‘Twice as Far’ is another character-driven episode of The Walking Dead, concentrating on a smaller group… but it’s still a solid episode as we build towards season’s end…
While Carol (Melissa McBride) continues to contemplate her position in the Alexandrian community and feeling more and more adrift with her inner turmoil, life continues in Alexandria – the days producing a set routine for many of the inhabitants. The community doctor Denise (Merritt Wever) insists on joining Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Rosita (Christian Serratos) on a supply run after pointing them in the right direction of pharmacy supplies – wanting to prove her worth physically as well as mentally. Meanwhile Eugene (Josh McDermitt) is off on a separate run with Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), one that leads to a fateful falling out that could cost them dear.
In many ways this is an old-school episode, taking us away from the aggressively pro-active Alexandrians and back into a small-group on the road and trying to avoid death that could come at any moment. It’s another episode where several of the main cast are pulled back to background roles or not seen at all. Rick barely gets a scene and there’s no sign of Maggie or Glenn. Instead we get Daryl and Rosita heading out with Denise grumbling and bonding on a run to get more medicine from a nearby pharmacy. It’s nice to see a balance between hardened survivors and someone who is brave in a much quieter way, someone who hasn’t gone too ‘native’ in their approach to the post-apocalyptic realities
Of course, the minute that any character starts talking in inspirational tones it’s a good idea to duck, tuck and roll at the earliest opportunity. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, just get out of the line of fire or bitey teeth. Those familiar with comic continuity may have been even more surprised by the bait-and-switch fate of the arrow-tipped attack. Now, there’s no reason that a character’s sexuality should either include or exclude their chances of meeting an untimely end, but there must have been a sizeable chunk of the audience who watched Denise’s sudden demise and bemoaned that one of the few gay characters on television had bitten the dust – especially at her most endearing point. TV needs diversity and role-models and it would be nice to see more of them, rather than less.
However the drama and tragedy is balanced nicely with humour. It’s Eugene’s unique idea of a distraction saves the day and leads to a line of dialogue destined for posterity or at least a cult t-shirt. It’s also good that he’s a character who is genuinely thinking ahead – his idea for bullet-making being a bonafide plan rather than just moping around.
Solid stuff… and still just a few weeks to go to the finale (an episode we now know will not only be dramatic but extended to 90 minutes!
8/10
