Sooner or later, there has to be time to absorb the losses and the trauma, and after the harrowing first three episodes of the season, that time has come.  No doubt some will feel like the story hit the brakes a little too hard, but The Walking Dead has never been about the fight against the Walkers.  It’s been about people, and people struggling with the choices and mistakes they’ve made in the name of survival.  

Whether or not the residents of Alexandria are the characters we want to see front and center, there is a validity in presenting the aftermath of the attack by the Wolves and the arrival of the herd from their point of view.  They’ve just had their entire world turned upside down, and their neighbors have been brutally slaughtered.  There’s a bit of nihilism that comes with that psychological territory, and it’s written all over Deanna’s face.


Deanna’s realization that she’s in way over her head comes at a time when Rick’s leadership skills needed to come to the fore, and they certainly did.  That was a great speech he gave right after he was safely behind the gates, and he seemed to realize that their society was on the brink of collapse after this harsh of an ordeal.  And we saw that some of them seemed to step up to the plate, and others could still barely function. The notion that some of them would simply give up was hardly surprising.  

Things were far more interesting when more established characters were in the spotlight, of course.  Maggie hasn’t had a lot to do lately, so seeing how someone who has lost so many loved ones works through the possibility that her husband is dead was worth the time.  And of course, it’s made so much worse by the prospect that she’s pregnant.  (A new revelation for the television series, but something readers of the source material assumed was in the cards.)  Her pragmatic decision not to rush into almost certain death, choosing life for her child over closure regarding Glenn, was an important character moment.


Meanwhile, I appreciated Aaron’s struggle with responsibility for the deaths in the town.  While it was his mistake that opened the door for the attack to take place, so to speak, he needed to come to terms with the fact that the Wolves made their own choice to be marauding killers.  Not to mention, a community like Alexandria would have been discovered sooner or later, anyway.  What speaks to Aaron’s integrity is his desire to make amends, even if that sense of responsibility is misplaced.  He has deeper apocalyptic battle scars now, but his choices and actions make him a solid fit for Team Grimes.





Some will seethe at the time devoted to Rick and Jessie’s relationship, or simply the fact that she is willing to move on so soon after her husband’s death.  Setting aside that there was a time jump between seasons, Rick was chasing after her from the start.  She’s just choosing to reciprocate.  It may be that this is masking a more concerning point: is Jessie’s apparent acceptance of Rick’s philosophy real or bravado?  And for that matter, is Rick overlooking the obvious questions around Ron’s desire to learn how to shoot?  One can smell tragedy in the air already, and with the mid-season cliffhanger fast approaching, things are likely to get ugly sooner rather than later.