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The Walking Dead: Remember

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Welcome back to Gothic.net’s weekly recap of The Walking Dead. This week we will try to “Remember,” also known as Episode 512. What we are trying to remember, we shall soon see.

Don’t Open! Spoilers Inside!

And the gates swing wide allowing our troubled group entrance to Alexandria. Two gate guards are startled as a jump scare equals a dead possum. “We brought dinner,” says the redneck, brandishing the possum.

Apparently, they need to surrender their weapons if they want to stay but they can talk to Deanna first. Abraham voices the question we all have of, “Who’s Deanna?” Rick spots a walker outside the open gate, staggering up the road, and simply says, “Sasha,” giving her to command to pop the top of its head off with her rifle. “I guess it’s a good thing we are here,” our Ricktator comments. Are we sure about that, Rick? I don’t think we are.

Opening credits roll, letting me see a fascinating commercial using Penn & Teller to sell a car.

A cozy living room sets the scene for Deanna Monroe’s chat with Rick. She likes to record her interviews, because they are about transparency. She was a congressperson in Ohio, therefore she is the obvious leader for the community. She lets Rick know about how the community they are in is self-sufficient, to a degree, including solar power. Her husband put up the walls, scavenged from a construction site nearby. Once she tells Rick that theirs is the first group they have considered taking in, he replies will the cynical comment of, “You should keep your gates closed.” I think that is pretty obvious, Rick. “They measure you by what they can take from you, by how they can use you to live.” Sounds like everyday life, before the Rise.

Rick shows that he fails his own questions, with the qualifier of protecting his family as to why. Deanna states the obvious, that she would want to be a part of his family, cause you don’t fuck with Rick’s family unless you want to wind up in pieces on a church floor.

So Northern Virginia was emptied out? I can’t imagine that working very well. You can’t even get to work in a reasonable timeframe in NoVa, let alone get everyone out in one.

Deanna has “done things” too? Hmmm. Awww, she kicked out three guys who “didn’t work out?” So she pleads to Rick’s paternal instincts to raise his kids in Alexandria. So we have a former member of Congress that wanted to be a poker player? Sounds like Congress to me.

Rick makes a show of setting his watch while letting Deanna in on his former job, which she already knew, because she good at reading people. Alrighty then.

During the commercial break, I realize that Jeff Goldblum is rapidly trying to transform into a cross between Steve Jobs and Leonard Nimoy. C’mon dude, they are dead, you don’t need to look like them.

Please check your weapons at door, or at least, as we return to the show. Carol is packing the biggest gun in the group, but having trouble taking it off, almost like she isn’t used to it? I guess it’s because she’s our Ripley, as proven at the beginning of the season, but doesn’t want to let that slip. “I should have brought another bin.” Is that a backhanded comment about how well armed our friends are, or just a bit of snark from behind the walls? The world may never know.

So of course, the gay man is the one to take Rick and Coral house shopping. Is going to advise them on décor as well? Damn stereotypes. It is a nice house, in a community unlike any that I knew in NoVa. Oh, that’s right. We are still filming in Georgia.

And so many fangirls squee at the sight of a naked Rick in the shower. Sure, it isn’t Daryl, but Rick has his followers too. I am certain that, not only does that shower feel good, but it helps more than a bit for those downwind. And we get to see something we haven’t seen in a long time, Rick’s chin. It’s gonna be weird seeing him without the scruff. It just occurred to me that Andrew Lincoln is a bit of a poor man’s Viggo Mortensen when he is shaved.

A cute blonde named Jessie just happens to show up with a basket of food just in time to get a shirtless Rick on camera a bit longer. Conveniently, she used to be a stylist and offers to cut his hair. She tries to help ease him back into society while giving him a trim.

Daryl’s has his turn on camera, even if he doesn’t want to sit down in that armchair. As he talks about “the boy and the baby”, we cut to the redneck gutting the possum on Rick’s porch. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.

“They took our weapons and now they’re splitting us up.” Paranoid much? Of course, they have earned every drop of paranoia throughout the past five seasons. We know full well that this isn’t gonna work out either because, well, if the coyote caught the roadrunner, there wouldn’t be a show. So they all decide to stay in one house tonight, or Rick decides anyway.

Cut to Coral being a bit twitchy when he hears a sound, and off he goes to investigate with his knife. He finds a bedroom with lots of stuff that looks like it could wind up being his.
Long panning shot of our entire entourage camping out in Rick’s new living room. It’s a good thing “these houses are like mansions,” as Coral commented earlier. Ahhh, a freshly scrubbed and brushed Michonne. I don’t know if I have seen her that happy before. A twenty-minute shower, after months without bathing, can do that to a person.
Deanna checks in on the sleepover and is shocked by Rick’s face. She, once again, comments on the group being a family, so it makes sense they should stay together. She lets Rick and Michonne know they have jobs coming, Sasha may have one soon and “I’m just trying to figure Mr. Dixon out.” Good luck with that one, Deanna. So are we, so are we.

So Rick can’t sleep. I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling I would be out like a light. Off to the kitchen for a late night snack? Nope, just a kitchen knife. Better a knife than nothing, I guess.

Cut to commercials for Better Call Saul, that car movie franchise that is desperately keeping Vin Diesel’s career alive, as well as a few other things.

Michonne gets comfortable in Deanna’s chair, telling her that this is what they have all wanted, before we switch to Rick and Daryl chatting on the porch. Daryl is obviously very uncomfortable in all this comfort. So Rick goes off to explore, leaving our Good Ol’ Boy hugging his knees on the porch. After seeing the kids crossing the street he freaks out and takes off running, desperately searching for them, but finds Jessie instead. She lets him know they are just visiting one of the big families.

Carl meets the rest of the teens, the two guys Ron and Mikey, are eager to make friends, but Enid, who came from “Outside” and doesn’t like to talk, is a bit more brusque. We go to Deanna’s interview with Carl, bouncing Judith on his knee. She apologizes for Lori’s death when he replies like the little badass he has turned into. “I didn’t just lose her. I killed her. It had to be me.” Really, I’m pretty sure you weren’t the only one there. Did it really ‘have’ to be a tween blowing his mom’s brains out? Is his last name really Menendez, instead of Grimes?
Rick strolls into Coral’s, I mean Carl’s, room, asking about Ron’s house. Who’s house? Ron’s House! Sorry, a bit of an Eighties flashback came over me. Coral asks his dad what he thinks of the community, and it looks to be a nice father/son chat when our teenage action hero says, “I like the people but they’re weak and I don’t want us to get weak too.” Always thinking of the future, Coral. Good boy.

Michonne is having trouble sleeping so she keeps Rick company, chatting about jobs and they’re futures in Alexandria. They say they aren’t afraid to take jobs, ”signing the papers” on their stay but “Why are we both awake?” Good question Deputy Grimes, ever looking for clues. Nothing like a midnight stroll to clear the mind of worries, when Rick comes across Jessie’s husband, having a smoke. “My wife cut your hair,” said in almost a tone of ‘My wife did something she shouldn’t have,” followed by a Welcome to Alexandria. Not the most welcoming greeting however.

Ahhh, Poor Decision Rob Lowe. Nothing like a facial tattoo to show that you make bad decisions. Thanks, Dick! Dick is a nickname for Robert, right? No? Oh well, it still fits.

We return to Carol in Deanna’s chair, reminiscing about how much she misses her abusive husband. WTFUCK? Really, Carol, you’re missing that asshole? I highly doubt that. She also says that she is the group’s ‘den mother’ and they protect her. I think she is playing her cards close to the tactical vest, deliberately misleading Deanna on her level of awesome, because I don’t think they were protecting her at Terminus. Maybe it’s just me. “I’m a real people person.” Especially when that people’s name is Daryl, who we switch to, as he cuts his thumb, still on the porch. That dude loves that damn porch!

Oh…my…god…! Carol dressed up like a, well, middle-aged mom, which I guess she is, as she goes off to cook for the community. She confronts Daryl about his hygiene, of he has showered yet, which we all know he hasn’t before he says as much. She comments that they need “keep up appearances,” so she has something going on in her mind. She threatens to hose Daryl down while he sleeps, if he won’t shower. At least Daryl tells her what we are all thinking, that she looks ridiculous.

Glenn’s turn in the Comfy Chair, as he tells Deanna about how much the group needs this that they’ve been “out there too long.” No shit, Glenn. Hell, one and a half weeks is too long, let alone one and half years. That’s right, I looked it up. Last week’s episode was Day 565 after the Rise. It sure feels longer.

It looks like Rick is going for a stroll outside the walls while Coral checks out a girl, Enid it looks like, heading for the wall. Up and over, using and improvised ladder, and she’s gone.

Aiden introduces himself and Nicholas to Glenn, Tara and Noah, touting his ROTC experience as helping him with supply runs. Huh, I don’t remember how marching in formation and studying military ranks structures would help there, but why not. Aiden let them know they are going on a dry run, rather than an actual supply run, to see how they do. He hands over three “sweet ass biscuits,” meaning three pistols. I don’t know where he is supposed to be from, but it “biscuit” sounded silly when Dr. Dre said it, let alone a white boy in Virginia.

Enid is running through the woods, with Carl tailing her, badly, as she disappears. Walkers staggering thought the woods cause Rick to pause, as he goes to retrieve his blender gun, only to find it gone. Fuck me running. Look who’s here, Rick and Coral, together again, taking on walkers, quickly and relatively cleanly. That is until a walker comes out from some cover to grab Rick’s ankle. Coral has it covered though. From what I had seen online, that walker was actually Scott Ian from Anthrax, in his second excursion as a member of the Walking Dead. Sigh, a metal god getting taken out by a kid who can’t even stay in the house when told.

We come back from the commercial break to our dry run, with the Alexandrians letting them know how it works. “I can be a hard ass, and I know I’m a douchebag.” You didn’t have to say it, Aiden. We already knew it. Obviously, he has a few control issues.

“We have a pre-game ritual.” Hanging people you don’t like isn’t a ritual in the South, it’s a fucking tradition. That’s doesn’t mean it’s a good one. They find the walker they hanged is missing and start freaking out, while Glenn insists that it’s gone, but they won’t drop it. After a couple whistles, it comes staggering from the woods, but rather than putting it down, it gets passed between the group members, including Tara, who peels the skin from it’s back like an old t-shirt. Luckily, Glenn puts it down before it could bite Tara.

Aiden is pissed because they didn’t do as they were told. Glenn stands up to him, which just pisses him off more. Glenn tells him, essentially, that Aiden got his last team killed. When Aiden asks Deanna why she let them in, Glenn tells him, “because we actually know what we’re doing out ther,” which is enough to get him to take a swing at Glenn. Not that he connects, Glenn ducking under it and dropping the douchebag with a quick pop to the face. Nicholas tries to back up his buddy, not realizing what getting tackled by Daryl feels like, but he does now. Rick tries to keep Daryl from chocking out Nicholas, while Aiden regains his footing, only to find Michonne standing there. “Do you wanna end up on your ass again?’ Nope, I don’t think he does. Deanna lays down the law, telling them that Rick and Co. are part of the community, while Enid sneaks back in. She demands that Douchbage #1 & 2 are to come see her, while she offers Rick his old job back, although she calls it a constable, instead of cop, sheriff or deputy. Where are they, Canada? “That’s what you were. That’s what you are.” Michonne gets the same offer, to be Rick’s deputy. Deanna thanks Glenn for putting Aiden on his ass, while Carl asks Enid if she doesn’t like him.

The video of Rick cuts to our main man strolling down the stairs, in full uniform, while everyone checks him out, his voiceover still playing. Daryl asks if he is a cop again, while Carol asks if they are staying. Rick seems to think it is safe to start splitting up, taking their own homes. Carol reiterates Carl’s statement from earlier of, “If we get comfortable her, let our guard down, this place is gonna make us weak.” Yes, Rick, Coral said that. Rick lets them know they don’t have the possibility of getting weak anymore, and if Deanna’s group can’t make it work, Rick and all will just take the community. The Ricktator is rearing his head again. I am so glad to see they are not going to be complacent.

The Walking Dead Remember 512

The Walking Dead Remember 512

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Posted by on Sunday, March 1st, 2015. Filed under Dark TV, Headline. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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