Finally! After several months’ hiatus, The Walking Dead is back with one of the most nail-biting episodes of the season. This chapter was bursting with intrigue, from the revelation of the name “Negan,” to the unexpected collaboration between Rick’s group and the people of Alexandria to survive. From the depths of destruction and chaos, Episode Nine gave us a glimpse of hope and redemption in the most unlikely or characters.
And we’re compelled to ask: are all people truly redeemable?
by Thom McKee Jr.
“What do you want… for you?”
A question posed from Deanna, lying on her deathbed.
Michonne answered, “I don’t know.”
What would you answer?
The Walking Dead has a unique way of asking us the big questions about life, questions that we wrestle with for the next week. Sadly, this week are asked to wrestle with it for a few months, as this episode was the mid-season finale.
by Thom McKee Jr.
When I was a kid, television was full of certainty. I always knew that the A-Team would save the oppressed and teach the bad guys a lesson. I always knew that Perry Mason would win the case. In Star Trek, if there was a guy on the “away team” (not named Scotty) wearing a red shirt, you knew he was dead meat. Kirk, Spock and McCoy never had to worry about anything as long as one of those “red-shirts” were with them. Those were the rules, and no television show ever tried to break them.
But times have changed. With shows like The Walking Dead, it is hard to remember a time when certainty reigned, especially in an episode like tonight’s. On Talking Dead (The Walking Dead after show), Executive Producer Scott Gimple admitted that
by Thom McKee Jr.
Is it wrong to lie if no one finds out? What about cheating? Stealing? Does personal integrity matter if no one is there to appreciate it? These questions lie at the heart of tonight’s episode “Always Accountable” on The Walking Dead.
Are people accountable for their actions in The Walking Dead universe? Think about it. There is no more government. There are no more courts, police or jails (unless you count the cell in the cheesemaker’s house). Even in semi-organized communities like Alexandria, there are all kinds of disagreements about how you define morality and justice. Many characters have their own codes and live by them. But are they really accountable to their own codes… or to each other?
I think this question goes to the center of why people love The Walking Dead so much. The show allows us to
by Thom McKee Jr.
If you want to know what someone really thinks… just watch them. Their actions will speak far louder than their words.
That truth was evidenced loudly in Episode 605 of The Walking Dead Sunday night, an episode overflowing with Alexandrians giving speeches, so many discourses in fact, that some might have found the episode slow. Jonathan, the founder of this blog (and my brother) texted me while I was writing this post and wrote:
Lamest episode ever! It felt forced. So many speeches they should have titled the episode ‘Soapbox.’
(Jonathan rarely has anything bad to say about this show, but he sure didn’t care for the writer of this particular episode and wants Scott Gimple back at the helm.)
Maybe some fans are frustrated because they, like me, really want to know Glenn’s fate, and here’s yet another episode that doesn’t go there. But this episode actually revealed quite a lot
by Thom McKee Jr.
What is your code?
Mercy?
Defend your family by all means necessary?
Survival of the fittest?
Morgan’s powerful “testimony” forces us to wrestle with our own personal philosophies this week, as we discover why he chooses mercy every time. It all began with his personal Yoda, a post-War Aikido master with a contagious moral code.