No, it didn’t really follow the plot of the original comic
books, and that’s admittedly a pretty major gripe I have with the AMC
adaptation. And yes, characters were still doing stupid things, like, I don’t
know, abandoning each other during the
zombie apocalypse. But ultimately what worked with “What Happened and
What’s Going On” was its cinematic approach, its somber tone, and its own
internal logic.
Tyreese died, and it was a horrible loss both for us as
viewers (because Chad Coleman is wonderful, and why does The Walking Dead keep
hiring The Wire alums if they’re just going to keep killing them off?!) and for
Rick and Co., who relied on the big man’s strength and dignity, but Tyreese
died in a way that made sense for him. Of course this man who, for so long now,
has been walking the line between totally with it, totally in the moment,
totally committed to optimism and hope, would be rattled to his core by
pictures of a happier time, and children in a happier time – even more
poignant. Tyreese was a man within and without, stuck inside of himself in a
world where you can only survive on the outside, and of course his time had to
come at some point. Distressing, of course, but inevitable.
Would he really not
hear one of those said children, WHO HE HAD LIKE JUST A FEW SECONDS AGO, coming
up behind him to take a giant bite of his arm? That is the kind of
suspension-of-disbelief that I still cannot jump on board with. But everything
that came after – the existential showdown between people Tyreese has been
involved with killing, or people he should have killed, or people who were
killed because of his action or inaction – that battle for Tyreese’s soul, that
was great stuff. Sure, just as emotionally clunky and heavy-handed as The
Walking Dead can be (did Beth really need
to be singing? Or is that just her forever-ghost state, at this point?), it
made sense for this conversation to happen with Tyreese. He was, objectively,
the best of Rick and Co. at this point. Even cheery Glenn is talking about how
he would have killed Dawn if Daryl hadn’t; Michonne is exhausted by killing but
accepting of it; Rick knows they have to keep pushing to make it. Tyreese had hope,
and Tyreese died. More so than Herschel, more so than Beth, this death hit
home. A powerful way for The Walking Dead to come back. Well done.
And here, some other thoughts! I’ve diverted from our normal
format for these recaps this week because of the magnitude of Tyreese’s death,
so I’ll keep these other observations brief. Next week, though, back to our
five-things layout.
+ That opening! Of course, the fakeout was that the funeral,
Maggie’s weeping, and Father Gabriel’s service were for Beth, but having them
turn out to be Tyreese were pretty powerful. Plus, the montage of all the
scenes to come – the photos of Noah’s younger twins brothers, the blood
dripping on the painting of their house – was also memorable, and a sly way of
presenting memory, too. We remember fragments of things, pieces of a story –
and that quick method of introducing the episode and its important visuals was
a nice touch.
+ So that was Richmond, which in the comics was a really
important plot and had nothing to do with Noah, who is a show character only. I
guess we’re done with Richmond on the show? Interesting, because that really
jettisons a lot of what comics readers would think is coming up. I must admit
that I’m curious.
+ “You don’t want to go in there,” Tyreese tells Noah. Oh,
Tyreese, I wish YOU hadn’t gone in there. Stupid dumb zombie kid!
+ “It went the way it had to,” says the vision of
Bob/D’Angelo Barksdale, and I think of all the people Tyreese hallucinated, Bob
was the most in line with his thinking. All of the zombie-caused deaths are, at
this point, senseless. So Bob getting bitten while trying to collect canned
food in a flooded church basement, or Tyreese getting bitten while staring at a
picture of happier times in a children’s bedroom – it’s all pointless. But
that’s sometimes the way life happens.
+ So, Rick and Michonne cutting Tyreese’s arm off, thinking
it would stop the infection from the two zombie bites he received – a way for
the show to nod at us comics readers who know about that similar thing that
happened to another important character? They’re never going to go through with
that plot element at this point, so I’ll just take this as an inside reference
and move on, I guess.
+ Bodies cut in half, with legs left to burn and chomping
heads falling out of the back of an abandoned truck – way to up the gross
factor after two months, Walking Dead effects people.
+ “I know who I am. I know what happened, and what’s going
on. I know.” Goodbye, Tyreese, a.k.a. Dennis “Cutty” Wise. Hope there’s a
boxing gym in Baltimore waiting for your return.
