‘The Walking Dead’ Retro Recap: ‘Remember’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There are times in life, where we are eager to be free of society and its stresses. Because bills are a bear and people can be a bit extra at times, and now and again, the noise and the hustle and bustle are just too much to handle. Which is why so many of us tend to escape for a bit and either reconnect with nature or just find a quiet space to clear our heads… so we can refresh and return to society. Because like it or not, it is essential to our mental health and overall well-being. For we are a part of something greater and we share a great deal of connections with a great deal of people and that’s why we never want to stay way for too long. Because who would we become if we removed ourselves from what is essential for ages on end?
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If anything, that is a question and conundrum that few of us will ever face, but some do. For some people, say those who slip into a coma for years on end or spend time in prison, have to deal with just that when they return to the world they left behind, and we’ve heard stories of how that can be a struggle. And as it turns out, similar struggles could potentially await us at the end of everything, if by chance we survived the worst… only to find a sliver or oasis of what once was after ages of being removed from it, and that is precisely what Rick Grimes and his family had to deal with in the next episode of The Walking Dead. For the arrival at Alexandria in ‘Remember’ quickly informed us and the group… that slipping back into society and the connection after being away from it for so long would be no easy task.

Because every last one of them were shell shocked and stunned at finding a place where danger wasn’t around every single corner. For Deanna and her community were indeed welcoming toward them, minus a few miscues, and the group was able to get a hot meal, and a shower and shave, and even brush their teeth after ages on the road. Not to mention, a warm bed and a roof over their heads was their new nighttime routine. But that didn’t stop the worry and the fear and the panic they used, to survive on the road. Because that’s not something that easily goes away, and it is equally as difficult to rediscover the courtesy and routine that we use often with the people around us when we let it go the wayside and watching this episode a second time… makes this arrival in Alexandria a touch more tragic than before.

For the first time around, we were skeptical as well as to whether or not this place was safe because of what we had just seen and of course, because of the dumb behavior Deanna’s rotten kids exhibited. But this time around, it is obvious that this is a tragic tale. One about people that truly lost their way and had to figure out how to find comfort in safety and heal their trauma. Making this episode perhaps the first real time that the series bothered to address the nature of PTSD and how it would relate to an apocalypse, and it would also make this story… the grand setup of how we heal from that level of trauma. Because heaven knows the Grimes Gang has been through it and dealt with some devastating losses along the way and well in the end, that makes this episode quite transitional in nature. 

Because they are indeed moving from one phase to another and truly, this episode is a welcome breath of fresh air. For everything that came before it was rough and painful and heartbreaking. So, it is quite nice to not see the group facing constant danger and suffering greatly. But of course, there will be challenges ahead since healing doesn’t happen overnight and Rick and his group are correct in the fact that the good people of Alexandria are super sheltered. To the point where they don’t really understand the danger of what is outside those walls, but that too… is the setup for something beautiful. Since in a weird way, that contrast serves to remind us of how community brings out the best in humanity, since it blends together our strengths and weaknesses, so we function and thrive, and survive. Until next time.

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