TV Review: The Walking Dead (Season 6, Episode 5)

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Join us every MONDAY as we review the latest episode…

EPISODE 5: Now

THE HOOK: The survivors of Alexandria start to lose hope in what appears to be their most desperate hour.

The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so I don’t recommend reading this if you haven’t watched this episode

THE LOWDOWN: I have and will continue to defend this show, but nights like tonight make it difficult. One the one hand, some of the stuff we see is valid, well-acted and dramatically entertaining. However, this looks and feels like a HUGE pile of filler when weighed against more important issues—Glenn’s fate, The Wolves, and the stragglers still outside the wall. Let’s be honest here, with the exception of a select few (a very select few) nobody gives a flying rat’s ass about the Alexandrians. Spencer gives a touching speech about how hording the food will start them down the wrong path, but then mother*cker goes and steals a bunch of food that he gobbles down while getting loaded and yelling at his mom. Niiiice. Sigh. And that’s just the beginning.

One could argue that Spencer’s speech was at least valid during this time of extreme duress, but nonsense like Jessie’s speech to her scared little flock of sheeple is ridiculous. Not what she said, per say, but why she had to say it. Seriously? You’re going to cut your wrists, knowing you’ll go full blown walker and possibly kill the rest of the damn town!? At least have the decency to blow your head off, c’mon people, there’s plenty of guns in town. Another waste of time was (is) anything to do with the town’s new doctor, Denise. Her and Tara’s little chit chats are like talking a blowtorch to airtime. And the kiss, well, talk about the most awkward, ill timed, cringe worthy sequence of the night. Rick and Jessie getting it on is acceptable, only because we all knew it was coming anyway.

Poor Aaron. While losing his backpack may have attributed to The Wolves finding Alexandria, there’s no way he deserves to carry all the burden. They would’ve found it anyway, it was only a matter of time. As far as him and Maggie skipping town to find Glenn? Also pretty f*cking dumb. If he’s out there, he’ll come back, don’t go looking for him, especially if you’re pregnant. Let’s see, what other ridiculous things happened? Oh, can’t forget the Carl vs. Hipster cat fight! (Eye roll). The one person I do care about in Alexandria is Deanna. She’s a mess, and things just seem to get worse for her at every turn. The look on her face when she saw the herd of walkers was a true testament to acting. I believe the wide array of emotions on that woman’s face. I feel them. Her walker run in was unexpected, but damn, she went nuts in a good way. Yes, her accuracy is off (the head, Deanna, the head), but I love her enthusiasm. She needed to come out of her slump, and Rick’s really trying to help, which is good.

The Walking Dead Season 6’s fifth episode is good for what it is, but it’s by far the weakest of the season. We always get a filler episode or two, but damn guys, what about Morgan, who said nothing the entire show. Okay, he had a ninety minute episode last week, so I’ll forgive that, but what about Michonne, who was actually doing something worthwhile at the beginning—I’m assuming she was talking to that dude with the note’s wife. THAT, was something worth showing, instead it’s a muted bunch of mumbling as Deanna skulks around. Most importantly, where the hell is Carol? The only reason The Wolves didn’t eat this bunch for lunch is Carol. She pretty much WAS the counter assault. Now you’d think she’d want to fill Rick in the second he came running through those gates (I won’t even get into the fact that they decided not to show us how he escaped the situation we last saw him in), but she’s nowhere to be seen. I found that hard to swallow. Anyway, I can forgive a little filler, but let’s hope we’re back to business as usual next week.

ZOMBIE KILL OF THE WEEK: Deanna’s mad bottle bludgeoning was awesome, even if Rick did have to seal the deal.

BLOOD AND GORE: Deanna got blood soaked as she stabbed the bejesus out of a Wolf-walker, the battle in the tunnel was ooey and gooey, but other than that it was just a dab of red here and there.

COOLEST SCENE: The coolest scene was Rick running like a bat outta hell from a horde of walkers at the beginning of episode. Again, I won’t ask how he got out of the surrounded camper, but it still made for a pretty cool scene.

FINAL VERDICT:

TELL US WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS EPISODE BELOW!