I love the undiluted character episodes that tell an
emotional, human story. Last season’s 18 Miles Out was another example of an
episode slowed down to take stock of a character and look at where he is and
where he is headed. In 18 Miles Out, the show used a solitary
walker by the side of the road to foreshadow Shane’s future and the path he was
on. Clear
also used a character by the side of the road, but this person didn’t
foreshadow the future, he illustrated a comparison to the past – to a time when
Rick would have shown compassion and tried to help him.
It seems years ago that Rick, Hershel, and Glenn found
themselves in a panicked debate about what to do with an injured Randall as
walkers closed in. It seems lifetimes
ago that Rick met Morgan and his son, Duane, in the pilot episode, Days Gone Bye. Rick’s
meeting with Morgan, and where the characters were at that point in time, was the
benchmark used in Clear to compare
just how much has changed.
Road Trip
Clear starts with
Rick, Carl, and Michonne on a road trip, heading back to the Grimes’ hometown
to raid the police barracks and stock up on weapons to prepare for a fight
against the Governor. It’s on this road trip
that they see a solitary man with a backpack by the side of the road who begs
them to stop. Without hesitating, they
continue on.
In town, Rick meets up with his old friend who once saved
his life. But whereas in Days Gone Bye, Morgan shot a walker to
save Rick, in Clear, Morgan and
Rick’s group are shooting at each other.
In Days Gone Bye, Morgan brings
Rick into his home to care for him. In Clear, Morgan’s home is booby trapped to
keep intruders out.
We see Morgan has become a broken and insane man, obsessed
with the need to “clear.” What exactly “clear” means, I’m not sure. He tells Rick, “You don’t clear, you
turn.” My money is on the definition
being among the answers Rick thinks dead Lori has for him. While Morgan is unconscious, we get another
call back to the pilot. Rick says to
him, “I’m sorry this happened to you” – the same line he said to one of the
first walkers he came across upon waking up from his coma.
In a heartbreaking confession, Morgan blames himself for his
son’s death. His hesitation in shooting
his dead wife resulted in his wife killing his son. “I was supposed to (kill her). I was selfish. I was weak.”
While Morgan doesn’t immediately recognize Rick, he comes to
remember that Rick gave him the gun that he was supposed to use to kill his
wife. He says Rick tried to help. He also remembers the walkie talkies, and
tells Rick that he kept trying to contact Rick, but Rick didn’t answer. He just heard static.
In 18 Miles Out,
Rick was also trying to save a friend.
He told Shane, “It's time for you to come back.” In Clear,
Rick pleads with Morgan to come back from this.
“This can’t be it. You’ve got to
be able to come back from this.” But
while in 18 Miles Out, Rick’s plea was
clearly about Shane and preventing an inevitable confrontation that would end
with one of them dead, this time it seems Rick is talking to himself. He needs to believe that he can come back.
Like Morgan, Rick has been flirting with insanity, but this
may not be about insanity. When Rick and Michonne discuss Morgan, Rick
suggests that Michonne thinks Morgan is insane.
“I think he’s dangerous,” she responds.
Later in the episode, when Rick and Michonne discuss Rick’s visions,
Michonne tells him she used to talk to her dead boyfriend. Seeing the dead might not be worst thing in
this world. The worst thing might be
losing your humanity.
This episode seems to be a turning point for Rick, one in
which he recognizes that he wants to come back. He can’t save Morgan, but he can still save
himself. Near the end, he seems to accept Carl’s word
that Michonne is one of them and he accepts her help by letting her drive – a
small gesture, but a big reversal from where we have seen Rick recently.
What a Picture’s Worth
While Rick was with Morgan, Carl and Michonne set off to
find a crib to bring back to Judith. We
soon learn Carl has other plans. In Days Gone Bye, Morgan laughed at the
sentimentality of his wife grabbing photo albums while he was grabbing survival
gear. Lori also apparently grabbed
photos. In Clear, we see Lori’s son intent on staging a rescue mission in a
walker-infested restaurant for his last chance at a photo of his mother. He wants his baby sister to know what she
looked like. I wonder what happened to
Lori’s photo albums. They’re probably at Hershel’s farm.
I have to say, I was impressed by Michonne’s reaction to
Carl, who was being difficult. She
didn’t talk down to him, but didn’t completely let him have his way
either. He wanted to go off and steal
the photo on his own, but she made him do it on her terms. I’ll admit, I was annoyed during the scene earlier
this season where Carl shot Lori, that Maggie agreed to let Carl take the shot
rather than insisting she do it herself. Carl may have wanted to do it, and may have thought
he needed to do it, but he was still a kid. Maggie was the adult. I guess the writers needed Carl to do it for
the story, but if this were real life, Maggie should have said “no.”
But back to this week’s episode. Unable to convince Morgan to come with them,
Rick, Michonne, and Carl prepare to leave Morgan. Again, we have another contrast with Days Gone Bye, where Rick gave Morgan a
gun. This time around, it’s Rick taking the guns.
In another heartbreaking scene, Carl tells Morgan he is
sorry he shot him. Carl had shot Morgan
when they first entered the town and Morgan was shooting at them. Morgan tells him, “Don’t ever be sorry.” While
it wasn’t said, the meaning was clear.
The son who couldn’t shoot his mother was dead. The son who could was still with them.
As for the man by the side of the road, he became walker
food. But they got his backpack.