Let the spoilers flow through you.
Somehow I numbered the episode wrong last week. It’s been fixed.
The Walking Dead 6×04: Here’s Not Here is a surprisingly calm episode. In the post apocalyptic world of the Walking Dead, we get zen with the help of Eastman (John Carroll Lynch). It’s time for a story out of left field as Morgan (Lennie James) goes into a hero’s quest. We start with the Morgan we knew who had lost his son Duane. This iteration of the character was at its most desperate. His mantra is to clear. That’s what he does, he kills everything around himself, friend or foe. He even takes on two guys following him without giving them a chance to speak.
He stumbles into Eastman’s camp. A cabin, a tool shed, a goat and some tomato plants. But it does look like a chunk of paradise. Morgan just intends to scavenge until Eastman’s voice comes out of nowhere. “Leave the goat alone,” he says. “She’s not yours.”
This Morgan, the previous Morgan to the one we know, takes out his machine gun to take out his enemy, to clear the area. But he gets bested by a staff to head. And so he begins a new journey inside the house… That happens to have a cell built into it. Cornered, Morgan just wants to be killed. He’d rather be killed than live. He would rather kill his jailer than live too. But slowly and steadily Eastman digs up Morgan’s soul while telling him his life story. Eastman is a forensic psychiatrist that lost his wife and daughter to possibly the only man he judged a true psychopath.
It’s Eastman who teaches Morgan a new code. Every life is precious. And along that path he also teaches him Aikido. When Morgan is suddenly faced with a zombie that once was the last man he killed, he freezes. Eastman steps in, and gets bitten. And then we know what happens next. Eastman has it all planned. He will take his own life. Morgan is free to inherit the place. The goat, Tabatha, was already the meal of a walker. There’s nothing for Morgan here.
The stories of the Walking Dead are many, and this one is might feel like another drop in the bucket. But it’s also nice to see Morgan’s journey as a returning cast member who switches roles from a lone, crazy survivor to a master of zen that can teach Rick’s team (or let’s be frank here, Rick himself) a new code to live by (or not). Great episode to watch.
Highs/Lows/OatmealBurgers:
- We’re going to have to wait to find out Glenn’s fate. Incidentally, they seem to have taken Steven Yeun’s name from the credits. I think it’s a subtle way to tell his fate but it could also be a ruse. Sorry to Glenn’s fans, we still have to wait to find out.
- The character of Morgan returns to his lost self. An amazing performance from Lennie James. The backdrop of this world allows many stories, and I for one appreciated this one.
- The character of Eastman starts enigmatic, almost a Jedi Master. Then he finishes more or less human, enough to show Morgan how he can get to where he wants to go. When Eastman at some point lets him know he has to go on a journey, we know this is what Morgan ends up taking up from him.
- Firmly rooted, the story takes place before the Terminus encounter. However, it’s also told on a specific timeframe, during the attack of the Wolves.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 