"Try" is, very simply, fantastic. Season five of this show was certainly the show's best, and frankly, it rivals seasons of "Mad Men" and even "Breaking Bad." And this episode is among the best.
We all knew that eventually, things in Alexandria would take a turn for the worse, and we probably figured that it would happen here, in the penultimate episode, but that still didn't prepare me for it. For acts one and two, all seems to be well, at least by "Walking Dead" standards. They even threw in a little romance with Carl to make us smile. And then suddenly, Rick and Pete are crashing through a window.
Before I criticize, I must give credit where it's due: to Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs, and Michael E. Stratazemis (the director). Riggs did a nice job in his one and only scene, proving himself once and for all as a serious actor, Lincoln did an phenomenal job in the last scene, visibly having gone insane. Bryan Cranston would be proud. But the highest praise goes to Stratazemis for the directing and cinematography. Usually, I don't watch television and notice how well something is shot, but here I couldn't help it: the directing is the best we've seen in the show since "The Grove."
And now for the complaints. There were only two things that held this episode back from attaining two more stars: realism and Sasha. First, realism.
I refuse to believe some of the events in this episode. For one, the odds that whenever Rick tries to do the right thing, it ALWAYS ends up making him appear to be the bad guy are tiny, tiny, tiny. In addition to this, I find it hard to believe that even Pete would hit Carl so hard. The show's story has happened over the course of a year and a half now. Carl can't be more than 12 or 13.
Now Sasha. Maybe I have the unpopular opinion here, but I believe the writers have made Sasha an unlikable character by playing her as really, two different people. Half of the time, she's awesome, and the other half vulnerable. Sasha has the right to be sad about Bob still, but that doesn't justify this much time being spend on her sadness. Especially in such a tense episode, it feels like shameless filler. Like they're saying "We're five minutes short, so... hey, Sasha is still sad! Remember that?"
But really, this episode is fantastic.
We all knew that eventually, things in Alexandria would take a turn for the worse, and we probably figured that it would happen here, in the penultimate episode, but that still didn't prepare me for it. For acts one and two, all seems to be well, at least by "Walking Dead" standards. They even threw in a little romance with Carl to make us smile. And then suddenly, Rick and Pete are crashing through a window.
Before I criticize, I must give credit where it's due: to Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs, and Michael E. Stratazemis (the director). Riggs did a nice job in his one and only scene, proving himself once and for all as a serious actor, Lincoln did an phenomenal job in the last scene, visibly having gone insane. Bryan Cranston would be proud. But the highest praise goes to Stratazemis for the directing and cinematography. Usually, I don't watch television and notice how well something is shot, but here I couldn't help it: the directing is the best we've seen in the show since "The Grove."
And now for the complaints. There were only two things that held this episode back from attaining two more stars: realism and Sasha. First, realism.
I refuse to believe some of the events in this episode. For one, the odds that whenever Rick tries to do the right thing, it ALWAYS ends up making him appear to be the bad guy are tiny, tiny, tiny. In addition to this, I find it hard to believe that even Pete would hit Carl so hard. The show's story has happened over the course of a year and a half now. Carl can't be more than 12 or 13.
Now Sasha. Maybe I have the unpopular opinion here, but I believe the writers have made Sasha an unlikable character by playing her as really, two different people. Half of the time, she's awesome, and the other half vulnerable. Sasha has the right to be sad about Bob still, but that doesn't justify this much time being spend on her sadness. Especially in such a tense episode, it feels like shameless filler. Like they're saying "We're five minutes short, so... hey, Sasha is still sad! Remember that?"
But really, this episode is fantastic.