Sunday, March 27, 2016

The Walking Dead S6E15 East Recap/Review (Spoilers!): Tense


All episode I was waiting for the shoe to drop.
East was the setup for the big finale next week. It did its job well by leaving some of the biggest characters of the show in very perilous situations. At this point in the show you are either invested in the characters or you’ve stopped watching. You want to know what happens to these people and how they can continue to survive after the end of the world. It’s watching how they survive, and how they interact with the world around them which keeps me watching. I want to know if Daryl is going to be the one who meets Negan’s bat in the finale and not Glenn. I want to know if Maggie is able to have her baby. I want to know if Morgan can find and save Carol and bring her back, and show her that she can live in Alexandria and not have to kill.
The show has me hooked, and this episode kept me on the edge of my seat the entire sixty minutes waiting to see what was going to happen next. The entire episode was tense, from the time Daryl left the compound until he was shot and blood exploded onto the camera. The scene with Carol and the Saviors at the car was a microcosm of the entire episode. A slow standoff until she has to do what she doesn’t want to. She left so she wouldn’t have to kill for Alexandria and she can’t even make it down the road before having to do it again for the safety of the town. The fantastic thing about Carol is how she can switch between the sweet helpless mom to the complete ruthless killer. Carol is struggling with being able to do this now, because of how she saw the Wolf change. She killed him and she didn’t need too. She is questioning herself. She knew she had to kill the Saviors, but she was begging them to leave so she wouldn’t have too. Those weren’t fake tears, those tears were for what she was going to have to do again. For this scene to be in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the show set the stage for the rest of the episode.
The only part of the episode which didn’t hit home for me was the very beginning. I like the opening sequence with the song, but the pillow talk with Michonne and Rick wasn’t needed. The audience knows events are set in motion which will cause Alexandria to be in peril. We don’t need Rick and Michonne talking about how they can survive anything thrown at them. We know bad things are about to happen, there is no reason to have Rick tell us everything is going to be okay. We know they are confident and think they can take on The Saviors, but pride always comes before the fall. The audience, in my opinion, didn’t need this scene and it could have been used highlighting another member of the group, maybe Daryl before he set out to confront the people who killed Denise. Other than showing Maggie having trouble with the baby, which was something else I felt was just thrown in, nothing else in the episode missed.
My favorite character of the show is Morgan, and his interaction with Rick was, for me, the best part of the episode. I love that he stated what he does isn’t right, but it’s what keeps him from doing the wrong. He knows that killing is sometimes necessary, but he can’t because it isn’t right for him, and he truly believes anyone can come back and be human again. The Wolf’s actions proved this to him, and caused Carol to question her actions in the world. Which is why I think Morgan feels he has to be the one to bring her back. He knows he helped cause her distress and he wants to help. I think next season we will see Carol take on Morgan’s ideal of everyone needs a chance. I’m not sure if Morgan will make it out of the finale, but if he does he will start to train Carol in Aikido.
The other party outside of the gates looks to be in a big heap of trouble. Daryl goes off stupidly because he wants to enact revenge, and I think it will lead to his death. I don’t think he’s dead yet, but I do think he will be the one to get beaten with Negan’s bat. When The Savior told him he would be alright, I do think he meant it, I just don’t think he will be okay for long. Glenn has been a red herring all season. He should have died in the third episode, and since they didn’t do it then I don’t think they will kill him like they do in the comics. I don’t read the comics, but I know about Glenn’s death. It’s that major of a death in the comics, and I think the show wants to have the same impact for this finale. Whose death on the show would cause the most grief and anguish for the fans? I think it is Daryl. A major essential character or two has to die in the finale, and I think Daryl will be the one sacrificed. My prediction after tonight would be for Morgan (maybe Carol though) and Daryl to be the ones who will not be back for season seven. Someone from each group who left the safety of Alexandria won’t make it back to the walls safely.

What did you think of the penultimate episode for season six? Did you find it as tense as I did? Did it do the job of setting up the finale?  Who won’t make it out of the finale? Daryl or someone else? Comment and let me know.

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