I had another episode I wrote about until I saw the most recent episode Season 5 Episode 8. I then felt that this episode was more applicable for me to write about this one. SPOILERS AHEAD DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT UP TO DATE. In the entire series the church and Christianity are mentioned quite a bit. We see how religious or non-religious all of our characters are. In this episode, however, I felt like we saw a bit deeper than that. We saw the hope that every single one of our characters needed. Abraham was crushed and lost his mind once he realized that Eugene didn’t have the answer that they were all looking for. In the pre-apocalypse world we all get that way when things don’t go exactly how we planned, or exactly how we wanted God to have them go. This is with the exception of life or death situations as shown in The Walking Dead. Here are a few things that happened in this episode (and a bit in the previous one) and their equal parts for how Christianity comes into play in my mind.
IN THE SHOW: (AGAIN SPOILERS)
1. Eugene not having the answer/cure for the zombie virus.
2. Abraham losing his marbles over the fact and beating the living crap out of him
3. Father Gabriel straying away from the group and putting Michonne, Carl, and Judith’s lives in danger with a horde of hungry walkers.
4. Judith living another episode.
5. BETH DYING. LIKE WHAT THE HELL. NOT JUDITH OR THE OTHERS LOOKING AFTER THE LOUD CRYING BABY BUT A B.A. CHICK WHO WASN’T DONE YET.
6. Morgan at the end in the church praying.
Yes even the list may be a tiny opinionated, but it’ll be okay.
PART 2
1. For me this was no surprise. I knew Eugene didn’t have some magic remedy up his sleeve. I thought he was just some dumbass character that everyone was dumb enough to believe because they needed to. Then I realized Eugene was actually pretty smart to lie. He needed a way to keep himself alive, and used the only way he knew. To me this kind of felt like the emptiness of some churches to me. How we are always promised great things but it doesn’t always end up how they say it’s going to be?
2. Abraham’s reaction is pretty much exactly what I expected. Now in the apocalypse things are more crucial. Hope and faith are the only main things to hold on to. So when that is stripped away all that is left is anger. This I noticed is how our world is today as well. When the hope that we had is taken away we get violent then give up. After that we either a) stay given up and end up killing ourselves/dying/falling into a deep depression or b) finding another ounce of hope to cling to, to be able to get us back going again to survive.
3. Father Gabriel is having his doubts. This has not come as a surprise to me because he hasn’t really seen much of the outside world and how it’s being affected. This was the biggest comparison to me by far. People tend to stay in their own little bubble of their own beliefs and are either too afraid to go and see other things or end up exploring and getting a more “evened out” form of their own beliefs.
4. Ugh. Judith. In all reality she should have gotten herself and whomever was looking out for her killed. It’s obvious in this show though that she is a main source of hope for all involved. Babies are unheard of in the apocalypse. It’s a sign to anyone that sees her that anything is possible.
5. BETH WHY BETH? WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE? Let’s be real. They had started to make Beth out to be turning into a pretty badass chick. Then she dies right in front of us when we thought things might end up okay for her. That’s how life happens. We are going along when we finally seem okay and then something else hits us hard. That’s when Christians seem to have a hard time to know what to do. Keep going? Or just give up? I do know that the group seems to have a lot to figure out on what they need to do next. Especially Maggie, she has now lost all of her blood family. She’s facing the “why” and the “what next””
6. Morgan finally seems a bit more at peace. He’s not wearing full body armor. His face isn’t permanently scrunched into that painful worried grimace as always. He prayed then laughed to himself. Does that mean that he thought what he was doing was ridiculous? I’m really not sure.
All I really can tell is that the church may not be necessary exactly in the apocalypse. Going every Sunday and worshipping isn’t what those people need. They need a beacon of hope. They need something that will make them feel like everything could be alright. The truth of it though, is that church or not, if they want to survive they will find something in themselves to cling on to.
Payton Williams
IN THE SHOW: (AGAIN SPOILERS)
1. Eugene not having the answer/cure for the zombie virus.
2. Abraham losing his marbles over the fact and beating the living crap out of him
3. Father Gabriel straying away from the group and putting Michonne, Carl, and Judith’s lives in danger with a horde of hungry walkers.
4. Judith living another episode.
5. BETH DYING. LIKE WHAT THE HELL. NOT JUDITH OR THE OTHERS LOOKING AFTER THE LOUD CRYING BABY BUT A B.A. CHICK WHO WASN’T DONE YET.
6. Morgan at the end in the church praying.
Yes even the list may be a tiny opinionated, but it’ll be okay.
PART 2
1. For me this was no surprise. I knew Eugene didn’t have some magic remedy up his sleeve. I thought he was just some dumbass character that everyone was dumb enough to believe because they needed to. Then I realized Eugene was actually pretty smart to lie. He needed a way to keep himself alive, and used the only way he knew. To me this kind of felt like the emptiness of some churches to me. How we are always promised great things but it doesn’t always end up how they say it’s going to be?
2. Abraham’s reaction is pretty much exactly what I expected. Now in the apocalypse things are more crucial. Hope and faith are the only main things to hold on to. So when that is stripped away all that is left is anger. This I noticed is how our world is today as well. When the hope that we had is taken away we get violent then give up. After that we either a) stay given up and end up killing ourselves/dying/falling into a deep depression or b) finding another ounce of hope to cling to, to be able to get us back going again to survive.
3. Father Gabriel is having his doubts. This has not come as a surprise to me because he hasn’t really seen much of the outside world and how it’s being affected. This was the biggest comparison to me by far. People tend to stay in their own little bubble of their own beliefs and are either too afraid to go and see other things or end up exploring and getting a more “evened out” form of their own beliefs.
4. Ugh. Judith. In all reality she should have gotten herself and whomever was looking out for her killed. It’s obvious in this show though that she is a main source of hope for all involved. Babies are unheard of in the apocalypse. It’s a sign to anyone that sees her that anything is possible.
5. BETH WHY BETH? WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE? Let’s be real. They had started to make Beth out to be turning into a pretty badass chick. Then she dies right in front of us when we thought things might end up okay for her. That’s how life happens. We are going along when we finally seem okay and then something else hits us hard. That’s when Christians seem to have a hard time to know what to do. Keep going? Or just give up? I do know that the group seems to have a lot to figure out on what they need to do next. Especially Maggie, she has now lost all of her blood family. She’s facing the “why” and the “what next””
6. Morgan finally seems a bit more at peace. He’s not wearing full body armor. His face isn’t permanently scrunched into that painful worried grimace as always. He prayed then laughed to himself. Does that mean that he thought what he was doing was ridiculous? I’m really not sure.
All I really can tell is that the church may not be necessary exactly in the apocalypse. Going every Sunday and worshipping isn’t what those people need. They need a beacon of hope. They need something that will make them feel like everything could be alright. The truth of it though, is that church or not, if they want to survive they will find something in themselves to cling on to.
Payton Williams