‘The Walking Dead’ Episode 4.13 “Alone” (9 out of 10) Starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan; Sundays on AMC.
There are certain episodes of “The Walking Dead” that are a lot like the clouds that gather before a storm, and tonight’s episode was one of them. Keeping up with the fractured narrative involving multiple groups of survivors, this episode focused on the storylines of Daryl and Beth along with Bob, Maggie, and Sasha. It was a character-driven episode to be sure, but there were some serious indications that the dominoes that have been set up since the survivors left the prison are going to come tumbling down. As usual, there be spoilers ahead.
Maggie, Bob, and Sasha
The episode begins with a flashback to the moment Glenn and Daryl first discover Bob Stookey. It’s an important scene because it shows us the huge contrast between the depressed alcoholic that watched two groups of survivors get eaten, and the optimistic go-getter that he’s become during the last few episodes. Tonight’s episode of “Talking Dead” proposed an interesting theory about this change. According to Lawrence Gilliard, Jr., Bob was the only survivor that didn’t leave something behind in the prison—in fact, he actually gained a family with Sasha and Maggie. It’s an interesting perspective since the zombie apocalypse is synonymous with loss and death. Sometimes, all that loss and death can pave the way for a little bit of love.
Flashing forward, Bob, Maggie, and Sasha are standing back to back in the middle of a fog bank. And yes, there are also zombies within this fog bank. I’ve seen a lot of zombie scenarios in my day, but this one ranks among the most terrifying. When the survivors can’t see in front of their faces, they have to be pretty quick on their feet when a walker comes lurching out of the thick mist around them. When the scene ends and the adrenaline starts to abate, the three of them have a good laugh about the whole thing—reinforcing this vibe of positivity that these three have fostered among themselves. Well, everyone except Sasha, that is.
Sasha seems to think that Glenn and Tyreese are probably dead, and that this whole Terminus colony is a pipe dream. Her ‘tude causes Maggie to head out on her own, leaving Sasha and her pessimism alone with Bob and his optimism. The remainder of their part of the episode deals with these two conflicting ideologies. Bob makes the case that helping Maggie find Glenn is a more worthwhile use of their time, while Sasha seems to think that she and Bob should just dig in at the first standing structure that they see and make the best of it. Despite the adorable smooch that Bob plants on Sasha, she elects to go at things alone while Bob heads off to find Maggie. In an ironic turn of events, it’s Maggie who ends up finding Sasha with Bob now on his own heading to Terminus.
The group dynamic among the three brought up some interesting ideas about how optimism can sometimes appear futile in a world that hope seems to have abandoned, however, I found it difficult to get behind Sasha’s point of view. Regardless of her opinions on who is and is not dead, the impracticality of letting your only two allies head out on their own doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Daryl and Beth
Though last week’s episode featured some cringe-worthy moments between these two, I have come to the conclusion that I like what’s happening with them. Daryl is at his best when he has someone to look after. We saw this side of him develop in season two when he became the only one who still believed that Sophia was worth searching for, and it’s evolved to the point where it’s the only thing that keeps his darkness at bay. It’s fortunate that he and Beth have been thrown together because they seem to bring out the best in each other—which brings us to an interesting question: Is there a romance developing between the two? Or is their relationship more like that of two siblings? Either way, their characters have grown much closer, and I think it’s been interesting to watch—which makes it all the more heart-wrenching when Beth gets freaking kidnapped. Kidnapped! By a living human! Yes, it’s a big deal, but I’ll get to that in just a minute.
When Beth and Daryl stumble upon a well-maintained funeral home, they stick around for the night. In another expertly devised zombie attack (the show has thrown in some classic horror movie scenarios which I have been loving), Daryl loses track of Beth only to see a dumpy old car take off in front of him—presumably with Beth as a prisoner. Whether this mystery kidnapper is the current resident of the funeral home or just some other freaky deaky has yet to be seen, but Daryl spends the whole night following this car. After collapsing in the middle of a crossroads, Daryl is set upon by Joe, the wandering marauder who nearly discovered Rick’s hiding place a few episodes back. And Joe’s not alone. After Daryl punches Joe in the face, Joe seems to be impressed with Daryl’s rage and extends him an offer to join them—“Why hurt yourself when you can hurt others instead?” Joe asks after explaining how futile it would be to send an arrow through his eye.
This could be a major moral conflict for Daryl. Beth’s been taken, and I don’t think he’ll give up searching for her, but our guy Joe happens to bear a striking similarity to Merle. Daryl is going to have some tough decisions to make in the future of this season, because I could totally see him being tempted back into a life of skullduggery by this enigmatic wanderer if he’s not too careful.
Verdict
The parts with Maggie, Bob and Sasha were just okay. Other than an ideological discussion about hope vs. futility, I didn’t understand the purpose behind their splitting up and coming back together. The parts with Daryl and Beth, however, were fantastic. Seeing Beth get hauled off by some lunatic only hours after she was so insistent that there were still good people alive had to create some serious rage and doubts within Daryl’s character. Throw in a group of seemingly organized raiders, and our friend Daryl finds himself on a moral slippery slope—it will be interesting to watch him struggle with his demons as he tries to figure out how to get Beth back. Next week’s episode looks to be centered around Tyreese and Carol, which is another powder keg just ready to explode. Keep watching, and don’t forget to check back here for some more musings on the end of the world.