This episode showed the difference between self serving needs and selfless acts. The ingredients are now almost in place for this powder keg to explode. Fantastic writing and setup for what will no doubt be an emotional, violent and turbulent final two episodes.
Not very many.
The Walking Dead has succeeded in bringing us back into the world. With hope and something real again to lose, the dangers, and the pain of loss, are as horrifying as they were in the beginning.
The Walking Dead — When the electrical grid goes down, Eugene (Josh McDermitt) sets out with Glenn (Steven Yeun), Tara (Alanna Masterson), Aiden (Daniel Bonjour), Nicolas (Michael Traynor) and Noah (Tyler James Williams) to find the necessary parts to get power back up and running. Noah, in particular, has taken a keen interest in the process and even asked to learn from Reg (Steve Coulter) how the walls have been built and how to continue to grow the community in the future. As the group scours the warehouse where the components may be stored, a stray walker, covered in body armor and grenades wanders into their search. When Aiden attempts to put the walker down, the shots set the grenades off, leaving Tara badly wounded and Aiden impaled. Meanwhile, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), working the wall construction team under the guidance of Tobin (Jason Douglas), is incensed when walkers overrun the group and Tobin orders everyone to leave Francine (Dahlia Legault) in order to save themselves. Determined to save her, Abraham slaughters walker after walker, saving Francine from certain death. Convinced Abraham can run the team better than he can, a humbled Tobin informs Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) that Abraham should lead the wall construction team instead.
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At the factory, Glenn, Nicolas and Noah work feverishly to free the wounded Aiden, who admits that he and Nicolas were to blame for the last group dying. Despite their efforts, walkers overrun them and Aiden cannot be saved. When Nicolas, Glenn and Noah are trapped in a revolving door trying to escape, Eugene comes to the rescue by distracting the walkers with music from the van outside. With the exterior of the door free of walkers, escape seems possible, but instead of helping, Nicolas frees himself and in the process Noah is pulled from Glenn’s grasp and torn to pieces by walkers in front of a helpless and horrified Glenn. An angry Glenn decks Nicolas before he can commandeer the van from Eugene and the group heads back to Alexandria with a gravely wounded Tara in tow. Meanwhile, Carol (Melissa McBride), having spent time with Sam (Major Dodson) baking cookies, deduces that Pete (Corey Brill) is abusing Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge) and perhaps Sam as well. When she shares the information with Rick (Andrew Lincoln), she expresses that only one solution is possible. Rick will have to kill Pete. As the episode closes, Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) confronts Deanna and informs her that Rick’s group should not be trusted. They are the instruments of Satan and do not deserve the paradise that Alexandria represents. Unknown to them both, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) overhears the conversation, but everything stops with the shouts from Glenn and Eugene outside that are sure to light a match to the powder keg resulting from all the ins and outs we have to discuss from this week’s episode of The Walking Dead!
Good or bad, everything the heroes and villains of The Walking Dead do has a moral, physical and emotional consequence.
Spend was a curious title until you think it through. Every action has a cost. Sometimes the payment is small—perhaps just a bribe of cookies. Sometimes the cost is high—the lives of people we care about. And sometimes, just sometimes, the price for what we do is everything—the integrity of our souls.
Rick’s conversation with Jessie about the owl was a perfect microcosm of the episode. Society has rules for a reason. Without rules, chaos can easily take over. Some of those rules are common sense, but some are needed to ensure that common sense prevails in the end. Rioting, looting, rape, murder and all manner of atrocities happen when the fabric of society breaks down and there are no rules to keep the darkness at bay. Keep the storefronts open and clean. Keep the glass unbroken.
“You ever heard about the broken window theory? Boils down to this–you keep the windows intact, you keep society intact.” ~ Rick
Every character highlighted in this episode was presented with choices that could fix or further break the windows of society. Those choices told us what they were willing to spend in order to live, exist and survive. Carol chose to notice Sam’s predicament. She’d seen it before. She knew the signs all too well. Rick chose to listen. What they decide to do will have a cost. They’ve already chosen a slippery slope stealing guns and when everything is added up, will the balance be too much for those around them in Alexandria to understand?
Glenn, Eugene and Abraham were faced with choices as well. As they fought to save those around them, and not just their friends, it became clear that Rick’s family has a different set of values than Alexandria at large. Nicholas and Tobin made choices to save themselves. As soon as they did that, there were costs. Tobin may get off easy with only his reputation bruised, but for Nicolas, the cost was Noah. The consequences for that choice may include repercussions he’s not prepared to face.
Deanna, your bluff is about to be called. We’re hoping you have a really good hand.
Deanna is a self-professed excellent judge of people. The question becomes, how good is she at this skill and how deeply does she understand her own people and this new group she’s invited in to stay? She’s been emphatic about her choices to place Rick, Michonne (Danai Gurira) and others within their group into places of control and influence.
That begs the question. Has Deanna always known of the weaknesses within her walls? Has she seen Pete for who he is? Has she always known her son and others were ill-equipped to survive in a world far more dangerous than they realize?
We think the answers to all these questions might be yes. Deanna seems to be playing her own game of very careful poker. If she is the judge of character she claims, it’s very likely she’s seen right through Carol, Rick and the others and knew all too well what kind of people this group was from the very beginning.
If that’s the case, Deanna is much more savvy than we’ve given her credit. Time, and the last two episodes of the season, may tell us just how well Deanna has played her hand.
In the mean time, things continue to tip as Rick’s group each establishes themselves as the leaders they have always been. Tobin acknowledging that Abraham is a much better leader was another step in that direction.
“I put another one of your people in a position of power, you vouch for them. It’s becoming a pattern.” ~ Deanna
“We know what we’re doing. It’s why you wanted us here. It’s why Aaron and Daryl are out there looking for more people. You wanted a future. You need us for that.” ~ Maggie
“That’s right.” ~ Deanna
Abraham made a choice. The life of one is worth the risk. Abraham showed everyone that lives are precious. Outside of Aaron and Deanna, that was leadership Alexandria seemed to be missing.
Deanna may have a winning hand when all is said and done. If she can miraculously find a way to bring both Rick’s family and Alexandria together she’ll have likely accomplished everything she set out to do and she’ll have secured the survival of her community. If her bluff is called and her hand is weak, she might find herself on the outside looking in when the dust settles.
Sacrificing others to save yourself stains the soul in ways that may never be cleansed.
Gabriel has shown more than once that his own life is more precious than any. For someone who should be the most righteous, he’s become the most devastating evil there is—the seed of doubt and the sower of discord and self-preservation. In many ways, he’s now become the Devil on Deanna’s shoulder. His motivations appear to be purely his own security and we think his words may have been carefully chosen by Writer Matthew Negrete to be eerily prophetic of his own fate.
“Satan, he disguises himself as the angel of light. His servants are the false apostles of righteousness. They don’t deserve this. They don’t deserve paradise.” ~ Gabriel
“Thank you, Gabriel. I have a lot to think about.” ~ Deanna
Gabriel’s final plea to Deanna may be the ultimate test of her ability to see people for who they are. The writers were smart in showcasing Gabriel’s unsteady and even shaky demeanor as he pleaded with her. Those were tells if she was sharp enough to catch them.
We’re not certain what motivated Gabriel beyond the fear that Rick’s family would expose his own sin. True, he has seen the atrocities of society through Rick and this group firsthand, but what Gabriel failed to see was all the things that led up to those moments. He never witnessed Terminus, Woodbury, The Governor (David Morrissey) or any of the things that this group has endured. But he did see Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.). Perhaps that wasn’t proof enough.
He was in hiding during most of the apocalypse. Hiding so well in fact that he turned back his own congregation and has been hiding from his own sin since. Satan does indeed disguise himself as an angel of light—and sometimes that light is so bright that the instrument of evil is blind to it himself behind the white collar on his neck. And those individuals, yes we’re talking to you Father Gabriel, indeed do not deserve paradise.
The irony was not lost on us that it was Maggie that overhead Father Gabriel’s desperate attempt to throw the rest of the group under the bus. She’s clearly expressed a distrust of him for some time. The question will be whether Deanna believes the truth from the group returning with an unconscious Nicholas and news of Aiden’s death. Will the seeds of doubt planted by Gabriel start to grow and make her question Eugene and Glenn’s true motivations?
FINAL VERDICT: A gritty, heart-breaking episode ground us to our emotional knees. The consequences will likely be far reaching and that’s what makes The Walking Dead great television.
At its heart, The Walking Dead has always been a human drama. That’s what makes this show compelling. It’s never been about walkers or the horrors they represent. This show is about people and their fight for their souls in a world where all the moral boundaries of society are gone. Somewhere along the way, in first half of Season Five, it seemed the writing team forgot what the heart of this show was all about. Things felt much more like shock value and thrills.
As Rick’s family has settled in to their homes in Alexandria, the writing team has remembered. Veteran Writer Matthew Negrete, penned a powerful episode that won’t soon be forgotten. His script reminded us that the writing team understands where the roots of this show are planted. Once again we’re faced with the cost associated with how people treat each other, interact with each other, betray each other and save each other.
The interactions of this episode were beautiful constructed and Director Jennifer Lynch made it all work. Of particular note were all the sequences in the dark warehouse that worked flawlessly from fear, to heroism, to sacrifice and finally to selfish gain. The tortured final moments of Noah and Glenn’s helplessness were sobering. Both Steven Yeun and Tyler James Williams burned those images into our minds with unbelievable performances. We’ve said before that recent deaths on this show left us wondering why and had no purpose, but Noah’s gruesome passing will have lasting effects just as all deaths on this show should. He mattered to his family and had made an impression on Reg. That can’t be ignored. Noah was becoming part of our family as fans and viewers. Williams will be missed on this show.
In many ways, The Walking Dead is a powder keg waiting to blow sky high. Tensions surrounding the events of “Spend” will likely be felt well beyond just the next episode. If Deanna is questioning our group’s motives and intent after her confrontation with Gabriel, how will she feel when her son is lost? That question is likely to be answered in the first few minutes of the penultimate entry next week, but the real explosion may rest entirely with Rick. What will he do with the information Carol gave him about Pete and the information Maggie is sure to give him about Gabriel? The answer may split the entire community in two.
One thing may allow these two groups to find common ground. Threats from outside the walls still linger and secrets Alexandria and Rick’s group are keeping from each other may have to all come out into the open if those threats put everyone at collective risk. At some point, Deanna will have to make her own assessment of Rick’s group. For now, she’s got a lot to think about and a very short time to process it with the news of Aiden’s death looming.
All these questions are still waiting. All the plot lines are converging. We don’t yet know how this will all boil over before the season is done, but we have a deep suspicion that it will. We do know this much, when it happens, we’ll be there rooting, crying and fist-pumping right along with everyone else. The Walking Dead has their swagger again and that means great entertainment ahead!
Questions, Comments, Concerns and My reaction on Twitter…
- Feeling a tad guilty there Father G?
- Nice to see Daryl on a bike again. It fits him.
- There’s going to be a lot to remember. I like Reg. At least for now. 😉 That was a good moment for Noah. I can see him doing something good here.
- Seriously Aiden? That music is like a walker beacon dude. Merle already proved that.
- Somebody doesn’t like owl. Hmm. Maybe somebody doesn’t like you smiling that way at Rick.
- God. You really that much of a coward? Yes. I am. I told you I was. lol No kidding.
- This factory gives me a grocery store flashback. I hope there are none on the roof.
- Armored walker with grenades. What will these hellish things think of next?
- Whoops. That plan got blown all to hell Aiden.
- I need to send a fax to Cleveland. And ppl there are thinking: is that what everyone thinks of our city?
- Mother dick. Now that was creative. Oh, and the rest of these assholes need to get it together or they’ll end up dead. Maybe at the hands of Abraham.
- Is Pete always drinking?
- Everything “you people” have been through. I hope you see that. Yeah, but life is looking pretty good on your side Pete. I’d shut up.
- Rick the cop, does not like Pete the doc. No he does not Sam I am.
- Damn. Well, at least Aiden was gutsy in his final moments.
- Would you tell him Francine? I think she just told YOU dude.
- Pull the cobwebs outta your asses and move! We gotta wall to build. That’s the Abraham we know and love from the comics. 🙂
- A revolving door of death. Great. I say we sacrifice Nicholas.
- Tobin, you earned some points back by handing off the job to Abraham. I’m impressed.
- You wanted a future. You needed us for that. Well said Maggie.
- Oh wow. And I thought Carol was teaching little Sam to be a delinquent. Looks like Sam is smarter than any of us thought.
- OMG Noah. That was the most horrific moment this show has ever put on screen. My heart is crushed.
- I was with Sam. Is he okay? Why wouldn’t he be? That’s an odd question to ask Pete. Whatcha hiding in there? I’m betting Carol knows very well what it is.
- Father G. You’re ass is grass before this is done. Don’t want anyone to know YOUR secret?
- Rick, you know how this is going to go with Pete. Uh .. at least wait until he fixes Tara.
- Boy, this episode was a gut-wrencher. My heart is still throbbing. This hurts.
The Walking Dead Review: Episode 5×14 “Spend”
Christopher Bourque