The Walking Dead: Start to Finish (6x08)

Oh noooooo. Things are intensssssse. Let's just dive right on in.

Cons:

I don't think I really have any cons here. I mean, there's the fact that Deanna is dead (or about to be), and I was just starting to like her, but that's not a real criticism of the show so much as it is a personal complaint. Same goes for the lack of Daryl, Abraham, and Sasha. They showed up at the end of the episode, but I was really hoping that I'd get to see Daryl come back to Alexandria and reunite with some of our people in this episode.

In terms of serious complaints, I guess the only thing I've got is that one of the subplots didn't do as much for me as the others. As the Walkers swarm into Alexandria, several groups of our core characters attempt escape, using whatever means they can. One of these little groups consists of Carol, Morgan, the Wolf prisoner, and Denise, who was there to try and tend to the Wolf's injury. This plot thread is continuing the theme of Morgan vs. Carol/Rick in terms of ideology. Maybe it was just its placement in an episode that had so much else going on, but I found these parts sort of dragged down the pacing. I love Carol, but I want to see her interact with my other favorite characters. All this separation is wearing down on one of this show's real strengths, which is the relationships between its key players.

Pros:

On the other hand, this plot thread provided more of Denise, and I love her. While all this chaos is erupting between Carol and Morgan, another group attempts to figure out what's going on and how to escape. This group is Tara, Rosita, and Eugene. Eugene uses his lock picking skills to get them to the Wolf's location, in time to see that he has successfully freed himself of his bonds, subdued Carol and Morgan, and grabbed Denise as his hostage. Tara and the others watch in horror as the Wolf makes his getaway, Denise in tow. Denise is such an amazing character so far, and I really want to see more of her. She was clearly terrified of her captor, but she put on a brave face, which I find very admirable. More Denise/Tara please!

Maggie, meanwhile, nearly gets overtaken by a hoard of Walkers as they pour in to Alexandria. She barely escapes by getting up on top of a look-out post, but she's stuck there, the ladder having fallen into the huge crowd of Walkers below. Glenn convinces Enid to come with him and try to help those still inside Alexandria. As they climb up to look over a remaining part of the wall, Glenn catches sight of Maggie. This was a great way to end on some suspense - Glenn sees Maggie, but Maggie doesn't see Glenn yet. And although it's awesome to have them in the same vicinity again, Maggie is in a very precarious position, and we now have to wait months to see how she escapes. Enid, while not my favorite, is still interesting for what she provides in the way of pessimism. It's not the same sort of frantic pessimism of those who know they're about to die, or angry attitude of Carol and Rick, determined to murder to get what they need. It's just a sort of shrug to the world. If you don't try, you can't fail. It'll be interesting to see if she can regain any of the spark of life that seems to have fled her.

The main plot of the night was also the strongest. This was the first time I really felt a sense of connection and community with any of the new characters. As the Walkers swarm the streets, a group of our characters make their escape into Jessie's house. Rick, Michonne, Gabriel, Carl, and Deanna take refuge with Jessie and her boys Sam and Ron. Once inside, they learn that Deanna has been bit, and will soon die and become a Walker. This was a surprise, but if somebody had to die, I think it was a smart move to have it be Deanna. This is the last step in having Rick take up responsibility for the whole group, and make the Alexandria people his own.

There was great tension in the scene were Rick and Deanna talk about this - first, Rick goes to get a crying Judith, but comes across the injured Deanna leaning over her crib. He nearly kills her with an ax, thinking that she has died and reanimated. The two then talk about what will happen after Deanna dies. She has letters for Spencer and Maggie, and Rick promises to deliver them. Deanna then asks Rick if she'll look after Spencer like he looks after his own people. She makes him understand that they're all his people now. I was getting oddly choked up over this scene. Deanna really grew on me by the end.

Michonne and Deanna's scenes only served to increase my sadness. Michonne really, really wants Alexandria to work out. She wants a home, and Deanna was the symbol of that. I really wish we could have seen more of the friendship between these two, but the final moments between them managed to convey all of the dreams that Michonne had for Alexandria, and all of Deanna's despair at dying before seeing those dreams fulfilled. However, Deanna's final words to both Rick and Michonne show that she still has hope that they will succeed.

Ron and Carl's relationship is rather rocky, to say the least. While hiding out in Jessie's house, Ron turns a gun on Carl, seeking revenge for his father's death. Their scrambling for the gun nearly lets in a hoard of Walkers. Rick and the others come to help, and Carl covers for Ron, saying that all the yelling was because of the Walkers, and hiding the truth of their fight. Carl was kicking ass in this plot thread. I was so proud of him, and more interested in his character than I have been in a long time. Covering up for Ron seemed to win him a lot of good will, but Carl isn't willing to just forgive and forget. He demands that Ron hand over his gun, and then he points out that while his father murdered Ron's father, Ron's father was a total asshole, and an all-around danger to everybody in Alexandria. I can't wait to see if they can patch up their messy relationship and salvage something akin to a friendship. After all, Carl doesn't have a lot of opportunities to meet people his own age...

The main plot ends with Rick and the others covering themselves with Walker guts and walking out among the large crowds on the streets, edging their way quietly along hand in hand to make their escape. As they walk through the crowd, little Sam says "Mom?" in a voice of mounting fear, leading us to wonder if his voice will attract the Walkers' attention. This was an excellent scene. The tension and buildup was great, with Sam's fear being a key theme throughout the whole episode. I'm glad to see them bring back the old trick of covering people with Walker guts... we haven't seen them use that in a while. What a cliffhanger! Will they make it out? My guess is yes, but still. How intense!

I'll end by briefly mentioning the episode tag - we do get to see Daryl, Sasha and Abraham briefly as they head back towards Alexandria. Unfortunately, they are stopped by a gang of men on motorcycles, who tell them that everything they own - all their weapons, the truck, the fuel - now belongs to Negan. This is just a little teaser of a scene. We don't even get to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan appear as Negan, although I must say I am very excited about that casting choice. I'm sure I'm going to hate this Negan guy, and I'm sure that Jeffrey Dean Morgan will play a despicable character with great ease after all his experience on Supernatural. Can't wait!

Alright, that's where we'll end. This was the first time I felt a real sense of community with the Alexandria characters, so it's kind of a shame that the Alexandria chapter of events seems to be drawing to a close. What will await our characters when we see them again in February?

8.5/10