The Walking Dead 604 “Here’s Not Here”
The Walking Dead returned tonight and gave their viewers a chance to exhale a little after three pulse pounding episodes to begin Season 6. The 90 minute episode titled, “Here’s Not Here” didn’t do anything to answer TWD fans’ questions surrounding Glenn’s fate after last week’s episode, but it did give viewers a chance to fill in the gaps on what Morgan was doing before he walked back into Rick and the group’s lives.
“Here’s Not Here” begins with Morgan forcefully addressing someone off camera and then, as has been the fashion for much of the season, the narrative becomes non-linear and shifts to a point in the past. In the past we find Morgan, a broken man after the loss of his family and his sanity hanging by the slimmest of threads, taking out walkers or humans that come across his path. Morgan proceeds to set the walkers he kills on fire and the area where he does this is littered with rocks containing cryptic messages that he has written on them.
Morgan eventually stumbles upon a cabin in the woods inhabited by a lone man named Eastman portrayed by John Carroll Lynch. Morgan is taken in by the stranger but the toll of the apocalypse has broken him and he has a difficult time accepting the new way of life offered by Eastman. As Eastman tried to rehabilitate Morgan, it was evident how diametrically opposed the two men appeared to be. One contrast that was really compelling was the difference between how they disposed of the walkers they killed. While Morgan burned his walkers earlier in the episode, Eastman gave each one a proper burial.
The 90 minute running time was curious considering this was the first time an extended running time was given to an episode that wasn’t a season premiere or a season finale. The running time was required however as there was a lot of character development to cover and not once did the episode seem to drag. There was also some subtle camera work and use of special effects employed by director Stephen Williams, particularly early on when Morgan was alone in the woods, that helped to convey just how lost and out of touch he was with his own humanity.
Showrunner Scott M. Gimple penned the script and although it’s still early, “Here’s Not Here” could be one of the most important episodes of the Season 6. I say this not only because it helped to set up more of Morgan’s backstory, but it also defined the competing ideologies that have dominated the season so far. Morgan’s decision to accept life as precious, no matter what situation he finds himself in, is counter to the point of view held by Rick and Carol. When you include Enid’s “JSS” philosophy and the burn everything to ground worldview held by the Wolves Gimple, Robert Kirkman and the show’s producers are setting up an ideological showdown that will surely come to a head before season’s end.
“Here’s Not Here” was a standout episode. Although it lacked the walker driven mayhem of the previous episodes, its subtle pacing, great character development and solid acting made for an immensely enjoyable 90 minutes. Considering how the narrative shifts have occurred this season, next week’s episode should continue the still unresolved walker-fest approaching Alexandria, not to mention Rick’s gloomy situation and the group’s reaction to Glenn’s fate.
