“Twice As Far”

The Saviors’ poor marksmanship once again aided the escape of Daryl and friends. This was an easy paced episode that was a bit too slow in parts but with quite enjoyable character stories, particularly involving Eugene and Denise. Poor Denise didn’t even get to finish her dramatic speech in this episode of The Walking Dead. She was one of the few original characters from Alexandria who we ever really saw and who had become an important member of the society. Allowing the only doctor in the town to go out in to the world of the walkers was definitely a stupid idea, her erratic behaviour almost getting her killed even before the arrow through the eye incident. She and Eugene were really trying to show their ability to give more to the group and prove that they are capable of defending themselves. Unfortunately,this resulted in the death of Denise. Back in Alexandria a chain-smoking Carol decides to leave for good in her letter to Tobin.

We learned a few weeks back that Morgan was in fact building a jail cell, in this episode a bemused Rick is told by Morgan “It’ll give us some choices next time”. Rather than having to resort to murder, they can have a more balanced and moral system by having an alternative. The town is definitely developing stability and an easier pace of life within the walls. I think this is reflected in the repetitive and calming pastimes of its residents, such as Carol smoking pensively and Morgan practicing his Aikido. Unfortunately The Walking Dead can’t be a hundred miles per hour every week.

Eugene and Abraham go out to a machine shop where Eugene points out, quite rightly I think, that bullets are basically currency. If he can pull this off and start manufacturing ammunition, we may see a very bullet ridden season finale. This episode was mostly about Denise and Eugene trying to prove their worth, not only to the group but I think to themselves. Eugene and Abraham get into a big argument, which I think Eugene is responsible for as his pride almost gets him bitten by a walker. Eugene want’s to be regarded as an equal in the group, and in order to be successful in The Walking Dead world, he needs to improve on his ability of killing walkers. They both say things they later regret and Eugene then tells Abraham that he no longer requires his services. I was really fearing the worst for Eugene at this stage, fortunately for him, Abraham decides to follow and keep a protective eye over him.

However short it was, I did enjoy Denise’s first and only venture outside of Alexandria. Its been a long time since we have seen someone look at the horrors of the world with fresh eyes. It was also good to hear her reasons for wanting to leave as she couldn’t go with Tara. Up until the point where she was in the middle of giving her speech on why she wanted to go out in to the world and why she was so keen to learn how to defend herself, the episode bangs in to life as she gets an arrow in the back of the head, straight through her eye. Unfortunately this death may have been preventable, as the arrow came from Dwight, someone who Daryl decided to show mercy to earlier in the season. Eugene seemingly blows Abraham’s cover, but as we soon find out, it was all a ruse to bight Dwight in the crotch. I am told that the this does actually happen in the comics, although I’m still not sure if we were supposed to find it funny or horrific. Regardless, I did let out a chuckle.

I am having trouble with the idea of believing that Carol will actually leave for good. She notes that she has gone too far and has had enough of her murdering ways. She thinks that she can’t love without killing to protect those she cares for, so her solution is to cut everyone off and vanish completely. When we think back at some of the things she has done, such as killing a non walker child, or even as recently as her antics in last weeks episode. She has been a ruthless pragmatist since early on in the shows run, yet somehow, presumably because of spending too much time with Morgan, she has suddenly decided that she has gone too far. If this is the case it definitely makes the last two episodes lose something in making a character go through so much development just to ditch them from the series a week later. Regardless of the outcome I think Melissa McBride has been the stand out actor for the season so far.

Verdict

Some really good moments in this installment of The Walking Dead and overall I did enjoy it, despite the fact that it was a bit too slow particularly near the start. Denise should have stayed behind, but I suppose ultimately, the place isn’t a prison, and allowing people to have their freedom is what separates Alexandria from places like the compound where the Saviors come from. Her death scene was pretty spectacular and I really enjoyed the ensuing action. We got some good banter between Abraham and Eugene too which helped make up for parts of the episode that I felt got a little slow.