“Can you tell the difference between a good and a bad guy?”
“There ain’t much of a difference no more.”
So says Daryl (Norman Reedus) as he goes out walker hunting with Aaron (Ross Marquand). And it’s hard to argue when you see the group playing friendly with their new living companions, all the while scheming behind their back.
It takes another Daryl quote to back this up: “The longer they’re out there, the more they become what they really are.” He’s talking about an ill-fated horse that he and Aaron are trying to capture, but it readily applies to the group: they’ve been out in the wilderness for so long, can they go back to being normal? The presence of beer at parties seems to be at least persuading them to give it a go.
At least some of them. Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) seems to be having a harder time than most settling in – not that you can blame her, what with Tyreese’s sad end. Still, the jury is very much out.
Last episode we were praising Carol’s survival instinct, her willingness to do whatever it took to survive. We’re not so keen to nod with approval at her lack of qualms in threatening a child into silence. We’re pretty sure her promise to leave him outside to the mercy of the walkers was an empty one, but she’s killed before for far less. The faraway look in her eyes seems to be getting even more distant.
After last week’s introduction to new surroundings, this is very much the settling in episode, complete with parties and frivolities. It has ‘calm before the storm’ written all over it, and with the presence of the walkers with ‘A’ carved ominously onto their heads, we’re sure that something is on the way, and that it probably ain’t nice.
The more The Walking Dead progresses, the more it seems determined to become a dystopian Mad Men, relying less on plot twists rather than natural occurrences to drive along the story. It’s an approach that will no doubt alienate some of its original fan base, but that’s what The Walking Dead is now: waiting for things to happen.
It’s not in Mad Men’s league, but there’s nothing wrong in aspiring to something better, even if it doesn’t quite get there.
