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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The Walking Dead Season 5 Finale: Morgan and Optimism

The most compelling parts of The Walking Dead Season 5 finale on Sunday entailed Morgan - executing some fine ninja Jedi moves with a stick at the beginning, and showing up at the gates of Alexandria in search of Rick at the end.

His presence constitutes a kind of slow story telling rarely seen on television.   He put in a memorable performance at the very beginning of the series, unable to kill his wife who had already turned.  And we've seen him less than once every other season since then, including this just concluded Season 5.

Presumably Morgan will play a crucial role in the series rap-up in the next season.   And that's a good move in the narrative.   Morgan now represents the only tie to Rick's past when he first regained consciousness, other than Carl.   Morgan should literally help tie together the conclusion with the beginning of this theater of the epic battle for the survival of humanity.

The season finale also had all other kinds of surprising optimism.  All of our heroes are still alive.   Michonne has picked up her sword - meaning, she's striking some of happy medium between violence and idealism, which had recently tipped too far in favor of why can't we all just live together in peace.   And, crucially, Deanna has better late than never seen the wisdom of Rick's position - late, because it was too late to save her husband.

The Walking Dead has managed to put our heroes in yet another community, but one which is somehow different than all the previous monstrosities in which they've been ensconced, a community which holds real hope for an ending next season, which, while not likely by any means to be thoroughly happy, may give grounds for more optimism than we've ever seen in this series.  There are still dangers everywhere - the psycho priest, the "W" gang, and of course Walkers galore - but there may be a little light glimmering at the end of tunnel for the final season.


See also: The Walking Dead 5.1: The Redemption of Carole ... The Walking Dead 5.3: Meets Alfred Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone ... The Walking Dead 5.4: Hospital of Horror ... The Walking Dead 5.5: Anatomy of a Shattered Dream ... The Walking Dead 5.6-7: Slow ... The Walking Dead 5.8: Killing the Non-Killer ... The Walking Dead 5.9: Another Death in the Family ... The Walking Dead 5.11: The Smiling Stranger ... The Walking Dead 5.12: The Other Shoe ... The Walking Dead 5.13: The Horse and the Party ... The Walking Dead 5.15: The Bad Guy

And see also The Walking Dead 4.1: The New Plague ... The Walking Dead 4.2: The Baby and the Flu ... The Walking Dead 4.3: Death in Every Corner ...The Walking Dead 4.4: Hershel, Carl, and Maggie ... The Walking Dead 4.6: The Good Governor ... The Walking Dead 4.7: The Governor's Other Foot ... The Walking Dead 4.8: Vintage Fall Finale ... The Walking Dead 4.9: A Nightmare on Walking Dead Street ... The Walking Dead 4:14: Too Far ... The Walking Dead Season 4 Finale: From the Gunfire into the Frying Pan

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