The Walking Dead 6×15 Review: East

Is it me, or did “East” seem to be a very thrown-together episode of The Walking Dead?

The episode opened with a very quick shot of a bullet hole in a windshield, a flat tire, and blood dripping onto the pavement – but this was such a small part of “East” (and it was so short) it seemed that they were just trying to force tension.

After the credits for “East” we got a little flashback to Carol stitching something – which of course turned out to be a gun inside her coat sleeve – and almost getting caught by Tobin. He immediately started talking about Denise, and to be honest while part of me understands Carol zoning out, I really didn’t care for her lying her way out of the conversation by saying that she was concerned about Tara. I just feel like The Walking Dead is cheapening Denise’s death every way they possibly can; this was just another link in the chain.

The montage that followed was set to some amazing music – “It’s All Over” by Johnny Cash – but the only part that really got to me was Glenn and Maggie’s shower scene. It was sensual but not sexual; sad but beautiful. Unfortunately, that mood was broken by Daryl being angsty over the Dennis keychain that Denise picked up last week in “Twice As Far“, followed by a little moment between Abraham and Sasha that made me curl my lip because I just don’t care for that whole situation.

But then…RICHONNE! Sorry not sorry, unapologetic shipper here. While I have my misgivings about whether the apple Rick and Michonne shared was supposed to be symbolic, the chemistry between Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gureira is palpable, and I just really hope that TWD does this relationship the justice it deserves. Even if Rick going on about the walls has been a bit tiring for a while, I did love how Michonne insisted that she wasn’t going to lose this life of [relative] safety again, either.

The previews for “East” certainly had me thinking that Daryl was going after Carol when he left Alexandria, but as it turned out he was leaving of his own accord to exact his revenge on Dwight (or I guess in his mind, simply do what he should have done in the first place). And then it clearly didn’t bode well when Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita followed him before Tobin finally brought Carol’s letter to Rick and he figured out what was going on.

The end of “Twice As Far” certainly hinted toward a connection between Morgan and Carol, but I was still a little surprised when he jumped right into a car to go after her. And when Rick insisted on going with him, it was basically impossible to not jump to the conclusion that we probably won’t see much more of Morgan after “East”. (Err, not that I’d be complaining about that too much.)

To refocus on the fact that this episode wasn’t very well edited, we basically saw almost all of what happened to Carol in the next segment. While I understand that they’re trying to show how she’s breaking down, I think it’s happening all too fast. At the beginning of the second half of the season, she seemed to be the same Carol we’ve known for a while now, but suddenly, in just these past few episodes, she’s taking Morgan’s words to heart, and it’s a bit too much too soon, if you ask me. While a lot of her actions and reactions in “East” were understandable in the general sense, it’s simply too drastic of a change in character to be believable.

(And don’t even get me started on that commercial cliffhanger and the whole idea of whether or not she’s injured. I keep wanting Walking Dead to be better than that, and they keep proving that they’re not. Sigh.)

Meanwhile, the whole Enid plot has left me a bit confused as well. At first I was under the impression that she was living with Glenn and Maggie, but toward the end of “East” I wasn’t quite sure. All I know is that the whole pregnant-women-and-pickles thing was obnoxious, and that I’m worried about Maggie and her baby. I can’t imagine that the writers would have her lose everything in this season, but then, I didn’t expect them to kill off Beth and then go on like she’d never existed, either.

And once again TWD was very vague about the time frame between Carol’s departure and Rick and Morgan finding the, um, mess she left on the road. One of the Saviors was still alive (but just barely, and Rick took him out almost immediately). Another was already a walker and eating one of his companions, while we’d seen one of them wander off into the woods before Rick and Morgan arrived. At the time he appeared more injured than he actually was, and eventually he headed off after Carol, Rick, and Morgan. And when Morgan and Rick stumbled across the barn, Morgan pointed out that the walker that looked like Carol from afar hadn’t been dead more than a day – but who took that walker out? Carol, or the random guy they came across?

Thankfully after keeping Rick from killing the random stranger, Morgan convinced him to return to Alexandria. But with Carol in her current mental state I’m more than a little bit concerned regarding her future – and Morgan’s as well, to be honest (as much as I wouldn’t miss him). Especially as neither of them know that they have someone on their tail.

One thing I did want to point out is how I somehow just now noticed how much Morgan’s story parallels Daryl’s, in a lot of ways. But while Daryl is bent on finding Dwight and killing him to essentially end the circle, Morgan is still insisting that everyone can come back. The worst part is, I’m not sure that either Morgan or Daryl’s situations are going to turn out well…especially considering how “East” ended. Yes, some characters are safe in Alexandria – Rick, Abraham, even Maggie, assuming that she’s not going to have a miscarriage. (Which by the way is obnoxious and even introducing the possibility was more than a little heavy-handed since it happened right after she cut off most of her hair.)

As for Daryl and the group that set out to find him – well, crap. I’ll get one thing out of the way – Daryl isn’t dead. Chris Hardwick revealed that tidbit on The Talking Dead pretty much first thing, but of course that doesn’t mean that Daryl will survive the season. Unfortunately, the Saviors are also holding Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita captive (so far as we know), and with Carol and Morgan still wandering around I think it’s still up in the air regarding who might die in the season finale. And shoot, maybe no one will, but with that episode being named “Last Day On Earth”, I can’t imagine that all of the aforementioned characters will survive it.

Did you think “East” suffered from bad editing? Who do you think is most likely to survive – or die – in the season six finale? Let us know in the comments! *And be warned before you read this article’s comments – they are likely to include spoilers!*

Author: Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.

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