Monday, March 2, 2015

The Walking Dead: Season 5 Episode 12 - Remember


Hello everyone and welcome back to The Walking Dead.  We have arrived at the gated community of Alexandria.  There is electricity, there is running water, there are no walkers inside.  Show is over, right?  What could possibly go wrong!?  Well, we certainly found out where there is potential for conflict!  It was another great episode on a streak of great ones.  Let's dive in and discuss.

Discussion Points
  • The crew remained skeptical as they entered Alexandria.  They were met with some of the folks demanding the crew's weapons.  Aaron tried to vouch for Rick and the gang and said he should talk to Deanna before the crew makes any decisions.  
  • Daryl's behavior in the episode was warranted but hysterical at the same time.  I love that he shot the possum and said, "we brought dinner."  
  • So throughout the episode we see Deanna recording interviews with Rick and his crew.  It started with Rick.  We find out that Deanna was a congresswoman married to an architectural engineer.  They found this community already set up for a disaster and then got the materials for the walls and other supplies from a nearby shopping mall.   Maybe I missed a line or 2 (or misinterpreted), but did anyone find it odd that she said this community was established for a crisis?  Almost like some government official knew that this outbreak was coming?  I'm fairly sure the comic never really speaks to the origin of the plague (note: It might be what the spinoff show is about), so I'm not sure if this line was added in the show for TV purposes.  Anyway, maybe she just meant the community was well suited for surviving the outbreak.  
  • Deanna mentioned that Rick's group is the first group they ever considered letting in.  They want people with experience living in that world and have been watching Rick and crew for awhile.  (Still don't know how long, and maybe it's not important)
  • Rick made a comment during this interview about how Deanna never should've opened their gates.  This new world is about survival and anyone coming in will be looking for weaknesses. I certainly considered Rick was flat out being honest about his intentions here.  After Terminus and The Governor, they have been hinting that Rick and crew are no different than anyone else.  When it comes to protecting their own people, there are no limits to what should be done. 
  • So, with that everyone turned in their guns, accepted job assignments from Deanna and scoped out the town.   Carol's whole act in Alexandria is hysterical.  First, her facial expressions while handing over her zillion guns and then her lies she told to Deanna about loving her husband and being a Suzy Homemaker for the group.  Her job in town will be taking care of the elderly and she's dressing the part.  
  • I did find it funny that Daryl and Michonne somehow kept their weapons.  Daryl certainly remained the most skeptical of the place and refused to even shower.  Speaking of, Rick finally ditched the beard!  Andrew Lincoln confirmed on Talking Dead that he actually was shaving his real beard on camera.  The scruff had returned by morning though and I'm sure that's where it'll stay for now.  Everyone loves a good scruff on these gritty TV shows.  
  • Conveniently, local girl Jessie comes to visit and is a former hair stylist.  She gets right to work on Rick's hair and some bonding.  Naturally, any supporters of the Rick/Michonne potential pairing will not be thrilled with this development.   If anyone is wondering why this actress looks familiar, I believe she was the younger version of the maid in season 1 of American Horror Story.   Jessie has a son about Carl's age and really wants them to meet.  
  • Carl went ahead and did meet the teens of the area.  I don't remember the names of the guys except that they came on pretty strongly about life in Alexandria. Video Games, school stuff, etc...  But there is a girl that's only been there for 3 months named Enid.  She is pretty distant from Carl during the whole encounter.  But, Carl's reaction to some of the discussion caught her eye.  Maybe she identifies with him more.  Maybe there's a spark of something else brewing.   But Enid has her own shady things going on, which naturally has caught shady Carl's interest.  I'm skipping ahead, but she found a way to climb the wall out of town to go somewhere.  And it would seem Carl followed her.  Unless we missed a scene where Carl joined Rick outside the gates.  
  • There were some pretty big bonding moments for Rick's crew.  Apparently, they were assigned houses all over town, separate from each other.  But, for at least the first couple nights they stayed together as a family in Rick's living room.  Rick and Michonne had some discussions about how they are doing the right thing feeling the place and people out.  But, Michonne is still staying the most positive of the group.  
  • Rick went for a walk at night, still skeptical of the town.  And of course he ran into self-proclaimed and audience confirmed "D.B." Aidan.  Apparently Jessie is his wife.  So, we already have some potential Rick antagonism established!  
  • It just gets better when Glenn, Tara and Noah go on a "mock run" outside the gates with Aidan and one of the other dudes.  We found out that they cleared a 50 mile radius around the town and I believe their goal is to keep expanding that radius.  (Doesn't really explain the walker approaching the gates in the opening scene then.)  
  • Aidan speaks to how they are potential replacements for another crew who were killed on a previous run.  They captured the walker that killed them and apparently have been torturing the thing as revenge.  The walker got away, but they threw caution into the wind by whistling and making it comeback.   Glenn and crew were not thrilled with these tactics.  It almost got Tara killed until Glenn stabbed the walker in the brains and finished it.  Aidan flipped his lid and fired all 3 of them from the team on the spot.  
  • It was pretty clear from this episode and the scenes with Aidan that apparently not everyone in town was on board with bringing Rick and crew in.  And this is where the conflict will probably rise.  Once they got back inside the gates Glenn and Aidan have a public altercation where Glenn pretty much accused Aidan's sloppy strategies as the reason the previous people got killed.  He said they should leave the missions outside the gate to people with actual experience.   Aidan eventually takes a swing at Glenn which he dodges.  Glenn doesn't miss with his retaliation and hits Aidan square in the face.  Tensions rise, Rick and his crew come out, other pedestrians move closer to the activity.  And Deanna breaks the whole thing up.  It basically boils down to Deanna telling the whole community that Rick and his crew are staying.  By her tone, it certainly sounded like Aidan wasn't alone in protesting them being here.  
  • It goes one step further when Deanna offers the job of Constable to Rick.  (This just immediately made me think of Constable Bob on Justified)  She also offered the job to Michonne, I guess as Rick's #2.  They both accept.  At this Daryl storms off like he was told he can't have dessert because he didn't eat his veggies.
  • Deanna showed her disdain (or at least pretended at having disdain) for Aaron by thanking Glenn for giving him what he deserved.  This caught a smirk from Maggie who saw her man be a MAN!  
  • The final scene of the episode was the most telling of Rick's plan.  Rick comes outside of his house in his cop uniform and meets up with Michonne, Carol and Daryl.  He says he's trying it on for size and that everyone should settle in and move into their homes.  Carol repeated something Carl said earlier.  If they get comfortable they'll get weaker.  Rick disagreed.  They've been there and will never get there again.  They will keep their guard up.  And if there are any issues with the people of this town, they'll just take the town for their own.  NIIIIIIIICE!
We knew Rick couldn't just give in without a plan, right?  Why wouldn't they check out this town?  It's what they've been looking for.  A safe haven.  But, they want it to be on their terms.  Of course, I foresee an interesting chess match between Rick and Deanna over the rest of this season (and maybe beyond).  For instance, why is she so trusting of Rick?  She made him sheriff of a town of people where potentially many of them may not even want to listen to him?  Surely, more will be revealed as our crew tries to assimilate into daily life in Alexandria.  And we'll anxiously await the other shoe to drop!  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!  

13 comments:

MJ said...

Daryl sure is a fish out of water. Let's face it - he would never have been comfortable in a place like this even without the zombie apocolypse. Possum was very funny . Carol was hysterical - acting all nicey-nice and like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "I miss Ed every day". What I found confusing was I thought Deanna said she lost her family ? Must have misheard. Odd that the diagonly supports on the walls are outside the town. They could be removed by others then. Wouldn't you want to support that wall from the inside ? On TD Huth stated that the tapes were available for anyone in town to watch. I don't reacall Deanna saying the town was built for disaster - but I could have missed or just forgotten it.

Interesting how Rick noted that any new people are looking for weaknesses to exploit - then at the end says if they can't make this work then they will just take the town. Very un-Rick like but I guess he's been burned too many times to keep playing mr. nice. So is that the next big emotional lcrisis ? Do you become like those who have screwed you to survive ?

Wonder why Deanna's word is like law ? So far she seems to want to be fair - chosing Glenn's side over her son. But we'll see. As for the weapons - they only collected guns - they all still have knives so it makes sense that Daryl and Michonne kept the sword/cross bow. I was assuming that someone from town took the gun Rick hid but on TD they brought up that maybe it was people who'd been exiled ?

So if this group is the first they have let it then how is Enid new ?? Did they all get a house ? I thought the group was given the 2 houses side by side ? LOL on Constable Bob !

MJ said...

EW had a very good point - our group do look very swaggery and dangerous now. Also they were right - the priest was no where in sight and I did not even notice that. Noah seemed to be walking much better. Meant to mention - how scary was Carl when he matter of factly stated he killed him mom ?? Not to nit-pick - I get that they have solar power and their own water supply - but they still have shaving cream and tooth paste ? LOL I know they go on runs but those places they are going should be pretty empty now for a long time - just like all the places our group were finding in GA. Just saying.


Leslie said...

Daryl bringing dinner was great, but I kinda felt bad for him in this episode. I do hope he takes advantage of the shower though! They did just turn over their guns. And, they did say they were given two houses side by side.

Deanna said to Rick that she was pretty good at reading people, but it seemed Carol fooled her with her story! I wonder if Carol came up with that on the spot or had they talked about it? Also, just an observation that the guys hair keeps getting longer, but Carol's hair has stayed short. Laughed when Daryl told Carol she looked ridiculous!

MJ, I didn't think about Enid being new even though Deanna said Rick's group was the first being considered. Interesting!

You guys didn't mention the gross walker of the episode with Tara pulling his skin off in that struggle!

Mike V. said...

Becoming like the others - Yeah, I think that's one of the themes this season. That was what the dude in the beginning of season 5 (Gareth?) was saying. They were once normal people too...driven to these limits to protect their own. I think the guy talking to Tyreese said a lot of the same stuff too. They aren't much different. And now we're seeing the evolution for Rick and crew. Now..will they actually act on that ultimate suggestion by Rick? TBD.

I could be totally wrong about the "built for survival" thing. I could've sworn I heard her say it.

Totally missed that Aidan was Deanna's son. That's a big miss!

I thought the same thing about Enid too...weird.

Supplies - I just assumed they raided the mall before it got raided so they have a LOT of supplies. I'm sure everything is finite though.

They mentioned the 2 houses but then I got confused by a later comment. I thought they said they were splitting them up. Maybe he said "they're not splitting them up" as in they can trust them a little more or something.

Carol's haircut -> well Jessie said "haircuts were never going to stop" or something like that. SO maybe the guys are just less interested in keeping their hair short. :-)

Good point on the support beams too MJ. Probably one of those situations where they haven't been trained to not trust other humans. Well...at least not as much as Rick and crew.

Zainab Sher said...

hello again,
I enjoyed this episode A LOT! it was great fun to see those interviews and it felt like we have been with them..throughout. This show has built a great history and whenever a character remembers past events, we remember those moments too. I might never forget LOST and walking dead for this.
Anyways back to episode, who was the creepy girl carl saw before entering alexandria? Was she Enid?
As per community discussion, she said that it was army who directed them to this place. They left some people here and left to bring more. Her husband and sons or whoever was there, built the walls around so army kind of just left them there, on their own devices. At least that's what I understood.
I am not following comics so I can't say what is coming next but I have a feeling, our group will be taking charge soon.I just hope the whole dynamic between alexandria current administration and our group and their struggle for power doesn't take as long as it did before in farm house. That got dragged quite a lot and we all got bored.
Can't wait to meet more residents though. :)

Oh and it is quite interesting to see some parallels drawn between woodbury and alexandria. Both have some naive residents, both have members who like to tease walkers and both have a charismatic leader who knows how to deal with people. Something fishy must be going on. Duhh! It is quite evident.

Mike V. said...

lol - definitely some shady dealings going on Zainab!

You know I forgot about the girl Carl saw in the beginning of the episode. That probably was Enid!

Which reminds me, MJ, I think Carl has spoken about killing his mother several times at this point. Definitely still creepy when he does it....especially that time hasn't changed his mind about it.

Zainab, not sure if you saw but I finally responded to your comment in last week's recap this morning. Sorry for the delay!

MJ said...

Yeah - the skin shedding walker was pretty gross.

Yeah - Deanna did talk about some people who didn't make it - now I can't remember who. Is Deanna's husband in the town ?

MJ said...

Talking Dead - they talked about some easter egg that we might have missed in the episode but I some how missed what it was on Talking Dead. Any one know what it is?

Leslie said...

MJ, I thought it was just me! I missed it, too! lol

mj said...

I always FF thru their showing tweets and stuff - wonder if I accidently blew by it. glad not just me lol

MJ said...

I feel a little dumb since it did not occur to me that this girl Enid is the one who took Rick's hidden gun ! LOL We did see her climb that fence and go roaming

Mike V. said...

I didn't notice her taking Rick's hidden gun??? When did that happen? I certainly saw her climb the fence though.

MJ said...

NO - we did not see any one take Ricks secret gun. But we wondered who did and Enid did not occur to me. LOL We thought that someone fr town saw him hide it or that some of the exiled took it. Enid did not occur to me for some reason