Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Walking Dead S6E11 Knots Untie Recap/Review (Spoilers!): Confrontation is not an Issue


First thing: It was way too coincidental to find a doctor, and then to have the doctor be a specialist in obstetrics, that borders on lunacy.  Just a general practitioner would have been good enough to make sure the baby is born okay. It was an eye roll moment when he told them he was an OB.
This episode was pure setup for what is going to come next week (I hope). Though it looks like they may have to convince the Alexandrians to go to war with the Saviors. Setup or filler episodes don’t have to be bad. I still found the hour entertaining with the introduction to the Hilltop. Some of the best scenes tonight were between Maggie and Gregory. I liked that Rick acknowledged he wasn’t the one to be an ambassador. Gregory is instantly unlikeable. The polar opposite of Jesus. I wouldn’t be surprised if a betrayal from Gregory is coming in the near future. He might have sent someone to Negan as soon as Rick and the crew left. It’s hard to imagine they would forgive and forget so quickly right after Rick killed someone from their group.
The fight in the middle of the episode was fantastic. It was unexpected, quick and vicious. I didn’t expect Rick to act so quickly with the knife, but I’m not sure he had any other choice. Daryl once again proved how much of a badass he can be by breaking the guys arm. I know we have seen graphic violence on the show before, but it’s been a while since it’s been on live humans. It was a good way to introduce the problem the Hilltop has with Negan. The only other action piece was at the beginning. It was out of place and it again was too coincidental for the episode.
They have been in Alexandria for how long now? At least six months it would seem, and the other people in the group have been there longer. They haven’t encountered any of the other groups until this point? Then when they find Jesus and go to take him back, they magically come across people from his group in distress. Plus how can their group have no ammo and guns? If there is one thing in great supply in the south it is guns. I guess I can buy into Negan not allowing them to get guns and ammo, but it still seems implausible for the state of the world.
Along with the implausibility and coincidences my other issue tonight was the Abraham and his crisis of love. He’s falling in love with Sasha and doesn’t know what to do about Rosita. I’m thinking death either to him or one of them will make his decision for him. It felt out of place in tonight’s episode though. With the main story of meeting the new group, him having women trouble didn’t flow into the story. I guess with him almost dying he will decide to seize the day and go after Sasha.
The episode overall was still entertaining. The idea our band is becoming warriors for hire is an interesting concept for the show to take. They have become good at killing, and have been able to survive improbable situations. Now they get to use this skill to further their survival. War always comes with a cost, and while they are confident I’m thinking Negan will be a completely different kind of beast. The question is how much setup are we going to get before the actual war begins? How hard is it going be to convince Morgan this is the right course of action? He won’t be willing to go out and fight other people. Carol however will be coming up with a plan of attack. Their dynamic will come back in a huge way next week.
For me their debate is what is going to drive the show forward. Every life is precious or kill to protect yourself first. We saw tonight Rick, even though he was willing to accept Jesus, is still quick to protect himself and the group at any cost first. He has been burned too many times to not act quickly. Morgan won’t be able to sway Rick on a course of action, but it should be a good argument, with Carol leading the charge in the opposite direction. She’s like a crazy general, just begging to let the military loose on other countries. Attacking for something other than preservation of life is different though. It lowers the stakes, and it will be interesting to see how the group handles the new scenario.

As long as next week’s delivers, this episode set the stage for the conclusion to the season very well. The coincidences bothered me, but not enough to hate the episode. What did you think about tonight? Was is it a good filler/setup episode, or were you bored with not much happening? Comment and let me know. 

No comments:

Post a Comment