In my recap of last week’s episode I had some mild disappointment
for the season opener not topping the first episode of season five for action
and gruesomeness. Little did I know the showrunners where just holding back for
the second episode of the season. Leaving off from last week I figured we would
get an hour long zombie kill fest for episode two. When they started out with
Enid’s storyline I wasn’t sure what to think, and then they backed that up with
more setup before the horn sounded. What I did not expect was wolves within the
walls brutally murdering the citizens of Alexandria.
Starting off the episode with Enid and her backstory was an interesting
start to the episode, and I’m guessing she is going to play a bigger role later
on in the series. Her transformation in just a few short minutes at the start
of the episode was nothing short of amazing. Now is it believable that she was
able to survive on her own for however long? Not sure, but the framing and
telling of the story didn’t make me question the decision. Her scene with the
turtle was raw and believable. It was framed in a way to showcase her looking
like a walker. It shows just how far this young girl came in a short amount of
time. It would not have been surprising for someone to happen upon her at that
moment and think she was a walker. I almost expected it to happen, and for that
to be the way she was brought into Alexandria. Showing she walked and found the
town, and then decided to leave tonight was a nice bookend to the episode.
Carol tonight was the true star. At the start of the episode
she is still in full homemaker mode, and she quickly turns into bad ass at the
drop of a hat. Calling her a hero at the start of the episode was a good use of
foreshadowing of things to come. The use
of the cooking timer was brilliant. She started it and at the end of the episode it went off showing
just how short amount of time had passed. In that short amount of time, everything
for the town had changed. Her quickly realizing what was going on, and taking
action is what has made her a fan favorite on the show for the past three
seasons. From the first season she has had the most stunning character growth of
almost anyone on the show. She is as cold blooded as the wolves she is hunting.
It is the only way she thinks she can survive, and she is probably correct in
this thinking.
On the opposite side of Carol’s way of thinking is Morgan.
He is the only person from the group who is herding the large group of walkers
who makes it back. Morgan is the counter balance to Carol in this episode. He is
also a hero, but he is still trying to save the wolves and not kill them. He doesn’t
hesitate to kill walkers, but at every opportunity he tries to encourage the
wolves to run. One of the best exchanges in the episode is after Morgan saves Gabriel
and has tied up one of the wolves. Carol walks up and shoots him in the head.
Methodical and necessary, she sees no reason to show them any quarter. Morgan feels differently and lets some of the
wolves go. In fact this is the second time he did not kill a particular member
of their gang. He warned them off and told them not to come back. The end of
the episode is a bit of a mystery. Did he end up killing the wolf in the house,
or did he just knock them out? It sounded like he killed him with the apology,
but we will just have to wait and find out.
The wolves of the episode are terrifying. The fact they were
able to quickly enter the town and mutilate and kill so many town members was
stunning and horrifying. The way they kept hacking and disfiguring bodies added
to the terror of the episode. The way this season has been set up is brilliant.
We have a new gang of enemies for our group to defend against, along with the
always present zombies. The next episode looks to flash back to Rick and the
others trying to get the herd of walkers back on the road. I am guessing they
are able to manage it to a degree or a ton of walkers would have been showing
up at the town during this episode.
This is probably my only complaint about the episode, and
extremely small and nitpicky. I
understand wanting to separate the two storylines, but it would have been nice
to at least get an update about the other group. As quick as Morgan made it
back to the town, the others should had been able to make it back as well. Only
when seeing a tease for next week did I realize they must have been able to reorganize
the herd to try and drive it from the town. The horn didn’t go off for that
long of a time, so they may have been able to distract them again. We will just
have to wait until next week and see. I just kept expecting the rest of the
team to show up, and was surprised when they didn’t.
Usually a director for a television show doesn’t leave their
mark on an episode. Most of the time each episode follows the same type of flow
and feel, however Jennifer
Chambers Lynch put a firm stamp on tonight’s installment. The framing and
shot selection tonight really stood out. Showing the wolves hack away, without
showing the gore was masterfully done. It had the same gruesome effect as
showing the body being mutilated. The shots of blood splatter, pools of blood,
and blood running just heightened the feelings of tragedy for the episode. The feeling
of devastation leaked through and the evolving changes coming to the town keep
happening at a rapid pace.
I speculated last
week that Glen is being setup to be a leader to the entire community. With the
way Maggie was able to take charge, they may both become co-leaders of the
entire group. They both still have their humanity and Deanna is obviously
unable to cope with the way the true world works. Her whole life has crumbled
around her in a few weeks. Rick is too ruthless at the moment to lead the
entire group, but Maggie and Glen are a good blend to unite everyone.
It was a fantastic second episode and one of my favorites
from the entire series. The setup and then the unexpected action was an
excellent way to pace the episode. The first two episodes of the season have
been great and are upping the ante on what is going to happen next. I know some
filler character episodes are coming, but for now they are front loading the
season with tons of action and high impact drama. Is it next Sunday yet??
Tell me what you thought of the second episode of season
six? Did you think it was as fantastic as I did? I was stretching to find
something wrong tonight, how about you? Like, share, and share please and
thanks!!
No comments:
Post a Comment