This week on The Walking Dead: Michonne actually gets to speak, Rick finds someone crazier than he is, and Carl snuffs out that last bit of light in his soul. I made some predictions on twitter that Daryl would do something bad ass and Andrea would make stupid decisions thinking I was pretty safe, but I was wrong on all accounts! Those two weren’t even in the episode; in fact,only Rick, Michonne, Carl, and one other guest character have any screen time this week. Still, “Clear” was a much better episode of The Walking Dead than last week’s slow outing, with a little bit of action mixed in with a lot of spookiness and a buttload of emotions.
But first, let’s check in with Dale.
Action Chick, someone once told me that you can’t eat quail for more than thirty days. He didn’t say what would happen if you tried, only it couldn’t be done. Well, I’m happy to say that I’m on day thirty-one of my all-quail diet, and the only side effects I’ve suffered are getting sick of the taste of quail and meat farts that could fell a bison.
Thanks, Dale. Now onward, to the recap!
The last episode ended with Rick saying he was going out on a run with Carl and Michonne, and that’s what we get to see in “Clear.” They head to Rick and Carl’s home town to hit up the police department for guns, but find nothing. When they head further into town, they find booby traps galore and one crazy guy standing on the roof shooting at them. Carl is first to connect with a bullet, bringing the guy down and leaving behind a black hole of hardcore mofo where his childhood innocence used to be.
Rick discovers that crazy guy is his savior from the very first season, Morgan. When Rick woke up from his coma, Morgan took him in and reoriented him to the world before sending him on his way, and Rick returns the favor. The bullet didn’t do any serious harm, thanks to the body armor he was sporting, so they take him in off the street and wait for him to wake up. While Carl and Michonne go out on a mission in the two, Rick gets stabbed in the shoulder by a very deranged Morgan. Sheriff Grimes is able to work his magical people skills to bring Morgan back to Earth, but not completely, so the two of them have a crazy-off and battle it out over who is the most bat-crap loco after the pile of tragedies they’ve endured. Morgan comes out the winner of the crazy-off, though, because Rick holds himself together to give a pep talk while Morgan breaks down over the loss of his son at the hands of his zombified wife, and the fact that Rick stopped his daily walkie-talkie ritual to try to contact Morgan just when he needed him most.
Out on the town, Michonne gets more dialogue in this episode than all her other episodes combined. We actually discover that there’s more to her than just a sword wielding bad ass, including a sly sense of humor and a love of kitschy cat statues. She and Carl worked together to kill zombies and retrieve a picture of him, Lori, and Rick from a restaurant they used to visit as a family. Maybe this will spark a little light in that ice-cold soul of his. They then grab a crib for Little Ass Kicker and meet back up with Rick.
Luckily for them, Morgan has been stockpiling everything he could get his hands on and has weapons and ammo galore. They take what they can and head out, leaving Morgan behind. I think Rick found a little hope that things will get better after seeing how crazy Morgan was. Here’s hoping!
Oh, and at the beginning of the episode they drive past a hitchhiker, and he pleads with them to let him go with them, but they keep driving and ignore him. At the end of the episode they find his trademark orange pack on the side of the road, surrounded by a pile of gore, and, without saying a word, they stop and pick up the pack to take with them. Ouch. Rick can hope for a better world all he wants, but he and his group are still one hardass gang of survivalists.
Likes:
- Michonne, Carl, and Rick staring blankly at the zombies attacking their car. Zombies are not longer something to be afraid of, just a daily annoyance.
- Carl being a man.
- Michonne’s groan at having to kill a zombie, like she was given a chore to do.
- Lennie James’ tortured performance as Morgan.
- Rick’s small glimmer of hope.
- Michonne admitting to Rick that she talked to her dead boyfriend for a while. “It happens.”
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
(Dale’s Deeds by Alex Langley)
Oh but you were not wrong! give it a week and you’ll see, next episode will probably start with a “Meanwhile in Woodbury…” right after the recap, and it will be 4 whole minutes of Andrea writing a to-do list of stupid decisions that she must make in that episode. Then the credits begin.