ERMERGERHD! This week’s episode truly outdid it self in the “badassery” department. Forget Donald Trump Halloween costumes. It’s all about the Carol costumes now. No really. Co-Owners of Hush Comics, Adrian and Sherif, both plan on being Carol this year. And maybe forever after that. Watch out world, because are baking some serious casseroles.
Pros:
Carl got some balls!: Carl was the 2nd most badass character this week. Not only did he do good work with some good ole killin’, but he started to encroach on some dangerous pre-teen crush territory. Good work, kid.
Father Gabriel is really trying: For some, it may be too little, too late. But Father Gabriel talking to Carl about forgiveness seemed genuine. And starting with the machete? A preacher with a machete sounds pretty cool. Added to which, there was all that foreshadowing for what was about to happen to Alexandria.
Smoking Kills. as do machetes: There was a point in this episode where we thought, “God, I hope this one isn’t slow. Last week’s episode was balls to the wall the whole time. And this week all we are getting is ladies bickering about kitchen ingredients.” Then the smoking lady got killed with a machete, and we were pleased. Don’t judge that sentence by itself. It sounds really bad. Anyway, Smoking Kills, as do machetes.
The horn was Alexandria’s fault: After the horn went off last week, we hoped it wouldn’t be predictable that some dude was just sitting in the woods holding onto the horn. But as it turns out, the wolves just crashed into the Alexandria wall with a semi truck. It makes sense, and it wasn’t predictable.
We miss violence on TV… Jessie goes in: Honestly, up until this point, Jessie seemed pretty damn useless. Who needs a hairstylist when the world ends? I never thought that her profession would be THAT useful. The sheer amount of unadulterated violence she displayed on the wolf was magnificent. Just fucking brutal. Yes!
Fucking Carol: The star of the night was most definitely Ms. Peletier. She is always willing to do what no one else wants to do, but should. Cream of Celery?
Casseroles: How hilarious was it that Carl is baking casseroles after just shooting some guy in the face? I’d make a white people joke, but really, if there’s any baked food (other than cookies) to survive the apocalypse, it’s casseroles. In all seriousness, this just goes to show that murdering fools is business as usual for our group, and they look like a bunch of badasses for it.
Cons:
JSS: Kind of overwhelmed with the meaning of this ominous phrase that Enid kept throwing around. “Just survive somehow” was much less exciting than our proposed “Jumping Sex Snakes.” Plus, Enid’s flightiness makes me think she might be involved with the Wolves as a scout or something. That would be a letdown.
Tara: She was such weak sauce in this episode! Her only purpose seems to be to make other people feel bad for what she is too inept or sheepish to do. She could have offered any kind of help to Denise, but instead just whimpered and pouted that Denise was a coward for not picking up surgery. It’s not like riding a bicycle at all, Tara!
Can’t these people die in silence!?: That is now TWO Alexandrians that had to die because they couldn’t keep their trap shut and die with dignity. Seems like Rick and Carol have a lot more in common than they used to. They should totally bang.
What kind of hippie farm has Morgan been on?: Morgan’s “turn the other cheek” mentality just doesn’t hold up in this world. Sure, maybe when you’re a lone wolf (no pun intended) and you have the option to move on and only fend yourself you can spew that nonsense, but when you’re protecting a community against butchers and rapists, you need to kill or be killed. I would’ve thought enough time out in the world would make that abundantly clear.
Easter Eggs & Tidbits:
TV Denise < Comic book Denise: Another notable character from the books makes her debut. Denise was already a well-established doctor in the community by the time we met her in the books. She was sharp and witty, and never went through the panic attacks and trauma that she’s going through in the book. If this show followed the books, I’d say to look for her to have a budding romance with Heath soon.
Carl has a new toy: Carl finally gets to use that big ol machine gun he’s been lugging around! While his TV counterpart Chandler Riggs is 16 years old, comic book Carl was just a preteen when he decided to sneak into Negan’s camp and unload on the Saviors with this gun (Issue #104). Thankfully so, because in this episode, Carl had no problems putting a clip in one of the Wolves.
Train car A: It’s subtle, and I don’t know if it was on purpose, but after Carol puts a knife in the back of Erin’s head, Carol notices a red marking on the steps next to her. It’s the same letter that was on the train car that the group was corralled into at Terminus. No matter where they go, they are trapped. That shit is so deep, AMC!
B team: In the whole episode, there was no Michonne, no Rick, no Daryl, no Glenn, and no Abraham or Sasha. “JSS” relied on the under-billed stars to carry it, and I feel it largely did a great job. This disproves the theory that F*** the Walking Dead was crappy because it didn’t have stars. No, it was crappy because it was shitty TV. Shame on you, Robert Kirkman.
Predictions:
Morgan’s friend is still Jesus: Prove me wrong, AMC. I dare you! Morgan learned all those moves from a cheesemaker? You mean carpenter?? Paul Monroe has been cast and will appear this season. There’s no reason to have characters ask him that question if you’re not going to have this character premiere.
Lost opportunity at infidelity: Well, Holly died before Abraham could bone her. Comic book continuity ruined. There’s other people that Abe can get nasty in front of Eugene with, though. Our top candidate is Sasha right now. Although, I’m honestly not getting the feeling like Abraham and Rosita are even together, so maybe they’ll avoid it altogether.
Love triangle… OF DOOM!: There’s some weird stuff going on between Carl, Enid, and Ron. For some reason, Enid is always sneaking off with Ron while Carl handles business – whether it’s babysitting, casserolling, or shootin Wolves in the face. At the end of the day, we know Carl is the alpha teenager on campus. But he’s still soft, and emo Ron might shoot him in the face. That’d be kinda cool, but Denise needs to step her surgery game up if she’s gonna fix this up:
Hush Comics gives “JSS” an A- for use of sequencing, character development, and allowing the audience to feel in a constant state of fear.
All images belong to AMC and are credited to Gene Page.
Hush Comics 