The Walking Dead review: ‘Clear’

There was something quite endearing about this episode. It wasn’t filled with zombie killing action but the almost calmness of it all was thought-provoking and interesting. Before we get to talking about those things, however, here’s what happened: Michonne, Rick, and Carl go for a run for supplies (guns, ammo, food) to Rick’s old town; they find Rick’s old friend Morgan; Michonne proved herself to be a member of Team Prison; and they left a hitchhiker for dead. I just want to jump for joy at this Governor-free and Woodbury-free episode! I was getting so tired of that storyline and ‘Clear’ was wonderful as a break and in filling its role as a “calm before the storm” kind of episode.

The past couple of episodes have been so focused on the prison and Woodbury that I feel like the viewers might sometimes forget that there still is a “world” out there—if you could even call it that. It’s too bad Erin couldn’t make it to where her friends went but her friends probably didn’t make it there either. It was really tough to watch Michonne, Rick, and Carl just drive by the hitchhiker. There was no discussion at all for stopping. Carl, as well, had no problem shooting at the masked man, which we later find out is Morgan, and we just need to pause here for a second and acknowledge the huge changes both Carl and Rick have gone through and that’s no one can be trusted. It felt even worse when they were on their way back to the prison and only stopped to pick up the hitchhiker’s backpack when the hitchhiker was dead. On the bright side, Michonne has consecutively had more lines and she even made a joke (the mat said ‘Welcome’) and it was then that I knew it would be a good episode.

Bumping into Morgan was an eye opener for me. It’s either almost been a year, or at least
a year or more since the zombie apocalypse and we should start asking, why haven’t more people gone crazy? Hershel wasn’t really crazy, per say, but he kept a bunch of walkers in that barn and fed them in the hopes of a cure, which I guess is kind of crazy. The Governor was clearly crazy before the apocalypse, but still managed to creep—I mean keep—his zombie daughter locked up in a cage and had jars of floating walker and human heads. Rick was on the edge (and still is), Michonne admitting to talking to her dead boyfriend (which was another awesome line, btw), and now Morgan to tie it all together. His story of Duane and his wife was truly heart wrenching and it couldn’t have been more upsetting for Rick to hear. I just want to point out the amazing lines the characters had in this episode, not only Michonne’s clever ones, but Morgan’s  as well. I loved the reference to instead of the “meek shall inherit the earth”, it’s the weak.

Another high point in this episode was the resolved conflict between Michonne and Carl. I’ve actually had it with tolerating Carl’s behaviour. It’s unimaginable to how tough it must be to have gone through everything that he has but this kid has been getting on my nerves with his craving for independence and recklessness. In this episode, however, he’s finally matured for the right reasons. Carl’s character might be shown to be cold hearted at times, in my opinion, as he’s able to “get the job done”. He’s the one who got medicine for Hershel’s leg while taking down walkers himself, he’s the one who ended his own mother’s life, and he’s the one who shot Morgan. Later in the episode though, he was put in the light of a caring brother and also a trusting team member with Michonne. It definitely had to be Carl’s job to tell Rick that Michonne was one of them for it to mean anything.

An overall great good episode and I can’t wait for more like these in the future. ‘Clear’ really showed the contrast between Rick and Morgan and what Rick’s fate would have been if he hadn’t had Team Prison with him. Leaving the hitchhiker for dead and stopping for his backpack was a great way to end the episode but really leaves us with questions like how far is too far? They might not be actively killing people like The Governor, but what makes them any better when they wouldn’t even stop to help the poor guy?