(Spoilers ahead)
Each week, we comb through the guts of The Walking Dead, much like a horde of hungry walkers, to bring you the episode’s best moments, surprises, and other post-apocalyptic curiosities. This week: Eugene vs. Mecha-Walker, Carol vs. Carol, and Denise vs. the inevitable.
Season 6, Episode 14: “Twice as Far”
Deja vu: Was anyone else confused by the repetitive pre-credits scene this week? No, you can’t blame Comcast for this one; it was just the writers messing with the timeline. Our best guess was that all the events occurred over multiple very similar days.
Best hair: This week, we saw Eugene sport a new ‘do, gathering his Cadillac of mullets into a man-ponytail. True to form, his sense of style is still firmly rooted in the 1990s.
Best walker: Metal Head Walker got the memo that safety is priority number one on a job site. Aside from protecting his noggin, he was truly reborn shiny and chrome.
No tracks: Why was Daryl so insistent on taking the road to the pharmacy rather than the railroad tracks? Is it a case of Terminus PTSD or just general stubbornness?
Best business plan: A bullet factory would give Alexandria an economic edge among the nearby settlements. That is, at least, until they start bundling bullet default swaps and bring the whole thing crashing down.
I learned it from watching you!: When Eugene went off on Abraham, informing him that his “services were no longer required,” it felt oddly reminiscent of Abraham’s brutally honest breakup with Rosita. We’re all for Eugene picking up Abe’s bravery, but maybe he should stop imitating his more tactless side.
It’s not over?!: The repeated opening shots weren’t the only example of time hijinks. On at least three occasions (right after Denise was shot, when the group carried injured Eugene, and just before Carol ran away), we thought the episode was going to end. Yes, a simple glance at the clock could have solved the mystery, but what can we say, we were enthralled.
Best manhandling: Eugene. Enough said.
Absentee father: In a classic cliche move, Carol went out for smokes one day and never came back. But seriously, who will protect us from Negan now?
Bait and switch: If you don’t follow the comic series, you might not know that it was originally Abraham, not Denise, who was killed by Dwight’s arrow. So Abraham fans, you owe Denise a big thank you for her sacrifice.
Best exchange:
Abraham: I’m gonna hit pause so I can kill that thing behind you.
Eugene: Pump your breaks, Red. I’m formally calling dibs on this one. And dibs is dibs.
Abraham: Well be my guest. Get some!
Best kill: Our nerves. We already mentioned that we thought the episode was winding down just before Denise was shot. That arrow not only pierced her eye, it also destroyed our notion that this was simply a boring filler episode. We were totally caught off guard, and now we don’t know how to feel.
Most disturbing image: Thankfully, the TWD crew spared us from witnessing an actual zombified baby, but the drowned child’s tiny floating shoe was enough to make us, like Denise, want to go sit outside for awhile.
Episode MVP: We were so ready to hand this award to Denise for stepping up and showing courage: killing her first walker, going all psych profile on Daryl and Rosita, adorably snagging that can of Orange Crush for Tara. And then she was murdered, proving yet again that whenever someone has a moment of clarity on this show, they become instant walker chow. Regardless, we posthumously name Denise this episode’s MVP.
There was not nearly enough Rickformation to register on the crazy meter this week, but rest assured, with the season winding down, we’ll be testing the meter’s limits soon enough.
