Tickets to the gun show.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Realizing fully that not much forward momentum happened in "Say Yes" -- especially when you consider that Jadis sent Rick back out to get more guns at the end (man, she's awful) -- this was still a very good Rick and Michonne chapter. Especially if you consider that this was really the first time the show's attempted to explore them as a couple.
Last season, these two hooked up right after the midseason premiere, but then we dove right into Rick's assault on the Saviors. It's been violence and trauma ever since and while Rick and Michonne have stayed an item, and have had a few deep conversations here and there, it's definitely worth taking a closer look at how the two of them connect. Sure, they're both leaders who can kill a ton of walkers, but is there more to their pairing than just "Hey, we're both still alive after all this time? Wanna?"
The Rick and Michonne parts of "Say Yes," which was most of the episode, made for a nice time out (during a string of "time out"-ish episodes designed to streeeetch out this back half until everything erupts in bloodshed). The episode also made no bones about letting us know that, basically, it was a time out. Rick was treating this excursion explicitly as a means to get away from it all and spend some time with the woman he loves perhaps before one or both of them die trying to eradicate the Saviors. "Just a little more," he'd say, trying to negotiate a few more days out of their search. It was very sweet. You know, in a foreboding way. The Walking Dead way.
Out on the road, the two would laugh, scavenge, make love, enjoy the quiet, and not have to think too much about the impending war. The awful "fetch us guns" mission (which, again, has now turned into an even worse "fetch us more guns" quest) was used nicely as a way to bring us deeper into Rick and Michonne's world - one filled with a lot of ooey gooey walker kills and a random deer (that created a callback to "Service") at a ruined school carnival (complete with a little Creepshow Easter egg imagery). On any other show, this would have served as a nice reset episode, the calm before an impending storm. The drawback here is that The Walking Dead has almost now become a series of reset episodes leading up to one or two giant massacres a year. Still, I like Rick and Michonne as a couple and that made "Say Yes" a much more enjoyable side adventure than the show's usual diversions.
Okay, so was the Rick fake out death a teensy bit infuriating? Oh, for sure. This show needs to put a halt to this gimmick immediately. But it more or less worked here because the death was meant to trick Michonne and not us necessarily. There's no way we would ever buy Rick dying this way. This was all designed to make Michonne think he'd got ripped apart so that we could see the affect it had on her - which was quite devastating. She almost instantly regressed and became a shell of herself, dropping her sword and almost surrendering herself to death alongside him. By the end though, after everything turned out fine, the two of them would have to make peace with possibly losing one another in the upcoming Savior battle. So this was all a palate cleanser for the season finale (though the likelihood of either of these two dying is very low after all this).
Now let's talk Rosita. It took Abraham dying for the show to basically give her a distinguishable personality and this darker, bitter and stubborn Rosita is vastly more interesting than the old version. But is she about to make the same exact mistake twice? Didn't she already try the suicide mission route? Granted, she now has a sniper rifle and Sasha on her team, but we know, and the characters themselves should know, that a unified front is needed her and all attempts to handle things alone will make everything worse. We look for people to learn from their mistakes, not continue to make similar (and possibly bigger) ones.
Meanwhile, Tara's about to give up the other community of hidden women. Which is a big step for Tara, considering all those women went through. But there's also a part of me that's like "Those women's first AND SECOND reaction to Tara was murder." They're kind of no better than the Garbage People. Neither group garners any real sympathy. Especially the Trash Goblins, who continue to be unbearable. I almost sort of wish Rick tipped the Saviors off to them just so they could get run into the dirt a bit.
The Verdict
"Say Yes" dabbled in danger toward the end, making Michonne face the prospect of losing Rick, but for the most part it was a lighter episode that allowed this couple to love, laugh, eat well, and copulate under the new world umbrella of zompocalypse gore (the windshield soldier walker was an especially gross touch). It was a much needed focus on their relationship that allowed the two of them (but mostly Rick) to accept that, going forward, friends and loved ones will be lost in battle.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire