The Ranting Dead Season 6 Episode 8

The Ranting Dead Season 6 Episode 8

by Steve Tenney

When last we saw our intrepid team of survivors the unthinkable had happened! Oh no, I’m not referring to the collapse of the wall, I’m referring to the writers slapdash story telling to explain Glenn surviving a nigh impossible situation…. Yeah I’m still raw about that. I just feel like the show as a whole is so much better than that… Really feels like they took the cheap way out when they didn’t have to.

Anywho, this weeks episode contained a lot of minutia and in order to not get stuck up in it, I’m really only going to focus on two groups, “Rick and his gang” and “Morgan and everyone who now wants to kill Morgan”. So, HERE. WE. GO…

RICK AND HIS GANG

So last episode we saw the wall come down. Alexandria has fallen. Well, what happens next? Rick, acting all kinds of Rickish, yells for people to take cover and begins dispatching the ever-increasing zombie horde with a revolver… Yes that’s right, a revolver, a gun that carries no more than 6 rounds. Luckily, Deanna is able to get Rick to stop being a Rickhead by throwing herself on something sharp and being overrun by walkers. Rick snaps to and drags her to the nearest safehouse, which happens to be Jessie’s. Along for the ride in this group is Pacey, Dawson, Bitch Priest, Michonne, Sam, and Ricks infant daughter.

Shortly after getting to the house we see that Deanna has been bit. She then utters one of the greatest lines in Walking Dead history, “Ah, Shit.” Perfectly delivered and masterfully executed. Well done, Deanna. In my opinion, this was Deanna’s episode.  We got to see who she truly was, not some fake tough politician, but a person who really did seek to make life better for her people. Unfortunately, on her deathbed she realized what we all realized quite a while ago, Rick is the only person who can make life better for her people. Rick is not the leader these people want, he is the leader they need.  Deanna sees this and begs Rick to not only care for her son,  Spencer, but all the citizens like they were his own. He reluctantly agrees… Michonne also shares some great scenes with Deanna and we see that Michonne is going to basically take her place as the dreamer. Michonne wants to quit running, we have known this for a while. She needs some stability, some kind of permanence.

Meanwhile, out on the creek, Pacey and Dawson are at it again.  Pacey lures Dawson down into the garage and pulls the gun he loaded for him last week. Pacey proceeds to go on some nonsense diatribe about Rick being bad for killing his abusive sack of shit father. Seriously, I know it didn’t happen, but I was really rooting for both of them to die. They are gigantic anchors on an already slow moving ship. At least we are going to get to see Carl lose an eye…. Wait. Strike that. Didn’t happen. They tussle, strategically damage a door that alerts walkers to their whereabouts, and get rescued by Rick.  Dawson lies to Rick about what happened and then retrieves the gun from Pacey. Dawson also delivers a decent line when he reminds Pacey what we the audience have known for a while, Pacey’s Dad was an asshole.

Unfortunately the door was damaged in the assault and the group retreats upstairs to safety. We know Rick has to get to the armory if he has any chance of saving his people so what’s his plan? Good old, tried and true, “Cover yourself in walker guts.” This is a terribly thin plot device. They used it before a couple times, but I was hoping it was gone to never return. The virus these things carry kills in a matter of hours, but Rick can dig into their guts BAREFREAKINGHANDED and suffers no ill effects? This doesn’t hold water and is another sad indication that easy is more important that good when it comes to writing this season.

So they cover themselves in guts and head out towar

ds the armory. Sam, the son of Jessie, is having a hard time and calls to his mother as they walk. Poor Sam, he is literally the only kid on this show I have any sympathy for. He is a little boy who just cannot process what is going on around him. I used to hope he would turn into a murderbot that would have to “Just watch the flowers”, but now I hope for something different. I legitimately hope Sam dies in order to save him from the pain of never being able to fully deal with, process and move past the new zombie economy. He won’t be able to do it and his death is the most humane thing the show can do. Or he can hide under a dumpster till he dies of old age….

MORGAN AND EVERYONE WHO NOW WANTS TO KILL MORGAN

During the whole melee at the wall, Morgan gets stuck in the house he is keeping Wolf Dave Grohl hostage in, with no less than Carol. Carol the cold blooded viper who already does not trust Morgan.  The Carol who killed a child. The Carol who killed Tyrese’s girlfriend when she had the sniffles. Freaking Carol.  She knows Morgan is hiding something and uses her Carol powers to trick Morgan and run downstairs to see what he’s hiding. Well, like we the audience already knows, Morgan is hiding Wolf Dave Grohl and New Doctor. Carol instantly goes Carol. She pulls a knife and is preparing herself to kill Wolf Grohl when Morgan intervenes and prevents her. Carol isn’t having it and a fight breaks out. They tussle and Morgan incapacitates Carol. She looks to be hurt bad and Morgan realizes it when BAM! Wolf Grohl cracks Morgan with his own “Don’t Kill People” stick. Morgan get hit hard, almost as hard as the time I almost broke Mike “The Food Nerd” Quezada’s nose while I was driving. Ask him about it, I’m sure he remembers…

Just as Wolf Grohl cuts himself lose and begins threatening New Doctor; Tara, Rosita and Eugene burst in guns drawn. Do they shoot Wolf Dave? No, they instantly acquiesce to his requests for their firearms and he takes New Doctor out into the world of Walkers with a new found supply of guns and bullets.

As I’m sure you’ve already read, people hated this episode. Every single review I read had a negative slant on it. Most of them felt the episode was kind of, well…. Easy. Ricks group using the covered in guts trick was, simply put, lazy. In a lot of ways, as lazy as having Glenn slide under a dumpster or Rick escape an RV surrounded by walkers by… oh wait, THEY NEVER TOLD US HOW HE SURVIVED!

I actually didn’t hate this episode. I found the scenes with Deanna, who I usually loathe, to be somewhat impactful on an emotional level. Her screaming in the face of death instead of using one of the bullets on herself, carried weight. I also, as mentioned before, actually seem to feel some kinship with Sam. Perhaps, it’s due to having a son of a similar age. I just see a little boy who cannot possibly wrap his mind around what’s going on. I did, however, dislike that Wolf Dave Grohl didn’t kill New Doctor. All he has been talking about doing since we first met him, was killing everyone and he has the chance and doesn’t kill ANYONE. Dick move, Grohl. Dick move.

Let me know what you think, leave a comment. Unless you’re that douchebag on Reddit who felt entitled to make sweeping comments about my article after reading, admittingly, less than the first paragraph. Yeah, you’re a douche bag.

Alright, welp…. See ya.


Article Credits
Author: Steve Tenney
Editor-in-Chief: Bryan Scheidler
Editor: Trisha Quezada

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