TV Review – The Walking Dead – Same Boat

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Spoiler alerts – Season 6 – episode 13 An incredible feminised take on the previous week’s masculine macho war machine carnage as the men took out a group of the still anonymous Negan’s army. Carol & the heavily pregnant Maggie find themselves taken prisoner by a group of women led by Paula who seems like an alter-ego to Maggie, a reason for the title. Everyone is equally dehumanized by the steps they need to take in the zombie-Armageddon. All have seen death; Maggie has seen children die but still sees the value of life for Carol’s child, while Paula sees the world as too horrible to bring new life into. Carol, in a tour-de-force performance by Melissa McBride seems to be deeply distressed, hyperventilating, crying, and fingering a rosary necklace, but she is putting on an act to conceal her real fear – the killing she is going to unleash, and the rosary cross is a useful tool to cut her bonds with. The other women serving Paula have back stories too. One continues to smoke despite already having serious cancer. Why bother quitting now, even by a pregnant woman who wants to live. Carol’s retribution is terrible and merciless but she is not dispassionate over it. Finally united with Daryl, she breaks her guard completely. Rick, the main character, is reduced to a voice on a walkie-talkie for much of the episode. His rescue party arrive only after Carol has done all the work and he ends up killing a medic who could have been useful to keep alive. Worse, the medic falsely claims to be the elusive Negan. The episode carries some of the most vicious and surprising deaths in the history of The Walking Dead. Alicia Witt’s Paula seems well enough crafted and built up to become a season regular but she is despatched with jaw dropping violence by the episode’s ending. Matters can only get worse when the real Negan enters the fray soon. Arthur Chappell