The Walking Dead S6E15: East
How long can a person last while doing things that are damaging their psyche, indeed their very humanity, while trying to convince themselves they are the good guys? We are at a place in the show where we are now seeing many members of our core group make decisions that only recognizable villains would have made in past seasons. How much can a person take? That is a theme that is very subtly explore in this week’s episode.
Appropriately setting the stage for this episode are numerous Utopian shots in Alexandria set against the Johnny Cash song, “It’s All Over”. It’s hard not to think the lines in this song are strongly foreshadowing the events that will conclude this season. Seriously, this whole review could be a line for line dissection of the lyrics and how they apply to these characters. Carol decides to leave to avoid the need to kill. Daryl does as well to take revenge on Dwight. Carl arms himself with a pistol with a terribly prophetic barbed-wire bat carved into the handle. Glenn and Maggie, and Rick and Michonne each share romantic moments before being abruptly separated to chase either Carol or Daryl. The stage is set for mayhem as tensions mount on a number of fronts.
Whether it be Daryl riding off alone to enact justice on Dwight for killing Denise, Rick and Morgan’s conversation while tracking down Carol, or Carol herself facing choices she does not want to make anymore, pockets of our group are facing very pivotal moments that will shape them significantly in the future. Standing at odds are the place Carol has arrived versus where Rick’s mindset is. I think we have strong indications that the Carol of today would not have killed the sick people back at the prison in season four. Yet Rick unashamedly admits that if she had done that today he would have thanked her and not made her an exile. Either Rick is trailing her in philosophical progression, or he has become completely hardened to any sense of mercy, second chances, and hope for personal recovery. The discussion between Morgan and Rick is so perfect for this episode because it exposes so many of these beliefs that Rick now holds. Producer Denise Huth made a great point on Talking Dead that Morgan and Rick driving off is very similar to Rick and Shane driving off in Season 2’s “18 Miles Out”. In that episode, Rick (driving) shares some of the same reservations then as does Morgan (driving) now, while Shane (passenger) is confident and unflinching in his decisions just as Rick (passenger) is now. There isn’t much action in their scenes as Rick and Morgan track down Carol, but you could dissect every word they say to the nth degree and still leave a lot to explore. Morgan is completely upfront with him. No more beating around the bush. He tells Rick that although his way may not be right, it’s the way that doesn’t pull him down. He thinks the path that Rick has chosen will eventually pull him down. Rick has come to the point of a shoot first, ask questions later mentality, as evidenced by the man he and Morgan encountered at the barn while looking for Carol. No more time for discussion, no more three questions, no more taking chances. Rick has become a short fuse with a quick trigger finger.
Contrast that now with Carol. A season ago Carol would not be suffering through the dilemma and choices that she is now. A season ago she was the short fuse with a quick trigger. Then Morgan reappeared. His belief that all life is precious seemed naïve and even dangerous. Even Carol said as much. But, her actions revealed something more. She hesitated in the basement with the wolf. She did not tell Rick about what Morgan did in keeping the wolf captive. Her actions reveal a mindset that is open to examination. I think her discussions, however short, with Morgan have made great impacts on her. The Carol of a season ago would not have stepped out of the car this episode with her hands in the air. She would have opened the door, and immediately used it for cover as she opened fire on those men. But now, she talks to them. She tries to reason with them. It’s not until she finds out they carry ill-will towards Alexandria that she decides to kill them, fulfilling the very thing she explained in her letter she feared she would have to do. As she steps out of the car she carries in one hand, the rosary necklace from two episodes ago. In her other hand, concealed from the men, an automatic handgun. This is symbolic of the struggle she faces; peace on one hand, violence on the other. By the end of the skirmish, and once Rick and Morgan arrive on scene, the rosary necklace has been left on the ground, along with possibly Carol’s hopes for avoiding death.
On the less subtle end of contrasting characters is Daryl’s decision to seek revenge on Dwight for killing Denise. We see Daryl struggling to stay put in Alexandria, and he eventually decides to ride off on his own without telling anyone where he’s going. But they know his intentions. Rosita, Michonne and Glenn go after him, followed soon by Rick and Morgan leaving to go after Carol, and all the sudden Alexandria is short 7 primary people. Daryl’s mission is at first one of lone-vengeance. Rosita was with him when Denise was killed, but she isn’t quick to chase after her killer. Daryl feels personally responsible for it since he let Dwight live when he encountered him in the woods earlier this season. And there is the contrast. In Morgan’s conversation with Rick, he reveals to him for the first time that he left a wolf alive after they attacked the town, and held him prisoner. Rick becomes very angry, until Morgan began explaining what happened. Morgan tried to help the wolf and convince him to be peaceful, Denise even nursed him to health. Morgan and Carol fought over him and he escaped, taking Denise hostage in the process. But when the walkers broke through, he saved Denise’s life, and later Denise was able to help Carl when he was shot. Morgan’s choice to let him live resulted in life for Denise and Carl. But with Daryl, his choice to let Dwight live resulted in death for Denise. And he is guilt-ridden over it. This peaceful approach doesn’t always work, but that doesn’t mean it’s always the wrong approach. It doesn’t even mean it’s the wrong approach when it results in death down the road. At the end of the day, Denise’s death is on Dwight, not on Daryl. Daryl showing mercy doesn’t make him guilty of the actions of the one he showed mercy on. But Daryl doesn’t see it that way. He can’t see it that way. Even after Glenn and Michonne beg him to come back and promise to help him seek justice, he cannot make himself abandon his crusade. He’s blinded by his rage, and as the episode closes, it results in his bloodshed.
My Rating: B+
This would be an ‘A’ level episode were it not for a couple things that bugged me. First, I don’t know of any automatic handgun small enough to fit in a coat sleeve that would allow Carol to mow down five guys on a truck standing 50-feet away. I’m not a big gun guru, but this seems like some imaginative oversight. Second, I know Rick is hedging toward this shoot first mentality, but taking a shot at a guy running away (at the farm), who has done nothing to him, seems like a reckless and unlikely decision even for him. Finally, Dwight’s crew still being in the woods when Daryl makes it back to find them seems unlikely. They’re well-armed and appear to be well-fed. They ran off quickly, why aren’t they back at wherever they’re making camp by now? Those things aside, this episode provided good setup for the finale while also planting seeds for future encounters/conflicts aside from the Alexandrians and the Saviors (Morgan headed off on his own, Carol still out there alone).
Regarding Daryl, I think it’s very unlikely that Dwight’s shot was a kill shot. For one, Dwight said, “you’ll be alright”. Second, Daryl is popular enough that he will surely have some kind of major and meaningful death, not a one-off shot from someone like Dwight. My guess is it was a shoulder/arm shot that will get quickly wrapped. However, their chances of escape now are basically zero, and if Dwight is with the Saviors, it’s possible that Daryl or Glenn or all of them meet their fate’s at the hand of Negan’s barbed-wire bat to conclude the season.
I would love to hear your feedback on things I’ve said here, and your thoughts on what this episode touched on in the comments below!
