The Walking Dead 5.12 Review: “Remember”

As the survivors begin their initial attempts at adjusting to life with clean sidewalks and beautiful houses, Rick and Carl explore their new home.  The shots of the two of them slowly moving about the place, accompanied by a musical score that blended seamlessly with the emotion of the moment, provided a perfect fish-out-of-water scenario.  Later, Rick ceremoniously washes himself clean, showering and cutting off the beard that has been with him (in varying degrees of unkempt hairiness) for many seasons.  The first glimpse of a clean-shaven Rick in the mirror was a throwback to his appearance when it all started, and it actually made me a bit sentimental.  I’ve been with this show from the very first episode, and Rick (and his group) has been through so much in four and a half seasons.   

Rick gets a friendly “welcome to the neighborhood” basket of supplies from Jessie, and after she lays eyes on him, an offer for a haircut as well.  While Jessie cuts his hair, there’s a moment when Rick seems to revel in it, and it’s unclear if it’s due to the feel of a fresh haircut, or the touch of a woman’s hand through his hair.  Regardless, Rick is momentarily overcome by it all, and Andrew Lincoln is superb at showing us Rick’s emotions silently spilling forth, manifested by one perfect tear (made famous by Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles) sliding down his bare face.    

Daryl is having the most trouble adjusting (no surprise there) to this environment, and prefers to sit on the front porch skinning his kill rather than explore Suburbia.  When it’s his turn to be interviewed, he paces the floor looking like he’d rather go taunt some walkers than sit in Deanna’s living room while she tries to figure him out.  Still, he admits that Carl and Judith deserve a place to be safe.  But clearly, he isn’t comfortable with his new surroundings, and by the way he chastises Carol for the new role she’s playing, and later dubiously asks Rick “Are you a cop again?” he doesn’t want his fellow survivors to get too comfortable either.  

Much of this episode is centered on Rick’s adjustment, or more specifically, on his deep wariness.  The gang gets two houses, but Rick declares they will initially all sleep under the same roof.  He’s not taking any chances.  Or maybe, he’s just not ready to let go of the emotional security he feels when all of his people are together.  Whatever the case, Rick is having difficulty suppressing his flight or fight response.  When the group goes to explore and Rick loses sight of Carl and Judith, he immediately panics, racing through the streets in search of them.  With the help of Jessie, he finds them in the (up until now) most unlikely place:  On a front porch chatting with a grandma and grandpa.

Carl, too, is out of his element.  When he’s introduced to the teen residents (including distant Enid), hearing about their school schedules and seeing their rooms full of comic books and video games starts to overwhelm him.  Chandler Riggs get to showcase his abilities here, with a deer in the headlights expression that conveyed more than any dialogue could.  Carl later tells his father the new people are weak, and he worries if their group stays, they will get weak too.   But he needn’t have feared; when he and his dad meet up outside the walls, they decide to keep their skills sharp by using just their knives to carve up some walkers.    

A few sinister events occur in Alexandria just to make us wonder if everything is as idyllic as it all seems:  On a late night walk, Rick encounters Jessie’s suspicious husband, getting a definitively colder welcome than Jessie provided; Rick also learns someone took the gun he hid in the blender at the nearby shack; And later, when Glenn, Tara, and Noah meet Deanna’s son Aiden and his buddy Nicholas, it turns out both guys are total jerks – and potentially dangerous. 

Aiden is the type of guy who learned a little from his limited experience, but thinks he knows it all.  And even though the first glimpse we’ve gotten of his character is very one-dimensional, it was satisfying to see him get knocked on his ass after getting in Glenn’s face about the practice run.  It was also good to see how the other group members had Glenn, Tara and Noah’s backs, rushing over to defend their family when they saw trouble brewing.  Rick was even the voice of reason in getting Daryl to back off of Nicholas during the scuffle.

Deanna comes on the scene and (suspiciously) thanks Glenn for putting Aiden in his place.  And then, after having already given most of the other survivors jobs, she finally reveals what she has in mind for Rick and Michonne – law enforcement.  When Rick and Michonne accept the jobs as constables, Daryl is incredulous, and walks off, scoffing in disbelief.    

Back at “home,” Rick ventures down the stairs in his new constable uniform, and just like with the shave, it seems that he is coming full circle.  Daryl clearly doesn’t like what he sees, and Carol echoes Carl’s fears about the group getting weak if they let their guard down.  But Rick really hasn’t returned to what he once was.  None of them can (and some of them wouldn’t want to).  He assures Carol and Daryl, telling them, “We won’t get weak.  That’s not in us anymore.  We’ll make it work.  And if they can’t make it, then we’ll just take this place.“  Rick’s declaration, together with the shot of these three strong characters framed in the moonlight, provided the best moments in the episode.  Rick is completely self-assured (a far cry from his passive, reluctant leader of the past), Carol has already begun her clever deception (complete with June Cleaver sweater), and Daryl – who refused to even shower – had the perfect “now that’s what I’m talking about” expression after hearing Rick’s pronouncement.  These are who our survivors really are.  And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

This episode, though light on the action, was unique and clever in the way the story unfolded.   The show effectively planted the idea that there may be more to the seemingly safe haven of Alexandria than meets the eye.  As I wrote last week, I know the place plays an important role in the comics, but I don’t want to know any more than that, otherwise I might start comparing the comic to the series, something I have never wanted to do.  So taken on its own, this storyline does have a lot of possibility.  The survivors’ adjustment process, especially if some of the group decides they want to leave, would make for some interesting (though limited) exploration.  And tension has already been set up with some of the community members we met, so there is potential conflict as well. 

There’s only four episodes left to this season, which has taken us on some interesting twists and turns (and on a few predictable ones as well).  It’s been enjoyable seeing the whole group together, even if the narrative still tends to focus on only a few characters an episode.  And it’s refreshing that the crew has moved out of Georgia and is settling in a new place (even though the show is really still filming in Georgia).  I have no idea what will happen (though I have some theories…), but I know we’re leading up to something big – we always are.  For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what our war-weary survivors encounter next.