‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘The Obliged’

Written by John Edward BetancourT

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When it comes to the creative world, both printed and visual, the cliché or the trope is something that audiences often lament. Because setting in to watch a story that leans upon them heavily, means that we are likely in for a boring affair, one that spoon feeds everything to its audience and well, we simply want better than that when we pick up a book, head out to the movies or settle in to watch a television series. However, despite how we feel about clichés and tropes, sometimes they are a necessary evil in storytelling simply because a particular concept that is often repeated in stories, is revisited because has not been solved by humanity in the slightest.
 
Take for example, confronting one’s past. It is a trope that quite frankly we see time and time again across every single genre out there due to the fact that no one quite knows how to do it right and because it’s one of the few recycled notions that finds a way to entertain and intrigue us. After all, seeing compelling characters struggle with the difficulty that comes with letting yesterday go makes for fine storytelling to say the least and somehow, I missed the fact that The Walking Dead was quietly setting this concept up to become a focal point in its own brand of storytelling in prior weeks, because it outright took me by surprise when it came to a head and claimed the center stage in last night’s episode, ‘The Obliged’.
 
Because this particular tale saw everyone’s struggle with what happened during the war boil over at last, with quite frankly, strenuous and uncomfortable results, the kind that will undoubtedly change the course of the story and the fragile peace between these communities forever going forward. For example, the fact that Maggie started her long trek toward Alexandria to enact a little slice of revenge for her fallen husband will send all kinds of shockwaves through the communities if she is successful and the armed conflict at the construction site was ugly to say the least and no good will come from the ‘eye for an eye’ mentality that the former Saviors put forth in that moment.
 
Yet oddly enough, those two storylines are not at the top of my mind when it comes to this particular tale, simply because I have no doubt the repercussions there will be addressed in upcoming episodes. No instead I want to discuss the two more intimate moments that went down in this story, the ones that involved Negan and Michonne and Rick and Daryl because those interactions, spoke volumes to the past and the struggle that everyone is going through in order to be rid of it and oddly enough, said struggle allowed for us to once again see the more human side of Negan since he actually took the time to open up to Michonne in this tale. 

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Granted, he did so in the saucy, jackass way that only he can, but it’s obvious that it what he had to say was genuine and his mistakes and his missteps as leader of the Saviors were clearly on his mind in this story, and he tried to find some kind of connection with Michonne in an effort to make his stay in that cell easier and resolve his nagging conscience and unfortunately for Michonne, the raw emotion Negan put on display actually managed to get to her, and put a little doubt in her mind as to whether or not she was doing the right thing by embracing her new role as a leader and not the more fiery instincts that burned within her soul and while she was able to speak to why she chose the more noble path, it’s obvious that neither person here could abandon the past since they both carried with them the pain of those they lost. But it would seem Michonne is further along in resolving yesterday than Negan is, since he is trapped in the dark with only his memories to keep him company.
 
Yet, while that little cat and mouse game was fascinating in its own right, it paled in comparison to the showdown that Rick and Daryl went through. Because this was it, all the tension and irritation between these two men finally exploded into something more and their physical altercation and perilous situation finally allowed for the two of them to settle down and hash out their issues and it was here that we learned that Rick really hasn’t ever gotten over the death of his son, he’s merely used it as fuel to try and put together a dream that may not come to fruition and in what seemed like a parallel to the other storyline, Daryl admitted he wasn’t over what happened to Glenn and Abraham either, and that turned out to be a moment of growth and wisdom for Daryl since he actually offered up potential solutions to the problems at hand.
 
Because he flat out pointed out that people trusted Rick, and believed in him, but it seemed as though he no longer offered that same courtesy to the people closest to him, and his inability to communicate the dream and talk to people to resolve their concerns or get their buy in, was his greatest mistake and well, while it was magnificent to see an angry Daryl offer a way forward at last, it would seem as though Rick may never get the opportunity to correct his mistakes. For the final moments in this tale, as Rick tried to divert the dead away from the bridge and save it, he found himself badly wounded, with the living dead closing in and well, just like that, the grand setup arrived for Rick Grimes’ final episode on The Walking Dead.
 
Which is a sobering thought to say the least, and it’s supremely weird to know that next week we are going to say goodbye to this iconic horror character. But here we are, the end for Rick is near. But I am getting ahead of myself. It’s not quite time to bid farewell to Rick and one cannot let that cliffhanger overshadow one incredible episode. Because everything that happened here was powerful and compelling and important and trope or no, the story handled the past and its power in magnificent fashion and it should be intriguing to see if these communities can put the bad blood behind them and forge a new world without the legendary Rick Grimes since next week, his journey comes to an end…  

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