*Spoilers for this week’s episode*
Hope is an extremely intangible thing on The Walking Dead. The show has gone through four and a half seasons of offering Rick and his group of survivors hope only to take it away just as it seems near. So, after all that time and all that disappointment, how do you react to the possibly of actual hope?
That’s the big question Rick has to deal with this week as, Aaron, the overly friendly man who showed up at the end of the last episode, comes looking to ask the group to join his community. Rick isn’t convinced and ends up flat out punching the guy in the face before the opening credits even get a chance to roll.
Part of what is so enjoyable in this episode is the balance the show manages to strike. The episode portrays Rick’s skepticism well and doesn’t make it feel like he is purposely getting in the way of story progress while also managing to make Aaron seem on the up-and-up.
The most important thing in this episode is that, ultimately, Rick is wrong. Rick’s mistrust makes sense given what he’s been through but he ultimately has to admit that Aaron can be trusted, although not completely as he hides a gun before heading out to Aaron’s community.
Before we get to that point though Michonne, who is much more willing to believe the newcomer, takes a group out onto the road to find the vehicles Aaron says he and the other person with him took. The group finds them and tense up upon hearing some rustling in the woods, only to calm down upon realizing it’s a zombie. It’s a great moment to show where the group is at. They know what they’re getting when faced with zombies not so much with real people.
The group eventually decides to travel to the community but not on Aaron’s path, they’ll take another way, which Aaron believes to be a bad idea. He’s right on that part too as the road is plagued with zombies leading to a very fun, and bloody, sequence where Glenn drives through a horde of zombies spraying the car with their blood. It’s an interesting way of doing a paint job but I wouldn’t recommend it.
The car is trashed and the group has to travel on foot back to the RV with the rest of the group. Before they can come to a decision on where to go a flare goes off and the group believes Aaron’s group is signaling for an attack. He doesn’t help by freaking out and running off into the woods.
He’s saved from death by Glenn, who seems to want to believe him. The group follows the flare and we learn that Aaron’s boyfriend, Eric, is the other person, Aaron was telling the truth there too. With that all settled that group heads to Aaron’s community and the episode closes with Rick finally accepting the possibility that after so long, there might just be some hope after all.
After two episodes that slowed the pace down to take a look at some of the characters the show hits the pedal and brings us to a very interesting point. I’ll be curious to see where the show takes us next but I’m confident that we’ll finally be going somewhere new and hopefully the show takes full advantage of the opportunities of a new setting.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- The show introduced it’s first gay couple this week and I enjoyed the writers making their relationship seem as normal and loving as possible.
- Glenn narrowly avoids being bit by a zombie this week, that guy is starting to have as many near death experiences as Charlie from Lost.
- Zombie of the Week: Flare Zombie. He’s just a normal zombie at first but Rick shoots a flare gun into him and he becomes a fun, little fireworks show.
- “I dunno, man. This barn smells like horseshit.”
If you’d like to give me feedback or just chat about The Walking Dead you can email me at theSuperAlbino@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter @JesseSwanson