On this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, Glenn tries to keep secrets, Dale gets to the bottom of things, shooting practice turns into car sex and Rick and Lori talk strollers. Or something like that. Find out my take on this week’s episode, accurately titled “Secrets,” after the jump.
The thing about great zombie fiction is it rarely actually is about zombies. Many took Night of the Living Dead as an allegory about war, Dawn of the Dead was all about how greatly consumerism swallows people up, and 28 Days Later (zombies or not zombies) was in a lot of ways about how humanity is its own worst enemy. There are plenty of other examples out there, but those are some of the most prominent.
The Walking Dead isn’t like those in that it is trying to say something deeper than what we see, but it is like them in that it ultimately isn’t really about zombies. When you look at it, this show (and the comic that preceded it) is really a look at how the living continue to live after the undead take over the world. And this episode, titled “Secrets,” is perhaps more focused on that idea than any yet.
While every episode is to a certain degree, this one really gets into the interpersonal drama more than ever. Glenn is stressed because he can’t keep secrets (whether they are about surprise pregnancies or barns full of walkers), Dale doesn’t like what is happening amongst his people (particularly between Shane and Andrea), Lori can’t tell Rick she is pregnant but can’t afford to not tell him, Herschl wants everyone out, everyone wants to learn how to shoot guns properly, and for the love of god, can someone stop hurting Daryl?! That’s just a few of the story lines that are going on in here, but the amount of plot threads that are developing here at all times is astounding.
In a lot of ways, Shane has become the sun that the rest of the characters revolve around, and I feel like a lot of that has basically come to be because he is the character in which the whole plot of the show diverged from the comic on. That he still lives changes everything, and it is affecting each and everyone on the show. For a fan of the comic who likes his TV/film adaptations to do their own thing, his presence has made the show significantly more exciting than it would be otherwise, and Jon Bernthal has done a superb job of making the character both despicable and believably irresistible.
But the other characters have gotten a lot of great time too, and in here we see some excellent work from the cast, in particular Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale, Laurie Holden as Andrea, Steven Yeun as Glenn, and Lauren Cohan as Maggie.
The former two have most of their problems in the show being caused by the great divergence (Shane), as Dale is fuming because he sees at least two major problems that are directly caused by him and suspects a third and Andrea has been bewitched by the virile and intense nature of Shane. Viewers did not likely see them as a love triangle in any, shape or form before last night’s episode, but when Dale confronts Shane, enraged by what he knew to have happened on Shane and Andrea’s adventure, the tension and jealousy is palpable. All three of them had excellent episodes, although I must admit, Andrea zoning in as she and Shane are beset by a horde of walkers was a tad hokey.
Meanwhile, Glenn and Maggie’s relationship takes a step forward, and big props to the two of them for making the relationship feel natural and not like another forced TV coupling. Glenn is a favorite of mine in the comic, and before recently he has been woefully underused. He’s taken a more starring role recently, and it’s great to see him standing out more now than Maggie is around.
It’s not all perfect though. I enjoyed this episode, but frustration exists because the central plot thread is still Sophia being missing in the woods. Here’s a fun fact: if Sophia isn’t found next episode – in the midseason finale – she will have been missing for longer than she has been around in the show. Find her alive or find her dead next episode, but the length of time she has been gone has removed all drama from the situation and it just makes the show feel like it is spinning its wheels. To be honest, it doesn’t even seem like Carol cares anymore. That is definitely a bad sign.
Continued belowThe other problem is that there doesn’t seem to be anything pushing drama besides the entire casts steadfast desire to communicate as poorly as any human beings possibly can. As much as I enjoy the drama, I find myself occasionally talking to the TV screen imploring them to stop acting so stupid. This is not a good sign.
That said, it is a good sign in some ways because that just means I care about them as characters. Granted, I was already onboard before it even started, but it is most definitely a good sign. Here’s hoping things start progressing and we don’t have to constantly rely on secrets to generate tension, and big props to them for the zombie kill count this episode. Somewhere, I know Dave Jacoby enjoyed that aspect at the very least, and by god so did I.
One more episode until a brief hiatus. Here’s hoping Team Walking Dead brings the pain.
