed upright.

It was a “Thelma and Louise” moment when Carol and Daryl held hands before going over the bridge. I thought they were dead.

Still digesting the episode. 

Yours,

Kathleen 

***

Good Lady K,

Here’s the thing: I can’t tell if Carol is feeling particularly liberated from the past just yet. She doesn’t seem happy (although who would be, really, in her environment), and her comment along the lines of “We don’t get to save people anymore” gave me pause. Does she mean that people have proven dangerous too many times to continue rescuing? Or, is she suggesting she and our merry band of survivors are hardly hero material after all the terrible things they’ve done to survive? Read: Are THEY too dangerous to reach out to and help others? What say you? (My hubby thinks she meant the former: people are inherently destructive and too unpredictable to continue rescuing. I agree.)

As for the van, it struck me as another example of what you mentioned last week: shock and awe for the sake of shock and awe. I guess they were looking for clues about the mysterious white cross logo organization and/or looking around for makeshift weapons. I think they fully intended on riding that van down off the ledge as soon as they crawled in. There’s a nice sort of silent communication that goes on between Carol and Daryl that is a cool byproduct of all the madness they’ve been through. They get each other almost too well. I thought it very touching how real Daryl’s reaction was when Carol got hauled off in the ambulance, which, P.S. totally looked like it meant to hit her. He looked like a little boy once again, despite Carol’s vote of confidence that he’d turned into a real man throughout their ordeal.

I was so confused by the camping zombies. Thank you for clarifying. But seriously, they don’t know how to work a zipper??!!

Luv,

M. 

***

Dear Marisa,

Let me start at the end: Zombies can’t work a zipper, so my guess is the humans died while zipped inside and then turned. The moral of the story for Carol getting hit by car – the only working car in the entire city of Atlanta – even in an apocalypse, look both ways before crossing the street.

I think Carol is not long for this world. She is so beat up right now. How does she not have a traumatic brain injury? And if they rescue her, how is she going to successfully limp away unscathed?

As for her state of mind … I think she was saying no matter what they do everyone dies. All the people she has rescued have eventually died. I think she said something like they’re either burying bodies or burning bodies.

And what about the kid in the battered women’s shelter or, as someone on Twitter said, “squeegee walker.” There were many sad things in this episode. Something needs to happen to give Carol some hope or I fear she will not survive.

Oh, and the sounds of the walkers falling off the bridge and hitting the van and the ground reminded me of Sept. 11. Too soon for me.

On the other hand, I loved that they identified the road they were traveling on, I-85 North. Not that far away from I-95.

Yours,

K 

***

K,

Yes, Carol did not look well in the “next on” scenes. If she’s in a long-term coma, she’s going to rack up quite the “debt” in that weirdo joint. I can see a few scenarios play out: Carol comes back from the brink after Daryl makes a tearful plea at her bedside; or, Carol dies, and Daryl burns that hospital to the ground with Beth in tow; or, Carol wakes up for a second as Daryl is tearfully pleading at her bedside, tells him something poignant and affirming, then dies, thereby cooling his rage and at least motivating him to get outta Dodge with Beth.

Here’s the thing about looking both ways before crossing the street: that hasn’t really been a necessity for these guys for months! (Granted, I even look both ways on one-way streets, like our own beloved Atlantic Street, but that’s ONLY because I’ve nearly been run down twice on Bank Street WITH the walk signal.) Of course, she mighta heard that car coming, but, dunno, seemed to me like it was going to run her down no matter what.

Also, for awhile I thought they’d hatch a plan in which Carol checked herself INTO the hospital, using her shoulder injury from the Great Van Escape as an entree. That would place her on the inside and better positioned to grab Beth.

In short, like Carol, I so didn’t see that car coming.

But you’re right: it was a very human, sad episode. Carol is stronger, but so very stripped down now: it’s all about survival, and that might even mean forsaking others in need. Not sure if she can entirely turn off that instinct, and even if she can, I suspect she’ll come to the conclusion that that’s no way to live. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Death in that hospital might simplify things for her. She’ll have to want to carry on if she makes it. Not sure if she does.

Also, one of the guests on “Talking Dead” last night noted about 10 images or references to fire in last night’s episode. Discuss.

Grimly,

M. 

***

Dear M,

I, too, noticed a lot of fire and smoke. The prison burning. The bodies of the two people Carol killed at the prison burning. The concentration camp burning. Daryl burning the bodies of the apparent abused mother and child from the shelter. Daryl lighting a cigarette. A dumpster burning. Daryl lighting up a notebook of paper and throwing it as a diversion.

Carol is losing hope. When she starts talking, she says everything turns to ashes. I think she’s giving up. Daryl responds, “We ain’t ashes.” I found the whole episode haunting.

On a lighter side, which I think was the only light moment in the entire episode, did you like Daryl’s interpretation of the abstract painting hanging in unbelievably untouched office? “Looks like a dog sat in paint and wiped his ass all over it.” Carol disagrees.

Yours,

K 

***

K,

Who knew Carol would be a fan of modern art? (For the record, I didn’t like the painting, but I think the issue was more the choice of colors….just sayin’.) Also, who knew DARYL would be such a (relative) optimist. We ain’t ashes, indeed, sir. Carol is losing something, that’s for sure. Endless fatigue and poor nutrition certainly don’t help, either. Upon reflection, I’ve revised my wish for a CVS and Zoloft-for-all to this (since, indeed, Zoloft levels need to be maintained and ALL we need is antidepressant withdrawals messing with the group mind) : Why oh why haven’t they looted a CVS, where they can all at least grab some vitamins and supplements??? Flaxseed oil and B50s can do wonders for depression and mood balance! Mad.

Now, here’s the big question for me: are Carol and Daryl like Island of Misfit Toys brother-sister types or is there something more grown up, so to speak, about their connection? I can’t quite tell. I lean toward the former, as much as I’d love a romantic match.

I’ll be curious to see how Daryl reacts to seeing Beth. Does he sweep HER up in his arms for a big smooch or something more fraternal? I also hope they explain exactly how Beth wound up in HER “ambulance.” Did she, too, get “accidentally” hit by a vehicle? If I recall correctly, we didn’t see just how she got swept away.

Finally, I’ll try and lighten it up: when Carol and Daryl were in that schmancy office and she semi-filled her canteen, I was really, truly hoping they’d at least wash up a little under the spigot. Or, at least FILL the dang canteen! Sigh…

Obsessive,

M. 

***

Dearest M,

Water, water everywhere and no one wants to wash. I don’t get it either. I guess when you’re facing death at every corner, how dirty you are falls at the bottom of the priority list.

Here’s my prediction: Daryl and his new friend go back to the church for reinforcements. They return, blast their way through the so-called hospital, and save Carol and Beth. All that fighting and falling and getting hit by a car have caught up with Carol and she’s a frail older lady. Beth, on the other hand, is young and vibrant. Daryl falls for her.

The last episode: Carol is on her death bed but happy because Daryl and Beth are together and they are going to have a baby, thereby helping the species survive.

That’s all I got.

See you next week,

k 

***

Mdme. K,

In my late afternoon web wanderings, I found some very good “Walking Dead” analysis in a recent “Vanity Fair” blog post. In it, writer Joanna Robinson poses the very excellent question, “Why on earth is Maggie not the one looking for her sister Beth?”

Indeed, what’s up with the very low Maggie content in general this season? We haven’t been privy to much of her internal or external dialogue this season — apparently now that Glen’s home, she’s cool. Too cool for many viewers.

Robinson remains unsatisfied by comic creator Robert Kirkman’s explanation that thoroughly mellow Maggie simply hasn’t had time to process Beth’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Maggie’s precious few lines of dialogue this season have been squandered.

As Robinson (correctly) notes, “Maggie has been low on dialogue in general this season, but last week’s episode saw her talking with Eugene for an extended amount of time about his mullet. So you’re telling me Maggie is more concerned about the psychology behind a stranger’s hairstyle than she is about the location of her sister?”

Touché VF. Read the whole post here.

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