Check out our review of this weeks episode “East” of The Walking Dead on AMC.

The Walking Dead – Season 6 episode 15: “East”

Warning: There will be spoilers.

Let’s get into it, not recapping just diving in…

Robert: So… what happened to this season? It started super SHIT HOT STRONG with that season opening Black & White flashbacks episode then we got teased with the big move the Walkers plan go to shit, a Wolves attack, the group dispersed, the big Glenn is dead tease, the wonderful Morgan episode and then mid-season finale with the walls coming down in Alexandria and the Walkers coming in. From then we’ve had maybe a few good episodes in the second half of the season – the mid-season return and the Saviors raid.

Ian: It feels like a network tv issue and more of a reason why doing something like Daredevil as an entire season to watch at your own pace outweighs the hiatus breaks. For business sense, it’s done with a purpose but it really drags down the pacing of the show.  Yeah, all of the interesting moments happened way earlier and the what if Glenn tease was a killer compared to how much doom and gloom foreshadowing they are packing on since it came back.

Robert: Okay. Opening scene is all a big mystery to what? Tease you so you don’t change the channel? Seriously? Why did they need that opening mystery scene? What did it bring to the zillion of die-hard fans who watch weekly? You think they MIGHT change the channel? Storytelling wise, it didn’t do ANYTHING. So Carol flees in the middle of the night and the entire fncking group lose their shit once they all wake up and finish screwing – YES, I think Glenn has been marked for death with his shower scene with Maggie. Daryl rides off, Michonne, Glenn and Rosita race after him then Morgan and Rick zoom zoom off after Carol. It’s like WHAT. THE. FUCK?! Just please take 5 mins to stop & think why… oh why bother?!

Ian: Remember when way back Rick was all like “Damn it, Carol – You’re too dangerous for this group! YOU KILLED PEOPLE!” and then she left for awhile only to come back to completely save everyone’s ass? Those were happy times, yup. It’s kind frustrating that the writers are so sold on Morgan’s journey from being kill everything on sight to some Lion King “life will find a way” cause some white guy taught him kung fu in that flashback but it only works with his character.

Robert: So the story has two sides, one of Daryl going off to hunt down & finish Dwight once and for all. Daryl the ultimate tracker. Please remember that. Then Morgan and Rick hunt after Carol but just before they could do that, we have the big Carol scene. NONE of what’s happening to Carol makes any logical sense, it all seems rushed from once scene to the next. Suddenly Carol again goes from sobbing mess to taking out a group of Saviours (well, all but one) then flees… again. Yes, I’m skipping through a bit here but I don’t think any of what I’m skipping matters. None of the Saviours, save the one that lives, matter.

Ian: I can agree that Daryl feeling guilty about Denise getting a crossbolt to the eye makes more sense for him to go all lone wolf since after all, he’s done it before with trying to find Sophia and to a lesser extent, when it was just him and Beth, he was falling back into old habits. It actually showed off a bit of progression in the sense that he’s actually treated people that he’s barely known (based on the limited interactions he’s had with just Denise alone) as his own kin but that trust came with a heavy cost of losing his brother and a foster sister in the sense of Beth.

Ian: But then we get to Carol and how the writers are really trying to show off what they think PTSD looks like. It’s honestly the only thing I can think of that can explain that switch between being completely vulnerable to wiping out an entire group of people with ease. If you think back to how she took on the Terminus group, it was completely planned out and carried out with precision (like sniping their fuel tank and it explodes cause things are more dramatic that way) but now, the meekiness doesn’t even seem real. It’s come to a point that we don’t second guess Carol making idle threats to a freaking kid in order to keep Rick’s plans safe but becoming a hyperventilating mess that even at the start of her character didn’t have is ridiculous.

Robert: Morgan and Rick catch up to Carol’s chaos and go off to find her with the surviving Saviour in behind them. Morgan and Rick find, what they think might be Carol but it’s a Walker who looks to be dressed like Carol but it’s not her. This leads them to a ranch where they encounter more Walkers and perhaps a tease to a new character / world for them with an armored man who runs away from them while Morgan and Rick finish off some Walkers. Morgan highlights much of his point of view on life to Rick that without saving the Wolf like he did, perhaps Denise wouldn’t have been around to save Carl. Morgan then sets off to find Carol or basically wander off if he doesn’t die trying. They have their farewell and Rick leaves him. As much as it made sense, the whole story plot seemed like filler.

Ian: Yeah, this really felt like another way to put Morgan and Carol on the shelf to avoid any of the Negan stuff. It’s kinda disappointing that they can’t have one character carry both sides of their viewpoints and as the preview for next week goes, Morgan will still have stuff to do. The only way this could actually have some kind of weigh to it is if Morgan has to confront Negan by himself.

Robert: Alright, Let’s focus on Daryl & Co, they find him and Glenn tries to reason with him but it fails. Rosita then leaves with Daryl and for some reason, looks like Glenn & Michonne get lost then caught & captured by Dwight and more Cobra troops aka no name Saviours. Then Daryl, the ultimate hunter & tracker gets not only caught but SHOT with blood splattering on the screen then Dwight muttering “He’ll live” in the fade to black. It’s the big WHAT THE FUCK moment but what got me wasn’t that Daryl got shot is WHY THE FUCK did Daryl get snuck up on?? That doesn’t work for me as they haven’t show, until now, that Dwight is better at hunting & tracking then Daryl.

Ian: Kinda strange, isn’t it? A girl that he barely knows suddenly makes Daryl feel emotions, just enough to completely throw off all skills and sense of logic just to get upended by Dwight – It made sense with Beth since she’s been with the group since second season but really? Denise of all people? You fetch a soda for someone and clearly, bonds are made. Let’s be clear though, part of what happens with the whole Negan/Rick conflict as it wraps up involves Dwight in fairly heavy way but I really doubt anyone from Rick’s group would be willing to make the same choices especially with how he’s treated Daryl.

Robert: Oh and Maggie got a haircut then pains from her pregnancy. OF Course she does, Denise is gone and Hilltop is a ways away. Add to the drama!

Ian: I remember there was some cheesy clickbait article about her haircut and she literally gave the same reason as she did in the show, word for word. Well, at least she looks more like she currently does in the comics.

Lastly

Robert: I wasn’t fond of this episode and here’s why, Scott M. Gimple was on Talking Dead after the mid-season opening episode of Talking Dead, TWD “wrap up all positive talk” show after each weekly episode of TWD. Are they worth watching, yeah but know that they always talking positive so it’s always RAH-RAH type talk. Okay, back to Gimple selling that the rest of the season, each episode just gets More and MORE intense. Now. Look back on those episode and what he said, was that TRUE? I don’t think so and I thought that this weeks episode should have had MUCH more dread, worry and be more fast paced, intense than what it was, a bit laid back after Carol’s showdown then a big pop at the end. Don’t oversell the show Gimple, please.

Ian: I really can’t be bothered TWD because of just how much hype they do on there. There’s barely been anything that can be declared as intense aside from some very key moments. It’s almost like watching something on CW as I already know that each episode has to make their quota of teen drama but in this case, it’s usually just talking explotations to try to push some character development or at the worse, shipping which is there for a very specific target demo (sorta like CW relationship drama and Olicity, ugh).

Robert: I’m wondering if TWD blew their budget this season on Hilltop and the big Walker attack on Alexandria with just enough left for next weeks’ big Negan season finale? Why? Because so many filler episodes with little to no character development but rather un-development in Carol and general loss of characteristics in Daryl getting caught like he was. It’s REALLY unfortunate, maybe this show has jumped the shark? Hopefully Negan can give it a pulse next season.

Ian: It currently feels like all the effort was put into the episode for the walker attack. It’s kinda funny that this season probably has the least uninteresting walker designs. Take for example when they were raiding the store that had a bunch of flooding and we got to see that cool water log zombie or when they used the firetruck hose to wipe out a bunch of zombies at one time – The TWD follow up was actually pretty interesting as it went into the behind the scenes of how they did that scene but this season? We just get people gushing about Michonne and Rick banging, bravo.

Ian: I think I probably said it before in one of the other reviews but at this point, the arc for Negan needs to get into the thick of it. My only concern for outcome of that adaption is how long they’ll drag it out since it’s taking forever for him to make an appearance, let alone this is a threat that Rick’s group has faced before in the form of the Governer – What comes after really kicked things up for how driftless the comics are and it’ll be a challenge for them to adapt it to the show.

Robert: this thought just hit me – maybe the reason for the whole Carol breakdown and fleeing highlights one thing, who’s the Mama Bear of Alexandria now? Maybe Carol isn’t fleeing because she can’t kill but she can’t kill & be a Mama Bear anymore and perhaps the ONE who dies next is Michonne!! Michonne’s become the Mama Bear that Carol was for the group. The obvious character to die is Glenn but IF TWD wants to do some SHOCK & AWE – that would be it. It won’t be Daryl.

Ian: Considering how much foreshadowing Glenn has gotten and how much it’d rile up everyone if Daryl took the bat – there’s only one character getting killed off that would be pretty nuts, to the point that I doubt the writers would feel comfortable doing it. Here’s the thing, back in the comics they had Lori and the baby die at the same time but in the show, Judith is still around. Just imagine how messed up if Negan didn’t even kill her but just take her after dealing with the whole Lucielle bit. They could milk that drama so damn hard and it’d really challenge Rick to think twice about his actions.

Ian: At this point, character deaths are fairly cheap as everyone is expendable even with their plot armor. We realized this at least for comic fans when Andrea got killed off, to make the comic fans second guess if their fav characters might die in the adaption. I think at this point, considering how many characters have been killed off and the details that Lincoln/Rick have slipped, it has to be something bigger than just character getting killed off, the novelty of has sorta worn off for me.

Bits & Pieces

• Rick & Michonne share a sex apple.
• Carol is Mad Max.
• Morgan has his moment with Rick, fitting since they were around from the 1st episode.
• Father Gabriel Stokes has his moment to make amends looking over Alexandria while Rick is gone.

Robert: And yes, I’m still pissed that Denise was killed in last weeks episode.

Ian: I paid my respects by pouring out an orange crush on the street in her honour.

Next Week SEASON 6 FINALE teaser for Episode 616: The Walking Dead: Last Day on Earth

Also here’s the big teaser poster for next weeks season finale!

SNEAK PEEK at Next Week here:

scroll down more for some next week spoilers!

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Next Week Spoilers

Robert: THIS IS NOT DARYL! Look at the clothes of the body lying on the road. This is Glenn (he MAY be already dead) which adds to my thoughts that Michonne will meet Negan and Lucille 🙁

Ian: Sheez, if that is Glenn on the ground, his show death is gonna be pretty lack luster compared to how big of a shock it was in the comics.