Season 11, Episode 5, “Out Of The Ashes”

Looks like the phrase “it didn’t take long” has already become a running theme this season of The walking dead, and we’re only five episodes away. In some ways, that’s a blessing: for a show that has historically struggled to drag its feet (oh, the irony) this final season is moving again with a cute clip, something that’s been a feature of the years with Angela Kang as a showrunner. But it can also cause the plot to unfold unevenly, with some episodes freezing cold and others a bit crowded. “Out Of The Ashes” is the latter, with multiple locations, narratives and character developments all pouring out in quick succession, with mixed results. Above all, we have the first real glimpse of the Commonwealth, and within minutes all of our people have been arrested and threatened with deportation. Like I said: it didn’t take long.

There is a problem with plausibility here: there is never any real effort for the Commonwealth to seem like a really good place, so when Eugene, the Princess and Ezekiel are all taken into custody for the crime of secretly communicating with Alexandria, this just looks like the confirmation of what we already knew. Take this “Welcome to the Commonwealth video that kicks off the episode: In any rational way, it’s not something people who have lived through the past 40 years would do. It’s a satire of a welcome video, sending out outdated tropes in a way that blatantly signals the viewer not to take this seriously. So why should we?

If the show was committed to really trying to convince audiences that the Commonwealth could to be a true force for good and a true haven of peace and democracy, there could have been real tension generated when our people show up and immediately start fucking with it. Instead, we never have to wonder if maybe, just maybe, this time they’ve found a outpost of mankind mornoble that they are not. Think about when Rick first brought everyone to Alexandria. The show worked overtime to suggest Alexandria might be better than Rick – and when his paranoia spun him, it created a thrill of excitement and unpredictability. Here, thanks to the wacky intro video and the safety of the stormtroopers, we already know it’s only a matter of time until the place shows its true colors no matter what the Tommy Yumiko’s long lost one might say.

But at least the Commonwealth is a fascinating new world to explore. On the other hand, Carol leads her gang on a trip to excavate the ruins of Hill for everything remaining supplies. (It’s absolutely confusing that they’ve waited until now to make the first trip there since it burned down, but whatever.) The best part of that, other than finally reuniting with Lydia from Cassady McClincy, is the character’s brief study of what it would mean to be an ex-Whisperer. Of Classes they still wore the masks sometimes; miss the sense of stability and community Alpha brought, even though it was as shit as hell, makes sense. A look into the minds of these generally silent background characters was a good reminder that it takes all kinds, and that most of us are creatures of habit, even when those habits were. born of inconvenience.

And the psychology certainly made more sense than some of the decisions here. Lydia’s outrage is well founded, but Carol’s compassion came across as naive, once Aaron allowed ex-Whisperer, Keith, to be bitten by a walker. There is nothing wrong with the overall structure of the conflict– Carol tries to learn empathy again, and Aaron’s anger and fear was justified, but some actions cannot be simply ignored. Keith must have cut his hand off, and it’s Aaron’s. So, leave him with a gun and a bunch of people who are probably pretty pissed off at them now? It is not compassion; it is reckless. “Thank you, nice people, for forcing me to cut off my hand”, doesn’t really ring true as a farewell. (I appreciated that Aaron despised Keith’s old Whisperer religion, on how the walkers are better off than the remaining humans. After Keith gets bitten, Aaron leans in: “Are you feeling better?” “)

How long does the show plan to extend the never-ending fight between Negan and Maggie. Tit makes tensionIt is meaning – Maggie will never forgive Negan, and that’s understandable – but that doesn’t mean it’s fun watching them resolve the same conflict, episode after episode. Here, the hideout serves as a pressure cooker, as they are forced to remain seated, until they almost come to blows (and probably worse, if Gabriel hadn’t stuck his head in the door just in time) . Anyone can guess how they can get these two to some kind of relaxation, but it has to happen or all of their scenes are going to turn out like this, going through the same argument. At least neither side is clearly wrong.

I’ve given Judith Grimes a lot of shit over the past two seasons, and rightly so: trying to present she, as a tough-voiced, hyper-capable young gunslinger, was comically stupid, and the more marginalized she was in the narrative, the better. But tonight, she finally has a successful subplot, as a bunch of asshole kids get under her skin about Michonne. “No wonder your mother abandoned you,” said the asshole, and despite his knife-wielding response, Judith emotionally collapses like any child. We have seen the talk “I’m afraid to forget the people who are gone” before, but with Judith and Rosita it seemed deserved. It might not be the most exciting use of our time, but at least it was on the right wavelength, in terms of character, for Judith.

Yet the Commonwealth remains the most interesting thing, and now that Lance Hornsby (hi, Josh Hamilton!) Tommy has delivered the homily on how great it is, and we’ve got plenty of evidence that democracy is a slow officecracy, even after the apocalypse. Now it’s time to walk past the ice cream trucks and the neighbor walking down Main Street, like it’s a date in the 1950s. A lot happened in this episode, but it did. there was no strong common thread or narrative theme. Things just… happened, like a midweek episode of a soap opera. Everything is important to the plot (well, most of it was), but it doesn’t make for a strong episode on its own. Bring the real situation inside this seemingly docile community.

Stray observations

• Jerry’s point of view was a good until the attack of the walker which started the episode. No one wants to see the walking dead stumble towards them, but especially not in the bathroom.
• I’d be happy to watch another hour of Princess trying to flirt with Mercer.
• Which was a good idea to see Juanita collect her $ 5 bill.
• Finally, our heroes learn that Connie is still alive. The hanging plot thread has been waiting to be pulled for some time now.
• One of the best things about the Commonwealth is all the new locations. Whenever we have the opportunity to be anywhere other than in the woods or in Alexandria, I will take it. The old station in particular was fantastic.
• Hopefully that means Lydia is starting to chat again. McClincy is one of the strongest presences on this show, so seeing her sidelined for so long was a bummer.
• Negan shouting “Shit!” as Maggie throws a knife right in front of him, it was fun.