The Walking Dead - Recap: The Other Bob
Recap video and review of The Walking Dead - Season 5 Episode 7 - Crossed:
In a lot of ways, this felt like a placeholder episode for The Walking Dead, a calm before the storm of next week's mid-season finale. "Crossed" is an episode that doesn't move things forward so much as it holds things in place for the inevitable explosion of drama that's headed our way.
This isn't to say that the entire episode is inert. For example, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) launches his plan to infiltrate Grady Memorial to rescue Carol (Melissa McBride) and Beth (Emily Kinney). But the progress in that A-story contrasts with the relative lack of forward momentum in the B and C-stories. That said, those inert stories didn't bug me as much as they probably should have, mostly because we got some decent character development in the bargain. For Glenn (Steven Yeun) and the others, this episode was all about figuring out what comes next, now that Eugene's lie has been exposed and there's no unifying mission to give them any sense of hope or purpose. To this end, the episode illustrates that this doesn't have to be the end of the world (literally), as the group finds hope in the little things, whether it's fishing, finding useful items in an old bag, or filtering muddy water.
Credit: AMC
These are people who've had it rough, and so it's encouraging to see that they haven't let that roughness grind them into misery. When Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) nearly snaps at Sarita (Christian Serratos), Maggie (Lauren Cohan) threatens to put him down with her gun. He later tells her that, in that moment, he thought he wanted her to shoot him. But after their heart-to-heart, in which Maggie warns that he needs to get over himself because things will never get better than how they are right now, he admits that he does want to live. He wants to keep going. And it's a feeling he doesn't seem to be able to rationalize. Maybe it's the sunshine, maybe it's Eugene (Josh McDermitt) waking up from his beating, or maybe it's the knowledge that he actually has a group, filled with people worth caring about and defending. Regardless, Abraham has rediscovered his sense of purpose, in which the same way Sarita has discovered a sort of family with Glenn and the others, agreeing to stick with them no matter what they decide to do next. It's heartening in a way the show doesn't always get to be. So while not a whole lot happens, I enjoyed this all the same, simply for what "Crossed" was presenting in showing us how these characters move forward.
Credit: AMC
Conversely, while not a lot happened at the church beyond Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) deciding to turn tail and run after being an insufferable git the entire episode, it did illustrate the increasing desperation of people who, frankly, just aren't cut out to be around people. Like, at all. He rebuffs Carl (Chandler Riggs) for attempting to teach him how to defend himself, and then keeps Michonne (Danai Gurira) at arm's length when she tries to reassure him that what they do to survive is worth it. Given the insular nature of the Father Gabriel character, it's not much of a surprise that he ultimately escapes from the church by using the machete Carl gave him to remove the floorboards. That said, having him step on a nail felt fairly heavy-handed, as if the show was making a religious parallel to a crucifixion of some sort. But then, maybe I'm just reading too far into it, since it did serve a storyline purpose in impeding Gabriel's ability to escape a walker who attacks him in the woods. (Never mind how tiresome it is that these shambling walkers somehow continue to get the drop on these people, as if they wouldn't hear the zombies coming from half a mile away) It's a tense scene that somewhat returns to the crucifixion parallel, as Gabriel body slams the walker onto a spike, impaling her and leaving her to die when he can't bring himself to go through with finishing the job (after noticing the walker is wearing a cross). Gabriel sees religious allegories everywhere, and I'm wondering if we're not meant to be seeing them too. Either way, Gabriel is a hard character to enjoy, so I wouldn't exactly expect this to end well for him, since he's arguably far more expendable than most, at least from a dramatic standpoint.
Credit: AMC
But all of these stories paled in comparison to the primary plot of the week, which centered on Rick moving forward with Daryl (Norman Reedus), Noah (Tyler James Williams), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) in plotting an attack on the hospital. The story introduces the question of whether it's better to plan an assault, or attempt to resolve the matter without bloodshed, considering how badly it went for Rick and co. when they left the Terminus job unfinished. And that's an interesting approach for the story to take, since the show is rarely more interesting than when it's looking at the practical, tactical advantages of how best to survive. For example, this story is intercut with Beth's ongoing attempts to save Carol's life in the hospital, as Dawn and Edwards have all but given up on using hospital resources to save her. In both cases, the protagonists are looking for the path of least bloodshed. For Beth, that means procuring the medicine to save Carol; for Rick, that means taking three of Dawn's cops hostage and potentially using them to come to some sort of resolution where both Carol and Beth are returned to them. Things go better for Beth than they do for Rick, however; while Beth is able to administer the medicine to a sleeping Carol, Rick finds his entire mission compromised when Sasha, still grieving over the loss of Bob, takes pity on one of the head officers in Dawn's group -- also named Bob. This Bob tricks her into turning his back on him after he tells her the story about a friend of his who's suffering on the streets below as a walker. Willing to use her sniping skills to put the poor man out of his misery, Sasha turns her back to look out the window with her rifle, at which point Bob rushes her, slamming her head against the glass and knocking her unconscious. Bob escapes, and all hell looks to break loose, since Rick didn't think to leave anybody behind with Sasha to help guard this crafty cop. So we have Bob out there as a potential wildcard in this scenario, and it's a potent scenario to depict, since it springs off of Sasha's internal conflict over her inability to finish off her Bob herself.
"Crossed" isn't an exciting episode, but it portends an exciting mid-season finale next week. The show has real momentum thanks to this Grady Memorial conflict, since the show needs a more concrete antagonist beyond the ongoing threat of walkers. Whether next week manages to rope in the other groups on the periphery remains to be seen, but I'd love to see everyone reunited sooner rather than later, mobilized towards taking on whatever comes next. The show is at its most hopeful when everyone is together, looking ahead to the future. The Walking Dead is often a bleak show, but it's still capable of moments of levity and hope among all this life-or-death drama. That's partially what makes it as unique as it is, and why it doesn't feel as impossibly grim as it might otherwise.