‘The Walking Dead’ Retro Recap: ‘JSS’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Something that is genuinely fascinating about post-apocalyptic fiction, in any capacity, is how little they explore what remains of modern society. Sure, they take the time to show us what survived from a physical standpoint, since we will see the remnant of once proud cities in some of these stories or people will drop references to things they miss, like a cold beer and a hot slice of pizza. But the little things that we go through in our day, and the lessons we learned growing up… seem to just go the wayside in these tales. Take for instance… how we handle disasters and/or emergencies. Granted, there may not be much room for that at the end of the world, but safety is something that is paramount to us in any capacity and these stories seem to forget about that.
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They just show us a world where anything goes, and where the past is utterly out the window, and one has to wonder if it would actually be like that. Or if by chance, some of what we learned is retained and held to and executed and it just so happens that the next episode of The Walking Dead, takes the time to explore what we would retain during an outright disaster, and that made ‘JSS’ quite the harrowing and fascinating episode. One that lulled us into a false sense of security early on. Since it worked to explore Enid’s backstory and just showed us more of everyday life in Alexandria, complete with some gentle ribbing between Carol and her uppity neighbor. But it didn’t take long for outright disaster to just strike this tiny little oasis of peace and tranquility, since she watched her neighbor be cut down before her eyes. 

Which in turn plunged us right into that exploration in question since it was revealed that this was an attack from the Wolves, and they had come to ‘liberate’ this town of its earthly ties and this of course… allowed for this episode to tie into the cliffhanger moment from the season six premiere. Since this violent and bloody assault brought forth the horn blowing, and a great deal of death. For this was indeed a disaster through and through, one that few were able to respond to. In part because they were caught off guard but also because so many Alexandrians didn’t have the knowledge of how to defend themselves in a time of crisis. But thankfully, as this nightmare played out it became clear that in this instance… how a disaster arrives and how it is resolved at the end of the world, would not only resemble the past but likely be handled in a similar manner as it was when mankind was thriving.

For the bad guys would have the upper hand at first and would be able to do some damage, which the Wolves most certainly did. But eventually, the good and brave folks that are either sworn to defend or wish to defend… would take control of the situation. Which Carol worked to do by getting to the Armory, and she quickly loaded up on weapons and distributed them out and since the Wolves were keen on using knives and blunt weapons to harm people… they were no match for firepower. Which in turn, allowed for a disaster to quickly come under control and sadly… much like in the world left behind, that also involved accepting the unfortunate reality that innocent lives were lost and that so much blood was shed and well… in the end, all of these elements made for one sorrowful and ugly tale, one that cost Alexandria so much.

But it did also offer up some insight into life at the end of the everything, and the new kinds of disasters and crises people could potentially face and how much of the past is retained in that kind of situation. Plus, this episode also made it clear… that season six was going to be vastly different in tone. Because a story this bleak, this early, meant that the show was only getting started with the darkness and that was quite the surprise since hope was a big theme in season five. But there was a rhyme and a reason for this, since it was all designed to prepare us for a big moment far off… one that would plunge the show into bleak territory for years to come. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, it is best to offer up a round of applause to a bold tale… one that truly went to some ugly places and well, now that we’ve reached the end of this intense nightmare… it is on to the next episode. Which just so happened to take the darkness present here to a whole new level. Until next time.    

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