The Walking Dead has put itself in a difficult position. There were several new pieces of information in last night’s episode that, for the fifth episode of any other season, might have felt more revelatory. Unfortunately, with Glenn’s fate up in the air, everything else is going to feel subsumed by that. A major-minor character like Morgan or Sasha could die, and we’d still be disappointed by the episode because it didn’t answer our most-pressing question. Structuring the season this way certainly paid off in the first three episodes, and it will probably pay off in the last two of this half season, but it makes for frustrating viewing in the season’s middle.
We did learn several things from last night’s episode, however. This is what we know after “Now.”
1. It Was Rick Yelling From the Gate
As we suspected at the end of last week’s episode, it was indeed Rick yelling, “Open the gate!” Michonne managed to get the gate open in time for him to escape half of the original zombie horde, which is now surrounding Alexandria’s gate.
The question remains, however: How did Rick escape the RV situation? When we last saw Rick, he seemed resigned to the fact that he was about to get encircled. Why didn’t we get to see that? Did he just jump out and run, leaving the RV behind? That seems like a sequence that would be good dramatic fodder. It was an odd decision to leave it out.
It does appear, however, that the cut on Rick’s hand was nothing to be concerned about.
2. Aaron Took Responsibility For The Wolves’ Attack
Aaron could have left Rick twisting in the wind, collared with the full responsibility for the failure of the plan to divert the walkers. However, by admitting that the Wolves found their way to Alexandria with the maps he left behind at a zombie trap, he took the blame off of Rick. In other words, he didn’t give the Alexandrians a reason to distrust Rick.
3. The Redshirts Are Falling Apart
We spent a lot of time this week with characters we care very little about, many of whom probably won’t survive this half-season. They bickered over food and resigned themselves to their fate. Deanna’s son, Spencer, was able to convince them not to eat all the food, but they were right. Most of them are going to be dead in three episodes; Spencer should’ve let them take the lousy canned goods.
Of course, we found out exactly why Spencer didn’t want them ransacking the pantry. He wanted to save the booze and crackers for himself. Why not? He’s a coward, and worse, a coward who’s taking credit for killing the driver of the truck. Yes, he may have shot him and prevented the truck from busting through the wall, but it was Morgan who killed the driver when he turned into a zombie because Spencer was too afraid to approach a zombie, even as he was pinned under the steering wheel. Spencer is worthless.
4. Deanna Monroe Is Not Right In the Head
Her husband is dead, her one surviving son is an alcoholic, her community is falling apart and turning on each other, and Deanna is going out of her mind. She feels like she’s to blame, and Spencer thinks so, too. She’s ill-equipped to lead Alexandria now that it’s under siege. The woman doesn’t even know how to kill a zombie, as we learned watching her struggle to put down a zombified wolf with a broken bottle to the chest, over and over and over.
To be honest, Rick is not helpful, either. When someone says, “They don’t need me [to lead]. What they need is you,” the answer is not uncomfortable silence. At the very least, Rick should’ve said, “No, no, Deanna! They need both of us!”
The good news is that by stabbing the zombie several times, Deanna may have snapped out of her funk.
5. Ron Is Such a Teenager
I’m not sure what to think of Jessie’s son, Ron. He’s not willing to help search for his girlfriend, but he also doesn’t want Carl to risk his life doing so. He rats out Carl to Rick, but he also wants Rick to teach him how to protect himself.
Does anyone else suspect that Ron wants to learn how to shoot a gun so he can kill Carl? Typical teenagers in the zombie apocalypse, am I right?
6. Tara And Denise Are An Item
This is not an especially compelling subplot, but it’s neat that The Walking Dead has added a lesbian relationship to go along with the gay relationship between Aaron and Eric. The show really is trying to be representative of our actual society, and for the most popular show on television to do that really is commendable.
7. We Know That We Don’t Know If Glenn Is Still Alive
The Walking Dead continues to stall where it concerns Glenn. We still have no idea if he survived, and neither does Maggie. What’s even more frustrating is that we didn’t see Sasha, Abraham, or Daryl this week, which means that the series will probably move on next week to their feature episode, meaning they are going to delay the Glenn reveal for at least one more week. In fact, we may not see Glenn again until the midseason finale.
That’s frustrating, especially because we’ve already seen the Maggie/Glenn reunion subplot play out, and — if Glenn is dead — we’ve already seen a similar plot with Sophia.
8. Maggie Is Pregnant
As we suspected after the season premiere, Maggie is indeed pregnant. I think Glenn survives, if only long enough to find out that his wife is going to have his baby. Then he dies. That makes his death even more heartbreaking.
We also learn from the sewer pipe that walkers can survive underwater, which is good to know for season two of Fear the Walking Dead, which is expected to take place in the ocean.
9. Richonne Is Dead
There was only one major character death this week: Richonne. The possibility that Michonne and Rick get together has been put on hold indefinitely, as Jessie and Rick are finally making out (although, in real time, it’s only been a few days since Rick killed Pete, so they’re moving fast). Gotta hand it to Rick, though: “We may all be dead tomorrow, and it’s never going to get better than this” is a strong pick-up line.
10. There was Blood Dripping on the Wall
It was a frustrating episode. Many of the most-interesting characters were nowhere to be seen: Daryl, Glenn, Sasha, Abraham, and even Gabriel were not in it. Carol and Eugene didn’t make an appearance despite being in Alexandria, and Morgan only showed his face for about three seconds. Beyond Maggie’s pregnancy (which we already suspected), and the budding romance between Denise/Tara and Rick/Jessie, this week’s episode didn’t add much. It wasn’t a boring episode, but it wasn’t that exciting, either.
I should add, however, that the Latin phrase that Deanna wrote on the plans of Alexandria, dolor hic tibi proderit olim, means: “Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.”
In the last frame, after Deanna goes crazy on the fence, we see blood dripping down one of the panels. Does that suggest that the wall is cracking or is it possible that that’s the blood of Spencer? Last we saw him, he was on top serving as a lookout. Deanna was angry with him. Did she snap and kill her son because her son is worthless? Is that Spencer’s blood dripping down? Is that the pain that will one day be useful to Deanna (and the rest of the community)?
That’s an interesting possibility.
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