The Walking Dead – The Next World – Review

2.1K

Nobody messes with the Jesus! Well, except Daryl and Rick.

Warning: This article will go into great detail into “The Next World,” the season six episode of The Walking Dead.

Hi everyone. Welcome to chapter two of The Walking Dead. That’s right, Lauren Cohen was serious when she said that this show is just beginning. Unlike most serial storytelling, which runs out of gas well before season six (ahem, L O S T; ahem, X-Files; ahem, Dexter), this story is only warming up. It’s the mark of great serial storytelling; the story reinvents itself while you weren’t looking, and all of a sudden, without noticing, your favorite storyline has been renewed with new ideas, new characters, and new possibilities that would be inconceivable at any point in the past–yet feel like a perfectly plausible eventuality. Bravo, Robert Kirkman, you are a bard, you are a storyteller, you are a master of the craft.

So here we are, years after the first episode, just starting the second major chapter of the story. Welcome the “The Next World.”

Per Danai Guerra, two months have passed since the night that the Alexandrians woke up and discovered they are strong. Things seem to have indeed become better after they got worse. Carl is alright; wounded and bandaged, but alright. He’s even doing physical therapy with a tennis ball! Things don’t look all that bad. That physical therapy points to a major change in this series. People are thinking about healing. About getting better. About moving forward. It’s a stark shift from the bare, primal survival that the group has found themselves in time and time again. One has to wonder if this is really it? Will they ever be on the road again, feral, divorced from the creature comforts they are enjoying now like showers, electricity, and music? It’s hard to say, but it doesn’t look like they’re about to any time soon.

On the other hand, Daryl has become so pleasantly uncomfortable among the civilized people of Alexandria. Daryl is again the counterpoint to Rick; the two cannot seem to ever be on the same side of the coin. Daryl is the again the skeptic and the one without hope, and Rick is renewed with a sense of purpose and drive. I think this is going to stick this time, however. Daryl in Alexandria is a beautiful juxtaposition of the feral world of the “immediate apocalypse” and “the next world,” whatever that turns out to be.

In the midst of this juxtaposition is Rick playing some real twangy music, Denise looking for some Orange Crush “pop,” and Eugene using his prodigious knowledge to try to harvest sorghum so everything could be hunky dunky.

Hunky dunky indeed. Why have they found no one in their daily searches after literally blowing up Negan’s spot? Who is watching? who is waiting? Is there a reason for the dead calm (ha!)? Six years of this show tells me yes, and it doesn’t have to do with the law of averages.

Indeed, another sign that thing are hunky dunky is that there are walkers pinned just outside the gates, with no one in a great hurry to clear them out. This is a community that is very comfortable in its own skin now. It knows how to deal with walkers. Even Eugene isn’t even all too worried about them! For now, the dead are not exactly a threat to this community.

Maggie looks different. Gorgeous, but different. Her eyes are clear, she’s not grieving for her dad or sister or anyone else, she is unburdened from survival and doesn’t need to spend all her time finding Glenn. So basically, this is Maggie in a sitch she hasn’t yet been in on this series. Who will she become? In her brief interaction with Enid, I see a mentor. I see someone with some experience and wisdom. I see a lot of potential.

Speaking of Enid, it’s clear that she and Carl are questioning their roles in the community after the night of gore. They’re trying to fall back into the roles of being “the kids” of the group, doing things that kids do “because that’s what kids do.” But it isn’t working. They’re like square pegs in round holes. So, while Carl remains the adaptable young man, Enid sees through the charade. It’s also possible that se just wanted to read Carl’s ish of Invincible. Either way, Carl and Enid have a lot to figure out moving forward. Teenage years are difficult, but after slaying tons of zombies, it’s clear they just get more complicated.

Case in point: what do you do when someone you love dies in the zombie apocalypse? When they reanimate, who puts them down? What do you do when you know your dead mother is roaming about? See–it’s pretty complicated. Carl has a good idea about decency in the next world. Unlike Michonne, who is satisfied to put down all walkers asap or just run, Carl understand that the body holds power over those who are still alive; Spencer had to reconcile the death of Deanna by putting her to rest. As Carl explains it, it had to be done by someone who loved her. As Carl explains it, he lets Michonne know he loves her, too. It’s a beautiful moment between these two characters that have come a long way individually and together. There are new mores about death in the next world, and they matter.

Enter: Paul Monroe, a.k.a. Jesus. So what do you think? Do you trust him? Yeah, neither did I. I mean, how many times does a Walking Dead fan need to be burned by trusting people? At best, he’s like the Governor. At worst, he’s  cannibal or a claimer or a wolf or something else.

Is he in cahoots with Negan? Hard to say. He can lie, he can evade, and he can fight–well. But he doesn’t seem so bad, even when he’s stealing Rick and Daryl’s loot truck. For one thing, he never once put Rick and Daryl in harm’s way; in fact he too great strides, even while fighting with them, to make sure they were safe. He even implores Rick to talk to him! Doesn’t exactly seem like villain material. Or does he?

Ok. If Jesus is a villain, he’s the scariest kind of all: he’s the kind you can’t really tell is evil; the devil in disguise. A person like that could ruin everything. I don’t blame Rick and Daryl treating him as they did.

Then again, there WAS  Aaron, and look how that went. If not for Aaron, Rick and the group would be dead by now. Perhaps there’s more to Jesus than meets the eye. In fact, I’ll guarantee that. The fate of the truck tells me so. It’s a clear symbol of the three men’s inability to talk and cooperate. Their fighting literally destroys the loot van.

So, what does this all mean? Were Rick and Daryl wrong to treat Jesus the way they did? Should they have let him talk? Well, an old proverb says that people show their colors when things are going well. Who are Rick and Daryl to leave a man tied up in the wild? It’s a death sentence, and they thought nothing of it. It wasn’t the right move, and I think Jesus has a lot of explaining to do. Looks like we’ll see that next week.

In the end, Rick and Michonne finally hook up over a pack of mints. It was a tender moment, beautifully acted. Good luck you crazy kids.

For the Comic Readers

Warning–DO NOT READ unless you’re caught up with The Walking Dead comics.

Ok everyone, how great was the introduction of Jesus! I think he’s perfect, and can’t wait to see more of him.

So, if I were a betting man, I’d guess that Enid is the new Sophia and Michonne is the new Andrea. Very nice work, TWD writers, although I may miss Michonne with Morgan and Michonne with a tiger. With so much at play in this episode, I’m full-on excited to see what is going to happen in TWD.

Oh yeah, this image moves on TV, and Rick and Michonne are holding hands. Hiding in plain sight for weeks!