The Walking Dead - The Distance - Review

The Walking Dead, “The Distance,” was written by Seth Hoffman and directed by Larysa Kondracki, whose credits include Covert Affairs, Better Call Saul, and The Americans. This is another tense episode that sees our group resisting hoping for a new and safer life. Have they been too damaged by what they’ve been through to accept that there might still be good and safety in the world? This episode does an excellent job of circling back to many things raised in earlier episodes. The episode does a really good job of keeping us guessing about Aaron (Ross Marquand) and his intentions. Have we as viewers become so damaged that we trust no one too?

The show does an amazing job of keeping viewers on edge. Even as you convince yourself that they aren’t going to kill off another character after already killing three this season – and two in recent back to back episodes, a part of you can never feel like anyone is safe because clearly the writers and producers are willing to kill off everyone!

There is lots of gore in this episode, so kudos to Greg Nicotero and his team who never fail to come up with new and unique things to do with walkers – like lighting them up by shooting them with a flare gun! Glad Rick (Andrew Lincoln) decided to go at night because that wouldn’t have been nearly as spectacular during the day! Is it just me or are the walkers becoming somehow less solid or more gooey? Last week, Daryl (Norman Reedus) peeled a walker’s scalp off when pulling it off of Rick. This week, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) is almost bitten when he grabs a walker by its arm and the arm comes off. The car careening down the road through the herd is also an horrific sequence. I loved the crane shot and how the headlights turned to red as they became covered in gore.

Aaron’s arrival sets off an interesting look at what our survivors have become. He also provides an interesting contrast to how they behave. Because he hasn’t been solely focused on not dying, after all, he’s out trying to find new recruits for Alexandria rather than simply scavenging for supplies, Aaron still has time for social niceties like shaking hands or making a joke. When he tries to shake Rick’s hand, everyone’s weapons come up, and when he says their only a dance troop on Friday nights, not one of the group even cracks a smile.

While everything Aaron does, showing them pictures, offering them safety and a home, being completely unthreatening, seems reasonable, the audience along with the survivors can’t help but remember the invitations to both Woodbury and Terminus. Aaron tells Rick that “When the world was still the world, I worked for an NGO. Our mission was to deliver medicine and food to the Niger river delta. Bad people pointed guns in my face every other week. You’re not bad people. You’re not going to kill us and we’re definitely not going to kill you.” But the group isn’t looking for people to see them as good anymore because that makes them vulnerable, it makes them appear weak. However, Aaron’s background makes him the perfect person to send out to bring in new people. He knows how to negotiate and he’s a good judge of character. When Daryl tells him, “No one gives a shit,” about the camera, Aaron doesn’t lash out or argue, he reinforces that they are in control by saying, “Of course. You’re 100% right.”

The group clearly wants to believe Aaron. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) have taken his gun and supplies, but Maggie, in particular seems to believe him. She tells Rick that she and Sasha hadn’t seen Aaron approach and if he’d want to hurt them, he could have. Rick appears to listen to him as Aaron describes the security measures and that “nothing alive or dead” gets through the walls. He then tells him, “Only one resource is more critical to our community’s survival – the people.” At this point, Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) exchange a glance. Aaron continues, “Together we’re strong. You can make us stronger.” At that Rick walks forward and it seems that Aaron may think he wants clarification on the picture he’s looking at, but Rick knocks him out cold with one punch.

Even after Rick punches him, Aaron stresses that he thinks they’re a good fit for his community – though he also says it’s not his call. This made me wonder about another Governor figure. Aaron tells them that they’ve been following and observing them – a precaution that Rick practiced at Terminus and Woodbury – to less than good result. However when Daryl presses him on how long they’d been following them, Aaron tells him, “Long enough to see that you practically ignored a group of Roamers on your tail. Long enough to see that despite a lack of food and water, you didn’t turn on each other. You’re survivors, and you’re people.” Aaron sees that they haven’t lost their humanity even if they are all having trouble seeing that themselves.

After Rick knocks Aaron out, Michonne immediately says, “So we’re clear? That look wasn’t a ‘let’s attack that man’ look, it was a ‘he seems like an okay guy to me’ look.” Michonne really steps up in this episode, and Rick looks to her to help him lead. It’s interesting that the women are the first to want to believe Aaron and to hope for a better future. Michonne and Rick have several important scenes, and it’s interesting that Michonne is really the one who leads them out of the wilderness. I fear if things do go badly in Alexandria, Michonne will never forgive herself.

Once Aaron explains that the plan was for him to drive the group back to Alexandria, Rick is immediately suspicious of how they’d all fit in the car with Aaron and his friend. Aaron explains they took separate vehicles and that there’d be room for all but because of the storm blocking the road they had to leave the cars a couple of miles away. Aaron points out that if he wanted to ambush them, he could have burnt down the barn while they slept, picking them off as they tried to exit. And we already have proof that he could have taken out Maggie and Sasha. Rick is ready to walk away.

Michonne steps up and tells Rick she’s going to check out the cars. Rick is convinced there are no cars. Gurira is fantastic in this scene – and the entire episode actually. Michonne says to Rick, “You know what you know, and you’re sure of it, but I’m not.” Maggie pipes in with “Me neither.” Rick points out that Michonne’s way is dangerous, but she replies that passing up the possibility of a place they can live is dangerous. “We need to find out what this is. We can handle ourselves. So that’s what we’re gonna do.” Rick just can’t take that last step, he can’t risk even a little for the possibility of more, and he needs Michonne to push him.

Glenn (Steven Yuen) offers to go, and he’s the closest of the men to following the women’s lead. Part of that is because of his relationship to Maggie, part of it is why he’s with Maggie and just who he is. Rick then agrees but sends Abraham and Rosita (Christian Serratos). It’s interesting that once they get on the road, Glenn takes charge – not Michonne or Abraham. However, Glenn is guns at the ready, shoot first, ask questions later. But Michonne is asking questions now. She asks, “So if we see someone, we just shoot them?” Maggie agrees it’s a good question. Michonne goes on, “What if they’re someone like us? What if Aaron’s telling the truth? What if they’re someone who has nothing to do with this?” Glenn points out that no one is going to come up to say hi to five people walking down the road with guns. Michonne points out “That’s exactly what happens.” Her meaning is clear. If no one is willing to take the chance to trust, there’s no hope left.

Glenn also says, “if it’s someone like us, we should be afraid of them.” In other words, they shouldn’t want to engage anyone as desperate as they are themselves at this point. It’s an acknowledgement of what they’ve had to do to survive. Glenn puzzles, “if they’ve been watching us, then they saw us yesterday and after all we’ve done, why would he want us to join his group.” It’s Michonne who echoes Aaron’s assertion that they are good people: “People like us saved a Priest. Saved a girl that rolled up to the prison with the Governor. Saved a crazy lady with a sword. He saw that.” Of course, just as we’re starting to believe Michonne’s belief in Aaron, we see someone hiding behind a tractor watching them.

When they bring the food back, Rick is still not convinced they are going. By this time, even Carl (Chandler Riggs) is behind going. Once again, Michonne takes the lead: “We need this. So we’re going. All of us. Someone say something if they feel differently.” Daryl breaks the silence to say, “this barn smells like horseshit” – even he wants to go. Rick finally agrees to go.

Michonne isn’t convinced that he meant it though, and she follows him out to where he’s looking at the car. She asks him, “when you said that we were going was that for real or were you just trying to get that guy to tell you where his camp is?” Rick says he meant he was going but he’s still not convinced. He asks her, “When you first came up on the walls outside Woodbury, what did you hear?” Michonne answers, “Nothing.” Rick asks, “And Terminus?” Again the answer is nothing. Rick tells her, “Sometime tonight, we’re going to be outside his walls and without seeing inside, I’m going to have to decide whether or bring my family in. I’m not sure if anything could convince me to go in there, but I’m going to see.”

This moment comes back beautifully at the end of the episode. As they sit outside the gate, there’s a close up on Rick’s eyes as he hears the sound of happy children playing. The shot pans back and we see Michonne smiling at Rick. She reaches over and squeezes his hand on the wheel. He gathers Judith from the backseat – anyone else screaming where’s the car seat?! – and walks to the gate with his entire family – the entire group. Did anyone else think that gate looked a little flimsy given the super enforced walls we’d been lead to expect?

Before we get to this final scene, however, Michonne tries to prepare Rick for what’s ahead. She tells him, “Fight’s over. You’ve gotta let it go. I know it’s hard after it’s kept you warm and fed, alive. But the fight, it turns on you. You’ve gotta let it go.” Michonne knows this first hand from her time – both times – wandering on her own. Rick tells her, “That’s what Bob was trying to tell me back at the Church. What to risk. When it’s safe. When to let someone in. The rules keep changing.” We’ve seen what being in a state of desperation too long will do to people. Bob was much like Michonne when he joined the group.

        Michonne tells Rick the rules changed for her. The rules changed for Carol so much that Rick banned her from the group, but then they’ve changed again for her. It’s interesting that Carol comes to Rick as they go up to the gates and tells him, “Even though you were wrong. You’re still right.” She may never come back to a place of trust in people outside the group but she does trust Rick. It will be very interesting to see how each of them adjusts to life in Alexandria. Rick may have agreed to try, but he still excuses himself to hide a gun (with a J on the handle) – just in case.

Virtually every scene in this episode is a powerful one, and we see a great deal revealed about each of the characters. Aaron, of course, is the one who is still a mystery to us – and the others. I loved the scene when Rick is trying to get Judith to stop crying. She’s clearly hungry and he’s crushing acorns with the butt of his gun to feed her. Aaron tries to get Rick to simply feed her the apple sauce that was in his bags. He says it’s self-preservation because if the Roamers come he’ll be the first to go. It’s always interesting to see a new group come up with a different name for Walkers – in Atlanta it was Rotters. When Rick still won’t feed Judith the applesauce, Aaron is shocked: “You think I’m trying to poison you’re baby daughter?” He points out how stupid it would be to do something to Rick’s daughter when Rick’s already threatened to kill him. Rick’s response says everything about his mindset: “Maybe she doesn’t die, she just gets sick and you’re the only one that can help her and I lose.” The word choice is interesting as it can be taken to mean he loses his daughter, he loses another loved one or it can mean that he loses the fight. This scene is also our first hint that Aaron is gay as he tells us about his mother making him eat foods he didn’t like – like applesauce – as a way of making him more manly. The compassion Aaron shows for Judith also come through when he asks Noah (Tyler James Williams) about his leg and suggests the surgeon in Alexandria might be able to help.

Given the hostility of the group, it’s actually understandable that Aaron wouldn’t want to simply trust them either. Rick’s paranoia, however, almost gets them killed. He insists on going at night and not following the route that Aaron says is safe. One of the things that bothered me about the episode, that seemed a bit clunky plot-wise, was Rick finding the parabolic microphone after he appeared to have been searching the car earlier. It’s Michonne that realizes there are no pictures of the people in the pictures, and it suddenly occurs to her to ask if anyone has asked him the three questions.

        This was a staple of their existence when they were the ones in charge of civilization and were “auditioning” new members. It was nice to see this come back up. Michonne asks how many walkers Aaron has killed. He’s take off guard at first, but answers “a lot.” As they’re dead already and you’ve survived this long, this is a sensible answer, right? Likely too many to count and a necessity of life. When she asks how many people he’s killed, Aaron answers very quietly, “two.” He is clearly bothered by having had to take lives – but again, having survived this long, that’s not a lot. When Michonne asks the third question, “Why?” Aaron’s answer is because they were trying to kill him.

When the flare goes up and Aaron freaks out, I have to admit that I thought he was, in fact, up to something, but in hind sight he was clearly freaking out because he was worried about Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson). I loved the little touch of Rick finding the license plates – which Aaron is decorating his home with, and Eric having found one for him. As they ran through the woods in the dark, it was another great nail biting sequence. And we come back once again to Glenn’s insistence that they stop for the guy in the railroad car at Terminus. Glenn sees Aaron being held at bay by a walker, and he clearly thinks about just leaving him there, but he can’t do it. He saves him and then sets him free, but Aaron doesn’t run. Instead, he turns Glenn’s own words back on him: “we can make it together, but we can only make it together. You said that. I was listening.” Glenn’s sentiment echoes Aaron’s insistence that there is strength in numbers and that people are one of the greatest resources. And in fact, Glenn and Aaron save Michonne and Rick.

Everything we need to know about Aaron becomes very clear when he is reunited with Eric. I loved them establishing the relationship between the two. We also see Eric greet Rick with a friendly, “Hi! I’m Eric,” and Rick grunt back, “Rick.” Another quibble about the episode, however, is how did Eric get to where the others are? Surely they didn’t find him driving around in the dark? Regardless, Aaron insists on thanking the group for saving Eric, declaring that he owes them all a debt that will be paid in full when they get to Alexandria – and that’s the first time he names it.

Rick is determined to keep treating Aaron like a prisoner, but Maggie immediately questions it. Aaron himself tells Rick, “the only way you’re going to stop me being with Eric is by shooting me.” Most importantly, however, because we’ve already established Aaron and Eric’s love via their passionate reunion kiss, is Glenn’s comment to Rick. Glenn tells Rick that neither pose a threat and there’s no reason not to trust them now or treat them badly: “I want us to be safe too. I can’t give up everything else. In know what I said, but…. It does matter.” How you treat people matters.

We see the group travelling to Alexandria in the camper. Once again Abraham is behind the wheel. Abraham and Rosita – Cudlitz and Serratos – have two great scenes in the episode. When they first find the camper, it’s clear that the relationship between the two remains strained. They haven’t really talked about what happened. Abraham asks Rosita, “Back at the fire truck. After Eugene. Did you think I was gonna hurt you?” She tells him, “No. It’s not you.” But she doesn’t look at him. That might not be the person he usually is, but is it the person he is under stress – is it the person he could easily become if circumstances continued to push him in that direction?

As the two drive, Rosita sees Washington in the distance. They’ve travelled together for a long time to see it. In this scene, she looks at him and smiles. It seems reconciliation is possible for the two of them. Of course, Abraham sees the low voltage sign on the camper and thinks it’s cruel fate when it stalls out. However, in a really nice throwback to the first season – thank you show for this meticulous plotting anyway! Glenn knows where the spare batteries are because of Dale teaching him. It’s charged with symbolism, of course. Dale taught the whole group about maintaining their humanity and Alexandria represents a way for them all to recharge their batteries after running them out just surviving.

As always this short title carries a lot of weight. “The Distance” refers to something that may be far away – hope or sanctuary. It’s also the distance between what they used to be and what circumstances have made of them. It’s also a reference to going the distance – for having survived this long. It refers to the distance that they’ve already travelled. Off in the distance is often a reference for something that is just out of reach – is this hope, this civilization out of reach for our survivors?

Sometimes I think I don’t give enough praise for the wonderful acting in this show. Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Steven Yeun, and Ross Marquand are all outstanding in this episode. What did you think of the episode? Do you think Alexandria will be what they are all looking for – a place of safety and hope? Do you like the new characters Aaron and Eric? Do you think Rick is losing control of the group? Are they going to need a leader now? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.