Hi everyone. welcome back to RetroZap discussing The Walking Dead. Please know that from this point forward, there will be full, in-depth discussion of the episode. I’ve read every issue of the comics, every page of the novels, and every moment of the Telltale game series, but I won’t spoil anything for you.
“No Way Out”
Directed by Greg Nicotero
The mid-sixth season premiere (because that’s a thing now) of The Walking Dead was perhaps of one of the finest episodes in the series, and it should be. If it felt like the stakes were raised, they were. If it felt like things have taken a right turn, they have. And yeah, if it felt like this might be a turning point in the story, well….yes–the epic events of this episode mark a historic turning point for Rick and the Alexandria community.
If there was any doubt about if the group was splitting up–again–and going back to small groups in the wilderness, it was squashed like a walker head in the streets of Alexandria. There was no way this group could survive by going backward; if the end of season five presented anything, it was that all the road could provide at this point in the apocalypse was starvation, brutality, and death. No, there was truly no way out of Alexandria literally, and figuratively there was no way out of their predicament in a figurative sense as well. Either Alexandria works, or there is absolutely no hope, and all grinds to an increasingly slow halt after a protracted struggle.
“Faith without works is dead.”
After all the speeches, and meetings, and urgent requests to come together as a community, it took the unwitting, insane action of Rick to step out and fight the walker army alone to stir these fearful, coddled inhabitants into becoming true survivors. Rick fought against them without hope, in a vengeful blood rage because there was nothing else he could do while the life of his son hung in the balance. The walkers were coming for the infirmary; it was all he could do. Rick was like a karate-ka kicking in the surf in hope of conquering the ocean; in reality, that ocean was responsible for forging a community. It was a moment of triumph for this show–a significant thing in a series that constantly beats down upon their characters. Gabriel finally stepped up; Heath, Aaron and company got in the fray; even Eugene put down his cowardly ways for something greater. Together, there was an interminable spirit that they could do this, and it was the deciding factor in victory. They just kept on hacking, and hacking, and hacking, and hacking, until the dead were destroyed. There was something right about this spirit; it was heroism, it was conviction, it was just plain awesome. Sometimes, a great story doesn’t need a twist or gratuitous suffering to be great. Sometimes, it just needs to let its characters rise, overcome, and move forward. With Alexandria finding its courage and coming together, Rick now has a true community behind him, and it truly is a whole new world for him, and for the show, and for the viewers. Nothing will ever be the same.
Negan
Ah yes, Negan’s gang. This one surprised me quite a bit, because this skewed farther from the comics than anything else in the episode. It was surprising to see such charisma come from the lieutenant of this small band of bikers, but then again, he’s one of Negan’s guys, so I suppose that’s all you need to know. That kind of casual, effortless cruelty and sadistic enjoyment stemming from control over Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham foreshadow what’s to come from Negan and company. Although the went out with a bang in the opening minutes of this episode, you can be sure this is the first shot in a new war. How do I know? Just listen to the music. They are saved and out of danger, but all that is heard is ominous, foreboding, and dangerous. Stay tuned.
Eye for an Eye
It takes guts to fight an army of walkers; it takes guts of another kind to smear zombie offal all over yourself to evade walkers. It’s a disgusting but neat trick. I liken it to polyjuice potion in Harry Potter; it’s the technique that you can go to in nearly every situation and ask, “well, why didn’t they just do the guts thing?” And, just like polyjuice, it is disgusting as a narrative deterrent. But on a deeper level, the time for hiding under guts is over. There’s a kind of surrender that comes when people decide to stop fighting their foes head on and instead stitch to evasion and infiltration. It’s the surrender of the idea that the foe can be defeated. For years, the characters of The Walking Dead have operated on this basis, but as it was exhibited in this episode, it cannot work anymore. Alexandria can no longer survive hiding in plain sight just as Rick, Carl, Ron, Sam, and Jessie cannot either. They need to shed their exterior guts and find their internal ones in order to earn their right to put their feet on sovereign ground.
However, while so much badassery was going down, there needs to be some stock taken in the fact that Carl was shot IN THE FACE. At best, one of his eyes is gone and he is horribly disfigured. At worst, he could die, or be braindead, or some other state that’s technically alive but not living. I’m very, very happy that the show production decided to “go there” in terms of the Carl shot; the future of The Walking Dead wouldn’t work without this moment. The implications have just begun to be felt.
Is the Wolf even worth discussing at this point? So, Morgan was proven wrong. He knows that now. Denise found courage as well, and the Wolf got killed expeditiously. His time is over, anyway. Whoever the wolves are, or were, is rather insignificant in comparison to the challenges Alexandria will face moving forward. Good riddance to the Wolves.
Actually, take a second look at things. Is it possible Denise helped the Wolf change? Why was he so intent on helping her? He spent his last moments in clarity, working with her as team…and then the vengeful angel of Carol decides to wipe him out. It’s her M.O., and typically a good one, but one had to wonder about where this character would have gone if not in the sights of one Carol.
Finally, music in this episode was off the charts good. Pulse thumping cadences, soaring single-note tunes, chaotic strings all blend together to not only help the viewer feel what is on screen, but to also tell the story of the episode through music as well. It drives and drives and drives to the climax that is as intense and take-no-prisoners in its execution as anything ever on television. Indeed, no one got to clock out in the episode, as Eugene says. If the premiere sets the tone for the season, then buckle up: the line for the roller coaster starts here.
Welcome to The Walking Dead. Your old show is gone; this series has been born anew in a lake of fire.
Joseph Tavano is the owner and editor in chief of RetroZap. Born just months before Luke found out who his father was, he has been fortunate to have had Star Wars in his life as long as he can remember. Growing up just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, he can remember substituting sticks for lightsabers and BMX bikes for speeders. He loves comics, retro games, vintage sci-fi paperbacks, and maps. Though an accomplished drummer, he doesn’t crave adventure (as much) any more, and prefers his old haunts north of Boston, Massachusetts, where he resides with his family. Buy him a glass of whiskey and he’ll return it in kind.