Now that everyone’s in the fine community of Alexandria, there’s more time being spent discussing what pie to bake for the annual Alexandria Pie Sale than there is anything about zombies or uprisings, so things are definitely a little different in “The Walking Dead”. Wait. That’s not true? Just because Team Rick is in a great situation doesn’t mean all is well? Carol is threatening children? Rick is fantasizing about killing husbands, creepy kissing women and slow dancing with zombies? Sasha’s throwing hissy fits at dinner parties? Daryl’s chilling with gay couples and eating spaghetti? Well, save for that last part, it sounds like everything is pretty much the same in ol’ Walking Dead ville. Let’s take a look at what happens in this week’s episode, titled “Spend”.
As per usual, do not read this review until after you’ve watched the episode. Many spoilers will be discussed.
1. Culling the Herd
Well, I was right last week. It was time to clear some of the cast out, and sadly it was Tyler James Williams’ Noah (whom I was starting to enjoy, especially given his bit of learning how to build things at the beginning with Deanna’s husband) and not so sadly it was Deanna’s son Aiden. The former wasn’t a huge hit, as Noah hadn’t been around that long, but the way he went out was pretty devastating. It’s like the folks who make the show are trying to give us a reason to want Rick’s team to take over Alexandria, as Aiden’s right hand man sold Glenn and Noah out for the chance to survive before getting fed a fist sandwich by Glenn. That was the only satisfying part of his death.
The whole thing was necessary, as the cast is just enormous, and the way Noah went out and who Aiden was were in their own way incendiary devices in the way the rift is forming in Alexandria. Clever selections, even if they were all created by a rather hilarious bit of manufactured drama in the power sources dying for the township.
2. Gratuitous, much?
I for one do not care about violence. It really doesn’t bother me if it’s done tastefully and/or in a necessary fashion. The way Noah and Aiden went out was not tasteful or necessary. They were the definition of over the top, as the camera loomed on both of them as they were killed far past the point of effectiveness. You could argue that Noah’s death was showed to such extremes to highlight how Glenn was traumatized by it, but then how would you explain Aiden’s death? There was no point to that, save for the same reason the show has incorporated the completely ridiculous splatter cam: the overt violence is part of their selling point. To me, the show would have been better with less time spent on these deaths, and I’d be amazed if the showrunners could come up with something that could legitimately argue otherwise.
3. Gabriel
Maybe the most out of the blue part of the episode was Gabriel showing up at Deanna’s and further sparking the flame of her potential distrust of Team Rick. Him coming and saying how she shouldn’t trust Rick and his people seemed strange considering a) he wouldn’t be alive with Rick, b) Rick’s how he made it to Alexandria, c) what has he even seen Rick and them do that was so bad, save for saving themselves from the Hunters and d) he let the flock from his church die instead of helping them! What grounds does he have to even say a damn thing? It seemed very strange.
And even beyond that, it really didn’t pair very well with what happened with Gabriel earlier. He was losing his shit tearing up the Bible in the cold open…how does that connect with him showing up at the end to warn Deanna? In an episode that was generally good, that part felt really weird and forced, even if it makes a bit of sense, structure wise.
4. Taking Over
So now Abraham is running the construction team (his segment was great), Carol’s somehow using Sam the Cookie Monster as a future criminal of America/informant, Rick’s the constable, Glenn – through attrition – is now leading the away teams, Daryl’s a recruiter, Maggie’s the consiglieri to Deanna, and generally speaking, Team Rick owns Alexandria just like that.
Continued belowIn just a few episodes, Team Rick’s taken over Alexandria, and it’s starting to become apparent to Deanna that this is the case. Much her to chagrin, the audience is being given good reason to be against her existing regime.
5. Alexandria Fail
It really is staggering that the people in Alexandria are alive and as Utopia like as they seem. I mean, Pete’s an animal (although I think there’s a chance that not all is as it seems there and maybe Jessie is the intense one), Aiden was an idiot who is now a dead idiot, the collection of construction folk were utterly incompetent (save for the dude who said he was going to “send a fax to Cleveland”, who is the best), Sam is so desperate for a respectable authority figure that he’s latching onto the woman who threatened to murder him in the previous episode, and Deanna’s giving Team Rick everything on a silver platter. As I mentioned earlier, it’s like the people who run the show want us to want Team Rick to take over. If that’s the case, yes, I want them to take over, if only for them to save Alexandria from themselves.
