I played the Oscars drinking game last night. Margaux did not. Let’s see how this review of last night’s The Walking Dead turns out.
Trevor: Before season 5B started, Robert Kirkman said we’d be meeting a gay character (everyone including him apparently forgot about Tara Chambers). Naturally Tumblr was like “IS IT DARYL???” because Tumblr thinks everything is about Daryl. Kirkman was all coy, saying it could be Daryl, but fuck you Kirkman, you knew about Aaron. You wrote the book. Anyway, my point is, I kinda like Aaron. Even though he apparently brings out Rick’s inner crazy asshole.
Margaux: I don’t want to jump ahead to the end too much but the look on Rick’s face when Aaron is reunited with his boyfriend Eric be all, OH THAT’S WHY YOU’RE SO WEIRD AND OVERLY FRIENDLY. Personally, it explained that awkward applesauce story he told Rick earlier that made everyone in that shit-smelling barn uncomfortable.
I get Rick is sort of old school Southern man but homophobe? You’d think killing zombies would be the ultimate way to put aside your differences but NOPE.
Trevor: I didn’t read that as homophobic, I read it as Rick being so far gone that any display of affection or romantic love seems foreign to him now.
And yeah, that applesauce story was the awko taco.
Speaking of awkward, Maggie’s and Sasha’s faces when they brought Aaron back to the barn. Like they knew it was a bad idea. Everyone immediately drawing down on Aaron was kind of funny in its rapidity.
Margaux: Even baby Judith wasn’t into Aaron’s North Face catalog gear. The way that whole scene was written had this odd undercurrent of humor to it – well, to be fair, “The Distance” had a lot of dark humor I enjoyed. Like when Abraham looks at the dash of the RV and a check engine light is on, he says, “we can make it.” Cut to the RV broken down in the middle of the road.
Yet, I digress. When Aaron starts his pitch about his “community” to the group, who all have their guns drawn on him – that’s 15 to 1 for all of you at home – he remains so jovial and calm, it’s fucking terrifying. And when Aaron started talking about the group needing to “audition” then, following up it up with awkward aside number one about only having dances on the weekends, it was countdown till Rick clocked him or stabbed him.
Trevor: I agree. Aaron’s got some balls. Like when Rick kept asking him how many of his people were out there, and Aaron correctly pointed out that Rick wouldn’t believe any number Aaron told him. It’s hard to basically tell someone to fuck off when they and all your buddies have guns pointed at you.
Margaux: Besides this “community” sounding a little bit like Footloose, I’m glad it was ultimately Michonne who got the Ricktatorship to stand down and see reason, even if it didn’t really stop Rick from acting like apocalypse Howard Hughes. Dude is hella paranoid to the point where at times it bordered on comical, at least to me.
Trevor: He has really trained himself to expect the worst, but between Woodbury and Terminus, when someone shows up with tales of a safe place, it’s understandable that Rick will immediately assume “cannibals” or “zombie fighting ring.”
Margaux: It’s rubbed off on Glen, too. When he goes out with some others from the group to check out the purported cars Aaron has stashed, he’s so caught up with having an eye out for another human, he forgets completely about the fact that there are, ya know, ZOMBIES afoot and calls one an “asshole”, thinking it’s a human. Which was another dark humor bit I laughed at. To break, what ended up being more or less, the non-tension with a few funny observations served the episodes pacing well. Even Abrahams attempt at sensitivity in the RV with Rosita felt new and refreshing.
Trevor: And as crazy as Rick is, he seems to be loosening up a bit. He agrees to go to Aaron’s community at Michonne’s assistance – hell, she practically steamrolls him into doing it. It’s nice to see MIchonne speak – remember how annoying it was in season three when she didn’t say a goddamn word?
Margaux: Well, after Rick all but takes a piss on the canned goods the group recons from the RV, I’d hope he’d fuckin’ loosen up too. But still think it was smart of him to stash a gun somewhere nearby, that’s RNC thinking right there.
But can we talk about Michonne, Rick, Glenn, and Aaron driving down the darkened Route 23, the route Rick insists on to assert his dominance that results in the coolest/scariest zombie attack on the B-side of this season. I mean, FLARE HEAD ZOMBIE – COME ON! That shit was dope.
Trevor: Yeah, I liked that part a lot, and director Layrsa Kondracki directed the hell out of it. According to her IMDb, she has an episode of Better Call Saul coming up, so I’m looking forward to that.
But anyway, Walking Dead – I really liked that kiss. Of course a bunch of assholes on Twitter lost their shit because two dudes were kissing, because when two girls kiss it’s hot but when it’s two dudes it’s apparently the least believable thing in a show about fucking zombies.
Margaux: I thought, FUCKING FINALLY since, as you pointed out, the show has all but forgotten about Tara and her being a lesbian and just…her in general.
It was nice to see another couple of the Glenn/Maggie vein, just trying to make this relationship work despite it being the apocalypse. And, at first, I thought Aaron collecting license plates was hokey bordering serial killer but when Eric gifts him another one for his collection, it was so sweet and thoughtful – this dude was trapped under a tire for hours with a broken ankle and he still got you something – how do you not go AWWWWW?!
Trevor: Right? Maybe I’m being naive (I’m almost certainly being naive) but maybe Alexandria isn’t full of crazy assholes, if Aaron and Eric are any indication. I guess we’ll find out next week, now that they’ve arrived.
Margaux: There was a piece of dialogue between Michonne and Rick I loved, when they talked about how they knew Woodbury and Terminus were totally fucked from the jump, it was dead quiet when they rolled up. When they pulled up to the gates of Alexandria, I held my breath for Rick and Michonne and was actually relieved when I heard kids playings and other signs of life from behind the steel gates. But I was still anxious when Rick went to go grab baby Judith from the car, felt certain someone getting a headshot. But, they didn’t. And I’m really looking forward to seeing this group have Stockholm Syndrome trying to readjust to people being…human.
Trevor: Yeah, it’ll be like a bunch of escapees from a cult trying to reassimilate into normal life.
Margaux: I’m into that.
Trevor: I’m thinking four stars, any objections?
Margaux: I’ll second that. Down with the Ricktatorship and up with the Michonne-cracy!
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