“Remember” was an episode which could have easily fell flat, taking us away from the hardened, terrifying road and finally exploring the Alexandria Safe Zone – a big, significant location in the source material. There was no falling here though, as the writers and episode director Channing Powell – who handled Season 4’s brilliant “Internment” – gave us an interesting, relatively calm episode that peered deeper into the effects of the zombie wasteland on our survivors, by taking them out of it. This method of compare and contrast had varying results for the survivors, as we explored some of their individual approaches to seemingly arriving at a place they have searched for since this all started.
Rick and co. understandably kept their guards up throughout the entire episode, constantly doubting their new sanctuary but finding it hard to resist the little pleasures that they thought were no longer possible, like showers, video games, and haircuts. The episode begged the question ‘is a return to normalcy really possible after what they have been through?’
A really nice scene was Carl with Alexandria’s three other kids, getting overwhelmed and almost tearing up when he was offered actual options like pool tables (uh oh, is that a comic easter egg?) and video games. Carl has had a big chuck of his youth torn out of him and to see things like big plasma TVs, video games consoles, and even electricity must have given him all types of emotions.
Upon entry into Alexandria, our survivors – particularly Rick – are quickly introduced to the person who runs the whole show, the nice-enough looking Deanna Monroe (Tovah Feldshuh) who is hard not to like, but still has that vague smirk on her face to keep viewers from sinking to into the idea of Alexandria being genuine. She interviews the major players in the group – Rick, Michonne, Carol, Glenn, and Daryl – and some sessions are smoother than the rest. Carol is obviously taking the most cautious approach, completely fabricating what we know her to be and putting on an all-smiles, naive act, even going so far as to say she misses her abusive ex-husband Ed. Daryl is also choosing to resist settling in, one look at him and you can tell he hasn’t even enjoyed the showers yet.
The episode stumbles the moment walkers are wedged into the narrative, because this is The Walking Dead after all, and so each episode’s director must find a way to bring in some walker kills to meet some quota. It works terribly here, as a clean-shaven Rick goes to look for the gun he planted in the blender in the previous episode, only to find it missing, leading to him and Carl having to kill a bunch of walkers. The more effective walker kill took place on the other side of the forest as Glenn, Tara, and Noah follow Alexandrians Aiden and Nicholas on a ‘dry run’. Aiden and Nicholas, being much less experienced with the walker world than our survivors, have foolishly tied up a walker and play around with it for target practice; things don’t go well and Glenn ends up having to kill the walker before it bites Tara. Aiden gets quite upset and argues with Glenn in front of the community, attempting to swing at him but Glenn – in an awesome, fan-cheering move – ducks and knocks Aiden down. Like Glenn said, their group has been let in because they actually know what they are doing, reiterating what Carl says earlier in the episode about Alexandrians being nice, but weak. It’s no wonder they need a capable group that has become methodical in their survival.
Rick and Michonne being give jobs as the communities new sheriffs is a nice role to play around with, but Deanna’s eagerness to suddenly place them in a huge position of power seems a bit suspicious. Until the ending scene, a conversation between Rick, Carol and Daryl which reveals that Rick and his group aren’t going to be shaking off the path of becoming as viscous as those outside the wall anytime soon.
Review Score: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Hightlights:
– Glenn punching Aiden
– The interviews
– Settling in proves difficult
– Carl given options
Lowlights:
– Rick x Carl x Walkers
– Much of the group ignored for the entire episode
Episode MVP: Glenn
Walker Kill of the Week: Sasha (clean shot to the head)
Get your season pass to The Walking Dead from iTunes HERE
The Walking Dead screens on FX in Australia.
———-
