Posts tagged: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead S06E10 “The Next World” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on: FOX, Mondays, 9pm
Writers: Angela Kang, Corey Reed
Director: Kari Skogland

Essential Plot Points:

• Rick’s getting tooled up to head out. It’s clear time has passed, as there’s a photo of Carl with his eye bandaged holding Judith. Michonne, who’s clearly showered there, asks to borrow some toothpaste and Rick and Carl both give her good natured crap about it.

• Nearby Denise stops Daryl to go over lists of supplies and ask him to look for a particular brand of soda. She doesn’t drink it but, she says, Tara talks about it in her sleep. This pair of scenes are just so sweet.
• As they head out, Eugene tells them to keep an eye out for Sorghum, as it’s an immensely useful crop that should still be easy to find. The two light out, and to Daryl’s disgust, Rick starts blasting the old school tunes…
• Back at Alexandria, Michonne sees someone head into the woods and follows them.
• Nearby, Maggie finds a brooding Enid and firmly, but lovingly, tells her she isn’t going to be alone anymore.

• Out on the road, the New Duke Boys find a Sorghum barn with a truck inside it. One full of supplies! Rick decides their luck’s changed, Daryl is unsure. Especially as, when they later stop to raid a vending machine for the soda they’re accosted by a man with long hair wearing a mask.

• Jesus, as he introduces himself, warns them that walkers are on the way. He’s odd: charming, funny, gentle and… a thief. He distracts them, steals the truck and Rick and Daryl head off in pursuit.
• Michonne catches up with Spencer in the woods. They talk, and it’s clear Spencer is desperately sad about something. He refuses to admit where he’s going and she says she’ll follow him.

• Nearby, Carl and Enid are also heading out. Just like everyone else, they’re suddenly finding space in their life to do something other than survive. They hang out in the woods because “that’s what kids do” although Enid is increasingly uncomfortable. They see Michonne and Spencer go by and begin to head home.

• Back on the road, Rick and Daryl find evidence the truck’s broken down. They sneak up on Jesus who pretty much kicks their asses singlehandedly until they both tackle him. Rick ties him up and they head out.
• They don’t get very far before they realise he’s got free and is on the roof. Daryl jams on the breaks and Ninja Silent Bob is catapulted onto the ground. A wonderfully rubbish chase/fight scene ensues which concludes with Daryl’s life being saved by Jesus, the truck rolling into the lake and Jesus being knocked unconscious.

• In the woods, Carl and Enid confront… something. It’s clearly a walker and Enid panics and wants to kill it. But Carl doesn’t and, when h tells her she wouldn’t understand, she leaves in disgust.
• Nearby, Spencer and Michonne hear something. Carl runs past, followed by the Walker.

• It’s Deanna. Or it was.
• Spencer admits this is why he comes to the woods: to find her. Michonne restrains the thing that used to be his mother and, with tremendous care and heartbreak, Spencer puts his mother to rest.

• They bury her and Michonne marks the spot with a “D” carved into the nearest tree. Then, she tells Spencer he has a home, and a family and they head back. It is, like the opening two scenes really sweet and kind. Which is a very odd thing to say about a show that killed two kids on camera last week but trust us, it works.
• Meanwhile, back at CopOut 2: The Post Apocalypse Years, Rick, Daryl and a very unconscious Jesus are driving home. Daryl tries to point out that he thinks this is a bad idea. Rick doesn’t take any of his crap and also apologises for being the last one to see Alexandria really is home.

• Carl is tending to Judith when Michonne arrives. She tears a strip off him, realising that he led Deanna’s Walker towards them. She tells him he should have killed it and Carl retorts that it should have been someone who loved her. He also says that he’d do it for Michonne and, clearly staggered by this, she hugs the kid.

• Rick and Daryl bring Jesus to the Doc’s house, waking her and Tara up. The Doc has AWESOME pajamas by the way. They treat Jesus and Rick heads home, with Daryl staying to keep watch.
• At home, Rick passes out on the sofa when Michonne arrives and tells him to make room. They chat about their days and then, slowly and chuckling at finally being able to let go, they kiss.

• And then wake up together the next morning. Which is again, so sweet.
• Jesus being at the end of the bed saying they need to talk? Less so.

Review:

So, who’s for a buddy cop movie with Rick and Daryl? Because you get one this week and it’s great!

The A plot here reminded me constantly of the B plot in Kevin Smith’s movie CopOut. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen it, it’s one of Smith’s most commercial and least successful movies. It is fun though and the horror stories he tells about it are vastly entertaining.

I mention it here because that B plot features the two lead characters repeatedly butting heads with a charming, somewhat eccentric and physically terrifyingly able cat burglar. Which is pretty much beat for beat what we get with Rick and Daryl vs Jesus this week.

That entire plot comes at you from left field but it’s – in the words of Salt’n’Pepa – very necessary. Every episode of the season to date has been nothing but escalating tension and this is very much an hour for people to get their breath back. That’s neatly set up by the time that’s passed since the last episode, as well as the new-found relationships which we’ll get to in a moment.

Because that A plot really is huge fun. It’s a really smart, deceptively simple script that gives two of the show’s leads a chance to shine and it tells us some really interesting stuff about both of them.

First off, Rick really is a believer now. His quiet, methodical optimism is a welcome change from Captain Nihilist Beard. It’s clearly fragile; he’s clearly trying it on for size but this really is Rick out the other side of his years-long dark night of the soul. Alexandria is home now, for better or worse, and he knows he can’t and shouldn’t defend it alone.

That brings us to everyone’s favourite Dixon brother. This is the first extended period we’ve had with Daryl in a while and Norman Reedus is on typically good form. The opening, gentle teasing of Doc about the soda is a really sweet touch. Likewise the fact he apologises to her for not getting any as soon as he sees her again. Daryl is a man of few words but Reedus is so good at what he does you can absolutely tell how fond of these people Daryl is.

But it’s Jesus who brings out something really interesting in Daryl. He’s uncomfortable around him to the point of belligerence. There’s been a lot of speculation as to Daryl’s sexuality and even more that the introduction of Jesus would bring that to the fore.

This is an interesting, difficult crossroads the show has come to. There’s strong evidence, and narrative precedent, for Daryl’s sexuality to be at any one of a dozen points and the show risks offending and alienating viewers if it does go down any particular road. But at the same time this show has never been better than it has been this season. It’s turning in constantly excellent work and has a tremendous, micro-focused understanding of its characters. Now’s the time if it’s going to happen and even if it doesn’t, his interactions with Jesus are amongst the sparkiest most fun exchanges the show’s ever had.

Together the three men have an endearingly rubbish adventure that gives us a look at all three personalities; the newly hopeful Rick, the apparently newly distrustful Daryl and the completely charming and distinctly odd Jesus. Were the episode just them, it would be fine. But the B plot here is just as good.

Last week we talked about the horrors of having to put down Walkers that used to be family. This week we see it happen. Spencer’s confrontation with his mother is the most loving Walker death we’ve seen, and the scene works on two different levels. It’s closure for the character, bringing him in from the cold the same way the Battle of Alexandria did for Rick last week. But it’s also the final, definitive nail in the coffin of the old town. Deanna is now, finally, truly dead. Like Jesus said, it really is the New World now.

A new world where people feel safe enough to fall in love. The reveal that Doc and Tara are together is honestly my favourite thing this episode. Not just because Denise asking Daryl to look for the soda is really sweet but how little fuss is made of it. There’s no, “Look! Lesbians!” No sniggering or teasing. It doesn’t play as token or forced. It’s just who they are.
Then there’s the ending. Rick and Michonne getting together is a plot nuke of a sort the show hasn’t dropped in a while but, again, it feels right. Especially as it’s preceded by the very touching moment between Carl and Michonne where he tells her he’d kill her if she turned. That entire scene is The Walking Dead in a nutshell; horrific violence wrapped around a battered, defiant refusal to abandon compassion and love. That’s why the Rick and Michonne scene works so well. If anyone has earned happiness and love its them.

That’s the crux of the entire episode too: the Alexandrians breathing out. That’s why Spencer searches for his mom’s Walker. That’s why Carl doesn’t kill Deanna. That’s why Rick and Daryl will go out again tomorrow and that’s why Rick and Michonne get together. Because they can. Because at last, they’re able to live in the world, not just survive in it. At least, for now…

The Good:

• “…Tara was talking about in her sleep.” The cute! IT BURNS!
• “Law of averages, gotta catch up.” Rick Grimes, grubby, brutal optimist.
• “You’re the first one to notice.” This is one of those perfect lines this show is so good at. Every ounce of Spencer’s sadness, regret and isolation is wrapped up here.
• “We’re not kids.” Again, three words and it’s perfect. They’re not kids. They’re just pretending to be.
• “Do you even have any ammo?” 
  BLAM
  “Okay.” Lethal Weapon 5! Starring Rick Grimes and Daryl Dixon!

• “She left me a note. She said I still knew my way. I never knew my way.”
  “You loved your family?”
  “Then you know your way. It’s home.”
  “They’re gone.”
  “I’ve been out here chasing you all over the woods. You still got family. You still got a home.” Michonne as the new heart of the show works so well. She’s pragmatic and calm, with the same capacity for violence as any of the others but coupled with a refusal to leave anyone behind.
• “I know, almost as soon as we got to Alexandria you got it, you saw. You, Michonne, Glenn, you all tried to tell me. So shut up. Cos I’m finally listening.” The fact Rick apologises for being an asshole while telling one of his best friends to shut up is perfect.
• “Because it should be someone who loved her, someone who’s family. I’d do it for you.” This entire scene is perfect. It’s also, as I say, everything that makes the show work in one perfect moment.
• “It is pretty stupid of us to go out there isn’t it?”
  “Yep. Do it again tomorrow?”
  “Yep.” This too. These two guys can go head-to-head over ethics and trust but at the end of the day, they’re the same: two tired, battered, road-hardened optimists looking for other people to rescue and be rescued by.
• “Oh, so you had a DAY!” Best line of the episode. Such clever, minimal funny writing and delivery.
• All we need to know about how much time has passed is in that opening shot of the photo of Carl with the eyepatch. The episode’s chock full of nice directorial touches from Skogland but that’s a standout.
• Very few shows write relationships better than The Walking Dead. This episode proves it. There’s no big emotional moment with Doc and Tara or Rick and Michonne; no swelling music or heartstring yanking. Just a reference to Tara talking in her sleep and her being at the Doc’s when Rick, Daryl and Jesus show up. Outstanding work.
• Likewise, the ending with Rick and Michonne feels, for a relationship that blossoms in one episode, completely earned. That gentle, relaxed banter in the opening scene is another indicator of how time has passed and the pair of them have relaxed into each other’s presence. It’s subtle, compassionate writing and it’s also completely new ground for the show given the comics never went there.
• Rick has clearly levelled up his Perception stat. I love that he figures out Jesus isn’t tell him everything because he’s clean and doesn’t have a ragged beard.

• Jesus. Charming and relaxed and just a little weird and he steals every scene. I love that he clearly has a plan and that he has weirdly useful skills. Much more of him please.
• Every single moment with Spencer, Michonne and Deanna. Especially the payoff at the end. This show gets a lot of flak for being misery porn and at least some of that is valid. But very few TV dramas do compassion and love this well.

The Bad:

• No Carol and no Morgan this week, which is a shame as they’re always good value.
• The Enid and Carl scene feels a little bit like resetting the clock with Enid. She’s whiny and isolated again and is arguably the only character still out in the cold. Here’s hoping Maggie’s on the case.

And The Random:

• Rick’s magnificently country boy music taste is a joy. The two tracks we hear are “Action Packed” by Ronnie Dee and “If My Heart Was A Car” by Old ’97s. Oh and the opening song is, of course, “More Than A Feeling” by Boston.
• Tom Payne, who makes such a splash here as Jesus, is actually English. He’s been in Waterloo Road, Skins and Marple: They Do It With Mirrors as well as movies like Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day and The Task.

• Shot of the week is, of course, “We should talk”. Waking up with Jesus at the end of the bed and they didn’t even have a chance to look busy.

Review by Alasdair Stuart

• Read more reviews of The Walking Dead season six

The Walking Dead S06E09 “No Way Out” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on: FOX, Mondays, 9pm
Writer: Seth Hoffman
Director: Greg Nicotero

Essential Plot Points:

• PREVIOUSLY ON APOCALYPSE HAPPY FUN TIME!
• The Alexandrians discovered the only reason they were still alive was the heroic final act of the truckers who had blocked off the massive quarry near town. A quarry that was now essentially a Walker mosh pit.
• Realising they had to lead everyone away, Rick and the others developed a pretty solid plan.
• It didn’t go super well.
• Abe, Daryl and Sasha were forced to hide out after the attempt to lead the horde away from Alexandria failed. Separated from each other, the three confronted their own feelings of inadequacy and mortality (Abe), their desperate need to trust people (Daryl) and having to deal with an immensely whiny but basically decent big white dude who really should secure his nonsense (Sasha). Daryl had his crossbow and bike stolen, Abe got his groove back. Sasha remained the most competent person in the room.
• Alexandria was stormed by the Wolves and Carol and Morgan were instrumental in turning the assault back. Morgan also captured a Wolf to try and convince the man that what he was doing was wrong.
• It didn’t go super well.
• Separated from the others, Glenn was presumed dead. In fact he was alive but having a really amazingly bad time. Then he met up with Enid and made it back to Alexandria just in time…
• …To see that the hurried repairs to the Wall after the Wolf assault weren’t enough. The town was overrun by Walkers. Maggie was trapped in a collapsing watchtower. Deanna was bitten. Carol discovered Morgan’s “pet” wolf and they proceeded to have the meaningful exchange of blows that had been brewing for a while.
• Morgan won the fight. When the Wolf escaped and took Denise hostage, it became pretty clear Carol had won the war.
• Despite her wound, Deanna refused to give up. She told Michonne and Rick about the plans for Alexandria’s expansion and died defending their escape. An escape that involved wearing Walker innards-covered improvised ponchos and moving slowly through the centre of the Horde with a terrified, panicking child. An escape that may not be going super well.

• NOW WE CONTINUE!

• Daryl, Sasha and Abe are confronted by Negan’s men. They inform the three that everything they have now belongs to Negan and send one of the men with Daryl to search the truck. Abe asks questions after being told not to and he and Sasha realise Negan’s spokesman really is about to kill them.

• Then he explodes.

• Seriously.
• Daryl (who has, of course, silently killed the guy who was following him) rocket launches Negan’s guys pretty much right in the face. He was slightly wounded in the fight but it’s Daryl so he’s chill about bleeding. The three of them get back in the truck and head back to Alexandria.

• Where, amazingly Sam did not get everyone instantly killed. Team In So Much Trouble regroup and Rick tells them that the Walkers are too dispersed to work around and they need to get the vehicles at the quarry. It’s pointed out Judith couldn’t possibly be quiet all the way there and Gabriel volunteers to take her with him to the church and protect her. He swears he’ll do right and Rick agrees. Jessie tries to get Sam to go too but he refuses to leave, telling her he can do this. Father Lots To Prove exits stage left, with baby.

• Nearby, Morgan comes round and realises the Wolf escaped and took Denise. Carol, disgusted, goes room to room making sure there aren’t any nasty surprises.
• Glenn and Enid make it inside Alexandria and hide out. They begin looking for weapons and equipment to help Maggie as Glenn talks Enid round to accepting the need for other people in her life and how she honours the dead simply by continuing to live.

• Denise and the Wolf are crouched by a wall waiting for the horde to clear. Denise keeps trying to back out but the Wolf points out he needs her and refuses to let her go. This goes on for an extraordinarily long time before anything happens.

• Back at Team In So Much Trouble, Sam starts to lose it. Surrounded by walkers and with Carol’s speech about “the monsters” ringing in his mind, he freezes. The others desperately try and get him to keep moving but he’s paralysed with fear and…

• Sam is killed. A lot.As three Walkers tear pieces from him.
• The others have to say nothing as the boy is killed in front of them. Jessie just can’t. She loses it, screams for her son and…

• Jessie is killed too.

• Rick, unable to say anything, watches her die. But she’s still holding Carl as she dies and Rick is forced to chop her hand off and…

• Ron picks up a gun and points it at Carl. His family gone, he choose revenge and…

• Michonne stabs him in the heart and…
• …Ron fires and…

• Hits Carl in the eye.

• There’s a moment of stillness then a panicking, near hysterical Rick grabs his son and sprints for the infirmary. Michonne works point, taking out every Walker that gets too close. They are seconds from death and minutes from help.
• Denise and the Wolf make a run for the tower. Denise is caught, the Wolf comes back for her and is bitten.
• Denise offers to save his life and drags him to the infirmary.
• Back at the basement, Carol has no time whatsoever for Morgan’s beliefs as she watches the streets fill.
• Nearby, Denise tourniquets the Wolf’s arm, leads him out into the alley and…

• …Carol shoots him and yells for Denise to run to the infirmary. She’s barely there before she and the others see Rick, Michonne and Carl heading in. Denise, because she’s awesome, knows what’s coming and preps for surgery.

• Rick drops off his son and walks out into the horde. Denise refuses to let Michonne help him before the sutures are complete in Carl’s skull. Once that’s done, Michonne leads the others out to stop Rick killing himself.
• To everyone’s astonishment, they hold their ground. They’re hopelessly outnumbered but slowly, their numbers grow. The Alexandrians come out to help, the other members of Team Rick join them and they fight a gruelling last stand with one objective; kill the horde.
• In the fight, Morgan is confronted with the newly dead Wolf he tried to save. He kills him and apologises.

• At the tower, Glenn distracts the Walkers as Enid climbs up to help Maggie get down. Glenn is surrounded and goes down under a horde of Walkers again as his wife screams in anguish mere feet away. All is lost and then…

• Sasha and Abe appear on the wall, gun down the horde swarming Glenn and save him! Air punch!

• The rest of the group links up as Sasha, Abe and Daryl back the tanker up to the sewer tunnels and empty it. Daryl fires a rocket at the gasoline infused water and sets it alight. The Horde, distracted, lets up on the pressure on Rick and the others. Slowly but inexorably they kill their way across Alexandria and take the town back.
• As the episode finishes, Rick holds his son’s hand and tells him that he wants to show him the new world that Deanna dreamed of. Slowly, but definitely, Carl squeezes his dad’s hand. He’s going to live.

Review:

WOW.

So, everyone okay? Need a minute? Cup of tea and a sitdown? Don’t blame you, that was INTENSE.

This episode continues The Walking Dead’s all-new Eric B and Rakim-esque “Kick a hole in the speaker, pull the plug and then jet” school of narrative design, and if anything, accelerates it. It’s a relentless hour of TV that pulls no punches. There’s been some criticism of it being a step too far. We respectfully disagree. There are disquieting aspects to the episode certainly but everything that happens does so for a reason. Actually, two reasons.

The first is Sam. Here’s what we wrote about him last episode: “Sam embodies the collision between Rick’s group and Alexandria more perfectly than any other character, arguably even Rick himself. All he’s known is Alexandria and the normal world before it so he’s three steps behind where most other Alexandrians are two. He’s a decent kid, but he’s had to grow up way too fast and with none of the pragmatism Carl has been exposed to. He’s a walking victim and the only way that will change is if he survives. And he’ll only survive if Rick and his group pull a miracle out of the bag. Again.”

Now we can see there’s an extra twist built into his whole family; they were the embodiment of old Alexandria, the version of Alexandria that died when the wall fell. Sam was a good kid, completely unequipped to survive the world he inherited. There’s no blame here, no character being wilfully stupid to further plot. Sam broke under the stress and seeing him die had the same effect on his mother. That got her killed and, seeing his entire family die finally broke Ron all the way. He pulls a gun, he gets killed and old Alexandria finally, irrevocably dies.

There’s a phrase that gets used a lot in comics –“NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME! ” – and it’s not often true. Here it is, though; Deanna and Jessie’s entire family, the heart and soul of Alexandria as it was, are dead. They’ve been replaced not by Rick or Team Rick but everyone who, when faced with an impossible situation, refused to accept it.

Or to put it another way, Alexandria died. Then rose again.

That’s one of the two troubling elements of the episode; this Alexandria is essentially a hard reboot. There’s no ruling council, the closest they have to a leader was a touch unstable even before his son got his eye shot out and there’s the small but very important matter of Negan and Associates.

Rick and co have saved the town but in doing so they’ve also been handed two immense challenges; get the town back on its feet quickly and get ready for war.

The other thing that’s troubling about this episode is far simpler: Rick walks out of that door to die. There is no plan, no sense of anything other than the blind animalistic rage of a man who’s been broken in two by seeing the people he loves killed and maimed. He’s taking the Long Walk, the same way other characters have in the past.
He’s only alive because everyone else risked everything to stand with him and, even then, they were all a few seconds away from dead when Daryl pulled the river of fire trick. That means Alexandria doesn’t have a single hero or heroine, but is a town full of them. The concern is that Rick’s actions are going to be canonised which, in turn, feeds back into the growing Messiah complex he’s been suffering from for a while now. Hopefully that final speech to Carl shows that there’ll be return of the Ricktatorship. But that also means he, and everyone around him, has been incredibly lucky. Something they’ll have to keep being once Negan works out who exploded his scouting party.

Those concerns aside, this is an immensely successful episode. There are some great character moments, a couple of excellent jokes and it ties off every dangling plot from the first half of the season. The episode also puts Negan front and centre as the next big problem. He’s going to dwarf anything Alexandria’s faced so far and if you thought the show was dark before? Get ready. The Alexandrians, because that’s what they all are now, will have to be.

The Good:

• Judith’s, “I am NOT cool with this” face when she realises she’s in the middle of a horde of Walkers is adorable.
• Glenn referencing Dale, Hershel and Andrea in the people he honours by living was very touching.
• “We did put up a fight. That’s why your friends are dead.” OUCH, Doc. Also true.
• “You saved him for you. Not us.” Eight syllables. Bullseye. Carol’s even a dead shot with words.
• “God will save Alexandria, because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves.” I’m a mite leery of Gabriel kicking ass for the Lord as it’s a route a lot of religious characters end up going down. But it works here and I like that they’ve explicitly tied his redemption to the rescue of the town.
• “No one gets to clock out today. And Hell, this is a story people are gonna tell.” You go, Eugene!
• “I was wrong. I thought after living behind these walls for so long that maybe they couldn’t learn. But today I saw what they could do… what we could do if we work together. We’ll rebuild the walls… We’ll expand the walls… There’ll be more; there’s gotta be more. Everything Deanna was talking about is possible it’s all possible. I see that now. When I was out there with them… when it was over… when I knew we had this place again… I had this feeling. It took me a while to remember what it was because I haven’t felt it since before I woke up in that hospital bed. I wanna show you the new world, Carl. I wanna make it a reality for YOU. PLEASE Carl… Let me show you.” It’s easy to forget just how damn good Andrew Lincoln is in this show. That’s going to change after this episode. Seeing Rick accept that he feels hope for the first time in years is hugely powerful and that’s all on Lincoln’s performance and the speech, lifted pretty much verbatim from the comics.
• Nicotero’s direction is great here, especially in the care taken to lay out where everyone is and the sheer scale of the horde. Plus that final rage montage of every living Alexandrian slashing and stabbing at the camera is a great visual metaphor. No one goes gentle into that good night on this show.
• Likewise, Hoffman does great work on the script. There’s not much memorable dialogue here simply because the episode almost doesn’t need it. The situation is stark, up close and horrific and Hoffman trusts the cast to show us instead of telling us how bad things are. For the most part, which we’ll get to.
• Father Gabriel doesn’t screw up! Yay! Gabriel’s redemption arc has been minimalist but constant and it’s really nice to see him suit up and not immediately fall over.
• Daryl. With rocket launchers. Much more of this please.
• Abe’s joy when he and Sasha roll up just in time to save Glenn is tangible. Abe has needed to be a hero somehow all season and this moment of pure action movie badassery is him at his finest.
• Maggie’s face when she sees Glenn get swarmed is just heartbreaking. Lauren Cohen is so damn good.
• The entire sequence in which Sam, then Jessie, then Ron, die is horrific and completely impossible to look away from. Again it’s all in the performances, and Lincoln’s combination of numb, rage and anguish in particular.
• Carol’s speech from a few episodes ago is instrumental in getting Sam, and by extension Jessie and Ron, killed. There’s no way she’ll ever know that but it’s an interesting indictment of her world view. Especially given how much she slams Morgan’s this episode.
• “Is he bit?” “…NOPE.” The Walking Dead is getting very good at moments of quiet heroism and this is the best so far. The Doc knows Carl’s been shot, knows it’s bad, knows it’s on her and knows she’s terrified. She does it anyway. And that moment where she sees the fear, sees what’s coming and refuses to back down is one of the many reasons Denise is one of my favourite characters.
• Michonne kissing Carl on the forehead before heading out to try and stop his father committing suicide by Walker may be my favourite grace note this episode. It’s everything about Michonne in one action; efficient, pragmatic and sweet.

The Bad:

• There’s a really weird editing choice here. The episode cuts between Glenn and Enid and Denise and the Wolf so often you honestly expect the two plotlines to dovetail. When they don’t it feels like waiting for another shoe – odds are with a rotting foot in it – to drop.
• Negan’s emissary goes from frightening to annoying to mundane back to frightening to annoying to cheesy to weirdly camp to being a large cloud of rapidly descending meat. I’m honestly relieved he was killed because the character was all over the place and we don’t need that kind of thematic whiplash.
• I love Denise but Good LORD she and that Wolf were having deep philosophical discussions behind a wall for a really, really, really long time.
• Remember last season with the whole “Glenn’s totally dead. No really he is… PSYCHE!” thing? And how we talked about how that was a well the series could only go to once? It goes there twice more. This episode.
  The first is the egregious one, completely ignoring the cliffhanger from the end of the last episode and then killing Sam and his family anyway. That’s just dishonest and if the show is going to keep us on tenterhooks like this all the time then it, and we are going to get very tired.
• The second should be worse, but is actually lovely. Glenn distracts the Walkers from Maggie’s tower, Enid gets to Maggie, Glenn is cornered, runs out of bullets, his wife screams his name AAAAAAAND…
• THE A-TEAM MUSIC PLAYS AS SASHA AND ABRAHAM SAVE THE DAY!
• It’s a lovely moment, one of those, “OH THANK GOD!” exhalations of breath. Abe gets his hero moment, Sasha gets to do something good other than put Abe back together and Glenn and Maggie get to live happily… for a while.

And The Random:

• So…does the town have no sewage system now? Not to mention clean water?
• Jessie’s death, right up to Rick having to chop her hand off, is pretty much beat for beat how she dies in the comic. The only difference is Abe finds her zombified corpse and kills her later so Rick doesn’t have to.
• The thought of Walker versions of Sam, Jessie and Ron being out there is almost too horrible to contemplate which may well be why we didn’t see them put down on the show. Either that or they’re being saved for next week…
• Shot of the week is this. No Team Rick anymore. Just the residents of Alexandria, waiting to find out if one of their own is going to make it.

Review by Alasdair Stuart

• Read more reviews of The Walking Dead season six

The Walking Dead S06E09 “No Way Out” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on: FOX, Mondays, 9pm
Writer: Seth Hoffman
Director: Greg Nicotero

Essential Plot Points:

• PREVIOUSLY ON APOCALYPSE HAPPY FUN TIME!
• The Alexandrians discovered the only reason they were still alive was the heroic final act of the truckers who had blocked off the massive quarry near town. A quarry that was now essentially a Walker mosh pit.
• Realising they had to lead everyone away, Rick and the others developed a pretty solid plan.
• It didn’t go super well.
• Abe, Daryl and Sasha were forced to hide out after the attempt to lead the horde away from Alexandria failed. Separated from each other, the three confronted their own feelings of inadequacy and mortality (Abe), their desperate need to trust people (Daryl) and having to deal with an immensely whiny but basically decent big white dude who really should secure his nonsense (Sasha). Daryl had his crossbow and bike stolen, Abe got his groove back. Sasha remained the most competent person in the room.
• Alexandria was stormed by the Wolves and Carol and Morgan were instrumental in turning the assault back. Morgan also captured a Wolf to try and convince the man that what he was doing was wrong.
• It didn’t go super well.
• Separated from the others, Glenn was presumed dead. In fact he was alive but having a really amazingly bad time. Then he met up with Enid and made it back to Alexandria just in time…
• …To see that the hurried repairs to the Wall after the Wolf assault weren’t enough. The town was overrun by Walkers. Maggie was trapped in a collapsing watchtower. Deanna was bitten. Carol discovered Morgan’s “pet” wolf and they proceeded to have the meaningful exchange of blows that had been brewing for a while.
• Morgan won the fight. When the Wolf escaped and took Denise hostage, it became pretty clear Carol had won the war.
• Despite her wound, Deanna refused to give up. She told Michonne and Rick about the plans for Alexandria’s expansion and died defending their escape. An escape that involved wearing Walker innards-covered improvised ponchos and moving slowly through the centre of the Horde with a terrified, panicking child. An escape that may not be going super well.

• NOW WE CONTINUE!

• Daryl, Sasha and Abe are confronted by Negan’s men. They inform the three that everything they have now belongs to Negan and send one of the men with Daryl to search the truck. Abe asks questions after being told not to and he and Sasha realise Negan’s spokesman really is about to kill them.

• Then he explodes.

• Seriously.
• Daryl (who has, of course, silently killed the guy who was following him) rocket launches Negan’s guys pretty much right in the face. He was slightly wounded in the fight but it’s Daryl so he’s chill about bleeding. The three of them get back in the truck and head back to Alexandria.

• Where, amazingly Sam did not get everyone instantly killed. Team In So Much Trouble regroup and Rick tells them that the Walkers are too dispersed to work around and they need to get the vehicles at the quarry. It’s pointed out Judith couldn’t possibly be quiet all the way there and Gabriel volunteers to take her with him to the church and protect her. He swears he’ll do right and Rick agrees. Jessie tries to get Sam to go too but he refuses to leave, telling her he can do this. Father Lots To Prove exits stage left, with baby.

• Nearby, Morgan comes round and realises the Wolf escaped and took Denise. Carol, disgusted, goes room to room making sure there aren’t any nasty surprises.
• Glenn and Enid make it inside Alexandria and hide out. They begin looking for weapons and equipment to help Maggie as Glenn talks Enid round to accepting the need for other people in her life and how she honours the dead simply by continuing to live.

• Denise and the Wolf are crouched by a wall waiting for the horde to clear. Denise keeps trying to back out but the Wolf points out he needs her and refuses to let her go. This goes on for an extraordinarily long time before anything happens.

• Back at Team In So Much Trouble, Sam starts to lose it. Surrounded by walkers and with Carol’s speech about “the monsters” ringing in his mind, he freezes. The others desperately try and get him to keep moving but he’s paralysed with fear and…

• Sam is killed. A lot.As three Walkers tear pieces from him.
• The others have to say nothing as the boy is killed in front of them. Jessie just can’t. She loses it, screams for her son and…

• Jessie is killed too.

• Rick, unable to say anything, watches her die. But she’s still holding Carl as she dies and Rick is forced to chop her hand off and…

• Ron picks up a gun and points it at Carl. His family gone, he choose revenge and…

• Michonne stabs him in the heart and…
• …Ron fires and…

• Hits Carl in the eye.

• There’s a moment of stillness then a panicking, near hysterical Rick grabs his son and sprints for the infirmary. Michonne works point, taking out every Walker that gets too close. They are seconds from death and minutes from help.
• Denise and the Wolf make a run for the tower. Denise is caught, the Wolf comes back for her and is bitten.
• Denise offers to save his life and drags him to the infirmary.
• Back at the basement, Carol has no time whatsoever for Morgan’s beliefs as she watches the streets fill.
• Nearby, Denise tourniquets the Wolf’s arm, leads him out into the alley and…

• …Carol shoots him and yells for Denise to run to the infirmary. She’s barely there before she and the others see Rick, Michonne and Carl heading in. Denise, because she’s awesome, knows what’s coming and preps for surgery.

• Rick drops off his son and walks out into the horde. Denise refuses to let Michonne help him before the sutures are complete in Carl’s skull. Once that’s done, Michonne leads the others out to stop Rick killing himself.
• To everyone’s astonishment, they hold their ground. They’re hopelessly outnumbered but slowly, their numbers grow. The Alexandrians come out to help, the other members of Team Rick join them and they fight a gruelling last stand with one objective; kill the horde.
• In the fight, Morgan is confronted with the newly dead Wolf he tried to save. He kills him and apologises.

• At the tower, Glenn distracts the Walkers as Enid climbs up to help Maggie get down. Glenn is surrounded and goes down under a horde of Walkers again as his wife screams in anguish mere feet away. All is lost and then…

• Sasha and Abe appear on the wall, gun down the horde swarming Glenn and save him! Air punch!

• The rest of the group links up as Sasha, Abe and Daryl back the tanker up to the sewer tunnels and empty it. Daryl fires a rocket at the gasoline infused water and sets it alight. The Horde, distracted, lets up on the pressure on Rick and the others. Slowly but inexorably they kill their way across Alexandria and take the town back.
• As the episode finishes, Rick holds his son’s hand and tells him that he wants to show him the new world that Deanna dreamed of. Slowly, but definitely, Carl squeezes his dad’s hand. He’s going to live.

Review:

WOW.

So, everyone okay? Need a minute? Cup of tea and a sitdown? Don’t blame you, that was INTENSE.

This episode continues The Walking Dead’s all-new Eric B and Rakim-esque “Kick a hole in the speaker, pull the plug and then jet” school of narrative design, and if anything, accelerates it. It’s a relentless hour of TV that pulls no punches. There’s been some criticism of it being a step too far. We respectfully disagree. There are disquieting aspects to the episode certainly but everything that happens does so for a reason. Actually, two reasons.

The first is Sam. Here’s what we wrote about him last episode: “Sam embodies the collision between Rick’s group and Alexandria more perfectly than any other character, arguably even Rick himself. All he’s known is Alexandria and the normal world before it so he’s three steps behind where most other Alexandrians are two. He’s a decent kid, but he’s had to grow up way too fast and with none of the pragmatism Carl has been exposed to. He’s a walking victim and the only way that will change is if he survives. And he’ll only survive if Rick and his group pull a miracle out of the bag. Again.”

Now we can see there’s an extra twist built into his whole family; they were the embodiment of old Alexandria, the version of Alexandria that died when the wall fell. Sam was a good kid, completely unequipped to survive the world he inherited. There’s no blame here, no character being wilfully stupid to further plot. Sam broke under the stress and seeing him die had the same effect on his mother. That got her killed and, seeing his entire family die finally broke Ron all the way. He pulls a gun, he gets killed and old Alexandria finally, irrevocably dies.

There’s a phrase that gets used a lot in comics –“NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME! ” – and it’s not often true. Here it is, though; Deanna and Jessie’s entire family, the heart and soul of Alexandria as it was, are dead. They’ve been replaced not by Rick or Team Rick but everyone who, when faced with an impossible situation, refused to accept it.

Or to put it another way, Alexandria died. Then rose again.

That’s one of the two troubling elements of the episode; this Alexandria is essentially a hard reboot. There’s no ruling council, the closest they have to a leader was a touch unstable even before his son got his eye shot out and there’s the small but very important matter of Negan and Associates.

Rick and co have saved the town but in doing so they’ve also been handed two immense challenges; get the town back on its feet quickly and get ready for war.

The other thing that’s troubling about this episode is far simpler: Rick walks out of that door to die. There is no plan, no sense of anything other than the blind animalistic rage of a man who’s been broken in two by seeing the people he loves killed and maimed. He’s taking the Long Walk, the same way other characters have in the past.
He’s only alive because everyone else risked everything to stand with him and, even then, they were all a few seconds away from dead when Daryl pulled the river of fire trick. That means Alexandria doesn’t have a single hero or heroine, but is a town full of them. The concern is that Rick’s actions are going to be canonised which, in turn, feeds back into the growing Messiah complex he’s been suffering from for a while now. Hopefully that final speech to Carl shows that there’ll be return of the Ricktatorship. But that also means he, and everyone around him, has been incredibly lucky. Something they’ll have to keep being once Negan works out who exploded his scouting party.

Those concerns aside, this is an immensely successful episode. There are some great character moments, a couple of excellent jokes and it ties off every dangling plot from the first half of the season. The episode also puts Negan front and centre as the next big problem. He’s going to dwarf anything Alexandria’s faced so far and if you thought the show was dark before? Get ready. The Alexandrians, because that’s what they all are now, will have to be.

The Good:

• Judith’s, “I am NOT cool with this” face when she realises she’s in the middle of a horde of Walkers is adorable.
• Glenn referencing Dale, Hershel and Andrea in the people he honours by living was very touching.
• “We did put up a fight. That’s why your friends are dead.” OUCH, Doc. Also true.
• “You saved him for you. Not us.” Eight syllables. Bullseye. Carol’s even a dead shot with words.
• “God will save Alexandria, because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves.” I’m a mite leery of Gabriel kicking ass for the Lord as it’s a route a lot of religious characters end up going down. But it works here and I like that they’ve explicitly tied his redemption to the rescue of the town.
• “No one gets to clock out today. And Hell, this is a story people are gonna tell.” You go, Eugene!
• “I was wrong. I thought after living behind these walls for so long that maybe they couldn’t learn. But today I saw what they could do… what we could do if we work together. We’ll rebuild the walls… We’ll expand the walls… There’ll be more; there’s gotta be more. Everything Deanna was talking about is possible it’s all possible. I see that now. When I was out there with them… when it was over… when I knew we had this place again… I had this feeling. It took me a while to remember what it was because I haven’t felt it since before I woke up in that hospital bed. I wanna show you the new world, Carl. I wanna make it a reality for YOU. PLEASE Carl… Let me show you.” It’s easy to forget just how damn good Andrew Lincoln is in this show. That’s going to change after this episode. Seeing Rick accept that he feels hope for the first time in years is hugely powerful and that’s all on Lincoln’s performance and the speech, lifted pretty much verbatim from the comics.
• Nicotero’s direction is great here, especially in the care taken to lay out where everyone is and the sheer scale of the horde. Plus that final rage montage of every living Alexandrian slashing and stabbing at the camera is a great visual metaphor. No one goes gentle into that good night on this show.
• Likewise, Hoffman does great work on the script. There’s not much memorable dialogue here simply because the episode almost doesn’t need it. The situation is stark, up close and horrific and Hoffman trusts the cast to show us instead of telling us how bad things are. For the most part, which we’ll get to.
• Father Gabriel doesn’t screw up! Yay! Gabriel’s redemption arc has been minimalist but constant and it’s really nice to see him suit up and not immediately fall over.
• Daryl. With rocket launchers. Much more of this please.
• Abe’s joy when he and Sasha roll up just in time to save Glenn is tangible. Abe has needed to be a hero somehow all season and this moment of pure action movie badassery is him at his finest.
• Maggie’s face when she sees Glenn get swarmed is just heartbreaking. Lauren Cohen is so damn good.
• The entire sequence in which Sam, then Jessie, then Ron, die is horrific and completely impossible to look away from. Again it’s all in the performances, and Lincoln’s combination of numb, rage and anguish in particular.
• Carol’s speech from a few episodes ago is instrumental in getting Sam, and by extension Jessie and Ron, killed. There’s no way she’ll ever know that but it’s an interesting indictment of her world view. Especially given how much she slams Morgan’s this episode.
• “Is he bit?” “…NOPE.” The Walking Dead is getting very good at moments of quiet heroism and this is the best so far. The Doc knows Carl’s been shot, knows it’s bad, knows it’s on her and knows she’s terrified. She does it anyway. And that moment where she sees the fear, sees what’s coming and refuses to back down is one of the many reasons Denise is one of my favourite characters.
• Michonne kissing Carl on the forehead before heading out to try and stop his father committing suicide by Walker may be my favourite grace note this episode. It’s everything about Michonne in one action; efficient, pragmatic and sweet.

The Bad:

• There’s a really weird editing choice here. The episode cuts between Glenn and Enid and Denise and the Wolf so often you honestly expect the two plotlines to dovetail. When they don’t it feels like waiting for another shoe – odds are with a rotting foot in it – to drop.
• Negan’s emissary goes from frightening to annoying to mundane back to frightening to annoying to cheesy to weirdly camp to being a large cloud of rapidly descending meat. I’m honestly relieved he was killed because the character was all over the place and we don’t need that kind of thematic whiplash.
• I love Denise but Good LORD she and that Wolf were having deep philosophical discussions behind a wall for a really, really, really long time.
• Remember last season with the whole “Glenn’s totally dead. No really he is… PSYCHE!” thing? And how we talked about how that was a well the series could only go to once? It goes there twice more. This episode.
  The first is the egregious one, completely ignoring the cliffhanger from the end of the last episode and then killing Sam and his family anyway. That’s just dishonest and if the show is going to keep us on tenterhooks like this all the time then it, and we are going to get very tired.
• The second should be worse, but is actually lovely. Glenn distracts the Walkers from Maggie’s tower, Enid gets to Maggie, Glenn is cornered, runs out of bullets, his wife screams his name AAAAAAAND…
• THE A-TEAM MUSIC PLAYS AS SASHA AND ABRAHAM SAVE THE DAY!
• It’s a lovely moment, one of those, “OH THANK GOD!” exhalations of breath. Abe gets his hero moment, Sasha gets to do something good other than put Abe back together and Glenn and Maggie get to live happily… for a while.

And The Random:

• So…does the town have no sewage system now? Not to mention clean water?
• Jessie’s death, right up to Rick having to chop her hand off, is pretty much beat for beat how she dies in the comic. The only difference is Abe finds her zombified corpse and kills her later so Rick doesn’t have to.
• The thought of Walker versions of Sam, Jessie and Ron being out there is almost too horrible to contemplate which may well be why we didn’t see them put down on the show. Either that or they’re being saved for next week…
• Shot of the week is this. No Team Rick anymore. Just the residents of Alexandria, waiting to find out if one of their own is going to make it.

Review by Alasdair Stuart

• Read more reviews of The Walking Dead season six

The Walking Dead S06E08 “Start To Finish” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on: FOX, Mondays, 9pm
Writer: Matthew Nagrete
Director: Michael E Satrazemis

Essential Plot Points:

• The episode opens with Sam listening to ‘Tiptoe Through The Tulips” in his room, unaware of what’s coming or the stream of ants eating his discarded cookie.

• The tower comes DOWN. Rick runs towards the horde as they swarm in, firing at them to draw them away from everyone else. Deanna goes to help him and is almost injured.
• Maggie barely gets to a watchtower before the horde is on her and she is trapped there.
• Deanna is injured and Rick grabs her, Gabriel, Carl, Ron and Michonne and heads for Jessie’s house. Jessie helps them get inside and they barricade the house.

• Eugene, trapped by himself, is rescued by Tara and Rosita and they hide in a garage. After bemoaning their fate briefly, the three set off to explore the house they’re hiding out in.

• While patching up Deanna, Michonne discovers she’s been bitten. Rick splits his time between helping tend to her and helping secure the house.
• In the attack, Carol falls over and injures herself. Morgan carries her to the house where he’s been keeping the Wolf who Denise is talking to.

• At Jessie’s house, it’s clear Michonne wants Alexandria to work.
• Deanna, serene now she knows what’s coming, talks to Michonne about the instructions and repeatedly tells her to work out what she wants to do as well as what’s good for the group.
• Downstairs, Ron and Carl get into a brutal and clumsy fight over Enid. Ron draws a gun on Carl and in the ensuing fight, they break a window, letting the Walkers in. Both boys lie about what happened and go to a separate room. Carl draws his gun on Ron, who apologises. Carl accepts the apology but takes his gun anyway.

• Upstairs Rick almost kills Deanna when she seems to have turned. She shows him she’s still alive and they talk, Deanna emphasising that the entire group is “Rick’s people” now.
• Denise and the Wolf talk and it becomes clear just how mad the young man is. Carol goes to kill him but Morgan refuses to let her.

• At Jessie’s house things are getting much worse. The survivors are trapped on the top floor and, with little other option, Rick and Michonne kill two Walkers and drag them upstairs. They make smocks for everyone and cover them in the Walker guts, planning to head for the Armory.
• Michonne goes to end Deanna’s life but both women refuse to take that option.

• At Morgan’s house, he and Carol get into a vicious fight that he wins. The Wolf immediately knocks Morgan unconscious and kidnaps Denise. Rosita, Tara and Eugene appear from the garage but can’t fire. They surrender their weapons and the Wolf drags Denise out onto the Walker-infested streets.
• Outside the compound, Glenn and Enid climb a tree and Glenn sees Maggie, trapped but alive.

• Inside Jessie’s house, Sam panics at what they’re about to do and his mother comforts him as best she can. Slowly, the group make their way outside. They’ve all been told to be quiet but as they move out, Sam begins asking for his mom over and over…
• In a post-credit scene, Daryl, Sasha and Abraham are pulled over by men on motorbikes. Men who answer to Negan… Glen! Put War And Peace DOWN!

Review:

This half season has backed down from absolutely nothing. It’s been relentlessly decompressed, cheekily showman-like and has refused to give us a single easy answer. This episode is no exception, and it’s all wrapped up in a character we’ve spent almost no time with and how you feel about him.

Sam.

Sam is a normal kid. He likes bad records and cookies and being by himself in the room where his mother didn’t kill someone to defend him. He’s scared and unsure about all these people breaking in and absolutely terrified at what they’re about to do. He’s not quite old enough to understand what’s going on, not quite trusted enough to be told everything and he’s doing the best he can.

And it isn’t good enough. And it’s almost certainly going to get people killed.

Sam, in the space of the 24 hours since this episode aired in the US, has received colossal amounts of hate for what he does in the closing scene. In a rare instance of the internet being classy, it’s all been directed at the character rather than the actor too.

Everyone who has jumped on this kid and his behaviour is right. Sam’s a liability. He’s confused, traumatised and, crucially, no one has taken the time to explain what’s really going on to him. So, of course, he’s going to start asking for his mom at the worst possible time to do so. And, unless the show pulls another double blind, he’s going to get people dead. Quickly.

But that’s the point.

Sam embodies the collision between Rick’s group and Alexandria more perfectly than any other character, arguably even Rick himself. All he’s known is Alexandria and the normal world before it so he’s three steps behind where most other Alexandrians are two. He’s a decent kid, but he’s had to grow up way too fast and with none of the pragmatism Carl has been exposed to. He’s a walking victim and the only way that will change is if he survives. And he’ll only survive if Rick and his group pull a miracle out of the bag. Again.

Based on this episode, they’re going to be hard-pressed to do it. But that’s the other point. This is probably Alexandria’s darkest hour and so much of this episode is wrapped up in how people react to that. Rick is mentally halfway out the door and heading for the hills with as many people as he can, ready to abandon the town but he’s the only one. Everyone else, from the criminally under-used Rosita to Morgan and Carol, is entrenched and ready to fight

There’s a lot of good stuff here with characters who haven’t been given enough screen time recently. The Tara and Rosita scene is especially great as is the Ron and Carl fight. But what really stays with you here, oddly, is Deanna.

Deanna is killed in the opening moments of the episode and, like everyone on The Walking Dead, does not go down easy. As she fades, what should be a funereal moment is instead shot through with hope. Unlike very nearly everyone else on this show she leaves with absolutely no regrets. Better still, she leaves with a successor in place; Michonne. Everyone’s favourite wandering Samurai has clearly decided she doesn’t want to wander anymore and if anyone leads the fight to take back Alexandria, I’m betting it’s her. The scenes she shares with Deanna are electric and by the end of them you can see Michonne’s not just grown, she now has the last thing she ever expected to have: hope.

Speaking of personal growth and the pain that goes with it, Morgan and Carol have that debate/punch-up that’s been threatening for weeks now. Again, this is a plot that’s been criticised up and down the internet. Again, I say it’s a good thing. Morgan has one thing in his life: his philosophy. He’s desperate to cling to it even as he questions it and that, oddly, puts him on exactly the same footing as Carol. She’s had her own dark night of the soul this season, albeit in a far more minimalist way and seeing the opposing viewpoint embodied gives both of them the certainty they’ve been searching for.

That certainty, this being The Walking Dead, leads to Carol trying to kill Morgan and the Wolf escaping with Denise. But that’s because, like Tara says, they’re not done paying for Alexandria yet. Whether this leads to someone being exiled, someone being killed or the best team-up in the show’s history is unclear. What’s certain is that Carol and Morgan, just like Rick’s group and Alexandria, have been used to show that there are no absolutes any more. If they want to survive, they’ll work together.
That’s where this show lives, and where it leaves us, in the gap between ethics and compromise, survival and horror, victory and tragedy. It’s almost unheard of for a show with an audience base as solid as this to take such huge chances but it’s so welcome to see. Like all experiments there’ve been missteps but the payoffs have been more than worth it. Arguably the show’s finest (half) season to date and we still have Negan on the horizon. Get ready. The characters won’t be…

The Good:

• Tovah Feldshuh. The central conflict this half season has been Team Rick’s group of feral deathdealers trying to fit into what is essentially Ramsey Street in the Deep South. Deanna has always been a major part of that conflict and here, her death looks set to do the one thing her life never quite did; bring everyone together. It’s a standard trope for this show to have characters dole out wisdom in their dying moments but honestly, when it’s written this well you don’t care. Deanna’s relentless belief in her people, in Alexandria, in Rick is inspiring and dignified in a show that by necessity rarely bothers with either. Her gentle chiding of him is one of this season’s most poignant moments and the scenes she shares with Michonne are some of its very best. She’s made Rick’s people, and just maybe Rick, believers in Alexandria. Now we get to see how much they’re prepared to put on the line to save it.
• As for Deanna? Everything, start to finish, just like she said. Few characters have had a more futile exit from the show but I’d argue none have had one more true to themselves. Just beautifully written, directed and acted.

• Carl. Remember season two where Carl was just an appalling liability? These days he’s a calm, focused leader in his own right. The scene where he and Ron lie about their fight is another perfect piece of writing. It’s two kids lying to stay out of trouble but it’s also two people putting a tiny difference aside to keep everyone alive. You grow up fast in this world, and Carl certainly has.
• Glenn seeing Maggie, trapped and isolated but ALIVE across the compound. And, just maybe, her seeing him. My emotions. MY EMOTIONS!

The Bad:

• Three separate characters fall over in the opening assault. In each case, the scenario is the same; female character leaps into/flees from danger, trips, is almost killed, saves themselves or is saved at the last minute.
• One of these characters is Deanna and that’s kind of fair enough given the Alexandria leader’s well-meaning and relentless optimism has always outstripped her abilities. The other two are Maggie and Carol. CAROL??? Superficially this looks picky I know, but the more you think about it the worse it becomes. Firstly having the same gambit hit three characters within minutes of each other is lazy. Secondly, the fact it’s a cliché that was old when high-heeled lady scientists were falling over in the 1950s makes it tedious. Thirdly, the fact it’s all women makes it outright offensive. Because no guys fall over. That’s why this is nonsense, because it’s impossible not to read it as incredibly sexist. Especially given Maggie and Carol’s well-established positions as two of Team Rick’s major asskickers. It’s lazy, bad writing that causes the episode to stumble far more than any of the women do and it’s, at least, a decade past its sell by date. Do much, MUCH better next season, please. The female characters deserve better and the audience damn well do too. Or at the very least have the guys trip every now and then too.
• Everyone’s obviously under a ton of stress and that’s legit but are you honestly telling me, at no point, did anyone go deal with Sam’s record player?

The Random:

• The MiniMates on Sam’s bedside cabinet are characters from Robert Kirkman’s other major comic series Invincible. Yay product placement!
• “Tiptoe Through The Tulips” is famously the song playing during several of the spookiest moments in the Insidious movies. This probably does not mean Sam is a possessed child. But we’re keeping our options open…
• Morgan ends his fight with Carol by hitting the Rock Bottom, one of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s old pro wrestling finishing moves. Looks like it bloody hurts too.
• “I got to do what I wanted, right up until the end. What do you want?” “I want this place to WORK.” Deanna’s serene progress into death is deeply odd and very moving. Plus, while she brushes aside this response from Michonne, I think we’ll be coming back to it.
• “What do you want for you?” “I don’t know.” “You better.” Likewise this. Michonne knows what she wants for everyone else now. What she wants for herself will be a big part of next season I suspect.
• “Will you look out for him like you look out for your people?” “…” “Guess what. They’re all your people, Rick, they are.” I love this exchange because it finally calls Rick on his nonsense and transfers the one gift Deanna truly can give; hope. Even in the face of destruction.
• “I didn’t run over to help you out there because I like you or because I think you’re a good man, a good father or that you can grow one hell of a beard. I ran over to help because you are one of us. That’s the right answer.” Likewise this. Rick’s group, his family, is much much bigger now. I can’t wait to see what he does with that knowledge.
• “Place that has got to have a price, right.” “And we haven’t paid it already?” “Apparently not.” Tara and Rosita need to hang out more.
• “Lock pickin’ is within my skill set.” Never change, Eugene.
• “We are better than the…” “NOT IF WE KILL.” Morgan desperately holding onto his morality and Carol desperately holding onto her’s. The truth is somewhere between them. It’s going to be interesting seeing them survive long enough to figure that out.
• “Now what do you want? Figure it out.” “I will.” “Good. Give ’em hell.” Every exchange between Deanna and Michonne is great but this is a standout.
• “Your dad’s a killer.” “So was yours.” Ron and Carl do surprisingly great work here. I love this exchange in particular, as well as their pragmatic, unspoken agreement that they need to settle their problem before everyone dies.
• “Carl I’m sorry.” “Yeah I know. Now gimme the gun.” Carl does not mess. He’s also past the adolescent rage Ron is still caught in.
• “I don’t trust you but I never thought you were lying.” The psychological nuance here is the best. Carol has no particular beef with Morgan. She just can’t rely on him and that makes him a problem until he’s a solution.
• “I will not turn back, no matter what happens.” “Yeah I know.” Father Gabriel and Rick finally talk to each other like adults.

• Shot of the week is this. Deanna, three-quarters dead, choosing to go out fighting. Her entire character in one pointless, massively significant, glorious gesture.

Review by Alasdair Stuart

• Read more reviews of The Walking Dead season six

The Walking Dead S06E07 “Heads Up” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on: FOX, Mondays, 9pm
Writer: Channing Powell
Director: David Boyd

Essential Plot Points:

• (Best Jim Ross voice) GLENN LIVES! GLENN LIVES! GLENN LIVES!
• We flash back to the end of “Thank You” to see Glenn, as many people predicted, crawling under the dumpster while the Walkers eat Nicholas.
• The following morning, a badly dehydrated Glenn is thrown water by Enid, who then runs off. The bottle breaks but it’s the principle of the thing.
• Glenn finds out that Alexandria was attacked. Enid, for everyone who isn’t Glenn, and has seen the last few episodes, acts an awful lot like she had a role in it. She also acts a lot like she’s increasingly not happy about that and runs off, trying to lose Glenn. He follows, finding the zombified David from “Thank You” along the way. He retrieves his bloodied final message to his wife.

• Back at Alexandria, life just about goes on. Rick and Maggie chat about ways to deal with the herd before Rick gives Ron a shooting lesson. On the way, he sees Gabriel putting up prayer circle leaflets and tears them down. Gabriel replaces them.
• During the lesson, Rick not only gives Ron some pretty solid advice but also an empty gun to carry around to get used to it. There is no way this will end badly at all, especially not for Carl who’s being a remarkably supercilious little arsehole considering the rubbish slapfight he had with Ron not so long ago.

• Rick confronts Morgan, along with Carol and Michonne. Morgan freely admits that he let the Wolves that attacked Rick live. He also freely admits he has no idea if that was the right thing to do or not and he’s having a crisis of conscience about what Eastman taught him and if he can stick to it. The others, showing they’ve learned a lot since Rick banished Carol a few years ago, accept this and the matter is unresolved.
• Elsewhere, Rosita trains a group of Alexandrians in how to use a machete. Eugene is also in the class and clearly very uncomfortable. Rosita tears him apart verbally and the world’s most mulleted sort-of scientist strops off.
• Rick bonds with Tobin, an Alexandrian who comes to help him shore up the wall. Tobin admits that Rick did, and still does, scare them but works with him anyway, tacitly admitting that the Alexandrians are embracing the need to pull together.
• Rick later chats with Michonne about ways to get rid of the herd and suggests using a team that only consists of his close friends. When he tries to justify why, Michonne calls him on his nonsense and Rick seems to accept this.
• At the armoury, Ron uses a distraction to get a handful of bullets for his gun.
• Outside the walls, Glenn and Enid find some of the balloons used to mark the route for Rick’s failed plan. They take them and inflate more, hoping to use them as a signal. Along the way, Glenn quietly, but firmly, admonishes Enid for how short-sighted her JUST SURVIVE SOMEHOW mindset is. They arrive at Alexandria and realise just how bad things are.

• Inside the walls, everyone is distracted by the sight of Spencer trying to cross a rope outside the walls. He, of course, massively screws up and falls into the middle of the herd. Tara, demonstrating truly astonishing levels of badassery, climbs over the wall and hangs one handed WHILST PREGNANT, headshotting Walker after Walker until Spencer is pulled up. Rick yells at her, Tara gives him the finger. Tara is the best.
• Spencer on the other hand is the worst. His plan, to steal a car to distract the herd, is great. The execution is staggeringly poor and Spencer complaining about losing a shoe does not endear him to Rick. Neither does his surprisingly sensible point that had he come to Rick, there was a good chance that Captain JustMyChumsAreCompetent would have turned him down.

• Morgan visits Denise for a second time that day and this time admits what he wants; for her to see if a wound is infected. He makes it clear she may not want to get involved, but Denise heads out with him anyway, to tend to the wounded Wolf. Good work, Doc.

–

• Carol sees them and, with all her suburban ninja skills, hands off Judith to Jessie to follow them. Along the way she provides typically Carol-esque comfort for Sam, still horribly traumatised by seeing his mom commit murder. Carol confronts Morgan, demanding to know who he’s keeping in the cell.
• Nearby, Ron zeroes in on Carl, getting ready to kill him.
• Also nearby, Rick apologises to Tara who accepts it and gently reminds him that they really are all in this together. Deanna thanks both of them for helping save her son’s life.
• Michonne examines the plans for Alexandria’s expansion, clearly starting to feel like this is a place worth fighting for.

• Multiple people in town spot the green balloonsand Maggie sprints down to the gate, realising its Glenn.
• And then, after slowly crumbling all episode, the tower falls and rips the wall open…

–

Review:

Yay Glenn! Go Team Dumpster!

After four weeks of full on PT Barnum-esque showmanship, we finally get an answer as to how alive Glenn is this week. And the answer is a lot. Hurray!

OR IS IT?

At the very end of this review is a very spoilery section about Glenn in the comics. DO NOT READ IT IF YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW AND WISH TO REMAIN IGNORANT

Moving on…

We also spend the entire episode catching everything up in a suspiciously neat fashion, which this show loves to do just before breaking the HORROR OH GOD THE HORROR dial off at 11. This season of The Walking Dead has sprawled to an epic degree with the herd and the Wolves attack on Alexandria splitting the leads up into multiple groups. This episode the housecleaning begins in earnest as we catch up with pretty much everybody aside from Team Zombie Wrangler. There’s some neat continuation of last episodes’ humanising of the Alexandrians, some pick-up from the Wolf attack and one of the best scenes of the show so far.

Let’s start with the Alexandrians. The focus on Ron and, briefly, Spencer this week serves to show us how the two groups are still miles apart. Ron abuses Rick’s basic practicality and is rewarded with an actual murder weapon he plans to use on Carl. Spencer attempts to pull off a scheme to solve the herd problem that’s as gutsy as it is stupid. Both are acting on their own initiative and the reason for that is perfectly summed up by the moment Spencer is rescued. Rick asks why he didn’t tell him what he was planning. Spencer responds by asking if he had, would Rick have listened?

And here’s the crucial bit: you can see that Rick realises he’s right.

This idea; that Rick’s starting to understand that his way isn’t the only way, has been at the heart of the show before. But it’s rarely been better handled than it is here. Multiple people, with varying degrees of good humour, tell Rick he’s full of it this episode and he actually seems to listen. You can see it in the talk with Morgan, which three seasons ago would have been much more tense. Here Rick is actively interested in Morgan’s point of view, and prepared to entertain putting his to one side. That’s a Hell of a chance from the days of the Ricktatorship.

The scene with Tara is, if anything, even better. While he’s listening to people tell him that the two tribes need to work together, his people are already demonstrating the fact with action. It’s a nice moment, and one that makes me feel optimistic that Alexandria might be sticking around. Michonne looking over the plans for the expansion certainly seems significant and I’d love to see what they do with the later Alexandria comic plots on screen.

That new-found cooperation is neatly echoed through the rest of the episode. Rick’s scenes with Tobin are especially great but it’s Glenn and Enid, who, oddly, carry the weight of this storyline. Glenn’s refusal to let Enid go off alone is the exact sort of pragmatic compassion we’re used to from the character but it clearly has an effect. Glenn, knowingly or not, seems to get through to the world’s most overlooked survivor that it’s possible to do more than survive.

Ultimately, that scene, and the episode, are about hope. The Alexandrians believe they can survive; Tara, Maggie and Michonne in particular certainly seem to agree. Morgan’s refusal to let the Wolf die, not to mention Denise’s readiness to help him embody the same thing and Deanna is nothing but hope now. Then there’s the balloons, a moment of whimsical humanity floating over a sea of horror. A realisation that something impossibly good has happened, just as something impossibly bad does.

The time for talking is over, the wall has fallen and now Rick will have to trust whoever’s next to him, regardless of where they’re from. They all, Ron aside, seem to be up for the challenge. Here’s hoping Rick is too.

The Good:

• A lot of other reviewers have complained about the ethical discussions this episode. I’m not going to join them. This is a show whose North is Walker DeathKill for sure but its south is always the moral and psychological cost of that.

• With that in mind, the entire Morgan, Rick, Carol and Michonne scene is a huge relief. Especially given the “THIS SEASON! RICK V MORGAN!”-style trailers. There’s no antagonism here, just two people with very different world views trying to work out whether either of them have a point. That’s not filler, that’s drama and the show is all the better for having more of this character focus now than it’s had in the past.
• “If they died, maybe those wouldn’t have been able to come back here. I don’t know what’s right anymore. Cause I did want to kill those men. I seen what they did what woulda kept doing. I knew I could end it. But I also know that people can change. Cause everyone sitting here HAS. All life is precious. And that idea… that idea changed me. It brought me back and it keeps me living.” I love that Morgan and Rick both have doubts about how they operate. This is such an honest admission from Morgan and you get the feeling the new mindset that will (hopefully) lead Alexandria is born in this scene.
• “Making it now, you really think you can do that without getting blood on your hands?” In any other show this would have been a confrontational line. Here, and delivered with such subtlety by Andrew Lincoln, it’s a genuine question. And the scene is all the stronger for that.
• “REALLY? We’re in here together. We’re catching our breath right now. Anything else is just excuses.” Rick really is a tone deaf plank this episode and it’s a delight to see people call him on it. Especially Michonne who’s often been the closest to Rick’s mindset.
• “I’m a weapons novice holding a significant blade here and there are people in my proximity with open-toed shoes.” Never change, Eugene.
• “Dying is simple. It all just stops. You’re dead. The people around you dying, that’s the hard part. Okay? Cause you keep living, knowing that they’re gone and you’re still here.” Rosita has been given so little to do you forget just how great Christian Serratos is. Here’s hoping she gets more to do this season. That hopefully involves not dying.
• “You’ve got to be strong enough to wait for your moment.” Carl is such a smug git this scene you almost, ALMOST, understand why Ron wants to kill him.
• “Things moved slow here. Then things started moving fast. Too fast. But don’t give up on us.” I love this scene, firstly because it’s nice to see Tobin being given more to do and secondly because of what he does. He’s essentially telling Rick they get it, they’ve got a lot to learn and they’re up to the challenge. The fact that Rick doesn’t notice says a lot more about his weakness than the Alexandrians’.
• “You honour the dead by going on. Even if you’re scared. You live because they don’t get to. You think your parents wanted you waving around a gun because you’re afraid?” Glenn, officially the Nicest Human on Earth.
• “I helped save him because he’s your son.” “Wrong answer.” Deanna’s new-found glow of faith plays a lot like complacency. But that may well be because she’s the last optimist standing. Plus she’s bang-on here with the last of the episode’s string of, “Get over yourself, Rick,” moments.

The Bad:

• This is a weird one but it’s valid. By spotlighting some lesser-used characters the show is exposing the fact that it’s underselling some key players. Poor bloody Rosita has, I think, got more screen time this episode than the rest of the season to date combined. Likewise Eugene, who’s always good value. Even Spencer and Ron, who were admittedly front and centre a lot in recent weeks, seem a bit under used. It’s a shame, especially as the way the show will solve this almost certainly involves a whole lot of character death.

The Random:

• Rick has really solid trigger discipline. His advice to Ron about when you do and don’t have your finger on the trigger is a piece of training that anyone who works with firearms and has any measure of ethics has drilled into them. Myke Cole, veteran and author of Gemini Cell and other excellent books would be very happy.
• Jason Douglas, who plays Tobin, the jovial carpenter chap who chats with Rick, has quite the genre resume. He’s been in From Dusk Till Dawn as Warren Pritchard, Breaking Bad as Detective Munn and provided voices for Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Gods, Borderlands 2, One Piece, Psycho Pass, Soul Eater, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 and Fairy Tail.

• Shot of the week. Tara, the pregnant gun-toting badass giving her asshole boss the finger.

Ludicrously Spoiler-y But Maybe Inaccurate Theory

Glenn may have survived just in time for something even worse to happen to him. The comics version of Glenn was infamously beaten to death by Negan, a baseball bat-wielding sociopath who ran the Saviors. The Saviors were a gang who “saved” survivor communities from Walker herds in return for protection. In reality they were thugs and the war against Negan united Alexandria and other local survivor groups. Jeffrey Dean Morgan has just been cast as Negan. Glenn, you might want to put that copy of War And Peace down…

Review by Alasdair Stuart

• Read more reviews of The Walking Dead season six

The Walking Dead S06E06 “Always Accountable” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on: FOX, Mondays, 9pm
Writer: Heather Bellson
Director: Jeffrey F January

Essential Plot Points:

• Team Zombie Wranglers are happily (well, happily-ish), leading the herd away. They go through an abandoned town and are ambushed by men with automatic weapons who chase them off. Daryl loses his pursuer in the woods while Abe and Sasha attack and kill the men following them, but lose their car in doing so.

• In the woods, Daryl conceals his bike but realises he’s being watched. He finds two women hiding by a nearby tree but doesn’t see their companion before he’s knocked out.

• Daryl wakes up to find his hands bound. He’s walked through the woods by the two women and the man who hit him, and discovers that the huge burnt area they’re walking through was caused by at least two of the trio, back when the apocalypse started. They get to a truck stop, which, to their horror, has been over run. Taking advantage of their distraction, Daryl grabs the duffel bag full of his gear and runs into the woods where he barely survives being attacked by a Walker. He also discovers a container of insulin in the bag and realises one of his captors is diabetic.

• Back in town, Abraham and Sasha evade their pursuers and hole up in an office, Sasha leaving marks for Daryl to find them as they do. Abraham finds the uniform of a former resident and realises he was a veteran. Abraham’s visibly troubled by this and outright horrified to find a “live” Walker in there but Sasha assures him it can’t get out of the room it’s trapped in. She also politely calls him on his growing bloodlust and all but asks if he’s trying to commit suicide by Walker. Abraham, enraged, refuses to admit it and stands watch.

• In the woods, Daryl returns to his former captors and disarms them but hands them the insulin. Suddenly a truck full of men arrive searching for them. Daryl, spotting a hole in the group’s search perimeter, leads his former captors to safety. Along the way, he tricks one of the men searching for them into being bitten and watches as he has his arm amputated.

• In town, Abraham goes for a walk and finds a Humvee with a box of Cuban cigars and a crate of rocket-propelled grenades in the back. Nearby, impaled in what’s honestly a fairly bizarre way, is a soldier-turned-Walker. And it’s carrying an RPG launcher. Abraham gives in to everything Sasha spotted in him and, instead of killing the Walker at range, crawls out onto ruined wire fencing at least two storeys off the ground and wrestles the Walker. Screaming with rage, he finally comes to his senses, steps away and lights one of the cigars.
• Abraham returns to the office and, in a very roundabout way, tells Sasha he wants to live and that he’s romantically interested in her. He also, sort of, apologises and the pair leave things at a good-natured impasse.

• In the woods, Daryl and his trio of survivors find what seems to be a greenhouse that’s been set alight. They’re horrified to discover two people inside, both known to the trio, who have been burnt but apparently killed beforehand. One of the trio, overcome with grief, goes to the corpses. They wake up and bite her.
• Later, Daryl and the two survivors are digging graves. Daryl asks them how many people they’ve killed and makes the call to take them to Alexandria. Taking them back to his bike, he lets slip how many people he has with him. The pair apologetically steal his bike and crossbow and drive off. As they go one says, “I’m sorry.” Daryl replies “You will be.”

• Daryl finds a fuel truck from the nearby depot and kills the Walker inside. He hotwires it, finds Sasha and Abraham and they head back to Alexandria. On the way, they pick up a voice on the walkie talkies saying one word: “Help”

Review:

There are three things going on in this episode. Two of them are great, one of them is interesting. None of them are Glenn. Again. Which is bad.

What’s good is the fact that we get closure on the fate of Team Zombie Wrangler and better still, a chance for three of the cast to flex their muscles a little.

Let’s start with everyone’s favourite tracker. Norman Reedus has been a lynch pin of this cast for years and this episode reminds you why. Daryl has, maybe, 400 words of dialogue in the whole thing but Reedus is working constantly. You can always see what Daryl’s thinking, always see the world the way he does. He’s not the semi-feral man he was a few seasons ago but he’s still an outsider and just how much of an outsider he is gets challenged this week. Scriptwriter Bellson cleverly has Daryl be quite at home in the woods and there’s only really one point where he’s in clear danger from a Walker. It’s a nice scene too and a testament to how tense the show is that you are genuinely worried for him.

But the real meat of Daryl’s plot, and the only real threat to his safety, is himself. This week he does exactly the right thing, asks people he trusts to join his community and loses two of his most prized possessions because of it. He makes no mistakes, does nothing cruel and still loses. It’ll be interesting to see how that changes him. It’ll also be interesting to see if we meet his captors again. That final, “We’re sorry.” ”You will be…” exchange could certainly be read as set-up.

Meanwhile, in town, Abraham and Sasha process their feelings in a remarkably grumpy, often very funny way. Martin-Green and Cudlitz are again two of the best people in this cast and they clearly relish a chance to show what they can do. Bellson’s script is a neat capstone to the “Abe is losing it” subplot too, with the big soldier being called on his antics and reacting by throwing a growly, monosyllabic tantrum and trying to kill himself in the stupidest way possible.

In the hands of a lesser writer, director and actor this would be painful to sit through. Here, though, it’s poignant, subtle and clever. Abraham being confronted with a Walker who used to be a soldier clearly makes him hugely uncomfortable, as does the confrontation with the RPG Walker on the overpass. Both remind Abraham of how far off mission he is. The suicide note from the Walker in the office is especially affecting and Cudlitz plays the seething emotions – and Abraham’s inability to process them – with his customary subtlety and intelligence. This is something The Walking Dead has excelled at this season; examining the effect a colossal wave of emotion has on men who are conditioned to bottle it up. We’ve seen it in Rick, Morgan, to a lesser extent Daryl and now Abraham. It’s a brave topic for a show like this to cover and so far it’s nailed it every single time. This episode is no exception.

Subtler but no less impressive, Sasha’s arc this episode establishes Martin-Green as one of the faces of the show. Sasha has been where Abraham is, knows exactly what he’s feeling and knows exactly what needs to be done to snap him out of it. Her resigned, gentle, compassion is the same sort of natural authority we’ve seen from Michonne and it marks Sasha out as something she wasn’t before; a leader. Here’s hoping the show realises that and gives her more to do. Based on Martin-Green’s subtle, smart work here it’s way past time.

So that’s the good news; three underappreciated characters get lots of stuff to do and one plot set up at the start of the season is well and truly done.

The bad news is that we’re not entirely sure why. The trio that Daryl find, and their pursuers, seem to have a lot of backstory we don’t get. That certainly seems to suggest we’ll be meeting them again soon. After all, they’re not exactly hundreds of miles from Alexandria and sooner or later the groups will meet. In the meantime though, this episode feels leaves a nagging feeling of being a lot of set-up without very much pay-off.

It’s not bad, don’t think we’re saying that. In fact, the show does some of its best work when it reminds us of all the other stories out there in its world. But, right now it feels like we’re edging closer to the unnecessary detours from the main plot that other reviewers have accused the show of for weeks. Here’s hoping next week changes that. Right after we find out who’s calling for help of course…

The Good:

• Bellson’s script is a remarkably clever, subtle breakdown of survivor mentality, in three different flavours. Sasha’s lost almost everything and has found peace in still being alive. Abraham realises he’s off mission and drags himself back on and Daryl makes a good call for the right reasons and gets punished for it. The end result is an episode that shows us how morally complex this world is and how no one has the right answer all the time. Like last week, it’s a low-key affair but like last week it’s no less impressive for that.

• The cast. Because the principle cast is so large now, a cull is surely coming but I’m honestly not sure who you can afford to lose. Reedus does wounded, cautious compassion like few other people, Martin-Green has incredible natural authority and Cudlitz has just been handed some really fun new stuff to do with Abraham. Which probably means Abraham’s dead soon and that’d be a real shame. But regardless, brilliant acting all round this week.
• January’s direction works in two very distinct ways here. The enforced, locked in intimacy of Abrhama and Sasha is basically a one-act, one scene play. January gets out of the actors’ way and it works so much better for that. Meanwhile, the charred woods are a wonderful backdrop for a more expansive, but just as tense character study that benefits from added scope and, again, subtle direction.

The Bad:

• The trio of survivors who cause so much trouble are never named. That’s either a deliberate stylistic choice as we’ll meet them again later or slightly annoying.
• Likewise the group who ambush Team Zombie Wrangler. There’s some speculation they’re Wolves or Saviors but aren’t mad enough for the former or competent enough for the latter. Again, the episode goes to great lengths to anonymise them as much as possible. It’ll be interesting in future weeks to find out if that’s going to pay off.
• NO! Not Daryl’s bike and crossbow! This calls for redneck vengeance! Dixon SMASH!
• Glenn. For serious now, we need to know if he’s alive or dead.

The Random:

• Comic crossover! Sort of. This week’s episode features a “Tribute Walker”. In this case one that looks a lot like Bernie Wrightson’s classic design for gooey DC superhero, Swamp Thing.

• “Just gonna give it a last little polish.” The trajectory of Abe and Sasha across this half season is perfectly summed up here. She’s just come out of a pit of depression and rage, he’s sprinting towards it screaming “DO YOU WANT SOME?!”
• “Best way to find a tracker is to stay put.” Sasha has been forged by the hrrific events surrounding Bob and Tyreese’s deaths into an endlessly calm, fiercely competent human being. She’s the designated adult this episode.

• “If I’ve not got my psyche situated straight it’s because the shit’s continually been hitting the fan. Without respite.” Michael Cudlitz can growl glorious lines of over-articulate macho dialogue like no one on Earth. Bellson’s script does great things for both Abraham and Sasha throughout, but this entire scene is a season highlight so far.
• “…But if you have a roof over your head, you have food, you have walls? You have choices. And without Walkers and bullets and shit hitting the fan, you’re accountable for them. I mean hell you’re always accountable, it’s just with all that other noise, you know people won’t notice.” Very gently, and relentlessly, Sasha is pointing out Abraham has either suffered a psychotic break or is suicidal, or both. The direction on this scene is just staggering, Sasha absolutely still and calm, Abraham a seething mass of moustachioed rage.
• “Stand watch or sleep.” “The former. Straight through the night. We’ll reassess in the morning.” “What do you mean?” “What the HELL we’re doing here?” Bellson’s script is incredible for these two. Abe’s chest pounding military machismo is perfectly communicated by those short, proud responses. He’s taking command! He’s in control! Of nothing. And Sasha leaves him to realise that.
• “We knock you over the head, tie you up and threaten to kill you. Why the hell did you come back?” “…Maybe I’m stupid too” Daryl Dixon. Possibly the nicest man left alive.
• “Where did you get that?” “It is the fruit of some off the charts stupidity. Some grade A buttsteak idiocy.” “Self-awareness is a beautiful thing.” “Yes it is.” I would honestly watch an entire half season of these two being Mametian at each other.
• “I know this group, and I know Rick. And whatever happened back there is being managed and kicked right up into its own ass one way or another I know that. We got beer. And air conditioning. And WALLS. The table is set for the rest of our lives and I hope those years to be long and fruitful. I see that time before me and I’ve been feeling the urge to make some plays. Before the great cosmic Pete comes to cut my throat unceremoniously and I gurgle my last breath. Things are gonna go on for a while before that. That hadn’t occurred to me before. Been kinda living check to check on that point. I like the way you call bullshit, Sasha. I believe I’d like to get to know you a whole lot better.” “That one of your plays? What makes you think I want that?” “A man can tell.” “Well… you got some stuff to take care of.” “Yeah. I do.” I make no apology for very nearly this entire scene being quoted here because it’s brilliant writing, directing and acting. Michael Cudlitz and Sonequa Martin-Green are on incredible form throughout this episode but this is the hub around which the whole thing revolves. Cudlitz plays Abe’s rage, refusal to accept it and eventual almost zen-like acceptance of his trauma with a bearish, over-articulate humour that’s just stupidly charming. So charming, in fact, that you almost forget Abraham and Rosita are at least a little involved, and that Abraham chatting up Sasha is well within sight of creepy as a result. But it’s Martin-Green that lands the entire sequence. Those last few lines tell you everything about how different these two are, while Martin-Green’s performance tells you that what Abraham’s suggesting is most definitely not off the table. It’s sweet and funny and sad and complicated and it’s going to cause so much trouble. But it’s a pleasure to watch.
• “Ain’t nobody safe anymore. Can’t promise people that anyhow.” “You can promise the people who wanna hear it.” That, right there, is the difference between Rick’s people and everyone else. Rick’s team know they aren’t safe and act accordingly. Everyone else can’t face that truth and twist themselves into awful, awful knots to try and survive inside that lie.
• “I’m from a place, where people are still like they were. Better or worse. More or less.” Daryl doesn’t exactly sell it but this is as sincere, and as touching, a compliment as he can give. He thinks they’re worthy, so he offers them a spot. And pays dearly for it.

• Shot of the week: Daryl and his captors, walking through a field of burnt, still aware Walkers and not paying them any attention. The world of the show in one excellent, horrific shot.

Review by Alasdair Stuart

• Read more reviews of The Walking Dead season six

The Walking Dead S06E05 “Now” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on: FOX, Mondays, 9pm
Writer: Corey Reed
Director: Avi Youabian

Essential Plot Points:

• In the wake of the battle with the Wolves, Deanna climbs the wall to see if there’s any sign of the Quarry team. Nearby, Michonne breaks the news about Glenn to Maggie.

• Rick appears, sprinting towards the gate, pursued by the horde. He makes it inside but the town is now surrounded 20 deep.
• Rick tells the Alexandrians they can survive this but the town’s mood is shattered. Spencer barely stops a rush at the stores. Later, his mother congratulates him on it, only for a drunk Spencer to admit he did it to cover his own thievery.
• Deanna draws up a plan for how the town could become self-sustaining, including growing its own crops. She writes the phrase, “Dolor hic tibi proderit olim” on the plans – it translates as: “This pain will be useful”.

• Aaron sees Maggie prepping to go outside to look for Glenn as, nearby, Glenn and Nicholas’s names are added to the memorial wall. He tries to reason with her and finally shows her a way out through the sewers that may be easier.
• Carl and Ron get into an incredibly endearing and rubbish teenfight over whether or not Carl is going over the wall to look for Enid. Carl wins the fight. Ron threatens to tell. As a result, Ron wins the war.
• Jessie discovers an Alexandrian who’s killed herself rather than wait for the wall to come down. She euthanises the woman and then tells the stunned onlookers that things are different now and they have to adapt.
• Denise is still in the infirmary, disgusted at herself for not being able to save a dying patient. Tara arrives, gives her a brutally effective, Grimes-esque pep talk and Denise keeps working. She finds the solution, saves her patient and then finds and kisses Tara.

• Aaron and Maggie find the sewer exit is too close to the horde and are attacked by a pair of magnificently disgustingly rotted Walkers. They kill them and Maggie admits she’s pregnant, finally breaking down at the thought of losing Glenn.
• Deanna is attacked by a Walker who used to be a Wolf and died inside the fences. She stabs it to death with a bottle and, covered with blood, admits to Rick that she wants to live.
• As the episode finishes, Maggie and Aaron are cleaning Glenn and Nicholas’ names off the wall, Spencer is standing watch while eating stolen food and Rick and Jessie are kissing. Deanna walks up to the wall, pounds on it in defiance and then walks off. Unnoticed, blood seeps through a nearby slat…

Review:

Scott Gimple and the writers room on this show have nerves of steel. Any other team on the planet would have cut straight back to the fate of Glenn after last week’s Morganfest but not this one. No, they prod the bear for another week. The result is an episode that continues this ludicrously strong run of TV but does so by focusing on characters very few people are that interested in; the Alexandrians.

This is essentially the story of five Alexandrians; Deanna, Spencer, Aaron, Denise and Jessie and how they deal with their world ending. The fence still holds (for now…) but the illusion of safety the Alexandrians have laboured under is finally, and completely, shattered. They’re still the coddled, inexperienced cannon fodder Rick and co have had to work around for ages but now they’re aware of that and the result is fascinating.

Let’s start with Aaron. His confession that he inadvertently led the Wolves to Alexandria is brave, honest and the situation is so bad he may as well have not been talking. It’s an interesting position to be in and one that puts him next to Maggie in every way; both feel powerless, both feel like they’ve let people down, both want to make up for it. And they do, by not only trying to find Glenn but realising just how boxed in Alexandria is. It’s an interesting arc and one that Glenn fans will probably hate, with some reason. The episode flirts with closure there, but instead gives us Maggie opening up as Aaron reaches out. They bond in a way that few other characters have and their final scene is lovely. Maggie, in a moment of huge faith, wipes Glenn’s name from the memorial wall. Aaron does the same for Nicholas.

We know one of them is wrong. But both? Again, we’ll have to wait and see.

Which brings us to Spencer, who is both wrong and right. The only Alexandrian more clearly traumatised than his mum, Spencer has suddenly become one of the most interesting characters on the show. His passionate speech defending the store is brilliant. The fact he does it to cover his own thievery is even better. Hero? Villain? Neither. Spencer’s a survivor, something every Alexandrian will have to become.

Jessie’s changing too, as this episode shows. Her murder of an Alexandrian who kills herself rather than face the apparently inevitable end is difficult, ugly and clearly a line Jessie can’t cross back over. Like Spencer, she gives a big rousing speech. Unlike Spencer, she immediately begins trying to figure out if it was the right thing. Time and again, this show holds Rick up as the paragon of survivors but here it’s Rick who questions if Jessie’s okay. Again, she’s a survivor but she needs to be reminded that she’s more than that too.

Denise is trying to do the same thing: be more than she is. Her arc this episode is almost minimalist but it’s one of the most heartfelt. She refuses to leave her patient, even when she gives up on being able to save him. Because, when it comes down to it, she’s not given up. Denise is one of the bravest characters on the show and the courage to look her limitations in the eye and stare them down is at the core of her time in the episode. She’s not a doctor, not yet, but she’s what they’ve got and right now that’s good enough. Better still, she sees it is and her quiet little smile of triumph is one of my favourite moments in the show to date. Good job, doc.

But it’s Deanna who stays with you. Tohvah Feldshuh opens and closes the episode and it’s her face that becomes the embodiment of what the town goes through. She goes from numb and traumatised to frantic and, it’s implied, potentially suicidal. In fact, when Jessie kills the Walkers I first thought that was her.

But again she’s a survivor, even though she may not want to be. Her frantic dissection of a Walker and blood-stained defiance embodies not just her town but the corner it’s turned. Alexandria is going to fight to survive and there’s joy and pride in that. But, as the final shot shows, there’s blindness too. Is the wall cracking? If it is, she doesn’t see it. It’s a smart, mute testament to the Alexandrians; enthusiastic, good, hopelessly naïve people. They’re learning, but is it fast enough?

“Now” isn’t pacy, it doesn’t move any major plots along and it features very few main characters. Inevitably, it’s been criticised elsewhere as being a bad episode or filler and that’s neither fair nor accurate. It’s a typically clever script in a very strong season that provides welcome context for what’s to come. But for all that, it may be time to stop poking the bear.

Next week, we find out what’s been going on with Darryl, Sasha and Abraham. I’m sure they’ll be fine, right guys?

Guys?

The Good:

• Truth and consequences to quote another very odd episode of a very good show this week. This episode is the moment the Alexandrians stop being a liability and start working on surviving. It’s a vital narrative fulcrum for both the show and its supporting cast. Whether it should be placed where it is, well, we’ll get to that under The Bad.

• Deanna. I was honestly expecting this to be her last episode and the Alexandria map she lays out definitely looks like a preparatory last will and testament. But she’s not close to done yet and Tovah Feldshuh does amazing work showing us her journey this episode. The last time I saw this arc done this well was Mary McDonnell’s work on Battlestar Galactica. Feldshuh here is at least her equal and may just be edging ahead.
• Denise. I love that this episode we go back to her and she’s right where she was before. I love that she’s unconfident, that she doesn’t stop and that the possible relationship with Tara is dealt with so delicately. A really smart addition to a really strong cast.
• Spencer. Spencer’s speech at the stores is brilliant and subtle and heartfelt. His moment later where explains it was a cover for his own thievery is as heartbreaking as it is repellent. I love that the last time we see him is on the wall, having volunteered to take a shift, eating stolen crackers. He’s complex and difficult and interesting and more of him please.
• Weasly Ron, who really might have just saved Carl’s life. Or might be planning something. Or both.
• Jessie, now essentially alone in her house after her youngest son saw her murder that Wolf a couple of episodes ago. Again, she’s a compassionate, tough, brave community leader. She’s also a mom. She’s also a murderer. No one gets off easy in this show.

The Bad:

• No Carol, Michonne or Morgan. Although seeing Michonne break the news to Maggie about Glenn’s “death” (THERE IS HOPE!) from Deanna’s point of view was a nice touch.
• After last week’s Morgan-centric flashback some viewers are going to be justifiably annoyed that we get another episode playing coy around Glenn’s fate. That’s a fair criticism too and Scott Gimple’s playing a dangerous game of showmanship, in every sense, this season. But, so far, it’s working. But damn if they aren’t pushing their luck.

The Random:

• A lot of people are complaining that Deanna’s enthusiastic but unfocused stab fest at the Walker was ridiculous given how long she’s survived. On the surface it’s a fair criticism; even in Alexandria, they know to shoot or stab a Walker in the head.
• But her entire arc this episode is essentially Nicholas’s from “Thank You” just without the suicide. She sees all help die, sees her town surrounded and under siege and she withdraws, curls up as tight as she can in her mind and hopes it all goes away. The Walker shakes her out of it, forces her to fight and allows her to dump all the anger, rage and grief she’s bottled up out and onto its rotting frame. In that situation I’m not only surprised she wasn’t thinking clearly but amazed she isn’t still kicking its dead body.

• Alexandria as a base is paying dividends for how the show’s shot as well as its traumatised central characters. I like that we see the gate along the same approach Michonne and co came in through a couple of weeks ago. I also really like that we can have sequences like Aaron seeing Maggie prep, walk through to the remembrance wall and still have Maggie in the background. It gives the town a real sense of place and a feeling that this is somewhere worth fighting for.
• The slap fight between Carl and Ron is brilliant. No overblown choreography just two tired, scared teenagers flailing at one another.
• “The wall’s gonna hold together… can you?” You actually see Rick as a leader this episode which the show doesn’t always do. This speech is great, acknowledging what’s going on, putting a line in front of it and asking the Alexandrians to stand it with him.
• “Doing this will start us down a road where nothing matters. Where no one else matters. And then we’ll all look back at this moment right now as when we destroyed this place.” Such a great line and it makes Spencer’s arc this episode all the sadder.
• “I’ll tell your dad! He’ll go out there to find you then other people will too and then somebody’s gonna die. You saved my life now I’m saving yours.” This entire episode is about the Alexandrians waking up and smelling the ambulatory, carnivorous corpses. Ron is absolutely on the button here. Carl will go outside and die and get more people killed doing it. Or at least Ron believes that.
• “And if he’s dead I don’t wanna be waitin’ on him.” Maggie’s great this episode and this line in particular is her in a nutshell. Grieving, heartbroken, practical and looking at tomorrow.
• “I don’t get to know what will happen I don’t get to know why it happened I don’t get to know what I did right or wrong. Now I have to live with that and you do too.” And this one too. Maggie finally losing it, where no one but Aaron can see her, is all the more heartbreaking because of how tough she normally is.

• “It’s worth mentioning that Aaron, Erin, works for a boy or a girl. Depending on the spelling. Just saying.” And this is just adorable. Aaron gently needling this ridiculously tough, compassionate woman and having faith when she can’t bring herself to.
• “This is what life looks like now.” I love how this episode circles back around, with Spencer being both a liability and a hero and Jessie’s words getting back to Rick and, in turn, him calling her on it. The Alexandrians are finally starting to integrate and it’ll be interesting to see if the show lets the characters stay here not to mention how many it’s going to let live.

• Multiple kissings! This is the most romantic episode so far this season which – given it’s also the episode where Deanna beats a Walker to death with a broken bottle – speaks to the show’s versatility.

Review by Alasdair Stuart

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