AMC

here the final show has aired and has wrapped up this season with a nice little bow that blew all of us away. I did not write on the 5th episode last week because it was so hard to nail down just how I felt about it. I rewatched it several times and warred within myself as to who was the good guy and the bad guy. Who would be the Rick Grimes of the group. I debated, this way and that. Watched the 5th and 6th episode together this Sunday and started to watch the reruns of The Walking Dead from the very first episode and you know what? I found my answers about the 5th episode!

To begin with nobody on this show is Rick Grimes or any other cast from the TWD show because this isn’t that show. FTWD may be a spin off and in the same universe but it’s a whole different show all together. The 5th show we saw the characters swing wildly from good guy to bad guy except for two people. The Dr. and The lead military guy.

Daniel went from good husband and father, provider to bad guy who could get out secrets with a steady hand an a sharp instrument to feeling horrible because his daughter finally saw him for who he really was. He had intentions of killing Andy off because Andy was no longer useful he had given all the information he knew.

Ofelia was also manipulative in that she conned Andy back to her house where she and her father Daniel tied him up to question him. She didn’t want him to be hurt but then again she didn’t set him free when she saw her dad cutting him up either. She did start dating Andy to try and get meds for her mother. I think in some way she liked him too but not enough to help free him.

Liza is working her tail off learning everything she can from the Dr. all the while trying to find her son Chris and Grizelda. Talk about your crash course, I think this rates right up there with even the toughest classes ever. All hands on, all on the run. Putting people down with the cattle gun, wow. That I didn’t see coming but it is efficient and effective. She thinks the Dr is up to something but no, she is just trying to save as many wounded as she can all the while holding onto her staff. Who wants to take a guess as to what she did with that gun at the end of episode six when all the wounded were dead? Yep, that’s what I was thinking too.

The kids Chris and Alicia were both supposed to be good kids who did nothing wrong, they go to a house and try out the clothes, toys and just generally trash the place. Teenage aggression at its finest. Do I think they had a right to do it? Heck yeah! they had been under an incredible amount of stress with the world ending, Chris’s mom leaving like that, Alicia’s mom and new boyfriend arguing and bickering the whole thing. These two by far so far, have neither been manipulative, secretive (other than the normal teenage stuff) or vying for someone’s attention, affection or drugs. O.K. Alicia drank, and possibly Chris too. but eh. they aren’t addicted to it.

Travis, now here is a real corker of a character. He refuses to be bullied by the military into shooting the waitress. But will beat the tarnation out of someone for breaking their word to him. Travis seems the meekest person on there he is a high school teacher not a cop or any military person at all. (that we know of yet) But he definitely earns a bit of respect from Daniel when he pummels Andy even though he let Andy lose in the first place who then hunted the group down and shot Ofelia. It’s o.k she was only grazed in the arm.

Madison, well, she is a person who is pretty much the same throughout. She wants her family together no matter the cost. She will use you up and spit you out if it means getting her son back. Was I surprised she let Daniel do what he did? yeah, I kinda was. Everyone has their limits right? Travis was so shocked and appalled that she knew and allowed it. And yet might I remind everyone Travis didn’t set Andy lose either. So now we are down to just a few characters. The so called nutty ones.

Nick, well, Nick is Nick. He is an addict with a heart, but also his number one focus and need is his drugs. He meets up with Strand who is talking like some radio announcer who isn’t quite all there. But then again, he manipulates the poor neighbor into going total bonkers and saves Nick in the chain cages in the compound. He is offered a chance to make a run for it with Strand when the time comes and he is like, sure dude, whatever.

Strand, is an enigma wrapped up in a damned onion. Who the heck is he? what is his game? has he embraced the madness as he said so eloquently in the 6th episode? Or does he have a secret mission. Oh one thing I noticed that you all should too. The cufflinks say with love from A. A boat can’t do that, only a person can. When shit hits the fan Strand and Nick make a run for it and leave the rest in the cages. Nick questions it but Strand says if they take the time to set them free, they will kill them. So they book it only to get trapped. It looks like it’s the end for Strand and Nick but no, here comes Madison, Travis and gang to the rescue. Liza finally gets the damned locking door open and they escape.

So when it is all said and done what was bugging me? The fact that this show is not The Walking Dead, there is no core group that could survive. There is no “good guys” or clear cut “bad guys”. It’s just everyone trying to survive and we don’t know who will survive to the next show and who will get bit or killed. Just as the show the Golden Girls was during the same universe as Dallas, did not mean they had the same energy or flow. In 5 episodes they swung the characters so wildly that took TWD several seasons to do. So here we are at the end of the show and well, I have to say I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next season to come in the spring of 2016. I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog as much as I did have of writing it.

The Cast:

Madison Clark — Kim Dickens
Travis Manawa — Cliff Curtis
Nick Clark — Frank Dillane
Alicia Clark — Alycia Debnam-Carey

Liza Ortiz — Elizabeth Rodriguez
Chris Manawa — Lorenzo James Henrie

Daniel Salazar– Ruben Blades
Griselda Salazar — Patricia Reyes Spindola
Ofelia Salazar — Mercedes Mason

Recurring Cast:

Dr. Bethany Exner — Sandrine Holt

Matt — Maestro Harrell

Strand — Colman Domingo

Reynolds — Shawn Hatosy

Tobias — Lincoln A. Castellanos

Jazz — Megan Danso

Art Costa — Scott Lawrence