Well, that’s that, everyone. Another half-season of The Walking
Dead is in the (or adapted from the, if you wanted to get technical) books; eight hours of television we alternately enjoyed and
suffered through. There were some good times, right? That whole Daryl bowling
ball zombie head thing! And some bad times, like finally axing Beth weeks – months, even –
after unexpectedly letting her live.
I honestly gasped at that moment last night, because we’d
been lulled into some false security, I think. Beth got to sing! She ran her underground
hospital conspiracy! She pushed a man down an elevator shaft! This wasn’t like T-Dog,
who had no personality and no subplots and no definable traits. This was Beth,
who after all this time somehow wormed her stiched-up face into my heart. Or
maybe I was just sad because of how sad Daryl was? Norman Reedus, you guys. He cannot
be denied!
Aside from Beth’s death, what else happened in the
mid-season finale, “Coda”? And what do those things mean for The Walking Dead
when the show returns in February 2015? Let’s discuss!
+ “I can’t run anymore.” Oh, Father Gabriel! Finally you see the
awful horror of the world around you, and finally you realize there’s no
denying it anymore. Although he hasn’t had that much to do yet, I think Seth Gilliam
– SGT. CARVER FOREVER – has been a strong addition to this cast – PROBABLY BECAUSE
THE WIRE IS THE GREATEST SHOW OF ALL TIME – and I enjoy the emotionally wrought
work he’s been doing here. It wasn’t very subtle in the scene when he found the
Bible belonging to Gareth’s mom who Carol killed, and then came upon the Bob’s
leg, which Gareth was killed for eating, but I thought the sentiment in that
moment was effective. The old rules – organized religion, or anything organized
at all – aren’t applicable. The chaos can’t be contained. And Father Gabriel’s “Let
me live with it” and “It’s worth it” were important steps forward for his
desire for survival, I think. (As was his quick thinking in herding Michonne,
Judith, and Carl to his back office and through his escape hole when the
zombies came crashing through the church. Sure, the problem started with that
escape hole in the first place, but at least it saved them, too.)
+ “What happened to
both of us – maybe it’s because we’re still the same.” How would you
characterize what is going on between siblings Tyreese and Sasha? It’s not
exactly a rift, I don’t think, but more of a moral separation. As brother and
sister, there’s a natural comparison between the two of them, but The Walking
Dead has been especially linking them together this season. As Tyreese admits
to Sasha, he didn’t kill Gareth’s ally, Martin, when he and Carol came upon him
in that cabin; Martin then went on to help Gareth in his kidnapping, crippling,
and then eating of Bob, which eventually led to Bob’s death; which then
inspired Sasha’s killing of Martin and her continued need for revenge since. It
has made her reckless – why give her back to Lamson? – while it
has made Tyreese wary (if you recall, the whole swapping prisoners idea was
his, in comparison with Rick’s kill-them-all theory), and in this episode Sasha
clearly lays out that she doesn’t want to be like Tyreese anymore. She doesn’t
have it in her. How much further she’ll move away from her brother morally will
be something to watch for when the season returns, I think.
+ “He was a good man.”
Yes, yes, maybe Officer Bob Lamson was a good man, as practically everyone at the hospital kept telling
Rick and Co. He was one of the good guys! He was one of the last remaining good
cops! Well, in a nice nod to his former career, that didn’t stop Rick from
mowing Lamson down in a police cruiser and then shooting him in the head. You
lie to Rick and you try to kill one of his people, and that’s what happens to
you.
Although, I honestly couldn’t figure out exactly what the
writers were trying to do by constantly reiterating the idea that Lamson was a
good person: Was it to show how poor the judgment was of all the cops under
Dawn’s command? Was he such a capable liar that he had convinced other people
of his goodness? Or had he really been a worthwhile person once, and just
driven to do bad by his circumstances – like so many of the other characters we’ve
met? I’m probably overthinking this, but I’m just surprised that actor Maximiliano
Hernandez (so good on The Americans!) would be such a one-and-done character. I
don’t get it. (And I hope we don’t have such confusing, repetitive writing for
ancillary characters when the show returns in February.)
+ “He lied. He can’t
stop it. Washington isn’t the end.” The admission of Eugene’s lie prompts
Abraham and Co. to return to the church in their giant firetruck, taking out
all the walkers trying to kill Carl, Michonne, Judith, and Father Gabriel, and
reuniting them with Glenn, Maggie, Tara, etc. – and unfortunately giving Maggie
the hope that her sister Beth was still alive. I’ve complained often in these
recaps about how Maggie doesn’t seem to be mourning her sister at all, and how
that has seemed like a major oversight for her character development over these
past eight episodes, but I thought this hour finally made up for all that was
lacking. Lauren Cohan’s facial expressions! First, the delirious, unbelievable
joy when Michonne told her that Beth was alive, and then the overwhelming,
traumatic collapse when she saw Daryl carrying out Beth’s body – both were
nicely done. A little more concern during all the time Beth was missing would
have been appreciated, but Cohan did admirably in “Coda.” And … with Carol back
and the church destroyed … they’re going to go back on the road for D.C.,
right? I mean, why stay in or around Atlanta at this point? Might as well get
moving.
+ “Nothing’s OK.”
Oh, Beth! You lived far longer than any of us would have expected, and in this
terrible hospital storyline with terrible Dawn (a monotonous, clichéd character
and an awfully one-note performance from actress Christine Woods), you did the
best you could. You killed a rapist and a senior-citizen abuser and then you tried
to kill Dawn, and although that didn’t work out so well for you, at least you’ll
be properly mourned by Maggie and Carol and Daryl, who clearly matters the
most, not only because he’s the dreamiest but because he killed Dawn in
retaliation for you. Isn’t that what real friends are for?
I never really bought the Daryl/Beth relationship as I do
the Carol/Daryl one, but overall I liked how the show paired him with these two
women who seemed weak in comparison but in some ways were far more formidable,
clever, and resourceful than Daryl could be. And although Beth lingered too
long as the young, doe-eyed, innocent one of the group, I think her loss will
matter – I could see it compelling Rick et al. to think about leaving Atlanta,
to consider whether compromise is really worth it when lives could be lost, and
to reassess their strategies and methods. Maybe things would be
different if they hadn’t gone with Tyreese’s plan?
(And just one final thought: Yes, it’s very clear that Dawn
was set up as a parallel to Rick, what with being a leader who essentially took
over the group from their former head honcho who was becoming unstable – ahem, Shane –
and who had a background in law enforcement and people doubting her abilities
and had made some poor choices. Some of her dialogue, like her speech about how
she doesn’t need people to love her but to respect her, was also clearly along
this vein. But the character was written so superficially that any layers of
depth were indecipherable, and I ultimately find her more irritating than
anything else.)
And some final
thoughts before we part for six or so weeks:
+ This was an episode full of poorly written dialogue for
Dawn and the hospital people, like her “You don’t get to threaten me” to O’Donnell;
“You’re a cop killer” to Beth; and the HILARIOUSLY BAD TIME that other annoying
officer told Beth to “Stay in your lane, bitch!” Because that is how police
officers would talk.
+ As much as I grew to like Beth, there are a lot of
eyeroll-worthy moments with her in “Coda,” since the writers often saddled her
with obvious lines that were meant to be vaguely philosophical. The episode’s
worst example was probably her “Everyone uses people to get what they want” to
Dawn, which, OF COURSE THEY DO. IT IS THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. WHAT ELSE DO YOU
EXPECT.
+ Did Dawn really need to whisper “I knew you’d be back” to
Noah? Was that pathetic power trip that imperative to her stupid, small life?
She really was the human embodiment of melted gum stuck on the bottom of my new
overpriced dress shoes on a humid summer day – i.e., the fucking worst.
+ “You can stay.” Oh, thanks, terrible minion of Dawn’s, for
letting us stay in this hospital of despair and murder! Fuck no, Rick and Co.
are getting out of there. They have a zombie-infested church they would rather
call home, thank you very much.
+ Morgan returns ... again! I guess he’s been wandering around the forest
this whole time like a dumbass, because only when everyone leaves the school
and church does he arrive at those two places, laugh hysterically at his own attempt
to pray, and then spot the map Abraham left for Rick that includes their route
to D.C. If Rick and his people do bail on Atlanta and decide to hit the road,
perhaps we’ll finally get that reunion with Morgan – and affirmation that Noah
is his nephew?
+ “Let’s blow this joint. Go save your sister.” Tara is so
weird, but at least I finally remembered her name! And hopefully I don’t forget
it by February 8. See you all then!
