Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The Walking Dead S5E11 - The Unexpected Virtue of Applesauce

This past Sunday, while Lady Gaga was killing it at the Oscars (she really did), and Roman Reigns earned the right to headline Wrestlemania (again), Rick and his crew kept on surviving on The Walking Dead. And they did so alongside a new face named Aaron.


Aaron and Eric are introduced as the first same-sex couple on The Walking Dead. In 2015, I don’t consider this to be a huge deal. But of course, it’s nice to see diversity on any show, especially one this popular. Aaron and Eric also had a really nice introductory scene, which set them up fairly well.

Aaron tries to sell Rick and the group on coming to Alexandria. After Aaron gives Rick the first part of his spiel, Rick simply walks up and punches him in the goddamn face. Good intentions notwithstanding, I can’t say I blame him for that. Aaron sounded like a used car salesmen. And I’ve gotta tell you: One good thing about the zombie apocalypse? No more used car salesmen.

When the rest of the group has gone out to search for Aaron’s cohort, Aaron offers baby Judith some applesauce. But when Rick demands that Aaron taste it first, he’s reticent because he doesn't like applesauce. Dude! The guy says he’s going to kill you in 45 minutes if his buddies don’t get back! And this applesauce is probably your only bargaining tool! I don’t like green beans, but if green beans will put me on better terms with the bearded crazy with the gun, I’m guzzling some goddamn green beans!


Rick seems to be the only skeptic about Alexandria. Well, you can’t exactly blame him can you? Woodbury turned into a war…literally. Terminus was a slaughterhouse… also literally. So the notion that Alexandria is somehow a magical safe haven would seem pretty far-fetched. And when you’re not only the leader of this group, but you’ve got your two children with you, that skepticism weighs on you the most. And although at the end of the episode, Alexandria seemed to be an okay place, Carol hit the nail on the head: “Even though you were wrong, you were right.”


Glenn puts the pedal to the metal and runs down a load of walkers on the way to Alexandria. This was the creative highlight of the episode for me. Seeing all that blood caked on to the windshield and the doors made for some great gore appeal. And then you’ve got the intestines and all that other stuff clinging to the grill. I’m not a huge horror buff, but even I couldn’t deny the cool factor there.

Written by: The Fanboy Wonder, Rob Siebert

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