"This world was never good enough for you. Let it go." - Victor Strand
Though IGN rated this episode as a 7.4, higher than last episode's extravaganza, I wouldn't go that far. In fact, I'd even go to say that this was the one episode that made my mind wander than any thus far. Looking back, I think it's mostly the walker and infected references. I know that's a big draw for people who watch the main show. The reality is, while the infected serve as a giant metaphor for me as a viewer, and I know they have to go, lobbing their heads off just doesn't do much for me.
Not to mention there was a lot of fucking shit going on this episode. But a few things that left me a little restless. We are fully introduced to Luis Flores' mother, Celia, and we've only had limited interactions with her thus far. We know their intended destination is Baja, the Abigail estate vineyard. Yet, the writers took the easy way out, as far as I'm concerned. If you've watched 10 seconds of the parent show, you know that there are characters who get under your skin (in a good or bad way) and characters who absolutely lose it. Mentioning Shane or Herschel or Morgan or just anyone in the main cast to anyone will certainly summon up enough passion from a true follower, you'll get them talking for sure.
I say the writers took the easy way out because each of the characters is starting to shape their personality in the new world, and each one I can easily say they've got a parallel to a character in the main show.
And I HATE the main show.
Furthermore, does anyone truly believe that the Abigail estate is the last destination, that it's totally safe (with or without watching this episode)? We know there are no safe havens in this new world. Why are we thinking this place is totally cool?
So, I give this episode about a 6 star rating out 10. But I do look at this way, the predictability of the writers: the next to last episode before the midseason finale is always a slow one. So I expect a big to-do next week. With some major predictions I will give at the end.
Let's discuss some of the pivotal scenes.
The show opens up in a church with parishioners and the Padre is preaching about how people are thinking that g*d has abandoned them, but this is not g*d, this is ourselves. Blah blah blah. Keep their faith that they will get through it. Blah blah blah. Have no doubts. Yada yada yada.
The parishioners take the sacrament, and go outside to grab some tools. Now at first, we think that the Padre has given them permission in a way to take out the infected. From the appearances, the church is in a rural place, and it's possible they just don't have the ability or technology to take them out. Or the whole Catholic guilt thing. Whatever the case, it looks as though they are ready for...something. We just can't see what.
At this point, Strand's buddy (lover?), Thomas Abigail pulls up in a truck, pleads with the Padre to leave the dead alone. This is a new twist, obviously. As the crew we've been chilling with so far has figured out, immediately, that we need to take out the infected and the dead.
As Abigail pleads with the parishioners, people start bleeding out of their eyes. While watching this unfold, I said out loud, "Is THIS how people turn in Baja?" My husband joked and said, "Don't drink the water!" But then as the scene wound down, he said, "Wait a minute. What was in the sacrament?"
We both figured out they were poisoned. But by Abigail? (Spoiler alert: They were poisoned, but not by Tom). The whole scene was very Day of the Dead inspired. I said that aloud, and it was confirmed in the Talking Dead episode.
Scene goes out, and we join our tribe on the Abigail yacht. Chris and Travis are talking. Madison told him that Chris had shot the hostage Reed because he was "going to turn." Meanwhile, we all know that isn't true. He wasn't shot in the head, and he did turn just to make the hostage exchange. Travis is kind of a pussy. Doesn't press Chris at all for his role in the almost botched hostage return.
We all know Chris is going through some heavy shit as a teenager. His mother died (bitten and infected, and shot by his father as a mercy kill), his life has been uprooted (fuckin Gen Y millennials, put your big boy pants on and fuckin deal with it), and now he's adjusting. Sure, that's a lot of stuff for everyone, but it seems as though everybody, even Ofelia whom until this episode I was convinced was just window dressing, is contributing. This is endemic of what's going to get them all killed or more aptly, Chris killed: the fact he's being coddled at a time where he shouldn't be. Chris is setting everyone fucking backwards. No bueno. Chris just reassures Travis that he thought Reed was going to turn and that was that. Of course, Travis gives him the benefit of the doubt. We all know he's not being honest.
Strand and his henchman Luis Flores are on the main deck, and Madison is with them. They see the flotilla guards in the distance, tell Maddie to round up the crew and bring them below deck. Daniel listens in, as the deal is being made in Spanish. Seems as though the guards want to do a financial exchange for the boat. Strand tells them not to talk financials.
Of course, within minutes, we hear a commotion and gunshots. Two flotilla guards are down, along with Luis Flores. Strand of course makes it out alive.
Daniel takes care of the flotilla guards by stabbing them in the head. But then Luis, as he laid dying, gives Ofelia a coin, with an owl on it. Begs her to give to his mother. Daniel chucks it overboard. But doesn't give him a brain injury. Do they ever fucking learn?!
Finally we make it to Baja. Promises of a better tomorrow welcome the gang. They make it to the church. I'm guessing this was an agreed to exchange point, because Abigail's truck is still there, yet no sign of him. Oh, but the poisoned parishioners? They come out. Everyone grabs a weapon and starts going to town, defending themselves.
Daniel starts having flashbacks, of either a child he had choked or of himself (brought up as a twist in the Talking Dead episode, right after this one). Ofelia ends up killing the infected herself. She was pretty bad ass for someone who was just there to look pretty before hand.
Chris freezes, again. Madison is brought down by an infected person, she starts to struggle. He stands there, watching. Alicia yells at Chris, then takes care of the dead herself. It's clear that right now, Chris is getting his kicks from killing the still living or barely living. Whether Chris is upset or holding a grudge because Madison told Travis about the Reed thing, we don't know. Or if he just "froze," which seems to be the case with him. Snap out of it, man! It's also evident that he's not Maddie's biggest fan. Right now, there's no time for grudges. Time to man up or ship out.
Up until this point though, everyone kind of worked together to fight the real enemy: this virus. Now it seems as though everyone's "stuff" is coming to the surface in this episode.
We arrive at the Abigail estate, greeted by beautiful acres of land and a hospitable hostess. Yeah, right, as if that shit is going to last. They ask for the crew to surrender their arms. Except for Daniel, no one raises a fuss. Not sure why, but they easily believe the staff that there is no need for them here. (Really?) Daniel surrenders his weapons. Which is odd because Daniel inadvertently put them at a disadvantage on the boat when he disabled Strand's arsenal. Now he's putting himself willingly into a position without his arms. I guess he's gonna go full Carol at some point, manage to retrieve some of the arms back.
Meanwhile, we know as viewers one simple fact: It's always a mistake to be without a weapon. Looks like they didn't get this memo at Abigail in Baja.
Strand asks to see Thomas, and Luis Flores' mother, Celia, who has worked on the Abigail estate for years, takes him there. Thomas is infected and getting sicker. He's been bitten, presumably by one of the parishioners.
Alicia and Chris have a show down in the living room. She accused him of letting Maddie get attacked and wanting her to die. He says, once again, "I froze." Seems like our boy likes to freeze at the absolute wrong fucking times. He begs her not to say anything. Chris is going full Shane, as the Walking Dead enthusiasts like to say.
Nick seems to be bonding with Celia, as she serves him some pozole stew. He tells her that Luis was asking for her as he passed. He tells her he is sick of all the killing. "None of this is new, Nicholas. Dead always walked among us. Now they're just visible."
When she said that, I remember thinking to myself that she's clueless. Also, I have a Latin mother in law. Respect for the dead and mourning and all that shit is a BIG thing in Latin cultures. I had to think that she just believes that instead of being in "heaven," we now see them as walking among us. Which is horseshit. She's just in denial. We also start to see that she will not be dependable in this world. Noted and filed away for the future.
Madison goes to talk to Strand and meet Abigail. Abigail is in bed, slowly dying, and he asks Madison to take care of Strand when he's gone. It's weird, I haven't really thought much of Madison as a leader of this group, since at the end of the day, she seems more concerned with her own family's well being. Yet, I have to believe that she and Strand have soft spots for each other, even Strand described her as "fierce."
Later, Madison and Alicia talk in the television room. Alicia tells Madison that Chris threatened her, after she saw him watch Madison get attacked by the infected. Madison then raises all holy hell (no pun intended, with the church and day of the dead references) to Travis. What did you two talk about, she demands. Maddie meets her match, as Travis won't back down from her challenge. She says that Chris needs help. Travis guilts her by calling Alicia "their" daughter, and that when Nick needed help in the outside world with his addictions, he always was there for her. Now she wants to throw his son under the bus.
"I helped with Nick. Help me help Chris," he begs Maddie.
Outside, Daniel takes a walk on the vineyard grounds. He sees a little boy put a live dog down a chute. Alarmed, he follows the little boy to the servant quarters. He hears and sees a little bit of the boy as he talks to his "madre." Daniel asks to talk to her too. The little boy says, he can come see her behind the cage. Of course, there's not only his mother but a shitload of infected people behind the cage. OF COURSE THERE IS. Like we didn't see that shit coming a mile away. (And this is why I gave this episode a 6 star rating. You could see that the writers got lazy with this one).
Ofelia takes a walk with Nick to the wall with pictures of the dead. She wants to pray for her mother and for strength for her father. Ofelia asked Nick when was the last time he was in a church. I rolled. We all know that was when he was in the shooters den and saw his friend eating the face of another person.
There is a big wooden carving of an owl. What we find out later is that the "owl" is a symbol for "Santa Muerte." Literal translation: Saint Death. (That's comforting). But it's also bringing the whole Day of the Dead references to light.
Daniel confronts Celia about the dead "living" in the cellar. She's not only poisoned the sacrament in the church, but they were coming for the dead in the cellar. That was why Thomas was trying to stop them, and ultimately, got himself dead. Celia tells Daniel very calmly that these people are family, they've worked there for years.
"Over my dead body would I deny them shelter," Celia tells Daniel.
Wild Prediction: Celia dies in the next episode.
Thomas is taking his last breaths as Strand lays with him. Celia had prepared the "sacrament" for Strand to sacrifice himself. He walks past it. Despite his speeches of obligation and all, Strand felt obligated to make sure that Thomas didn't turn.
The house hears a gunshot. It was Strand taking out Thomas. We all know the damage that happens once someone turns. Strand has seen it. Once again, we have a mercy kill for someone one of the main characters cares about.
The gunshot wakes up some of the sleeping houseguests, including Maddie and Alicia who are sharing a bed. When they wake up, Chris is standing over them, holding a knife. Are you fucking kidding me Chris? It's either the worst timing ever, or he was planning to do something to them. They both freak out, send him running.
Up to this point, while I've seen some parallels here and there, the writers finally went full TWD and gave their characters their identity. This is where I can kind of give the comic writers of the TWD comic credit because their story lines have managed to keep their viewers coming back, no matter how many spoilers they have. I feel like that might even give the viewers a bit of a comfort level too. The character of Daryl is someone invented for the show, and everyone seems to really like him.
I guess in this new world, and you're in a tribe there will be alphas and there will be subserviant people. The issue is that I see mostly alphas, so they will all clash.
Up to this episode too, I thought FOR SURE that Ofelia was gonna go in the last episode before the midseason. Yet, this episode brought out her character in a different way, that she wasn't afraid to take out an infected (we hadn't seen her do that yet), and that she was still serving as a conscience of the group.
Chris is going full Shane. And what we've learned is that once one of the living becomes a threat to the greater good of the group, they themselves will be taken out. I feel like Chris has got his toe tag fitted and ready to wear.
As for Celia, we saw in a preview that she is incensed that Strand took out Abigail. Strand knew it was necessary. I see Celia going. Daniel has a sense that she can't be trusted, and he's been proven right.
This episode left me like, meh. I didn't love it, nor did I hate it. However, in true writer fashion, I'm expecting big things in the midseason finale next week. How did this fly so quickly?!
No comments:
Post a Comment