‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Warning Signs’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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It’s a well-known fact that the horror genre loves to examine our world and our humanity and while we’ve all had the opportunity to watch terrifying stories that dig into such matters, I’ve noticed over the years that the scary stories that take the time to do this, often narrow their focus onto one particular element of our world. George Romero locked onto consumerism in Dawn of the Dead and time and time again, The Walking Dead has made a point to also dig into one single element at a time as it tells its sweeping tale of survival at the end of the world. But it would seem however, that as the series takes on new challenges, it’s going to try a few new things when it comes to social commentary as well.
 
I say that, simply because of the fact that last night’s episode of the series, ‘Warning Signs’, packed in multiple storytelling elements when it comes to exploring the human condition. Something I’ve never seen the series do and well, before we dig too deeply into it, I have to take a moment and tip my cap to the Writer’s Room for making such a bold and powerful decision because it outright made this episode fascinating and tough to watch, since squeezing this many ideas into a single episode added new depth and layers to an already complex situation brewing this season and I love the fact that the series is putting the good and the bad of our humanity on display.
 
Which brings us to the breakdown in question, which, in this case, let’s start with the good, or bittersweet in its own right because the first thing that caught me off guard when it comes to this particular episode, was its in depth examination of the power of a dream and how it can help us heal and push toward positive goals and all of that was accomplished by spending more time with Rick Grimes and his family than we usually do. Because he took the time in this episode to step away from working on the bridge to have a lovely family day and pay tribute to his late son and well, this was just beautiful to watch when all is said and done since it gave us tender moments that we rarely see on this series.
 
After all, when was the last time we saw kids being kids on this series? Or a family enjoying a picnic and quiet time together or even people playing and laughing for that matter? It was truly a rare and magnificent treat and it spoke to what Rick is working toward, which is outright peace. Peace for his soul, and peace for the souls of everyone who fought in that awful war and suffered great losses to even get to this point and I was truly taken by surprise to see those kinds of positive elements present in this series and it was nice to see the people in the world enjoy the little things once again. But I called it bittersweet for one reason, and one reason alone, because the good times in this episode simply didn’t last and that’s due to the fact that Rick is up against some incredible odds, thanks to the darkness that we prefer to embrace sometimes. 

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​Because the fact of the matter is, not everyone in this universe is ready for peace and quiet and tranquility, and many of the people that Rick is trying to help are still stuck in the past, and filled with anger and frustration over what happened between the communities and well, that harsh reality led to plenty of chaos in this episode and a grand examination of the nature of revenge and our need to find justice in this world when we have been wronged and since this group of communities have yet to figure out the finer details of what the new world should look like when it comes to laws and penalties for breaking them, street justice is still a thing and rather than draw out the mystery of who has been killing Saviors in the middle of the night, the show felt the need to address that here and now and reveal that it is the Oceansiders who have been killing in cold blood.
 
However, it was the ‘why’ that made their decision so compelling and heartbreaking since it related to that overall theme of revenge and the need for justice because as it turns out, the Oceansiders were still broken and shattered from their particular run in with the Saviors ages ago and they needed and desired closure and the former Saviors that they were killing were the ones who murdered their friends and family and other loved ones with impunity and this whole act was to make them whole again. But the true shocker when it comes to this, is what inspired them to finally rise up and make things right, at least in their mind, and it turns out said inspiration came from Maggie and her execution of Gregory because that taught all of them that those who do wrong in this world, deserve the ultimate punishment.
 
As to what made this decision so incredibly heartbreaking, well that came from Maggie’s response to the ‘tribute’ on display before our eyes. Because this should have been a fine wake up call for Maggie, the kind that reminded her that her foolhardy pursuit for revenge needed to be abandoned so that people would no longer resort to bloodshed and pettiness to satisfy the pain in their souls. But instead, Maggie embraced and thanked the ladies for their tribute by letting their act of revenge continue along, and seeing them take matters into their own hands in turn inspired Maggie as well since she and Daryl agreed that it was high time to fulfill a promise they made to one another some time ago, and deal with Negan properly and that’s where this episode ends…with uncertainty hanging over the future. 
 
However, when all is said and done, I cannot praise this episode or this season enough. We really are getting some top-notch storytelling this year, and I love that the complexities of humanity and the difficulties that come with trying to get people to work together and forgive one another when they’re not ready were on full display in this tale and well, it’s a shame to say the least. Because Rick’s vision really is a beautiful one, but alas, he has no control over other people’s pain and how and when they heal and sadly, everyone is paying the price for their ignorance and it should be interesting to see as to whether or not Rick’s dream will be maintained when he makes his exit in a couple of episodes, or if the chaos that ruled everyone’s life will return. Until next time. 

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