Review: The Walking Dead S10x13 WHAT WE BECOME #TWD

Previously:
Review: S10x12 WALK WITH US 

~ S10 x 13  What We Become ~

Written by: Vivian Tse

Directed by: Sharat Raju

'I've found something that belonged to the Brave Man'

(but what do the Chinese symbols mean?)

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone involved, for not killing off Michonne!  What we thought was going to be such a sad episode was not, it was full of hope and optimism, and wasn't Judith brave, fabulous, and just like Carl, telling her to go off and find her dad?  Judith knows.  It's what Michonne has to do, and should do.

Meanwhile, for those who were worried about this, it's great to know that she and RJ know won't be left heartbroken, thinking that they've lost their mum, too.  Btw, loved how Michonne picked up Rick's boots and smelled them; it was so real, just what she would have done.

'You have to go.  You have to'

'Okay, baby girl, I’m gonna try. I’m gonna head north.

I’ll try you every morning on this walkie for as long as I can'

I'm a big fan of 'what would have happened if' scenarios—I know the hallucinations after poor, demented Virgil's jimson weed tea were drug-induced, but I like to think it really was how her life would have played out had she not saved Andrea—in that sad, bad parallel world she described as 'hell', she would have turned her back and wandered on, a damaged soul lost in the woods, only to become Orange Backpack Woman, be 'saved' by Negan and evolve into Arat's much more evil big sister—and be killed during the Saviors War by the man she might have loved.

 

So Andrea did more good than she or those who gave her a hard time ever realised; remember in S4:16 A, when Michonne said this to Carl: 'I was just another monster.  And I was.  Me.  I was gone for a long time.  But then Andrea brought me back.  Your dad brought me back.  You did'.

'You probably shouldn't have taken a swing at me'

 'Or, I probably shouldn't have missed'

I've mentioned before that some 'baddies' (Martinez, Gavin, Mary) might have ended up walking on the sunny side of the post-apocalyptic street if they'd simply met the right people rather than the Governors, Negans and Alphas of the world - but it works the other way, too.  And Michonne could have remained in that dark, destructive pit she was in after Andre died, and allowed it to swallow her up.

I was just another monster. And I was. Me. I was gone for a long time. But then Andrea brought me back. Your dad brought me back. You did

Read more at: https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10442I

I was just another monster. And I was. Me. I was gone for a long time. But then Andrea brought me back. Your dad brought me back. You did

Read more at: https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10442

I was just another monster. And I was. Me. I was gone for a long time. But then Andrea brought me back. Your dad brought me back. You did

Read more at: https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10442

I was just another monster. And I was. Me. I was gone for a long time. But then Andrea brought me back. Your dad brought me back. You did

Read more at: https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10442

The trip/dream scenes were masterfully put together, with the footage from the past; and who's to say that Daryl, wings intact but with longer hair, wouldn't have been the one to go out on the King County gun-seeking mission, in S3x12 Clear ... and fail to pick up the woman on the road?  He probably would have killed Morgan, too, as he wouldn't have known who he was ... more domino shit*. 

And so there was Siddiq, and Glenn and Heath, and Laura and DJ back in the bad old days, and Michonne as the guy in the outpost bed who Glenn killed; except he didn't—Michonne killed him, instead.  When she paraded in front of the line-up and talked about the slaughter of the outpost Saviors, it did give a slightly different perspective on the whole affair.  Made me think of what Negan said to her, about no one ever thinking that they're the bad guy.

 🧟🧟🧟 

 'We reap what we sow, asshole' 

The early part of the episode, whilst just as gripping, seemed almost irrelevant once Michonne found the boots and the phone—suddenly it went from dark and despair into the light.  Virgil, brain addled with hallucinogenics, didn't realise that you don't give Michonne sharp eating utensils and expect to stay healthy, but, without realising it, he led her to where she needed to be.

I did shudder at that feeling of impending doom as she began to realise that she had been tricked, and he had made her his prisoner, like those other three.

🧟🧟🧟

Tear-jerker of the week surely has to be at the end, when Lou Linklatter out of Mr Mercedes and her friend asked her to help them, and we saw that moment, long ago, at the prison...

...and heard Carl's voice saying, 'Shall we help her?'  Then Rick saying 'Do you want to tell us your name?  Who are you?'  

Once more, Carl shows the way, from beyond the grave. 🙌

Who are those travellers, in their careful formation, with wagons?  Did we hear the sound of a helicopter, as Michonne and her new friends moved off to join them?  What with Eugene going off, next week, to meet Stephanie, it seems like the whole TWD world is moving into its next phase.  If Eugene is going to find the Commonwealth, is Michonne on the way to finding the place Rick went to?  Does that mean she may be in one of the films???

I adored this episode, which I am sure I will watch again and again, and I think S10B is surely one of the best half seasons ever.   All five episodes so far have been STUNNING from start to finish, with not even a weak moment.  

Most of all, though, thank you Danai Gurira for bringing Michonne to us for all these years—she has been my favourite female TV character ever, and I so hope, even though you will now be on the other side of the camera, that you may, one day, allow Michonne to reunite with Rick, Judith and RJ.  We love you, and hope you have a wonderful rest of your life!

~ Au Revoir, Michonne 💕 ~

Let's hope she finds his dad..... 

*Quote: Terminus Martin, S5x09!