‘The Walking Dead’ Episode 6.8 “Start To Finish” (7 out of 10) Created by Frank Darabont; Starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Lennie James, Lauren Cohan; Sundays on AMC.
Mid-season and season finales have been something of a specialty for “The Walking Dead.” Despite the fact that each one inevitably features some form of zombie invasion that ruins whatever our survivors have built over the course of the season, the show manages to keep the drama on point and the action fresh. Tonight, not so much. Beware of spoilers!
Morgan vs. Carol
From that initial attack that the Wolves mounted against Alexandria, it was easy to see that Morgan (Lennie James) and Carol (Melissa McBride) would eventually have an old fashioned standoff. Placing it in this episode with all kinds of other shit going down was a good idea in theory—but in practice, the whole scene felt flat and just ended up pissing me off. I was pissed at Morgan when he fell for Carol’s fake sleepy spell because when someone flat out tells you that you’re on the bottom of their list of people who they trust, then logic would dictate that said person should immediately be placed at the bottom of your list. Also, Morgan, it’s not very responsible to let someone who may have a concussion doze off.
When the two actually get into a physical confrontation, it gives that basement-dwelling Wolf an opportunity to escape with a hostage, which also pissed me off. I suppose the whole thing can be chalked up to this annoying human trait that makes us all want to impose our philosophies on others, but hasn’t living through five and a half seasons of cooperative zombie survival taught our heroes anything? I did like the fact that Morgan told Carol that now wasn’t a great time to decide what to do with this prisoner, but either way, these two screwed up in a way that didn’t feel very true to their characters.
Carl vs. Ron
Another pent up conflict that was bound to come to a head tonight was that between Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Ron (Austin Abrams). Hearkening back to season two, in which 90% of the problems were caused because Carl couldn’t stay in the damn house, the conflict ignites because Carl wanders into the garage by himself. Ron’s totally waiting for him, and the two engage in a teenage boy fight that leaves a gaping hole in the house’s defenses. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) follows suit by hacking off the door handle and lock with his hatchet, making it even easier for the undead horde to get inside.
Interestingly enough, Carl doesn’t rat Ron out—probably because he knows the Rickster would pop a cap in Ron for endangering his people. I get that it’s a sign that Carl wants to solve his own problems, and it opens up a pretty good dialogue in which Carl calls Ron’s dad an asshole, but having this conflict resolve itself with the two of them adopting the same shaky friendship that got Nicholas (Michael Traynor) killed and Glenn (Steven Yeun) almost killed does not bode well.
Rick Doesn’t vs. Deanna
The relationship between Rick and Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) has been interesting to watch, and its tragic end this evening was actually the evening’s high point—mostly thanks to Tovah Feldshuh, who totally brought it. Deanna has always represented the Alexandrian spirit, and seeing her and Rick evolve into a non-stop tag team the likes of President Roslin and Admiral Adama from “Battlestar Galactica” was especially awesome. While her death might signify that the Alexandrians are also dead, the fact that she went out shooting speaks highly for the remaining Alexandrians and their badass potential. Again, Feldhshuh was a great addition to the cast, and it was sad to see her go.
Exposure Therapy
The episode concludes with Rick and his current posse of Michonne, (Danai Gurira), Jessie (Alexandra Breckinridge), Carl, Ron and Sam (Major Dodson). Sam has been struggling with some zombie-related issues this season, and has been too scared to come downstairs (if I were Jessie, I’d be a bit more worried about his Damien haircut and creepy taste in music, however). When crunch time hits, and the group has to escape the zombie horde by using the meat poncho technique pioneered in the show’s second episode. While I can only imagine the number that this severe exposure therapy will do on little Sam’s already damaged psyche, it doesn’t excuse—or explain, for that matter—the fact that he starts yelling for his mom in the middle of a pack of zombies. Catatonic silence would be a bit more believable—and tolerable.
Verdict
I didn’t love this episode as a mid-season finale. I’m not one to criticize TWD’s ability to weave multiple conflicts and storylines into one episode, but it just didn’t feel like they were on top of their game tonight. Rather than have these little character vs. character conflicts flare up to drive the story onward, they appeared to have been shoehorned into the episode in order to fill up space. With the exception of Deanna’s rock star death, this was a pretty weak episode.
Also, I did watch the first chunk of “Into the Badlands” so I could see the sneak peek of the next episode. It’s a pretty cool scene in which Daryl (Norman Reedus), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) run into a biker gang who claims their property for Negan—pretty damn cool, despite my lukewarm feelings towards tonight’s episode.
“The Walking Dead” will resume on February 14th—as will my fevered rantings on the subject. Watch it with someone you love.