The Walking Dead Season 5, Episode 12: Remember

     This one is interesting to me. This is a show that I have felt A LOT of contempt for in the recent past. I can’t even honestly give a reason why I have continued watching it. I think I was like a heroin addict trying to find that first fix again, since season one was so good. The pilot in particular was a stellar event in television. Since then though, the series has been weaker and weaker. It has seemed very disinterested in following its phenomenal source material. Some of the deviations made sense early on, but most just aren’t making sense at this point. The good folks at AMC seem to be more interested in the show’s quantity than quality. Instead of thinking, “How can we follow this character’s actions to a logical conclusion?” They seem to instead wonder, “How can we give audiences just enough to keep them interested?”

This is what I blame for the show’s drop in character consistency and writing quality. It seems lazy to me to put a character in a difficult situation and instead of having them suffer through it, they just kill the character and be done with it. Andrea and Merle are prime examples of characters in beautifully difficult conflict that have just been killed off instead worked out. Also the act of just killing characters like Tyreese for no reason. Yet they tried their absolute hardest to make Beth an interesting enough character to kill with meaning.

This season has, so far, been the worst season to date as the show just continues to drop in quality. All of the characters have pretty much become background fixtures that follow Rick’s inadequate and inconsistent lead. Except Michonne, who questions him for the obvious sake of exposition.

Fortunately, last night’s episode actually did highlight the characters who have pretty much just been standing there. There are still characters that seem to just be there just in case, but I’sure they will get their one moment of truth, like T-Dog before them (Looking at you Tara!). All things considered, it was a pretty good episode. There was actually plot progress and they gave us results instead of constantly trying to tease enough for us to tune in next week or season. They seem to tease us with drama enough to create the illusion of quality instead of actually working for real quality.

Alexandria is more than I expected, they have done a pretty good job of creating a community setting that is safer and more agreeable than the last few places. I especially like the characters they threw in there for conflict. This is of course a turning point for Rick and his group especially. They are becoming darker people as a result of the things they have gone through. They were at this place before, at the beginning of season three, but it’s good that they have gotten back here. They are now willing to consider more harsh solutions to their problems. This is why my favorite character was Shane, he made the most sense as a person stuck in a world where survival was most important.

The one thing that’s become a little annoying is the lack of use of the walkers. They’re kind of random. More of a very minor convenience than a world ending catastrophe. I guess the way to survive the zombie apocalypse is to be lucky enough to miss the initial outbreak and then join the meanest stationary group you can find.

It was good to see them finally reach a place that didn’t immediately appear sinister. The repetition of EVERYONE the group meets being evil was definitely wearing thin. Hopefully the show can keep moving forward and improving from this point. I really want to like this show, but I need it to get better. This episode was a step in the right direction. Please don’t disappoint me Walking Dead.

Jonathan Jones

Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.