THE WALKING DEAD: “NO WAY OUT”
My cousin and I used to live in the same building in different apartments. On Halloween night in 2014 I was at her place and we decided to stay in for the night because going out on October 31st can be more trouble than it’s worth sometimes. She was lubricating me with red wine and trying to convince me to watch a horror movie with her. I was furiously shaking my head in protest since I’m a chicken so she suggested we watch The Walking Dead on Netflix since I had never seen it. I had heard good things about it so I thought it was a good compromise.
I spent the next hour holding a pillow right below my eyes in fear but I was instantly captivated by the show. I knew I was going to spend the next few weeks binge watching on my couch. My next scary problem that evening was going upstairs to my own apartment. The logical part of my brain knew that there was nothing be afraid of but that didn’t stop me from running up to my place like a mad woman.
The captivating series continued their legacy in the mid-season 6 premier, entitled “No Way Out”. The central arc of the entire show is that no matter where you turn or where you live you are never going to escape the two biggest threats in this world – the walkers AND people. The title of this episode drives home what the protagonist, Rick Grimes, and the rest of the survivors understand more and more as time goes on in this post-apocalyptic world. How they escape and maneuver these threats is key to their survival. In addition, they are also plagued with severe PTSD but must continue to fight in this dark and cruel world despite these hardships.
This episode continued to drive home those threats and those feelings. They figured out what had to be done and the type of strength and courage they needed in order to fight their way to some peace of mind, for the moment that is. Even when you are mourning loss, both physical and emotional, only the strong survive. There are bigger threats and scarier people they will encounter this season. If you are a fan of the comics you know what “Lucille” is, but I won’t spoil it any further. Either way the people who are willing to make the most difficult and unfathomable choices to ensure that their survival is protected are the ones who persevere. Also having a kick-ass machine gun helps.
I was lucky enough to attend a panel with some of the cast a couple of weeks ago at the 92Y. I could tell how much the cast loves the show as much as us Dead Heads do (yes that is what we call ourselves). They are smart, funny and kind of intimidating both on and off screen. I was really hoping Michonne would bring her Katana sword but she wisely did not. Check out some interviews with the cast below on their way into the panel.
The Walking Dead airs on Sundays at 9PM Eastern Time on AMC.
