Neil Brazier | On 16, Nov 2015

Already seen Episode 6? Read on at the bottom for spoilers.

As their mission comes to an end and they begin to make their way back to Alexandria, Daryl (Norman Reedus) gets separated from Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) when they are attacked by a mysterious new group of strangers. It’s an explosive start to an episode that introduces a new threat to Alexandria, and a car chase. In a zombie apocalypse.

The focus is on Daryl, as he ends up alone in the forest. The scene almost black and white as the forest has been scorched, everything is dead and burnt; an interesting visual as Daryl stumbles through, fading in and out of consciousness. Once again, The Walking Dead excels in creating scorched walkers, even fusing them to the ground.

Amid the charred thicket, Daryl’s morality is thrown into question when he gets caught in a case of mistaken identity. We’ve seen Mr. Dixon conflicted already this season; when he heard Alexandria was in trouble, he was all ready to abandon the mission of luring the zombies away to try and help. It was Rick’s speech that ended up convincing Daryl to stick to the plan and there is further evidence of his influence on Daryl here. Selected as a recruiter for Alexandria due to his ability to read people, his trusting nature is put to the test with the three faces he meets.

There isn’t much to learn about the group where these three have come from, other than there is someone in charge to whom you are forced to kneel to and obey. What is clear, though, is that they aren’t the Wolves, meaning that there are now at least three groups (assuming the Wolves haven’t been wiped out) in a fairly small area, all unaware of one another, each with their own laws and ethics. Although we don’t know a lot about this new group, it would seem that only Alexandria’s residents have a conscience. Whether the same can still be said of Rick remains unanswered, his ruthlessness a constant topic of conversation amongst the Alexandrians, despite it being something that may keep them alive around all these new threats. What we do know is this new group doesn’t mess around. As Daryl is being hunted, he is able to use his surroundings for protection and gain a brief insight into his opponents; when attacked by a walker, they don’t hesitate to take action.

Elsewhere, Sasha and Abraham decide that the best way for a tracker to find you is to stay put, so they hide themselves away in an old insurance sales office. Abraham seems thirsty for death, eager to slay walkers when the smart thing to do would be to keep quiet and not draw any attention. When searching the area to make sure it’s safe, Abraham comes across a military uniform and a photo of its owner with his family. Clearly picturing himself and his own family, which we learned about in the episode Self Help last season, Abraham looks to be finally shaking his funk and is keen to make some plays before he “gurgles his last breath”.

Over these first six episodes, the sixth season of The Walking Dead has managed the unexpected. When it looked as though every episode would be trapped behind the walls of Alexandria, drenched in politics and mistrust, the show’s exploded with a thousand-zombie march, splitting the group and telling three different tales. Each episode, whether it’s all-out action or detailed character drama, has managed to grip and leave moments of genuine awe. With a bigger world forming around our characters comes bigger danger. Many questions have been raised in the past six episodes. The answers will undoubtedly be those we won’t expect.

 

 

Additional notes (contains spoilers)

– Just who are this mysterious new group and how are they surviving in an abandoned fuel depot? They’re wise to the apocalypse – they know to cut a man’s limb off to stop the infection spreading. Without Eugene around, this group is as far as comic interjection goes this week, but they have possibly one of the funniest lines of the series.

– Does it even matter who this group are? The Walking Dead has been known to show groups in passing – Rick hasn’t annihilated them all (yet) – so perhaps this is just a chance meeting in the woods, or perhaps they are setting up for the next big villain. If the new characters are heading back to kneel to their leader, they bring with them two items from a stranger’s group that could appear appetising” Daryl’s bike and crossbow.

– Speaking of that crossbow, how can a man such a Daryl end up losing it twice in one episode? It seems as though killing walkers is becoming a weary task for everyone and the scene with Daryl trying to get the crossbow out the bag was laboured. Why didn’t he just take out a bolt and go for hand-to-hand combat, instead of fretting? These types of scenes to try and build fear don’t work all the time.

– It was great to see Abraham get some relief by screaming in that walker’s face. One may be dead and the other living, but for a moment, both shared the same inexplicable rage that can only be expressed by the vocal chords. The straight-talker Southerner is great in delivery but it is Sasha who calls him out. Since the death of Tyreese and Bob, Sasha has gone through a lot and looked ready to call time on the apocalypse but now has a new perspective. Abraham thought she was going to be the loose cannon on the mission, but it turns out perhaps he needed her more than he realised.

– Who cried for help over the radio? Was it Glenn?

Photo: Gene Page / AMC

 

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