Title: The Walking Dead “Knots Untie”
Air Date: February 28th, 2016
Network: AMC
Genre: Serial Drama, Horror
“He stood on a box in the middle of the city. He said, what will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus freak?” Now those are in fact lyrics to DC Talk’s “Jesus Freak” but they are also similar to my feelings on the character from The Walking Dead.
“Knots Untie” virtually picks up right after last week’s episode of The Walking Dead where a thought to be captive Jesus suddenly appears in Rick’s room saying they should talk. There is a short intro where we see Abraham and Sasha on patrol having a nice chat. In episode six “Always Accountable”, we saw Abraham begin to have a thing for Sasha while held up in that recruiting building waiting to find Daryl. The state of his romance with Rosita was never really clarified after that. After all they were pretty hot and heavy for awhile. As it turns out there appears to be somewhat of a love triangle going on. Abraham wants Sasha but is still very much involved with Rosita. In the opening sequence he had just finished… “pouring the Bisquick” and was given a special made necklace by Rosita from the fuel truck he, Sasha and Daryl escaped in. Even while looking at this necklace Abraham has flashing images of Sasha and he is clearly torn with what he wants. I know some may still be wondering about the “pouring the Bisquick” but when you see the episode you’ll understand.
This Walking Dead episode is again Jesus heavy and we get even more of an idea of who this character is. When Jesus appears in Rick’s room telling him they should talk, he’s already done his homework on Alexandria. We find out that Jesus has already checked out the well stocked armory and has also learned that Alexandria has a food problem. It simply does not have enough food for everyone in the colony. Which is where his offer comes in to check out the Hilltop. I can imagine that resources in a post apocalyptic world of the undead are eventually going to be hard to come by. One of the small downsides to this episode is that you never see just how bad the food situation is in Alexandria – and we’ll get more into that a little later.
From here forth we see Rick and company agree to check out the Hilltop Colony in hopes to set up some sort of trade agreement and keep the people in Alexandria fed. Jesus lets on that there are several other colonies aside from Hilltop out there already and the world for our characters is about to get a whole lot bigger. There’s a brief stop on the way to the Hilltop when the group comes across a crashed truck which Jesus recognizes immediately as one from his group. The survivors of this group have apparently taken refuge in an adjacent building. Now I don’t know when this crash happened but the scene leads you to believe it was very recent. It’s also very light out when this crash is discovered. This is the Walking Dead! Why on earth would you wander into a building for safety that is currently occupied by several members of the undead who most certainly have no interest in sharing the space?? The Hilltop residents are similar to the residents of Alexandria in largely avoiding life outside the walls but really? Then again maybe they were trying to hide from the Saviors, so who knows.
At Hilltop we get introduced to its leader Gregory, played by the fantastic Xander Berkley. It is immediately easy to dislike Gregory and contemplate a horrible death for him down the line. Maggie becomes the liaison between the groups by Rick’s request, given that Rick equally dislikes the man from the start. The Hilltop is essentially the other end of the spectrum from Alexandria. They have a good stock of food but no weapons. Even when the group approached the gate before coming in the two guards at the towers only had spears. Jesus even informs the group that they ran out of ammunition months ago. Not long after arriving the name “Negan” pops up again just as it did in “No way out” when the bikers confront Daryl, Sasha and Abraham.
A scouting party from the Hilltop returns and lets Gregory know Negan has taken one of them hostage. It just so happens that the individual telling this to Gregory is the brother of the man taken hostage. Negan wants more supplies than what he’s currently getting and also has a message for Gregory. Chaos ensues. The man stabs Gregory in the stomach, clearly concerned about his brother and seeing this as the only way to get him back. With Rick and the others right there a fight breaks out and as you can probably guess Rick and the others came out on top. Jesus then informs Rick of just who Negan and the Saviors actually are and the dire situation the Hilltop Colony is in with them. This is where I get slightly irritated with how things play out.
After some back and forth, Rick and company agree to rescue the captured man from Negan and eliminate the Saviors for a price. They want the same deal that Negan has now – 50% of everything. Rick has always been such a careful individual and now agrees on the spot to go up against a man and group to which he has virtually no knowledge of. He is essentially agreeing to go to war and put his people in harm’s way. While I do get the food situation, you never really see anyone in Alexandria starving. They have over 50 people there… might it be just a better idea to arrange for larger scouting parties? I feel like that risk would still be less than going to war with an unknown group. Then again I’ve also read the Walking Dead comics and know about the ominous black cloud that’s slowly inching closer to Alexandria. Negan is a bad dude. He’s so bad he makes the Governor look like he spent his time doing the Cha Cha like a sissy girl. Bonus points to whoever knows the movie that line is from.
“Knots Untie” was a decent episode for The Walking Dead even though a whole lot didn’t really go down. We are again watching a pot just waiting for it to boil over… and it will. It was nice to see Jesus get some more screen time and further find out just what he’s all about. Brief scenes from next week show that some members of Rick’s group might be taken captive and the arrival of Negan is drawing closer. Negan is not expected to show up until the season finale but one thing is certain…There will be blood.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ8piBlg11w[/embedyt]
- Acting/Actors: Who doesn’t need more Jesus? Maggie shines in holding her own with Gregory. Abraham is torn between two women.
- Story: Light on the action but heavy on the build to the confrontation with the Saviors. Hilltop colony is introduced with talk of others.
- Cinematography: Solid work making the abandoned building creepy with the low lighting and ominous feel. Hilltop colony looks similar in ways to Alexandria but has the beautiful Barrington house
- Organization: The episode feels well put together – just don’t expect to much action.
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