As much as I adore “The Walking Dead,” it’s always so much better when it focuses on silence and quiet dread. Scenes of Carl walking through a deserted suburb, or Michonne walking camouflaged within a herd are some of the most uneasy moments of the new episode. Much to my surprise, the series has been veering much closer to the comic books than it has been for the last four years, and it’s borrowed some of the best and most compelling story lines involving the aftermath of the prison invasion. There are a lot of callbacks to the first season. There’s a mention of Shane teaching Carl to tie knots, there’s a top down zoom in of a military tank like the final scene of the pilot, and now Rick and Carl have holed up in a house together exactly like Morgan and Duane did in the pilot.
The only difference is that Carl isn’t willing to lie down and die like those characters were. The big question that’s never touched upon is: Would Shane have done things differently than Rick did? Carl has a moment of pure anger where an unconscious Rick becomes the punching bag for Carl who screams at him blaming him for the problems. Would Shane have had a different reaction? Would he have abandoned Rick for the Governor? Would he have sought him out like Michonne did? We can never know. Chandler Riggs has really managed to shine in seasons three and four, and this episode allows Riggs a chance to show how much he’s grown as an actor and in to the mold of Carl.
The once meek weeping boy hiding behind Lori, is now a young man willing to venture in to the wilderness and fight for survival. When we finally see the aftermath, Michonne is once again a lone warrior forced to finish off the snapping head of a decapitated Hershel and then snags her two new pets to help her travel the lands undetected. Carl is infuriated at Rick, and manage to lash out at him in ways that shock even Rick. From their raiding of a house to competing to see who can find more food that’s been left behind, there’s a real defiance there. Rick is still trying to keep Carl from becoming reckless, but Carl is convinced that he can survive, and do so much more than Rick.
Especially now that Rick is a beaten down mess whose weezing and limping keeps the pair from moving forward and taking more risks. “After” focuses heavily on the characters that had so much more at stake in the series, and Michonne is given equal focus. The dream sequence with Michonne thinking back to her past shortly before the apocalypse went on way too long, and was incredibly goofy, but it is finally an indicator of the kind of person she once was and how far she’s drifted from her sanity. The final showdown with the herd is her literal fight for survival once she glances at a zombie that seems all too eerily like a doppleganger of hers. “After” is a powerful return that plays on the horror of silence and the build up to big bangs that await on every corner. The series hasn’t missed a beat after its long holiday break.
What did you think of “After”? Let us know below.