Violet recaps Season 5 Episode 12 of The Walking Dead, titled Remember, where the group enters the community of Alexandria! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
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Episode Recap of The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 12: Remember
As the group stands outside waiting to enters through the gate at Alexandria, Carl notices a girl in the abandoned house outside the fence, but she quickly disappears. Daryl shoots a possum and declares that he has brought dinner.
When the group enters, Nicholas says they’ll all have to turn over their weapons. However, Aaron says they can talk to Deanna first, who knows everything they’d want to know about this place. Then Rick has Sasha shoot an approaching walker outside the gate, commenting that “It’s a good thing we’re here.”
Deanna, a former Congresswoman, privately interviews Rick and records it on camera. She has been living in the community since the beginning. However, she says they need people who have lived on the outside. Rick tells her that they should keep their gates closed, because it’s all about survival now, and people will use you to survive. Deanna tells Rick that she wants him to help them survive. She tells him it’s time to decide. He winds his watch to the correct time and tells her that he was a Sheriff.
The group members hand over all their guns, which can be checked out. Aaron shows Rick and Carl two houses that the group may stay in. Rick takes a shower, and shaves his beard off. A neighbor, Jessie, brings by some stuff for the group, and volunteers to give Rick a haircut. She offers to introduce her son to Carl, and Rick agrees.
Daryl goes to his personal interview with Deanna, and brings his possum with him, which he later guts on the front porch of the house the group is staying in. Carl and Carol go to the second house and take a look around. Carol goes back outside, and Rick says that they’ll all be staying in the same house tonight. Meanwhile, Carl finds an unfinished room in the upstairs of the second house, and picks up a comic book.
That night, the group all settles down to sleep in the living room of the first house. While Rick is still suspicious of this place, Michonne says she has a good feeling about it. Deanna stops by to see how they’re settling in, and is surprised to see that the group has stayed together. It seems that Deanna has given everyone jobs, except for Rick, Michonne, Sasha, and Daryl. Rick wakes up in the middle of the night, goes to the kitchen, and gets a knife.
In Michonne’s interview, she tells Deanna that this is what they’ve wanted, and they’re ready for it.
The next day, the group members go out and explore the community. That is, except for Daryl, who stays on the porch. When Rick looks around, he doesn’t see any of the group members, and begins to get frantic. He runs into a sculpture by Jessie’s house, and she brings him to where she thinks Carl and Judith are. It turns out they are visiting with an elderly couple. Jessie invites Carl over to meet her son, Ron.
Ron brings Carl to his bedroom to meet his friends Mikey and Enid. Enid is the girl that Carl saw in the house outside the gate. It turns out that the comic book was Enid’s. They give Carl some options about what they can do, and he opts to play video games.
In Carl’s interview with Deanna, he confesses that he killed his mother.
Later, Carl tells Rick that he likes it here and likes the people, but they’re weak, and he doesn’t want the group to get weak too.
That night, Rick stays up keeping watch. Michonne says that Deanna still hasn’t given her a job yet. Michonne says she wants a job, which Rick says is like saying this is how it is. Rick wonders why they’re both awake if they’re not afraid of declaring that this is how it is. Rick takes a walk outside. While on his walk, he comes across Jessie’s husband sitting on their front porch. He half-heartedly welcomes Rick to Alexandria as he smokes. Later, Rick lays in his sleeping bag, unable to sleep.
In Carol’s interview, she talks about being a homemaker, and says she misses her husband. She says that she didn’t have much to offer the group, and become sort of a den mother. Carol asks for a job in which she could be involved in the community.
The next day, Carol heads out to her job: cooking for older people, which allows her to meet a lot of the neighbors. On her way out, she tells Daryl to take a shower, and says they need to keep up appearances.
In Glenn’s interview, he says they need to make this work, because they were almost out there too long.
Rick goes outside the gates on his own.
While Carl sits at home, he looks out the window, and sees Enid climb over the fence. Carl follows Enid into the woods, but seems to lose her when she runs off.
Nicholas and Aiden, Deanna’s son, meet up with Glenn, Tara, and Noah to show them the terrain outside the walls, since they have experience with supply runs. Aiden gives them small handguns.
Rick goes back to the house where he hid a gun inside of an old blender, but when he opens it up, the gun is gone. Carl finds his dad just as some walkers are approaching. They have some father-son bonding time killing the walkers with their kitchen knives. A walker hiding beneath a rug reaches for Rick’s ankle. Carl kills it with a pole.
Aiden and Nicholas explain how they do things on their supply runs, and says that they have made a 53 mile radius around the town so far. He tells them that they lost 4 people on their last run, and that they strung up one of the walkers that took them down. However, when they reach the spot where it’s supposed to be, it’s gone. They whistle for it, and it comes out. Aiden and Nicholas don’t want the others to kill it. It tries to attack Aiden, but Tara tries to save him, and almost gets attacked herself when its skin peels off. Glenn jumps in and puts a knife through its head though, which pisses off Aiden.
When they get back to town, Aiden and Glenn get into an argument. Aiden starts pushing Glenn. Deanna walks up, wanting to know what’s going on, and Aiden is upset that his mother let these people in. Aiden takes a swing at Glenn, who ducks, and Glenn punches Aiden. Nicholas tries to join in on the fight, but Daryl takes him to the ground. Rick and Carl return just then, and Rick pulls Daryl off of Nicholas. Deanna declares to everyone that Rick and his people are part of the community in all ways, as equals. Then Deanna assigns Rick the job of Constable, and Michonne as well. They both accept. Deanna thanks Glenn for knocking Aiden on his a**. Enid has been watching, and walks off and doesn’t answer when Carl asks her, “You don’t like me, do you?”
We see the part in Rick’s interview again where he tells Deanna that they should keep their gates closed, because “it’s all about survival now, at any cost. People out there are always looking for an angle, looking to play on your weakness. They measure you by what they can take from you, by how they can use you to live.” While the voiceover plays, Rick walks downstairs wearing his new Constable uniform, while the rest of the group watches him from the living room.
Outside, Rick, Daryl, and Carol meet up on the porch. Daryl asks if Rick’s a cop again, and he says he’s trying it on for size. Carol asks if they’re staying, and Rick says they can start sleeping in their own homes, and settle in. Carol is worried that this place could make them weak. However, Rick says getting weak isn’t in them anymore, that they’ll make it work. Then he says, “If they can’t make it, then we’ll just take this place.”
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 5 Episode 12 of The Walking Dead: Remember
This was a really interesting episode of The Walking Dead. Ever since the last episode, I was in suspense wanting to know what was on the other side of the gate. Well, it was better than the group could have imagined, with these untouched, pristine solar paneled houses. I’m not sure what to think of Alexandria yet, though. Rick and some of the others seem suspicious of the place, which is understandable, considering what they’ve been through. I’m sure it’s very difficult to trust anyone ever again, no matter how good things seem. I’d like to think it’s the real deal, but then again, it seems like it can’t possibly be, as the show has to have drama somehow, right?
It kind of seems like the show is trying to suggest a romantic connection between Rick and Jessie, and trying to make Jessie’s husband seem like not such a nice guy, so that the audience is okay what whatever happens between Rick and Jessie. I’m not sure that I like that. I felt like the show was sort of pushing Michonne and Rick together lately, which I did like. But maybe that will continue now that they’re working together as Constables. It also seems like Carl likes Enid, though she doesn’t seem to like him at all. She seems suspicious though, with her sneaking out. But it could be that she’s used to being on the outside and having wide open spaces to roam, and doesn’t like to be cooped up within the walls. I feel like that’s the way the group will start to feel after staying in Alexandria for awhile.
Also very interesting is Carol’s covert, undercover approach. I thought it was weird when she was having trouble removing her gun when they collected the weapons at the beginning. But then it became apparent what she was up to during her interview when she said she actually missed her husband! We all know that’s not true. It seems that she is trying to fly under the radar, and appear as some innocent older lady who just acts as a mother to the group. Meanwhile, she has this hidden agenda of getting assigned to a job where she can meet and get to know everyone. Very clever, Carol. She really does seem like a mother to the group though, the way she was telling Daryl that he needs to take a shower!
The last thing I want to comment on is the way that the show played that portion of Rick’s interview at the end. I think this could be taken two ways. One way, is that Rick’s group is using the community to survive. The other way, is that the community is using Rick’s group to survive. I mean, come on, if the best they have is Aiden, that doesn’t seem too great at this point. Deanna definitely comes off as a politician, which makes me not want to believe her. It just feels like she is playing a game of chess. I don’t trust her, and I want to know what she is really up to. I’m really curious to see what happens next, now that the group is in a “safe” place! And what does Rick mean that they’ll just “take this place”?? Sounds like things could get a little crazy down the road!
Josh’s Thoughts: The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 12: Remember
So, it looks like the writers of Walking Dead are trying to turn the villain away from the people of Alexandria, and put it more squarely on Rick and the gang. I am not sure I like this move. The whole reason Rick and everyone are likable is because they are not like the rest of the world. Now the show seems to want to push them into that mold of “everyone is out for themselves”.
I have a feeling that at first it will start off that way, with Rick, Daryl, Carol, the main people looking to “blend in” for the sake of easy movement in the community. But I am going to guess that the community will begin to blend more and more, and hopefully Rick and the team back off of their hostile intentions. Some of the members of Alexandria are punks (namely the kids that decided to chain a walker up for fun, by the way, that guy got a well deserved punch, good job Glenn), but so far they seem pretty “average”. The one person I am having a hard time reading is Deanna. I think that is because she sounds exactly like a politician. I hate politicians, as they always have hidden agendas.
It was nice to see the shaving of Rick finally. That beard looked like it had a nest of birds hanging out in it. It was a good scene to watch though. Sort of a transformation into a more civilized Rick. But as the end indicates, this transformation might be a false one. One that is meant only to earn the trust of the Alexandrians. Carol seems to have done the same thing, with her cardigan and “soccer mom” outfit.
Shifting gears a little bit now, I have a theory about the missing gun. We have seen that girl Enid a couple times this episode–she is spotted by Carl before the group even makes it inside the walls. Then she had been seeing climbing the wall. I have a feeling she had been watching the group, and pilfered the gun after Rick had left. I am curious to know why Rick seemed to be less concerned with the gun missing later on though. You would think he would have brought it up with Michonne, Daryl, or the rest of the group. Rick and Carl did have a wonderful father-son bonding moment killing zombies outside the wall though, didn’t they?
But to wrap up, I thought the episode was pretty good. Better than the first couple. I liked the interviews with the group members. I do wonder why they are being video taped though. Is it just to document what happened in case Alexandria falls? Are they to show recruits later on? Are they to evaluate the members to see who should stay and go? I wonder if they will have meaning later on…
Scenes from The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 13: Forget
Here are scenes from the next episode of The Walking Dead:
