Carol is n’t Carol any longer . Gone is the remorseless killer that test to stop the plague by murdering two macabre members of the group and setting fire to their corpses . Instead , she ’s regain her pity , doubting herself , and trying not to kill people , even her enemies . And of course , in dead on target Walking bushed style , her fresh - returned humankind nearly gets her obliterate . A bunch .
“ The Same Boat ” was half a boring filler episode , half an unbelievable tour de force play by Melissa McBride . Once she starts , though , bloody . It help that the show has write her an splendid episode in which , having suffer her conviction in what ’s she done and what is proper , she ’s now put to the mental test over and over again .
But first the episode start with what can charitably be called the Saviors ’ B - team capturing Carol and Maggie in the woods on the Nox of the flack on the Saviors ’ compound . As we saw , Rick tries to trade their engrossed Paulo for Carol and Maggie ; Alicia Witt ( who ’s playing a character identify Paula , but I seem to be medically incompetent of referring to as anything other than Alicia Witt ) says she ’ll think about it , but immediately skitter off to a Saviors safehouse .
Honestly , not much come about during the first one-half of the episode , other than Carol acting really foreign . While tie up , she seems to make a panicked grab for a crucifix necklace dropped by a zombie and then also seems to have an factual panic attack that leaves her hyperventilating . I had immediately assumed that Carol was give another “ suburban mom “ performance , this one adjust for “ conquer by maniacs . ” It ’s followed by Carol acting meek as hell , scared , blab out about her belief in Jesus , fussing when one of the Saviors starts smoke around the pregnant Maggie , etc . , all things to make her captors cogitate her too ridiculous to worry about .
It seems like classic Badass Carol in full - on Meek Midwestern Mom Deception Mode . But if you were expecting Carol to befuddle off her chain ( er , epithelial duct tape recording ) and turn into Rambo , as she ’s done in the past , then you were disappointed . She does grapple to get free , and she practice the alloy crucifix to cut through her tape recording . Instead of going Call of Duty , however , she sneaks off to Maggie and tries to get them to just leave . ( She ’d just overhear Alicia talk to Rick on the walkie - talkie , with Alicia gain he lack of atmospheric static signify that Rick and the others were snug than they profess . ) It ’s when the B - team gets ready to leave that Carol and Maggie are able to escape .
But Maggie does n’t want to fly the coop . She desire to kill them all — which was , technically their mission , but seems like is yet another unnecessary risk devote that they ’re outnumbered and out - armed . Carol let herself get swept up by Maggie ’s bloodlust and look on as she puts a zombi spirit on a leash ( the Savior Carol shoot at the end of the last episode , who just died from line departure ) so it could right away bite whoever take the air in . It crop .
As they sneak through the compound , they occur across the “ kill story ” a elbow room full of impaled zombie , designed more or less to block the transit ( or at least slow intruder down ) . It ’s there where Alicia Witt detect them and shoot at them , helpfully leave out them entirely . Carol pulls on her gun ( catnap from the of late turned Savior ) but ca n’t convey herself to pull the gun trigger .
Several of the conversations between Carol and Alicia Witt have mark them up as parallel , even if Alicia Witt thinks Carol is a scaredy - cat . Alicia Witt was also a married woman , a mother of four . Her work as a secretary in Washington , DC , preserve her from get to her family when the outbreak come to , and she had to kill her boss just to get out of DC — clearly , like Carol , her family did n’t make it . Alicia Witt boasts about pop a tidy sum of masses . “ I stopped counting after the double - digits ! ” she crow , take no idea Carol probably has her musical rhythm . Most chillingly , Alicia Witt tells Carol this : “ You ’re not the respectable guys . You should know that . ”
I assume that Carol , like most of the audience , has known that but has n’t been admitting it to herself . Rick and the group attacked the Saviors apparently without provocation ( no one there realise who blew up that group of Negan ’s biker crew from the season premiere ) . These encroacher have gone out of their path to slaughter everyone . Unlike the Wolves who attacked Alexandria , they are n’t even trying for supplies , so they do n’t even have that evident justification for murdering everyone in the chemical compound . We sleep together the Saviors are bad people , and from a certain point of perspective , this is for the commodity of Alexandria . But that does n’t make what they ’re doing noble in the svelte .
So Carol ca n’t shoot Alicia — she solicit her to run . Then Alicia marches forward , yelling angrily about what she ’s done to stay alive so far in a manner that would have been completely appropriate for Carol of the retiring few seasons to do . But an errant living dead slips off its stiletto heel , nearly grabs Carol , and Carol wing Alicia despite her good efforts .
The shot add the final penis of the B - team to their location , where she immediately arrest in a knife fight with Maggie . It ’s pretty brutish even before you recall Maggie is a few months fraught . The Savior even make out to slice her shirt at the belly , which is when Carol steps in and shoots the Savior right in the capitulum . Carol may be turn a loss her killer inherent aptitude , but some dangers are just too nifty . Speaking of risk , Alicia Witt has find enough to get in a brawl with Carol , and finally Carol physical structure - checks her into one of the spike , where a zombie has been patiently waiting for just such a snack . Alicia Witt does not last long .
Carol is drained and upset . But when a Savior scout team radios in and Maggie demands they have to polish off it — again , set the slaughter of the Saviors beforehand of her own safety machine , and the safe of her unborn child — Carol reluctantly puts on Alicia Witt ’s commonwealth twang and tell them to foregather them at the kill floor . And when the Saviors arrive , Carol and Maggie light up the oil - soaked base on fire , shut the door , and get these people burn to last . It ’s brutal , but it ’s effective .
When Carol and Maggie finally exit the compound , Rick and the others are literally at the door , ready to burst in and kill everyone who need killing , but of course that job is done . Daryl quickly expect Carol , “ You adept ? ” Carol say no , still anguished at the extra numbers she ’s cash in one’s chips to require to contribute to her list from last workweek . Daryl gives her a clinch , and Carol is surprised by it — almost as if she never reckon she ’d be hugged again . Not only is it one of Carol ’s most vulnerable here and now since I do n’t recognize when , but it ’s one of the sweetest moments The walk Dead has ever given us .
Of naturally , the episode is n’t over . Because Rick still has his surety , the Savior call in Pablo , and Rick no longer needs a surety . He needs answer . He demands to love if Negan was in the compound or in this safehouse . Pablo smiles and even laughs a piffling . “ Both , ” he smiles , “ I ’m Negan . ” And then Rick shoots him immediately in the head . Right in front of Carol . When it happen , the show really goes slightly into slo - mo , and the frame is filled with nothing but Rick ’s gun kindling , as Carol watch it happen with an inscrutable dead expression on her face . But the episode ’s final shot is a close - up of Carol , still holding that crucifix in her hand . She ’s squeezing so tightly that her blood drips to the floor .
First and foremost , we need to talk about how Melissa McBride just crushed this sequence . It ’s very rare that The Walking Dead gives one of its actors a chance to emote this much ( and this subtly ! ) , but Melissa McBride is more than up to the task . severely , go ascertain the prospect where Carol lounge around a butt from the B - team and beg Alicia Witt and the others to just will , because if she stays she will be killed . “ What , you gon na kill me ? ” expect Alicia Witt . Carol whispers , “ I desire not ” and there ’s such an unbelievable satinpod there , like Carol has altogether finish talking to Alicia Witt and is instead talking to herself , wishing , tap to avoid a position where she does n’t have to defeat again . It ’s antic .
My problem with the episode is not Melissa McBride ’s fault at all ( nor is it even really a job with this episode , per se ) . Like a lot of stuff after the time jump in episode 10 , Carol ’s sudden crisis of inhumanity does n’t seem in full warranted by the events of the show . It ’s welcome , and it ’s not whole out of the bluing , since she had her showdown with Morgan over the capture Wolf in the mid - season finale .
But Morgan ’s way of peace of mind almost let Carol , Denise , and himself obliterate . Meanwhile , Carol was at her most pragmatic — to the period where she was seriously considering Morgan just so he could n’t cause more hassle with his dangerous “ allow ’s try not to kill hoi polloi ” philosophy . It does n’t seem like that that experience , which proved her side “ right ” in many direction , would really cause her to completely doubt her commitment to bolt down citizenry who she believe need to be killed .
The thing that really lactate is if the show had actually made Carol aware of the manner of Sam ’s decease — if we knew she really charge herself for his affright attack , or at least wondered if her terrifying lecture with Sam were partly responsible for — I would absolutely 100 percent believe everything about Carol ’s coming back to compassionateness . I do n’t dislike the incredible Carol bow we ’ve gotten this one-half of time of year 6 , I just remember it ’s a drop chance . ( And please do n’t talk about it probably happening off silver screen . If it is n’t acknowledged on - screen , it ’s fan fiction . )
Now let ’s talk about the elephant that manifestly defy to depart the room until the season finale : Negan . As mentioned above , Pablo — whose name is notably Pablo — claims to be Negan , after enigmatically saying that Negan was somehow in the compound and the safehouse . Earlier in the instalment , Alicia Witt enigmatically tell Carol , “ Do n’t you get it ? We are all Negan . ”
The pit ? The limited noesis I ’ve acquired about Negan and the Saviors does not include this , and I am regulate . My first speculation is that this is some form of weird“I am Spartacus ! ” matter , where the Saviors all claim to be Negan . However , commonly the great unwashed do that for a reason , and Alicia Witt has nothing to gain or turn up by separate Carol , “ We are all Negan . ” Are the Saviors some socialist flower child commune ? Is there a chief Negan ? Because I have never gotten the mother wit that Negan would be interested in a popular regular army of killers . Is there going to be an real Negan at all ? Because if The Walking Dead wanted to blow out of the water the comedian readers by zigging alternatively of zagging , this would certainly do it .
We ’ll presumably have to wait and see , because there are three more sequence left in time of year six , and that ’s when Jeffrey Dean Morgan is suppose to show up , whether he ’s playing the Negan or a Negan . That ’s a prospicient clip to keep waiting for this show ’s new big bad , by the same token , that ’s a long time for the things to go wrong for the people of Alexandria .
But for Carol , everything ’s go wrong already . And given the warfare that Rick and the others have undoubtedly started , thing wo n’t be right again for a recollective , farseeing time .
Assorted Musings:
• As many of you guys agnize , the leaning Carol was establish last week was of the living people she bolt down , so gold whiz for you guys . The guys atUproxxfigured out her list is in reality unseasonable ; do you think Carol has trouble remembering who she ’s kill , or does the show ? Because one is an interesting character choice — that she , like Alicia Witt , has also lost counting — and the other is just a dumb fault .
• The B - team is using what looks like a lot of soldier - character jargon when let the cat out of the bag to each other on the walkie - talkies . This is illustrious because 1 ) it ’s jolly clear there ’s a enough amount of Saviors still out there , and 2 ) they appear to be very organized .
• When Rick bid to trade hostages , Carol assure Alicia Witt that Rick will honor the peck . “ He ’s a man of his Holy Writ , ” she promises . Uh , does anyone believe that , had the interchange take post , Rick would n’t have like a shot gunned down all the Saviors ? Because I sure as shooting do n’t . Alicia Witt was 100 percentage correct — Rick and the others are not the adept hombre here .
• When Alicia Witt gets spike , her new zombie post - married person pungency of a lump of hide off her face , and it just does n’t reckon very real at all . you could see it above . I have zero trouble with this , as 99.9 perfect of the zombies and other miscellaneous SFX on TWD is unbelievable . I merely wanted to point it out .
• When Carol and Maggie exit the chemical compound , Daryl does n’t necessitate Carol , “ You okay ? ” He asks , “ You respectable ? ” And Carol quietly replies “ No . ” Nicely done , The Walking Dead . Nicely done indeed .
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