Miss me? Last week was full of road tripping and empty of zombie apocalypses, not to mention computer access, so here’s a double header for you.
Episode Title: The Same Boat
Original Airdate: 3-13-16
At the end of “Not Yet Tomorrow,” when Rick & Co. thought they’d taken out all of the Saviors, they found out that Carol and Maggie were taken hostage by they enemy. So this episode focused on the two as hostages. They were taken to a facility several miles from the base compound and held as Rick negotiated with the woman in charge, Paula, for their release. Carol feigned being weak again, which aided in their eventual escape. Other than that, there was a lot of sitting around and talking, some close calls with Walkers, then escape as Carol and Maggie killed another eight or so Saviors and made it out. The entire scenario took its toll on the two ladies mentally.
This episode was a nice bit of filler. I never felt that Carol and Maggie were in any real danger and would come out on the other side just fine, which they did physically at least. But I am intrigued at how all this has taken its mental toll on the two, leading to repercussions for Carol into the next episode as well.
It was a very lady-centric episode, as the captors were all female, except one that Carol shot before being captured. And that actually makes a huge difference in story telling and tone. It was almost a “I’ve Suffered More” contest, as they all shared what they’ve had to endure since the world ended. Unfortunately we didn’t learn a lot about the Saviors or Negan from this encounter, but the characters we did get were interesting, though short-lived.
Episode Title: Twice as Far
Original Airdate: 3-20-16
Daryl, Rosita and Denise set off to find an apothecary shop that Denise passed when she escaped D.C. however many months prior. They found it, still loaded down with medicine, and took the lot. Elsewhere, Eugene led Abraham to an abandoned factory where he proclaimed they would begin to make bullets, which will be the currency in this new world. However, when the two encounter a Walker that Eugene couldn’t take down (despite having called “dibs”), Abraham stepped in to take care of business, upsetting Eugene. The two parted ways angrily.
On the trek back to Alexandria, Denise risked her life for a Walker-protected cooler. However, she triumphed over the undead only to be shot through the eye moments later during a very moving speech to Daryl and Rosita. Dwight, whom Daryl ran into when he became separated from Sasha and Abraham in “Always Accountable,” was aiming for Daryl with the crossbow he stole, but ended up killing Denise instead. He and his group were also holding Eugene captive and demanding Daryl and Rosita take them back to Alexandria. Abraham turned up and a fire fight ensued (along with some crotch-biting action on Eugene’s part). The remaining four escaped back to Alexandria, as the episode ended with Tobin reading a goodbye letter from Carol who has jumped ship because she couldn’t handle the killing anymore.
So more filler, basically. There were smack-you-in-the-face parallels between Denise and Eugene throughout, as both were never the fighting type and always relied on others for survival. But in this episode they both wanted to prove they were more useful than as just a doctor and scientist (as if those occupations aren’t enough). Denise’s death was unexpected, but everything that happened before felt a bit pointless after it happened. I guess I don’t really understand the mentality of “Let’s give this minor character a brief moment of glory, only to kill her a second later.” I didn’t have anything against Denise, and Merritt Weaver has been excellent portraying her, but this death felt futile in the grand scheme of things. She hadn’t been on the show long enough for me to feel much for her other than sadness for Tara’s loss.
Eugene’s evolution is much welcome though, because I’ve been wondering for awhile how or why that dude is still alive. And his crotch attack on Dwight! That was pretty awesome, and admittedly something I wouldn’t think of in that situation, but he is supposedly very smart, afterall.
This episode did lead us to more Savior confrontation, but we still know very little about them, except they do know where Alexandria is now, which is scary. As for Carol’s total abandonment, which looks to be the main focus of next week’s episode, I’m intrigued. I genuinely hope that the writers aren’t repeating by having her leave and just to show back up and save the day like she did at Terminus.
Overall, these were two good filler episodes, mostly, that showed us some decent action and long-lasting mental fatigue that will hopefully lead to a more plot-driven finale in two weeks. And hey, at the very least, Daryl’s got his motorcycle and crossbow back, amirite?
Channel: Superhero 