On this week’s Walking Dead, we see either a metaphor for the exploitation of the Differently Animated by the mercurial forces of capitalism, or… the exploitation of the Differently Animated by the mercurial forces of capitalism.

Honestly, it can be hard to tell with this show.

More below the cut.

When last we left the Living crew they had yet again fallen hopelessly into a trap. This episode they weasel their way out.

Sort of.

But first, the Kingdom has trouble. Shockingly, pre-emptive surrender to an extortion racket is causing problems for the Court of Ezekiel. Particularly when his lieutenant, Richard, is barely holding himself together to start with.

Anger control issues, Richard.

Richard’s first brilliant idea is to provoke a war with the Saviors by massacring their men and pinning the blame on a random hermit near the Kingdom. Unfortunately for Richard, that hermit’s name is Carol, and Daryl is not happy with the idea.

Though apparently if it was someone he didn’t know, Daryl might be more flexible.

Our heroes!

Back to the main party, it turns out Rick and company were captured by a Mad Max-esque dance troupe or something.

The leader of said troupe, a laconic free market true believer named Jadis, gives Rick a chance to ‘buy’ back their lives. But of course, through systemic mismanagement, Rick has little to buy them with.

His offer of a bold and noble alliance is dismissed out of hand. Sanity points for Jadis.

Unfortunately, she gives him a chance to prove his survival skills by trapping him in a pit with Winslow.

Winslow is a cruelly oppressed Zombie.

Does Winslow ever get time off? Benefits? Even wages? We doubt it. Moreover, he gets beheaded on the job, which shows a shocking lack of safety standards.

Given the rather overt free market, Ayn Rand in black motif of the Scavengers, this looks sort of like a commentary on politics, but.. frankly, The Walking Dead probably did it just because it ‘looks cool’.

Grumble.

Until next week everyone.

Tags: Robert Kirkman, Television, ZRC Reviews

This entry was posted by John Sears on Monday, February 20th, 2017 at 10:08 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.