From its earliest days, The Walking Dead has shown audiences how horrible it can be for characters to come into contact with the reanimated version of their loved ones, through Morgan, Andrea and more. Tonight was the night that Spencer Monroe had that experience, as he stumbled upon and then re-killed the walker version of his mother Deanna. And not only did it manage to make him feel important for the first time, but it also gave Carl a chance to have a real human moment with Michonne. WTF is happening here?
Spencer is apparently getting in touch with his “inner Sasha that one time,” as he’s out in the wilderness randomly taking out some angst on walkers on the hunt for the walker version of his mother, and he’s found by a gentle and caring Michonne. Meanwhile, Carl is out and about with Enid (who’d received some advice from Maggie earlier on and thus doesn’t want to head out anymore) when they run into Walker Deanna, though that’s not clear at first. It makes sense that something notable would happen here, since it’s one of the only times that Carl has actually made a point to take out a walker for a good reason, and he doesn’t even have to do it in the end. Instead, Spencer gets to put a knife through her neck and close off that horrifically dark section of his life.
We never really got to know the Monroe family very well, and the importance of this scene kind of fell flat because of that. Deanna earned the majority of the story time of any of them, and even her death in the midseason finale wasn’t all that emotionally tasking. And she basically allowed this cry-face reunion to happen by not shooting herself as she’d originally intended, choosing to go out screaming. So I don’t really know what to feel about all this. I guess I’m glad for Spencer to get some closure, but it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll actually grow from that experience, or whether he’ll just get killed soon without doing anything else worthwhile.
But hey, maybe he’ll be inspired from her note, telling him that he knew his way. Maybe he’ll team up with Maggie in building a better Alexandria for everyone here and in the outside world. Perhaps Spencer will become the new leader when Rick, Carol, Daryl, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Carl, Morgan, Denise, Heath and the rest are dead.
In the end, I’m just left to wonder exactly how much time and energy Spencer put into finding her, considering there was a time jump. Has he just been wandering around for weeks? And how did Deanna make it from inside that house and out of Alexandria before Rick went berserk and inspired all the survivors to eliminate the walker herd? I’m certain that these aren’t the things The Walking Dead wants me to be thinking about after a moment like that. Still, anything to see more Tovah Feldshuh.
The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC.
