‘Walking Dead’ recap: Bummers from the Easter Bunny
Dear Marisa, my fellow “TWD” fan,
I know you are busy, as are we all, but for the love of god can we discuss Sunday’s episode of “The Walking Dead?”
First off, family is family and life in Alexandria is somewhat normal — or is it?
Yes, Glenn and Maggie take a shower together, but there are bruises and tears, and not from soap in the eyes.
Michonne feeds Rick an apple when they first wake up in bed, naked and together. Put aside the Adam and Eve imagery: who has an apple by their bedside?
The re-domestication of Carol is a total fail. She’s become a road warrior, begging people not to make her kill them. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” she says as she kills a handful men in a spray of machine-gun fire.
And now, every time they turn around someone is bursting out from behind the gates of Alexandria, searching for someone who left before them.
Carol runs, Rick and Morgan go after her. Daryl goes out seeking revenge for Dr. Denise’s death, Rosita, Glenn and Michonne follow. They might as well put a revolving door on the Alexandria gate.
Your thoughts? Do you have a minute?
— Kathleen
***
Oh multi-tasking wonder,
Seriously, what is it about this week and the weekend before? I blame Easter. That’s the last time I ever volunteer to be the adult and host brunch! I’m still eating leftover quiche … which came out much better than anticipated, actually.
I had the SAME thought about Richonne’s bedside snacking. Not only is it odd that someone’s got an apple on the nightstand, BUT who reaches right for an apple upon waking and takes a big bite? For my money, coffee first.
And yeah, ENOUGH with the Adam and Eve references. WE GET IT.
Here’s what’s interesting about the Carol sitch. You know when the guys in the truck demanded she take them back to Alexandria, and she started the hyperventilating and crying thing? Which, a few episodes back, we assumed was a ploy to gain sympathy and therefore some leeway in her captivity? Was it the same thing this time, or is this the real reaction she’s having now at the prospect of killing? And if it is, holy moly! I really didn’t give much credence to her whole “I can’t kill for your people anymore” declaration, but maybe it’s truly taking a harsh toll on her body and spirit. You know who was on to her? Morgan, who I thought was just talking crazy about what he saw was a struggle of conscience in Carol.
I also thought the portrayal of her right before she left, in her “conversation” with Tobin, was pretty well done. He’s talking; she’s pretending to listen. He says, “Everything’s going to be OK,” and we and she know that’s so not true. That thought flickers across her eyes for a sec, and then she’s back to smiling and nodding. Well done, actress Melissa McBride!
And how did she conceal what was apparently a powerful gun up her sleeve? Kiiiinda wish she yelled, “Say hello to my little friend!”
Productively,
M.
***
Dear Easter brunch guru,
Congrats on serving up Easter brunch. It’s one of my favoring hosting duties — it’s sunny (usually), and warm (usually), you can make most dishes the day before, and most people leave early because they have work the next day, so there’s plenty of time to clean up.
But I digress.
Wasn’t seeing any brunches in Alexandria, but there was a lot of false domestic bliss, as we have already referenced.
I do think Carol is having a consciousness crisis and I also believe all that shaking and weeping is an act. If she acts weak maybe people will spare her. “I’m nobody, really,” she says. But in the end, she does what she needs to do to survive. So she needs to get over it and accept her destiny.
And I agree, the machine-gun arm was one powerful weapon.
So we have all the fighters in the group running around the countryside tracking each other down and who is left to defend the fair city. A 12-year-old and a pregnant lady? And BTW, why is everyone walking in open fields? And I guess hearing loss from firing all those rounds of ammo has caught up to them and NO ONE can hear any one sneaking up on them. Really, how many times are they going to get caught? I’m afraid someone’s going to die.
What do you think? Season finale next week.
Your Easter buddy,
Kathleen
***
Dear Easter Bunny, I mean, Buddy,
My character-death radar is going off, too. I can’t believe, once again, that most of the A-Team has left town to go run around after Carol and after those jerks with D. I thought Glenn, Rosita and Michonne were crazy to go after Daryl and I’m beyond annoyed with Daryl for not heeding their very good counsel: come back home, we’ll make a plan, and we swear to help you execute it, they tell him. No go, says a vengeance-blinded Daryl, who can’t even see that his actions are now putting others in danger. How have they NOT figured that out yet? We don’t go out into the world alone and unprepared. It’s like everyone is really unhinging and forgetting the basic rules of survival they lost so much to learn.
As irritating as Morgan’s litany of “all life as precious” can be, I’ve said it before and I’ll said it again: this middle way of his is the best course. Sprinkle in the teensiest dash of Rick-style swagger and they’ll be a true force to be reckoned with; NOT a herd of killers who shoot first and ask questions later (much like Rick did at that poor dude at that random farm who was allegedly looking for his horse — “My kingdom for a horse!” — good thing he missed).
Here’s what I did like coming from Morgan: his recounting of how Rick cast Carol out of the prison for the murder of two sick people. Rick attempts more swagger; says he’d thank her now for doing such a thing, but Morgan calls BS on that. “She came back; you can come back,” he says. And somehow, his lecture lands and Rick goes back to town, suddenly worn out with the weight of his burdens, which was a little weird but fairly interesting. That was a quick change of heart, no?
Luv,
M.
***
Dear M,
I liked the whole Morgan morality talk. The Wolf saved Denise, Denise saved Carl … I thought they were going to start singing a version of Harry Chapin’s “All my Life’s a Circle.” I love that song. It seems Rick came to his senses, though, and turned back. Was it quick? Yes, but these survivors aren’t doing a lot of “thinking.” They are in survival mode — fight or run. (Or in my case, just pass out and see what it’s like when you wake up.) So why didn’t Rick run into that guy who escaped Carol’s road rage massacre? Didn’t he follow Rick and Morgan into the field?
So what do we take away from this next-to-last-episode of the season? Survivors keeps apples by their beside? Daryl is dead? Maggie loses the baby? If I were Darwin, I would say that baby knows it’s not going to survive the apocalypse, so why bother even being born? You know stress does a lot to a body, and Maggie has been through a lot. Rick and company must regain their humanity, no matter how many people they’ve killed and how bad they feel about it. They have to find some decency inside themselves. It’s the only way the species is going to survive, no? Otherwise it’s just a bunch of animals running around — kill or be killed.
Anyway that’s my Easter take on “TWD.”
Love ya,
K
***
K,
I have to say when Maggie asked Enid to cut her hair, I got a little nervous. The chopping of hair in some cultures is reserved for times of mourning. OR, as Maggie said, her haircut symbolizes her desire to not let anything hold her back and to keep moving forward. Of course, sharp belly pains proceeded the haircut, but for me, that’s a little too quick a foreshadow. I wonder if it signifies a bad turn of events for Glenn, now D’s captive.
As for Daryl, I think he’s wounded pretty badly but not dead. We did hear that snide D say, “You’re all right” after the camera went black. Fingers crossed. I think the Twittersphere will implode if Daryl dies. Ditto for Glenn, but I suspect more viewers would bail if we had a Daryl-less series going forward.
Meanwhile, I’m going to stock up on discounted Mini Eggs for Sunday.
Harbinger of happy,
M.
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