The Walking Dead Review: Episode 5×06 “Consumed”

The Walking Dead makes another eerie return to Atlanta as Daryl and Carol search for Beth. The personal revelations they find may make them question what the new world has made them.

The Walking Dead — After last week’s disastrous bus detour, this week The Walking Dead shifted its focus to Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) and their pursuit of Beth’s (Emily Kinney) captors. All the while, Carol recounts the events that led to her to leaving the prison and how those moments and the loss of the girls may have changed her forever. The two follow the white cross vehicle into Atlanta before running out of gas, forcing them to take refuge overnight in a shelter for battered women in which Carol once stayed. With so many memories flooding Carol with questions, the shelter simply sparks deeper ones about both their pasts and what their future may hold.

When their pursuit picks up the two find their first lead, a white cross van hanging from a bridge. The two investigate, only to find themselves trapped by walkers and forced to ride the van over the edge in a nail-biting tumble to escape. Injured, but more determined with knowledge that the van may have come from Grady Memorial, they press on only to be caught unaware by a crafty Noah (Tyler James Williams) who takes their weapons. That’s usually not a smart thing to do to Daryl Dixon. When the tables are turned and Noah needs their help, Carol and Daryl must ask themselves how much the world has changed them and what part of their humanity do they choose to keep now that things will never be the same. With plenty interaction between these two that were so close but have been apart for so long, let’s buckle up and take the plunge into this week’s discussion!

Who is left untainted and can be saved in a world haunted by the dead?

Carol and Daryl are very much characters of action and few words. That’s not to say that they don’t speak, sometimes both say volumes in what they don’t say aloud. There’s almost an unspoken bond between these two that blossomed from the early days of season two in the search for Sophia. Neither of these two characters trusts easily and both have come to trust each other.

Perhaps no two characters have emerged from their shells as much as these two. Both victims of abusive relationships, the apocalypse has freed them of those shackles. It hasn’t been without a price, but both of them are stronger and more confident in the new world than they ever were in the old. As they discuss the possibilities of the future Daryl brought up earlier in the season, Carol’s jaded views start to creep in to the conversation.

“You said we get to start over. Did you?” ~ Carol

“I’m tryin’. Why don’t you say what’s really on your mind?” ~ Daryl

“I don’t think we get to save people anymore.” ~ Carol

“Then why are you here?” ~ Daryl

“I’m tryin’.” ~ Carol

Noises in the dark reveal a mother and daughter pair of walkers trapped inside the shelter. Daryl stops Carol from entering to take care of them. When she wakes in the morning to see Daryl is burning the bodies, Carol’s tearful thank you acknowledges she isn’t the only one that will take action. Others will step up when needed. For all the demons she may be fighting, this parallel to the girls wasn’t one she had to face alone.

What made this entire sequence work so well is Carol’s cloud of doubt that hangs over McBride’s every sentence. Carol has emerged stronger from all her trials. She’s taken action and done the unspeakable when she felt she had to do so. But at what price to herself? That doubt followed McBride throughout the episode. It’s clear that you can’t go back once you’ve become something stronger than you were. The doubt seems to suggest it’s much less clear if you can go back when the world that made you, has pushed you past the bounds of your own humanity. That may make everyone in this new world beyond redemption.

Fire can consume many things, but it also hardens steel.

When the two are ambushed on their way to the white cross van by a resourceful Noah and their weapons are taken, it’s Daryl that becomes her voice of reason when he stops her from killing the fleeing Noah. The old Carol never would have done such a thing, but the Carol that now questions her humanity almost did it out of reflex. She admits her frustration. She can’t sit idly by anymore and watch bad things happen to those she cares about and the weapons Noah stole were needed for both of them to survive. She also admits that both she and Daryl are different from who they used to be. The Treating Survivors of Childhood Abuse book that falls from his bag shows her that he’s facing his own demons and they aren’t all that different from hers.

When the two reach the van teetering on the edge of a bridge and learn that it’s from Grady Memorial, they have their first real lead, but things turn sour quickly in the world of The Walking Dead. Trapped in the van by walkers, the two do the only thing they can, buckle up and follow a blind leap of faith that some how and some way when the van, being pushed by the walkers lands, they will be okay. These two characters of action, who so often are the ones to take control, are left helpless as the van slips off the edge and slams into the ground below.

We’ve said it before and we’ll likely say it again, the visual effects teams for The Walking Dead are second to none. As if the sequence of the van’s tumble wasn’t good enough the continuous thud of walker bodies falling on top was masterful. We jumped. And we’re betting we’re not alone. As dark oozing blood slid down the windshield it wasn’t at all the sigh of relief we hoped. If there’s one thing in which The Walking Dead absolutely excels, it’s their ability to set a mood and shock us time and time again. As Carol and Daryl exit the van, battered and sore, our hearts were still racing along with theirs.

When the two settle in across from Grady’s after their leap of faith, Daryl asks her what she meant by them being different. Instead of being more like a boy, he’s a man she explains. He’s a leader. When he asks about her, it’s clear that every step of her transformation has been weighing on her for some time.

“Me and Sophia stayed at that shelter for a day and a half before I went running back to Ed. I went home, I got beat up, life went on, and I just kept praying for something to happen. But I didn’t do anything. Not a damn thing. Who I was with him… she got burned away. And I was happy about that. I mean, not happy, but… And at the prison I got to be who I always thought I should be, thought I should’ve been. And then she got burned away. Everything now just… consumes you.” ~ Carol

“Well, hey… we ain’t ashes.” ~ Daryl

The world of the dead had burned away the exterior that hid the real her inside. A stronger and more hardened Carol emerged. But her own actions at the prison and since had burned away the stronger and more confident person she thought she should have always been. Both McBride and Reedus bring us into this moment with the physical and stoic performances we’ve come to expect of them both. Neither are much for words, but their expressions and the ways they carry themselves almost always put their emotions on display.

What has made these two characters so strong is the ability by both McBride and Reedus to show their vulnerabilities without those moments ever feeling like weaknesses. They each do it well and in their own way. Together, perhaps more than any two characters, they have a common way of letting their actions speak for them. And when they do speak, as they both did here, their words carry weight. They are something different, but that something isn’t ash. It’s a hardened transformation into who they’ve become.

Sometimes the person in your life in most need of saving is yourself.

When they realize Noah is in the building and Daryl pins him under a bookshelf with a foaming walker pushing its way in, Carol and Daryl are both faced with a decision. Which version of themselves will they choose to be? Who they used to be, who they are now or something entirely different? When Carol cries out for Daryl not to leave Noah stranded their roles from earlier are reversed.

“You almost died ’cause of him!” ~ Daryl

“But I didn’t.” ~ Carol

Whether Daryl walked away on purpose to push Carol’s humanity back to the front and force her to cry for help, we may never know, but when Daryl puts an arrow through the head of the walker and they free Noah, it’s clear that both decided they should be the people the crucible of this world has forged. People can be saved. Even from themselves—if the good person inside has the will to step forward.

After discovering Noah knows Beth and Grady Memorial is where she’s being held, everything comes into focus. Moving quickly, it’s all Daryl can do not to leap into action when Carol is hit by the patrol car from Grady’s. As the two officers scoop her up and take her away, Daryl is again put in that helpless position. Just like on the bridge in the van, he can only watch. Noah insists they have medicine and can help her. They have guns and people too. So do we, is Daryl’s response. Grady Memorial may be about to find out what the Governor and Gareth have learned before them. Bad things happen to those who mess with this group.

FINAL VERDICT: Another solid episode of The Walking Dead. Lean on plot, but fertile in character perspective. Carol and Daryl learn that what does not destroy us may make us stronger.

As a whole, the slower pace of this episode felt like a step back for The Walking Dead. It wasn’t the breathtaking and heart pounding end-to-end episode some have been. It certainly had it’s moments and these two characters were due a quiet talk about things that only the two of them understand about each other. When they had different perceptions of the painting, Daryl scoffed at the idea she liked it. She insisted he didn’t know her. Keep telling yourself that was his reply. These two do know each other. Perhaps as well as any two know each other on this series. They have an unspoken language and that came out here from both Matthew Negrete’s taut script and the lean performances of McBride and Reedus. While not the action packed episode some have been, this was still a good episode of The Walking Dead. Director Seith Mann put together a solid effort that has helped us see deeper into the minds of these two fan favorites.

Throughout the episode the layers of these characters metaphorically burned away. Did it work? It was certainly noticed, but perhaps wasn’t as directly understood as some parallels or metaphors on this show have been. Carol feels like this new world consumes who you are—no matter who you become. But it’s Daryl that brings her back to the thinking they aren’t ash. They have both been transformed but not consumed. Both have left behind the helpless figures they were and morphed into the stronger and surviving figures they are now. Ironically this harsh world helped them both find that in themselves. The splicing of the scenes to bring the burning metaphor to light certainly hit it’s intended symbolism, but it might have been missed completely if Carol didn’t spell out what it meant for them both.

Daryl’s a man who makes more rational and measured decisions. It doesn’t mean he can’t make tough ones or that he doesn’t act swiftly when he does, but he’s not the irrational kid he used to be. This world allowed him to grow up and find himself. Carol may never have left Ed or changed her life had all this not happened. She may still have Sophia, but she’d be miserable. She might not be able to go back even for Sophia now. She’s changed too much to ever be who she was. This world allowed her to become strong.

Both of them had those things in them and the skins they both hid behind were burned away. They’ve emerged as something new. Something stronger and something neither of them thought possible until the world revealed who they are. Carol has the confidence to act. Daryl has the confidence to lead. Those are things neither had in their life before the apocalypse. As horrible as the apocalypse has been, these two characters above most have found themselves and in a way fit better here than in the world they left.

Helpless is not a feeling that Daryl deals with well. He’s better at it than he used to be since he understands there are things simply beyond our control. But as he and Noah drove away to get the rest of the group, we couldn’t help but wonder what actions he’ll take once he is able to see both Beth and Carol again. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) doesn’t take kindly to people messing with this group and his patience has completely worn thin to outsiders taking advantage of them. Those are explosive ingredients that will have us back next week to see the penultimate episode before the Fall Finale!

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My reaction on Twitter…

• Walkers just never give you privacy to grieve do they. #InconsiderateUndead
• Welcome back to ATL folks! It’s NOT nice to be home. lol
• So Carol, What’s the “something”? #KindaWannaKnow
• Where’s a cop when you need one? Oh right, they don’t give a sh*t anymore. #Grady RT @NerdInstinct: Hey- it’s a jay Walker!
• Taking care of the mother and child hit home for Carol. You did a good thing Daryl.
• I sense a strong smoke theme to this episode. Foreshadowing?
• Always carry a pad to write your thoughts or burn to distract walkers.
• “Some days I don’t know what the hell to think.” ~ Daryl. Me too. Slumber party gone wrong.
• “How did we get here?” ~ Carol. Nice office. View isn’t what it used to be.
• “Bet this cost some rich prick a lot of money. Looks like a dog sat in paint and wiped his ass across.” ~ Daryl #WaterCoolerTalk
• “You’re not who you were & neither am I.” ~ Carol No, but you ARE here Carol. Family & your soul is all you have left. Fight for it.
• I think that’s driving the wrong direction on the bridge. #JustSayin
• Buckle up?? You gotta be sh*ttn me!
• When The Weather Girls sang “It’s Raining Men” I seriously don’t think that’s what they had in mind.
• Atlanta has always been full of crazy drivers, but that takes the cake. WTF??
• “Who I was with him, got burned away. Got to be who I should have always been at the prison. Then she got burned away.” ~ Carol. Fire theme continues.
• Grady Memorial. You’ve F*cked with the wrong people.