![]() ![]() Sam's refusal to come down from upstairs, for instance, seems like much less of a big deal only a couple of hours after the Wolves literally invaded his home than it would even a day or two later. Yes, it says something that these people would give up that quickly, but the sheer amount of things that are happening in the space of 12-15 hours is now threatening to turn this season into “Wet Hot American Summer.”Ī lot of aspects of the episode felt like they needed to have spanned at least a few days, if not longer. That Alexandria's routine order is descending into chaos – including an attempt to loot the pantry, and a suicide by a woman who just can't deal anymore – only 20 minutes or so after the locals realize they're surrounded by zombies doesn't have nearly the impact it would if the episode had spanned even, say, a week. That same-day structure has allowed the show to go back and forth between what's happening inside Alexandria and what's happening elsewhere (I assume we're due for a Daryl/Sasha/Abraham road trip episode in the next week or two), but the events and conflicts depicted here felt like they needed to play out across a longer time period to really hit the mark. In particular, the decision to have the entire season, up to and including this episode, take place in the same day hamstrings a lot of the different beats “Now” is trying to hit. ![]() It's an admirable, necessary goal, but the execution is spotty. So “Now” is, like many of the post-prison episodes of season 4, designed to let us get to know some of the locals better, so that their interactions with the more seasoned characters will have more resonance. Having everyone but Deanna, Aaron, and Jessie be complete non-entities turns the debate from a rout into pointless savagery. (Every time Rosita appears or is mentioned lately, my first reaction is surprise that she's still on the show, just because they've done so little with her.) But the deck is already stacked against the Alexandrians in the ongoing philosophical debate with Rick's group, because we've known Rick and Carol much longer, and because we know that they're right. The show's always had trouble servicing the larger ensemble, especially when it's as big as it is at the moment. In that time, only a few of the Alexandrians have gotten any real characterization at all, and some of them are either dead (Reg, Nicholas) or missing (Enid). “Now” is the series' tenth episode since our heroes arrived in Alexandria. A review of tonight's “The Walking Dead” coming up just as soon as I go back to my apartment to read “War and Peace”…
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |