‘The Walking Dead’ Episode 5.12 “Remember” (8 out of 10) Created by Frank Darabont; Starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan; Sundays on AMC.
Sometimes, TWD just needs time to rev up. While tonight’s episode wasn’t a spine crusher, it successfully brought the show into this new situation and it’s become more interesting to watch than the last few episodes. In essence, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his group come to a shaky acceptance of life within the walls of Alexandria. Their leader, a former congresswoman named Deanna Monroe (Tovah Feldshuh), hopes to integrate them into their community—but that integration isn’t going to be comfy for everyone. Spoilers ahead, friends!
Adaptation and Manipulation
Living through the horrors that four and a half seasons of TWD has inflicted upon our heroes is going to result in some serious mental scarring. While our group has been able to retain their core humanity because of their loyalty to one another, adjusting to the suburban community of Alexandria is going to present its own kind of difficulties. The episode focuses on Rick’s adjustment—we all took a moment to bid farewell to that dead shih tzu that has been attached to Rick’s chin for the past season. With the clean shave and new clothes, Rick has come to a cautious acceptance of this community, and it seems like the rest of his group is on the same page. Daryl (Norman Reedus) is perhaps the most uncomfortable in their new surroundings. Even before the dead started getting up and eating people, Daryl wouldn’t have been at home in a suburban neighborhood. Carol (Melissa McBride) came into this with a gameplan, however. There’s this scene when her group is piling their guns into a cart, and she walks up with this goofy “silly me” grin and struggles to unload that Kalashnikov that she’s been carrying around. At first, it didn’t make sense—we know Carol to be all sorts of badass. But when she says she misses her husband during her video interview with Deanna, it all makes sense. She’s playing the role of this dopey housewife so their new neighbors will underestimate her deadliness if this decision goes south. Clever.
The Locals
The Alexandrians that we’ve already met seem nice enough—but there are a few folks who will likely stir up some trouble for our heroes. One of them happens to be Aiden (Daniel Bonjour), a self-proclaimed douchebag, and Deanna’s son. He appears to be in charge of supply runs, and when he takes Glenn (Steven Yuen), Tara (Alanna Masterson), and Noah (Tyler James Williams) out for a run, things get punchy. We all know dudes like Aiden. Guys that get cocky because they’ve been around the block a few times are a lamentable fixture in every community. When they meet someone like Glenn, who actually does know his shit, he feels the need to pull some kind of rank. Of course, dudes like Aiden need to get clocked, and Glenn does the honors here. When Deanna breaks up the fisticuffs, she sides with Glenn—either out of a realization that their community needs some piss and vinegar or out of a ploy to win their trust for something nefarious.
Another potential problem comes in the form of Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge). From the moment she sees a shirtless, clean-shaven Rick Grimes, it’s easy to see that there’s an attraction. This wouldn’t be a problem if she wasn’t married to a man that likes to loom on his porch in the middle of the night, delivering welcomes that sound like threats. There’s definitely some trouble brewing on that front.
Verdict
TWD has always placed strong emphasis on the interactions of its characters, and with the addition of a few newcomers who lack the survivalist perspective of Rick and his group, those interactions remain complex. A few of the Alexandrians have already revealed themselves as future obstacles, and tonight’s episode handled those moments well. The video interviews that Deanna conducted with a few of Rick’s group were a nice touch—it was interesting to see their story from the perspective of someone who had been relatively safe during the outbreak.
Rick’s and Michonne’s (Danai Gurira) appointment to constables is following pretty closely along with the comic book storyarc—which means there’s potentially a whole heap of evil in store for them. If they don’t follow that storyline, I would be happy watching a few episodes in which constables Rick and Michonne police Alexandria. Who knows what kind of weirdness they could dig up.