The Walking Dead: “Clear” Recap
In a simply incredible episode of The Walking Dead, Rick and Carl return to their hometown in search for guns – and find a tormented soul from Rick’s past.
With an “18 Miles Out” detour-ish vibe, and the feeling of being blissfully removed from the rambling wrongness of last week’s episode (which I didn’t get to recap due to being out of the country), “Clear” was magnificent. You could feel the love for both the TV characters, and their comic counterparts, in this episode, wonderfully written by (now NEW showrunner!) Scott Gimple. And whereas Season 2′s “18 Miles Out” was a strong episode, it still had its drawbacks; namely the fact that it was a powerful, confrontational chapter that, in the end, resolved nothing between Rick and Shane.
But “Clear” was able to not only take us back to the past, revisiting Morgan in a way that was similar to the comic series, albeit sooner, but it also worked to warm us to Michonne and give us a peek inside Carl’s new mad, independent spirit. This show, as with its nightmarish scenario, works best when it lets the sadness win. Sure, it’s cute to wrap insanity up in TV-packaged “he’s seeing people who aren’t there” bow, but most of the time it just works better to listen to someone’s tragic story.
Hearing what became of Morgan and his boy after Rick left, with the undercurrent of Rick spending most of Season 1 worrying about them back home, was enough to rip your heart out. Just hearing it. We didn’t have to see it go down. And so while Rick (or should I say Carl) has seen traumas that could probably match Morgan’s, in the end they still work to build Rick up as a hero. Whereas Morgan’s tragedy, happening to a non-hero, an everyman, worked to tear him down to nothing.
This also brings me to the poor hitchhiker, ignored by Rick twice, who met a grizzly end. Rick surely felt awful about it, but as this series goes on it’s become clear that there’s less and less time for grieving. For feeling guilty. Or for apologizing. Decisions need to be made quickly, and anything unknown, even if it seems banal, is now a danger. Even Morgan told Carl at the end not to be sorry for pulling the trigger on him. Because if Morgan had been quicker to shed his sentiment, his son might still be alive. I also appreciated the parallel of Carl taking down Morgan the way Duane once took down Rick. Morgan even had the post-coma Rick beard going. Stranger Danger indeed.
Also, nice callback to “I’m sorry this happened to you.” Should be the tagline for the series.
Carl’s walker-filled side adventure with Michonne works even better when you consider the fact that Rick will probably never know the full details of the dangers they faced. And also through this mission, to retrieve the last remaining photo of Lori from a diner, Carl was able to “vet” Michonne. And Michonne was able to reveal her love of rainbow-colored ceramic cats. And so after Carl told Rick that Michonne was good to go, Rick was able to actually share a moment of levity with her regarding his visions. And she, for the first time to anyone (even Andrea), opened up a little bit about her past. “Clear” was an awesome episode that gave us a welcome break from all the cooped-up, pissed-off drama back in the cell block. Plus, it really captured what those of us who’ve read the Kirkman comics love about that series.
Grade: A
Matt Fowler is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler
Great review, Matt. Definitely one of the best episodes of the series, possibly the best since the pilot. Excellent from start to finish.
This episode was truely fantastic. My biggest with the show is that there is a lot of bad acting (looking at you Andrea), Lennie James brought an amazing performance with him possibly my favorite episode
Excellent write up, as always, Mr. Fowler. This was, tonally, the best episode in the series (save maybe the pilot) in regards to its comic book counterpart. The show truly excels when it takes its time to explore characters and actually build relationships. We spend a lot of time kvetching about nothing happening, but this show tends to vacillate between all-or-nothing. It’s either an action packed thrill-a-thon or a plodding, slow, kind of stupid episode.
This was a rare one in which it allowed characters to grow – Michonne is finally a real character and not a swordswoman with a constant scowl – while still giving us subtle looks at life in the apocalyptic wasteland. The series could do well to spend some time building characters and making them feel real like this as opposed to burning through conflicts.
That is, of course, a delicate issue for this series, as when they slow down, it tends to really suck. The characterization is maddening on this show (look no further than Andrea, and Michonne, before this episode), and I can’t help but wonder if the writers will ever find the sweet spot on characterization. The characters need to drive the narrative; the narrative shouldn’t be dictating characters, as this show so often does. Need conflict? Glenn can be pissy! Andrea can make no sort of sense! Lori can demand Shane’s death then, moments later, be disgusted by it!
I hope that the series continues down the path this episode set forth. It’s a solid foundation, and was a beautifully tragic episode in many ways. I felt horrible for that poor hitchiker. And don’t get me started on Morgan.
I fear that next week’s episode will hurt after this brilliant piece of television. I fully expect more Andrea nonsense and other stupid crap that doesn’t make sense. This episode, though, makes me cautiously optimistic. And it couldn’t have happened a moment too soon.
Love the site, by the way. Your ign stuff made me a convert years back, and I proudly (and sometimes too loudly) suckle at the teet of Fowler. Your writing inspires.
If Gimple takes the show in this direction I think we all will be very pleased.