At last we arrive at Episode Beth (Emily Kinney)—the arc for which you and your meme generators have been in keen anticipation. The episode, titled “Slabtown,” opens in a hospital ward, peeping through a now-desolate Atlanta. Who took her is naturally our first inquiry: The last time we saw of her, she was taken by a band of mysterious folk astride a mysterious black car. It was from one of the best episodes in the series yet, titled “The Grove,” that explored her inner turmoil and anxieties. This week’s “Slabtown” more or less picks up on that, and subtly, introduces us to what seems to be the group of fucked-to-the-head people Rick & Co. will encounter this season.
So, #WhoTookBeth? In a parallel time and space, as a clue, it was the Governer that took Andrea.
But does that entail the same fate for the Waxahatchee-twittering survivor? There are already firm speculations on that, but there are a ton more of Beth yet to be explored. If it happens, I see it happening later rather than sooner this season.
Going back to “Slabtown.” The group that Beth has ended up with seems that they function with a ‘working,’ if corrupted, system, led by a condescending lady officer named Dawn (Christine Woods) who speaks of ‘worth’ and ‘purpose’ and ‘being in debt.’ These are things we know that are not fit to Beth, so I appreciate this quick detour by the series. My case being that: what better way to push Beth past a point than to (dis-)place her somewhere “worth” and “purpose” are all crucial commodity? Officer Dawn is remorseless. Sort of like Rick (Andrew Lincoln), but less decent. She does things for The Greater Good, if she is to be trusted. She puts up with her rapey, power-tripping police officers who, she reasons out, “needs to be happy in order to work harder,” almost pimping Beth.
Come on…open wide. For my officers. For the greater good. This is, after all, Slabtown.
Something like that.
Beth knows at some point she has to step up. I’d imagine she is aware of the countless memes damning her to the lowest lows of post-apocalyptic survivor hierarchy (if such a thing at all existed; oh, and you guessed it, Carl, the smartest person in the series, is high on that list). But in this episode, whilst flat at parts, Beth proves her ‘worth,’ her ‘purpose’—if not for the right reasons. You know deep beneath those wide manga eyes she hates Dawn to her insides, the same dismay she feels for her ostensible ally Dr. Edwards (Erik Jensen), who ‘accidentally’ killed off another doctor by giving him false meds. In the episode’s final moments, after she manages to get Noah (Tyler James Williams) out of the prison-like hospital, it was clear she was ready to do it.
Then a funny thing happens. Carol (Melissa McBride) is wheeled in to one of the wards. Beth is given the blue and red pills for her choosing: survival or transcendence?
Tell us what you think of this week’s episode!
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Next Episode’s Promo:
Stray Observations:
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- Sorry this was a few days late. Better that than never.
- We needn’t put caution to every The Walking Dead episode review/recap we publish. From now on you enter at your own risk of minor to major spoilers. It’s best if you watch the episode first before you come here.
- The last line of my review is a bit vague. Let me expound: in an early scene Dr. Edwards rambles about art being not about ‘survival.’ It is, he says, about transcendence. “We can’t be that anymore,” then inquires Beth. “I sing,” she says. “I still ” In the final scenes of the episode, Beth is given the hardest time of making up her mind, just what is. Survival or transcendence?
- Beth did not start a music career while gone.
- Although her Waxahatchee’s “Be Good” cover is quite good. Listen here.
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THE EPISODE IN ONE QUOTE:
Everything costs something, right?
~Officer Gorman (Cullen Moss)
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