The Walking Dead Episode 409: "After"
Interesting and intense. That hour FLEW by.
Everything under the cut contains spoilers for Episode 409: "After" which aired last night. Do not read further if you haven’t seen the episode!
WHEW. That was a pretty damn amazing episode.
I think the writers made a good choice to focus the story on only Rick, Carl and Michonne. It's really Rick's story (and now Carl's) and checking in on them first sort of sets the tone for this back half. They've said they are focusing on character development, and I couldn't be more pleased where we started out.
I should point out that the first 20 mins or so of this were quite fuzzy on my livestream, so I am pretty sure I will have missed some nuances. I'll rewatch later today.
I absolutely LOVE this portrayal of Carl. Not that I didn't want to smack him in the head on more than one occasion, 'cause the kid's got a smart mouth. But this was a Carl that was SO believable. He's 14, he's at the age where he thinks he knows everything and he doesn't want to listen to the adults. AND it's the apocalypse. He's been trying hard to live the way Rick wanted him to live - to farm, to not have to resort to the gun - because he loves his father and he wants to come back from that dark place he was in. But when things go wrong, it makes sense that he blames his dad. It makes sense that he says horrible, hurtful things. All of the pain had to come from somewhere, and Dad is a convenient target.
The speech he gives when Rick is passed out - that was masterful. What teenager didn't go crying to his/her room at the age, complaining bitterly that they "hate" their parents, that life wasn't fair, that everything was mom and dad's fault? We all did it. (Hopefully not to our parent's faces - and I might feel differently about this scene if Rick had been awake to be bitterly hurt by it. But Carl did it the same way we all did as kids - basically to himself.) Seeing him realize at the end that he survived but that he still needs and loves Rick desperately - that he didn't really mean all the things he said -was perfectly played. His CRYING. God. That was… so sadly pitiful and just… ugh. My heart.
I said this back in the first half of the season, but I am finally seeing all those "Chandler is KILLING it" claims that we've been hearing from the adult actors since at least season 3. This kid is really good.
Rick, meanwhile, comes to realize that he can't protect Carl… no matter how much he wants to. He's got to let him grow up - to be a "man" - and I think by finally telling Carl that, it frees Carl to stop having to prove himself all the time. Now Carl can just be Carl. It takes the pressure off him, lets him just be a kid when he wants to be a kid instead of feeling that he has to be tough and strong. I've always thought that Rick is actually a pretty damn fine parent.
Michonne's story was all kinds of heartbreaking. Seeing her come across those tracks and then continue into the woods - I literally said "No, Michonne!" out loud. I have a feeling that what she is going through may be repeating a little next week with Daryl, because both finally opened up and let other people in and now have that ripped away from them. Wordlessly, they showed us that Michonne regrets doing so, that part of her wants to go back to being the lone wolf with the two chained walkers for protection. So she tries to shut it all down. But now that she's opened her heart, she can't go back. When she realizes that after she sees The Walker Who Could Be Her and lashes out with everything in her, it's a pretty stunning scene. And then the hope in her face when she doubles back to the tracks and sets out to find Rick and Carl… oh, my heart AGAIN.
I'm not sure about the memory/dream mix in the 'flashback' scene. I mean, I get that Michonne is mixing up memories about her pre- and post-apocalypse lives, that her boyfriend wanted to protect her, keep her safe and away from what was happening, but I'm still not sure what exactly happened to her boyfriend and friend. Like, how did it all go south? Perhaps the inference that it did is all we're supposed to get, or perhaps there's more coming (doubtful), or perhaps I just missed something huge in that scene. If I did, please feel free to educate me!
That final scene, with Michonne crying with happiness and Rick crying with happiness and "It's for you"… I smiled SO big. What a perfect, perfect ending.
Also, I think this was a really, REALLY great mix of action and character development. The walker moments were perfectly placed and the pacing was superb. There was a real sense of urgency to both those attacks on Carl, most specifically the second one with the walker in the house (and nice throw-back to Rick telling him that he may need that bullet that he 'wasted' at the store.) Even though I've got Carl on my "never gonna kill him off" list, I still found myself worrying during that house-walker attack. And excellent little moment at the end of it with "Walker Inside. Got my shoe. Didn't get me." Heh.
What an excellent start to the back half.
If you want to talk about the ep, feel free to comment! I even have much less on my plate this time around, and should be able to reply. :) BUT PLEASE TAKE NOTE: NO SPOILERS FOR THE COMIC BOOKS OR UNAIRED EPISODES. I know almost nothing from the comics and I don't want to know. Spoilers seriously ruin my enjoyment of a show. So please… be careful. Thank you.
And now, Talking Dead! Woot. (Then bed. Zzzzzzzzzz...)
.
Everything under the cut contains spoilers for Episode 409: "After" which aired last night. Do not read further if you haven’t seen the episode!
WHEW. That was a pretty damn amazing episode.
I think the writers made a good choice to focus the story on only Rick, Carl and Michonne. It's really Rick's story (and now Carl's) and checking in on them first sort of sets the tone for this back half. They've said they are focusing on character development, and I couldn't be more pleased where we started out.
I should point out that the first 20 mins or so of this were quite fuzzy on my livestream, so I am pretty sure I will have missed some nuances. I'll rewatch later today.
I absolutely LOVE this portrayal of Carl. Not that I didn't want to smack him in the head on more than one occasion, 'cause the kid's got a smart mouth. But this was a Carl that was SO believable. He's 14, he's at the age where he thinks he knows everything and he doesn't want to listen to the adults. AND it's the apocalypse. He's been trying hard to live the way Rick wanted him to live - to farm, to not have to resort to the gun - because he loves his father and he wants to come back from that dark place he was in. But when things go wrong, it makes sense that he blames his dad. It makes sense that he says horrible, hurtful things. All of the pain had to come from somewhere, and Dad is a convenient target.
The speech he gives when Rick is passed out - that was masterful. What teenager didn't go crying to his/her room at the age, complaining bitterly that they "hate" their parents, that life wasn't fair, that everything was mom and dad's fault? We all did it. (Hopefully not to our parent's faces - and I might feel differently about this scene if Rick had been awake to be bitterly hurt by it. But Carl did it the same way we all did as kids - basically to himself.) Seeing him realize at the end that he survived but that he still needs and loves Rick desperately - that he didn't really mean all the things he said -was perfectly played. His CRYING. God. That was… so sadly pitiful and just… ugh. My heart.
I said this back in the first half of the season, but I am finally seeing all those "Chandler is KILLING it" claims that we've been hearing from the adult actors since at least season 3. This kid is really good.
Rick, meanwhile, comes to realize that he can't protect Carl… no matter how much he wants to. He's got to let him grow up - to be a "man" - and I think by finally telling Carl that, it frees Carl to stop having to prove himself all the time. Now Carl can just be Carl. It takes the pressure off him, lets him just be a kid when he wants to be a kid instead of feeling that he has to be tough and strong. I've always thought that Rick is actually a pretty damn fine parent.
Michonne's story was all kinds of heartbreaking. Seeing her come across those tracks and then continue into the woods - I literally said "No, Michonne!" out loud. I have a feeling that what she is going through may be repeating a little next week with Daryl, because both finally opened up and let other people in and now have that ripped away from them. Wordlessly, they showed us that Michonne regrets doing so, that part of her wants to go back to being the lone wolf with the two chained walkers for protection. So she tries to shut it all down. But now that she's opened her heart, she can't go back. When she realizes that after she sees The Walker Who Could Be Her and lashes out with everything in her, it's a pretty stunning scene. And then the hope in her face when she doubles back to the tracks and sets out to find Rick and Carl… oh, my heart AGAIN.
I'm not sure about the memory/dream mix in the 'flashback' scene. I mean, I get that Michonne is mixing up memories about her pre- and post-apocalypse lives, that her boyfriend wanted to protect her, keep her safe and away from what was happening, but I'm still not sure what exactly happened to her boyfriend and friend. Like, how did it all go south? Perhaps the inference that it did is all we're supposed to get, or perhaps there's more coming (doubtful), or perhaps I just missed something huge in that scene. If I did, please feel free to educate me!
That final scene, with Michonne crying with happiness and Rick crying with happiness and "It's for you"… I smiled SO big. What a perfect, perfect ending.
Also, I think this was a really, REALLY great mix of action and character development. The walker moments were perfectly placed and the pacing was superb. There was a real sense of urgency to both those attacks on Carl, most specifically the second one with the walker in the house (and nice throw-back to Rick telling him that he may need that bullet that he 'wasted' at the store.) Even though I've got Carl on my "never gonna kill him off" list, I still found myself worrying during that house-walker attack. And excellent little moment at the end of it with "Walker Inside. Got my shoe. Didn't get me." Heh.
What an excellent start to the back half.
If you want to talk about the ep, feel free to comment! I even have much less on my plate this time around, and should be able to reply. :) BUT PLEASE TAKE NOTE: NO SPOILERS FOR THE COMIC BOOKS OR UNAIRED EPISODES. I know almost nothing from the comics and I don't want to know. Spoilers seriously ruin my enjoyment of a show. So please… be careful. Thank you.
And now, Talking Dead! Woot. (Then bed. Zzzzzzzzzz...)
.