The Walking Dead S6E9: No Way Out
This time last season, Greg Nicotero brought us back from the season five break with a pretty dull episode. He is at the helm again to bring us back from the season six break and let me just say from the get-go; This is one of the best episodes in show history! Spoilers ahead.
There is not a moment wasted in “No Way Out”. Each scene carries significant weight whether it be in conflict with walkers or discussion between characters. Every loose end left by the first half of the season was tied up, some in very unexpected ways. We got plenty of time to focus on the Wolf and Denise, Morgan and Carol, Glenn and Enid, and of course Daryl, Abraham and Sasha being stopped by Negan’s biker gang. The episode was explosive. Literally. When Daryl gets his hands on a rocket-launcher in the first five minutes that tends to happen.
After said explosion which freed Daryl and company from their would-be captors, we pick up basically where we were left in episode 8 with Rick, Carl, Jessie and others having camouflaged themselves in Walker guts to meander their way through the herd and get to the guns. Plans changed when the sheer number of walkers is clearly too many to fight their way out of and they begin heading toward an exit to find vehicles and lead the walkers away. Gabriel is tasked with taking care of Judith, a decision not lightly made by Rick. Night begins to fall and the fear sets in on Jessie’s son, Sam. This poor kid never stood a chance in this world. The attack on him began a chain reaction for this small group in which Jessie was also eaten alive (accompanied by some terrific visual flashbacks as Rick watches it happen), then ended in Ron taking up arms against Rick and Carl (he’s still sour about Rick killing his dad). That turns out to be a bad decision when Michonne is right behind you. In the commotion, Carl is shot in the eye. For readers of the graphic novel this comes as no surprise. By the end of the episode Carl is recovering and grasps his father’s hand. Carl has been shot before (season 2), but with no lasting effects. There are potential shadows of all types of imagery with this injury. There’s no denying the parallel to the Governor’s eye-patch. In a time when Rick seems to “see the light” of the potential of Alexandria, it will be interesting to see if Carl begins to become more hardened or begrudging with this injury.
Many will recall this episode for the explosions, Rick on a rampage, Daryl/Abraham/Sasha to the rescue, lake of fire and death of Jessie’s family in a moment. Those things were amazing to behold, but for me this episode had a couple of the strongest scriptural and spiritual appeals that the show has ever seen. The first came when Glenn and Enid were making plans inside a church building to rescue Maggie. Glenn had previously told her that if she runs and gives up, she’s losing who she is, including all the people she’s lost. Her eye catches a scripture written on the wall of the church. It’s James 2:26, “Faith without works is dead”. She stares at it, and you can see the wheels spinning in her mind. In context, James is explaining that merely praying for others and not helping them with their physical needs is like having faith, but not doing the things which that faith should be compelling you to do. That faith is dead. This scripture, along with Glenn’s words of wisdom, convicted her to action rather than following her own status quo of running away. Christians believe that God’s word is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Rom. 1:6). While this is not a salvific revelation for Enid, she no doubt is harnessing some measure of the power of God’s word to speak truth to people.
The second, and even more powerful instance of a spiritual revelation leading to action was when Gabriel handed Judith over to one of the ladies praying with him in his church, and decided their prayers to God had been answered when he saw Rick and others taking the fight to the walkers in the streets.
Gabriel: “We’ve been praying together that God will save our town. Our prayers have been answered. God will save Alexandria. Because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves.”
I know there are some that may cringe at that last line, “save it ourselves”. I don’t know what the theological position is of the writers of TWD, but I know Gabriel isn’t talking here about eternal salvation. He’s talking about the practical means and abilities to act on their own accord and choose to fight for what they hope this town can be (a safe place) rather than sit by and wait for a miracle. One could say that Rick going renegade a-la season 3 when Laurie died was a bit of divine providence as well. His action inspired others to act. In like manner, the apostles faced persecution from their own countrymen in the early days of the church. Their lives were threatened if they continued to preach the gospel. Rather than sit by and wait for a miracle, they took the commands of Christ to “go” and preach the gospel into their own hands and did just that.
For all the devastation in this episode and the lake of fire (a metaphor for hell all on it’s own), we do end on a somewhat happy note. Daryl, Abraham and Sasha return in the nick of time as Glenn was literally inches away from becoming a walker buffet. This dude has avoided death more in just this season than Leonardo DiCaprio did in The Revenant! We have a happy reunion of our lovable yet doomed couple, all in the group are reunited since episode one of this season, and Rick has a newfound hope for the future of Alexandria now that the residents have proven they can hold their own when it hits the fan.
My Rating: A+
From the opening moments of tension with Negan’s bikers, this episode never let up. Nicotero has done some great episodes in the past with the occasional stinker, but he was on top of his game for this one. In my 6A summary I talked about how the first half was very good, then very ‘meh’. In the short previews for episode 10, it looks like the heightened action will be maintained with a few characters while the rest no doubt stay behind to rebuild the wall and fortify the town. We have the promise of Negan still to come this season, continued philosophical conflicts between Carol and Morgan that you just sense will come to a head at some time (I mean, she did say to his face that she should’ve killed him), and efforts to rebuild the town that will no doubt face further obstacles. This was a terrific “pick-me-up” that this season desperately needed.
