“Try” leaves you wondering if Rick ever really did try to assimilate into Alexandria.
His philosophical clash with Deanna felt naive by both people and neither seemed like a viable way to lead the community in the post-apocalyptic world. And, ultimately, “Try” was just another example of the characters on The Walking Dead doing without thinking, or exploring their motivations, and letting it all hit the fan.
Apparently Alexandrian constables are nothing more than mall cops. At least this is the impression that is made when Rick tries to “detain” Pete. Sure there is a clear divide between long-time Alexandrians and the newcomers of Rick and company, which nullifies any power Rick may have had with his position, but it seems as though the position was more for show anyway. Drunken Pete’s refusal to go along with Rick, as well as Jessie’s initial qualms about Rick trying to step in, shows the naivete with with Alexandria seems to have been founded. There seems to be no jail, no holding cell, nowhere to take criminals. Not to mention it is unclear what makes a criminal in the first place. All of this feeds into the larger problem not only in “Try” but in this season of The Walking Dead as a whole -- the lack of explanation of why people do what they do.
Too often The Walking Dead either chooses not to give an explanation behind a person’s actions or give a far too simple one. This keeps everything at a very surface level of the show, a show that would become enriched by delving into characters and their decisions and beliefs. Just because the audience has spent multiple years with these characters it does not mean the characters are completely known. But instead of fully fleshed out characters The Walking Dead seems adamant on creating and keeping their character understanding at an archetypal level.
Let’s take a look at Rick. By the end of the first episode within the walls of Alexandria Rick has already decided that its inhabitants are too weak and that he will forcibly take over Alexandria if necessary. Sure, the episode didn’t do a great job giving Rick a reason to believe that (just because there are old people it doesn’t necessarily make a settlement weak) but it also isn’t clear why Rick has already rushed to this judgment. Yes, there are the simple explanations of wanting to keep his kids safe, etc. but the show also still wants you to believe that Rick has the moral and strategic high ground without checking back into his psyche.
This bleeds into “Try”. TWD wants you to think Rick has the moral and strategic high ground when he has his argument with Deanna. He has taken Carol’s advice and tells Deanna that Pete should be killed based on his abusive ways. This is an incredibly simplistic punishment that he tries to explain by saying exiling Pete would lead to him leading marauders to Alexandria to take over the settlement. His reasons why he is so gung ho over punishing Pete in the first place is because he has a crush on Jessie, which is taking the easy way out again (it would have been far more compelling if he had chosen to take on her case without having any emotional attachment to her whatsoever). But Rick’s survival justice doesn’t play in Alexandria and since it was never shown that he had tried to acclimate himself within the social structure of Alexandria it makes it feel like he didn’t try to become a part of the community in the first place.
The lack of explanation hurts Deanna’s viewpoint even more. At least Rick as seasons of history on his side, no matter how uninformative those are for his current decision making. Deanna doesn’t have any of that built up history. So when she staunchly refuses Rick’s suggestion of killing Pete, after kind of arguing that Pete should not be punished at all because of his surgical skills, it calls into question both Deanna’s leadership qualities and what she is really trying to do with Alexandria. Perhaps it was a shrewd move to put both Michonne and Rick into positions of faux power, to have those paper tigers roam suburbia, with no real power to support their position. It seems to have had a pacifying effect, at least for a little while, on Rick. But then again we don’t know if that was Deanna’s intention. And her intentions are extremely important for the audience to discern whose side they should take.
Deanna’s argument to turn a blind eye to Pete’s abusive ways also seemed to give Rick’s stance some credence. Instead of forming some sort of utopia, Deanna’s reasoning almost made it feel as though Alexandria was just a place to hide from the real world -- something Rick has believed for a while now. But again, that seems a little too simplistic a notion. While there is a cost-benefit analysis here in terms of Pete being a surgeon, Deanna’s refusal to punish through killing is truly the political way of governing. But since the audience doesn’t know Deanna, what she has been through or what her motivations are, all of this gray area in her decision making and morals really hinders the drama of the show.
What it all boils down to is that TWD is more concerned with the characters not being allowed to have nice things rather than actually working to try and find a new, workable society in the zombie apocalypse. Rick beats Pete up because...he likes Jessie? He abhors violence against women? He has to? None of the answers to those questions would help clarify his true motivations, which is exactly the same as when Gabriel warned Deanna about Rick and his people being the devil in the previous episode. There are no reasons why things are done, they just are done so that cheap action and drama can commence.
But perhaps this audience uninformed, philosophical headbutting between Rick and Deanna will ultimately add up to nothing because of Daryl and Aaron stumbling across a farm with dismembered and eviscerated, tied-up zombies with the letter “W” carved into their forehead. Whoever is responsible for this certainly seems to be a threat without even knowing who they/he/she are/is. And maybe that’s the whole point of The Walking Dead anyway – there’s always going to be someone to screw up the good thing you have.
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