‘The Walking Dead’ Retro Recap: ‘Us’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It wasn’t that long ago, that we talked at length about how the AMC series, The Walking Dead, puts on a masterclass in de-compressive storytelling. Wherein the series knows how to take its foot off the gas pedal of terror to let the audience process what they’ve seen and reconcile horrors untold, and that particular plot device is important to revisit today… because the next episode in this series makes use of it and rightfully so. For ‘The Grove’ was an unmitigated nightmare of an episode, one that explored some supremely dark subject matter through and through, so the time was right to give us all a breather and some happy moments for a change. 

A feat that ‘Us’ accomplished by way of two key storylines. The first of which, involved catching up with Daryl and his new group. Since that allowed for us to learn how the Claimers function and how terrible they are as people and while that might not seem like a great way to uplift one’s spirits and/or let us process the horrors of the prior episode, this segment surprisingly helps to clear our mental palate. Because it is indeed a chance to learn about how people are surviving in the apocalypse and all the details present here keep our attention and serve as the welcome distraction, we were waiting for in the first place and while this segment might not end happy, since Daryl appears to be stuck with these a-holes, that’s okay.

Because the genuinely happy stuff came about by way of Glenn and his adventures. Because he was determined to find Maggie and moved at a breakneck pace to do so, and seeing his determination in finding his lost love, was awe inspiring and hopeful for certain and there was no stopping him in this tale. Since he was quick to abandon the strength, he enjoyed in numbers with Abraham’s group to search for Maggie in a dangerous location with Tara. A move that brought about some scares since the tunnel they entered was wall to wall with the living dead (and on a side note, this segment of the story did feature a slick Day of the Dead zombie cameo). Leaving one to wonder if by chance the happy moments were about to come to an end.

But thanks to Eugene, the joy kept coming. Because he took Abraham’s message about sticking together in a time of crisis to heart and purposely led Rosita and the Sarge to the exit point of the tunnel to reunite with Glenn and Tara, and bring them along to Washington and well, who they met instead… led to all kinds of joy. For they found Maggie’s group and doubled back with them and saved the day. Reuniting these lost lovers at last and once that happy moment came to a close, a moment that was both joyous and cautious at the time, came to fruition. For this newly formed group made their way to Terminus and were greeted with open arms and a plate of food, making it seem as though peace would come to them at last.

However, our rightful suspicions of new groups left us nervous back then about this arrival, and of course, with what we know now… this ending has become horrifying. Especially when one considers the fact that they were offered what could best be described as a plate of Soylent Steve. But in that moment, this was indeed a bright spot of an episode. One that really did help to remind us that it can’t all be bad at the end and that little moments do come about that bring joy and salvation in dark times, and that makes this a worthwhile episode for certain and well, now that we’ve reached Terminus at last, the time has come for its evil to be exposed… and that is where we will pick up, next time. Until then.

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