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If last week’s episode was about finding purpose and hope in life, then this week’s episode, “Them,” was about despair and giving up on faith. Of course, the purpose and hope themes still carried over into this episode.
In the timeline of the show, it’s been three weeks since they left Atlanta last week. Now supplies are out and the tribe is weary, and with Daryl eating worms it’s no wonder that morale is low.
Perhaps the character in most despair was Daryl, who looked just miserable throughout the episode, even after he seemed to have made the turn to a more positive outlook to utter “we’re/I’m not them.” No doubt that he blames himself for Beth. Sasha and Maggie put on good shows as well, and since they’d just lost their siblings it made perfect sense to have them go off together at the episode’s end.
But everyone seems to be suffering right now, even if they’re hanging on to the last threads of hope in their attempt to get to Washington. Sasha is acting out, Ford is boozing, Eugene is pessimistic…
But Rick, the eternal leader, maintains his composure as he tries to encourage and motivate the tribe. Rick’s story about his grandfather and how he survived World War II was amazing as well, which it had to be since it was the first time we were given the metaphorical meaning of the show’s title. The point of Rick’s story was to give hope, but for now they’d have to suffer until they can live again. However, Daryl rebelled against it with his affirmation that he’s “not them” (i.e., the Walkers).
There were also a lot of omens being shown to us this week, and few of them seem to point to anything positive. These omens, good or bad, include Father Gabriel throwing his collar into the fire and the immediate following of the storm, the storm itself (which I’m assuming was a tornado since there were felled trees), the bible in the barn, the bottled water “from a friend,” baby Judith being left alone on the barn floor during the zombie attack, the storm taking out the small horde of zombies, and, last but not least, the music box not working until Aaron shows up.
In many ways, the show made it appear as though God was looking out for the tribe. So much so that Gabriel had to ask for forgiveness for his transgression against his faith. And you could say that the storm and the rainwater cleansed everyone’s despair away, filling up their reservoirs of hope. All of which may be true, but with the arrival of Aaron we can only assume that many more perilous challenges lay ahead.
Your TWD Homework:
What did you think of this week’s episode?
What do you think of Aaron? What are his motives?
Who do you think will be the next to die?
What troubles do you think Sasha’s attitude will cause?
Rock Hard \m/
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