Episode Title: The Distance
Original Airdate: 2/22/15
Since I saw very few Oscar nominated films of 2014, I took no issue skipping most of last night’s ceremony to catch my regular Sunday night addictions. Alas, this is no place for a Downton Abbey recap, so on to The Walking Dead. Newcomer Aaron is brought back to the barn by Maggie and Sasha as the group recovers from the previous night’s storm. Aaron wants Rick & Co. to journey with him to his safe community, promising all sorts of luxuries, like food, shelter and security. However, after the severe burn of places like Woodbury and Terminus, Rick is skeptical. In the end he consents, but makes the group take the dangerous route, by night, fearing a trap, which in turn causes more trouble from a boatload of Walkers in the dark. But the next morning the entire group, plus Aaron and his partner Eric, arrive safely at the gates.
This episode was definitely sixty minutes of “Rick vs. Everyone Else.” It’s understandable why the man is cautious at the thought of a new place whose praises are being sung by a complete stranger. However, he can’t expect to stay on the road forever. He has people to look out for, most importantly his starving infant daughter. He didn’t know what, if anything, he would find in D.C., so checking out this new community was his, and everyone’s, best bet. So though I respect Rick, his intense paranoia and stubbornness in this episode were tiresome and difficult to endure, especially when he is the one that ending up putting everyone else in danger by trying to protect them. By then end, I wanted someone to knock him out cold and just drag him along to stop his repetition.
As for the new community (Alexandria), I’m intrigued. New scenarios like these always grab my attention, just to see how others have learned to survive during the zombie apocalypse. Hopefully Alexandria will be far more interesting than the snoozefest that was Woodbury in Season 3. Of course, it can’t last long, or everyone would get bored and stop watching, but it’s got to be better than watching the group lose it out on the road. Anxiously awaiting next week.
Channel: Superhero 