Spoilers for Season 6 of The Walking Dead below.
Here we are, two episodes into Season 6 of The Walking Dead, and we’ve already said hello and goodbye to new people. The character that’s been stealing all the conversations, though, has been Morgan, who can technically be considered a new and an old character. But has he lived up to all of our many expectations?
Thanks to the time-shifting season premiere, we got to see both the Morgan who was just finding his footing within Alexandria, and one who was basically assimilated into the survivor group, and both of them were enjoyably wry and contemplative. Considering we’ve only caught up with Morgan’s personality in the beginning of Season 1 and for one episode in Season 3, we barely have a real idea of what his base sense of self is, although he seems to be fully onboard with whatever shift occurred in the days before he started tracking Rick & Co. during Season 5. Do we like what we’ve seen so far? Let’s go over the options.
Yes, he’s great. Part of Morgan’s strong suit is he’s unlikely to become aggravating or idiotic over talking too much, and almost everything the character has said so far this season has been a meaningful or interesting line. And if he’s not physically speaking, he’s letting his excellent bo-wielding skills talk for him, which adds a new signature weapon to this show and lets us watch some sweet ass stick-based action. Plus, he clearly hasn’t lost his sense of humanity, which is always nice to see on this show. At this point, at least, he’s not butting heads with Rick or anyone else over anything major, so he’s kind of on everyone’s good side.
No, he’s a liability. Morgan can barely make it through a calm conversation without showcasing his potential fatal flaw: he can’t kill anyone. After coming so close to offing himself back in Season 3, it looks like Morgan found a brand new lease on life, and it includes making sure everyone around him also stays alive, regardless of whether or not they’re part of a group of mass murderers. This idea is noble and all, and probably means Morgan won’t be responsible for accidentally killing someone who doesn’t deserve it, but it also means he has now let different Wolves members go free on at least two different occasions, and it’s obvious they’re only going to keep coming back until they’re either victorious or completely eradicated. Blood is on Morgan’s hands, regardless of whether or not he was the one doing the killing.
I haven’t quite decided yet. If you count the Season 5 finale, we’ve only gotten to know Modern Morgan for three episodes, so it’s perfectly possible that we still haven’t really gotten to the bottom of what makes Morgan the way he is. We know he’s got a flashback episode coming that will delve into how he spent his time before Season 5, and reveal who exactly was responsible for turning him from manic to meditative. Maybe Morgan will end up proving himself to be the most valuable survivor in the bunch, or maybe Episode 3 will introduce his habit of incessantly whistling the Andy Griffith Show theme song whenever no one is talking to him. Ugh, that would suck. Luckily, there’s a lot of story left to tell.
How do you guys feel about Morgan so far? Let us know below and tune into The Walking Dead every Sunday night on AMC.
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