The Walking Dead: 11 Thoughts on "Try"

Tonight's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead was a fast burn toward next week's extended season finale.

We got movement on virtually every subplot, including a pretty good indicator of just how both Daryl and Rick will be put in jeopardy come next week's mini-movie.

So...what were the big takeaways from "Try?" Read on...!

Nine Inch Nails

For a minute there, I thought the music they were playing was going to turn out to be some kind of "in case I die" video. But that would have demonstrated a lot more consideration for the reality of the world they live in than anything Alexandrians seem capable of, so it's probably not surprising that isn't the case.

Killing walkers all day long

As Deanna becomes more and more alienated from Rick's group, it seems possible we could run into a walker overpopulation problem as Sasha's perch becomes endangered. Even if you discount her bout of madness at the walker slaughter, she was essentially shooting them nonstop this episode...which means they were close enough to be shot, almost nonstop.

"Hoped it would get better."

Yes, that's how Alexandria runs. It runs on "I hope it will get better."

A little more obvious foreshadowing, why don't you?

Wow, they held on the walker with the "W" on his head for a long time.

This episode had absolutely no subtlety there. The "W" comes into play next week. Yes.

Hey, kids! Comics!

The sharpshooter thing is reminiscent of comic book Andrea, even if TV Andrea never got to that point.

Meanwhile, we're getting some serious Sophia vibes from Enid, who they seem to be setting up as an emotionally-damaged love interest for Carl.

...Also, insert your own "Carl and Enid, kissing in a tree" joke here.

Michonne

In the 1998 film Zero Effect, Kim Dickens (who will soon star in an upcoming The Walking Dead companion series) said that "a person can't escape their nature." We get a little of that with Michonne this week, as her PTSD flashbacks to walker carnage helped her get Sasha out of her suicide by walker.

Herds

The groups of walkers that we're seeing get bigger and bigger throughout this episode, which could be a nod to the fact that we should be seeing a large enough herd to threaten the walls at Alexandria soon, if the series follows the comics.

Tied to a tree

...Wait, isn't that what Carol said she'd do to that kid? I mean, minus the nudity. That seems like foreshadowing, although it's hard to know just how it's meant to be taken.

More of the life versus survival discussion

That's been a huge theme this season, bigger probably than even in the past, even though it's always been a key component of not only this series but a most survival horror.

"Would you do this for someone else?"

That seems like a contrived conflict, considering Carol would have come to him either way, and that's not something Rick could easily have ignored.

Rick is right.

There is zero transition between the pre-Alexandria world and the one we're seeing now, and it's created a problem where the audience can't see why the characters all believe that he's so obviously wrong.