Carl's death helps TWD find its heart again

I have been a faithful watcher of "The Walking Dead" since it premiered. While I've soured on the show in recent seasons (as have many others, based on season eight ratings), I'll be recapping each of the episodes of the back half of Season 8 as the show moves into a new chapter.

"Mom told me I would beat this world. I didn't. But you will." - Carl, to his sister Judith, on "The Walking Dead"

What would you do if you knew it was your last day? Would you try to express how much loved ones have meant to you? Would you enjoy one last session of rocking on the porch with your sister? Would you want to feel the warmth of the sun on your face one last time? Those were all the things Carl (Chandler Riggs) set out to do, and it was part of a fiercely emotional episode that was not only the best of this season, but possibly one of the best ever.

Prior to last night, if you were to ask me what my favorite episode of TWD is, I would have said 4.14, "The Grove." And while that will probably always be my favorite, last night's episode (8.09, "Honor") is definitely in consideration, and for much the same reason. I don't watch TWD for the zombie kill of the week. That's fine, but what I'm interested in is these characters, their journey, and human emotions. "Honor" offered all that and a beautiful commentary on this world, and where we might be going. And most surprising of all, it centered on Carl.

We've known for months that he was not long for the world. The mid-season finale, which aired back in December, revealed that Carl had been bitten, a death sentence. And we've waited two and a half months to see how it would play out. TWD didn't disappoint, and along the way they found an emotional core that led to something sorely missing from TWD in recent seasons: hope for the future.

I have been a fierce critic of the past season and a half. While I appreciate the work of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, I'm not a fan of Negan in the same way some of these show runners seem to be. Beginning with the anticipated season seven premier, I felt the show entered a violent and dark stretch that was a turn off. And I wasn't alone in that feeling. The show has seen an erosion of its viewers these past few seasons, too. And some have wondered if we're moving closer to an end-game for the long-running series.

Maybe. We know the series will continue into season nine, at least, but the premier of season eight offered a glimpse of something, and last night's "Honor" brought it back. That was a glimpse of the future (either a jump ahead or a vision of how it could be). Certainly it was a vision of the future that Carl wanted for Judith, for his father, Rick (Andrew Lincoln), and for his good friend, Michone (Danai Gurira). It was a vision of peace. A vision of beating this world. A vision of hope.

"I know you can't see it yet -- how it could be. But I have," Carl said to his father, as he lay dying. And Rick promised to "make it real." Carl urged him that violence was not the answer, that violence would not save them, and urged his father to go back to being who he was before Negan; the man that helped Carl change from a vengeful and angry boy into a quiet, thoughtful, and heroic man.

That transformation is one of the most beautiful and meaningful the show has made. And it was ironic, as I sat with tears streaming down my face last night, that they accomplished it with Carl. It was ironic, to me, too that I was sad to see Carl go. From the beginning, he was never my favorite character. In fact, there were many times early in the show's run that I wouldn't have minded seeing him go. In fact, toward the middle of these eight years, it was apparent his character was a junior psychopath in the making. But, it turns out, that was all part of the plan.

Rick changed, for his son, and it worked. Carl has become something else, and in the end he died a hero. And the hope is that his sacrifice spurs his father, and the show in general, in a new direction.

Watching a withering, violent, and dark series set in a dystopian future without hope is draining. While the war isn't over, those glimpses of the future, whether real or imagined, give the characters (and the audience) hope that this isn't for nothing.

Rick wonders aloud whether he can go back to being a man of peace given all that has happened, but Carl exhorts his father to make that a reality. As Rick says, "Carl, it was all for you right from the start. Back in Atlanta, the farm, everything I did was for you. And that prison? It was for you and Judith. It still is, and nothing, nothing is gonna change that." Carl's last wish is that Judith would beat the darkness of the world, and that Rick and Michone would find peace there, too. And Rick promises to make it a reality.

It was a beautiful performance, and a beautiful sentiment, from Riggs as Carl. He's literally grown up on this show, and those his time in the TWD world has ended, I look forward to seeing what Riggs can do in other roles. He and Lincoln had some beautiful moments in last night's episode, and that only added to the emotional power of the nearly 90-minute farewell.

And now I'm curious to see how this will all push us through the final seven episodes of this season. If the rest of last night's episode (including a flashforward we revisited from the premier) is any indication, it won't be smooth and tranquil sailing just yet.

It's been said that, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." That was certainly a point Carl seemed to drive at, and it was a lesson that provided an interesting juxtaposition for Morgan (Lennie James) and Carol (Melissa McBride), two characters who've had their own struggles against the darkness. Both were struggling again in freeing Ezekiel (Khary Payton) from the Saviors. After the battle is won, Morgan has one last Savior in his cross hairs, but Ezekiel and Carol exhort him not to kill the man. Killing isn't the answer. But Morgan can't give in, and nearly finishes the man until a small boy does it instead. That act, and the one who committed it, seems to be the same kind of sober gut punch for Morgan and Carol that Carl provided for his father, and similarly I'll be curious to see how it plays out.

After wallowing in the valley of despair, Ezekiel seems to be ready to enter the fight again. Can he be a new voice of reason and conscience? His line last night, "It's not too late to walk back from something decided," echoes in my head. And it's that kind of thinking that will be needed if the vision of the future we saw is to become a reality. And oh, how I hope it is.


There is a moment in "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" when Frodo (Elijah Wood) is in despair. He's seen hurt and violence, and the evil that is rising in the world. And he wishes he could have avoided it. He wishes the ring of power had never come to him. Gandalf (Ian McKellen) responds:

"So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil."

It was a turning point in the film, or rather a turning of perspective. Last night felt like a turning point in TWD, too, or at least a hopeful change in perspective. There is more at work in the world than the will of evil, and it is not too late for these characters to lean into that. My hope, as was Carl's hope for his father, Michone, Judith, and his friends, is that they find a way to make the way it could be a reality. I don't expect it to happen easily, but my hope is the last seven episodes of this eighth season set us back on that path.

Carl's death helped the show find its heart again, and I hope it doesn't get lost just as quickly.