Episode 1: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
Before we get started we'd just like to say our Senoia Video series is online. Go check it out!
Now on to the episode: Needless to say everyone knows this was a much anticipated, languished over episode following a cliff hanger that had a lot of fans grabbing for their torches and pitch forks. Our guess for victim #1 came to fruition quickly enough, and our hope that victim #2 was just a rumor was dashed before the half hour mark. It wasn't just who it was... in fact it was far more than that... it was how it played out and what it actually looked & sounded like on screen that took us through the emotional equivalent of a tumble dry full of rocks and shattered glass. To say it was brutal is a gross understatement.
This episode is more than intense. It is anxiety-attack inducing. It is crushing. It is devastating. And that was even with prior warning.
We won't do a play-by-play but our one criticism is that we could've done without the mini road trip for Rick and Negan. Aside from demonstrating that Rick had not yet been broken to Negan's satisfaction (which we already knew he wouldn't be), it really didn't serve a purpose and had an odd "what are we doing right now" feel. Other than that slight lapse, we didn't feel like it could've played out any other way in order to do what needed to be done... and what needed to be done was the establishment of a distinct demarcation line. There is now a "pre-Negan apocalypse" and a "post-Negan apocalypse" that would persist even if Negan were killed in the very next episode. The audience needed to be broken of any sense of security what-so-ever and reminded that there won't always be a way out presented just in the nick of time. You don't want this to be Indiana Jones. If you want a feel-good ending you're watching the wrong show.
"Team Family" as fans call them have now been taken to the brink of hell more so than ever before, presented with a series of heartbreaking ultimatums in a ruthless, humiliating, and demoralizing way that will affect them for the rest of their lives (or the series as the case may be). It doesn't transform the show into something new, but it transforms the characters into new people. Even the best of leaders must sometimes concede that someone else has gotten the better of them, and that's where the most compelling, human stories come from.
Inevitably there were immediately fans declaring that they would never watch the show again for one reason or another but we hazard against such rash judgments. There had to be a line drawn in the sand and that line had to come at the cost of one of our dearest emotional investments or else it wouldn't have worked. It had to be one of The Atlanta Five and there was no way around that. It needed to play out in that order as well. We needed to feel the sense that the worst was behind us only to suddenly, and with almost no warning, be confronted with something even worse... or two. And, if they got you to feel, they did their jobs.
Next week we are apparently catching back up with Carol and Morgan, which is a drastic change of pace... not something we normally appreciate but in this case the respite is much needed. With all this said we're going to go curl up in fetal position until then.
www.WalkingDeadFamily.com
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