Credit: Gene Page/AMC Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead was one of the most tense, frustrating, thrilling episodes of the season so far. I was, quite literally, on the edge of my seat through much of it, assuming something awful would happen—though nothing really did.
The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic television series based on the comic book of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, and developed for television by Frank Darabont.
Virtually the entire 42 minutes plus commercials of ‘The Same Boat’ focuses on Maggie and Carol as prisoners, taken captive by a foursome of Saviors led by the woman whose voice we heard last week: Paula. Paula, played by Alicia Witt (who I recognized from Justified) is a tough cookie. A woman who has killed double digits worth of living, breathing human beings.
A woman who would happily kill her lover in his sleep, and who isn’t taking any chances with Rick’s group. She’s uninterested in making a trade. And maybe she’s right. What would you do if you knew that a group of armed thugs had just killed all your people in cold blood? Would you trust them? In any case, the episode plays out with the four captors—Paula, her wounded lover, and two other women—making conversation with Carol and Maggie.
It’s a weird episode because Maggie becomes Carol and Carol becomes Morgan over the course of events. Maggie becomes a stone-cold killer filled with determination; Carol is filled only with doubt. At first I thought Carol was just pretending her way through the imprisonment, but by the end of it we see her seriously shaken. She’s overwhelmed with guilt, with the brutality of her life. She’s questioning her choices. She sees herself in Paula, and Paula in her.
They’re in the same proverbial boat, as the episode title suggests. She sees death everywhere, and herself as death’s instrument. What a time to lose your nerve, Carol! I think I shouted something to that effect at the screen at one point, as she inched her way closer to Paula, still not pulling the trigger. It was the second time in the same episode that she had a gun on the enemy and failed to shoot. The first time a Walker almost got her. The second time, Paula almost got her.
It was Maggie, not Carol, with a steel resolve tonight. It was Maggie who insisted on finishing off the Saviors—though they both lured Paula’s allies into the “Killing Floor” and set the room on fire, burning their enemies to a crisp. Our little band of survivors have become killing machines.
Only now, Carol is flinching. She’s been corrupted by Morgan, for better or worse. I think Morgan’s pro-life philosophy is noble, but Carol gets things done. They’re a good yin to one another’s yang.
There’s some balance there. We don’t need two Morgans or two Carols. Speaking of Morgan, we do get a glimpse of our staff-wielding hero tonight as well, apparently overcome by grief during a welding project.
I couldn’t help but think one thing: Just because Morgan isn’t right—talking to the Saviors would have likely been the wrong call—doesn’t mean Rick isn’t wrong. Rick carelessly led his people into an assault on a base they’d never scouted. He brought along Maggie, who was pregnant and very nearly lost her baby this evening (and could have lost her life.) He never bothered to discover whether the enemy had multiple bases, or scouting parties, or who Negan actually was. Which brings up another interesting point. When asked about Negan, both Paula and Primo answer to the effect “We are all Negan.” I’m not sure if this is an “I’m Spartacus” tactic or if the show has really given the whole Negan thing a spin, making Negan an idea, a collective, rather than an individual.
I doubt that, but I guess it’s possible. Verdict I have to say, it was the tension that won me over this episode. I didn’t know what was going to happen.
I didn’t know if Maggie and Carol would be rescued, or if they’d be taken even further away from the group. A big part of me thought Maggie would somehow lose the baby. Another part of me could never quite tell if Carol was pretending or genuinely losing her nerve—until the end.
This change in Carol is striking, and may be bothersome to some, but I actually find it quite fascinating. Her arc has suddenly become far more complex than most of the rest of the characters on The Walking Dead. She’s questioning her faith, and maybe that will bring some greater balance to her life, however bad her timing was tonight. This tension, this uncertainty, and the strength of the supporting “villains” tonight made this one of my favorite episodes of the season.
I do sort of hate episodes where we only see one slice of the group, and wish we could have had some scenes with Rick and the group as well, but I understand why they set it up this way, and overall it worked pretty well. I’m certainly curious to see what remains of the Saviors, and who Negan really is, and what sort of hornet’s nest they’ve kicked up with all this brutal murdering of strangers. I’m also curious to see if the spineless Gregory will hold up his end of the bargain, or if Hilltop will become another thorn in our heroes’ sides. What did you think of the episode?
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