There goes the neighborhood! We knew the peaceful and welcoming atmosphere of Alexandria wouldn’t last forever, but man the tide has certainly changed rather quickly…even by The Walking Dead standards. Last night, “our group” endured more loss and betrayal, while a couple of heroes emerged in the face of adversity on The Walking Dead: Spend. Spoiler Alert!
There’s a Hero in Us All
One of the things that I love about “our group” is that when the going gets tough, they—meaning the tough—get going. First up, was Abraham. While Abraham’s heroic move to save a fellow construction worker from walkers seemed to align with his prior characterization, you can’t help but acknowledge that his Rambo like actions were pretty badass to watch play out. And, his actions landed him construction manager, so win-win for him. Eugene, however, is a completely different story.
Up until now—and even in the beginning events leading up to his act of heroism—Eugene habitually declared that he was a coward. But, the truth of the matter was that no one ever made him step up to the plate. Everyone in the group always placated his stance on being a coward and would pick up the slack because of it. Well, last night, the time finally came for Eugene to step up because there was no one around to save him; in fact, he was the one that needed to save an unconscious Tara. And, he did. Once again, The Walking Dead proves that none us really know what we’re capable of until our backs are against the proverbial wall. Ladies and gentlemen, Eugene isn’t a coward after all.
Everybody Ate Chris
Just so we all don’t get too comfortable, the writers hit us with another death this season. This time, it was Noah who bit the big one—or was bitten to be more accurate. And though it’s never easy to watch any member of “our group” die, I can only speak for myself when I say that Noah’s character will not particularly missed. Then again, I’m still not over the fact that Tyreese essentially gave his life to protect him in the first place.
For me, it was more moving to watch Glen’s reaction during and after Noah’s death. And while any loss in the group is felt among them all, I think that this particular loss—the loss of Noah—will have a more lasting impact on Glen. Maybe it’s because Glen perhaps saw a bit of himself in Noah, or maybe he’ll struggle with the fact that he couldn’t save him. Either way, this will forever change Glen or perhaps his attitude towards the so-called “utopia” that is Alexandria.
Rick Gets a Reason to Take Out the Competition
Well, that didn’t take long. Last week, we saw Rick reach for his gun, implying that he considered Jesse’s husband Pete to be a threat to his feelings for her, and now Rick has a reason to eliminate that threat. Who could blame him—to a certain extent—the guy is abusing his wife and child; at least according to Carol’s accusations. By the way, what is Carol’s end game? What on earth could she possibly stand to gain by going to Rick with that information—especially without proof of certainty?
Nevertheless, Carol has planted a seed of murder into Rick’s mind and now we just have to wait and see how this will all play out. Will Rick investigate for himself or simply go on Carol’s word? We all know Pete isn’t the nicest of guys and that his wife isn’t necessarily happy with him, but is he abusing her and his children?
Satan’s Disguise
One of the more surprising moments in last night’s episode of The Walking Dead was the conversation between Father Gabriel and Deanna. Now, we’ve known for quite some time that all is not well with the Father, as he has struggled immensely with his own fate since “our group” first happened upon him and saved him from walkers. However, what I didn’t see coming was his act of betrayal against the very people who took him in and kept him safe this whole time.
Sure, “our group” has had to make some hard choices—choices between life and death—in the past, but to compare them to Satan and bring his own trepidations to Deanna as if they were founded was especially vile for a so-called man of the cloth; particularly when he knows that their actions were uniquely justified. I am curious, however, to see what will happen when Rick and the gang find out about Father Gabriel’s betrayal and how they will proceed to deal with him…and we all know that moment is coming.
The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC at 9:00pm EST/8:00pm CST.