WALKING DEAD DIARIES: STRANGE SOLACE IN SEASON 5 REMEMBER

Title: REMEMBER Grade: A

The best episode in a very long while, the gang finally arrives at their new location, Alexandria, looking very much like Mayberry... or rather, Woodbury... Remember the Governor? Remember that other "safe haven," full of terrorist cannibals?

Well you can rest-assured our roaming heroes REMEMBER, hence the episode title, because like tom cats inside a warm and cozy kitchen, they're out of place and beyond-suspicious. Especially the possum-eating Daryl Dixon.

Don't You, Forget About DD

As the episode continues, Rick and Carol become slowly accustomed and adjusted to this new setting... Rick given his old job as cop and Carol resembling a suburban "Junior League gal"... But Daryl wants nothing of it. Like what probably happened with BREAKFAST CLUB rebel John Bender during the inevitable Monday morning wakeup call at Sherman High, he's witnessing the same folks he bonded with are, once again, completely unrecognizable...

The Reluctant Gait

In other words, Daryl probably didn't want anything to do with cops before the Zombie Apocalypse. Nor did he hang with middle class married mothers. Those conventional tax payers adhered to his woodsy kill-or-be-killed lifestyle only when (and because) the bottom fell out. But this isn't a Daryl episode. He's merely a facial barometer of peripheral untrust.

Hell, even the always-wary Michonne is digging this new town, guarded with fail-safe walls and run by a seemingly open-minded and friendly former Congresswoman, videotape/interviewing each stranger and whose pretentiously gung-ho son provides the big third act suspense as he, his buddy, Glen and Tara venture into the woods, partaking in a terrific battle against the Walkers, referred to as Dead Heads. It's proven in this and the following scene, back within the confides of town, that Glen can not only hold his own, he's as unsure and suspicious as Daryl.  

"You wouldn't like unemployment."

If you return to, say, the original DALLAS... The character Cliff Barnes constantly threatened to end the show. If he put J.R. Ewing out of business, that's all she wrote. Same with the investigative journalist on THE INCREDIBLE HULK... while perpetually dogging David Banner's heels, if his mission were accomplished, the curtain would close entirely.

Love Actually shaven

THE WALKING DEAD doesn't have one particular character threatening to put the wild ride to an end... Not even the Walkers, who would have to kill all the main characters at once... But the very thought of our nomadic survivors finding complete solace, comfort and safety is, while good for them, death to the continuously dangerous adventure. Even Carl realizes this new place could make them soft in an extremely cruel world.  

It's just a matter of time till the lovely cloth on the tidy tables turn. But the setting is an intriguing one, and the last batch of wandering episodes have been rather weak... So hopefully, things don't go to pot anytime soon. Let's just simmer for a while. PREDICTION: The hidden agenda might have something to do with Rick, Carl and Baby Judith... The Congresswoman seems more interested in the domestic trio, who could add to the town's nostalgic normalcy. She may only want Team Grimes to stick around, for the long run. So if a regular character buys the farm anytime soon, it may only seem accidental.