For better or worse, "The Walking Dead’s" formula for the past few years has relied heavily on splitting up its characters and devising storylines around them.
It gives us an opportunity to spend more time with our presumed favorites, and in this case, gives AMC another week to put off revealing what became of Glenn’s inauspicious predicament (or death).
Was that Glenn who said “help” at the end? We’re not supposed to know for sure. We’re just supposed to write and tweet about it for another week. "The Walking Dead" loves to leave us with cliffhangers. (I don't particularly like them.)
Typically, it’s Episode 7 when the storylines begin to merge, leading to an explosive finale in episode eight. We have that to look forward to next week. But for now, let’s talk about Daryl, Abraham and Sasha, whom we haven’t seen much of this season.
At the outset, the riders are separated when they’re fired on by another unknown group. It doesn’t really matter who they are -- at least not yet -- because their functional purpose was to split up Daryl from Abraham and Sasha.
Daryl is miraculously kidnapped by a trio who somehow haven’t figured out that they should probably have killed him up front. It’s unlikely, even if they thought he was from the group they were running from, they would hold him for ransom. Human life is cheaper than a loaf of bread in this world.
We learn of the trio’s trials and tribulations, the diabetic one dies, and Daryl lets his guard down enough to let them get the jump on him… again. This seemed out of character for the surviving member of the Dixon brothers. He seemed to catch on to the betrayals sooner than others might (he heard a sound and turned around before he was knocked out, and caught them pointing the gun in the mirror of his bike), but it didn’t seem like he was on his game.
One might argue that his time in Alexandria has tamed and dulled his senses, but according to the wiki timeline, they’ve only been there about two weeks.
So, Daryl lost his crossbow and his bike, but gained a large truck instead. Not a bad trade.
Meanwhile, Sasha and Abraham sit and wait for Daryl to find them -- because of course he’ll come back. He’s a good guy, and he always does the right thing. Even, perhaps, more than any other character on the show, Daryl has always done the right thing.
Sasha and Abraham seem to have worked out their individual death wish issues, and are coming around to the idea that they might be able to live decent lives. It’s hard to say what exactly helped them change, but perhaps it was recognizing it in each other that made them realize.
Maybe it was spending time in Alexandria, where there’s “beer, air conditioning and walls.”
Rating: 2/4 katanas. I’m not really sure what the point of this episode was, other than to bide time until they reveal what happened with Glenn and how the Alexandrians will deal with the walker mosh pit.
Afterthoughts:
- style="font-weight: 400;">I was surprised someone with diabetes would have made it this long past the outbreak.
- style="font-weight: 400;">Not to be morbid, but I like when they amputate limbs after a bite. It’s one of the more realistic things that we see on the show.
- style="font-weight: 400;">What’s not so realistic -- unless you’re playing a video game -- is finding a rocket launcher and a crate of rockets. Super convenient.
- style="font-weight: 400;">Abraham totally has the best writers, like Wolverine in the X-men movies. Every line is a great one-liner.
Quotable:
- style="font-weight: 400;">“You don’t say s--t, I won’t kill you.”
- style="font-weight: 400;">“Just about took my arm off on the road to paradise.”
- style="font-weight: 400;">“Self-awareness is a beautiful thing.”
- style="font-weight: 400;">“People will trade anything for safety.”
- style="font-weight: 400;">“I like the way you call bulls--t, Sasha. I believe I’d like to get to know you a whole lot better.”
- style="font-weight: 400;">“Ain’t no going back.”
- style="font-weight: 400;">“Loose ends make my ass itch.”
Lingering questions
- style="font-weight: 400;">No answers for #GlennWatch, or #EnidWatch, for that matter. Was it Glenn who said “Help” at the end?
- style="font-weight: 400;">Will Abraham and Sasha hook up? They were hinting at it, if I’m not mistaken.
- style="font-weight: 400;">Will Daryl get his crossbow back? (Probably)
Leave it in the comments and follow on Twitter at @TheShamWow for commentary during the episodes.
